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5/8 WRESTLING OPEN - THE CRYSTAL BALL LIVE REPORT

By Adam Cardoza on 2024-05-10 19:27:00

Wrestling Open The Crystal Ball

5/8/24 - Worcester, MA
Live on IWTV

Spotlight Match: Brett Mettro vs Jake Gray - A fun babyface battle. Brett is clearly the more powerful of the two but Jake Gray survives the onslaught and sneaks a rollup for the three. Brick City hit the ring and destroy the pair. Booooooo!

BRO HYMN RINGS THROUGH THE WORLD FAMOUS WHITE EAGLE! Paul Crockett and Brother Greatness are on commentary. Happy 15 years to Beyond Wrestling! Let’s gooooooooo!

Match 1: Miracle Generation vs Iron Savages - the Savages are playing up their T**** City shenanigans but they are just brutalizing the champs. Massively hard hitting contest. MG showing a ton of resilience as they dodge and survive some huge offense. Dustin hits a cutter on Bronson as they go for the elevator drop. German to Beefcake! Moonsault/splash combo to Bronson finishes this awesomely successful defense. Hell of an opener.

We get videos from Eddie Kingston and Biff Busick wishing Beyond well for their anniversary. This is likely going to be a trend throughout the show so I’ll prolly do up a “famous people say nice things about Beyond” post separately once those videos find their way to the socials. 

Match 2: TJ Crawford vs Thomas Santell - TJ has been feeling very superior against his opponents lately and Santell is here to bring Crawford back to reality. This is a clinic to start from the Ovaltine Dream but TJ gets that one shot in and starts working over the nerd, despite our assertions that he is Mayo. He even breaks Santell’s glasses! Santell doesn’t like that and TJ is crotched on the top rope! Santell working through some pain in his elbow but he’s getting limited. TJ trips Santell into the buckles and slaps on a fujiwara armbar for the tap out. TJ stomps that limb out after the bell for good measure. He wants to make sure the nerd doesn’t come back. Fancy Ryan Clancy makes the save! Huge dropkick to TJ! Clancy helps Santell to the back. 

 

 Match 3: Dan Barry vs Mike Santana - What an OG Beyond match this is! Crowd is absolutely fire through this thing. Dan and Santana (now dubbed by us “Dantana”) can both GO. And go, they do. This is just a blast to watch, as they go to war. They are pulling out all the stops to get the win. Santana kicks out of a burning hammer. Dan kicks out of a claymore! Santana finally hits the discus clothesline he’s been trying all night to get the W. Fannnnntastic match. I had friends in the crowd who’d never seen indie wrestling before and this was the first match they saw and they got VERY excited for the rest of the night. 

 

Match 4: Allie Katch vs Megan Bayne - Allie is more than happy to bring the fight but Megasus is an overwhelming force through much of this. Katch finally gets Bayne to post herself. Running hip attacks…cannonball! Allie with a northern lights for two. A hangman’s cutter off the top can’t end it either! Bayne catches her with a F5! Kick out! Allie escapes a second F5! Piledriver! Bayne kicks out! Flying clothesline from Bayne! Bow down to the tombstone and Megasus is victorious! The crowd is just electric for all of this.

Match 5: Warhorse Jake Parnell vs Alec Price - Worcester BLOWS UP for the Northeast Beast but Warhorse just looks bored with all this. I love this new emo horse. Maybe he remembers what it was like to be cheered. He’s trying to “talk sense” to Price but the beast is here to fight. Price’s energy may have found the last spark of caring left in Warhorse…cause when Jake’s up, he’s cooking. Huge top rope and elbow almost ends it. Fight to the floor, Parnell hits an elbow to the floor!  Price with a slingshot moonsault tornado ddt into the ring puts the horse down. This built great and the finish ruled.
 

 Match 6: The Stetson Ranch (Steven Stetson & Danny Miles)(c) vs The Church of Greatness (Ichiban & Tyree Taylor w/ Brother Greatness) (for the Eliminator Cup Championships) - a hot crowd indeed as they boo they hell out of the ranch’s mere presence. BG making a point to stay at ringside for this one. The church starts strong but Miles pulls the rope and Ichiban falls to the floor. The ranch with an extended gang up on Ichiban. Ichiban nearly makes the hot tag but Stetson boots Taylor off the apron. Popup spear to Ichiban, Tyree makes the save. Ichiban escape a total elimination….tag to Taylor! Tyree tossing the ranch at will! Powerslam to stetson for two! Codebreaker from Miles….Stetson hits the north jersey lariat! Ichiban with the save! Moonsault ddt! Destroyer to Miles! He pulls Taylor over Danny…kickout! Stetson bombs Ichiban! Taylor hits the discus lariat! Miles gets Taylor up for a fireman’s carry gutbuster! Stetson rams Tyree into the post…Ichiban drops Stetson but the cowboy snatches the mask off Ichiban’s head. Ichiban covers up and Danny rolls him up for the three. Boooooooooo!!!! F*** You Steve!!!!

Smart Mark Sterling is out here with some good news and bad news for the Stetson Ranch. Here’s the good news: There are new and official Wrestling Open Tag Team Championship Belts. So what’s the bad news? Those belts are NOT for the ranch. It’s for the WINNERS of the upcoming 3rd Annual Eliminator Cup Tournament. Sterling takes the belts away and the ranch loses their combined tiny mind. Great swerve of a segment. 

 Match 7: Big Bacon Brad Hollister(c) (w/ TJ Crawford, Victor Chase & Julio Cruz) vs Joey Janela (for the Wrestling Open Championship) - hard hitting shots in the pocket right from the start. Brad looks like he tweaks his wrist early on but he laying in a beating on the Bad Boy. Joe with a dive to the floor and a sunset flip sends Bacon head first to the buckles. Joey tries to capitalize on that wrist, preventing a superplex…but he flies right into a uranage! Brad tries the jackhammer but that wrist goes bad again. Joey hits a tornado ddt! Joey tries an armbar…Brad rolls through and suplexes him with one arm! Joey hits a v trigger! Bacon hits a German but Joey pops right up! Another German! Janela hits a package piledriver! Kick out! Janela blocks a jackhammer with a palm strike! He jacks the arm on the top rope…Bacon with a popup powerbomb for two! We’re getting into epic Janela match territory. Bacon tries the jackhammer again! Janela with a guillotine choke!!!! Bacon muscles him up….to the buckles….fisherman’s superplex puts Janela down for the clean three in an absolute war! What I liked here is how this is the first defense in a while where Bacon won clean, without the help of his boys. Beating Janela clean helps bring a little extra legitimacy to his reign.

Love Doug is out here! He failed to capture the title this past Saturday so what business does he have with Brad. Doug says he NEEDS another shot at the belt. He says he’ll do ANYTHING for a shot. TJ Crawford out here and tells Doug no more. Bacon grabs the mic and says he’s sick of seeing Doug. He’s sick of TJ’s fractured loyalty. Doug can have his match…but if Doug loses, he can never tag with TJ again. Not here. Not ANYWHERE. And to make matters more complex…TJ is going to be the special guest referee! This is a loyalty test for Crawford! What’s going to happen???

Match 8: Gabby Forza vs Masha Slamovich - when these two met several months back, it was the biggest match of Forza’s career…since then, Gabby has gained a lot of experience against high level opponents. Masha starting hot early and working our homie over. Masha getting overconfident and Gnomie catches her in a face buster. Hard forearms! Masha tossed across the ring! Football powerslam for two! Huge double stomp out of the corner from Slamovich. Head kicks a plenty. Gabby with a snap powerslam for two. Masha blocks a spear into a sunset flip…basement kick! Gabby kicks out! Masha is furious! Masha goes for the kick again…Duck…Gabby hits the spear!!!! That’s the three!!!! Crowd pops hard for our homie, the gnomie. A victorious Gabby goes for the handshake of respect…but Masha blasts her down and stomps Forza out. Masha does NOT like to lose….and this is certain to have a third chapter 

 

 Main Event: Krule(c) vs Ricky Shane Page (for the IWTV independent wrestling championship) (no-DQ) - they just fill the ring with doors and chairs. Let’s gooooo. RSP is scared of no man but Krule’s demeanor is definitely unsettling him. Page eats door early. Krule even lets him taste the leftovers. Hard chair shots. A suplex into a chair the wrong way. Chokeslam through a door. This is ALLLLLLL Krule. RSP suddenly blasts Krule with a pair of door pieces. DVD through a door. German through another door. Crowd going wild. RSP starting to feel it but Krule sits up. RSP still swinging and trying to keep the monster down. Swanton bomb Into a door! RSP set up a vertical door. What. Krule superplexes him into that. Kick out. Chokeslam. Kickout. A last gasp of life from RSP as Krule hits the Scorched Earth for the win. Gahhhhhdamn. This was the right kind of violent finish the night needed

 This was a special night. DC pulled out all the stops to stack the hell out of this card. You could see people streaming into the White Eagle from 7:30pm right through the first couple of matches. Very full, very loud, great energy all night long…and clearly the performers were digging on the energy. Rolling back to my non-wrestling friends who came -> “I didn’t expect this to be awesome because….you know….Worcester. But this was awesome.” - Beyond (and by extension Wrestling Open) has definitely had a huge impact on me over the years so I’m glad this train is going to keep on rolling every Thursday forrrrrrrrever (and other days too)! 

  

Meanwhile, the IWTV champ is already looking to his next challenge….
 

 

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