After missing last year for reasons that I’m sure we all know about, 16 Carat Gold returns to Oberhausen next month! Here’s our evolving preview of the big weekend!
Running from March 4 through 6 in Oberhausen, we’re up to the sixteenth Carat – and with wXw having welcomed a whole host of new names to their roster, this field is about as open as ever.
16 Carat Gold Entrants
With all sixteen names now confirmed, let’s take a run through the field!
ACEY ROMERO
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: A debut appearance in wXw for the former XXXL member here, with Acey having left Impact last year. Since then, he’s run through the roster at Limitless Wrestling in Maine, recently going to a no-contest with champion Alec Price…
AIGLE BLANC
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Another Carat debutant with Aigle Blanc having been a regular since the closed set era of wXw – albeit regularly in a tag team with Senza Volto.
BIFF BUSICK
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Another debutant to 16 Carat Gold, but Biff is no stranger to tournaments in wXw, having been a finalist in 2014’s World Triangle League (eventually losing to Karsten Beck in the finals), while also making it to the finals of 2019’s World Tag Team Festival. Recently returned to the indies with a bloody brawl in Beyond against Slade.
BOBBY GUNNS
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Largely because he’s defending titles in years gone by (Shotgun in 2018, and the Unified World Wrestling title in 2019 and 2020), this is Bobby Gunns’ 16 Carat Gold debut. In 2017 he was part of a qualifying league, and ended up winning the alternate’s four-way… but you’d likely put Bobby down as a runaway favourite for the tournament.
CARA NOIR
Last Time: Winner
Best Finish: Winner (2020)
Chances: The Black Swan’s looking to repeat after he won his debut Carat as the world was in the early throes of the pandemic. Cara’s run since then has been sporadic – for the obvious reasons (black swans were also subject to travel restrictions!), finishing second at the inaugural Catch Grand Prix, before unsuccessfully facing then-champion Marius al-Ani at the delayed 20th Anniversary show last year.
DENNIS DULLNIG
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Qualifying for his debut Carat in comedic circumstances, Dullnig’s despite to join the tournament with Hektor didn’t exactly end as he’d hoped – and with Hektor still fuming at how things played out, it’s safe to say that Dullnig could be coming into Carat heavily distracted.
FUMINORI ABE
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Of course this is a wXw debut for Abe, having spent his entire career to date in Japan. Currently ZERO1’s World Junior Heavyweight and International Junior Heavyweight champion, Abe’s coming in with gold…
JONATHAN GRESHAM
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: Quarter-Finals (2013)
Chances: It’s been a while since Gresham has been at Carat – and at wXw in general. Gresham was a part of 2019’s World Tag Team Festival (in non-tournament action), having lost 2018’s finals with Chris Brookes as CCK… as far as Carat goes, Gresham lost to eventual winner Tommy End in 2013, having beaten Ricky Marvin in the first round – but that’s his only Carat appearance to date!
LUFISTO
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Another Carat debutant as LuFisto’s the first female to take part in the tournament. Her arrival adds the obvious extra dimension to the tournament, and could well make her the X-Factor in the entire field. Her last two appearances in wXw tournaments saw her win and finish runner-up – expect LuFisto to go far in the field!
MAGGOT
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: One of many “home” newcomers to Carat this year, Maggot’s had a bit of a reinvention since the last 16 Carat weekender – one where he lost the tag team titles. Since then, he’s split the Pretty Bastards and has been forever entwined with Robert Dreissker and Anil Marik… don’t be shocked if that feud continues into the first round of the tournament!
MARIUS AL-ANI
Last Time: First Round
Best Finish: Quarter-Finals (2017)
Chances: A late replacement after Biff Busick went down with covid, al-Ani returns to wXw for the first time since October. His last appearance at Carat saw him go out in the first round to eventual winner Cara Noir – but then went on a massive winning run that led to him winning the Unified World Wrestling title about a year ago. Can 16 Carat Gold 2022 kickstart a similar run?
MICHAEL KNIGHT
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: A first-time appearance in 16 Carat Gold, Michael Knight’s one of the faces that’s really established himself in wXw during the closed-set era, with a run of matches against Bobby Gunns being the, ahem, highlight. That feud looked to have culminated at Back to the Roots in a bloody finale, but with both men in the line-up, there’s always a chance for one last run…
PETER TIHANYI
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: A qualifier from the Road to 16 Carat Gold tournament in Bielefeld, Tihanyi’s earned plenty of plaudits for his showings in wXw during the pandemic – despite not having won a match until this past October. The two wins in a row that got Tihanyi to Carat is his best winning run in wXw so far, but that newly-gained confidence could be just what he needs to establish himself with a run in this year’s tournament.
ROBERT DREISSKER
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: Semi-Finals (2019)
Chances: Something of a veteran in Carat, Dreissker wasn’t involved in the last 16 Carat Gold as he was the reigning and defending Shotgun champion, this’ll be Dreissker’s first Carat since 2019… where he went out in the semis to his former AUTsiders tag partner WALTER. Assuming Maggot and Heisenberg don’t cause issues, Dreissker’ll remain a favourite – but that’s a big IF…
SENZA VOLTO
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Another debut as Senza Volto appears in the tournament for the first time.. He has been a part of Carat weekends in the past, having worked for Wrestling Kult and the original #WrestlingDeutschland show. Senza’s primarily been used as a tag guy thus far in wXw, but did come agonisingly close to making the finals of the first Catch Grand Prix – and could be a good bet as an outsider for this tournament.
SHIGEHIRO IRIE
Last Time: Quarter-Finals
Best Finish: Quarter-Finals (2019, 2020)
Chances: Irie’s back for his third Carat in a row – and hopefully looking to make it into the final night for the first time. In years gone by, Irie’s come unstuck against current wXw roster members – going out to Avalanche and Jurn Simmons in the quarter-finals…
VINCENT HEISENBERG
Last Time: N/A
Best Finish: N/A
Chances: Yet another debutant, last Carat out, Heisenberg was only part of the roster as a fill-in for the Ambition tournament… since then, he’s established himself on the roster alongside Maggot and Baby Allison, and you’d not be too shocked if he or Maggot renewed rivalries with Robert Dreissker in the tournament.
Inner Circle
The Thursday-before-Carat show is almost sold out, and will likely be the final Inner Circle before the wXw Wrestling Academy moves to Gelsenkirchen this summer. Doors for this are at 6.30pm, with a 7pm bell time for those catching the train to Essen-Zollverein Nord…
Announced so far is:
Dennis Dullnig vs. Ace Romero
Shigehiro Irie vs. Gulyas Junior
Ender Kara vs. Fuminori Abe
Orsi vs. Ava Everett
Norman Harras & Sebastian Suave vs. Goldenboy Santos & Vaughn Vertigo
Elimination: Arrows of Hungary (Icarus & Dover), Maverick & Peter Tihanyi vs. Robert Dreissker, The Rotation, James Runyan & Oskar
16 Carat Gold – Night One
As is the norm, night one is all about the first round of Carat – with an alternate’s match likely to fill in the pre-show slot. 6pm doors, 8pm bell time for this one, as the first round card will be posted throughout the day on Monday via wXw’s social media. Spoilers are ahead for the Bielefeld show!
First Round Matches
Vincent Heisenberg vs. Cara Noir
Robert Dreissker vs. Fuminori Abe
Ace Romero vs. Maggot
Aigle Blanc vs. Peter Tihanyi
LuFisto vs. Dennis Dullnig
Shigehiro Irie vs. Senza Volto
Marius al-Ani (replacing Biff Busick) vs. Michael Knight
Bobby Gunns vs. Jonathan Gresham
We also have a five-way warm-up match – with the winner being the alternate for 16 Carat Gold. Norman Harras, Hektor, The Rotation, Oskar and the debuting Ninja Mack are involved in that one, which should be a real barn burner to get us going!
wXw NOW & Friends Showcase Event
Following up on the last Showcase event, wXw is running this one back – with some different promotions involved. Doors for this one are 11am on Saturday, with a noon bell time as the first of three shows in the Turbinenhalle…
APC (France) – Thiago Montero vs. Rick Salem vs. Christanium la Surrealiste
BODYSLAM! (Denmark) – Aliss Ink vs. Emeritus
Bodyzoi (Belgium) – Rivality (MBM & Ultimo Sombra) vs. Les Enfants Terrible (Georges Balzac & Gustave Le Brun)
SMASH Wrestling (Canada) – Vaughn Vertigo vs. Psycho Mike
Passion Pro (Hungary) – Tamas Szabo & Maverick vs. Gulyas Öcsi (Junior) & Gulyas Vilmos
Wrestle Carnival (England) – Wrestle Carnival Championship: Big Guns Joe vs. Charles Crowley (c)
wXw Wrestling Academy – wXw Academy Cup: Oskar vs. Goldenboy Santos (c)
Ambition 13
An afternoon matinee here, with 2.15pm for doors and 3pm bell time for wXw’s regular shoot-style tournament, along with a pair of showcase fights…
Super Fight: Fast Time Moodo vs. Jonathan Gresham (in for Marius Al Ani and Biff Busick)
Next Generation Fight: Goldenboy Santos vs. Peter Tihanyi
BOBBY GUNNS
Best Finish: Semi-Finals (Ambition 9, lost to Timothy Thatcher)
ENDER KARA
Best Finish: N/A
FUMINORI ABE
Best Finish: N/A
ICARUS
Best Finish: N/A
JAMES RUNYAN
Best Finish: First Round (Ambition Wild Card, lost to Daniel Makabe)
LAURANCE ROMAN
Best Finish: First Round (Ambition 10, lost to Shigehiro Irie; Ambition 9, lost to David Starr)
OSKAR
Best Finish: N/A
SHIGEHIRO IRIE
Best Finish: Winner (Ambition 10)
Announced for the first round is: Fuminori Abe vs. Oskar, Laurance Roman vs. Bobby Gunns, Icarus vs. James Runyan, and Ender Kara vs. Shigehiro Irie
16 Carat Gold – Night Two
“Championship Saturday,” is typically is where the spotlight of the entire weekend falls. Doors are at 6pm, with first bell at 7.30pm, and we’ve got four title matches announced thus far in addition to the Carat quarter-finals…
wXw Shotgun Championship Lottery: X vs. X to crown a new champion (after Absolute Andy pulled out with illness)
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze vs. Arrows of Hungary (Icarus & Dover) (c)
wXw Women’s Championship: Ava Everett vs. Iva Kolasky (c)
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Jurn Simmons vs. Levaniel vs. Tristan Archer vs. Axel Tischer (c)
We’ve also got the Rott und Flott tag team invitational gauntlet, with the winners getting a shot at the tag team champions. We’ll find out on the night, most likely, whether it’s established tag teams, or whether Absolute Andy’s app from two years ago is getting a fresh airing…
Current guidelines in Germany mean that there’ll be no after-show party this year…
wXw We Love Wrestling Feature Event
Sunday kicks off with a We Love Wrestling show taping – one that’ll likely fall after Carat as far as canon goes. Doors for this are at 11.30am with bell time at 12.30pm…
16 Carat Gold – Night Three
Your semi-finals and finals go here, along with other matches that typically set the table for the remainder of the year. Doors open a little earlier at 3.30pm, with opening bell at 5pm.
Aside from Inner Circle, every wXw card on Carat weekend will be taking place within Turbinenhalle 1! Remaining tickets for 16 Carat Gold weekend events are on sale via Eventbrite – for further details and event timings, check out wxw-wrestling.com
- We’ll be keeping this preview updated as matches are announced – and if you’re making the journey, check out our updated Travel Guide!