The Chicago area is one of the US indies hottest areas, with top-notch promotions like All American Wrestling (AAW), SHIMMER, GALLI Lucha, RISE and ZELO Pro all working around the area. Not to be ignored is Freelance Wrestling, which has been running in the Windy City since 2014. This Friday, Freelance Wrestling presents Too Legit To Quit, a huge event airing live on Powerbomb.tv with three big title matches and a feud for the ages.
Scramble Match: Chris Castro vs. Space Monkey vs. “Eye Candy” Elliott Paul vs. Robert Anthony vs. Laynie Luck vs. Alex Ohlson
A matchup featuring several emerging indie stars, the Scramble has become one of the most fun gimmick matches on the indies over the past year or so. Chris Castro started out with Resistance Pro and GALLI Lucha, but has become a staple with Freelance, winning Freelance Tag Team gold with Matt Knicks in the Four Star Heroes; Canadian indie star Space Monkey is one of the craziest characters in the indie world right now, and regularly competes alongside Shane Sabre in the Space Pirates (with whom he’s currently Alpha-1 Tag Team Champions); “Eye Candy” Elliott Paul is only 24-years old and made a name for himself in IWA Mid South before heading to Freelance; Robert Anthony is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion who also competes as Ego Fantastico; Laynie Luck has only been wrestling since 2015, but has become a rising star with Booker T‘s Reality of Wrestling (ROW), NOVA Pro, SHIMMER and RISE, making her Freelance debut; and Alex Ohlson is another alumn from GALLI whose spent the past few years establishing his brand with Freelance.
Darin Corbin & Bucky Collins vs. The N-Words (Acid Jaz & Bryce Benjamin)
Darin Corbin made a name for himself in the Midwest indies as part of the 5x tag team champions The North Star Express alongside Ryan Cruz and is a former Freelance World Champion in his own right. He aligns himself with an AAW mainstay in Bucky Collins, a former 2x IWA Mid South Light Heavyweight Champion, to face The N-Words. The team of Acid Jazz and Bryce Benjamin are former 2x Freelance Tag Team Champions who have far more history working as a unit, but with the pedigree of Corbin and Collins, it’s sure to be a heavy hitting matchup.
Rickey Shane Page vs. Mik Drake
Rickey Shane Page is just days removed from one of the best Cage of Death matches in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) history, losing a bloodbath to Mance Warner for the vacant CZW World Heavyweight Championship. But Page won’t be nursing his wounds when the former CZW World Champion, A1 Alpha Male Champion and Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) Absolute Champion steps into the ring on Friday. He goes one on one for the first time against New York City’s Mik Drake, who is currently one-half of the ROW Tag Team Champions with Devin Devine and is one of ROW’s top stars. A battle of two big men, and still sour from his CZW loss, Page will be bringing a big match fight to Warner.
“All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Arik Cannon
“All Ego” Ethan Page is on a roll right now. Now a member of IMPACT Wrestling’s roster alongside Matt Sydal, Page is also the reigning Black Label Pro Heavyweight Champion and Xcite Heavyweight Champion. The former EVOLVE star is one of the top bad boys in the global indie scene, where he’s a former Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) Champion out of the UK, as well as a former 3x AIW Absolute Champion and AAW Heavyweight Champion. His opponent is no slouch though, as he’s facing Minnesota indie legend, “The Anarchist” Arik Cannon. Cannon is a 17-year veteran who has competed for IWA Mid South, AAW, CHIKARA, Dragon Gate USA, AIW and his hometown F1RST Wrestling, and is a former 2x IWA Mid South Heavyweight Champion, 2x AAW Heritage Champion, CHIKARA Young Lions Cup Champion and held the F1RST Wrestling Wrestlepalooza Championship over 500 days. This has all the makings for an instant classic.
Freelance Tag Team Championship: The Work Horsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) (c) vs. The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) w/ Coach Mikey
Although individually JD Drake and Anthony Henry have broken out as top singles stars on the indie scene, holding the WWN Championship and Full Impact Pro World Heavyweight Championship respectively, together they still remain a force to be reckoned with as The Work Horsemen. The pair are former EVOLVE Tag Team Champions, and currently hold the Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment (AWE) Tag Team titles alongside their Freelance tag team gold. Their opponents on Friday may be making their Freelance debut, but they’re no rookies. The Ugly Ducklings have run riot over the US indies the past few years, particularly in the Mid Atlantic region with the likes of NOVA Pro, Premiere Wrestling Xperience (PWX), and Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid Atlantic, as well as FEST Wrestling, Innovate Pro Wrestling (IPW), Rockstar Pro and IWA Mid South. They currently hold tag team gold with FEST and PWX, and have previously held the belts with Rockstar Pro, IPW and the NWA United States Tag Team Championships. This will be indie tag team wrestling at its best.
I Quit Match: GPA vs. Kylie Rae
For nearly a year, GPA and Kylie Rae were one of the hottest emerging tag teams in the Midwest, as Awkward Team Hunger Force, winning the Freelance Underground Tag Team titles. But this April, things went south, and GPA turned on his partner, starting one of the most vicious feuds of the year in Freelance Wrestling. On Friday, it all comes to a head as former Freelance World Champion GPA puts it all on the line against former 3x ROW Women’s Champion and ZELO Pro Women’s Champion Kylie Rae, who is one of the bright young stars on the indie scene today. This will be as hard hitting as intergender wrestling can get – neither will be holding back as they both look to settle this grudge once and for all.
Freelance World Championship: Isaias Valazquez (c) vs. Craig Mitchell
In one of the night’s co-main events, 2x Freelance World Champion Isaias Valazquez looks to continue his 180+ day reign as champion intact. It’s been a breakout year for Valazquez, who defended his Freelance title at EVOLVE 110 and EVOLVE 116 this year. A 12-year veteran of the Midwest indies with Freelance and AAW, he hopes to prove his superiority against Freelance Underground Champion Craig Mitchell, a man he has tagged with on multiple occasions this past year. There are no friends in a championship match and this one is for bragging rights in the Freelance Universe.
Powerbomb.tv Independent Championship: “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams vs. Kobe Durst
In the other co-main event, Powerbomb.tv Independent Champion “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams continues his solid 2018 with another title defense on a live Powerbomb.tv event. The former EVOLVE star was formerly part of the dominant faction Catch Point where he was a 2x EVOLVE Tag Team Champion. He continues to be a major player with Beyond Wrestling, but since he departed EVOLVE earlier this year, his momentum has only increased, making his Ring of Honor debut at last month’s Survival of the Fittest. Also the current reigning AIW Absolute Champion, he’ll be a part of the ROH Final Battle Fallout TV tapings later this weekend, where he’ll face NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr. But first, he has to get past one of the hottest indie stars out of Canada in Kobe Durst. A mainstay with Alpha-1, the 23-year old from Toronto, Ontario, is a 2x Alpha-1 Alpha Male Champion, C4 Champion and the current reigning Black Label Pro Indiana State Champion. He’s also worked for Beyond, AAW, Smash Wrestling, Glory Pro and other top indies as he looks for a breakout 2019 – defeating “Hot Sauce” would be another feather in this already impressive cap.
