It all comes down to this as the 16 Carat Gold finals determined both this year’s tournament winner… and Elijah Blum’s upcoming title match opponent.
Quick Results
16 Carat Gold 2025 Semi-Final: 1 Called Manders pinned Masha Slamovich in 8:46 (***½)
16 Carat Gold 2025 Semi-Final: Ahura pinned Laurance Roman in 11:36 (***¼)
Miyu Yamashita pinned Anita Vaughan in 13:32 (**¾)
Psycho Clown, Michael Oku & Aigle Blanc pinned Zozaya, Psycho Mike & Masaaki Mochizuki in 18:57 (***½)
Mike D Vecchio pinned Leon Slater to retain the wXw European Championship in 15:07 (***¾)
Elijah Blum, Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire pinned Takuya Nomura, Fuminori Abe & Daisuke Sekimoto in 17:09 (***½)
16 Carat Gold 2025 Final: 1 Called Manders pinned Ahura in 13:42 (***½)
— 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
One more time for the final time this weekend as we’re in the Turbinenhalle for the last of Carat 2025. We’ve got no matches on the Fight Forever pre-show, but rather an interview segment with Dan Mallmann and the newly-crowned wXw tag team champions that ended with Dan being pushed around…
Onto the main show, we’ve got English commentary from Dave Bradshaw and Mett Dimassi…
16 Carat Gold 2025 Semi-Final: Masha Slamovich vs. 1 Called Manders
Surprisingly, Masha’s only been defeated once by Manders one-on-one – with wins in Beyond Wrestling, the Scenic City Invitational, GCW and Fight Life for Masha to Manders’ lone win in AAW over the years.
Masha dives on Manders as he was making his way to the ring, catching everyone by surprise. We’ve got a spot of chair bowling too as Masha ended up getting DDT’d onto a chair as she was trying for a suplex. That DDT busted open Masha before the bell had even gone!
Making it to the ring, the bell sounds as Masha demanded that Manders bring the fight… which he did, dropping her into the ropes with a front suplex. A back elbow dumped Masha as she tried to mount a comeback, before she leapt on Manders with a rear naked choke.
Unfortunately, it’s too early in the match as Manders was able to counter it… but the Stampede’s turned into a DDT for good measure. A step-up knee, then a front kick in the corner keeps Manders rocked as a spinning heel kick almost puts this one away. Kawada-ish kicks from Masha follow, before Manders caught her rushing in, turning in with a Stampede for a near-fall instead.
Masha tries to clothesline her way back in, but Manders just baits her into an exchange of overhand chops. A headbutt took Masha to a knee, before she retaliated in kind as the back-and-forth ended with a sliding clothesline to the cowboy. Another knee strike keeps Masha ahead, before she got caught up top as Manders brought her down with an avalanche slam.
Kicking out from the cover, Masha again tries for a desperation rear naked choke, but Manders drops backwards to break up the hold. Ducking another lariat, Masha fires back with kicks, only to eventually run into that one lariat as Manders booked his ticket to the final. A lovely sprint all based around the lariat – which won things as soon as Manders landed it. ***½
Backstage, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk and his active High Performer Ltd. members were caught talking about what they deemed a successful weekend – one that saw them win the Shotgun title and get rid of Icarus… and with Fohrwerk done for the weekend, he exits stage left, slowly rolling his suitcase towards the exits.
16 Carat Gold 2025 Semi-Final: Ahura vs. Laurance Roman
A first-time singles meeting is our second semi-final…
Roman charged at Ahura at the bell, looking to catch his opponent off guard to get a short win… but to no avail as Roman made a point of targeting Ahura’s taped-up ribs and lower back. A delayed pendulum backbreaker bounced Ahura to the mat for a two-count, as Roman continued to home in on Ahura’s back.
Right hands and chops kept Ahura in the ropes ahead of a charging clothesline… but Roman stopped for a second too long, which allowed Ahura in with strikes of his own. A springboard forearm from Ahura finds its mark, as did a springboard missile dropkick, before a Divine Sandstorm tornillo to the outside left both Ahura and Roman in the front row.
Back inside, Ahura leaps into a forearm from Roman, who looked to put things away quickly with a lifting facebuster… only for Ahura to kick out at two. When last Carat’s winning move didn’t do the trick, Roman looked to go back to what was working this year, forcing Ahura to block a piledriver before a right hand knocked Roman down. Ahura couldn’t quite capitalise though, thanks to his back, before a back body drop from Roman and a kick to the lower back just reset things.
Ahura returns the favour with a back body drop of his own, before digging deep to hit a pair of powerbombs… a lariat’s next, then the Salamandra… but Roman’s able to kick out in the nick of time. Clearly, the bad back lessened the Salamandra, as commentary noted Roman was the first person to kick out from it.
Ahura charges into a knee strike as Roman tried to win it with a follow-up piledriver, but this time the Burning Nail doesn’t get it done, prompting Roman to head up top for a swandive headbutt to the lower back, launching himself three-quarters of the way across the ring. Again though, Roman doesn’t follow-up as Ahura charged back with a front kick, before a Ganso bomb-style piledriver earned Ahura the win. A huge win for Ahura, spoiling Laurance Roman’s dreams of back-to-back Carats… but Ahura’s going in to that final with plenty of injuries. ***¼
Anita Vaughan vs. Miyu Yamashita
This was Yamashita’s debut in Germany, having done a bunch of appearances in the UK for the likes of Pro Wrestling: EVE and NORTH.
Opening with a lock-up, Vaughan and Yamashita kept things close to start, but a trip-up from Yamashita has Anita down for a kick to the back. Another cracking kick to the spine followed, but this wasn’t going to end in three minutes, as Vaughan kicked out at two, only to get met with some more derisive kicks from Yamashita.
Snapping back, Vaughan lands a fallaway slam, then a spinning pendulum backbreaker, before a suplex out of the corner had Yamashita in trouble. Blocking an Irish whip just earned Yamashita a trip to the mat with some forearms, before she found a way back in with a clothesline after sending herself back into the ropes.
Staying on the mat, Yamashita wraps in a cobra clutch that Vaughan stood up out of… only to get thrown back down in the hold. Anita rolls up Yamashita for a pin to break the hold as the Irishwoman mounted a comeback, only to get caught with another kick and a German suplex as Yamashita regained the advantage.
Vaughan’s crossbody looked to stifle things, picking up a two-count in the process, before a Fisherman Driver almost got the win. Oberhausen started to get behind Yamashita as she kicked Vaughan down to the mat, before an exchange of strikes saw the pair kick and chop away at each other once more. This time though, it’s Yamashita’s kicks that go unanswered, until Vaughan ducked a Skull Kick and returned with a sit-out powerbomb for a near-fall… only for Yamashita to pounce with kicks once more, with a buzzsaw kick helping her on her way to the eventual win. **¾
Zozaya, Masaaki Mochizuki & Psycho Mike vs. Aigle Blanc, Michael Oku & Psycho Clown
With lucha rules announced, here lies your annual dose of party catch… and of course, the opportunity to see Psycho Mike up against Psycho Clown, along with the wackiness that’ll bring.
Zozaya and Aigle Blanc get things underway in a typically-pacey manner, with see-saw sunset flips trolling the ref ahead of a stand-off. It’s not long before we got to the two Psychos flipping around the ring before they chanced their arm with chops. Mike switched it up to forearms, but Psycho Clown’s got those too before headscissors from Mike took down the luchador.
Switching things up, Psycho Clown hits a snap powerslam for a two-count before a Cactus clothesline took the two Psychos to the outside. Clown threatens a dive, but Zozaya and Mochizuki intervene, only to get taken out as team Psycho Clown land a trio of topes into the front row. Back inside, Psycho Clown pulls out a belt from his gear and slaps Zozaya with it… and the whippings continued until morale improved. Sadly, Psycho Clown deemed that everyone had poor morale, even the referee, with Alex Schneider and Psycho Mike taking a pelting with that strap.
Psycho Mike eventually stops all that with a bodyslam, before delivering a People’s Whipping to Psycho Clown as Zozaya snuck that strap out of the ring, throwing it deep into the crowd. Clever lad. Back to normality now, relatively speaking, with Mochizuki trading kicks with Aigle Blanc, before Psycho Mike formed a shield… problem was, Psycho Clown and Michael Oku watch WWE too, and knew how to stop a cerberus powerbomb. By dragging Mike balls-first into the ring post.
Corner-to-corner clotheslines see Oku and Psycho Clown take down Mochizuki and Zozaya for hesitation dropkicks, before Psycho Mike took more of a beating, leading to a back cracker for a two-count. Some triple-teaming sets up for a sit-out bodyslam to Psycho Mike, but Mike powered out of a pile-on pin before he began to bodyslam everybody. From there, we get dives from everyone, topped off by Mochizuki… who slapped away Aigle before moonsaulting into the pile.
Back inside, Oku’s Cerberus bombed… the pin’s broken up as the two Psychos wander into the crowd with Psycho Clown heading up to the balcony to leap onto Mike. From there, Aigle Blanc takes over with a slam to Mochizuki, but his follow-up’s blocked as Zozaya’s Spanish Fly sparked a Parade of Moves… ending with a frog splash from Oku, then one from Psycho Clown to Zozaya for the win. Certainly a spectacle, but this didn’t translate well onto tape – perhaps dulled a little from having a few of these kind of tags already over the weekend? ***½
Post-match, we get the flying coins again, before Aigle Blanc and Psycho Clown paraded French and Mexican flags live. Sadly, there were no English flags for Oku…
wXw European Championship: Leon Slater vs. Mike D Vecchio (c)
Back from intermission and we’ve a rematch from last year’s Dead End, where Mike D Vecchio beat Leon to qualify for last year’s Carat…
Slater came in with a bad knee after his Carat exit to Manders the previous night, and that seemingly had his confidence knocked too as Mike D made light work of him with a gutwrench powerbomb. Kicks to the bad wheel follow, before Leon countered out of a gorilla press slam… only for the reverse ‘rana to go awry as Mike D instead jammed Leon’s knee again.
A rewind enziguiri proved more successful for Slater, who baited Mike D to the outside for a plancha that saw him just rebound off of the Belgian. Back inside, Mike D kicks Leon’s leg out of his leg (you knew I was going to say that…) as Slater began to get even more frustrated on the outside. Mike followed him as the pair scrapped back towards the ring, with Mike D continuing to toy with his prey.
Leon’s whip into the corner goes awry as Mike D leapt up top for a missile dropkick instead… that takes Slater outside for a pescado. A quick return to the ring saw things maybe get a little predictable as Leon leapt over another attempt at a leg kick back inside… eventually baiting the Belgian in for a slicing legdrop through the ropes, before a gorilla press powerslam from Mike D found its mark.
Mike D tries to follow that with a moonsault out of the corner, but Leon got the knees up to stop everything. From the restart, Leon’s able to catch Mike D with the Utopia, but the champion rolls outside, almost laughing as he went to save himself from being pinned… but Leon continues to go airborne, only for his plancha to get caught as Mike D LAUNCHED him across the front row. It’s almost like these chairs were about to reach retirement age…
Heading back towards the ring, Mike D stopped to drill Leon’s knee into the side of the ring, before the Belgian launched himself across the ring with a big splash. That’s not enough for the win, as Leon had to dig deep to hit a DDT to counter a follow-up powerbomb, adding a couple of leg lariats to charge Mike D down for a near-fall.
Leon had trouble setting himself on the top rope for a swanton 450, which allows Mike D to try something else… but instead an avalanche Twister from Leon brought the two down before a springboard Mamba splash from Slater set up for a 450 splash. That’s aborted as Mike D smashes back in with a reverse ‘rana and a lariat, eventually adding a shooting star press to the mix… and that’s your lot. This was an absolute blast, with the baggage from Leon’s weekend ultimately costing him a match that was a lot closer than it should have been, all things considered. ***¾
Post-match, a familiar match-fixing eye hit the video screen as Metehan made his return to wXw. It’s been over a year since he’s been in wXw, but Metehan wasn’t here to attack Mike D Vecchio – but he did admit he wanted the Belgian’s European title in a lengthy promo that saw Metehan pour his heart out as he spoke of losing his hunger and passion for wrestling.
Elijah Blum & Planet Gojirah (Marc Empire & Robert Dreissker) vs. Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura) & Daisuke Sekimoto
If the earlier lucha trios match didn’t take your eye, how about this heavyweight equivalent?
Blum and Nomura start us off, but their exchanges don’t create any clear advantage… so Abe and Dreissker have a go. Abe’s eccentricity catches Dreissker off guard ahead of a dropkick to the knee, only for Abe to get squashed with a crossbody out of the corner for an early two-count.
Empire and Sekimoto are in next to complete the set, trading chops before a shoulder tackle knocked down Sekimoto. Blum tags in to try and capitalise with shots, but Sekimoto’s able to regain control with an atomic drop and a Boston crab. Blum escaped as we found our way to Dreissker suplexing Abe into the corner, with an avalanche splash and a fallaway slam following not long afterwards.
Abe’s able to avoid anything else as a tornado kick took Dreissker into the corner ahead of the return of Sekimoto, whose machine gun chops seemed pretty damn endless. Dreissker’s able to survive those and take down Sekimoto with a spinebuster, before Empire came in to hit some avalanches in the corner ahead of a cannonball for good measure. A returning Abe finds his clotheslines were of no use against Planet Gojirah, who took him into the corner before they Biel’d him into the arms of Sekimoto.
Sekimoto’s targeted next as he’s trapped in the corner before his double clothesline managed to take down Dreissker and Empire. Tags bring us to Blum, who scores a neckbreaker on Nomura, then a crossbody off the top for a near-fall ahead of a retaliatory dropkick from Nomura going the other way. After a cover, Nomura goes for a Fujiwara armbar, while Abe and Sekimoto joined in with a manjigatame and a torture rack… but Empire uses Abe to break everything up.
Abe tries to recover with a German suplex to Empire… he’s no luck there, nor does Nomura until Sekimoto added a helping hand, sparking the expected Parade of Moves. Blum’s moonsault leads to an Irabu punch from Abe… Nomura finds his way in with a Fujiwara armbar to Blum, but Planet Gojirah manhandle that apart and take down Nomura with a double Muscle Buster before Blum’s Sliding D nearly won it.
Sekimoto and Abe get thrown outside for a wild dive from Empire… and that leaves nobody to break up the cover as Blum took home the win with a Parting Gift to Nomura. ***½
16 Carat Gold 2025 Final: 1 Called Manders vs. Ahura
Shockingly, this isn’t a first-time match – these two met back in Bielefeld about six months ago, with Manders being one of the names on Ahura’s run of wins that went under the radar for a while.
Ahura had his ribs and upper body taped up going in, while Manders’ lariat arm was similarly wrapped in tape. A slap from Ahura earned him an overhand chop from Manders, whose early lariat attempt was ducked as Ahura targeted the arm, taking it down with an overhead wristlock before throwing Manders arm-first into the turnbuckles.
Things spill outside and into the crowd as Ahura looked to make sure more chairs went bye-bye, but Manders just shoved Ahura towards the ring… but not being able to follow him meant that Ahura just came right back out with a body press off the top rope to Manders in the crowd.
Staying on the outside, Manders manages to grab Ahura as he posted him… then hit a Stampede into the crowd that sent Ahura rolling into row three on impact. Back inside, Manders calls for a lariat, but Ahura catches the arm and wrenches at the elbow before a DDT to the arm just angered Manders into hitting back with a back suplex.
Chops from Manders earn him instant retaliations from Ahura too, but Ahura was starting to look almost resigned to his fate as he leaned into taking each of those shots. A rising headbutt stuns Manders before Ahura hit a lariat of his own for a stunning near-fall. From there, Ahura tried for the Ganso/Gotch piledriver he used against Laurance Roman, but he couldn’t get Manders up… nor could he charge towards the Cowboy as the back gave out once more.
Manders measured up for a lariat, but he runs into Ahura… only for a Salamandra attempt to give out again as the lariat finally landed, but just for a one-count. The hell? The crowd roared behind Ahura, almost believing he could do it… but a second lariat waffled him for a near-fall. Manders tries for a third, but Ahura collapses and begins convulsing on the mat.
They don’t instantly wave it off, so that’s a spot of universe breaking that was a little questionable… but Manders demands the match continues since there’s no medics racing towards the ring. Ahura pulls himself to his feet, but grimaced as he crossed his arms, preparing to fall on his sword, eating a wild lariat as 1 Called Manders became the 1 Who Won Carat. The finishing stretch was perhaps a little much, but this was undoubtedly the “right” winner for the stories they were telling, with Manders booking his spot against Elijah Blum for the vacant title. ***½
Post-match, Ahura’s body is literally dragged from the ring as Manders celebrated his Carat win among a shower of golden confetti, before he closed the night out with Thomas Shire on the stage, both of them trophies in hand. That is the way. The cowboy way.
As a whole, 2025’s 16 Carat Gold tournament will be used as a benchmark for this current generation of wXw – with perhaps the most consistently great batch of wrestling that we’ve seen on a festival weekend since the world changed five years ago. While the nitpickers can point to the fact that both AMBITION and Carat were won by imports, the longer game will tell you that both Manders and Shire came in with history in wXw, both having had near misses in prior tournament… and while Ahura will go down as the runner up, it’s a hell of a rise considering he only returned to wXw a year ago. It’s all about the progression, and for those who stuck with wXw during the rebuilding days of the pandemic, we’re back towards the peak… and boy, it feels good.