As we’re all spending more time inside, we’re back with another list of suggestions on shows to pass the time.
This time around, we’re going to dive into a VOD service – and it’s one that a lot of people may have signed up for on the back of 16 Carat Gold. Of course, it’s wXw NOW – available at www.wxwnow.com
wXw NOW is powered by Vimeo, which means you’ll be able to access the service through wXwNOW.com, as well as through Vimeo’s apps on iOS and Android. At $11 a month, you’ll be getting access to wXw’s entire back catalogue, as well as shows from other promotions, including those who were featured at the wXw NOW Showcase over Carat weekend.
We’ve reviewed a lot of wXw on this site, going back to 2016, so if you’re in the mood for cherry picking shows, here’s our recommendations from “just the wXw content”, in no particular order from just the last three years or so. Of course, we’re assuming you’ve already seen 16 Carat Gold from this year, and the big matches from within…
By the way, if you’re looking to support wXw in other ways, they’ve got other initiatives which you can read about here (in German – Google Chrome should auto-translate!), including a short-term membership, along with the opportunity to buy tickets that’ll be donated to key workers once this whole thing blows over. There’s also the option to buy tickets to a wXw Academy event that – if enough tickets are sold – will be held in the Turbinenhalle, with some notice (for those who may want to travel from abroad) which could be a really special show…
Anyway, those recommendations from 2017 to date:
16 Carat Gold 2018: Night Two – while the headline of this show will forever be “that night Ilja returned”, the middle night of Carat in 2018 has some pretty good action as well. Timothy Thatcher vs. Lucky Kid… Travis Banks vs. David Starr… Mike Bailey vs. Bobby Gunns (in THAT match where Speedball has his fingers taped)…
16 Carat Gold 2019: Night Three – some absolute bangers of tournament matches here: Pentagon Jr. vs. Ilja Dragunov… Avalanche vs. Shigehiro Irie… Rey Fenix vs. WALTER… and the crowning of Bobby Guns.
Toronto: wXw’s whistle-stop trip to Canada in 2019 may be one to hand-wave, but stop by for WALTER vs. Daisuke Sekimoto… and Timothy Thatcher vs. Yuki Ishikawa. Man, Canada got spoiled last summer…
World Tag Team Festival 2019: Night Two – Two matches, for two different reasons. Anti-Fun Police vs. Jay-AA – hilarity ensues. Timothy Thatcher vs. Bobby Gunns – Timo finally gets it.
Femmes Fatales 2019 – LuFisto vs. Leyla Hirsch. If you haven’t seen it, dive onto the tournament final from last year!
Dead End 2019 – Veit Müller vs. WALTER – Veit’s push to become a part of RINGKAMPF saw him having to prove himself in a star-making performance against WALTER. Even if things didn’t quite go as we predicted…
True Colors 2018: Oh man, where to begin here? An epic three-way to crown new wXw tag champions with LAX, Monster Consulting and Jay-FK opens up the show… a ladder match between Absolute Andy and Marius al-Ani… and an absolute corker between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov. This whole show, on paper, was perhaps the one of the best shows wXw’s had for “between the bells” action.
We Love Wrestling: Hamburg – Das 20. Mal – ZSJ. WALTER. wXw’s 20th show inside Hamburg’s Martkhalle had a throwback main event – but the semi-main of Ilja Dragunov vs. Alexander James is worth watching as well…
World Tag Team League 2018: Night One – These tournaments are best if you’re into your tag team wrestling. Night one of the 2018 tournament was full of proverbial notebook matches. Lucha Brothers vs. Okami? CCK vs. RINGKAMPF? Oh, and the hair vs. hair Starr/Simmons main event…
World Tag Team League 2018: Night Two – More of the same: Okami vs. CCK… Lucha Brothers vs. RINGKAMPF… Aussie Open vs. Monster Consulting… and a rather special main event that saw Bobby Gunns challenge for Ilja Dragunov’s title.
World Tag Team League 2018: Night Three – Yep. RINGKAMPF vs. Okami. CCK vs. Lucha Brothers.
16 Carat Gold 2017: Night One – From our earlier days of following along with wXw… Timothy Thatcher vs. Koji Kanemoto was special, if you’re into their style… Avalanche vs. Ilja Dragunov plays wonderfully off of the recent ending of Cerberus… Donovan Dijak vs. Matt Riddle… WALTER vs. David Starr… it was a very special field, and a very special opening night.
16 Carat Gold 2017: Night Two – Matt Riddle vs. Mike Bailey was special, and that was coming from a place where I wasn’t a big fan of “that era” of Speedball… Timothy Thatcher vs. Ilja Dragunov was predictably great… while Jurn Simmons reclaiming the wXw title in the main event is well worth your time if you’re going through the archives.
16 Carat Gold 2017: Night Three – WALTER vs. Matt Riddle. Don’t act surprised about that in 2020! The no-ropes match between Alpha Kevin and Marius van Beethoven may not be to your taste, but was a good bridge between the “old” wXw and the modern day rosters… and of course, the WALTER vs. Ilja final. Another one of their classics!
We Love Wrestling: Frankfurt (2017): On a show that featured a random appearance from Sierra Loxton, the main event of WALTER and Axel Dieter Jr. as RINGKAMPF was showing signs of strain was a cracker of a main event.
World Tag Team League 2017: Night One – A4 vs. Massive Product was the start of a poignant weekend for A4… while RINGKAMPF vs. the Briscoe Brothers proved to be another great match from the RINGKAMPF banner.
World Tag Team League 2017: Night Two – Briscoes vs. EYFBO (later LAX, later just Santana & Ortiz) was a great way to open night two… Rottweilers vs. RINGKAMPF was a delight, even if it ended Low Ki’s weekend early… the main event of night two’s also worth watching, as the RISE storyline continued with some surprising twists…
World Tag Team League 2017: Night Three – Spirit Squad vs. A4 may not be the best bell-to-bell, but the storyline coming out of it was an important marker for the careers of Absolute Andy and Marius al-Ani. EYFBO vs. RINGKAMPF… you know what I’m going to say. Meanwhile, the surprise return of Cerberus was a heart-warming moment for longer-term wXw fans before yet-another-wXw tournament weekender wrapped up with a masterpiece: RINGKAMPF vs. Massive Product.
Inner Circle – These pre-festival weekend shows are always good, and tend to be less than two hours long, so they’re perfect for a quick dive into. If you’re looking for recommendations, then: David Starr vs. Matt Riddle (Inner Circle 3), AMBITION Rules: Timothy Thatcher vs. WALTER (Inner Circle 4), Jonah Rock vs. WALTER and Mark Haskins vs. Mike Bailey (Inner Circle 5), Fred Yehi vs. Timothy Thatcher (Inner Circle 6), Timothy Thatcher & WALTER vs. Shigehiro Irie & Yuki Ishikawa (Inner Circle 7), Norman Harras & Timothy Thatcher vs. Anthony Henry & JD Drake (Inner Circle 8), Scotty Davis vs. Shigehiro Irie and Chris Ridgeway & Daniel Makabe vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Yuki Ishikawa (Inner Circle 9) are our picks!
We’re going to have a look at some of the older content as well, with random reviews popping up on the site throughout – starting on Monday with a single light tube match from 2009 with names that may surprise you…
Pro Tips: the search engine on wXw NOW is shockingly good, compared to other VOD services – a search for “16 Carat Gold 2018” will bring up every night from that year. All wXw shows from this period come with English and German commentary – to switch, click on the EN or DE on the top menu bar (next to the logout button)…