By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Live Pro Wrestling “Man of Steel 2024”
March 3, 2024 in New Bedford, Massachusetts at Vault Music Hall
Streamed on the IndependentWrestling.TV
New Bedford is located south of Boston; it is straight east of Providence, R.I. This show was just uploaded to IWTV, and I like a lot of guys in this lineup. There are a handful of wrestlers here who are new to me. This is a night club and while there are only maybe 150 fans here, it is packed. Lighting is surprisingly good.
* This show is built around two “Man of Steel” matches, which is a WWE-style gauntlet with five competitors (thus, four mini-matches). The winner of each Man of Steel match will meet in the show finale. The first match is a Man of Steel match; I only know Richard Holliday and Love, Doug so I presume one of them will win.
1a. Matt Magnum defeated Nico Silva at 5:21. Nico is bald and thick (not heavy) and made me think of WCW’s Big Vito. Magnum is also bald but not as thick. Magnum hit a German Suplex. Nico hit his own German Suplex. Nico applied a Figure Four Leglock. He hit a spear for a nearfall at 5:00. Matt got a rollup out of nowhere for the pin.
1b. Sweet Scott Ashworth defeated Matt Magnum at 2:16. My first time seeing the flamboyant, pink-wearing Scott Ashworth. He is rotund and has gray in his beard, and he appears to be in his late 30s or early 40s. He is wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes and doesn’t look much like a wrestler to me. I started the stopwatch when they finally locked up, as Ashworth was far more interested in playing to the crowd. Magnum ran toward a corner and hit his head; Ashworth immediately got a schoolboy rollup for the pin. That was awful.
1c. Love, Doug defeated Sweet Scott Ashworth at 1:22. Doug is a heel in Live Pro. More stalling and this took forever to get going. Ashworth hit some terrible-looking armdrags that Doug was a pro in selling. Doug got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the pin. Ashworth is now officially the worst wrestler I’ve seen in 2024.
1d. Richard Holliday defeated Love, Doug to win the “Man of Steel” semi-final at 00:26. Maybe I can pretend those first three mini-matches didn’t happen and just go straight to this? Seriously, readers… just fast-forward to the 25-minute mark of this show and start there. Holliday is a babyface here, and he hit a clothesline to start the match. Holliday shoved Doug into a heel manager, rolled him up, and scored the pin. Nope, I was wrong. Just skip this, too. I know the wrestlers still to come on this show and it WILL get better. It has to, because it can’t get worse!
2. Jermaine Marbury (w/Benny the Basketball) defeated Steven Lust at 8:35. I’ve seen Lust a few times; with his thick curly black beard, think a shorter Damien Sandow. Marbury is the basketball player gimmick who is a silly, fun undercard act. Marbury hit deep armdrags and a dropkick. Lust took control of the action; Benny was waving a ‘defense!’ sign and getting the crowd fired up. Marbury did his ‘ankle break’ movements, and palmed Lust’s head and slammed it to the mat. Marbury hit a Bulldog for the pin. Much better than all four of the mini-matches. Marbury and Benny celebrated; they are a fun act for the kids.
* Next up is the other “Man of Steel” gauntlet and I’m well familiar with all five of these guys.
3a) Danny Miles defeated Teddy Goodz at 3:31. Miles is short and muscular; he’s a regular at Wrestling Open. Goodz is a babyface here; he hit a clothesline at 2:30 and was fired up. He hit some forearms in the corner. Miles got a rollup with a handful of tights for the pin. That was underwhelming. These gauntlets aren’t making anyone look good.
3b. Bobby Orlando defeated Danny Miles at 2:16. Miles hit a rolling cannonball in the corner. Orlando hit a top-rope elbow drop for the pin.
3c. Bobby Orlando defeated Aaron Rourke at 3:20. Rourke hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. He hit a Trash Compactor piledriver along his back for a believable nearfall. He went for a split-legged moonsault but Bobby got his knees up. Bobby hit a second-rope stunner for the pin. This should have been a full match. Rourke stomped on Orlando some more as Channing Thomas walked to the ring.
3d. Channing Thomas (w/Sidney Bakabella) defeated Bobby Orlando to win the “Man of Steel” semi-final at 3:12. Channing immediately hit a DDT for a believable nearfall. Orlando hit a Death Valley Driver, then the second-rope stunner for a believable nearfall. Bakabella threw powder in Orlando’s eyes! Channing immediately hit a fisherman’s suplex for the tainted pin. So, Channing will face Richard Holliday in the main event.
* Brother Greatness hosted “Glimpse of Greatness” with Little Mean Kathleen and John Cena Sr. Some fans put dollars in Brother Greatness’ church basket. He has “Alterboy Sweatboy” with him. BG introduced LMK, who is dressed to wrestle but she looks on the verge of tears. The commentators speculated she was going to “join the church.” However, she stole the church offerings! Brother Greatness offered her a spot in The Church; this is all very silly and bad local theater production. Cena Sr. came to the ring to John Cena’s WWE theme and he wore a suit; his tie has “S” signs on it. Does he think he’s Ted DiBiase? He took the mic and told Brother Greatness to shut his mouth. “If hot air makes a balloon go up, what the hell is holding you down?” Cena Sr. said. Cena Sr. said he has a “gift” for Brother Greatness; if he wrestles today (on a Sunday!) there is a big bonus for him.
4. Little Mean Kathleen defeated Alterboy Sweatboy at 00:52. She is a fraction of his size. She grabbed him, pushed off the ropes and hit a bulldog for the pin. That was a lot of work for very little payoff.
* Okay I’ll be the first to admit the first half of this show was barely watchable; even the matchups with good wrestlers that looked “good on paper” were kept way too short. However, these final four matches all look great on paper!
5. TJ Crawford (w/Love, Doug) defeated Leon St. Giovanni at 9:07. LSG is the former ROH wrestler from the Sinclair era, and TJ has been on MLW TV and all over the Northeast of late. Lot of stalling at the bell. LSG hit a bodyslam and TJ bailed again at 3:00. Doug grabbed LSG’s leg, allowing TJ to take control of the offense. Doug choked LSG in the ropes. TJ missed a top-rope crossbody block at 6:00. LSG fired up, hit some punches, a stunner and a suplex. TJ hit a spin kick to the head and a Falcon Arrow for a believable nearfall at 8:00. He hit a jumping knee to the chin. LSG fired back with a Flatliner. He went for a springboard move, but Doug hopped on the apron and distracted him. It allowed TJ to get an inside cradle for the pin. Decent match; I hoped for more.
6. Jaylen Brandyn and Dustin Waller defeated “Swipe Right” Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes at 8:32. I’m a big fan of the heel Swipe Right duo. Both Dustin and Jaylen’s respective regular partners were out of action, so this is the second time I have seen them as a makeshift team. Baylor is the teenager who is just a awesome heel, and he opened against Waller. Brad hit a shoulder tackle and he did a Rick Rude-style hip swivel. Smokes slammed Jaylen into the heel corner and the heels began working him over. Smokes hit a backbreaker over his knee at 2:30.
Baylor hit a shotgun dropkick for a nearfall. Waller made the hot tag at 5:30 and hit a springboard flying forearm. Swipe Right began working over Waller. Smokes hit his pop-up stunner on Waller. Baylor hit a TKO on Jaylen. Waller hit a Lethal Injection on Baylor. This is easily best match so far. Jaylen hit a swinging face plant. Waller leapt off a stage, going over the top rope, and hit a stunner. Brandyn immediately made the cover for the pin. That was fun.
7. Ichiban defeated Brett Ryan Gosselin via disqualification at 6:17. Both men have made in-roads on MLW TV in recent months. BRG wore his long, fur coat and sunglasses and was loudly booed. Fans chanted “Justin Beiber!” at BRG; I’ve always said he’s more Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boyz. They traded deep armdrags early on. Ichiban hit a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall at 2:00. BRG hit a snap suplex for a nearfall, then a standing neckbreaker across the top rope, and he grounded Ichiban. Ichiban hit a springboard crossbody block for a nearfall at 5:30, then a second-rope missile dropkck. Ichiba leapt at BRG, but Brett hit a low blow punt kick right in front of the referee, who called for the bell. Disappointing ending because this was just getting rolling.
8. Channing Thomas (w/Sidney Bakabella) defeated Richard Holliday in the “Man of Steel” finals at 11:52. The trophy, about 2 1/2 feet tall, was placed in the ring. They jawed nose-to-nose before Thomas threw some punches. Holliday hit a sideslam for a nearfall, then a powerslam for a nearfall at 2:00. Channing dropped Holliday crotch-first on the top rope, then hit a flying forearm as Richard was still straddling the rope. Channing was now in charge of the offense and he repeatedly stomped on Holliday. He hit a standing neckbreaker at 5:30 and posed.
Holliday fired up and hit some back elbows and a stunner for a nearfall at 8:00. Holliday tied Channing in a Torture Rack. Bakabella hopped on the ring apron to distract him, so Holliday set him down. Channing accidentally hit the referee. Holliday hit the 2008 swinging suplex for a nearfall for a visual pin at 10:00 but we didn’t have a ref! Bakabella hit a low blow on Holliday, allowing Channing to hit a suplex for a believable nearfall. Holliday hit a standing powerbomb and he was fired up. He applied a Boston Crab, but Bakabella threw powder in his eyes. Channing hit a rolling elbow for the cheap pin. They pulled out all the tricks but it worked.
Final Thoughts: I rarely write this, but if you want to watch this show, start at the mid-way point with Crawford-LSG. The first half of the show either had bad matches or short (and unsatisfying) matches. Aaron Rourke is really good, for instance, but you wouldn’t know it because his match was so short. Best match is Swipe Right vs. Waller/Brandyn. I’ll go with the main event for a distant second. Even though it ended too quickly, I’ll still go with BRG-Ichiban for third. Quite simply, this show looked a lot better on paper than how it played out.
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