Thoughts on Beyond Wrestling: Armory Amore

{Current Mood: Somber}

Hey Friends,

I’m coming at everybody from a different perspective today (big surprise right?) and delving into the realm of professional wrestling.

Don’t worry; I’m not here to spew rants about WWE or TNA. Being an indy wrestler myself, I feel this would be in bad taste.

I’m going to focus instead on a Youtube based indy promotion called Beyond Wrestling.

Yesterday morning I embarked on the Road to Rhode Island (yay for Family Guy references) with a few of my fellow wrestlers to check out Beyond Wrestling’s “Armory Amore.” As you can probably imagine, the show took place at an armory in East Greenwich and if you listen to my cheap plug and follow me on Instagram (ray_ray_marz), you can see how photogenic this place was.

Since January of 2010, some friends in the wrestling business had been trying to get me to come to Beyond. I always was either wrestling somewhere else or bogged down by family commitments. When I got the Facebook Invite for this last event, I jumped on the opportunity to make the trip. I knew I most likely wouldn’t be wrestling but it was a chance for me to meet the promoter and get a close-up look at the product.

All I had seen of Beyond prior to last night were matches and clips of matches they would put on Youtube as free content.

I also witnessed something last night that no one should have to ever see.

The following is from the Twitter account of an Atlanta-based wrestler named Charade (@CharadeForever): “Beyond Wrestling - "Armory Amore": This is my chance! My shot at National attention and exposure! The most popular Youtube based promotion, BEYOND WRESTLING is running in Rhode Island on 9/30... and Charade is on the card! Iwill take on my biggest Rival Black Baron, one on one, showcasing what the best of the WWA4 can do. Time to pull out the big guns!”

Unfortunately, Charade’s night ended with a trip to the hospital. I didn’t see what kind of move he was trying to go for being that I was sitting close enough to ringside to try and get a picture of whatever he was attempting from the top rope. All I saw was a grown man land on the back of his head and neck like a lawn dart from the top rope after apparently attempting a double moonsault (a double backflip).

Have you ever thought you just literally watched someone break their neck right in front of you? Have you ever thought you literally just watched someone die right in front of you?

Needless to say, the match stops, the show stops for a good 15 minutes at least while the EMTs get him onto the stretcher, and the mood immediately just switches.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of unease throughout the building although Charade was moving his legs and hands before he got onto the stretcher and was never unconscious for any period of time.

Late last night, Beyond Wrestling’s official Twitter account (@beyondwrestling) sent out the following:  “From what I understand Charade fractured the base of the skull but should miraculously make a full recovery in 2-4 months. Unbelievable.”

I can honestly say that after being possibly the third closest person to the incident after the referee and Black Baron (Charade’s opponent), this guy is lucky to be alive. He lands an inch further up or lower down on his neck and he’s probably not with us anymore.

But it’s all fake, right? Not a single one of you can make that argument rationally.

Shortly before the second half of the show got underway, Beyond Wrestling’s “ring leader” and Executive Producer Drew Cordeiro made a very emotional and impactful speech thanking everyone for their continued support of Beyond Wrestling. Drew stated that the fans of Beyond made it what it is today and that “we’re building something special here” which is why guys like Charade were willing to take these super crazy risks so that they could entertain the fans and give them something that they’ve never seen before no matter what the cost.

This made me think of something that Drew Gulak (another wrestler on the Beyond roster of CZW fame) said in his latest blog for Beyond’s website (LookMaNoFans.com): “…I have been hearing a lot of debate in my travels over this art form called Professional Wrestling that I and so many others claim to be in love with. When I pose a question to my peers, and even my mentors, I get an answer sometimes that sounds like this: “I love professional wrestling because we suspend disbelief.” And lately, specifically amongst the locker room at Beyond Wrestling, I’ve been hearing a lot of people throw around reasons akin to what I just wrote. Many of us, the performers, love our art because according to them we “suspend disbelief.” And I’m not satisfied with that. The idea of suspending disbelief is true of any performance in theory. And for a long time many people within our industry from all walks, my mentors and role models included, like to throw that idea out there, that in the end we’re looking for simulated realism where you blur the lines of fact and fiction in order to “suspend” someone’s “disbelief.” I think that’s such a negative statement about something we supposedly love. I think there is more to what we do and it doesn’t guarantee success. Perhaps we can start by re-wording that phrase? Instead of trying to “suspend disbelief,” I think we as wrestlers should be trying to make the “unbelievable believable.” I feel that’s where true success lies. When you look at people compared by a rate of success it proves to be true…”

After everything that happened last night, I have to believe that Beyond Wrestling exemplifies everything that’s right with professional wrestling.

First of all, the sight of all the wrestlers, many of whom were probably meeting Charade for the first time that day, gathered around the ring as the EMTs tended to him, exemplifies the brotherhood that we as professionals share.

I’m pretty confident that Charade never would’ve taken the risk that he did if there wasn’t that sense amongst himself and his peers that Beyond Wrestling was, in fact, building something special like they’ve been doing since late 2009 when they started (the first match I ever saw from Beyond was in September of 2009).

The fact that Charade, coming from Atlanta mind you, went for a double moonsault on a show that drew maybe 50 people at an armory in Rhode Island AND the fact that he’s expected to make a full recovery in two to four months brings two whole new separate meanings to Drew Gulak’s concept of making the “unbelievable believable.”

Beyond Wrestling, from everything I’ve seen and heard, gives you the avenue to be able to take this concept that Drew Gulak speaks of and run with it without as many restrictions as you would encounter in most other indy promotions.

This is why I would love to be honored with the chance to one day work for this promotion. Anyone who has seen me wrestle knows that I don’t need to take the high-risk route in my attempts to keep the fans coming back for more. A lot of guys these days are trained in that sort of balls-to-the-wall style and there’s nothing wrong with that at all because it does satisfy the fans who are coming to a show looking for that sort of action.

Beyond brings a little bit of everything to the table. Just last night, Drew Gulak and Eric Corvis put on a very emotional (given the circumstances) technical wrestling/strong style clinic, RD Evans and Veda Scott pushed the envelope in an inter-gender match, you had a WSU (Women’s Superstars Uncensored) showcase match, you had the death/gravity defying styles of guys like Charade and AR Fox, you had the technical prowess of guys like Darius Carter, and you had the laugh-out-loud antics of guys like Pinkie Sanchez, Steve “The Turtle” Weiner, and the Kentucky Gentleman himself: Chuck Taylor (and the Swamp Monster). Hell, there was even a pre-show Main Event four-way match for advance ticket holders between Jaka, Kobald, Matt Taven, & AR Fox that tore the house down and set the bar for the rest of the night.

Beyond has a little something for everybody and I would love to get the chance to one day bring Ray Ray Marz, and my vision of being pro wrestling’s fav #RockStarRevolution, to the forefront and give the company a little something different, give them matches they’ll hopefully be talking about on the ride home and beyond (pun intended), & give them my take on the concept of making the “unbelievable believable.”

Somewhere between 1:00 and 2:00 AM today, Charade put out a tweet stating: “Beyond Wrestling's Armory More reminded me that I am not Superman.”

Charade, if by some odd coincidence you wind up stumbling upon this little blog, just know that even Superman had moments of being vulnerable, moments that probably made him look back and re-evaluate things a little bit. But Superman had a knack for making the unbelievable seem believable. And the fact that you layed your life on the line for the chance at national attention and exposure won’t go unnoticed by the fans or by the boys. We all do it whenever we go to the ring to do what we do, even if we all do it in different ways. While I’ll personally never try a double moonsault, I appreciate the fact that you pushed the envelope for the chance at getting that one break we all strive for. And the fact that you’re expected to make a full recovery in two to four months will certainly draw you some comparisons to this Superman individual you speak of.   

Finally, I leave you all with the first Beyond match I ever watched. Be warned: it’s pretty violent. Just another example of how Beyond has a little something for everybody. And while you’re watching the match, keep in mind all I’ve told you about how Beyond exemplifies brotherhood, pushing the envelope, and making the “unbelievable believable.” You’ll see it all on display in this, one of the first matches Beyond ever released to Youtube.

Deuces,

-Ray-