A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for the Berwyn Eagles Club after the venue lost a license that allowed it to host wrestling shows.
The development has caused a sudden halt to one of the Chicago area’s best-known independent wrestling venues. As of publication, the page lists a $3,000 goal.
The campaign page states that the club is now dealing with canceled events and the loss of what it describes as its “primary source of income”. It adds that the money will go toward operating costs and help Chuck Marose Sr., who runs the venue, explore other business options to keep it open.
It is not yet clear from public information which specific license the fundraiser is referring to. However, Berwyn’s code requires a local license for paid amusements and entertainment, a category that expressly includes professional wrestling, and the city’s liquor code has separate entertainment-and-amusement classifications for establishments serving alcohol.
The fundraiser emerged less than two weeks after a March 28 Ruthless Pro Wrestling event at the building that led to conflicting accounts about a purported stabbing involving Mads Krule.
In initial reports, wrestler Lou Nixon said he believed Krule was stabbed during a post-show scuffle with an aggressive fan, while Mickie Knuckles also told Cultaholic that a knife was used. Krule later wrote on X that he was “fine”, without elaborating.
Since then, several accounts have cast serious doubt on whether a stabbing happened at all. Gregory Iron, who said he witnessed the altercation from the merchandise area, later said he never saw a knife or a stabbing, and an anonymous source quoted by Cultaholic likewise disputed the story.
On April 2, the Berwyn Police Department told POST that the incident was still under investigation and that records were being collected and reviewed before release.
More skepticism surfaced this week when Rickey Shane Page, part of Ruthless Pro Wrestling’s new ownership group, said he did not know if Krule was stabbed and suggested the blood may have come from a cut suffered earlier in Krule’s death match with SHLAK. Page’s comments came one day after GCW said it had been informed by the venue that its June 20 “Bow Down” event would have to be canceled.
GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale blamed the end of wrestling at the venue on what he called the “fake stabbing,” saying the situation had caused town officials, lawyers and police to become involved.
The Berwyn Eagles Club had hosted wrestling for more than two decades and served as a longtime home for promotions including AAW and SHIMMER.
AAW has since said its April 24 “Crush & Destroy” card will be the final wrestling show held at the club.
POST Wrestling is still awaiting records of the investigation from the Berwyn Police Department.
