By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Wrestling Open “Episode 77”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
June 22, 2023 in Worcester, Massachusetts at White Eagle
The crowd is in the 200 range. Rich Bocchini provided commentary. This show is available on IWTV.
1. Notorious Mimi defeated Kelsey Raegan at 4:42. Raegan is in dark black and looks quite devilish, while Mimi is in baby blue with angels wings. Mimi (a brief run in NXT as Sloane Jacobs) also has appeared on AEW TV. Mimi hit a spinning kick to the jaw for the pin. Solid opener.
2. Gal Barkay defeated Lucas Chase at 6:04. Gal is the slender, muscular super-tan Israel native. Chase wore a basic black singlet; he is Black with a full beard. Barkay hit a missile dropkick and a DDT for a believable nearfall at 5:00. Chase jawed at the ref. Barkay locked in a full nelson, and Chase quickly tapped out. Solid.
* Joe Ocasio attacked Barkay on the floor. They rolled into the ring, where Ocasio continued the assault.
3. Bobby Orlando & Bryce Donovan defeated Westfield Kelly & Grayson Kelly and RJ Rude & Rex Lawless in a three-way tag at 5:40. Rude is comparable to a young Chuck Taylor, while Lawless is comparable to Gunner/Jaxon Ryker. My first time seeing the Kelly twins; they are muscular Black men. Bocchini said they are 6’4″ and great prospects. Bryce looks like a taller Nick Jackson. Orlando is the dork who brings his stuffed goat to ringside; he uses Colt Cabana-style juvenile antics. Lawless and Donovan started. Rude hit a Blockbuster on Orlando.
Westfield has tattoos on his chest; the Kellys are otherwise fairly identical. The Kelly twins worked over Rude. Lawless entered and hit a chokeslam powerbomb. Orlando hit a nice dive to the floor at 5:30. Bryce got an inside cradle out of nowhere to pin one of the Kellys. An enjoyable match and I definitely want to see more of the Kellys. Speaking of which, they began beating down the other four after the bell. “This is absolutely unnecessary. They are showing they are poor sports,” Bocchini said.
4. Bronson defeated Nolo Kitano at 4:35. Bronson is the smaller, darker haired member of Bear Country/Iron Savages. Kitano is a thin Black man and he’s the ‘ghetto samurai’ who brings his sword to ringside. Quite a size advantage for Bronson here. Nolo hit a nice huracanrana. Bronson nailed a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee. Bronson hit some standing powerbombs and a short-arm clothesline for the pin. I like a good squash, but I hoped Nolo would be more competitive here.
5. “The Hispanic Mechanics” Jos-A and Jos-B defeated “The Mane Event” Jay Lyon and Midas Black at 8:18. TME just wrestled on MLW on Thursday, and I’m entertained by them. Jos-A looks like unmasked Juventud Guerrera. This crowd loves the Mechanics. Lyon held one of the Mechanics’ ankles, allowing Midas to take charge. (This is my first time seeing TME work as heels!) Jos-B finally made the hot tag at 5:30 and cleared the ring. The Mechanics hit a team Magic Killer move for the pin. That was … underwhelming; it just never got out of second gear. That said, the crowd absolutely loved the Mechanics.
* The Mechanics got on the mic and demanded a title shot.
6. Alec Price defeated Ricky Smokes at 7:28. Price is the Boston native who is wildly popular here. Smokes has a great physique and wore basic red trunks. Smokes stalled on the floor while flexing his biceps. In the ring, Price hit a springboard crossbody block. Smokes hit a spear at 3:00. Smokes hit a pair of backbreakers over his knee for a nearfall, and the crowd rallied for Price. Price nailed a short-arm clothesline and a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 6:00.
Smokes went to the top rope, but Price kicked him off to the floor. Price then hit a dive over the ropes and barreled onto Smokes. In the ring, Price hit his kneestrikes in the corner. He hit a flylng legdrop for the pin. A good match, but again more one-sided than I expected.
7. Richard Holliday defeated Anthony Greene at 10:25. Again, Holliday has just returned to wrestling after recovering from cancer and he got a nice pop. Greene got on the mic and said he hadn’t seen Holliday in a year. “I’m so happy you’re back, dude,” Greene said and gave Holliday a big hug. Several wrestlers came out of the back and gave Holliday an ovation. “I love this,” Bocchini said. The bell rang and they had an intense lockup. They began playfully shoving each other but became angry and the shoves became harder. Holliday hit a shoulder tackle at 2:00.
They traded chops and Greene took control. Pretty basic action but the crowd was into this. Holliday hit a back suplex, and they were both down at 6:00. Holliday hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Holliday hit a stunner for a believable nearfall, and they were both down at 8:30. Holliday put Greene in the Torture Rack. Greene hit a rolling forearm to the chin. Holliday hit two superkicks. Holliday hit a second-rope twisting suplex for the pin. Good match and quite emotional for everyone.
* Holliday left the ring first. The ring announcer said this was Greene’s last match here for a while, as he’s returning to NOAH in Japan. The crowd politely applauded. As Greene went to leave, he was attacked by Cam Zagami. Cam is apparently a former tag partner of Holliday, and he wants a mach against Greene. Bocchini was confused, wondering if Greene will delay his trip to Japan to have this match.
* A video package aired of Ryan Clancy. Clancy then came to the ring. (He recently had a decent singles match here against Zack Sabre Jr., and he’s a good mat-based wrestler.) He’s upset at TJ Crawford for recently turning on him. Bronson came to ringside and belittled Clancy for whining about not having any friends left in the wrestling business. He said Clancy is coming off like a “millennial crybaby who should be bagging my groceries.” Clancy challenged him to get in the ring. Bronson responded, “I don’t fight for free.” They both vowed to enter an upcoming tournament instead.
8. “Miracle Generation” Dustin Waller and Kylon King defeated Max Caster and JGeorge to retain the IWTV Tag Titles at 7:53. Again, Caster is a hated heel here, who recently vowed he was going to run for mayor of Worcester. JGeorge is Caster’s personal cameraman. Max got on the mic but was booed; he asked that every fan who has given him the middle finger be ejected from the building. Caster brought out the current ‘mayor’ of Worcester. Bocchini accurately described the person who came out as a small man-child in an over-sized suit. He must be only about 5’0″. Waller and King came to ringside, carrying their IWTV tag titles.
The MG attacked the heels at the bell. Waller hit a running Shooting Star Press. Waller hit a spin kick to Caster’s head. King hit a flying elbow into the corner and a spinebuster on Caster. JGeorge is taller with big hair (think No Way Jose) and he began working over the smaller Kylon. Bocchini said this is MG’s 8th defense of the IWTV tag titles. Waller entered and hit a double stunner at 6:00. King hit a German Suplex on JGeorge. JGeorge hit a leg lariat. Waller hit a spin kick to pin JGeorge. That was disappointedly short.
* Caster kept beating on the babyfaces after the bell. Richard Holliday returned to the ring and chased off Caster. Caster and the MG took turns superkicking the young, under-sized ‘mayor of Worcester.’ Fun post-match segment.
9. Pedro Dones and Ray Jaz defeated Ichiban and Gabriel Skye at 13:57. Ichiban has the Wrestling Open Title, and Skye recently became No. 1 contender, so I expect some issues will arrive by this teaming. Jaz and Dones wore identical white-and-black singlets; Dones is much shorter. Jaz and the masked Ichiban opened. Skye entered and hit some offense. Ichiban made a blind tag, which annoyed Skye. Skye hit a moonsault to the floor at 3:30. In the ring, Skye hit some Yes Kicks on Jaz. The heels began working over Skye.
Dones went for a spear into the corner but he crashed into the ring post. The heels extensively worked over Skye. Ichiban finally made the hot tag at 9:30 and he cleared the ring. Ichiban hit a springboard missile dropkick on both opponents. However, Skye entered the ring and jawed at his partner. They hit simultaneous superkicks on Dones. The did a tower spot out of the corner, and all four were down. Skye hit a Falcon Arrow on Jaz. Dones hit an Olympic Slam on Skye. Ichiban hit a flying leg lariat on Dones at 13:00.
Skye got in the ring behind Ichiban; Ichiban saw him and they argued some more and Ichiban pushed him. Dones pushed Skye into Ichiban! Ichiban went for a sunset flip, but Dones blocked it, sat down, and scored a clean pin in the middle of the ring. Bocchini was shocked that Dones has pinned the champion.
Final Thoughts: A solid show that moved forward some storylines. Price is always entertaining to watch, and I’ll give him and Smokes best match, even though it was shorter and more one-sided than I hoped for. I’ll go Greene-Holliday for second place and the main event third. This show flew by; I feel like my biggest complaint is some of the matches were woefully short. Of the guys I hadn’t seen before, the Kelly twins were intriguing with good size and presence. Again, check out all Wrestling Open shows at IWTV.
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