Mix of veterans, upstarts headline Freelance team-up 'Chicago’s Secret Stash’
By Mike Pankow
April 7, 2021
For the last several years, Freelance Wrestling and Freelance Underground have brought the Chicago area some of the most entertaining wrestling shows around. But the last year has been a real test.
The coronavirus pandemic hurt pretty much every local company, but the Freelance companies have been very quiet since COVID-19 surged in America in March 2020.
The companies have been careful not to rush back into regular, full-scale shows even as numbers improve and vaccines become available. Freelance and Freelance Underground have only been a part of only two collaborative events in the last 13 months – part of GCW’s Collective with limited fans in Indianapolis and an hour of “Future of Freelance” during another GCW all-night marathon a few months ago.
Storm Grayson, shown here wrestling against Tony Nas in Oct. 2019, will challenge Robert “Ego” Anthony for the Freelance Legacy Championship at “Chicago’s Secret Stash on Friday, April 9. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
Freelance Underground co-owners “2 Juice” Andy Long (aka Caleb Elwardt) and James Camaioni along with Freelance Wrestling’s Matt Knicks wanted to get back in the game in some way and “Chicago’s Secret Stash” is the perfect show to satisfy that hunger.
With local independent wrestlers not getting a lot of reps and being limited primarily to workouts, opportunities had been few and far between.
Some veterans such as Robert “Ego” Anthony, who won the Freelance Legacy Championship from Effy at the Collective, put in some work on AEW Dark last summer. Freelance Underground Independent Champion Laynie Luck wrestled at The Collective and performed for Zelo Pro as their women’s champion. However, Freelance Underground Champion GPA played it safe during the pandemic and hasn’t wrestled in a year.
Long and Camaioni joined Windy City Slam Podcast this week to talk about “Chicago’s Secret Stash” and how it came together. They talked a lot about the youth movement on the show.
They lauded the work ethic of Storm Grayson, who challenges Anthony for the Legacy Championship. Grayson overcame an injury from a couple of years ago and wrestled in tag matches and multi-man matches for the most part with Freelance Underground and Zelo Pro. Grayson appears now to be at his physical prime after a short time in the business and should be a credible challenge for the two-decade veteran in Anthony.
Freelance Underground Champion GPA returns to in-ring competition for the first time in more than a year when he faces Laynie Luck at “Chicago’s Secret Stash.” (Photo by Mike Pankow)
Luck and GPA, FU’s top two champions and real-life domestic partners, face off against each other in a non-title match. They will be taking their Instagram video sparring seasons into the spotlight for a main-event-level match. Luck is a versatile performer who constantly adapts and improves her in-ring game while GPA is one of the craftiest heels in the area, doing whatever is necessary to gain victory. Their chemistry should result in a dynamite match.
Veteran duo, Marshe Rockett and Acid Jaz, known in Freelance Underground as the “Coco Buffs,” face Koda Hernandez and “One Man Dynasty” Darius Latrell. Long and Camaioni said this was Rockett and Jaz looking “at younger versions of themselves.”
Effy takes on “Yours Rudely” Trevor Outlaw in another featured match, the entertaining fan-favorite against a guy who everyone loves to hate. Outlaw, in his short career, has shown a knack for solid work on the mic and old-school heel work in the ring, with matches in Freelance Underground, Zelo Pro and Warrior Wrestling. This should be a fun clash of styles.
In other singles matches, Cole Radrick faces Angel Escalera and Jordan Oliver goes up against August Matthews. Matthews usually teams up with Davey Bang as part of the Bang Bros., but with Bang booked elsewhere, Long and Camaioni thought it was perfect chance for Matthews to show what he can do on his own.
Finally, in a Freelance staple – the 6-man scramble match – features FU regular Danger Mask, the beloved Chico Suave, Sage Phillips, Torero, Sean Galway and Freelance Wrestling Academy student Jackson P. Larkin, who has been seen in John Bullard’s Chicagoland Championship Wrestling.
Windy City Slam is proud to be a sponsor of “Chicago’s Secret Stash,” which premieres Friday, April 9 at 3 p.m. Chicago time on Independent Wrestling TV (IWTV.live). You can download the app on Apple App Store and Google Play as well as watch on streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick.
Check out Episode 61 of the Windy City Slam for the interview with 2 Juice and James, plus listen for an offer code for a discount for IWTV.live: https://apple.co/39MFRbB or click on the Windy City Slam Podcast tab on this page!
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every week with Chris Lanuti on The Windy City Slam Podcast. Episodes drop early Tuesday morning wherever you download podcasts or at https://windycityslam.podbean.com/.
We are looking for guests to appear on future episodes of the Windy City Slam Podcast! Please contact Mike at mikepankow@windycityslam.com, message him on Facebook or DM him on Twitter.
