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Wrestling Open RI
7/7/25 Cranston, RI
WWE is running Monday Night Raw down the street and Denver Colorado has been HOT to get people to ignore the big show and get people into the show that has and will continue to be here in RI every Monday.
Spotlight Match: Jake Gray vs JGeorge
This is Jake’s 100th match! A great milestone for the BIOPro grad! JGeorge won’t let the Handyman have the shine though. Jake battles back and hits a coffin drop on a stunned Director for the three!
The crowd is looking pretty good as more chairs are getting added. Also this grilled cheese I’m eating slaps.
Match 1: Vinny Scalise & Smart Mark Sterling vs Shooter Boys (Aaron Ortiz & Anthony Vecchio)
Sterling up to his old tricks, trying to take the Shooter Boys out of their flow. Allie had to do was tag Scalise, who just bullies these youngins. Sterling can’t keep the momentum up, falling victim to Shooter Boys double teams. Finally, Sterling pulls down a rope and sends Vecchio tumbling to the floor, finally giving them the advantage they need. Vecchio makes his escape and the crowd is ready for the hot tag but Scalise pulls Ortiz off the apron and the beating continues. The crowd is VERY MUCH behind the Shooter Boys throughout this. Finally the tag comes and Ortiz is running wild. He almost has it wrapped up up but Scalise gets the knees up on a Frogsplash! Brain buster! Ortiz kicks out! Sterling survives a dropkick/german combo! Scalise spikes Vecchio with a piledriver. He hits a Frogsplash but his knee gives out….Scalise is being looked at, Sterling is completely distracted and the Shooter Boys drop Smart Mark on his head and hit an elbow drop for the three!
The refs are working to get Scalise away from ringside. Bryce Donovan runs down, VERY worried about the main event: Scalise is supposed to be in his corner. Sterling assures Bryce that HE’S got his back.
Match 2: Steven Stetson vs Timothy Thatcher
This match has me VERY intrigued. Stetson spent that time in Japan but did he learn enough to hang with Murderface Timmy? For the first few minutes, the answer is NO. Thatcher is having his way with the NJ Cowboy, twisting and pummeling him into paste. Thatcher looks like he tweaks his neck a little on a suplex and Stetson tweaks it harder on the top rope. Stetson starts getting his licks in, more and more as the match continues…but both guys are landing hard. Stetson breaks out of a DEEP stretch and hits a ripcord clothesline. A north jersey lariat drops Thatcher and he gets the clean three. Wow. This was good work but I feel like the crowd was having trouble connecting, Stetson being a relative stranger in Cranston. But they knew to boo when the cowboy got his win. I just can’t help thinking how this matchup could have been 10x more heated in Worcester.
Match 3: Georgio Lawrence vs Aaron Rourke
It’s worth noting that some WWE ID folks are in attendance tonight so Rourke better step it up against the Specialist and not let the program suffer a second surprising loss. Georgio continues to do nothing to endear himself to Cranston. It’s a very back and forth affair tonight, Lawrence definitely stepping up to the Dimepiece. He dodges a split legged moonsault, Aaron may have hurt his knee…Lawrence comes running in for the kill and Rourke slaps on a rear naked choke, dragging Georgio to the mat for the tap out. Good stuff.
Match 4: Oxx Adams vs Love Doug
Ah man, I was hoping Oxx would kill Rain Conway tonight. Now I have to BOO him? He says he hates love and is gonna crush Doug. It’s very much a big/little match - Oxx just no selling a lot of this and Doug trying to stay out of harms way. He stuns the big man with a ten punch and a dropkick out of a choke slam but Adams keeps tossing Cupid around with ease. Doug keeps on the attack, throwing his whole self into every shot. He tries for the Slice of Love but Oxx stops that and powerslams Doug into the canvas for a definitive three and a hell of a Cranston debut. The crowd may not have known him before this but…he killed Love. And they booooooooooooo this hard.
Match 5: Dustin Waller (w/ Kylon King) vs World Class Channing Thomas
Kylon King is wearing a boot and has a walker getting him to ringside. King is looking miserable and in pain but…something here I don’t trust. This is not the slick and smooth Dustin Waller we know, this is the shortcut taking, slimy, emo kid that a $50k betrayal turned him into. Channing has his way with Waller for a lot of the opening. Dustin even uses his injured partner as a shield. Waller tries to hide under the ring but Channing stomps the center so hard the reverberations send a stunned Waller out from under. Dustin finally stops the steamroll with a clap of the ears but misses a Frogsplash entirely. Kylon throws him his walking boot and Dustin blatantly smashes Channing with it to draw the DQ.
Booooo! Anthony Greene hits the ring and challenges Dustin to a no DQ contest. Waller says No. Greene ups the ante…no dq, no time limit, every minute Dustin lasts with Greene? AG will add 1k to the prize for beating him. But if Waller loses? He gets NOTHING. Money talks and Dustin wants to cash in.
Match 6: Nick Batee vs Bobby Orlando
We’re getting a preview of the Von Erich 6-man Tournament Final! Nick is brash but our Mom is trying to put him away quick and get that momentum heading into the finals. Nick with a flatliner into the middle rope swings the pendulum in the other direction. Bobby pops up the Focus and Nick screams in fear when Mom goes for the powerbomb. This is a blast. Nick with an orton style neckbreaker off the ropes. Batee trying to get Orlando to look at him with he’s getting beat up…but Bobby quickly shoves Nick off and rolls him up for the three!
Main Event: Bryce Donovan(c) (w/ Smart Mark Sterling) vs Bear Bronson (for the Wrestling Open Championship)
The crowd is FIRED UP. They love Bear and HAAAAAAAATE Bryce. Bear gets right under Bryce’s skin but overpowering him and shoving his ego right back in his face until Sterling and Donovan have to have a cuddle over this situation. Bryce tries to light up Bear with chops? Bad move. Bronson cracks those hands and almost press slams the champ before he runs for cover again. Bronson chases him down and delivers more wicked chops, sending the champ backwards through the first row of chairs. Bryce finally able to send Bear into the post a couple of times, Sterling gets some stomps in. Crowd is getting unglued. Sterling destroys a fan’s sign and it somehow gets louder in here. Bryce starting to relish the beating he’s putting on his challenger. Bear sent to the floor and Donovan is more than happy to take a countout win here…but Bear won’t give it up. There’s a kid at ringside that Bryce has been bullying for the last year. He helps up Bear. Bear reverses the black hole slam! Big spine buster for two! Powerslam for the two! Bryce finally hits the black hole slam…KICK OUT!!! There’s a small contingent of loud Bryce fans protesting the count. We hit 15 minutes in as Bear misses a cannonball and Bryce chokes slams him hard…another kick out! Bryce distracts the ref while Sterling mucks with the turnbuckle! It’s exposed! Bear fights off eating it….but Sterling provides the distract, Bear eats the buckle, black hole slam, chokeslam…one, two, thr—-KICK OUT!!! Bryce has full command as Bear struggles to his feet. Bryce gets too disrespectful and he’s poked the bear one too many times. Bronson fires up and they’re trading in the center! Bear gets Bryce in for a superplex…reversed to an electric chair drop! Bear pops up and hits a huge clotheslines for two! This rules. We’re going full tilt. Bear goes for the chokebomb but Bryce shoved him into the ref! Bear blocks the low kick from Bryce but he doesn’t see the low blow coming from Sterling who slides in from behind. Sterling goes for a belt shot but he hits Bryce! Lariat to Sterling! Chokebomb to Bryce! Ref Tony is back! Oh god the razor thinnest of kick outs! Bryce tries to lift Bear but stumbles back and drags the ref with it. And with that, he comes Vinny Scalise running in with a pipe wrench. He’s not hurt after all. He clubs Bear with the wrench and Bryce makes the three count. What a match and the crowd is SO MAD at how this turned out. Scalise and Sterling literally carry the champ to the back, he’s so out of it.
The crowd chants and cheers for Bronson as he gets back up. He may have lost but the crowd chants “That’s my champ” and “we love Bear”. Bonkers main event. What a show overall! Easily the hottest crowd I’ve seen in Cranston so far and Denver Colorado confirms this is the second largest attendance RI has seen…with Raw running in Providence tonight!
I could rave about this further…but I think Gabe says it best:
A lot of promoters/creatives on the indies should pay attention to how Wrestling Open does shows.
— Gabe Sapolsky (@BookItGabe) July 8, 2025
Last night’s event was one of the smoothest flowing, well organized, no dead time shows I’ve seen on the indies since I started this job almost 3 years ago.
The result was a packed…
It’s fun to see people come in from the outside and get wowed by the stuff I kind of take for granted at this stage of things. I’ve often praised Open for being solid and having a great flow…it’s nice to see that recognized elsewhere.
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