By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
Wrestling Open RI “Episode 73”
Streamed on IndependentWrestling.TV
October 26, 2026, in Cranston, Rhode Island, at Rhodes On The Pawtuxet
The venue is an attractive two-story, white ballroom, and the lighting is really good. The crowd was perhaps 100. Paul Crockett, Chris Sanders, and Brett Ryan Gosselin provided commentary. Anthony Greene joined for a match mid-show, too.
* Only four matches were announced in advance, so a lot of mystery matches ahead!
1. Josh Guzman vs. Richard Adonis in a spotlight match. Adonis is a new WWE ID prospect. He has a great physique. This was my first time seeing Guzman, who is short and slender and might still be a teen. Guzman hit a dropkick and a flying forearm in the corner. Adonis tied him up on the mat, hit a stiff kick to the spine, and stood behind Guzman to hit blows to the kid’s chest. He stomped on Guzman and kept the kid grounded. Adonis hit a back suplex and scored the pin. Okay action, but I’ll add that this is what a spotlight match should be.
Richard Adonis defeated Josh Guzman at 5:19.
* The main show opened with footage of the great back-and-forth argument between Anthony Vecchio and Aaron Rourke last week. Rourke is Vecchio’s trainer, but of course, Vecchio now has a big chip on his shoulder. Paul Crockett took over on commentary for the main show.
2. Anthony Vecchio vs. Aaron Rourke. Rourke charged at the bell, so Vecchio stalled in the ropes, then he fled to the floor, with Aaron in pursuit. Rourke hit a fisherman’s suplex at 1:30, and he clotheslined Vecchio to the floor. On the floor, Aaron hit a spear! Vecchio took control as they got back into the ring. He mounted Rourke and hit repeated punches to his face. Vecchio tied Rourke in a straitjacket choke at 4:00 and kept him grounded. Vecchio hit a DDT and a top-rope missile dropkick for a nearfall. Rourke fired up and hit some hard back elbows, then a standing Blue Thunder Bomb at 6:30.
Aaron hit a double knee drop to Vecchio’s ribs in the corner, but he missed a Meteora. He dropped Anthony snake-eyes in the corner, then hit a Meteora to the back of the head for a nearfall. Vecchio hit a belly-to-belly slam and a Michinoku Driver. They got up and traded punches.
Rourke hit a European Uppercut and a German Suplex, then a shoulder-breaker over his knee and a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall at 9:30. Rourke hit the Molly-Go-Round, but Vecchio rolled to the ropes for safety. The bell sounded! We had a time-limit draw. Of course, the fans chanted for “Five more minutes!” Strong opener.
Anthony Vecchio vs. Aaron Rourke went to a time-limit draw at 10:00.
* A video package aired. When we returned, All Go Nelli was in the ring. Seriously, one of these days, he’s going to get a 1-2-3 Kid-style win over a Razor Ramon-type heel. Right on cue, here comes Dustin Waller!
3. Dustin Waller vs. All Go Nelli. Dustin hit a running clothesline in the corner at the bell and a top-rope flying clothesline. He pulled Nelli up and hit some chops, and he jawed at the fans. However, he missed a running Shooting Star Press. Nelli hit a tornado DDT off the ropes. Waller hit the running Shooting Star Press and got the pin. Okay, one of these days, Nelli is going to shock us; it just wasn’t tonight.
Dustin Waller defeated All Go Nelli at 1:46.
* The next match was supposed to be Anthony Greene vs. Bobby Casale. A rare babyface matchup, but this sets up Star Struck as No. 1 contenders for the tag titles. Anthony came out first, and he was angry at seeing The Verdict cheat week after week. He admitted he accidentally cost Casale and Danny Miles the tag titles last week. Miles came out, and he was angry at Greene. Greene called him a “hot-head.” They shoved each other. Rain Conway came out, and he offered to face Casale instead! Greene joined Crockett on commentary.
4. Bobby Casale vs. Rain Conway. Basic action early on, and Casale hit a gut-wrench suplex. He backed Rain into a corner and hit some roundhouse kicks. Casale slammed him and immediately went for a cross-armbreaker, but Rain quickly got his feet on the ropes at 2:30. Casale hit several Sheamus-style blows to the chest. He pointed at Greene and shouted that he’s next.
However, Conway hit a chop block to the back of the knee and targeted the damaged leg. He tied the leg in the ropes and hit a running kick on it. Rain applied a Figure Four at 4:00. Casale hit some chops, but he was limping and selling the chop block injury. Rain applied a standing sleeper. However, Bobby scooped him up and hit a Dominator swinging faceplant for the pin. Fine for what it was.
Bobby Casale defeated Rain Conway at 6:06.
* Anthony Greene approached the ring and jawed at Casale, but he didn’t get in the ring.
5. Oxx Adams (w/Brett Ryan Gosselin) vs. Dutch. These two have gone to war a few times now. They immediately traded forearm strikes, and Oxx hit a headbutt. They switched to overhand chops and running clotheslines that were more like Jake Doyle-style body blocks. They both fell to the floor at 1:00, and they traded blows on the floor. In the ring, Oxx hit a hard clothesline. He slammed Dutch’s left foot against the mat and targeted the ankle.
Dutch rolled to the floor and grabbed at his sore ankle. BRG ran over and kicked him. Oxx wrapped the damaged leg around the ring post at 4:00. In the ring, he kept Dutch grounded as he continued to work over the leg. Oxx hit a chokeslam and got the pin! Wow, that was a pretty dominant victory! BRG got into the ring, but Dutch hit him with a Black Hole Slam to get a bit of heat back.
Oxx Adams defeated Dutch at 7:12.
6. Paris Van Dale and Kylie Alexa vs. Liviyah and Nessa Ferrari. Liviyah and Paris opened. Kylie hit some overhand chops on Nessa and planted her foot in Ferrari’s throat. Alexa hit a running buttbump to Nessa’s head at 2:30, and the heels kept Ferrari in their corner. Paris hit the splits leg drop over Nessa’s throat at 4:00. Liviyah finally got a hot tag and hit some clotheslines. She hit a stunner on Alexa, and she clotheslined Paris to the floor. Kylie hit a Cradle Shock on Liviyah for a nearfall at 5:30. Nessa tagged back in, and she hit a Lungblower move to Kylie’s chin. She hit a springboard Lungblower to PVD’s chin and got the pin!
Liviyah and Nessa Ferrari defeated Kylie Alexa and Paris Van Dale at 6:29.
* We had an intermission as they prepared the ring for the main event… this took a lot longer than I anticipated. The ring looks so barren without those pads in each corner!
7. Bear Bronson vs. Devin Reno in a Steel Corners Match for the Wrestling Open Title. For this one, there are no turnbuckle pads, and hitting an opponent onto the exposed steel is legal. We got the bell, but they circled each other before locking up nearly a minute in. They traded chops in the corner. They brawled to the floor at 3:00, and Bronson hit some chops as Devin was seated in the front row. In the ring, Bear hit his butt drop to the sternum at 4:30. Devin hit a series of blows to the kidneys. Devin tied him in the Tree of Woe, rolled to the floor, and craned back on Bronson’s head at 7:00.
Reno got a nearfall in the middle of the ring, and hit some knee drops to Bear’s spine. Bear finally fired up and hit a series of clotheslines at 10:30. He hit a Black Hole Slam for a nearfall. He hit a Choke Bomb for a nearfall, and they were both down at 12:00. Bear went ot the second rope, but Devin tripped him, and Bronson fell back-first across the exposed metal! Reno hit a sideslam for a nearfall at 14:00. They got up, and Reno unloaded some forearm strikes. Bear hit some back. Bear dropped him snake-eyes on the exposed corner, then hit the Fire Thunder Driver for the pin.
Bear Bronson defeated Devin Reno in a Steel Corners Match to retain the Wrestling Open Title at 15:43.
Final Thoughts: Bear continues to do an admirable job carrying this promotion. He had a good match Thursday at the Wrestling Open in Massachusetts against TJ Crawford, and I know he had at least one death match over the weekend, too. This was a solid brawl, not too flashy, but the big problem is I never once thought Reno was going to win.
Wrestling Open routinely has the second- or third-best match as the main show opener, and that was the case here. Rourke-Vecchio was really good action, and I don’t mind the time-limit draw at all. There are more chapters ahead in that feud. The women had a solid match, and that takes third.
Nelli keeps getting the “in the ring” treatment without a ring entrance. I stand by my prediction: he gets a big win over a heel, and hopefully soon. I’ll predict he takes down Brett Ryan Gosselin. I watched this live; it should be available on IWTV on Tuesday.
