Freelance Wrestling Walk Among Us recap & review: Ali defends his title and Suge D put his career on the line

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Halloween Battle Royal

Kurt Angle out first! And he grew his hair back! La Parka at number two! Angle goes a-brawling but Parka struts and nails him with a rope-walk arm drag and a fallaway slam. Angle ain’t out of it, though, he throws a German and goes for the Angle Lock as our third competitor comes out... Kevin Owens! He’s right at Angle with the cannonball, pop-up powerbomb on La Parka!

Mid-90s Eddie Guerrero out at #4, and he’s very proud of a Sasha Banks in the crowd! Three Amigos on Angle but the Frog Splash comes up empty! Ride of the Valkyries, it’s either Daniel Bryan or Yoshiaki Fujiwara... it’s Daniel Bryan! Yes! kicks on Owens and the Busaiku Knee but Angle gets the Angle Lock on him!

Team Beta come out asking what’s going on and say that Halloween is for babies.They don’t have to pretend to be somebody else, they’re already superstars, and slide in and start throwing hands. They eliminated Angle, Bryan, Owens, and Guerrero but Parka has a chair to equalize things. Kenny Sutra nails him with a low blow and Beta dump him, alas.

It’s Goldberg Alex Ohlson Alex Ohlsberg! Jackhammer on Sutra! Ohlsberg dumps both members of Team Beta!

Alex Ohlsberg wins the Halloween Battle Royal.

That was a lot of fun. Shame Bryan got dumped so early, though, dude has terrible luck with these matches.

Anthony Henry vs. Ethan Case vs. Matt Cage vs. Shawn Phoenix vs. Stephen Wolf vs. Suede Thompson (Scramble Match)

Matt Cage bails immediately but it’s a fakeout as he slides back in and is soon surrounded by the other five men and eats a quintuple superkick. Chaos soon settles into Henry vs. Case in the ring for a moment before Suede comes in with a beautiful slingshot X-Factor and clears ‘em out. Suede keeps the pressure as Phoenix and Wolf come in, he takes care of them but Cage cuts him off and eats a spinning Killswitch.

Case clears house with some precision-targeted cutters and Cage rolls in to try and pick the bones again and so he eats a cutter of his own. Wolf gets rid of Case, Henry and Thompson look to double team him but Phoenix comes to his aid. It doesn’t do Phoenix any good, though, as Wolf drops him with a brainbuster, holds on, and follows it up with a gourdbuster.

Strike for strike with Henry and Wolf, Case tries to get in and Henry shunts him aside with an enzuigiri and TKO’s Wolf over the top rope! Phoenix looking for a dive, Henry cuts him off and powerslams him. Cage in again, he eats a German, Suede gets a roundhouse and a vertical brainbuster! Phoenix throws his whole body into getting rid of Henry, lungblower and a stomp transition into a Yoshi Tonic on Case!

Wolf and Phoenix do some awesome stuff until Cage drops Phoenix with a northern lariat. Phoenix gets back enough to drop Thompson with an awesome springboard arm drag. Henry back in and fired up, tope con giro! A second tope from Wolf! Phoenix with a diving moonsault! Cage cuts Phoenix off with a low kick and drops him with a DDT, gets Suede up for the Money Clip but he ducks it only to eat a superkick. Looking for the Money Clip again on Henry but he reverses, Frog Splash, three-count... CAGE’S FOOT IS ON THE ROPES! NO GOOD!

Case with a roll-through knee and a Crash Landing neckbreaker on Henry, Wolf back in, some crazy evasion leaves Case on the mat but alert enough to cut him off and look for the cutter off the top but Wolf blocks it and hits the shooting star press. Phoenix breaks up the cover with a Swanton but Cage comes in and steals it. Suede attempts a Go 2 Sleep on Cage, but he slips out...

Matt Cage wins by pinfall with the Money Clip.

Somehow, even if only incrementally, these scrambles feel like they get better every time. Awesome stuff.

“All Ego” Ethan Page vs. Suge D

Crowd rabidly in favor of Suge D here, and Suge promises he’s going to kill Ethan Page “like a Walking Dead character.”

Suge quicker to the punch early. Or slap, as it may be, as the early going is all Suge blocking slaps from Page and connecting with his own. Page gets frustrated and looks for an eye-poke but Suge grabs his wrist and makes him poke his own! Christian Rose comes out to taunt Suge and, of course, Page takes advantage of the distraction and drops him.

Suge D wins by disqualification when Christian Rose attacks him.

GPA runs out for the save and the crowd starts chanting for a tag team match. It’s on!

Christian Rose & “All Ego” Ethan Page vs. GPA & Suge D

Double suicide dives from the faces! Then double bulldogs! Suge and Rose start and Rose gets the advantage by kicking Suge’s leg out of his leg. Quick tags continue to work Suge’s leg over, RKEGO getting a nearfall but GPA breaks it up. Suge manages to get some separation with strikes and a diving X-Factor and he gets the tag!

GPA comes in hot, dropping Rose with a triple jawbreaker combo into a diving crossbody for two. But looking for his snapmare driver, Page cuts him off and Rose drops him with a lightning spiral for a nearfall. Suge gets a tag but his leg is still worn out and Rose catches him pretty easily...

Christian Rose & “All Ego” Ethan Page win by pinfall with a swinging reverse STO from Rose to Suge D.

Solid tag, Suge did a great job with the leg and Rose and Page were real dickheads about it.

Post-match, Rose sets up two chairs and asks Suge to take a seat. Month after month Suge comes here and tells people to work hard and stay positive, but where has it gotten him? He calls Suge a liar, saying that half the crowd would be in the ring if that were true. There are plenty of famous people with much less skill than either of them, and he’s beaten Suge over and over, without help, and he’s sick of it. He’s never going to stop until he gets Suge to see things his way or takes everything he has.

Suge responds, saying he’s right. He’s lost every big opportunity he’s had here, last year he promised he’d be Freelance Champion and he hasn’t. And every chance he’s had to shut Rose up, he can’t do it. Based off everything he laid out, he’s right, but there’s always a big butt and he cannot lie, every chance to embarrass him, Rose has never been alone. By himself he’s never once embarrassed Suge, not on his own merit. So he’s sitting here busted up, embarrassed, and telling him if he really wants to be right, he’s going to have to take a one-on-one match.

Rose says he has nothing to gain from taking the match and the crowd calls him a pussy for it. Suge has nothing Rose wants, not unless he can raise the stakes. Suge literally gets on his knees and begs, saying he’ll put his hair on the line! No, Suge, not your hair! Rose puts it to the crowd, but he says it’s not enough, he doesn’t care unless he can embarrass Suge “forever”. Rose goes to leave and Suge makes one last offer— if Rose beats him, he’ll leave Freelance.

Rose comes back, saying he’s piqued his interest, he’d love for Suge to be gone. Suge reiterates the offer and promises no Charlie Brown From Outta Town stuff, but if Rose loses, he has to leave too. Rose accepts the match! Suge says that he’s bled for the company, so if need be, he’ll die for this company. He asks if Rose is ready to do the same and Rose backs off.

What an incredible talking segment.

Rob Matter vs. Stevie Fierce

Matter trying his damnedest to get an advantage in but Fierce’s size advantage is just too much until he gets a pair of headscissors takeovers off and follows up with a baseball slide. Diving crossbody off the apron but Fierce catches him and drives him into the apron. Fierce keeps bringing it from there and there’s not much Matter can do about it. Just a real pillar-to-post beating, with pelvic thrusts in the gaps.

Just grinding Matter down, but Matter gets an elbow and a boot up and manages a bulldog! Pair of running neckbreaker drops, corner forearm, up to the second, he connects with the crossbody! Fierce clobbers him but Matter counters a suplex into a Stunner and gets a tilt-a-whirl legsweep. Ducks a Photoshop, looks for one of his own but Fierce chucks him aside like a sack of potatoes.

Canadian backbreaker into a bridging rear chinlock but Matter fights out of it! A second backbreaker but Matter reverses to a Yoshi Tonic for two and charges in only to get laid out with a knee. Double underhook backbreaker into a low-angle reverse STO and back to the bridging rear chinlock. Matter's in the middle of the ring and can't do anything about it...

Stevie Fierce wins by submission with the bridging rear chinlock he calls the Front Fierce Lock.

Really good David and Goliath action there. Great job laying out the match so every bit of offense Matter got felt like he earned it.

Alex Ohlson, Isaias Velazquez, & Mr. 450 vs. Team BETA (Craig Mitchell, Kenny Sutra, & Matt Knicks)

Velazquez like a vengeful god to start, charging right in on Team Beta and beating Sutra down. 450 in against Knicks and they work some tight, fun, flippy exchanges to a standstill. Then Mitchell in on Ohlson, Alex uses his superior agility to try and press an advantage but Mitchell eventually turns it around with a wicked cobra clutch suplex. Quick tags to work Ohlson over now, he keeps on trying to create separation but three-on-one he can't seem to get it.

Well, until he gets a spike headscissors off, at least. Velazquez in, he finally gets hands on Mitchell! Clears house on Sutra and Knicks but Mitchell is ready to cut him off when 450 gets involved! Suicide dive from Velazquez sets up an Asai Moonsault from 450! Ohlson looks to follow but Knicks cuts him off, tries for a moonsault in the ring but Ohlson rolls out of the way. Ohlson looking for the dive but Sutra cuts him off. A third try, 450 cuts Mitchell off, Ohlson to his shoulders... SWANTON TO THE OUTSIDE OFF MR. 450'S SHOULDERS!

Mitchell clears 450 out with a Busaiku Knee but Ohlson hits a crazy crucifix transition into a flip piledriver! Sutra takes him out, Velazquez takes Sutra out, Knicks takes Velazquez out, 450 breaks the pin up with a kick, headscissors sends Knicks into the ropes for the 619 and a springboard tornado DDT but it's not enough! Crazy awesome double-teams everywhere here give way to a Barry White Driver from Knicks to Ohlson and a package piledriver on the apron follows!

450 in with kicks, Sutra and Knicks get him up for a brainbuster but Velazquez fights back...

Alex Ohlson, Isaias Velazquez, & Mr. 450 win by pinfall with a Hammer of Dawn from Velazquez to Kenny Sutra.

Holy hell, what a six-man tag team match. Just the best kind of fast-paced action, and all well-built in that context.

Brubaker, Colby Corino, & Kobe Durst vs. Colt Cabana, "Supercop" Dick Justice, & Space Monkey

Colby Corino is in attendance, and Colt correctly surmises that makes this match kind of unfair, so they're gonna bring out a partner. Colt says there's plenty of likely tag partners here, the T-Rex, Kane, Fred, before saying that palling around with a cop gives him the authority to have his partner come out, and it's Space Monkey!

And then Brubaker nearly gets into a fight with some people in the crowd, so it is lit, as the children say.

Match proper begins with Dick Justice large and in charge. Cabana comes in and out-wrestles Durst before tagging Monkey in on Brubaker, who proceedes to eat his arm and engage in banana-related shenanigans. Colby's too smart to slip on the peel and throws it to the corner of the crowd they fought with. Dick pulls his gun out and we get a Mexican standoff as everybody pulls Dick's extra guns off him and point them at each other, except Space Monkey, who has another banana.

The ref negotiates for everybody to drop their guns, and the fun and games are over, as Brubaker, Corino and Durst start beating the hell out of Dick by turns until Dick nails Corino and Brubaker with a crossbody and tags Cabana in. Flip, flop, & fly, bionic elbows for everybody! Well, except Brubaker, who blocks with an eye rake. Running shooting star press from Space Monkey but it's not enough to put him away.

Faces stack 'em up in the corner and whip the ref in for a hug! Justice squashes them all with Stinger splashes before taking to the air with Colt's encouragement. Or trying to, at least, until Colt and Space dump him over the ropes. Heels in charge again after that, wheelbarrow Codebreaker into a German suplex on Space Monkey...

Brubaker, Colby Corino, & Kobe Durst win by pinfall with a rolling Alabama Slam from Brubaker to Space Monkey.

Well, it wasn't a mile-a-minute thrillfest like the previous six-man, but it was still a lot of fun.

The N-Words hit the ring afterwards to beat Brubaker, Corino, and Durst down for what they did last month! Bryce gets on the mic, saying that they've "fucked up now" in several different ways. He's not sure if they knew, but the N-Words run this. Last month they attacked, so they got a beating in return. And if they want some, they can come get some.

Lio Rush vs. Mustafa Ali (c) (Freelance Heavyweight Championship)

Grappling early, neither man able to quite scrape out a real advantage, although Ali is probably ahead on points. A wicked octopus from the champion turns the tide and they trade pinning predicaments a moment but then go back to the grappling, roles slightly reversed as Rush goes to town with a waistlock. Thence to the high-flying and tight exchanges lead to a standoff, Ali back to the grappling a moment but then right back to the close exchanges until a triangle dropkick sends Ali outside where Lio throws a pair of suicide dives at him!

Rush Hour gets a nearfall, and Lio tries to capitalize with wicked chest kicks. Ali gets back in it with a tornado DDT and Lio turns it around on him moments later tilt-a-whirling into a DDT of his own. Rush with a crazy triple jump inverted Frankensteiner into a Frog Splash for a nearfall! Lio up top to capitalize again but Ali cuts him off with the Ace Crusher and a Frog Splash of his own that can't quite put Lio away! Rush in with a flurry of strikes into a second Rush Hour but Ali counters to the Koji Clutch, in the middle of the ring...

Mustafa Ali wins by submission with the Koji Clutch, retaining the Freelance Championship.

Awesome sprint, this one, from the excellent grappling early through to the bomb-trading and the shifts of momentum. My recap here doesn't do it credit, honestly I was expecting a longer match and paced myself accordingly, but no amount of extra time would have made this better.

Ali puts Rush over big after the match, saying that in his career he's done more than half the guys Ali has known in a decade plus, and invites him to a rematch any time, any place.

Overall

Another feather in Freelance's cap! Walk Among Us was a precision burst of quality indie wrestling, with the scramble, Fierce/Matter, the BETA six-man, and the main event all good-to-great matches, and one of the best talking segments you'll find on the indies this year courtesy of Christian Rose & Suge D. Check it out when it hits VOD, folks, you won't likely regret it.