Elijah Blum and 1 Called Manders met one last time as “Championship Saturday” of 16 Carat Gold weekend got a little extreme…
Quick Results
16 Carat Gold 2026 – Quarter-Final: YAMATO pinned Erick Stevens in 11:21 (**¾)
Rambo & Metehan pinned Titus Alexander & Starboy Charlie in 8:52 (***¼)
16 Carat Gold 2026 – Quarter-Final: Thomas Shire pinned Zoltan in 8:42 (***¼)
Chihiro Hashimoto & Katsuya Murashima pinned Jane Nero & Alex Duke in 6:42 (**½)
16 Carat Gold 2026 – Quarter-Final: Peter Tihanyi pinned Alan Angels in 13:39 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold 2026 – Quarter-Final: Ahura pinned Tetsuya Naito in 16:03 (****)
Street Fight – Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire pinned Nick Schreier & Laurance Roman to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 28:25 (***¾)
Elijah Blum pinned 1 Called Manders to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 27:36 (***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
We’re back inside the Turbinenhalle – with a slightly delayed start after wXw sprang a surprise on the live audience. English commentary comes from Dave Bradshaw and Norman Harras. That’s been a short straw for him today, with Norman just about breaking him as they cut away…
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2026 Quarter-Final: Erick Stevens vs. YAMATO
Going to ground pretty much instantly, Stevens and YAMATO looked to be trying their hand at AMBITION rules before Stevens switched it up with a back elbow after shooting YAMATO into the ropes.
YAMATO gets sent to the outside, but kicked away a low-pe attempt from Stevens, before adding a missile dropkick back inside. An overhead belly-to-belly kept Stevens down, before YAMATO took so long going for a suplex… only to land it anyways.
YAMATO’s overhead kick took Stevens into the ropes, but things go back outside as Stevens landed that tope seconds later. Back inside, a discus elbow and an Air Raid Crash almost won it for Stevens, whose pumphandle powerslam seconds later yielded the same result, before Stevens went back for one more discus elbow.
That looked to have YAMATO firmly en route to defeat, but YAMATO’s able to counter a Northern Lights Bomb, before he surprised Stevens with a huracanrana for the win out of nowhere. This was just getting going when YAMATO got the win to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. **¾
Crush Boys (Starboy Charlie & Titus Alexander) vs. Metehan & Rambo
Metehan and Rambo are a bit like Frank Grimes and Homer Simpson as a tag team these days – with Metehan struggling to hide his annoyance at his he’s disliked, whereas Rambo’s cheered for merely existing.
Starting with Metehan and Alexander, all Oberhausen could sing about was Rambo… Metehan played up tagging in Rambo, which got the biggest cheer of his night. Starboy Charlie ducked Rambo early on, eventually scoring with satellite headscissors before Rambo’s tiltawhirl slam dumped Charlie.
Rambo teased tagging out, which drew “please don’t tag” chants… so Metehan just tagged himself in, and found himself getting chopped by Charlie. A handspring back elbow gets Metehan just a one-count, before a second handspring was dropkicked away. Tags bring in Rambo and Alexander again, with Titus almost snatching a win with a handspring cutter.
A clothesline and a suplex throw out of the corner got Rambo back in it, while an overhead belly-to-belly launched Alexander across the ring for a near-fall. Starboy Charlie gets brought back in, sending Rambo outside with an overhead kick as a prelude to the Sasuke special… but the ring quickly filled up once more as the Crush Boys double-teamed Rambo on the way to another near-fall.
In the end, Rambo’s able to catch Alexander with a powerbomb onto the knee… before Metehan snuck in a sliding forearm for a near-fall… with Rambo’s frog splash finally getting things over the line. The dichotomy between Rambo and Metehan is quite something, and could be a decent story if it’s played out in front of receptive crowds. ***¼
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2026 Quarter-Final: Zoltan vs. Thomas Shire
After getting past BUSHI in the first round, Zoltan’s got an even bigger task on his hands here…
Zoltan’s able to armdrag Shire away… and pat him on the head after an early exchange didn’t go the way of the American, but after that Shire was able to overpower the relatively inexperienced Hungarian. Some misdirection and a trip from Zoltan allowed him to take Shire into the corner with a dropkick, before a switcheroo saw Shire head outside and into the path of a flip senton.
Back inside, a rolling thunder splash drew an unlikely two-count for Zoltan, before Shire got into gear and kicked Zoltan to the outside after having clubbed at his lower back. A backbreaker’s next from Shire, but Zoltan’s able to escape a UFO and return with almost a leg lariat.
Zoltan heads up top, but Shire joins him up there… and gets brought down with a ‘rana. A springboard cutter out of the corner’s next, but not enough for Zoltan, who tried his luck with the BUSHI-beating backslide before Shire uppercutted away another cutter en route to a UFO and a powerbomb for the win. ***¼
Jane Nero & Alex Duke vs. Chihiro Hashimoto & Katsuya Murashima
We’ve got new music for Jane Nero, who was sporting the old wXw Women’s title belt once more…
Nero slapped Hashimoto early on… but quickly backed off into the corner to tag in Alex Duke when Hashimoto looked to retaliate. Murashima’s in too, chopping Duke by the ropes, before a shoulder tackle charged down the former tag champion. There’s some glorious snark from Norman Harras on commentary here just before Duke mounted a comeback, launching Murashima into the corner with some gusto.
Tags bring us back to Nero and Hashimoto, but it’s Hashimoto who pulled ahead… Nero tagged Duke back in for some double-teaming, but Murashima tries to stop that as the ring filled up. A spear from Hashimoto laid out Duke for a near-fall after things cleared, but Murashima’s back in and eats a uranage for his troubles.
Murashima’s able to retaliate with a powerslam for a near-fall though, before an Everest German suplex finally proved to be enough for the win. **½
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2026 Quarter-Final: Alan Angels vs. Peter Tihanyi
On paper, this looks like a possible roadblock for Peter Tihanyi in his bid to win Carat – but Angels hit the ground running, putting the boots to Tihanyi from the bell.
Tihanyi shook it off, then played up to the crowd’s “scheiss Tihanyi, scheiss Tihanyi, hey, hey” chants before taking Angels outside for a quick flip dive. Those chants seemed to be getting to Tihanyi as Angels played a game of chase… eventually sending Tihanyi shoulder-first into the ring steps.
Back inside, Tihanyi remained on the back foot, but tried to get back in it, landing a swinging DDT and a running Meteora to the back of the head as Angels’ grip on proceedings slackened. A dropkick to the knee took Tihanyi back down, before Angels baited Tihanyi into the corner for a dropkick as the former champion almost crashed out.
Tihanyi’s able to counter the Angel’s Wings, before he rolled through a crossbody from Angels… and eventually booted the American down into the corner. Angels uses referee Tassilo Jung as a shield to catch Tihanyi out unawares… but the Hungarian hits right back with a superkick and a slingshot cutter for a near-fall.
From there, Tihanyi headed up top… but gets cut off and sent to the floor as Angels added an Orihara moonsault… a splash back inside, then an Angel’s Wings pushed Angels closer to the win, before a slingshot cutter out of nowhere countered a springboard from Angels as Tihanyi snatched the win. This one didn’t quite mesh well at first – but the crowd softened towards Tihanyi as the match wore on, perhaps indicating that there’s some forgiveness after all? **¾
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2026 Quarter-Final: Ahura vs. Tetsuya Naito
This being the last of the quarter-finals, people had figured out the match… and oh boy, Ahura would have to run through a proverbial brick wall to stay alive in the tournament. Aaron Insane met Ahura in the aisle to give him a pep talk – perhaps suggesting that this would be it?
Naito got under Ahura’s skin early on, sidestepping early attempts to lock-up, and it seemed to work at first… but Ahura’s missile dropkick manages to clear the ring. On the outside, Naito cleared the crowd so he could bowl Ahura into the fifth row… and when Ahura looked to beat the count-out, Naito just met him on the floor and sent him back into the same crowd that was trying to gather themselves.
Back inside, Naito retained control as he hit his stride – low dropkick to the back, a chinlock, all your usual 2026 Naito stuff… before Ahura countered a Destino into a sidewalk slam. A spit from Naito just riled Ahura up again, but it’s too early for a Salamandra as Naito elbowed his way out before Naito countered a second attempt into a sorta-Destino.
Ahura keeps blocking a Destino, before he charged into the corner to unsight the referee… and hit a mule kick to low blow Naito. The crowd didn’t mind that, nor the follow-up piledriver that almost won it. A tornado DDT from Naito brought him right back in as Ahura looked to be getting increasingly beaten down, but Ahura’s able to land a clothesline… which eventually send Naito rolling outside as a pin attempt was threatened.
Ahura tried to follow Naito outside, but the Divine Sandstorm tornillo saw him land in nothing but chairs… almost leading to a count-out defeat. Naito pounces with a Destino back inside, but it’s not enough, before Ahura countered one more with a ripcord lariat and eventually the Salamandra for the win. This was a hell of a performance from Ahura, who had to dig deep to win the match of his life – and become the first person since Jeff Cobb to pin Naito in a singles match. Don’t look up how many he’s had, just enjoy the stat! ****
Street Fight for wXw World Tag Team Championship: Planet Gojirah (Marc Empire & Robert Dreissker) vs. The Grind (Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier) (c)
We’ve got new music for Planet Gojirah, while the Grind glitched out and became the “Hardcore Grind” with Nick Schreier as the Sandman and Laurance Roman as, uh, Justin Credible? Oh, and a full-on playing of Enter Sandman. That’s one way to set the tone!
As was Laurance Roman full-on braining Schreier with a drinks can. As you do.
Marc Empire started this off with a dive onto the champions as this one started on the floor with Laurance Roman whipping Empire with his t-shirt… and we’re quickly having to split-screen things after Robert Dreissker brought out a shopping trolley full of goodies, which of course was put to great use… as were the video walls in the Turbinenhalle, which shows the split screen to keep the crowd up to speed. Great work from the production crew there!
That kept the crowd up to speed as the match headed around into the stands, with Nick Schreier grabbing onto the balcony to avoid an Empire powerbomb… and then leap down onto both of Planet Gojirah as he used gravity to his aid. Remaining in the crowd, Roman booted Dreissker into the front row, only to get met with a chairshot moments later as we were deep into the plunder… including, of all things, Laurance Roman lobbing a beer snake at Robert Dreissker. That’s one way to upcycle things…
Dreissker went to a more traditional weapon next, bouncing a bin off of Schreier’s head, only to get met with an Acid Drop onto the bin lid before Planet Gojirah enjoyed a prolonged spell with an isolated Schreier. Things escalated when Empire pulled out a ladder from under the ring, but Roman’s back with a missile dropkick to buy Schreier some time… before helping launch Empire across the ring into the ladder.
They keep using the ladder as Schreier uses a chair to drive the ladder into Empire’s nether-regions. Fired-up, Roman got a little too excited (per Dave Bradshaw… phrasing!), as a table’s brought into play, with Schreier putting Dreissker through it via a splash off of a ladder.
Responding, Empire launched Schreier into the ladder, before Roman escaped and turned it back around with a Grind Time onto the ladder for a near-fall. Things spilled outside after a Schreier dropkick, where more tables get pulled out… a spinebuster onto the back of the table back inside almost puts Roman away, before Dreissker turned the table over and went to powerslam Schreier off the middle rope through it. Unfortunately, the German tables reared their ugly head, but it was still enough to get a near-fall.
Dreissker continues to set things up, building a crash pad made out of chairs before stopping to obliterate the seat of a chair over Schreier’s head… before Roman stopped Dreissker with a simple chairshot. Instead, Empire took over to powerbomb Roman through the chairs and chair frames for a near-fall, before pulling out yet another table.
Out come a bag of drawing pins, which Empire scattered onto the mat, only for Roman to introduce him to them with an Electric Chair drop out of the corner… with Roman getting a couple of those pins in him as collateral damage. Dreissker tries to capitalise, but Roman stopped him grabbing a table… it’s eventually set up into the corner as Roman started laying into Dreissker, before… a hooded guy in a tracksuit jacket came through the crowd.
He unmasks as Robin Christopher Fohrwerk, just as Marc Empire pulled Roman into the corner and taped his legs around the ring post. That leaves Nick Schreier on his own, and despite having a Kendo stick, Schreier’s eventually overwhelmed and speared through the table before a Beast Buster onto the remaining drawing pins earned Planet Gojirah their third wXw tag title reign. Live, this was starting to feel like it’d overshot its landing – and while I wasn’t thrilled at yet-another-masked-invader in wrestling, at least it wasn’t drawn out. The addition of Fohrwerk to Planet Gojirah doesn’t quite make sense at first, and nor did this feel like a truly final match so… we’ll see? ***¾
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: 1 Called Manders vs. Elijah Blum (c)
Blum picked Manders as his opponent for this spot – harking back to their match last year where Manders beat Blum for the then-vacant title.
When we got going, Blum took Manders into the corner… where the offer of a handshake was slapped away in a terse opening spell. Blum’s dropkick shut down some offence from Manders, ahead of a spit-laden slap to Manders’ face, before things spilled outside, with Manders’ chops eventually seeing him hitting the ring post.
A plancha from Blum keeps Manders down as the champion started to focus on Manders’ lariat arm. Biting from Manders puts a stop to that, before he dumped Blum across the ropes with a front suplex. Despite the injury, Manders chopped Blum by the ropes… but the reaction created another opening for Blum… who was able to avoid a springboard elbow as Manders’ playbook was becoming problematic for him.
Chops from Manders get stopped by the teeth of Blum, whose neckbreaker put him back in charge, while a moonsault press out of the corner almost put an end to things. Manders was able to escape a Total Depravity, while Blum avoided getting dumped onto the ropes as he instead dragged Manders onto the apron for an attempted Parting Gift… that instead led to Manders charging into the ringpost with a lariat.
On the outside, Blum tries the Total Depravity again, but instead Manders slipped out again and hit a powerslam into the crowd, wrecking several seats in the process. Manders took the brunt of the impact there, having sliced his arm open having hit the slam, but despite that he’s still trying for the lariat once he made it back inside. A shotgun dropkick stops that as Blum finally hit the Total Depravity… prompting Manders to almost reach a point of desperation.
Blum again targets the bloodied-arm, but Manders tried to stop him with an avalanche slam… it’s countered into a DDT off the top before Blum’s Parting Gift drew a near-fall. With Manders on his knees, Blum looked to go for a sliding D, only to miss… and get clobbered with a swivelling lariat instead. One big Boss Lariat connects as Manders looked for a referee stoppage – like in Frankfurt last year – but Blum kipped up to his feet at the count of 9 to keep the match alive.
An increasingly-worn Manders tries more chops, which had Blum rocked once more… but one more comeback from Blum had Manders on jelly legs, until another rising lariat stopped Blum in his tracks. The resulting cover doesn’t get the three-count… as Blum then pulled an Ahura, standing up and offering himself up for a lariat… only to absorb the strike! A sliding D seconds later followed from Blum… and that’s your lot as Elijah managed to slay one more dragon from his past, and leave Oberhausen still with the title. ***½
Post-match, Blum and Manders finally shook hands, burying the hatchet there, before Blum took the mic and addressed the crowd – bringing up how he first watched 16 Carat Gold in the crowd as a fan in 2010, before bringing up his WWE tryout last year. Apparently that’s not his dream… his dream is to stay in wXw and headline the marquee shows like this, while following in the footsteps of greats like WALTER, like Ilja Dragunov, like Bad Bones, like Karsten Beck, like Absolute Andy.
One name that Blum didn’t mention in that role call was Bobby Gunns, who stormed the ring with a bee in his bonnet about that exclusion… leading to him attacking Blum from behind, leaving Blum laying to close out the show.
A strong second half of the show helped Carat Saturday finish strong, with the top three matches (Ahura/Naito, streetfight and Blum/Manders) all delivering and – just like Bobby Gunns at the end – ensure they left their own mark on the night.