By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
Wrestling Open “Episode 229”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
May 21, 2026, in Worcester, Massachusetts, at The White Eagle
The lighting is good, and it’s easy to see. The attendance was maybe 150; it appears to be up from last week. Paul Crockett provided commentary.
* The inaugural Women’s Title tournament is underway! We started with 10 participants and now have our field of eight competitors set. The quarterfinals begin tonight!
1. Brett Mettro vs. Cash McGuinness in a spotlight match. Ref Scott Robinson and BRG provided commentary on this one. Mettro is a trainee at the Bio Pro Academy, and he’s much thicker than the scrawny teen Cash. Some goofy stuff to open, and Brett hit some chops. Brett hit a big bodyslam, then an airplane spin and a Flatliner for the pin. Cash might go winless for a long, long time!
Brett Mettro defeated Cash McGuinness at 4:53.
* Rain Conway came to the ring to open the main show. Crockett took over solo on commentary. Rain’s “got that dog!” in him.
2. Eye Black Jack Pasquale vs. Rain Conway. Jack charged into the ring and attacked, and we’re underway! Basic brawling early on, and Jack hit a delayed vertical suplex for a nearfall at 2:30. Rain countered with a German Suplex and a back suplex, then a snap suplex for a nearfall at 4:30. Rain hit a fisherman’s suplex and went for a modified Figure Four. Crockett praised Conway’s rapid improvement and the training he’s put in. Jack fired up and hit some flying forearms, but he missed a frog splash. Jack hit a superkick at 8:00. Rain got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the tainted pin out of nowhere.
Rain Conway defeated Eye Black Jack Pasquale at 8:09.
* Brett Ryan Gosselin came to the ring. He beat Pedro Dones in a no-DQ match to end Dones’s Wrestling Open career. He wore a Montreal Canadiens shirt. The crowd chanted profanities at him. He boasted about booting Pedro forever. This brought out “Handyman” Jake Gray, who often teamed with Dones. Brett has a match for Jake!
3. Nick Robles (w/BRG) vs. “Handyman” Jake Gray. None of the Residency faction teammates were with Robles. Basic brawling early on. (I am having an issue with a two-second clip replaying. It’s not a smooth feed tonight.) Gray hit a huracanrana. Jake applied a front guillotine choke, and they fell to the mat. Robles tapped out! Basic but fine.
“Handyman” Jake Gray defeated Nick Robles at 5:33.
4. Lauren St. James vs. Nessa Ferrari (w/Amity LaVey). Basic action early on. Combined, these women have 15 or fewer matches. Nessa hit a dropkick. Basic standing switches. Lauren hit some clotheslines, a back elbow, and a bulldog for the pin.
Lauren St. James defeated Nessa Ferrari at 4:00.
* Amity attacked Lauren, and they are having a match… right now!
5. Lauren St. James vs. Amity LaVey. Amity jumped in the ring and attacked her, but Lauren got a rollup for the pin!
Lauren St. James defeated Amity LaVey at 1:07.
* Footage aired of the big angle from last week when TJ Crawford (who wrestled on AEW Dynamite last week and pushed RUSH to the limit!) turned on Brad Hollister. TJ then came to the ring!
6. TJ Crawford vs. Danny Cabral. I’ve seen Cabral’s name before, but I don’t think I’ve seen him wrestle. He’s young and pretty thin, with a short, trimmed beard. They shook hands, but then TJ hit a roundhouse kick to the head! He hit a Silver Bullet spin kick to the head. Crockett urged Crawford to put him away, but TJ kept kicking the kid. The ref called for the bell and awarded the match to TJ.
TJ Crawford defeated Danny Cabral via ref stoppage at 1:17.
* TJ grabbed the mic to explain himself… but he set the mic down and left the ring.
7. Notorious Mimi vs. Jordan Blade in a Women’s Tournament quarterfinal match. Mat technician Jordan tied her up on the mat. Mimi tied Blade’s arm in the ropes. (Crockett is calling her Sloane Jacobs tonight. I’ll be consistent, as she is using “Mimi” as her name in non-Evolve matches. The ad for the match also lists her as Mimi.) Mimi hit some chops, and she targeted Blade’s left arm. She hit a sidewalk slam at 4:30 and tied Blade in a top hammerlock.
Jordan fired up and hit a spinning back fist and a German Suplex at 6:30, then a Helluva Kick and a Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Mimi locked in a Fujiwara Armbar in the center of the ring, but Blade rolled her over and got a nearfall. Blade hit a nice fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall at 8:00. Blade locked in an ankle lock and grapevined the legs, and Mimi tapped out! I’ll consider that an upset based on how these two have been used here in the past three months; Crockett just said essentially the same thing.
Jordan Blade defeated Notorious Mimi at 8:44 to advance.
8. Gabby Forza vs. Tiara James in a Women’s Tournament quarterfinal match. Tiara had her handheld mirror, and she admired herself as she came to the ring. Tiara stalled in the ropes at the bell and refused to lock up. They finally tied up on the mat and had a standoff at 1:30. Gabby knocked her down with a shoulder tackle, and she got a nearfall. She hit some clotheslines in the corner. Tiara escaped a vertical suplex, and she nailed a chop block to the back of the knee at 3:30, and she took control. James stomped on the knee and hit some chops. She put the leg in the ropes and stomped on it.
Gabby got a rollup for a nearfall at 8:30, then another. Gabby hit a Bear Bronson-style butt drop to the chest, but she was limping on that injured leg. They traded forearm strikes. Gabby caught her and hit a fallaway slam at 10:00, but Tiara rolled away. Gabby hit a one-legged Gnome Bomb (Vader Bomb) for a nearfall. Tiara hit a second-rope flying Meteora for a nearfall, and she was frustrated that she didn’t win there. Tiara again went for a move off the second rope, but Gabby hit a leaping mid-air spear to cut Tiara in half for the pin!
Gabby Forza defeated Tiara James at 12:04 to advance.
* DJ Powers came to the ring and got on the mic, but the crowd shouted him down. DJ said he’s not afraid of his opponent tonight!
9. Lio Rush vs. DJ Powers. Lio slithered to the ring with the black goo dripping from his lips. “I can’t imagine stepping into the ring with someone like this,” Crockett said. The ref reluctantly shook Lio’s hand, and the crowd applauded. DJ then shook Lio’s hand. Lio whispered to the ref. This is just bizarre, and they haven’t even locked up yet. Lio did his misdirection offense, and DJ rolled to the floor at 3:00 to regroup. In the ring, Lio raked the back and hit a clothesline, and DJ bailed again. Back in the ring, DJ hit a hard clothesline for a nearfall at 6:00. DJ hit a snap suplex and some chops. Lio welcomed the chops, caught an arm, and bit it!
Lio hit a delayed vertical Falcon Arrow for a nearfall at 9:00. DJ hit a flipping suplex with Lio landing on his stomach, and DJ got a nearfall. DJ hit a spear at 11:00, but he missed a frog splash. Lio hit a stunner, then another one! DJ missed the Final Hour frog splash, and DJ immediately hit a Claymore Kick, then a neckbreaker over his knee. DJ hit his frog splash for a nearfall at 13:00. Lio hit his spinning kick from his hip, then a spear, and this time he hit the Final Hour frog splash, but he only got a nearfall! Lio slithered over to the ref as the crowd chanted, “That was three!” Lio hit a stunner and another.
Lio Rush squeezed DJ’s head like he was Demolition Crush! He hit a rolling Koppo Kick to send Lio to the floor, crawled on the mat, and dove through the ropes onto DJ at 16:00! He dragged DJ in, hit the Rush Hour stunner out of the ropes, and applied a modified Muta Lock, and Powers tapped out. Lio creepily stroked Powers’ head as he slowly let go of the hold. Fun match, and definitely worth checking out. Lio got a “please come back!” chant.
Lio Rush defeated DJ Powers at 16:29.
* Footage aired of Dustin Waller beating Ichiban to advance to the Wrestling Open title tournament finale! Dustin Waller then came to the ring, wearing a black suit and jacket. He got on the mic and berated the Worcester fans, saying they are more likely to play on their phones than watch the action. He vowed that WHEN he wins the title next week, that belt will never be seen in the White Eagle again! Sammy Diaz came to the ring! “Dustin, what are you mad about? Why are you so angry? Why are you so bitter?” Diaz told him. Diaz said he’s worried about Dustin. “I don’t know who this is,” Sammy said as he gestured to Dustin. Dustin made a comment about Sammy’s father using drugs and getting locked up and not being at home … and Sammy got livid and began punching Dustin. “WHOA! That just crossed every line I can think of. What a scumbag!” Crockett said. “To say that? That was disgusting.”
10. “Stetson Ranch” Steven Stetson and Brian Morris vs. Ichiban and Sammy Diaz for the Wrestling Open Tag Team Titles. Ichiban replaced the injured Mani Ariez for this one. Ichiban and Sammy dove through the ropes onto the champs as they approached the ring. Diaz hit a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall just seconds into the match! Sammy brawled with Stetson. Sammy hit a huracanrana on Stetson. Morris tripped Sammy, and the heels took control and worked over Diaz in their corner. The crowd offered their unique profanity-laced chant at Stetson. (I swear, some of these fans show up when Stetson is on the show just to participate in the chant!)
Sammy finally hit an enzuigiri on Morris. Ichiban got a hot tag at 5:00 and hit a top-rope double crossbody block. He hit a huracanrana on Stetson and a 619. He hit his handspring-back-elbow on Morris and his “one!” punches in the corner as the crowd counted along. Stetson hit a bodyslam and a butt drop to Ichiban’s chest at 7:00, and he jawed at the fans. Ichiban fired up and hit some chops and forearm strikes on Morris. He hit a tornado DDT on Stetson, and they were both down at 9:30. Sammy got a hot tag, and he hit a Pele Kick on Morris, then one on Stetson. He hit enzuigiris on both guys, then a crossbody block on Stetson. Sammy hit a double springboard fadeaway stunner for a nearfall.
Sammy set up for the Cradle Shock, but Stetson made the save. Sammy hit a kick to knock the heels together. Sammy nailed a frog splash on Morris for a believable nearfall at 12:00! Stetson tossed Sammy in the air, and Morris caught Diaz’s head and hit a stunner for a nearfall. Ichiban hit a flying headscissors, taking himself and Stetson to the floor. Sammy hit a Frankensteiner on Morris. Waller snuck to ringside and tripped Diaz! The ref was distracted by watching Ichiban and Stetson literally fight out the door! Morris hit an Angel’s Wings swinging faceplant for the tainted pin.
“Stetson Ranch” Steven Stetson and Brian Morris defeated Ichiban and Sammy Diaz to retain the Wrestling Open Tag Team Titles at 13:54.
* Waller got in the ring and berated Sammy. Dustin hit a Lethal Injection. “When you wake up, come and find me, and I’ll slap you around like your father should’ve,” Dustin told Diaz, as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts: Two really strong matches to close out the show. I thoroughly enjoyed Lio vs. Powers, and that takes best match, ahead of the tag title main event. The stage was set for Sammy to cost Waller his match on Monday… or obviously, that Dustin’s first opponent as champ will be Diaz. Either works for me. Gabby-Tiara takes third place. I’ll give that Conway-Pasquale match honorable mention, and I want to point out that Rain Conway has vastly improved — he just had a good, long match with Marcus Mathers over the weekend that showed off his improving skills.
A minor complaint tonight is that no one joined Crockett on commentary. Jake Gray has done an admirable job on commentary in the past, and he would have been an obvious choice to come and help out. But as we heard from Monday’s Beyond Wrestling show, several wrestlers can pinch-hit and help out. Crockett does a fine job, but I would have loved for him to have someone to bounce his thoughts off of.
The spotlight match did nothing for me, but this is what the spotlight match is for — giving two younger wrestlers a chance to show off their skills in front of a crowd. I’ll take this over, say, when seasoned ring vet Jay Lyon fought JGeorge for a month straight in spotlight matches.
I’m sure the replay will be fine, but I had issues tonight with the live stream. It froze a few times, and it often repeated a few seconds of action. This should be available on IWTV by Friday morning.
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