Heute war Carat! 2024’s 16 Carat Gold tournament kicked off with all eight first round matches, along with the Rotation defending the Shotgun title.
Quick Results
Alternate Four Way: Mochizuki Jr. pinned Jacob Crane, Anita Vaughan & Nick Schreier in 6:29 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: 1 Called Manders pinned Luke Jacobs in 10:13 (***½)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Aigle Blanc pinned Lio Rush in 10:30 (***¼)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Stephanie Maze pinned Icarus in 9:33 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Laurance Roman pinned OSKAR in 8:37 (***¼)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Mike D Vecchio pinned Gringo Loco in 17:03 (****¼)
Levaniel pinned The Rotation & Maggot to win the wXw Shotgun Championship in 10:56 (**½)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Masato Tanaka pinned Elijah Blum in 11:03 (***)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Peter Tihanyi defeated El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. via count-out in 16:39 (***)
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Michael Oku submitted Joseph Fenech Jr. in 22:32 (***)
— In the next week or so, I’ll be chatting about this show with Mike Kilby on the Auf Die Fresse podcast. Links to stream that episode when it drops, as well as back episodes are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
As the song went, Carat ist nur einmal im Jahr… and we’ve a healthy crowd of 862 packed into the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for the start of this year’s 16 Carat Gold. These shows were streamed live on wXwNOW.com – albeit in German – so everyone around the world was able to join in.
First up, we’ve the pre-show match, which is the traditional alternate four-way…
Nick Schreier vs. Jacob Crane vs. Anita Vaughan vs. Mochizuki Jr.
In the run-up to Carat, Nick had unearthed footage from 2019… where he was involved in the pre-show as a fan during the quizzes they used to do. Hopefully he’s quicker at getting to the corners nowadays!
Crane cheapshots Vaughan with a kick at the bell, as Crane and Schreier traded some opening barbs. Vaughan’s back to break up a cover, and get some back on Crane, leading up to a fallaway slam. The revolving door effect brings in Mochizuki Jr. to lay out Vaughan with a head kick and a knee strike, before Schreier came back to land some dropkicks for a two-count.
A snap suplex from Crane almost throws Schreier out of the ring as he then took over on Mochizuki, only for his camel clutch to be kicked apart. Schreier and Vaughan try to combine on Crane, leading to Vaughan clotheslining Crane to the outside, while an enziguiri from Schreier took Anita out.
Schreier follows them outside with a leaping flip dive, before a Shining Wizard to Mochizuki back inside almost won it. A superkick to Crane keeps Nick ahead, but he’s cut off on the top rope by Vaughan, only for a Tower of Doom from Crane to bring them both down. Crane builds up the pressure with bodyslams, only for Mochizuki to sneak in and catch him with a Railgun kick for the win. **¾
Onto the main show… If you’re listening in German, you’ve got Mett Dimassi off-and-on with Robin Christopher Fohrwerk on the call, while Ricky Slatter and Norman Harras continue on the English feed. There’s no parade of entrants this year, as we’re straight into action…
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: 1 Called Manders vs. Luke Jacobs
Time to start with the big lads!
Manders and Jacobs don’t hold back, charging into each other like bulls early on before they teed off with forearms and elbows. A slap from Luke earns him a big elbow in return, before we go to some chest-bloodying chops. Well, they were for Jacobs…
More shoulder charges have Luke on top, but an Oklahoma Stampede from Manders nearly slams the door shut on the Mancunian. Heading outside, Jacobs rakes the eyes before he took Manders across the ropes for a flying stomp to the back. Luke’s able to get a two-count out of that, but he stays on Manders, taking him into the corner for a rushing low dropkick.
Jacobs gets caught out with a gutwrench sitout powerbomb after he’d been caught in the corner. Recovering, a side suplex and a powerbomb had Luke back on top, leading to a Boston crab… but Manders makes it to the ropes pretty quickly. Stomps from Jacobs follow, before it’s back to the chops, elbows and clotheslines… until Jacobs’ torpedo headbutt almost got the win.
Jacobs and Manders exchange more chops until Luke went back to the headbutts… but that earns him a short-range lariat. Kicking out, Luke’s right back with a clothesline of his own, before a butterfly’d Ganso bomb almost put Manders away. Firmly on top, Jacobs ends up charging into Manders, but he manages to avoid an Oklahoma Stampede… only to get caught up top with an avalanche powerslam for a near-fall. Another exchange of lariats follows, with Manders winning out… and that’s enough to put Manders into the quarter-finals. ***½
Backstage earlier today, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s still trying to get Maggot to sign to his band of former champions in High Performer Ltd. Maggot points out that Baby Allison was given just one match to qualify for Carat but Fohrwerk couldn’t get her into the tournament… and the game continues for Fohrwerk, I guess?
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Aigle Blanc vs. Lio Rush
This was Lio’s return to wXw after seven and a half years… it’s been a while!
After the back-and-forth chants, Rush begins by confounding Aigle with some misdirection… before the pace suddenly quickened. Aigle’s taken outside, but a switcheroo has Rush on the outside as Aigle opted to follow outside with an Orihara moonsault… which misses as Rush scored with a low-pe to take Aigle into the front row. We’re not done yet – Aigle hits a flip dive into Rush after being thrown back in…
Returning to the ring, Aigle’s springboard Meteora’s aborted… but he finds a way in with an up-kick before that springboard Meteora to the back of the head took Rush down for a two-count. An abdominal stretch keeps Rush in trouble, but he powers free before a tiltawhirl DDT was caught and turned into a twister.
Rush avoids a 450 splash and returns with a spinning kick to Aigle… who blocks a springboard stunner, only to finally eat that tiltawhirl DDT. Heading outside, Rush goes up top, but his aborted frog splash just sees him take a Dragon suplex seconds later.
Blanc and Rush trade strikes from there, but Rush’s burst of strikes proved to be overwhelmed with a ripcord enziguiri… before a reverse ‘rana and springboard stunner laid out Aigle. It’s good enough for a near-fall, so Rush begins to spam Blanc with stunner-like neckbreakers before a trip up top ended with Blanc dropping Lio into the buckles.
Back outside, Aigle’s able to kick away a dive from Rush, before catching him on the apron with a tombstone, following up back inside with a 450 splash for a near-fall. From there, the Desert Eagle follows, and that’s enough for Aigle to get the win in a lovely high-paced outing. ***¼
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Icarus vs. Stephanie Maze
There’s some history between Icarus and Maze, as the pair have gone back-and-forth over the wXw tag titles… exchanging a win apiece here in the Turbinenhalle.
Maze looks to sting Icarus with kicks to the leg, and found some luck with those as Icarus ended up having to rake Maze’s eyes as the referee looked for some separation in the ropes. Taking things to the mat, Icarus works over Maze’s fingers, illegally, before Maze got free and scored with a running knee to take Icarus to the outside. Following outside, Maze stays on Icarus with kicks, before Icarus turned it around and chucked Maze into the third row.
Back inside, Icarus gets a two-count, before he took Maze into the ropes for some crossface punches. A slingshot sent Maze into the bottom rope, before Maze began to fight back, throwing some punches to the body… only for a back elbow and a release Fisherman suplex to keep Icarus on top.
Keeping Maze at arm’s length, Icarus ends up dumping Maze with an arm whip, before Maze found a way back in with a rebound German suplex. Kicks have Icarus bouncing around the ring, while a Saito suplex picked up barely a two-count on the Hungarian, forcing Maze to push on. More kicks to the head have Icarus dazed, but he sweeps the leg to avoid a Skyfall kick, following up quickly with a short piledriver for a near-fall.
Icarus follows up with the Heart of Europe submission, but Maze gets to the ropes… kicks follow from Icarus, along with a Saito suplex of his own, before Maze got the knees up to counter a Meltdown senton. From there, Maze cracks Icarus out of nowhere with the Skyfall kick, and that’s enough to get the three-count! **¾
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with birthday boy Peter Tihanyi… who’s back after missing the last few shows with sickness. They mention Tihanyi’s recovered from the back injury he got at Back to the Roots, and he’s ready to start his campaign tonight.
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: OSKAR vs. Laurance Roman
Both men were making their Carat bows here, but Laurance Roman didn’t want Robert Dreissker at ringside for this.
OSKAR stared down Roman to start, throwing aside a waistlock attempt before Roman found himself on the wrong side of a brief strike exchange. An enziguiri from Roman staggers OSKAR into the ropes, but a shoulder tackle stops that offensive before Roman began to kick OSKAR’s leg out of his leg.
Escaping a slam, Roman hits OSKAR from behind, but to no avail as OSKAR began to pepper Roman with chops. A bodyslam’s good for a two-count, before Roman hit back with a chop block to the knee. Kicks to the leg take OSKAR down, where Roman followed up with a toe and ankle hold, but OSKAR’s able to fight free… only to get dragged onto the apron, where Roman slammed the leg into the side of the ring.
Romain continued to control proceedings from there, wearing down OSKAR’s left knee, leading up to a STF that forced OSKAR to drag himself to the ropes. A back suplex gives OSKAR some hope, but Roman’s right back on him with clotheslines… only for OSKAR to hit back with a vertical suplex for a two-count.
Looking to finish off Roman, OSKAR goes for a big boot… but his knee gives out. Ever the pitbull, Roman pounces with stomps, before a roll-up nearly won it. OSKAR lands that boot after kicking out, picking himself up a near-fall, before Roman escaped a Michinoku driver and hit a swinging DDT for a near-fall… following up with a frog splash off top for the hard-earned win. ***¼
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Mike D Vecchio vs. Gringo Loco
This one promised to be a live action highlight reel…
After a minute of chanting, we got going with Gringo working the wrist of Mike D. Like we all expected. Mike countered in kind, rolling Gringo to the mat, before we got into armdrags, clotheslines and dropkicks ahead of a stand-off. Gringo takes things to the corner for some chops, only for Mike to break free and take flight with a springboard flying headscissors.
That took Gringo outside… and I think you should move, front row. Tope into the front row… then a pescado as Mike D FLEW. Back on the apron, Mike looks for an apron death valley driver, but Gringo slips out and instead lifted him up into an Electric Chair… Mike escapes and dropkicks Gringo to the floor, and you know what’s next.
SUICIDE DIVE… but Gringo sidesteps, and Mike D shatters three chairs in the front row. Good grief!
Calming down, Gringo grabs a Pepsi from someone and smashes it into Mike D’s head, sending it spraying into the crowd and the new ring. Perhaps now’s not a good time to head up onto the side of the ring that’s been soaked in Pepsi? Oh nevermind… Mike D escapes with a leaping knee, before he’s caught on the buckles and brought down with an Electric Chair spin-out powerbomb onto the side of the ring.
Back inside, a double-jump moonsault gets Gringo a two-count, but Mike D’s got enough left in the tank to fight back with an enziguiri and a running front kick into the corner. Of course, it’s time to go back up top as Mike D lifts up Gringo and takes a running leap for a huracanrana… then went back up for a frog splash for a near-fall. So effortless, so unfair…
Gringo avoids a 450 splash, but Mike D manages to recover… only to get caught up top as Gringo manoeuvred into place for an eventual reverse Spanish Fly. Of course it’s not enough as Mike D kicks out… but runs into almost an Awful Waffle for another two-count. Gringo keeps it going with a double jump sunset flip off the top, before another trip up top saw Mike D try to catch Gringo with a top rope ‘rana… but it’s countered into a CRUNCHY avalanche powerbomb. JESUS.
Somehow Mike still has a neck, and the ability to kick out, as Gringo then went back up for another move off the top. Mike D escapes an avalanche Electric Chair, then opted to run back for a reverse ‘rana off the top… before a shooting star press finally got the win. This was insane and what I can only call “dumb fun” – but this delivered everything I’d expected. And led to a showering of coins in the ring for the first time this weekend… ****¼
wXw Shotgun Championship: Maggot vs. Levaniel vs. The Rotation (c)
Levaniel’s completely changed his look – relocating from the Heavenly Castle to Düsseldorf, and rebranding himself as “the Sigma.”
The Rotation looked to be a side player to start as Levaniel and Maggot only wanted to take on each other… so Rotation inserted himself into things, earning himself some slaps from Maggot before chopping back, just as Levaniel laid them both out with a clothesline. Rotation’s able to come back with a double dropkick to the pair of them, but he was still having to keep his head on a swivel, cartwheeling away from Maggot on the apron before scoring a moonsault press into Levaniel for a two-count.
Maggot’s back with some uppercuts, but again Rotation pulled ahead with a ‘rana, before a Sliced Bread out of the corner almost won it. Levaniel picks his spots on Maggot, before he took down Rotation’s attempted fightback with a slam for a two-count. The Rotation gets laid out with an enziguiri, while Levaniel took out Maggot with a fireman’s carry slam… and hey, I’m getting early-day John Cena vibes here. Uh oh…
Levaniel and Maggot trade shots for a spell, until Rotation tried to steal a win with a roll-up… Maggot kicks out and threw Rotation into Levaniel with a back body drop, before almost beating Levaniel with a spear. Out rolls Levaniel, while Maggot’s cutter’s countered with a handstand as Rotation tried to capitalise.
A waistlock from Rotation’s thrown aside, leading to him diving into Levaniel on the outside. They’re joined by Maggot who flew in with a body press off the top, before a Maggot cutter back inside forced Rotation to dive in to break up the pin. Robin Christopher Fohrwerk abandons German commentary and makes a beeline for the ring… it’s quite the trek from the commentary balcony though!
A Parade of Moves breaks out in the intervening period, leading to Rotation going up top for a Victory Over Gravity… but Levaniel pulls out the referee to stop the pin. Fohrwerk’s found his way to ringside now, as he’s tending to Maggot, who’d seemingly injured his shoulder again taking that 450 splash.
Back in the ring, a tiltawhirl DDT from Rotation lays out Levaniel… another trip up top’s delayed by Fohrwerk, so Rotation moonsaults onto Maggot on the floor, before he went back up for another Victory Over Gravity, this time for Levaniel. It misses, and with Levaniel raking the eyes, he’s able to catch Rotation with a Galactic Face Crusher to win the title. **½
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Elijah Blum vs. Masato Tanaka
A big test for Blum here… but I was just floored that Tanaka got his original “Dangan” theme!
Blum starts with a handshake, as the pair then began the feeling out process, switching between hammerlocks, takedowns and the like, with Blum largely keeping up with the veteran. A side headlock from Blum’s countered in kind, before Tanaka charged him down with a shoulder tackle. Responding with a dropkick, Blum takes Tanaka to the corner and hits a low dropkick for a one count as we were still in the early goings.
Tanaka’s able to turn it back around with a low dropkick, as he then began to target Blum’s knee, jarring it with a DDT to the leg into the mat. A Dragon screw followed as Tanaka kept up the assault, almost forcing a pin with a front facelock as he rolled Blum onto his back. Blum’s forced to hold on through a Figure Four, getting to the ropes, where Tanaka met him with a leaping forearm… before a neckbreaker bought Blum some time.
Adding elbows and an enziguiri stuns Tanaka as Blum keeps going with a side Russian legsweep for a two-count. From there, Blum goes up top and connects with a froggy crossbody for another two-count, before Tanaka began to fire back with elbow strikes. A superplex piled on the pressure for Blum, who just about kicked out in time, while a slam from Tanaka set up Elijah for a frog splash… inching his way closer to the win.
Blum jockeys over a suplex, taking down Tanaka with ease… but Tanaka’s able to get back in it pretty quickly with a backhanded swipe and a sheer-drop brainbuster for a near-fall. In return, Blum’s 2K+1 Driver swings the pendulum back his way, only for Tanaka to just waffle Blum with another elbow strike to get the win. At some point in this, Blum got concussed – which might explain the sudden end… and the confusion when Tanaka dragged him back to the ring for a handshake. ***
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Peter Tihanyi vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
Wagner had his GHC Heavyweight championship with him – which had a few eyebrows raised for those who like to look at things politically…
Tihanyi got “happy birthday” sung at him before we got going, as we had Emil Völler replacing Fohrwerk on commentary for the rest of the show. Wagner opens with a lock-up, taking Tihanyi into the ropes for a clean break as the pair looked to feel each other out, matching each other roll for roll.
Wagner looks to block a cutter, but Tihanyi ended up ripping his mask off… claiming it was an accident as Wagner rolled outside to zip himself back up. Should have had laces… and Wagner clearly wasn’t buying Tihanyi’s apology as he went into the Hungarian with chops from the restart. A low dropkick gets a little high up on Tihanyi’s head for just a one-count, before a Romero special kept Tihany in trouble.
More chops blister Tihanyi by the ropes, before Tihanyi clotheslined Wagner to the outside for a leaping flip dive into the aisle. Back inside, a high crossbody connects for a two-count, before Wagner ran into a boot… he shakes it off, and runs into another one… wash, rinse, repeat, but this time Tihanyi’s able to score a tornado DDT out of the corner for a near-fall.
Wagner strikes back with a slap and a Dragon screw, before he hauled up Tihani into an Electric Chair and a sit-out powerbomb for a two-count of his own. Tihanyi escaped a Michinoku driver as he began to fight back, slapping Wagner before some back-and-forth ended with a suplex.
Tihanyi has to abandon a 450 splash, and ends up getting caught in the opposite corner with a knee from Wagner… before things headed up top for a superplex that Wagner rolled into a Michinoku driver for a near-fall. Heading outside, Tihanyi’s knocked into the third row with a tope, with Wagner seemingly injuring himself in the process…
Heading back to the ring, with the medics waved away, Wagner’s forced to take some punches from Tihanyi, who followed up with a slingshot cutter onto the side of the ring. Tihanyi’s able to make it back inside at nine, but Wagner stayed on the outside… and that’s a count-out win for Tihanyi. A rather flat finish, but a win’s a win for Tihanyi, who picks up a big scalp to start his Carat campaign. ***
They air a fantastic trailer for World Tag Team Festival weekend later this year – another Szandi Tihanyi special that really stands out from “your regular promo” pieces.
16 Carat Gold 2024 First Round: Joseph Fenech Jr. vs. Michael Oku
Fenech chose to pour cold water on a Carat t-shirt – perhaps an omen for his tournament run? Meanwhile, alongside Michael Oku we had the Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship title in the Turbinenhalle. Another sign?
Fenech refused to engage, as he threatened to walk out… we eventually got going… and Fenech’s quickly powdering again as Oku got the better of the opening exchange. Eventually returning to the ring, Fenech is caught in a wristlock, which Oku rolled through as the Frenchman tried to roll free… before opting to stomp on the foot as Oku again got the better of him.
Armdrags again have Fenech scurrying for cover, teasing a count-out as the match was taking its sweet time getting into first gear. A mocking applause from Oku greeted Fenech when he made it back inside, but Fenech finally makes a start as he charged into Oku… only to get met with a tijeras and a dropkick seconds later… and it’s back outside as we’ve yet another count-out tease. This time broken by way of a plancha from Oku.
Chops from Oku keep Fenech walking around ringside, before Oku placed Fenech in the front row… only for his lap of honour to end with Fohrwerk getting in the way, before Oku took a tiltawhirl backbreaker and a cannonball from Fenech as they crashed deep into the crowd.
Oku’s worn out with chops at ringside as Fenech took things back inside, where he stretched Oku with a standing armbar. An attempt to escape sees Fenech retain control as he then grabbed hold of the ropes, capitalising as Fohrwerk distracted the referee. Their tactics got a little too obvious as the referee caught the second go around, allowing Oku to hiptoss free as he mounted a comeback with a missile dropkick.
A DDT gets Oku a two-count as he prepared for a half crab on Fenech… it’s kicked away, but Oku’s right back with a couple of PKs, before a springboard moonsault was aborted in mid-air. Fenech hits back with a gamengiri before he pulled Oku into the buckles… while a Falcon arrow almost did the deal, forcing a two-count out of Oku.
Fenech tries for a suplex, but Oku drops to a knee, then came back with a misdirection knee. An overhead kick takes Fenech into the ropes ahead of a reverse ‘rana… but Fenech is right back with a clothesline to the back as Oku celebrated prematurely. With both men back to their feet, Fenech and Oku trade strikes as we crossed the 15-minute mark, leading to a sudden uptick when Fenech hit a one-man Spanish Fly for a two-count.
Oku gets his feet up to block a moonsault, quickly following up with a dropkick into the corner that sent Fenech outside once more for cover. A Fosbury flop’s interrupted by Fenech, whose switcheroo sees him land a tope into Oku in the aisle, before a handspring cutter back inside almost got the win as Fenech rolled back to the old days. Fenech’s springboard moonsault keeps the two-counts coming, before he lifted Oku into an Electric Chair position and climbed the ropes… but lost Oku, who instead hit back with a sunset bomb.
Following up, Oku goes three-quarters of the way across the ring with a frog splash… but Fohrwerk puts Fenech’s leg on the ropes to stop the pin. The crowd rat on Fohrwerk, whose discussion with the ref masked a low blow from Fenech, who almost won it right there. A draping DDT followed, but it’s still not enough for an increasingly desperate Fenech, who shoved away Fohrwerk in the corner.
Looking to mock Oku, Fenech goes for a half crab… but gets cradled for a near-fall before Oku slid in with a half crab. Fenech rolls free, but Oku reapplies the hold as Fenech slid his cane in to help pull Fenech to the ropes. Referee Alex Schneider kicks it away, completely obliterating the cane… allowing Oku to get more purchase on the hold for the eventual submission. This was fine, but dragged on for way too long at the start – which hurt the match as it hit its climax. ***
This was a solid start to proceedings, with the first half being bookended with some pretty good outings that helped buoy the opening night. The crowd did seem to struggle by the end, with the top two matches going long, but it’s still early doors in a long Carat weekend.