Warrior Wrestling taking it outside at Marian Catholic
It has been quiet in local independent professional wrestling for nearly five months due to large gatherings having to be postponed or canceled amid coronavirus concerns.
That changes when Warrior Wrestling: Friday Night Lights, which is billed as the first professional wrestling event with spectators in Illinois since pandemic restrictions began in March, takes place Aug. 7 outdoors at Marian Catholic High School’s Dave Mattio Field in Chicago Heights.
“What prompted us to discuss it was the governor’s guidance on phase four for outdoor spectator events,” Warrior Wrestling owner Steve Tortorello said about Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan.
“We could do a contactfree event. We could do no paper tickets. People are yearning for something.
Warrior Wrestling: Friday Night Lights
They want to do an event but they want to do it safely. We can provide that.”
The show has several health and safety guidelines.
“Unlike normal Warrior Wrestling events where we’ve got 800 people packed into a gym, this is going to be limited to 400 or 500 people outdoors. It is going to be social distance seating,” said Tortorello, who also is Marian Catholic High School’s principal.
“We are taking orange Uber Soccer markers like you would use for practice and setting 100 of those on the football field. You can sit with your household or whoever you quarantine with or feel safe with. Your party will not be closer than 15 feet to another party in open lawn-style seating.
“We’re doing the same thing in the bleachers — setting those dots across the bleachers. You’re at least 15 feet from any other party. We’re doing the same thing along standing room.”
Attendees must wear masks including in the parking lot, while waiting for the bathroom and when entering or exiting the event, which welcomes people bringing their own food and nonalcoholic drinks.
Temperature checks and symptom screenings take place prior to entering. Anyone running a fever will not be allowed in and will be given a ticket refund.
“If you like high-flying, superheavyweight, lucha, Japanese or WWE style, we present a lot of different styles,” said Tortorello about the show, which includes AEW and Game Changer Wrestling star “The Bad Boy” Joey Janela vs. Impact Wrestling star Jake Something in their Warrior Wrestling debuts.
“It’s something fun. You don’t need to be a wrestling aficionado. You can just enjoy good guys and bad guys, the action and acrobatics. There’s no better night out than going to a wrestling show as a family.”
Brian Pillman Jr., who won the Warrior Wrestling heavyweight championship in February, defends his belt against Robert Anthony of Joliet with Frank the Clown.
“Pillman and Anthony had various clashes across
Warrior Wrestling 3, 4 and 5 in the winter into spring of 2019,” Tortorello said.
“Since then Robert Anthony has won every single Warrior match he has had whereas Pillman has lost every match except the championship match he won. Anthony feels he’s owed a title shot.
“Both of them have been making their names all summer on ‘AEW Dark.’ This is going to be a match between two guys whose national stock is rising in All Elite Wrestling.”
The card also includes Brian Cage vs. Jeff Cobb, who wrestled under a mask as “The Monster” Matanza Cueto in Lucha Underground.
“These two were on ‘Lucha Underground’ together. They missed each other in AEW during
Cobb’s brief stint there. They have clashed a couple of times in Pro Wrestling Guerilla. They are incredible athletes,” Tortorello said.
“Cage and Cobb will likely be the main event of the evening because they’re such big stars in AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, respectively.”
Warrior Wrestling: Friday Night Lights, which airs live on digital network Fite at fite.tv, may feature pro wrestlers from major promotions but the event also booked talent including Kylie Rae of Oak Forest and Bridgeview native Matt Knicks.
“A lot of local independent wrestlers are not able to get bookings right now,” Tortorello said.
“We made a concerted effort to book a lot of local Midwest talent and will do the same if the show goes well and we book another outdoor show in the fall. Coming to this show supports those talents.”