From the likes of Freelance Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Blitzkrieg! Pro and Game Changer Wrestling, we witnessed a bunch of fantastic wrestling on some major events this weekend. Including a banger of a lumberjack match and a World Championship match at the Freelance 12th anniversary show, and a Bedlam Championship match at Blitzkrieg! Pro’s biggest show of the year, their “8th Annual Luau” event. Here are five must-see matches that every fan of professional wrestling should go back and check out from this past weekend.

5. RJ Sowa vs. Darin Corbin from Freelance Wrestling’s “Freelance vs. The World XII”

Kicking off the list, we saw RJ Sowa battle Darin Corbin on Friday night, June 26th, at Freelance Wrestling’s big event, “Freelance vs. The World XII.” The event marked the 12th anniversary show for Freelance Wrestling, and one of their biggest of the entire year. While Sowa and Corbin met in a very personal match, it was no ordinary contest. We witnessed a lumberjack match between the two. Sowa was formerly a Conduit of Corbin’s Knowledge, C.O.C.K. for short… Don’t ask. Alongside Sean Galway and CJ Martin, Sowa ran things at Freelance Wrestling under Darin Corbin. Things went so well for the group until they didn’t. Sowa was the breakout singles star and even had a shot at the Freelance World Championship at a recent event. However, his shot was stolen from him thanks to the C.O.C.K. group. As funny a name as that is, and as entertaining a character as Darin Corbin can be, this group was, and is, money. They are so fun to hate, and they do an excellent job as heels. Sowa has the potential to be the next breakout star at Freelance Wrestling. He has the crowd firmly behind him and is your typical, white-meat babyface, who’s just easy to root for. This was a fun lumberjack match. Oftentimes, tropes can be a bit overdone in a Lumberjack match setting. However, Freelance Wrestling kept it fun. On one side of the ring, you had Darin Corbin’s friends, aka all the heels in Freelance, and on the other side, you had a lot of Sowa’s friends, aka the faces in Freelance. The lumberjacks were awesome. They didn’t do anything to their respective person in the match, but when the other would get thrown out, they would bring the fight to him. We got to the point in the match where all the lumberjacks brawled at ringside. This led to arguably the night’s biggest moments, Sowa superplexing Corbin off the top rope onto the sea of people down below. in the ringside area. This was an amazing showing for Sowa. He picked up a massive victory in this one, and one that can be used to propel him to great things in the promotion. I’ve been high on Sowa for a while, and I look forward to seeing more of what he can do as a singles star. He’s got “Cody Rhodes” written all over him. Honestly, I’m here for it. Jump on the Sowa bandwagon now. Go back and check this one out on the Freelance Wrestling VOD channel on IWTV.

4. Myles Hawkins vs. Jimmy Lloyd from CZW’s “Tangled Web”

Next on the list, we saw Myles Hawkins battle Jimmy Lloyd on Saturday, June 27th, at Combat Zone Wrestling’s big event, “Tangled Web.” The event was the first of its kind in nearly seven years, with the titular match taking place in the main event between Shlak and Lucky 13. While this was yet another fun CZW event, the main event wasn’t what stole the show, nor was it Akira FINALLY winning the CZW Heavyweight Championship and ending the reign of Eran Ashe, the longest-reigning in CZW history at over 700 days. While both of those things were super cool, the match to see on this show was the one that pitted Hawkins against the person he had belittled and made “Burger King” comments about, Jimmy Lloyd. A while ago, I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Hawkins on the PWPonderings site, which you can find here. During the interview, Hawkins got very personal with why he first chose to target Jimmy Lloyd. He told PWPonderings, “I don’t understand Jimmy Lloyd. At the end of the day, when I come through the curtain, I look like a superstar. I move like a superstar. I’m damn-near perfect. Then, Jimmy Lloyd comes out, and he looks like he got off his shift at Burger King. We expect him to be an ass-kicker. Like no. If it’s a hot dog-eating contest, I’ve got you 100%. But if it’s anything athletic, I expect you to gas out in the first 30 seconds. If I’m trying to raise the level of the show, I’m trying to say, ‘Hey, we’re doing actual wrestling, we want to be taken seriously.’ Why do I want you on my show? That’s what it stems from. Quality control. The internet loves him for some reason. Like, why? Is it because they understand what it’s like to roll four or five times to get out of bed? Is that what it is? I don’t get it. I don’t understand. When he gets in shape, we will have his match. Until he’s in ring-shape, get off my show.” This was fighting words from Hawkins from the get-go. So, while he had a very cocky attitude heading into this match, he wasn’t prepared for the fury that Lloyd was going to bring. Lloyd is someone whom I’ve always been interested in but never really been wowed by. However, this match changed all of that. This may have been the best Lloyd match that I’ve ever seen. We even saw an all-time classic CZW moment, as the fans threw their chairs into the ring, leaving it absolutely covered with their seats. While this was an incredible match, I was super happy that the right person won, as Myles Hawkins continues to impress at CZW. After the match, Lloyd once again challenged Hawkins to a more “CZW rules” based match in July. Simply put, no rules. From top-to-bottom, I loved this one. The chairs in the ring were an instant-classic moment in CZW history. I urge everyone to go back and check this one out on the CZW VOD channel on IWTV. You will not be disappointed. I know I wasn’t.

3. Trevor Outlaw vs. Allie Katch from Freelance Wrestling’s “Freelance vs. The World XII”

For number three on this list, we return to Freelance Wrestling’s 12th anniversary event, “Freelance vs. The World XII.” The match that the whole event was billed around was the fantastic main event that saw Trevor Outlaw put his Freelance Wrestling World Championship on the line against Allie Katch. Since leaving GCW and doing more of her own thing, Katch has been on just another level lately. It’s been so awesome to see her evolution as she’s been collecting belts all over. She’s a House of Heat Women’s Champion, as well as now the F1RST Wrestling Grand Champion. She looked to add another belt to her “belt collection era” as she challenged for the Freelance Wrestling World Championship. Ahead of the match, Katch spoke with PWPonderings on an exclusive interview, which you can read here. She had this to say about Outlaw’s reign of terror: “I mean, the reign of terror has existed long before he was champion. He’s been a pain in everyone’s ass for months and months and months, and so has Frank. Now, he is a champion. So, he feels like it’s all worth it and he’s allowed to be the way he is. Which is just, I hate it. The way he acts around the fans, around the locker room, it’s just not warranted, and that’s another reason why I immediately cashed in. I want to end this as soon as possible. He waited for so long. That’s one thing I don’t understand. If you think you’re so big, and you’re so bad, and you have a medallion and you won this and you won that, and you had all these chances to become champion, why did you wait so long? I won. Immediately, next show, I’m taking that title from you, and I’m here to restore Freelance immediately to what it should be.” Outlaw has held a stranglehold over Freelance Wrestling, sitting atop the mountain for his reign of terror. Outlaw first won the title from Devon Monroe in March. Over the next nearly 100 days, Outlaw has put his title on the line and successfully defended it against the likes of EFFY, RJ Sowa, Izzy Moreno, and now Allie Katch. He has been a Freelance Wrestling mainstay for quite some time. Love him or hate him, he is Freelance Wrestling through and through. He’s one of the best heels, alongside his partner in crime, Frank the Clown, that Freelance Wrestling has ever seen. This was another banger of a match to close out a Freelance show. There were times when I firmly believed that Allie Katch had the match won. She had so many close, and I mean CLOSE, nearfalls. However, at the end of the day, it was a 2-on-1 numbers game that Allie Katch couldn’t overcome. The ending of the match saw Frank hit her with the belt and Outlaw land a Cross Rhodes on Katch, to pin her and finally end the match. Outlaw was a bloody mess, but that just added to the ambience and the atmosphere of the whole match.

2. Charles Mason vs. Bear Bronson from Blitzkrieg! Pro’s “The 8th Annual Luau”

Coming in at number two on this list, we saw Charles Mason put his Blitzkrieg! Pro Bedlam Championship on the line against Bear Bronson on Saturday night, June 27th, at the biggest Blitzkrieg! Pro event of the year, “The 8th Annual Luau.” This has become the anniversary show for Blitzkrieg! Pro. While they have big shows throughout the year, very few mean as much as the annual Luau event. From the Mother Of All Scrambles to the Fans Bring The Pool Toys match, this event has become synonymous with Blitzkrieg! Pro. This year’s event was just as big a banger, if not more so, than previous years. We had an amazing Mother Of All Scrambles match, which was won by Andy Brown (about time he gets a title), and an incredibly fun Fans Bring The Pool Toys match between Bobby Orlando and Dr. Redacted. The other matches were all incredibly fun, too, but the show stealer of the night didn’t come until the main event. The challenger, Bronson, has been on a tear since returning to the independent wrestling scene full-time last June. He is out to show just how valuable a wrestler he is, and he’s off to an incredible start. Whether he’s at GCW, Blitzkrieg, his home promotion of Create A Pro, or wherever else, when you see Bear Bronson is on the card, you know you’re in for a banger. As for Charles Mason, he’s continuing to be on the best run of his career. He’s the HOG World Champion, the PWJ World Champion, the JCW World Champion, and the Blitzkrieg! Pro Bedlam Champion. He won the Bedlam Championship back in March, defeating the former champion, Sammy Diaz. He’s had one defense since winning it, in May, against Javi. This was an absolutely fantastic showing for Mason. He’s establishing himself with Andy Brown by his side as the person to beat in Blitzkrieg! Pro. But that’s where things get interesting. Andy Brown is by his side. The same Brown who just won the Mother Of All Scrambles to earn a Bedlam Championship shot. Stay tuned to see how that plays out. We also saw one of the most shocking moments of the year in this one, as the beloved CPA turned heel. CPA, who has been put through hell at times by Blitzkrieg! Pro lost a match to keep him off the Luau. In the end, he got to be on the Luau in losing fashion in a four-way match with Javi, TJ Crawford, and EFFY. But what nobody saw coming was the ending where he joined the dark side. I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens next. Don’t miss Blitzkrieg! Pro return to Thompson Hall in Enfield, CT, for its big event, “My World” featuring Joseph Sawyer, formerly WWE’s Joe Gacy, on Saturday, August 8th. Be sure to go back and check out their “The 8th Annual Luau” event on the Blitzkrieg! Pro VOD Channel on IWTV. You will not be disappointed.

1. Hollyhood Haley J vs. Joey Janela from GCW’s “Amerikaz Most Wanted”

Coming in at number one on this list, we saw Hollyhood Haley J go one-on-one with Joey Janela when Game Changer Wrestling returned to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA, on Saturday, June 27th, for its big event, “Amerikaz Most Wanted.” This was absolutely stacked. We saw HOOK challenge Atticus Cogar for the GCW World Championship, Bustah & The Brain put their GCW World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Butcher & The Blade, “Blackheart” Lio Rush vs. Shotzi Blackheart, and so much more. I have to shout out Rush vs. Blackheart as that match was amazing, for different reasons than the ones listed above. If you love horror movies, as I do, you will LOVE this match. However, the best pure wrestling match on this show was the one in which Haley J and Janela tore each other apart. Janela is one of the truly best to ever do it. He’s one of the biggest independent wrestlers in history. I have always enjoyed Haley J’s work. However, this was hands down the best match I’ve ever seen of hers. Haley J and Janela went to war for over 10 minutes. By the end of it, Haley J was busted open. Haley J survived everything that Janela threw at her and then some, including a spinning brain buster and a piledriver, in which she kicked out at one. In the end, Haley J landed her championship-winning power slap on Janela, followed by a stomp for the three-count. The crowd erupted when the referee’s hand hit three, so it’s safe to say that Haley J is here to stay. She deserves this moment a ton. I’m beyond proud of how far she’s come. She is truly taking over. This was absolutely Haley J’s coming-out party at Game Changer Wrestling. Her war with Janela could very well be looked back on years from now as to how she got so big within the promotion. She’s so beyond talented, and her crowd work is excellent. She’s someone who deserves to be booked all over. Janela is truly an out-of-this-world talent, too. He’s a God of this s**t. Go back and check this one out on TrillerTV+. This whole show was fantastic, but this match truly took the cake.