By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
We are looking for reports on all WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, ROH, GCW, MLW, and other notable live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report or even basic results to dotnetjason@gmail.com
Warrior Wrestling “Trouble is Brewing”
March 1, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois at Revolution Brewing Taproom
Matches available via the Warrior Wrestling YouTube Page
Warrior Wrestling officials stated at the time they didn’t have a deal in place to air it on a streaming site; thus I didn’t expect to ever see this show. So, I was pleasantly surprised when they released the six-match show on YouTube. To be clear, they released each of the six matches as separate videos. So, the whole show is available, but you need to watch each file to see the event in its entirety.
This is a good-sized room; you can see shelf after shelf of barrels of beer against one wall. Attendance is maybe 400 but it is a sellout and they definitely can’t get more in here. There is NO commentary and just two ringside cameras. However, lighting is good and the crowd is hot and loud.
1. Jason Hotch defeated Sam Beale at 13:24. Of course, Hotch is currently in TNA, while Beale had a short run as a clueless goofball in TNA two years ago. Beale came out to a Nickelback song, which immediately got him booed. Beale attacked before the bell. Hotch dove through the ropes at 2:00 but Beale caught him and slammed him into a ring post. Beale was in control in the ring and hit some chops, and he jawed at the fans. He hit a gutbuster over his knee at 6:00 and remained in charge. Hotch dove through the ropes onto him.
They traded headbutts. Beale hit a German Suplex at 9:00, then a bulldog move for a nearfall. Beale blocked a sunset flip powerbomb out of the corner, and Beale hit a twisting second-rope suplex for a nearfall, but Hotch got a foot on the ropes at 12:30. Hotch hit a spinning sit-out slam for the pin. Good match. I hadn’t seen Hotch except in TNA, and he showed good babyface fire here.
2. Kylie Rae defeated Missa Kate at 16:13. Congrats to Kylie, who just returned to in-ring competition after giving birth last year. Missa Kate is a Midwest regular who also competes in NWA. (I like that the cameras are backstage and watching Kylie stretch, and get excited at hearing the fans pop for her music, before she walked through the curtain. I really nice behind-the-scenes feel to this.) Both women are about the same height and overall size. They shook hands, but then Kate spit her gum into Rae’s hand. Gross. Rae put it in her mouth, getting a “you sick f—!” chant. They finally locked up at 2:00 and Rae worked over the left arm. Kate applied a leg lock around the throat at 4:00.
They brawled to the floor and Kate hit some loud chops. Kate walked up to Rae’s boyfriend and newborn, got in its face, and shouted “that’s mommy!” as she hit Kylie some more! That’s a true heel for you! They got back in the ring at 8:00, with Kate in charge, choking her in the ropes and keeping her grounded. Kylie hit a buzzsaw kick to the face for a nearfall at 10:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Kate hit a shotgun dropkick. Kylie hit a powerbomb and she tied Kate in a crossface.
Kate escaped and hit an inverted DDT for a believable nearfall at 13:00. This crowd LOVES Kylie and it was distracting Kate. Kate hit a back suplex. They teased doing a German Suplex from the apron to the floor. Kylie nailed a superkick and Kate fell to the floor. In the ring, Kate slammed Kylie face-first into the middle turnbuckle, then she hit a running knee to the back of the head at 15:30. Kate went for a spin kick, but Kylie ducked it, grabbed Kate and rolled her up for the pin out of nowhere. That was a great indies womens match. Two pros at work here. They hugged afterward, but then Kate hit a spin kick to the jaw.
3. Mike Bennett defeated “Warhorse” Jake Parnell at 19:33. I feel I must write it every time I see him — Warhorse has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis, from red-and-yellow rocker who “rules ass” to this dark, black vest-wearing serious, menacing figure. Bennett got a nice pop and he’s the babyface here. I’m really loving the close-ups on each man as they are psyching themselves up in the corner before the bell; this show just ‘looks different,’ and it’s not just the lack of commentary. Parnell stalled at the bell and rolled to the floor. Back in the ring, Bennett hit some chops, and Jake bailed again. Bennettt followed him to the floor and chopped him in front of the fans.
This crowd really is packed; you can see them as Bennett and Parnell brawled around the building. They got back into the ring at 5:00, where Warhorse applied a crossface and cranked on Bennett’s head. He remained in charge and hit a dropkick in the corner at 9:00, and Bennett fell to the floor. They again brawled on the floor and traded chops in front of the fans. In the ring, they hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down at 11:00. Bennett hit a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Parnell hit a running knee in the corner for a nearfall at 13:30.
Parnell hit a back suplex. Bennett hit a clothesline and they were both down again. Warhorse hit a top-rope elbow drop for a believable nearfall at 17:00. Bennett hit a rolling forearm and a jumping piledriver for a nearfall, but Parnell grabbed the ropes. Parnell hit a hard clothesline, then another. He hit another top-rope elbow drop for a nearfall, and he immediately re-applied the crossface. Bennett hit a Gotch-style piledriver for the pin. That was good stuff.
4. “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku and Dominic Garrini defeated “Latinos Most Wanted” Koda Hernandez and Sabin Gauge at 13:08. I just watched Koda face Homicide in a match that took place two weeks after this one here, and he’s a rising star. ViF is a top-3 indy tag team; I know Ku lives in Chicago and they frequently compete here. LMW hit dives to the floor as ViF walked to ringside, and they all immediately brawled on the floor. In the ring, Koda hit a uranage, and Sabin hit a senton on Ku at 1:30, and LMW worked over Ku early on. Ku hit a dropkick on Sabin in the corner, then a Demolition-style kneedrop to the chest.
Garrini hit some hard chops and backed the smaller Sabin into the ViF corner. Ku hit a spinebuster at 4:30, then a brainbuster, and he applied a Boston Crab. Koda got the hot tag and hit an Exploder Suplex on Garrini at 7:00, then a tornado DDT. Sabin hit a Lethal Injection. Garrini hit a hard clothesline on Sabin. Garrini hit double knees to Sabin’s ribs. ViF hit a team Air Raid Crash move at 9:00 on Sabin. Sabin hit a Frankensteiner on Ku. LMW hit stereo dives through the ropes ont ViF. In the ring, both ViF locked in rear-naked chokes.
(There are some slight edits in this match that threw me off.) Ku hit a hard clothesline. They all got up and traded chops. Sabin hit a springboard crossbody block. Gauge hit a superkick on Garrini. Garrini flipped Gauge up and Ku hit a kneestrike. ViF then hit the Chasing the Dragon spin kick-and-brainbuster combo for the pin. The teams hugged; ViF left the ring so the crowd could give the local LMW team a nice pop. Sabin’s chest was absolutely red and on the verge of bleeding from all those hard chops. Again, there were some slight edits in this match that I don’t recall seeing in the first few matches.
* Next up is Trevor Outlaw’s open challenge! Trevor is a good heel; with his beard and overall look, I always compare him to ROH’s Josh Woods or former ROH wrestler Marty Scurll. He got on the mic and told the crowd to shut up, and of course, was booed. It was announced the winner of this next match will win the “Revolution Title” and it will be a bar room brawl with pinfalls counting anywhere. “Everybody Dies!” hit, and the crowd went NUTS as Lance Archer walked to ringside. Outlaw looked like he had seen a ghost.
5. Lance Archer defeated Trevor Outlaw to win the Revolution Title in a Barroom Brawl match at 7:49. Outlaw is shorter-than-average, so he’s much shorter than Archer. Outlaw dove onto Archer, but Lance caught him and began chopping him at ringside with those frying pan-sized hands. Outlaw hit some chops that Archer no-sold. They brawled through the tasting room area in the brewery. Outlaw shoved Archer into a wall and hit him with a garbage can lid.
Outlaw opened a keg, put a T-shirt over Archer”s head and ‘water-boarded’ him at 3:00! They continued to brawl around the floor with Lance in charge. They finally got in the ring, where Archer hit a chokeslam for a nearfall at 6:00. Outlaw hit a low blow, got a chair, and struck Archer on the back with it. However, Archer hit the Black Out/flipping Razor’s Edge onto a folded chair for the pin. That was fun. Anyone who has read my reviews knows I love a good one-sided big-man squash match. Archer celebrated with the title; he spoke on the mic but he was hard to comprehend.
6. Mustafa Ali defeated Trey Miguel at 18:06. Of course, Ali is a Chicago native and undoubtedly the reason this show sold out. With these two both in TNA, they easily could have a repeat of this match in the near future. A massive pop for Ali, who came out last. Ali wore the TNA X Division Title belt and the Dreamwave Alternative Title belt (which is another Illinois-based promotion further west than Chicago.) Trey rolled to the floor and stalled rather than tie up. Finally, both back in the ring, they traded standing switches and worked each other’s left arm. Trey hit a huracanrana at 4:00 and applied a headlock on the mat. Ali hit his own huracanrana. Trey popped up and they traded chops and forearms.
Ali went for a springboard move at 7:00 but Miguel shoved him to the floor. Trey hit a stomp on Ali’s left arm as it was on the ring apron. They got back into the ring, with Trey kicking at Ali’s damaged arm and working it over, and he was in charge. Ali nailed a spin kick to the head at 10:00 but he clutched at his sore limb. Trey snapped the arm across the top rope; he kipped up and celebrated and was booed. Ali hit a top-rope 450 Splash on Trey’s left arm! Now they were both selling damaged arms. Ali hit his rolling neckbreaker at 12:30. Trey leapt off the ropes, but Ali caught him with a dropkick.
Trey hit another huracanrana. Ali hit a tornado DDT. Ali crashed face-first into the middle turnbuckle. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing. Trey hit an enzuigiri and a pump-handle swinging back slam. He dove through the ropes onto Ali. Ali jumped in the ring and ove through the ropes onto Trey at 15:00. (They accidentally repeated some footage here.) Trey hit a top-rope Meteora double-knees, and he twisted Ali’s left wrist and fingers. Ali hit a Buckle Bomb, then a top-rope 450 Splash for the pin. Good match.
* Trey went to leave, but Ali got on the mic and called him back into the ring. Ali said fans here didn’t like Trey, “but after tonight, we respect you,” and that got a pop. Ali shook Trey’s hand. Ali said he was told he could “take it easy” on an indy show but he refuses to do that, and he got a big pop. He thanked the fans. He said his dream is to be one of the best professional wrestlers, and fans are letting him live out his dreams.
Final Thoughts: A really good show, and with just six matches, each one was given time to breath and develop. Yes, I will go with Ali-Miguel for best match. Again there was a moment late in the match where we saw the same footage twice, once from each camera. I’ll go with Bennett-Parnell for second best, just ahead of the women’s match, but there was nothing bad here.
Again, you will have to go to Warrior Wrestling’s youtube channel and watch each of these six matches separately, as there isn’t a single file with all six matches in one full show. I will again remind readers there isn’t commentary, but that didn’t hurt my enjoyment level of this show at all, but I understand if some viewers feel it is needed/required.
Be the first to comment