By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Freelance Pro Wrestling “All Killer No Filler”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
September 27, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois at Logan Square Auditorium
This is the attractive ballroom they routinely use, and a crowd of 250 or so makes it seem packed. Dave Prazak & K-Mel provided commentary.
1. Darius Latrell vs. Mason Morgan vs. Sam Holloway vs. Laynie Luck vs. Alfonso Gonzalez vs. Davey Bang in a scramble. The tall, athletic Holloway competed in suburban Philadelphia 24 hours ago; he’s starting to get attention and a busier travel schedule. Morgan is a flamboyant Black man and probably has the fewest matches of anyone in this one. All six brawled at the bell. Morgan and Laynie took turns showing off how to use their butts to strike an opponent for a bit of comedy. Bang hit a handspring-back-elbow at 2:30. Gonzalez hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Bang. Holloway and Latrell — the two tallest competitors in the match — stood toe-to-toe and traded strikes, then simultaneous Mafia Kicks, then simultaneous chokeslams. (It was pretty absurd.)
Bang hit a spear on Alfonso, then a Fosbury Flop to the floor on everyone at 5:30. Laynie hit a top-rope flip dive onto the five guys on the floor. In the ring, Latrell hit a side slam on Laynie for a nearfall. Bang dropkicked Latrell. Three people hit a team piledriver on Latrell. Bang hit an enzuigiri on Alfonso at 7:30. Morgan hit a spinebuster on Laynie for a nearfall. Holloway hit a twisting uranage on Morgan. Alfonso hit a low blow and rolled up Bang for the cheap pin. I always say I like a good scramble to get a show started.
Alfonso Gonzalez defeated Darius Latrell, Mason Morgan, Sam Holloway, Laynie Luck, and Davey Bang in a scramble at 8:26.
2. Wes Barkley vs. Robbie Reeves. Barkley is older with dark, curly hair; I’m used to seeing him in Cleveland-based AIW, and he was booed. Reeves may not even be 20 yet; he looks like he played high school football not that long ago. A basic lockup and Barkley complained that Reeves pulled his hair. Reeves overpowered him early and hit a sidewalk slam for a nearfall at 2:30. Wes hit a rolling clothesline for a nearfall, and the crowd began chanting, “Cleveland sucks!” Barkley kept him grounded. Reeves hit another sideslam, and they were both down at 6:30. Reeves hit a running crossbody block for a nearfall. Barkley hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Barkley got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for a nearfall. Reeves nailed a Samoan Drop for the pin. Solid match.
Robbie Reeves defeated Wes Barkley at 8:50.
3. Storm Grayson vs. Regan Lydale in an intergender match for the Freelance Wrestling Title. Regan is still fairly new, and she’s fairly tall — they actually appear to be about the same height — but she’s giving up a lot of weight advantage. Storm has wrestled on WWE TV and has been a good heel champion here. The crowd taunted him with a “new champ!” chant. Grayson was laughing before they locked up, clearly not taking this seriously. He pushed her into the corner. She hit a series of chops, then a bulldog for a nearfall at 1:30. He hit a backpack stunner for a nearfall. He hit some hard chops that dropped her.
Regan hit some clotheslines, then a twisting suplex out of the corner for a nearfall at 5:30. She hit a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall. Sabin Gauge got in the ring, but she hit a Pounce on him. Grayson hit an enzuigiri and a back suplex on her. She hit a Pounce on Grayson for a nearfall, but his feet were in the ropes at 8:00. Sabin reached into the ring and tripped her. Grayson hit a running knee to the side of her head for the cheap pin.
Storm Grayson defeated Regan Lydale to retain the Freelance Heavyweight Title at 8:50. (Yes, I clocked two consecutive matches at the same length.)
* Grayson got on the mic but was loudly booed. Gauge helped him to his feet. Kylie Rae came out and our next match is about to begin! Like Holloway, Kylie Rae competed Thursday night near Philadelphia. She has completely lost the post-pregnancy weight and looks great, too.
4. Kylie Rae vs. Sabin Gauge (w/Storm Grayson). Sabin is relatively short and roughly the same size as she is. He rolled to the floor at the bell and hugged Grayson. He finally jumped in and attacked her from behind. He applied a half-crab at 4:00, and he turned it into an STF. Storm choked her in the ropes. She hit some clotheslines. Sabin hit a German Suplex for a nearfall. They traded forearm strikes. He hit a Pele Kick; she hit a Poison Rana at 7:00, then a Buzzsaw Kick for a nearfall, but Storm put Sabin’s foot on the ropes to stop the count.
Sabin hit a flying leg lariat. He hit a flying elbow and a Jay Driller; he put his feet on the ropes but the ref saw it. The ref ejected Storm Grayson for constantly interfering. They traded rollups. He again went for a Jay Driller but she blocked it. She swung him to the mat and locked in a Fujiwara Armbar, and he tapped out. Entertaining match; she is really locked in right now. Kylie has now earned a title shot next month, and the show headed to intermission, which was edited out of the replay.
Kylie Rae defeated Sabin Gauge at 10:13.
5. Trevor Outlaw (w/Frank the Clown) vs. Devon Monroe. In many ways, the flamboyant Monroe is similar to Sonny Kiss. Outlaw and Frank had balloons that spelled out “Trev-tember.” They took turns playing to the crowd, then Trevor attacked from behind. Monroe hit some armdrags. Outlaw stomped on Monroe, and Frank reached in and cheated, too. Monroe hit some clotheslines. Outlaw hit a running swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall at 7:00. Outlaw got a rollup, grabbed the bottom rope for leverage, and scored the tainted pin. Basic but fine.
Trevor Outlaw defeated Devon Monroe at 9:07.
6. August Mathews vs. Eyecandy Elliott. My first time seeing Elliott, the only new face for me on this show; he has a good physique, is of average height, and wore pink trunks. Elliott hit a clothesline and some punches early on. They fought into the crowd at 2:00; Elliott put a hat on and pretended to blend in among the fans. Matthews dropped him groin-first across the guardrail. Elliott hit a back suplex on the ring apron, with August rolling to the floor. Back in the ring, Elliott was now in charge and he kept August grounded.
Matthews hit a rolling cannonball for a nearfall at 7:00. He hit some Yes Kicks to Elliott’s chest. Elliott hit an Implant Buster faceplant for a nearfall. Matthews hit a clothesline, then a German Suplex. Elliott hit a Saito Suplex; Matthews hit a half-nelson suplex and an enzuigiri for a nearfall. Matthews hit a Cave-in Stomp to the chest. He then hooked both arms, got a seatbelt rollup, and scored the pin. A good match. A check of cagematch.net shows that Elliott wrestled frequently 2016-19 but this was his first match in five years. He looked good here.
August Matthews defeated Eyecandy Elliott at 10:14.
* GPA and Laynie Luck jumped in the ring and attacked Matthews! Elliott paused for a second, unsure of what to do, but then he joined in! Davey Bang ran into the ring and made the save, and the heels scampered to the stage. GPA got on the mic and complained about all the publicity Bang and Matthews have gotten recently, including a recent AEW TV match.
7. “The Syndicate” Calvin Tankman and Shane Mercer (w/James Russo) vs. “PME” Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia for the Freelance Tag Team Titles. I love this Tankman/Mercer team and they should retain these titles for several months. I will reiterate that Philly has dropped a lot of weigh in recent months and he looks great. They danced to the ring and are babyfaces here. Mercer easily shoved Philly to the mat to open. Tankman and Tenaglia entered at 3:00 and jawed at each other; Calvin has the huge weight advantage. Mercer hit a release suplex on Tenaglia and a loud chop in the corner. Tankman hit a bodyslam at 7:00. Mercer went for a delayed vertical suplex; Philly hopped in the ring to break that up. Calvin hit a backbreaker over his knee.
Philly finally got the hot tag at 10:30 and he hit some jab punches on Tankman, then some jabs on Mercer. He hit a double Sliced Bread on the champs. Marino launched off Philly’s back and dove onto the heels on the floor. Mercer hit a German Suplex on Collins. Tenaglia hit a superkick on Mercer. Russo pulled Shane to the floor to save him. Tankman nailed a pop-up spinning back elbow a 14:30. Mercer nailed Moonsault & Battery on Collins. He flipped Collins in the air, and Calvin caught Philly with a spinning back fist for the pin. Good match and the right outcome. I really do want to see Tankman and Mercer retain these belts for a while. “Too much size, too much power,” Prazak remarked.
Calvin Tankman and Shane Mercer defeated Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia to retain the Freelance Tag Team Titles at 15:01.
* James Russo got on the mic and was heavily booed. He listed all the victories the Syndicate has had. He begged Freelance to bring them some competition. (I love a cocky heel tag team that welcomes all challengers, over a chickenshit team that ducks opponents.)
8) Koda Hernandez vs. Darin Corbin for the Freelance Wrestling Legacy Title. I’m a big fan of Koda and consider him a rising star in the Chicago indy scene. K-Mel noted how these two have feuded over the past year. Several doors and chairs were marched into the ring first! Both are dressed in jeans and T-shirts; I love that they are dressed for a fight, not a wrestling match. Corbin grabbed the belt from the referee and tried to hit Koda with it, but Koda blocked it, and they immediately brawled. Koda hit some rolling German Suplexes. They brawled to ringside and fought in front of the fans. In the ring, Darin was in charge and he kept Koda grounded. He jabbed a chair into Koda’s stomach at 8:30.
He picked up a kendo stick and repeatedly hit Koda with it. Koda grabbed the kendo stick and struck Darin across the back with it. Corbin hit a DDT onto a folded chair for a nearfall at 13:00. He tied Hernandez in the Tree of Woe and dropkicked him in the face. He struck Koda with some chairs. Koda flipped Corbin off the top rope and onto several open chairs at 16:30. Koda hit a hard clothesline and a slingshot senton, then an Exploder Suplex through a door in the corner for a nearfall. Koda vanished to the back and retuned with a really tall ladder. He hit a uranage at 19:30 and he set up a door bridge. Hernandez climbed the ladder and went for an elbow drop, but Darin moved, and Koda crashed through a door bridge.
Darin immediately pushed Koda through a different door in the corner for a nearfall, and we got a “This is awesome!” chant. Darin shoved the ref; Prazak said that will earn Darin a fine. Darin hit another ref! He hit a Jarrett-style Stroke at 22:00, but a third ref didn’t want to come in the ring and count! Koda accidentally hit the referee with a chair. Corbin immediately hit a low blow and a Ginger Snap stunner for a visual pin, but there was no ref to count! A frustrated Corbin began hitting the knocked-out refs! Corbin set up another door bridge. They fought on the ladder, and Koda pulled out a fork and struck him with it. Koda hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder, sending them both through the door bridge, and he scored the pin. A strong main event.
Koda Hernandez defeated Darin Corbin in a street fight at 26:38.
Final Thoughts: A well-laid-out main event; both men got in some good spots. This is my style of hardcore match — no gusset plates, glass panes, light tubes, pizza cutters. They busted their butts and filled 26 minutes well, so kudos to both of them. I liked Mercer/Tankman-PME for second, and a really good Kylie Rae-Sabin Gauge match for third. I don’t know if a major promotion would take a chance on her again, but Kylie is locked in and having great matches every weekend. Bang has gotten really good; he’s the HBK of his team and Matthews needs to put on some size and improve or risk becoming the Marty Jannetty.
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