By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
Wrestling Open RI “Episode 58”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
July 13, 2026, in Cranston, Rhode Island, at Rhodes On The Pawtuxet
This is an attractive two-story, white ballroom, and the lighting is really good. The crowd was perhaps 150; they draw steady numbers weekly. Paul Crockett, Brett Ryan Gosselin, and Ref Scott Robinson provided commentary.
1. Rain Conway vs. Leedz Lewis in a spotlight match. Leedz is the short, French indy star who competed in GCW over the weekend, and he’s pretty impressive. Ref Robinson and BRG provided commentary on this one. Standing switches to open; Rain has a notable height and weight advantage. Rain slammed Lewis while also kicking Lewis in the back.
Leedz hit a flying kick to the chest, and they were both down at 3:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes. Lewis hit a Sling Blade clothesline and a bulldog, then a second-rope moonsault for a nearfall. He went for his split-legged twisting moonsault, but Rain got his knees up to block it. Rain hit the Rainmaker short-arm clothesline for the pin. Rain’s little winning streak continues.
Rain Conway defeated Leedz Lewis at 5:40.
* Crockett is back on commentary!
2. Bobby Casale vs. Devin Reno. I think this makes a full month that the bald, Arizona-based indy vet Reno has appeared here. An intense lockup to open as they bounced against the ropes while tied together. Casale slammed Reno to the mat. They began trading punches! Casale hit a roundhouse kick to the chest, a bodyslam, and an elbow drop for a nearfall at 3:00. He hit a Bulldog Powerslam for a nearfall. Reno snapped Bobby’s arm across the top rope and took control. He hit a Norman Smiley-style swinging powerslam at 5:30.
Reno hit a modified Blue Thunder Bomb at 7:00, and he jawed at the crowd; he’s easy to boo. Casale hit a second-rope superplex, and they were both down. They got on their knees and traded forearm strikes. Casale hit a German Suplex and T-Bone Suplex at 9:00. Casale hit the Angle Slam for a nearfall, and he locked in a sleeper. Reno flipped him over and got a nearfall. Reno hit a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Casale locked in a sleeper right as the time limit expired; the ref waived off a possible win. A bit of a surprise in the outcome.
Bobby Casale vs. Devin Reno went to a time-limit draw at 10:00.
3. Kylie Alexa vs. Rachel Ley. Rising star Ley did an AEW photoshoot this weekend with Andrade El Idolo; she posted some of the pics on her Twitter/X page. Ley is taller and visibly thicker. A feeling-out process early on; Alexa was more focused on yelling at the crowd. Ley hit a flipping guillotine leg drop for a nearfall at 2:00. Kylie mounted her and repeatedly punched her in the face and got booed. She choked Rachel in the ropes and kept Ley grounded.
Kylie took some clips out of Rachel’s hair and threw them into the crowd, as she kept Ley in a headlock. Alexa hit a superkick and a running buttbump for a nearfall at 4:30. They got up and traded punches. Rachel hit some clotheslines and an enzuigiri. Rachel hit a swinging neckbreaker move for a nearfall at 6:30. Kylie hit her basement dropkick in the corner for the clean pin. Good action.
Kylie Alexa defeated Rachel Ley at 7:08.
* DJ Powers came to the ring and got on the mic, but the crowd booed him loudly to drown him out. “Did you all miss me? That’s fine because I didn’t miss any of you,” he said. He said he hates Jermaine Marbury. “He makes me sick to my stomach,” he said.
4. DJ Powers vs. Jermaine Marbury (w/Benny the Basketball). Marbury has switched to his Knicks blue gear. (He’s been wearing Raptors purple in recent weeks.) They locked up, and DJ knocked him down with a shoulder tackle. Jermaine hit some deep armdrags, then his Eurostep Neckbreaker for a nearfall at 1:30. DJ rolled to the floor to regroup. They briefly brawled on the floor. Back in the ring, Powers hit a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall.
Powers rolled to the floor, and he shoved Benny and was booed. In the ring, he hit a dropkick for a nearfall at 4:00. Marbury ‘broke DJ’s ankles’ on his sidesteps, then hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. On the floor, Benny the Basketball shoved Marbury into the ring post! What the heck just happened??? The ref counted to 10, with Jermaine still down and out on the floor! Benny removed the mascot head — it’s Nick Battee! Nick beat up Marbury in the ring, and he celebrated with Powers. Loud boos for this!
DJ Powers defeated Jermaine Marbury via count-out at 6:48.
* Marcus Mathers’ theme music played! However, Dustin Waller came out and he laughed at the crowd for thinking Mathers was there. He continued to berate Marcus.
5. Dustin Waller vs. Ryan O’Neill. This is O’Neill’s main show debut; I believe he had a spotlight match a few weeks ago that I missed. These two were actually on opposite teams 30 or so hours ago in GCW! Some quick reversals, and Ryan hit a springboard crossbody block, then a back suplex. Waller hit a spin kick in the corner at 1:30. Hehit a running penalty kick on the ring apron. Marcus Mathers appeared at ringside! He cheered on O’Neill and jawed at Waller!
Waller hit a top-rope crossbody block but continued to jaw at Marcus. Dustin hit a scoop bodyslam and a series of kicks, and he remained in charge. Ryan hit a swinging powerslam at 5:00. Ryan hit a hard back elbow and an enzuigiri, then his Cleopatra stunner. He nailed a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Waller hit a Mathers-style kick to the jaw at 7:00, and he glared at Marcus. O’Neill hit a kip-up stunner! Ryan went for a sunset flip, but Waller blocked it, sat down, grabbed the ropes for added leverage, and scored the tainted pin. Mathers was livid; he thought about trying to push Waller’s hands off the ropes but didn’t.
Dustin Waller defeated Ryan O’Neill at 7:29.
* Mathers and O’Neill argued; it appears that Ryan thought Marcus should have helped him by stopping Dustin’s cheating.
6. Bobby Orlando and Bear Bronson vs. “Simply The Best” Brett Ryan Gosselin and Oxx Adams. BRG and Orlando opened. Bear entered; Brett tried some chops, but it just hurt his hand, with Bear no-selling the blows. Bear hit a bodyslam. Bobby hit a second-rope splash for a nearfall at 2:30. Oxx tossed Bobby to the floor and beat him up. In the ring, Oxx hit a backbreaker over his knee, and he bent Orlando backwards over his knee. He hit a second one at 4:30. Brett jumped back in and hit some punches on Bobby.
BRG hit a superkick to Bobby’s jaw for a nearfall at 6:00. Orlando hit a powerbomb on BRG, and they were both down. Bronson got a hot tag; he knocked Oxx off the apron, then he chokeslammed BRG and hit a butt drop to the sternum. Bear nailed a Choke Bomb at 7:30 for a nearfall, but Oxx made the save. Bear and Oxx traded massive forearm strikes! They hit clotheslines. Bear and Bobby took turns punching Oxx. Bear hit a bodyslam! Oxx nailed his own Choke Bomb and scored the pin! Oxx just pinned the Wrestling Open champ! Crockett was shocked!
Oxx Adams and Brett Ryan Gosselin defeated Bear Bronson and Bobby Orlando at 9:38.
* After some delays because of scheduling issues, the women’s tournament finale will take place next Monday! It’s Gabby Forza vs. Kylie Alexis next week! We heard from several wrestlers on who they thought would win. Unsurprisingly, the heels believe Kylie will become champion.
7. Bryce Donovan (w/”Smart” Mark Sterling) vs. Ichiban (w/Sammy Diaz). These two faced off in May in the Wrestling Open title tournament (Ichiban won in 17 minutes), and it’s one of my favorite indy matches of the year! Bryce immediately backed Ichiban into a corner, and he hit a clothesline. Ichiban hit a top-rope flying knife-edge chop to the head. They brawled at ringside. In the ring, Bryce hit a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall at 3:00. Sterling choked Ichiban in the ropes, so Diaz choked Bryce in the ropes!
Bryce hit a massive chokeslam for a nearfall at 5:00. He hit a Mafia Kick and was in charge. Ichiban hit some punches to the ribs. Bryce nailed a fallaway slam at 7:00. Ichiban hit a tornado DDT. Ichiban hit a top-rope flying Thesz Press, a springboard crossbody block, then a dropkick. He hit a Lungblower to the jaw for a nearfall at 9:30. Bryce hit a Dragunov-style diving forearm strike for a nearfall. Ichiban hit a 619. Sterling distracted Ichiban, allowing Bryce to hit a Nigel-style Tower of London stunner for a nearfall at 11:30.
Ichiban got up and hit a series of punches. He hit a stunner, then he put Bryce on his shoulders and slammed him for a nearfall. Sterling reached in and grabbed Ichiban’s ankle! Diaz chased and caught Sterling; Bryce grabbed Diaz and beat him up. Ichiban hit a flip dive onto Bryce at 14:30. In the ring, Ichiban blocked a chokeslam, and he hit the leaping Ichiban Kai (Flatliner). Before he could go for a pin, Sterling jumped into the ring and stomped on Ichiban, and the ref called for the bell. Good action before the copout finish.
Ichiban defeated Bryce Donovan via DQ at 14:54.
* Diaz jumped in the ring to save Ichiban from a beatdown. Ichiban put Sterling in a Fujiwara Armbar. Diaz got on the mic and called for an “I Quit” tag match next week!
Final Thoughts: A really good main event; not as good as the May match, but still quite good. (The May match had a clean finish, and it had the important stakes of advancing in the title tournament.) Waller vs. O’Neill was really good for second. Oxx Adams has stepped up his game, slimmed down a bit, and was rewarded by getting a big pin over the champion; that tag match takes third. The women’s match entertained me, and I’ll go with that for honorable mention.
The storylines here continue to work for me. Battee in the Benny outfit was unexpected, but that’s a good way to continue that feud. Not too many complaints. Reno is a decent heel, but he was losing quickly on spotlight matches; Casale deserved to win that one. Going to a draw feels like a big step backwards for the hot Casale. I’m still not sure how long Leedz Lewis is touring the U.S., but he sure is getting a lot of matches in during this trip here. I watched this live; it should be available on IWTV by Tuesday morning.
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