Berwyn Championship Wrestling returns with solid mix of veterans, young stars
By Mike Pankow
September 23, 2021
The hallowed halls of Berwyn Eagles Club are starting to get busy again with Chicagoland independent wrestling shows.
Berwyn Championship Wrestling made its long-awaited comeback with “The Return” on Saturday, Sept. 18, with a show loaded with great legends from around the area along with some hungry up-and-comers. Most of the matches featured veterans against youngsters.
Vic Capri cinches in a headlock on Trevor Outlaw during their main-event match for Berwyn Championship Wrestling on Sept. 18. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
The perfect example of a contest between grizzled veteran and brash, cocky kid came in the terrific main event of “Ice Pick” Vic Capri and “Yours Rudely” Trevor Outlaw. Capri went in looking to teach the rising neophyte a lesson in humility while Outlaw was hoping to continue his recent ascension on the local scene.
Outlaw, 27, recently earned the victory in the main event of Freelance Wrestling’s “Remember Freelance” on Sept. 10 at Logan Square Auditorium when he pinned Isaias Velazquez in a tag team match that pitted Outlaw and his sometimes manager Frank the Clown against Velazquez and his fiancée Kylie Rae. Outlaw also has scored recent wins over Effy and Craig Mitchell following his stop at The Nightmare Factory in Georgia where he trained under Cody Rhodes.
Capri, 21 years Outlaw’s senior, has won multiple championship across several promotions, including the Chicago Style Wrestling Championship a few times – with the last reign ending abruptly about a year ago as he had to surrender the title due to a triceps tear.
A dual appearance on Windy City Slam Podcast last week set the tone for the match, then Outlaw took the mic upon his entrance, touting his plans to take Capri out “like Old Yeller.”
An intense Capri came out to thunderous applause. After the two men postured in the early going, the contest turned into a series of grinding headlocks, vicious chops and hard-hitting strikes. Even when Outlaw looked for sanctuary outside the ring, Capri met him with more punishment.
Eventually Outlaw rallied, hitting his twisting neckbreaker, but he only gained a 2 count. In the end, Capri finally prevailed, reversing Outlaw’s attempt at a Derelict Driver into a STO for the pin, and served the self-proclaimed “Mr. Chicago” a small slice of humble pie.
Capri’s victory was just one of eight matches on a highly entertaining card, which was booked by Robert “Ego” Anthony, who has ties to almost every wrestler on the show whether it was through the now-defunct Pro Wrestling Blitz, BCW or the Freelance/Freelance Underground family.
From the opening match to the main event, BCW presented a great family atmosphere with the talent and variety of matches on the show.
In the semi-main, The NWOrds (Bryce Benjamin and Acid Jaz) defeated Davey Bang and Vinnie Scarpone in, for lack of a better term, a goofy tag team match.
On two occasions, Benjamin attacked his partner during the match after Jaz put on a wig (which made him resemble Bang’s curly hair) and a skull cap (which Scarpone was wearing for most of the match). Even referee Dan Perch got into the act, bodyslamming both Benjamin and Jaz to a loud pop. When The NWOrds finally got serious, they picked up the victory.
August Matthews delivers a dropkick to Aaron Stone in a showdown of rising stars. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
August Matthews took a night off from teaming with Bang to defeat Aaron Stone in a match between two young local upstarts. Matthews fended off Stone’s attacks and ended hitting a “450” splash to obtain a 3-count.
In another veteran vs. youngster bout, Shogun Chris Logan, a former BCW Champion and current Rocket Pro Champion, defeated “One Man Dynasty” Darius Latrell in another hard-hitting affair. Both men displayed their power as Logan lifted the 6-foot-8-inch Latrell up numerous times and Latrell got his licks in as well.
Ryan Matthews pulled off a win over the impressive Angel Escalera. Matthews, whose main promotion locally is CSW, came out with his customary heads on sticks and cut a promo before the match. Escalera, who wrestled a fantastic match against Kylie Rae at Freelance Underground’s show in Itasca back in June, salsa-danced his way to the ring and took the fight to Matthews. The brash Matthews hit backpack stunner that led to the victory.
Yakuza defeated Disc Jocker Jr. in a showcase of two stars from Lucha Libre Total. It wasn’t a typical lucha-libre match as the competitors relied on more strikes and holds rather that a lot of aerial maneuvers. Yakuza ended up getting a submission victory.
In a battle of big men and BCW regulars, Mike Strong defeated “Chicago Bear Hug” Steve Michaels via rollup after Strong escaped the clutches of Michaels’ bear hug and avoided a Michaels’ corner charge. Strong, whom Michaels likened to Bam Bam Bigelow in a conversation with Windy City Slam before the match, give the Ohio Valley Wrestling a great fight.
Chico Suave pins Jordan Kross to win the opening four-way match. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
In the opener, local favorite Chico Suave defeated Garrisaon Creed, Jordan Kross and Justa Mazing in a four-way match. Each wrestler had his chance to shine, but it was Suave, who got the rollup on the Kenosha native Kross after Creed and Justa Mazing were thrown from the ring. The crowd roared in approval for Suave, who is from the Berwyn-Cicero area.
BCW is slated to return to the Eagles Club next month for a show on Saturday, Oct. 16 with stars such as Capri, The NWOrds, Logan, Michaels, Strong, Creed, Stone, Matthews and Justa Mazing, in addition to current ZOWA Ladies Champion Missa Kate and newly-crowned CSW Women’s Champion Heather Reckless, who outlasted Skye Blue, Sierra and Billie Starkz last weekend.
For a gallery of over 200 photos from the event, click here: https://bit.ly/3kyGviB.
Also, check out a Berwyn Championship Wrestling recap as part of Episode 85 of Windy City Slam Podcast: https://bit.ly/3nPw3p0.
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every week with Chicago-area wrestling guests on Windy City Slam Podcast, part of the Broadcast Basement On-Demand Radio Network. 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.
