WhatTheHYPE | Liam Graham
On Saturday, Jan. 14, BeastMode Toronto hosted its, “There Goes The Neighbourhood” event in downtown Toronto’s Kensington market. The event was held from two in the afternoon until ten at night inside The Boat lounge on 158 Augusta Ave.
The event card boasted nine battles, but only seven were able to go down due to performers not showing up. BeastMode battle league host Kriss Cain says hurdles such as these are commonplace when trying to organize an event.
“One battler could be coming from three hours away, and the guy he’s facing could say he can’t come out for whatever reason,” says Cain. “If there is legitimate reasoning you can’t really disrespect, but it gets dicey if their opponent still makes that three hour drive for nothing, especially if they have their own stresses going on… There are all kinds of hurdles you know? At the end of the day we find a way through it.”
Out of the seven battles that occurred, one was judged and the rest were promotional battles. The only difference between the two being that judged battles have a declared winner at the end while promotional battles serve only to promote the league. Below is a breakdown of the matches that went down.
BL versus Dysfunctional
BL gets his game face on | RSV photography
Dysfunctional gets his hands dirty. | RSV Photography
A debut battle, both emcees came swinging with fresh material and quips eager to prove themselves as capable roster additions on their first night with BeastMode. Both emcees came swinging hard in this promo battle, but BL displayed a stronger form and technique with his performance.
A1 versus Barz
Barz putting in work | GKTV photography
The only judged battle, both emcees displayed excellent rebuttal skills by engaging in heated back-and-forth ad lib conversations between their rounds. Barz had great energy and confidence, which gave him a slight advantage until the second round where A1 really started to hammer down with his punches and superior material. Barz lost in the end with a 2-1 judge call as his energy started to die out in the third round making his weaker material more apparent, though he didn’t go out without a fight.
Ronzilla versus Revelation
Revelation gets heavy handed with his punchlines | GKTV Photography
A great match-up in terms of comedic style, both emcees came with material that was as insulting as it was hilarious. The emcees were matched with confidence throughout the battle until around the second round when Ronzilla delivered a haymaker of a punch line by suggesting Revelation had lost his virginity to a very infamous and desperate groupie. The fact that everyone knew of the groupie being suggested made it hit that much harder as the entire crowd was roaring with laughter. Revelation took the hit well, but it was apparent that it shook him in his third round as he began to stumble.
Bayonetta versus AJ
Bayonetta throws down on AJ | GKTV photography
A refreshing battle and the only male versus female battle to take place that night, both emcees were hungry to show off skill in this frantic one-round battle. Bayonetta has always displayed a good level of confidence in her battles, but she was relatively unprepared for AJ and his unorthodox, goofy methods. Using his kind-hearted teddy bear look to his advantage, he was a mixture of sincere and devastating. Bayonetta only had one angle, which she used well, but Aj had a mixture of humour with his material is what gave him a better showing.
Scrilla Cam versus Artifakt
Artifakt smiles off Scrilla’s punches | GKTV photography
Another one-round battle, both emcees styles clashed but in a good way. Scrilla Cam came with fast-paced and entertaining lines, while Artifakt displayed a slower, more relaxed and poetic style. Artifakt’s style helped him secure more of a confident look, as it made it seem like he was just shrugging off every bit of decent material that Cam hit him with. A good display of skill from both emcees, but Artifakt definitely had the better showcase.
Grid versus Dabz
Dabz defends against Grid’s lyrical onslaught | GKTV photography
This was a very interesting battle to watch. Grid came out of the gate strong in his first round, never relenting for a second as he laid down punchline after punchline in well-laid-out schemes. Dabz was obviously shaken in his first round when he suffered an awfully long choke, but redeemed himself greatly by getting back into a strong scheme of his own. Dabz won the crowd back in the second round when he delivered a strong name flip by saying, “I’m white, everything I eat is too spicy,” but Grid continued his onslaught by making good pop culture references and displaying unwavering confidence, earning him the better showcase of skill.
Raiden Black versus Genocide
Genocide gets into his material | GKTV photography
The last battle to take place and the most heated out of all that occurred. Both emcees brought heavy personal insults into the fight. Genocide went as far to attack Raiden’s family life by bringing his son into his material, and Raiden fired back just as hard with shots directed at Genocide’s wife and her battle with cancer. The two would lighten the mood occasionally with Genocide making jokes about Raiden’s ginger hair and physique, and Raiden handled it well by describing how awesome life as a “ginger” can be. The comedic intervals between the heavy-handed personal insults were much needed because at the end of the battle the whole crowd was convinced there was going to be a physical fight. Genocide was slightly more consistent with his strong material, giving him the slightest edge in having the better showing.
Despite only being able to go through with seven of the nine planned battles, the event still received a good turn-out. With this year being the eighth year BeastMode has been in operation, it is apparent that the scene is getting consistent recognition and one can only wonder about where the road will go from here in the future. Be sure to check out the GKTV/WTHC express interview with Kriss Cain attached in the article.
