Will Ospreay, Kurt Angle lead cavalcade of stars at Warrior Wrestling 7
By Mike Pankow
December 30, 2019
Warrior Wrestling keeps shooting higher and higher for every event and its seventh edition was no exception.
Will Ospreay, who in some minds is the world’s best wrestler, was the linchpin in an electric six-man tag team main event, which saw Ospreay and his partners Rocky Romero and Amazing Red defeat IMPACT Wrestling stars Dezmond Xavier, Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz, collectively known as the Rascalz at Warrior Wrestling 7 in South suburban Chicago Heights on Friday, Dec. 13.
Trey Miguel of the Rascalz, left, and Will Ospreay have a stand-off during the six-man tag team main event at Warrior Wrestling 7 on Friday, Dec. 13. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
As expected, the match featured high flying and daredevil maneuvers and had the crowd chanting “All these guys.” Ospreay, who was showered with cheers most of the night and had the longest line at the VIP meet-and-greet, pinned Xavier to win the contest for his team.
The other new star to grace the Marian Catholic High School gym was WWE Hall of Famer and 1996 Olympic champion Kurt Angle. Angle, who wrestled his final match against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35 in April, addressed the crowd during intermission.
Brian Cage, who recently lost the IMPACT World Championship, kept an air-tight grip on the Warrior Wrestling Championship by defeating international superstar El Phantasmo with the Drill Claw in the semi-main event. Cage, the company’s inaugural titleholder, has held the championship for nearly 16 months.
Before the match, the cocky Phantasmo mocked the Chicago area, ripping on CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Chicago pizza, the Cubs and the Blackhawks. The bout itself was a bit of a cat-and-mouse game with Phantasmo trying to keep his distance from Cage until he could find an advantage. Eventually, Cage pulled off a resounding victory.
The show opened with Ethan Page, who hadn’t appeared at Warrior since WW3 in January, confronting promoter Steve Tortorello and one of his students. Page then entered the ring and said his tag team partner from IMPACT Wrestling Josh Alexander would be coming with him for Warrior Wrestling 8 on Feb. 15, 2020.
Page and Alexander currently hold the IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Championships. Page put on an open challenge for Warrior 8, which was answered by the fan-favorite duo of the Space Pirates, Shane Sabre and Space Monkey. All three men then left and worked the Freelance Wrestling show at Logan Square Auditorium later in the evening.
In the opening match of the main card, Templario defeated Jake Lander in a solid affair, which saw both men display some high-flying moves.
Up next was the lone women’s match on the card as Savanna Stone defeated Holidead. Perhaps Stone will be in the conversation for Warrior 8’s War of Attrition match, which will see Tessa Blanchard defend the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Championship.
In a battle of top cruiserweights, Ace Austin retained the IMPACT Wrestling X Division Championship over Blake Christian and Carlos Romo in a three-way match. Austin didn’t have his X Division belt with him.
Chicago’s own Frank the Clown made his mark once again at Warrior Wrestling, leading his charge, Joliet native and local veteran Robert “Ego” Anthony, to victory over Jake Atlas. Anthony scored the victory after Atlas was distracted by Frank.
Michael Elgin walks away from the ring following his 20-minute draw with Sam Adonis. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
In the darkhorse match of the night, Sam Adonis and Michael Elgin went to a 20-minute, time-limit draw in what was an extremely physical affair. After the final bell rang, Elgin took the mic to say he didn’t want to celebrate his birthday with a draw and asked for five more minutes. Just when Tortorello came to the ring to make a ruling on Elgin’s request, Adonis took the mic and said he fulfilled his contract for the evening, but he would face Elgin at Warrior 8 in a no-time-limit match.
Elgin didn’t go home totally unsatisfied, getting a rollup pin on referee Jeremy Tillema as a child made the 3-count, getting a pop from the crowd.
In the final match before intermission, Black Taurus won a five-way Lucha Libre contest over Drago, Aerostar, Rey Horus and Chicago’s Gringo Loco. Taurus pinned Loco for the victory. All five men raised each other’s hands in a token of sportsmanship.
Following the break, Lance Archer defeated Brian Pillman Jr. in a nice clash of styles. Archer, who will face Jon Moxley at the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 14 show in Tokyo, displayed his array of power while Pillman countered with speed and agility. Archer scored the pin with the EBD Claw.
Japanese veteran Minoru Suzuki defeated former MLW Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in a much-anticipated matchup. It was Lawlor’s third straight Warrior Wrestling appearance. The fans closely followed Suzuki’s every move and cheered when the 51-year-old emerged victorious.
The Warrior Wrestling Championship match and the six-man tag match closed out the show.
Also, in a pre-show match, the unique Danhausen defeated Reilly Maguire. At one point during the bout, Danhausen danced outside the ring to “Tequila,” the classic song performed by The Champs.
With Warrior 7 in the books, Warrior 8 already is shaping up to be a huge night as the Rascalz return to face the Strong Hearts of CIMA, T-Hawk and Lindaman, who wrestled former Warrior main eventers SCU as part of AEW.
For a gallery of over 100 photos from Warrior Wrestling 7, plus many others from other events Windy City Slam has covered, go to: https://www.windycityslam.com/photos.
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every other week on The Broadcast Basement, available wherever you download podcasts or at https://broadcastbasement.podbean.com/.
