Beyond Americanrana (2016)

There's no place like home - What a great vibe with a 'no seats needed' club setting with drinks and a communality like few other venues. This was an epic by Beyond marred by match order - the emotional climax and the most important bout occurred well-before Gresham and ZSJ hooked it up a third time running with another incredibly fluid, dynamic technical battle of whose body parts will give out first, G's rt. shoulder/neck or ZSJ's left knee. Incredible form on ZSJ's cradle Tiger suplex 3/4's in. The show opened with two big men enjoying out-performing WWE's version, Apollo Crews. Joey Ryan has worked himself into shows conceiving of spots like jambands aka Grateful Dead weaving the music back to the fourth 'Playing in the Band' jam of the night. AR Fox showed up to create a spectacular moment - sentan'ing from the balcony - and making a poor kid suck his thumb in fright as he attempts it. The old school indie thugs made for an likable 9 man brawl. I find fast-paced Hero credibly playing off of smaller K Lee more appealing than if it was a grind-it-out affair. But here's where the head starts shaking - no, no - Beyond has never had a title and it's been building this idea for an 'Ace' for months - it's bad enough it's now a three-way, but this bout's importance and winner should have been center stage at the end of this show because Gresham's post-speech isn't going to bring it home in the same way. Starr/Gargano tied it up nicely - greater rub went to the departing guy. 8. 25.