Just days before wXw headed Stateside, we had the small matter of a lay-over in Frankfurt as Lucky Kid tried to make sense of the situation he found himself in with RISE and Schadenfreude. Something that a six-man tag could try and sort out, right?
We’re coming from the Batschkapp in Frankfurt. Cue new music, the updated Shotgun titles, and we’ve got Rico Bushido running solo on commentary. The show opens with Karsten Beck’s golden cummerbund, as he’s back in the city where he was first installed as wXw’s sporting director. He’s quickly interrupted by Absolute Andy, who moans about being screwed in Oberhausen. The pair spar verbally about their bellies, as Andy demands a title match…
Eventually out comes Bobby Gunns to stop Andy’s belly aching, but all it does is aggravate the former champion. Cue more sparring over Andy’s belly, including a few too many mentions of Andy’s age for my liking, before Andy… flicks a booger at the champion. It works, as out comes a referee… and we have a match! But first, Andy wants Thommy Giesen to announce Bobby as champion “for the last time”, except it’s a ruse as Andy shoves down Beck to grab the belt… then gets caught in a Swish armbar. Of course, the match hasn’t started so it’s for nought.
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Absolute Andy vs. Bobby Gunns (c)
Andy stopped himself short of running into Shooter Schulz before the bell… but gets caught in another Swish armbar as Andy taps in seconds! A quick defence for Bobby Gunns!
Andy stayed back in the ring, stunned, before he snapped as Thommy Giesen tried to get the crowd to applaud him… lifting up Thommy for an F5, forcing Karsten Beck to threaten him with suspension as Jay-FK (of all people) talked him off the proverbial ledge.
We’ve a promo video for Amale Winchester, who apparently left her friends behind to train to become a wrestler. She’s (finally) in Germany to start a new challenge: she wants to eventually challenge Toni Storm. A solid piece to introduce her to new fans.
Outside… hey, it’s Yilmaz! Ilja Dragunov’s giving him a pep talk as Maggot comes up, shaking Ilja’s hand… while Prince Ahura rocks up in an Audi. Yep, the Pretty Bastards have different ideas about the whole “being contracted talent” thing, and I think someone’s rubbed up Ilja the wrong way!
Another promo follows, this time from another debutant in Baby Allison. She’s slightly more sarcastic about things, calling herself the “Witch Bitch of Wrestling”. Good luck if you have a lisp!
Amale Winchester & Baby Allison vs. Killer Kelly & Yuu
This marked the (taped) debut of both Winchester and Allison – the former of the two having originally been lined up for the 2017 Femmes Fatales tournament… a tournament that saw a number of drop-outs that led to Killer Kelly getting her big break.
The debutants jump their opponents before the bell, but Yuu and Kelly hit back with dropkicks as a back senton from Yuu got an early near-fall on Allison. Yuu tagged in and keeps up the pressure with some short-arm chops for a near-fall, before she deadlifted Allison off the mat and took her back down with a slam. Winchester gets involved as she kicked Yuu on the apron, allowing Allison to hit back with a spinebuster-like takedown for a near-fall. Amale’s in with forearms to Yuu, but that early offence was curtailed with a chop from Yuu. Allison’s back to Matrix away from a chop as Yuu reverses a suplex, only for Allison to stop a tag from being made.
A splits legdrop gets Allison a near-fall, as the debutants continued to focus on Yuu, with Winchester sinking in a chinlock. Winchester throws Yuu to the mat by the hair, but referee Tassilo Jung refuses to count it as Allison’s back in with some punches in the corner… and this bit may be going on a touch too long. Another baseball slide from Allison knocks Kelly off the apron, but not for long as the former champion’s tagged in to try and turn things around, decking Winchester with a pump kick. Allison and Winchester double-team Kelly as Yuu was outside recovering… but she rather quickly tagged back in as she made the most of a miscommunication, rolling Winchester out of the corner and into a cross armbar, only for Allison to drag her partner to the ropes for the save, before a Sister Abigail out of nowhere got Amale the win! A somewhat out-of-nothing result as Winchester gets on the board… as for the match, well, this tiptoed on the line between “establish the new guys” and “don’t go too long”, but this was a solid first showing for them here. **½
Backstage, Jay-FK are joking about having taken Absolute Andy’s sunglasses. He walks in and is oblivious to the theft… he’s admitted that he’s unstable because of “unfairness” around wXw, and we’ve got Paranoid Andy here. This could turn into something comedic, which’ll be a new ribbon for Andy’s bow… he’s working with Jay-FK for something later tonight, as they all walk off. Just as Pete Bouncer comes out of the toilets behind, having heard it all.
We’ve a promo from the Work Horsemen – J.D. Drake and Anthony Henry – who look to be in a hotel room building up their tag title shot against Aussie Open. It’d have been nice of them to say who they were from the start, because if you knew neither of these guys, you’d be wondering why they were stealing Chris Brookes’ tactic of “win the titles and you’ve got to book us again”.
Jurn Simmons vs. Shigehiro Irie
Jurn’s not exactly had a good spell lately, but with the Crown set to be reunited in New York, perhaps he can cause an upset against title contender Shigehiro Irie here.
The early exchanges were a little muted as the feeling out process quickly ended with… Irie revealing he’s learned some German! Auf die Fresse! A bulldog led to a slingshot splash for a quick two-count, but that just seemed to insult Jurn, who responded with a no-bump suplex for a two-count. A cross-chop to the throat keeps Irie down again, as did some clubbing forearms before Irie overpowered him with a suplex. The comeback continued with a slam and an Earthquake sit-down splash for a two-count, as Jurn rebounded with a springboard clothesline that almost led to the finish. Again, Irie cuts him off as he worked his way up into a massive superplex, following that up with a cannonball into the corner for another near-fall.
Irie goes for a katahajime, but Jurn rolls out and connects with a Massive boot, then a pumphandle slam, before his offence ended with him getting tied up and cracked with a headbutt. From there, it’s pretty much elementary as Irie teed up for a Beast Bomber, eventually landing it for yet another two-count, before a barrage of shots to the head left Jurn open for that katahajime for the submission. A nice competitive outing with Irie having the crowd on his side… and at the risk of angering Jurn, I’d have to hope that the Crown reignites him after another big loss. ***
Vignette time with Avalanche – apparently 16 Carat Gold marked the first steps of him being his own man… and he’s got putting a bullseye on the head of Emil Sitoci after what happened at Carat.
They replay the events of Road to New York City, where the Pretty Bastards won a wXw deal… and the backstage stuff where Prince Ahura talked his way into a proving ground-style match here.
Pretty Bastards (Maggot & Prince Ahura) vs. Ilja Dragunov & Avalanche
Good luck, ya’ bastards…
They at least had the home team advantage, even if Ahura’s earlier antics had left Ilja very non-plussed. Maggot and Avalanche start, with the “Son of Nothing” offering something early on, even if he could barely make a dent in the Avalanche, who charged him into the corner with some shoulder charges. Prince Ahura tags in and instantly plays to the crowd… which doesn’t exactly improve Ilja’s mood any, as he turned around into a CHOP! Ahura managed to come back with a dropkick, before he misses a charge into the corner as Ilja crashes in with a clothesline. The pair go back and forth a little as Ahura looked to work on Ilja’s right arm before he showed why you perhaps should walk before you run, as he slipped in some rope walking ahead of a ‘rana to Ilja.
Dragunov responds with more chops before Avalanche started to stomp a mudhole through Ahura… then slammed him to the mat for good measure. A big splash off the ropes flattened the bare-footed Ahura for a near-fall, as Ahura had to get a tag out to keep the Bastards alive… and while Maggot offered a spirited defence, doing his best despite the numbers game, he’s quickly dropped with a 619 lariat and a back senton as the former Cerberus pairing of Dragunov and Avalanche restored the status quo. Maggot’s hurled across the ring by Avalanche, which just whetted my appetite for how the Austian’s going to chuck Darby Allin in New York, as Maggot was then forced to elbow out of a Saito suplex as Dragunov eventually dumped him on his head. Ahura broke up the pin, then stopped Ilja as he teed up for a Torpedo Moscau, allowing Maggot to try again and take down Ilja with a spear off the ropes!
Another tag brings Ahura back in… but Avalanche is back in too as Ahura scored with a step-up knee strike, taking the big man back into the corner as Dragunov blind-tagged himself back in… except Ilja runs into a uranage backbreaker and a Downward Spiral as Ahura found himself on top. From there, Ahura tries to fight off the numbers game, only to get wrecked with some double chops before a piggy-back splash from Ilja and Avalanche almost led to the win. The Bastards manage to catch Ilja with their Springboard double-team finisher, but Ahura – the legal man – went to celebrate as he thought Maggot should have gotten the pin. That screw up meant they had to deal with a charging Avalanche, who tosses Maggot outside as Ahura again got caught playing to the crowd, as Avalanche caught him with Darkness Falls. Ilja adds to it with a back senton off the top before a Dreissker Bomb got the win – the Bastards pushed them close, but their inexperience and arrogance proved to be their massive undoing in what was an entertaining contest. ***¼
Rico announces that November 9, wXw will return to the Batschkapp for Broken Rules XIX – that’s a show that had been held in Dresden the last two years…
Jeremy Graves appears to run down the card for Amerika ist Wunderbar…
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Shigehiro Irie vs. Bobby Gunns (c)
wXw Shotgun Championship: Emil Sitoci vs. Marius al-Ani (c)
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Work Horsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (c)
Lucky Kid vs. David Starr
Absolute Andy vs. Chris Brookes
Yuu vs. LuFisto
LAX (Ortiz & Santana) vs. The Crown (Jurn Simmons & Alexander James)
Darby Allin vs. Avalanche
It’s airing live on Thursday 4th at 4pm ET/9pm UK/10pm CET – and can be bought thru WWNLive.com or Fite.tv for $14.99.
Backstage, Marius al-Ani bumps into Ilja Dragunov, who snarls at him before wishing him luck for his open challenge. al-Ani was looking to become the longest running Shotgun champion, as Ilja reminded him to be prepared for anything… perhaps even him. Marius brags about beating a SmackDown superstar, which makes him the best Shotgun champion ever…
That led to the al-Ani open challenge, as he bragged in front of the crowd about how he’ll beat the Shotgun championship reign of the current Alexander Wolfe, whom he apparently “sent back to the Performance Center”. The open challenge was answered in strobe-eriffic fashion by Emil Sitoci, who jumped al-Ani from behind, before Julian Pace came out and dove into the pair of them as we have a three-way!
wXw Shotgun Championship: Marius Al-Ani (c) vs. Emil Sitoci vs. Julian Pace
The bell rings as Pace took Sitoci back into the ring and crashed into him with a springboard crossbody, before al-Ani low bridged him out of the ring amid some Vollgas rope running.
al-Ani took over with the Exploder suplex for a two-count on Sitoci, as the revolving door nature of the match took over. Sitoci tried to hang Pace in the corner with a Cobra clutch choke, before he clotheslined into al-Ani off the middle rope. A wrist-clutch belly-to-belly keeps Pace down as Sitoci focused on al-Ani again, taking him down with a clothesline as those two seemed to be getting into it before New York. Sitoci looked for a Fireman’s carry – but Julian Pace just dropkicked it away as a Parade of Moves broke out among all three men, leading to Pace getting dropped onto the top rope and superkicked to the floor.
al-Ani chops out Sitoci’s leg as he went to dive on Pace… leading to the champion grabbing an ankle lock. Pace tries to snatch a win with an O’Connor roll, but he has to make do with a tornado DDT and a standing shooting star press on Sitoci, only for al-Ani to suplex him out of the pinning attempt. A three-way slugfest breaks out next, with Pace eventually getting charged down before a suplex/facebuster from Sitoci leaves al-Ani laying. A side Russian legsweep’s next on Pace, as Sitoci took his time going up top… and got caught with the running double knees from al-Ani in the corner, as the champion took his time also. He’s dropped with a superkick and a Spanish fly as Sitoci looked to have the match won, despite Pace’s attempt to steal it with roll-ups and small packages, before a Snapmare Driver put away the youngster as Sitoci left Frankfurt with the title! Another entertaining outing as the “Nihilist” Sitoci became a two-time Shotgun champion. ***½
Backstage, after the match, Dragunov slow-claps al-Ani as he then told the unseated champion that in Dresden at True Colors, the pair will face off. Oh boy.
A video package plays to show Veit Müller’s ascent into RINGKAMPF – there’s a few details you’d blink and miss, such as Timothy Thatcher’s resigned look… and truth be told, you could have gone back a little further, as there was a pretty good Müller/WALTER match from Munster on Shotgun last year that I totally missed until I saw a Shotgun top 10 video on my YouTube recommendations the other day. This all bled into David Starr wanting to get to WALTER… via Veit.
David Starr vs. Veit Müller
This was Starr’s first (taped) match in wXw since his latest loss to WALTER at Carat, and he was still focused as all hell, even forgoing his nicknames. Müller, on the other hand, is proudly adopting the RINGKAMPF pose…
We start on the mat as Starr pulled Müller into an early seated surfboard, a la Jushin Thunder Liger, as he tried to end this one in the opening moments. Müller latches on with a cravat as he looked to frustrate Starr, who tried to counter out with a roll-up… only to get caught in another cravat as this time it was a rope break that saved Starr. Müller trips Starr as he switched his focus to the legs, but Starr countered out by working over Veit’s wrist and fingers, before a La Magistral cradle almost led to the win. Starr mocks the RINGKAMPF pose as he proceeded to charge Müller into the corner, before a trip up led to a backslide for another near-fall.
A handstand kick clobbers Müller for just a one-count, following up with a sliding splash into the corner as Starr almost was getting back to his usual, self-assured self. Müller makes a comeback, throwing Starr into the corners before a back body drop flew Starr across the ring! The cravat plex is next out of Müller, as Starr elbowed away from a pumphandle… only to run into a headbutt as the balance of the match threatened to change. Starr headed up top for a crossbody, but Müller couldn’t keep his balance after catching him… although he did manage to nail the slam a few moments later for a two-count.
A grounded chinlock from Müller ended when Starr threw him onto the apron for a springboard lariat, then for a tope to the outside, sending Veit into the second row. Back inside, chops from Starr have Müller reeling, before a Han Stansen lariat dropped Veit for a near-fall! Starr remained focused though, teeing himself up for a Product Placement… but Müller powers out as the pair exchanged strikes for fun, with both men finding a second wind before a thunderous lariat bounced Starr off the mat. CHRIST. From there, a wrist-clutch Exploder suplex followed – billed the Keiler Recliner – and those two heavy hits proved to be enough for Müller to get his RINGKAMPF career underway with a win. A heck of a contest, and that’s David Starr starting to build up a run of Ls it would seem. As for Veit, well, it seems Carat gave him a tonne of confidence, and who can blame him? ***½
Backstage, Sebastian Hollmichel is with Veit Müller, talking about his win just now. Veit doesn’t have a problem with anyone since he’s adopted the RINGKAMPF attitude of competing, not performing, as all he wants to do is collect wins.
Elsewhere, Lucky Kid’s bugging David Starr after that loss. Starr’s shaking in disbelief as he struggles to process what’s going on. Lucky tries to play amateur psychologist, telling Starr “I beat WALTER… you can beat him too”… and that’s where a switch flips as Starr chews out Lucky Kid, cutting the promo ahead of their match in New York.
Schadenfreude promo time – for those who missed their formation at 16 Carat.
Schadenfreude (Chris Brookes, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. RISE (Pete Bouncer, Ivan Kiev & Lucky Kid)
Schadenfreude get the nWo-like black and white entrance… and I’m in love with this presentation.
Meanwhile, Lucky Kid was finding himself conflicted as RISE and Schadenfreude were both pulling for him… so much so that he just stood there, shaking his head as Pete Bouncer started off against Chris Brookes. Well, that was the plan, because Lucky instantly came in to try and split the two up… then tagged himself in as he tried to talk it out. We start out simply with Brookes working a wristlock early, before countering Lucky’s counter with a headlock. Lucky managed to get himself on top, but another staredown ended with Pete Bouncer jumping Chris Brookes as the match spilled outside while Lucky again tried to play peacemaker. When that didn’t work, he kept out of it as he inadvertently left his RISE buddies at a disadvantage.
Things calmed down as Lucky sulked on the apron as Rico was counting down to New York like it were Christmas. A diving boot from Kiev has Brookes down on the mat, as it seemed like it was really going to be 3-on-2 as Lucky wanted no part of this. Just as well Kiev and Bouncer were more than willing to get involved, eh? Brookes made a comeback, slingshotting Kiev into Pete’s Bouncers, as Schadenfreude managed to isolate Kiev, with Aussie Open looking to make light work of the former Shotgun champion. Some triple-teaming left Kiev in a predicament as a low dropkick caught him in the groin for a near-fall.
Bouncer tags himself back in as he tried to turn it around, hauling up Fletcher for an axe kick-assisted sidewalk slam for a near-fall, before he dragged Fletcher into the corner and forced Lucky Kid to tag in. Finally in the match, Lucky applied a half-hearted neck crank before he instantly tagged out, as Kiev came back in to come close with a swinging neckbreaker. RISE continue to focus on Fletcher, with Lucky Kid again coming in with a conflicted/half hearted effort, going back to the neck crank before… tagging out. Bouncer gets that tag and drops Kyle with an elbow drop, only for Brookes to break up the cover. We go back to Lucky Kid in the ring, but this time Kiev and Bouncer drop off the apron, so as to force him to do something… but they probably didn’t mean “get dropkicked by Fletcher” as Schadenfreude got back into it.
Mark Davis comes in and chops/clotheslines Kiev and Bouncer before Lucky Kid came between them once more. Brookes is in to get powerbombed onto the back of Kiev for a near-fall as Lucky Kid was left shaking his head in disbelief at ringside, as Kiev managed to make some headway with a Pele kick to Brookes. Bouncer’s back in, trading blows with Davis… and again, Lucky Kid tries to play peacemaker! They shove him away, then chop him to the mat as they then realised what they’d done. Lucky gets retribution on both of them, fed up of what was going on, before he was thrown into the ropes for a handspring double back elbow. That sparks a Parade of Moves, ending with Kyle Fletcher using Ivan Kiev as a human shield, choking him out as Lucky went to go airborne… and ended up taking to the sky as a 450 splash landed on Kiev and Fletcher at the same time.
Chris Brookes tags in and demands that Lucky “pick a side”… he didn’t want to, so Brookes teased a Praying Mantis Bomb. Lucky escaped, but Pete Bouncer wasn’t as fortunate as he was triple-teamed… as was Kiev, who succumbed to a pull-up piledriver, then a Praying Mantis Bomb before… Absolute Andy arrived to pull out the referee!? Jay-FK are out too to brawl with Schadenfreude, setting up the Brookes/Andy match in New York, and causing a distraction as Brookes returned to the ring to eat a double-arm DDT from Pete Bouncer as RISE snuck out with the win. A good first chapter in the RISE/Schadenfreude story, even if they did go a touch too heavy on the conflicted Lucky story… yet still managed to underplay the Absolute/FK run-in at the end on commentary. There’s a LOT of this one left to be told, ***½
After the match, Lucky Kid headed onto the stage, but did the RISE pose in unison – while still shaking his head at what was happening. Backstage, Lucky waits for Kiev and Bouncer before admonishing them for what just happened. Bouncer was pushing the idea that Lucky’ll be on his own in New York, because Lucky’s friend Chris cost them the tag titles… so Kiev and Bouncer weren’t going to be out there. Barely months after RISE fought off an insurrection from within, they’re tearing themselves apart as we once more!
While 16 Carat Gold Revenge may not have had a headline moment, it was business as usual from wXw. Good in-ring action, some excellent story-telling – be it during matches, or through the sprinkling of vignettes and segments throughout the show – and a fairly clear sense of direction throughout. Frankfurt was a solid show to bridge between Carat, Amerika ist Wunderbar and set up stuff for True Colors in May. I’d expect the wXw NOW release of the New York Show to throw in some more teases, especially since any Road to True Colors shows won’t drop until days before the card in Dresden…