…and now the second half of PWX’s X16 tournament as they look to get going again in 2021.
Quick Results
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final – Chip Day submitted TGA Moss in 8:46 (***)
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final – Cam Carter pinned Lucky Ali in 10:07 (***¼)
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final – TJ Boss pinned Timmy Lou Retton in 9:30 (***)
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final – JD Drake pinned Anthony Henry in 15:57 (****)
X16 2021 – Semi-Final – Cam Carter pinned Chip Day in 9:40 (***)
X16 2021 – Semi-Final – TJ Boss pinned JD Drake in 7:46 (***)
Matt Sigmon & Elliot Russell pinned Chance Rizer & Patrick Scott in 12:18 (***½)
X16 2021 – Final – TJ Boss pinned Cam Carter in 13:05 to win the tournament (***¼)
The second half of this year’s tournament was an evening show, coming hours after the “stage one” at the Rock Hill Gymnastics in Rock Hill, SC. Once again, commentary comes from Trevin Adams, Brett Wolverton and Dave Foster.
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final: TGA Moss vs. Chip Day
Moss (who’s apparently now going as Alexander Moss) got through to the quarter-finals with a referee stoppage win over Zach Cooper, while Day defeated Mason Myles in his opener. We’re told that Cooper was hospitalised as a result of the KO in that match…
We open with a lock-up as Moss took Day into the ropes, but Chipr returned as he took Moss down with a wristlock. They go back-and-forth on that, before Moss faked out on an armdrag and instead dropkicked Day. A Quebrada afterwards gets a two-count, as did a roll-up after Day missed a head kick… he has more luck with a second one as he gets a two-count. Chops keep Moss in the corner, before Day went for a kick to the back, getting another two-count. Moss telegraphs a back body drop, but recovers with some forearms before a knee to the face had Day down, before a roll-through Blockbuster and a brainbuster led to another two-count.
Day tries to strike back, but a leaping knee drops him for a two-count… Day manages to kick out and recovers with a missile dropkick, but the kip-up hurts Day’s back. Moss runs in with a strike as they teased another KO-win for him, with the referee checking on Chip on the floor. Back inside, Moss gets a two-count on Day, before Moss went for a pin to counter a submission attempt… but Day kicks out, and came right back with a knee curb stomp for a near-fall. From there, he grapevines Moss’ left leg, and there’s the submission as a short opener booked Day’s spot in the semis. ***
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final: Lucky Ali vs. Cam Carter
There’s something so blunt about Carter’s investment banker/manager being called JP Lehman. I guess in the UK we’d probably call them Lloyd Halifax or something like that…
Before the bell Ali looked for a fist bump, but Carter wasn’t having any of it. Cue some shoving, as we open with a lock-up as the pair rolled around the ropes. Carter knees Ali on the break, then charged him down before Ali tripped him to the mat. Ali charges carter into the corner, keeping him there as he tried to leap over before a hiptoss took Carter down.
A slam followed for a two-count, before Ali hit a neat rolling low kick for another two-count. Carter’s back with some stomps as he choked away on Ali by and in the ropes. Ali goes for a kick, but he’s moved into the ropes as Carter leaps in with a neckbreaker to keep up the pressure, following in with a chinlock on the mat as he spun Ali around. Elbowing free, Ali hits a chinbreaker before he returned fire with chops and a slam after walking Carter around the ring. A Manhattan drop from Ali drops Carter ahead of a slingshot that flung Carter into the ropes, with a diving clothesline following from Ali. Ali’s moonsault’s blocked, but his Jackhammer/low dropkick combo comes through before Carter was almost put away with some headscissors out of a floatover powerbomb.
Ali drops Carter for another near-fall, but Carter’s back with some kicks and a 619 to the back of the head as he followed up with a springboard frog splash for a near-fall. A roll-up from Ali turns into a powerbomb for another near-fall on the ITV champion Carter, before Lehman tripped Ali in the ropes… providing a distraction as Carter waffled Ali with a knee strike for the win. A good little story, with Carter needing a distraction to edge out the win here. ***¼
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final: Timmy Lou Retton vs. TJ Boss
Boss was the worse for wear after being attacked after his first round match.
These two used to be tag team partners in the Syndicate, and had a mutual respect, bumping fists at the bell. Retton charges low at Boss to start, trying to knock him into the corner as he had to stick and run against his bigger opponent. Boss reverses an Irish whip, taking Retton into the corner for a splash, before a chop woke up Retton. A second chop has the same effect, but Retton’s taken into the corner as a double chop had him doubled over. Wash, rinse, repeat. Retton returns with an enziguiri that staggers Boss, but Retton gees himself up as he went for a handspring towards Boss… but the knee gives out as Retton crumbled to the mat.
They don’t call off the match though, unlike in the first round, as Retton tries to fight back, catching Boss in the corner with a running kick… but it’s the bad leg as Retton again struggled. Boss lifts Retton up top… but a headbutt knocks him down as Retton teased a second 630 of the day, but he slips and the knee gives out again. Yet again, there’s no stoppage, so Boss drops him with a spinebuster before Retton tried to fight back again. Boss just boots him and hits a Last Ride, and that’s all folks. I wasn’t crazy with the way they played the knee injury given that they had a match end due to stoppage *on the same day*, but this was a nice little match, injuries aside. ***
X16 2021 – Quarter-Final: JD Drake vs. Anthony Henry
Saving the big match for last, as the Lethal Enforcers/WorkHorsemen get the match they were meant to have had here last March before… you know.
Both men stay in their corners at the bell, then bump fists as Henry circles Drake, before they finally locked up and went to the mat, with Drake looking to take control. Back to their feet, a side headlock from Henry is clung onto as Drake tries to push him away, before he opted to take it into the corner to force a break. Henry floats out of a back suplex, but a side headlock’s countered out of as Drake looked for a chop… then went back to the side headlock until a Saito suplex took Henry into the corner. Henry takes a shot, and is offered another as Drake brushed off his tag partner’s efforts, but couldn’t get a retaliatory strike in until he chopped Henry off the apron.
Drake follows Henry outside for some chops, making Henry fall through the guard rails. Henry comes back with some kicks to the chest, before he kicked away a forearm attempt… then flipped out of a back suplex before Drake scored the pop-up forearm against the apron. Back inside, a falling headbutt from Drake earns him a two-count, before Henry tried to kick back into the match… only to get felled by a chop. Henry continues to hit and run, as he baits Drake into the ropes for a double-leg Dragon screw. That looked rough. Kicks from Henry crack into Drake as he tries to pull himself up, with a head kick getting a two-count as the referee had trouble getting into position. More kicks to the back wind up Drake, but Henry keeps him down with a deathlock, bridging back as Drake eventually rolled into the ropes to break the hold.
More kicks keep the big man down, but Drake’s kicking out at one… and gets kicked yet again as a low dropkick broke that brief moment he had on his feet. A double stomp to the knee keeps him on the deck, but Drake finds a second wind with a roll-up and a Dragon screw, as both men looked to be working the legs. A Shining Wizard out of the corner from Drake buys him some more time, following up with some more chops before Drake’s knee gave out as he looked to run at Henry in the corner. They sure love the knee injuries here, eh? Drake manages to duck a Shining Wizard before a belly-to-belly dropped Henry ahead of a Vader Bomb… but it misses, unlike a spinebuster as Drake managed to get a near-fall.
Henry floats out of a Drill Bit and returned with a scoop slam for a near-fall, before heading up top for a double stomp. Drake avoids it, but has to contend with a crucifix for a near-fall, then a crossface as Henry chained together his offence. An ankle lock’s next, then a PK as Drake threatened to get to the ropes, before a double stomp off the top connected for a near-fall. The Stretch Muffler’s next from Henry, but another rope break saves Drake as Henry clung on beyond the break. Henry signalled for the end as Drake was staggering out of the corner, but instead he kicks the leg of Drake some more. He then offered himself up for some free shots, and of course Drake makes the most of them before he punched out Henry. A rebound German suplex from Drake’s shrugged off, as he followed up with a lariat and a powerbomb for a near-fall.
Drake misses a cannonball in the corner, then took one from Henry before rebounding with a Drill Bit… but it’s not enough! Drake heads up top for a moonsault, but Henry rolls away and came right back, lifting Drake up top for a superplex… but he’s caught as an avalanche Drill Bit proved to be enough for the win. This was a fantastic scrap between tag partners – and perhaps their last outing for a long while – as they made the most of each others strengths and weaknesses. Get this on your watch lists! ****
Post-match, both men got a standing ovation as Henry gave his farewell speech – prompting Drake to take a seat, to save his aching leg. Henry thanked Drake for the roads they’ve travelled down. Unfortunately the start of this was inaudible thanks to a problem with one of the cameras whose audio was crackling all over the place.
X16 2021 – Semi-Final: Cam Carter vs. Chip Day
Carter was flying solo here, with his manager JP Lehman having been knocked down by Lucky Ali earlier in the show.
Day starts with a side headlock takedown, but Carter escapes and hits one of his own… which Day escaped as well. Carter’s got a sore neck from his earlier outings, but he’s able to tie up with Day into the ropes, only for Chip to return with a series of kicks as Carter was trapped in the ropes. Carter catches a PK and turns Day down with a Dragon screw, before a half crab ended in the ropes. A roll-through from Day starts some back-and-forth pins, before a gamengiri caught Day in the corner. He recovers with a Victory Roll for a two-count, before Carter’s head kick knocked him down for another two-count.
Carter continues to work over Day’s leg, wrenching it back on the mat, but Day fires back with kicks and chops, before an elevated pumphandle driver almost put away Day. A head kick’s ducked as Carter looks to come back with a powerbomb… but Day counters into a guillotine, then then into a brainbuster as the cameras glitched out. Day tries to fight back, kicking away a springboard as Carter was hung up on the ropes, following up with a flying knee off the top for a two-count. A double stomp misses, tweaking Day’s knee briefly as he recovered with a roundhouse kick, only to get dropped with an enziguiri from Carter. The pair exchange elbow strikes before Day kicked out Carter’s leg. A missed curb knee stomp opens the door for Carter to lower his knee pad and hit a knee strike to book his place in the finals. Decent enough, Carter has looked pretty damn good throughout the tournament – with or without his second – but these matches have been a little on the short side throughout. ***
X16 2021 – Semi-Final: JD Drake vs. TJ Boss
Winner faces Carter in the finals later tonight… and both men are looking extremely rough, having picked up knocks earlier in the day.
They start by trading clotheslines, but Drake switches it up with a chop as he dared Boss to strike back. Of course he did. They go back-and-forth with strikes, trading chops, elbows and forearms until Boss popped up Drake for a flapjack, following up with a knee strike. Chops take Drake into the corner, but Drake switches around and returns the chops – even the double-hander. Boss hits back with a DDT to the leg, then an elbow drop to the knee as he wore down Drake some more. The knee’s wrapped around the rope next, but Drake scores with a poke to the eye as he was reduced to hobbling as Boss cornered him for another double chop. Drake retaliates with a spinebuster, but landing on his knees doing the move doesn’t help much… he takes time to follow up, and actually lands a Vader Bomb, only to aggravate the knee some more.
Eventually he makes a cover, getting a delayed two-count, before a Bossman slam from Drake’s stopped by his own knee. That allows Boss back in, but he runs into the Bossman slam for a near-fall, before Drake was caught in the ropes. He punches free of Boss, then hits a bell clapper before a flying kick was shrugged off as Boss quickly puts Drake away with a spinebuster to book his finals spot. This was good while it lasted, with both men selling their tournament-long injuries really well – with Drake’s one big miss costing him in the end. ***
After the match, the Heatseekers – Matt Sigmon & Elliot Russell – head out to the ring. Before Covid, they’d debuted in PWX as an “outsider” team, with the promotion treating it as an unauthorised invasion of sorts – but of course, that didn’t get to go anywhere. Sigmon acknowledges that, and said they were going to challenge the Revolt! for the PWX tag titles… but they’re not here, so Sigmon calls them cowards. With a C. So the open challenge gets answered by a team called the Influencers, who were making their tag team debut here.
Heatseekers (Elliot Russell & Matt Sigmon) vs. Influencers (Chance Rizer & Patrick Scott)
We get jokes of old social media hubs in the entrances, because Rizer’s “the Millennial.” It’s a much better way of poking fun than the last time I saw him on the indies, where they treated the “Millennial” gimmick as “he’s entitled.” They go for a pre-match selfie… and then we go to the races.
Rizer starts with Sigmon, backing him into the corner before doing a dab. Sigmon goes for a wristlock, but Rizer reverses it, then blocks an armdrag as Sigmon needed to use the ropes to force a break. A side headlock from Sigmon led to a shoulder tackle, before Rizer hit an armdrag into an armbar as Rizer then made the tag out to Scott. Scott comes in with a double sledge off the top, then reapplied the armbar as Rizer quickly tagged back in to hit a double sledge of his own. Rizer goes back to the wrist as Scott leaps off the top and hits a right hand, which annoyed Sigmon, before he tagged out to Russell… after getting thrown into his partner’s boot.
Scott’s side headlock keeps Russell down, as do some headscissors and a dropkick, which gets him a two-count. It’s back to the side headlock. Sigmon comes in but gets kicked away as Scott lifted himself up for a headlock/headscissor takedown as the Heatseekers looked to be in some trouble. Much like the referee, who misses a pinfall attempt. Russell hits back, taking Scott into the corner as Sigmon returned with a double sledge… but he hits his own man as Scott lands a leaping knee before Rizer tagged back in for a springboard Rocker Dropper. A pop-up stomp from Scott gets a near-fall, then tags back in for some mounted punches in the corner, but Sigmon takes over, pulling down Scott as the Heatseekers tried to force their way into the match.
Russell kicks away at Scott, then brought Sigmon back in for some double-teaming in the corner. Rizer gets annoyed and tries to come in, but that just distracts the referee and hids some double-teaming as a chinlock from Sigmon wore down Scott while commentary bemoaned Rizer for not being ready for a tag. Scott stays in trouble as the Heatseekers hit a wishbone leg splitter, before Signon chokes him in the ropes. It’s good, old-school bad guy tag team wrestling here from the Heatseekers, with Scott eventually coming back with an overhead kick before Russell just charged him back into the corner. Sigmon’s back with a kick-assisted German suplex for a two-count, before Rizer finally got the tag in.
Rizer runs wild with elbows, then caught Russell with an enziguiri before clotheslined battered Sigmon. A uranage drops Russell next, ahead of a back elbow off the top that gets a near-fall. Russell ducks a discus lariat, then looked to tag out to Sigmon… Scott tags in with a slingshot spear to Russell, but it seems Russell’s legal as Scott almost got the win there. Scott looks for an Unprettier with some help from Rizer, but he’s taken into the corner… Rizer somehow tagged in as Russell hits a powerslam before Sigmon tagged in and hit a swandive headbutt to score the win. I absolutely loved this match – still a touch too short for my tastes, but at twelve minutes this was a great throwback to the “old ways” of tag team wrestling that I grew up watching. ***½
X16 2021 – Final: Cam Carter vs. TJ Boss
Carter got here with wins over Ethan Case, Lucky Ali and Chip Day, while Boss’ path was mostly big guys: Logan Creed, Timmy Lou Retton and JD Drake.
Boss picked up Carter as he ran at him at the bell, but Cam gets free and hit a gamengiri early on, before he got crushed with a diving crossbody. Carter rolls to the outside, but Boss followed him outside, chopping him around the ringside area before punting him in the gut. Carter responds by posting Boss, then by charging him into the side of the ring as things headed back inside, where Cam keeps going with stomps to Boss’ lower back. Chops keep Boss in the corner, as do elbows, but a single chop from the big man takes down Carter with ease.
Carter gets back up first and hits a step-up back senton as Boss was on his knees, then landed a Quebrada after a slip for a near-fall. Carter stumbles as he stomped away on Boss, tiredness from the entire day showing, as more kicks keeps Carter ahead. He keeps going with a gamengiri and a springboard leaping knee, but Boss rebounds off the ropes and spins Carter with a lariat. Things descend into a slugfest as both men started swinging, but Boss’ haymakers were hitting wind as Carter continued to duck and dive. A superkick staggers Boss, but he recovers to counter some headscissors into a tombstone that almost gets the win. Boss tries for a powerbomb, but Carter escapes with a knee, before he wandered into a big spinebuster… but Carter’s “manager” JP Lehman runs out and pulls out the referee to keep the match going.
Rather than call for a DQ, the ref keeps things going, and Boss gets clipped with a dive as Carter almost went a little too hot in on his tope suicida. Carter gets back in and tries again, landing a tope con giro as he looked to claim the tournament via count-out. Boss manages to roll back in and beat the 20-count on the outside, but Carter just keeps going with stomps before he went up top and hit a 450 to Boss’ back. Carter gets a delayed two-count from that as Lehman began to strip like Ric Flair during a late 90s Nitro promo. A rear spin kick from Carter clocks Boss, as does a second, before Carter pulled down the knee pad for the Wings of Gabriel knee strike. It hits flush, but a delayed cover only gets a near-fall as Boss kicked out.
Boss counters a second knee strike by pulling Carter into a spinebuster, before a Last Ride dumped Carter for the win! A good back-and-forth main event as Boss wins the tournament – and gets himself a shot at the PWX title that he lost in dubious circumstances last year. ***¼
After the match, Boss got awarded the X16 trophy by Harlem Bravado – who won the tournament last year. Boss adds his name alongside Bravado, Slim J, JD Drake, Anthony Henry and Ethan Case as tournament winners – and while the names on show in 2021’s tournament may not be at the same perceived level as years gone by, this was still a solid one-night tournament as you’ll get in the current era.
It was all about the knee injuries on this show, as it felt like every other match had someone selling their knee – to the point of a potential stoppage at times. I get the whole wear and tear mentality, but this felt overdone by the end – not that it ruined the show, mind you. The better of the two X16 cards, this was a barrage of matches that went no lower than “okay”, and peaked with that Henry/Drake quarter-final – a match that’s well worth your time if you’re looking for a slice of something different