Freelance Wrestling Hammer of Dawn recap & review: Matt Cage is #1 contender, Matt Knicks throws Alex Ohlson into stuff, and in non-Matt news, champions retain

Full disclosure, folks, I'm workin' with a migraine here so my recap is gonna be lighter than average. That said, the show is live, so let's get into it!

Arik Cannon vs. Elliot Paul vs. Kenny Sutra vs. Kevin Park vs. Pat Monix vs. Rob Matter (Scramble Match)

Rob and Elliot start, feeling out, Sutra comes in to stir things up, he and Park square off for a bit, Monix in, he ends up pulling "Eye Candy" Elliot Paul's trunks down for a bit of full moon action. Cannon in, little bit of Pabst Blue Ribbon action, beer mist, can to the head, he's feeling it but Kenny plays killjoy as usual.

The action spills outside, fountain of dives, back in the ring Paul plants Monix and unveils the butt again. Onto Kevin and Arik, Sutra in with an incredible maneuver that I can't think straight enough to properly describe, was like a Rock Bottom clutch dropped into a reverse STO but the initial clutch was different.

Rob hooks Sutra...

Rob Matter wins by submission with a crossface.

Good opener, as scrambles always are. Not the most pyrotechnic Freelance have ever run, but it did the deal.

Brubaker vs. Stephen Wolf

Brubaker provoking Wolf with slaps right from the jump, but Stephen uses his superior agility and flying skills to stay in the fight. Kobe Durst at ringside beats Wolf down while the referee is occupied, Brubaker tries to put Stephen away with a cocky pin and a spinebuster but he's not dying.

Wolf carves out a comeback, ducking and dodging, he gets caught by a German suplex, a schoolboy with tights can't put him away but he can't get the win with Howl to the Moon either! Brubaker lands bad on a knee but it's just a ploy to let Kobe come in with a chair!

Stephen ducks it and kicks him out, lying in wait on the mat...

Stephen Wolf wins by pinfall with a small package.

Good match, great finish. Was kind of expecting an Eddie Guerrero fakeout but that was cooler.

Alex Ohlson makes his entrance for his scheduled match against Matt Knicks, but Matt comes from behind and throws Ohlson into the apron!

He get on the mic and says people like Alex don't belong in Freelance, they should be carrying his bags back to the car after the show. He wants to make it very clear that Ohlson should end his delusion and hang it up. To punctuate the statement, he hits a cradle piledriver on the stage!

Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) vs. N-Words (Acid Jaz & Bryce Benjamin) (c) (Freelance Tag Team Championship)

My man Kerry starting with Bryce, grappling gives way to bull moose strength testing. A dropkick leads to Nick coming in, scoop and a slam, N-Words running double teams as Jaz comes in. Tandem Garvin stomp with Benjamin in and Iggy is hurting, moreso when he gets his nipples tweaked.

Awful back in, he clobbers Acid to the mat with a lariat and provokes Bryce into losing his temper and trying to come in. Big senton connects, mandible claw applied, Nick in, he drags a nail file down Jaz's back! The feed is iffy but commentary is coming through and the Carnies are in charge here.

The N-Words get back in it with a gamengiri and I lose track of the action until the feed kicks back on and the Carnies get a nearfall with a dropkick-assisted Michinoku Driver! Nick and Acid slugging it out, Jaz with a huge punch, Kerry behind him, powerbomb, piledriver! Bryce and Nick goin' at it, huge nearfall for the Carnies, but Bryce loads up the Swiss Mist...

N-Words win by pinfall with a schoolboy pin, retaining the Freelance Tag Team Championship

Shame about the feed going black, but that was a good time.

Kerry gets on the mic to speak from his heart. In this day and age, he says, there are a lot of dangerous people that control your life. He got on social media and made the N-Words out to be joke, but he admits that was an asshole move.

FORCE DESTROYER!

It was a ploy! Awful says they're carnies, of course they lied! He suggests they might bring the belts back to Tennessee anyway, but decides that they can keep their trophy, he's got their pride.

Stevie Fierce out to cut a promo. He's upset that folks care about old wrestlers like Suge D, who couldn't even be bothered to show up, Robert Anthony, who quit, and guys like Ethan Page who literally choose another company over Freelance. He says he's the face of Freelance, our new hero, and he will never ever abandon us like Robert Anthony.

The lights go out.

They're back on, and Robert Anthony's in the ring! He beats Stevie down and takes him outside for some pillar-to-post action. Back in the ring, he sets Fierce up for a diving chairshot but Stevie runs off and Anthony gets on the mic.

He introduces himself, says he's been wrestling for fifteen years and twenty year old punks like Stevie make old men like him stick around to beat them up for the pleasure of the crowd. He had to leave for a little bit, but he's back, and at the next show, he's gonna kill Stevie.

We take our intermission right now, and I go to bed hopeful the stream will still be up when I wake up.

Good news, it's still up and I'm migraine free, let's finish this bad boy!

Darin Corbin (no relation) comes down to cut a promo. He says it's funny how fake the crowd is, with their love for his opponent tonight, Space Monkey. A monkey from space? How delusional are you? He sees women all over the room that think they're hot shit, but he wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole, and he sees a bunch of dudes who think they're getting laid, but the only thing that's real about them is the whiskey dick they'll experience tonight.

Darin Corbin vs. Space Monkey

Monkey appears to be in charge early, and the stream goes black. When it comes back, Corbin is in charge, stomping Space in the tail and then choking him with it! He goes for the banana but Monkey fires up to defend his favorite fruit, so Darin rakes everything you can rake, including the referee's chest.

He eats the banana and Corbin tries to beat him down, but you can't take a banana-fueld monkey down! Blocking punches, returning banana-loaded rights, big windup... Darin cuts him off. Calls his shot for a charge, Monkey throws the peel in his way and trips him up!

Springboard to the outside, back in Corbin gets a nearfall on a Skull Crushing Finale, Monkey gets one of his own with a Michinoku Driver and heads up top. Moonsault misses without Darin moving, but he lands on his feet! Repositioned, he's short this time!

Corbin wakes up and crotches him this time, but Space is able to land the moonsault anyway and he takes a victory lap slapping hands with the front row! But Darin meets him when he goes back in...

Darin Corbin wins by pinfall with an Ace Crusher.

Blackout aside, your usual Space Monkey mix of good action and actually amusing banana-themed comedy spots.

Matt Cage is out for his match next. Suge D's car trouble means he has a mystery opponent...

It's former TNA X Division Champion DJZ!

DJZ vs. Matt Cage (Freelance Championship #1 Contender's Match)

Cage cuts him off mid-entrance and they brawl outside. Ion comes back after Matt misses a chop and throws his hand into steel, and they fight on the entryway, and back to the aisle, into the crowd, just all over the place. Back in the ring, Cage is in charge but Zema ducks a charge and slingshots back in with a splash for two.

Matt begs off but it's a ploy to flapjack DJZ into the turnbuckles and he chokes him over the ropes for good measure. Slide under the ropes, big right hand, springboard DDT through the ropes, just punishing Ion here. Zema back in it, using his speed and flying, Cage bails, DJ drags him up by the EARS but Matt snaps down and clobbers him with elbows.

Trying to grind the X Division man down with a chinlock but the struggle ends up in the corner... AVALANCHE FRANKENSTEINER! DJZ running hot now, lariats on lariats, goes for a springboard back elbow but he gets caught. Fireman's carry, Ion slips out, jumping neckbreaker, no good.

Rolling Thunder DDT dodged, big right, looking for the Money Clip, Ion ducks, superkick, springboard moonsault... not enough! Feed goes black again, but commentary tells me that Cage gets a chair involved, DJZ DDTs him on it, it's over... FOOT ON THE ROPES!

Money Clip connects, it's over.

Matt Cage wins by pinfall with Money Clip, becoming #1 contender to the Freelance Championship.

Always a bummer to lose a finish, but commentary stepped it up here and did a good job covering. Add the brawling early and it's very much a match that will come across better on DVD with multiple camera angles and whatnot.

GPA (c) vs. Isaias Velazquez (Freelance Championship)

Bit of stalling early as both men play to and with the crowd... and the feed goes black again. Fortunately not much seems to have happened in the gap as we come back to more stalling and then some mat grappling. Soon the exchanges run hotter, bit of flying, big running crossbody from GPA and he grounds Velazquez a moment.

Off the ropes, headscissors takedown, big lucha arm drag, suicide dive from the champion! Fighting in the crowd, back in the ring, Isaias catches GPA on a charging back elbow and German suplexes him into the turnbuckles! Hesitation dropkick, he's choking him in the corner and the feed goes out again.

Big dropkick lays the champion out, neck crank follows, a big right, neckbreaker, GPA is really on the back foot here but he refuses to lie down. Repeated kicks and stomps to the head, forearms, GPA fires up and hits a Death Valley Driver to get some breathing room.

Lariats, flapjack, GPA's feeling it as he heads to the top, diving crossbody, Velazquez catches him! Roll-through, GPA counters whatever he's planning with a Crucifix Driver! Going for the Straight A, Isaias blocks, dodging, cravate lift, GPA catches him and drops him with a backbreaker.

Argentine backbreaker dropped face-first on the turnbuckles, neckbreaker... NO GOOD! Velazquez with a roll-through double stomp, lifts him up, vertical drop brainbuster... NOT ENOUGH! Looking for the Hammer of Dawn, GPA slips away, sets him on the apron, low bridge, Velazquez kicks him in the head!

Clutched on the outside, trying for Hammer of Dawn, backdrop escape puts the challenger on the stairs! GPA rolls him back in, heads up top, diving splash doesn't finish it, crucifix neck crank, changes it up to a crossface but Isaias gets the ropes.

Sets him up top, follows, Velazquez counters... AVALANCHE POWERBOMB! LIONTAMER! GPA MAKES THE ROPES! Isaias back at it, GPA counters wtih a rollup, and they proceed to slug it out forearm for forearm. Huge right hand from the champion, challenger with a strike rush, GPA counters with the Cram Session!

Lariat wipes Velazquez out again, GPA hooks him, connects with the Straight A, grabs it again, hits it again, hooks him one more time...

GPA wins by pinfall with the Straight A, retaining the Freelance Championship.

Awesome match, even with the blackouts. Commentary at one point said something along the lines of "every month, GPA gets a year better", which I'm hard-pressed to disagree with.

Overall

So, cards on the table, the blackouts got to be an issue this show. It happens, I'd still recommend the $5 stream any time, but it does go to remind you that it's not a full-production, final product you're buying.

Matchwise, though, it was a fairly strong show, with the main, #1 contender's match, and tag titles all being very good to great. And angle-wise, as always, Freelance delivered pretty hard even without much movement on "big" stories this time, with Knicks' disdain for Ohlson and Grumpy Old Man Robert Anthony vowing to destroy Stevie Fierce being real highlights.

Check it out when it goes up on Smart Mark, folks.