By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Live Pro Wrestling
March 2, 2024 in Taunton, Massachusetts at Bristol-Plymouth High School
Streamed on the IndependentWrestling.TV
Google Maps shows that Taunton is south of Boston, and is essentially a suburb east of Providence, R.I. I recognized all the wrestlers in this lineup so I decided to check this out. They have guardrails and a lot of fans in the bleachers, along with perhaps four rows at ringside, and the crowd is maybe 400-500. The gym lights are on so lighting isn’t an issue. There are a LOT of young kids in the crowd and this is such an incredibly different atmosphere than, say, a GCW or Wrestling Revolver show. (There is a reason those shows don’t start until 8 p.m. local time!)
1. Jermaine Marbury (w/Benny the Basketball) defeated Ricky Smokes at 7:33. Smokes is comparable to Sammy Guevara and I’m a fan. Marbury does a basketball player gimmick. Smokes stalled on the floor. In the ring, Smokes hit a shoulder tackle at 2:00 and spit on him. Marbury did a “Euro-step” and hit a neckbreaker. (I find his basketball antics amusing as an undercard act.) Smokes tugged on Jermaine’s goggles, then hit a spear for a nearfall at 3:30. Ricky hit a snap suplex for a nearfall. He hit a backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Benny got the crowd chanting “Defense!” Smokes remained in charge. Marbury hit some forearm strikes and he “broke Smokes’ ankles” with his side-stepping offense. He flipped Smokes off the top turnbuckle, and he nailed a Mamba Splash/frogsplash for the pin. Fun opener.
2. Ava Everett defeated Gabby Forza at 7:44. Forza is the powerhouse. Ava has long black hair and has competed a lot in the Northeast and in Germany, but she’s smaller than Gabby. Ava barked at young fans and ripped up signs as she walked to the ring. An intense lockup but Ava bailed and jawed more at fans. In the ring, Gabby hit a bodyslam at 2:00, and Ava rolled right back to the floor; she tried to head to the back but Gabby put her on her shoulders and tossed her back into the ring. Gabby hit a Gorilla Press for a nearfall. Ava hit an inverted DDT. She hit some stomps and took charge. Gabby hit a fallaway slam at 7:00, then a Vader Bomb for a believable nearfall. Ava poked her in the eye, hit a Lungblower to the chest, and scored the cheap pin. Solid stuff.
3. Ichiban defeated Leon St. Giovanni at 9:58. LSG is the former ROH lower-tier wrestler, and he also jawed at fans. I saw him have a really good match against Mike Bailey last year. Ichiban got a nice pop. LSG has a notable weight advantage. Ichiban hit a dropkick and a series of punches with the fans chanting “one!” to each blow. He went to the top rope but LSG shook it, causing Ichiban to fall, and LSG took over. Ichiban hit an enzuigiri at 5:00. LSG hit a swinging faceplant for a nearfall and he kept Ichiban grounded. Ichiban hit a back suplex at 7:00 and they were both down. Ichiban came off the ropes but LSG caught him with a punch and got a nearfall at 9:00. Ichiban hit some kicks and a top-rope crossbody block for the pin. Fun match.
4. Love, Doug and TJ Crawford (w/Brett Ryan Gosselin) defeated Jaylen Brandyn and Dustin Waller at 7:45. Both Jaylen and Dustin’s regular teammates are out with injuries so this is an unusual pairing for them. I’m not used to seeing Doug as a heel; he opened against Jaylen in a knucklelock. Waller hit a plancha onto the heels. In the ring, Waller dropped Doug face-first into TJ’s groin at 2:00. The heels began working Dustin over in their corner. Jaylen finally got the hot tag at 6:00 and hit a back suplex on Crawford, then one on Doug. Waller hit a Lethal Injection on Doug, then he clotheslined him to the floor. BRG hopped on the apron and distracted the ref. It allowed TJ to hit Jaylen with a title belt and score the cheap pin.
* The heels kept stomping on the babyfaces until Bobby Orlando ran to the ring, holding a chair. This set up our next match!
5. Brett Ryan Gosselin defeated Bobby Orlando at 7:13. BRG is the Nick Carter lookalike who has been in MLW recently. Orlando is the dork with his stuffed goat and Colt Cabana-style humor. BRG dropped him with a shoulder tackle. Orlando hit a punch; BRG rolled to the floor and jawed at fans. (I gotta think the heels are having fun with all these kids getting in their face!) BRG took charge in the ring and he did a Jarrett-style strut, and he kept Orlando grounded. Orlando hit a discus clothesline for a nearfall at 4:30. Orlando hit a dive to the floor on BRG. In the ring, Bobby missed a top-rope elbow drop. BRG hit a superkick and a modified Blockbuster for a nearfall. BRG got a title belt but swung and missed; Orlando hit a stunner for a nearfall. Bobby leapt off the top rope, but BRG caught him with a punt kick to the groin, rolled him up, and scored the cheap pin.
6. Gal Barkay defeated Rex Lawless at 8:49. Gal is the thin, muscular Israel native who seemingly has one percent body fat. Lawless is taller and I describe him as Jake Something-meets-Jaxon Ryker. Gal also grabbed signs from fans and ripped them up. They traded shoulder tackles with neither man going down. Rex hit some bodyslams and Gal bailed to the floor. They brawled on the floor. In the ring, Gal hit a Blue Thunder Bomb at 5:30. Rex fired up and hit some clotheslines and a running boot in the corner, then a Pounce that sent Gal flying, for a nearfall at 7:00. “That was like watching a collision at an intersection,” a commentator said. Lawless hit a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Gal blocked a sunset flip, sat down and grabbed the ropes for a believable nearfall but the ref saw him cheating. Gal hit a clothesline for the clean pin, and that surprised the commentators.
* Sidney Bakabella came to the ring and cut a heel promo, and he jawed at the kids. “Sir, if you don’t discipline your kid, I will,” he said to one parent. He belittled a teacher at the school. Bakabella brought out DJ Powers. I saw DJ twice at the end of last year and again at Fight Life in February; he’s comparable to NXT’s Kale Dixon. (DJ is just 18 and it makes me wonder if he went to high school near here, that he’s in the main event.)
7. Teddy Goodz (w/Paul Westner) defeated DJ Powers (w/Sidney Bakabella, Sweatboy) at 8:22. Goodz has short black hair and a beard and he got a nice babyface pop, and he has a title belt. Bakabella goated Goodz to put the title on the line, and Teddy accepted. DJ immediately charged at Goodz and beat him up. Goodz hip-tossed DJ across the ring. They brawled to the floor so Goodz could chop DJ in front of the fans. In the ring, DJ choked him and took charge. Goodz fired up and hit some Atomic Drops, then a clothesline at 6:00, and this crowd was hot. Goodz nailed a Backpack Stunner for a believable nearfall, but Bakabella pulled the ref to the floor.
Sweatboy jumped in the ring and hit a spinebuster on Goodz. Westner got in the ring; I think he’s the teacher. Bakabella got brass knuckles but he accidentally hit Sweatboy with them. Westner ripped off Bakabella’s wig! Goodz slammed Bakabella. Goodz then hit a stunner on Powers for the pin. Goodz and the teacher Westner celebrated in the ring.
Final Thoughts: What a refreshing change of pace; I really enjoyed seeing a family-friendly show. All the heels got massive heat and you could see how much fun they were having with the fans. No swearing, no blood, no light tubes, pizza cutters, gusset plates or glass panes. The teacher got to help the babyface in the main event and came across well. I’m sure a lot of parents took their young children to this and were happy with this event and will gladly bring their kids back. I’m not listing a ‘top 3 matches’ because these were all about getting heat from this crowd. We saw few flippy, dangerous moves or really intricate spots, but this was fun.
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