wXw returned to Oberhausen for their end-of-year anniversary show, featuring several familiar faces… and perhaps a little controversy too.
This VOD’s tipping the scales at THREE HOURS LONG, which feels like new-ish territory for wXw. The show opens with Thommy Giesen trying to ad lib his way out of being Santa Claus, telling the story of the founding of wXw, complete with lots of comedic imagery, all the way through to this year’s present: the return of Axel Dieter Jr. He even enters the ring live wearing the Santa hat, as the Turbinenhalle is extremely packed, with 1,100 fans jammed inside for the festivities.
Rico Bushido and Andy Jackson are live doing the English commentary, complete with Santa hats and reindeer antlers. You should have seen the German crew…
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Monster Consulting (Avalanche & Emil Sitoci) vs. The Crown (Alexander James & Jurn Simmons) vs. RISE (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer) vs. Jay-FK (Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin) (c) vs. RISE (Tarkan Aslan & Da Mack)
This was under gauntlet rules, and we start with the match we should have had in Hamburg, with Jurn Simmons fit and healthy to take on the latest iteration of Monster Consulting.
All four men lit into each other before Thommy could get his intros out, with Sitoci and Avalanche taking the early lead with all the clotheslines! Avalanche even assists Sitoci with a moonsault before the Dutchman flew outside for a tope. Finally the bell rings as Alexander James had to elbow out of a Samoan drop, but he runs into a Bossman slam before Sitoci’s Macho Man elbow forces Simmons to break up the count.
A superkick from Sitoci looked to set up a Snapmare Driver, but James slips out and tags in Simmons as the Crown began to settle into a groove. There’s another clothesline from James as Sitoci found himself isolated, with Jurn coming in for an effortless backbreaker. An enziguiri from Emil gives him an opening, but Jurn charges in to make sure that nothing can come of it just yet, as Sitoci had a bit more fighting to do before he could tag in Avalanche.
Avalanche strikes with a belly-to-belly on Jurn, then a Samoan drop, before a blind tag almost got James the sneak win with a roll-up. He’s made to pay though, as Avalanche tagged out to Sitoci, whose split-legged moonsault draws a near-fall, before James slipped out of a tombstone. Not to worry, Jurn tags in and takes it instead for another near-fall, before the Final Consultation left Jurn down for a Dreissker Bomb… except James pushes Sitoci into his partner, sending him sailing to the outside as a double-team curb stomp got the Crown the first fall.
Next up: RISE! That is, the classic RISE of Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer, who are jumped as soon as they hit the ring, but James and Kiev quickly powder to the floor for some brawling into whatever room they could find. Meanwhile, Jurn and Bouncer went at it, with Jurn landing a suplex throw in the ring, only for Bouncer to capitalise on his gloating as he just threw the Dutchman to the outside.
Kiev and James take over in the ring, with the American landing a series of uppercuts before falling to a Pele kick from Kiev. Ivan then ducks a Massive Boot from Jurn before he was tossed across the ring with that suplex throw, before a pumphandle fallaway slam from James just sent Bouncer hurtling across the ring. A double-team chokeslam is next for Bouncer, before Kiev hits a leg lariat off the top to save Bouncer from another curb stomp, as Pete manages to turn it around with a double-arm DDT to eliminate Jurn – and the Crown.
From there, RISE faced off with the tag team champions, as Jay-FK came out as the fourth team. There’s instant Andre Schurlle chants, as Pete Bouncer takes a superkick-assisted death valley driver that almost led to a quick elimination. Bouncer’s kept in the corner as the tag champs put the boots to him while cycling through quick tags, at least until he snuck in a suplex and got free as Kiev mounted a one-man comeback.
A full nelson slam from Bouncer looked to dispatch Kaspin during a parade of moves, but it was Kiev’s leg lariat off the top that did the trick. Marius al-Ani, who’s out with a shoulder injury, came in to attack RISE, but instead he punches out Jay Skillet with the brass knuckles. Tassilo Jung eventually calls for the DQ, with the crowd raining down cries of “bullshit” as “classic” RISE were eliminated.
Out last was “new” RISE, who walked into a virtual handicap match as Jay Skillet was just about coming to. They weren’t in any rush to start their part of the match mind you, as Tarkan offered a handshake to Kaspin, before Da Mack came in and blindsided Kaspin with a Mack Attack ace crusher for a near-fall. Skillet’s back to his feet and tags in as Jay-FK hit the back cracker/STO combo for a near-fall, with Da Mack breaking it up with all the chops. A double-team flapjack from Jay-FK dumped Mack, but a second brass knuckle shot KO’s Skillet (which commentary missed) as Da Mack scored the win with an Unprettier as new RISE left with the belts. I almost felt sorry for Jay-FK here, but RISE leave with the tag titles after a rather flat ending to the gauntlet. ***¼
Post-match, the Classic RISE pair of Bouncer and Kiev hit the ring and attack the new tag champions, forcing them to powder through the crowd. Bouncer cuts a promo, which mentioned the word “schlacht”… which means one thing. We’re getting RISE vs. RISE inside the cage!
Alpha Female vs. Yuu vs. Killer Kelly
This was the main roster debut of Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Yuu, who had a decent showing on the last Academy show. There’s new gear for Killer Kelly, who’s got a new ring jacket (which sadly means no more Portuguese flag…)
Kelly made a beeline for Alpha Female, reigniting their brief feud of the past… but Yuu wanted some too, so we had the pair of them taking turns before they aimed their sights at each other. A spinning sidewalk slam and a back senton from Yuu gets a near-fall on Kelly, before she’s taken down with some cravat knees from the NXT UK star. A big boot puts Yuu down for a two-count, but she’s back with a Judo throw, only for Alpha Female to return with duelling clotheslines as the Berliner found her fire. There’s a slam for Kelly, then for Yuu, before a tree slam almost put Kelly away. Yuu broke it up and gets a tree slam of her own, but Kelly returns the favour, as Alpha began to leather both of her opponents.
Kelly and Yuu begin to work together, landing a double-team suplex on Alpha, before Kelly’s Shibata-ish dropkicks found their marks. Yuu’s almost dumped on her head from a Fisherman’s suplex, but Alpha breaks up the pin and slams Kelly to the mat… following up with some ground and pound that Yuu tried to break up with a submission. Alpha charges her into the corner before spearing Kelly, but another Judo throw, then a kahatajime from Yuu forces the flash submission as even she seemed surprised by how she made Alpha Female tap. A perfectly fine match, but I’m not a fan of how little time the women have been getting on these shows as of late. **¾
A video package followed for Doug Williams, recapping his career – naturally focusing on his time in wXw – as it was time for Doug to enter the wXw Hall of Fame. Karsten Beck and Felix Kohlenberg were on hand for the ceremony, with Beck being here as part of the office, rather than “Hall of Famer, Karsten Beck.” In lieu of subtitles, Rico and Andy summarise, before Williams was brought out for his speech, as he put over how wXw has grown since the days he wrestled for them in a nightclub.
Before the next match, we’ve an elephant to get out of the room here. In the days building up to the show, UFC fighter Nick Hein was announced as a special guest for the 18th Anniversary show. I’d never heard of Hein before, but evidently Hein has some status in Germany by way of his UFC tenure (even if he’s on a two-fight losing streak). Problem is, Hein has been somewhat outspoken regarding political issues such as immigration, earning him the label of being right wing.
At the risk of hand-waving this, since my German isn’t great (and I don’t particularly want to trust Google Translate), following through on the booking was a risky proposition after the initial backlash. So let’s see what happened. Nick Hein came out with a cameraman in tow, and was booed out of the building. He remained in the ring for the next match…
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Lucky Kid vs. Absolute Andy (c)
Commentary hinted earlier in the night that Marius al-Ani was out injured… and with David Starr, Absolute Andy’s scheduled opponent, also out with a shoulder injury, we had two guys at a loose end. Well, at least Starr made it to commentary, where he threw out a line that almost made it sound like he was convinced wXw was against him.
We got going with the obligatory lock-up, with Andy taking Lucky into the corner, before he began to work over Lucky’s arm. Instead though, Lucky reverses the wristlock and slaps Andy, which drew a wry smile from referee Tassilo Jung, who was perhaps still scarred from having Andy thrown into him a month earlier in Hamburg. Lucky was riding Andy early, so the champion responds with a right hand and some uppercuts before a tiltawhirl backbreaker and a clothesline took the RISE member to the outside. Andy followed up with some chops and uppercuts as they found space around ringside was somewhat limited, although that didn’t stop Lucky from hurling himself to the outside with a plancha!
A tope con giro followed, again finding its mark, before Lucky cleared the crowd… and ended up getting thrown into the second row as Andy caught a 619 on the apron and threw him into the seats. From there, Andy makes a beeline for Thommy Giesen’s ringside table so he could grab his title belt… and of course, Tass catches him. Once he handed the belt back over (without a fight), Andy chops Lucky then took the match back inside, only for Andy to quickly scarper onto the stage, where an eventual back body drop took Lucky down hard.
Andy tries to take the easy count-out, but Lucky Kid dove back into the ring at the count of 9. He had nothing left though, so he was left prey for chops and a backbreaker from Andy, fighting back with some chops before a single chop took him back down to the mat. A suplex gets Andy a near-fall as this was threatening to become one-way traffic again, especially when Lucky got caught up top… but he’s able to push away Andy and score with a missile dropkick.
Charges into the corner work for Lucky, at least until he runs into a knee… but he comes back with clotheslines and a low dropkick as he finally took down Andy for a near-fall. A crossface is next as Lucky dragged Andy to the mat, but it ends quickly in the ropes, as Lucky’s attempt to follow-up saw his missile dropkick whiff as Andy turns him around into a Sharpshooter. Luckily for Lucky, he was also right by the ropes…
After a slam, Andy tees up for a superkick, but it’s caught and countered into an enziguiri, before an F5 left Lucky down on the mat… but not out! He kicked out at two, so Andy lifts him up for an avalanche F5… but Lucky again fights free, only for another missile dropkick to miss. A lungblower’s quickly sent Andy’s way, as Lucky floats into a crossface in the middle of the ring, but again Andy gets a foot to the rope. Lucky looked to edge ahead with a half-nelson suplex, but Andy slipped free before eating a handspring back elbow. A mule kick behind the referee’s back and a superkick from Andy’s good for a near-fall, as Lucky found another second wind, pulling Andy into a German suplex, before he’s caught up top with an avalanche butterfly suplex for another near-fall. Another dropkick from Lucky sends Andy into the corner… Andy grabs the belt and looks for another belt shot, but he’s stopped as instead his F5’s countered into a crossface, this time with Lucky rolling Andy away from one set of ropes, except Andy’s height meant he was able to get to another rope instead.
Almost out of desperation, Lucky went up top… and gets caught again, but he counters an avalanche F5 into a Ligerbomb for a near-fall. Another trip up top ends with Marius al-Ani throwing Lucky down, as he taunted Lucky with his Shotgun title belt… something that Lucky snatched away. That distraction allowed Andy to grab his own belt, but a bid to hit Lucky with it ends with him taking out al-Ani instead before Lucky clocked Andy, then finished him off with a double stomp and an Asai DDT for the win!
The Turbinenhalle popped for that… but after Nick Hein presented Lucky Kid with the title belt (and let him celebrate with it), he told referee Tassilo Jung what happened with the belt shot… and so the decision was undone. Way to find another reason for the crowd to hate him! David Starr, rightly, crapped over that, and as the match restarts, Andy instantly wins with the A-Klasse. Huh. That weird ending was perhaps the sneakiest of ways for Andy to retain, but you didn’t get the sense of hatred against Andy for that. Still, this was a pretty solid match until all of the shenanigans. ***½
Post-match, Hein plays tug of war with Andy’s title, so Andy tries to kill a trainee. Hein stopped him, which led to a shoving match that had the crowd entirely pro-Andy until boos rained down when Hein scored a takedown. Luckily, we had someone on hand to snuff this out – a video from Ilja Dragunov, who wasn’t at the show because he was celebrating his son’s birthday. He’s got a challenge for Andy: we’ve got another Käfigschlacht! They’re billing this as the “last grand battle”, which is just as well because that particular feud didn’t seem to need any more matches.
Hein mocks Andy, and gets deservedly kicked low and hit with a F5 as Oberhausen popped for Andy. By the way, since the show announced, wXw added Nick Hein to the mix as the special guest referee, prompting some to perhaps guess/fear that that’s the direction they’re heading in for 16 Carat Gold weekend.
Before the next match, we’ve a promo from Shigehiro Irie… who’s interrupted by Bobby Gunns, who notes that he’s got a bit of a record against Japanese wrestlers.
Shigehiro Irie vs. Bobby Gunns
After overcoming Vinny Vortex at the wXw Academy show a few weeks earlier, Irie’s got his brother… who’s out wearing a zip-up jacket that looks like it’s come straight out of Wish.com.
There’s a half-hearted attempt at the “Gunns, Bobby Gunns, Irie!” chant a la Tag League, as we start with Irie shoving Gunns away. That led to a shoulder tackle from Irie, which prompts Gunns to kick at the legs before he ran into another shoulder charge from the former KO-D champion. A test of strength sees Gunns try and force Irie back to the mat, but it backfires as Irie tests out Bobby’s neck bridge, before he meets him in the ropes with an uppercut.
Irie looked for a catapult splash off the ropes, a la Sami Callihan when he was in NXT, but Gunns rolls to the outside as he stomped on Irie’s hand on the apron. Back in the ring, Irie elbows away a charge then scored with a bulldog before he scored that catapult splash for a quick two-count. Gunns hit back with an uppercut, but Irie hits harder before he was caught in the ropes with an armbar.
A single leg crab’s next for Irie, who rolled out into what looked like a Banana Split crossed with a roll-up, only for Gunns to go right back to the arm with another stomp. Irie responds with a POUNCE, but Gunns is right in with a guillotine choke that ends when he’s charged into the corner before a sweet Bossman slam drew a near-fall for the former DDT star. Following a missed clothesline, Gunns hits a backdrop suplex… but Irie returned the favour before a second backdrop suplex from Bobby leaves the pair on the mat. There’s a German suplex out of Gunns, but Irie’s right back to his feet with a clothesline, before a front suplex and a PK gets Gunns a near-fall.
Gunns goes for a double armbar, but Irie’s able to scoot into the ropes, before he’s caught in an awkward backslide for a near-fall. Irie responds with a death valley driver, before a pair of cannonballs trapped Gunns in the corner for a near-fall, before the Beast Bomber lariat obliterated Gunns for the win. This was a fun outing, although it sure is odd to see Gunns beaten with such aplomb following the year he’s had. Something tells me that there’s big plans for Irie’s German-based excursion… ***½
wXw Women’s Championship: Kellyanne vs. Toni Storm (c)
This was the first time these two had met outside of Australia, with Storm having a 2-1 record over Kellyanne, most recently defending her PROGRESS Women’s title on their tour of the country in April.
Kellyanne was accompanied to the ring by Alan Payne, whom we last saw getting squashed by Avalanche in Hamburg either side of interfering in Kellyanne’s matches with Kris Wolf. He’s still a tad over-caffeinated… We started with Kellyanne trying to roll-up Toni, before she fled from a Strong Zero attempt as the challenger tried to dictate the pace. Back in the ring, she was met with a low dropkick and a big boot before Storm eased into control with a headbutt and a suplex. Alan Payne grabs Toni’s leg as she looked to go up top… and he quickly gets ejected by Rainer Ringer for it.
Kellyanne capitalises with a Snake Eyes in the corner for a near-fall, before chopping Storm around the ring. A boot choke almost sends Toni to the outside, before a front facelock suplex drew the challenger a near-fall, leaving Toni in the corner for a springboard dropkick. There’s a neckbreaker from Kellyanne too for a near-fall, before a snapmare and a kick to Storm’s recently-injured back kept the newcomer ahead, as another dropkick gets another near-fall.
Toni begins to fight back as the pair trade forearms, but a shotgun dropkick took Storm back into the corner before she caught a slap… meeting Kellyanne with a German suplex as the champion fought ahead with hip attacks. A headbutt disrupts Kellyanne’s attempt to block the Strong Zero, as the challenger hit back with a cannonball in the corner for a near-fall of her own.
A swift double-leg takedown and some mounted punches from above have Kellyanne back on top briefly, as she misses a clothesline before Toni countered into a Strong Zero for a near-fall. From there, the pair fought over a full nelson, before Toni was caught in a Tree of Woe in the corner as another cannonball caught her out. A second cannonball misses, and Toni’s right back in with a Strong Zero for the win. This was decent, but you got the sense the crowd never really bought Kellyanne as a contender – or perhaps Storm was seen as “too dominant” given how quickly she won the title last time out? **¾
British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) vs. RINGKAMPF (WALTER, Axel Dieter Jr. & Timothy Thatcher)
Your main event, then, was something of a dream match, and one that perhaps had Timothy Thatcher all by himself, as the lone member of the match without any sort of WWE involvement. At least, that we know of!
British Strong Style heeled it up here, ripping up fans’ signs on their way to the ring before they whipped Thommy Giesen. For those wondering, Axel Dieter Jr. was announced as that, rather than his WWE-name, which just added to the crowd’s fervour as Junior returned to wXw action for the first time since leaving some 18 months earlier. But first… we go even older-school as WALTER busts out the “three categories” promo!
God I miss this version of RINGKAMPF.
Thatcher and Dunne get us going, as we see Veit Müller at ringside – the RINGKAMPF apprentice, eh? Commentary lays down for a bit as we hear the crowd lapping up the early exchanges as Dunne and Thatcher tried to work over each other’s legs, before Tyler Bate’s attempt to break it up just incited WALTER and Junior into the ring. After that, Dunne and Thatcher look to go for each other’s wrists, before Dunne decided to tag out having had no luck in the opening stages. Tyler Bate and Axel Dieter Jr. tagged in next, but there’s some distraction from Dunne as Bate’s able to take him down with a toe hold. Junior easily pushes free though, sending Tyler cowering into the ropes as Rico tried to compare Pete Dunne’s NXT UK title reign with the likes of Brock Lesnar and CM Punk’s WWE reigns. Apples and oranges, I feel…
Junior keeps Tyler down with a bridging hammerlock, before tags took us to WALTER and Trent Seven, which I swear drew a few chants of “please don’t die”. Present and former PROGRESS Atlas champions collide, with Trent grabbing an early headlock before finding that his shoulder tackles were no good here, no matter how high his trunks went. So Trent tries a chop, and we know how that goes. CHOP!
The ring fills as British Strong Style come in to try and save their (frozen) partner, but to little avail as we ended up with Tyler Bate getting choked out by Thatcher’s rear naked choke. A Hardcore Holly-like kick to the stomach followed, before the British trio combined to swing Thatcher into a German suplex by Bate for a near-fall. Trent’s attempt to snapmare and chop Thatcher looked to be a bad idea, but he tagged Dunne in to pick up those pieces as Dunne rolled Thatcher into a nice cross-legged stretch en route to a knee stomp.
Bate returns with Junkyard Dog-style headbutts before he caught Thatcher in a cravat, before Dunne returned to spit at Thatcher and continue the beat down. A stomp to the arm is next, as Dunne wrapped it around the ropes, prompting the rest of RINGKAMPF to argue with the referee as their opponents snuck in with some underhanded moves. Thatcher tries to block a Figure Four from Trent, but to no avail, as Seven goes old school, grabbing onto the ropes for extra leverage. A slap to the face from Thatcher just knocked Trent out briefly, before Dunne and Bate stormed the ring to stop any potential tag out from happening.
Bate keeps hold of Thatcher, but nearly gets rolled up for a pin, before Thatcher had to endure an airplane spin… which he then countered with a butterfly suplex as Junior finally tagged in! Clotheslines to Dunne and a big uppercut finds its mark, as Axel became a one-man wrecking crew, dismantling British Strong Style all by himself! Dunne flipped out of a Landungsbrücke and made a tag out to Bate, who traded forearms and uppercuts with Junior. Bop and bang catches Junior out, but he’s back in with a kick and a diving uppercut out of the corner, only for Bate to respond with a running shooting star press for a near-fall. More tags bring in WALTER and Dunne, with the latter backflipping into a Gojira clutch that he quickly escaped with a finger snap, only for WALTER to put his foot through Dunne in retaliation.
Biting from Dunne brings WALTER to his knees, only for a swift chop to fell the NXT UK champion, who somehow responds with a hanging armbar out of a powerbomb. That too is countered as WALTER effortlessly switches into a STF, while a Gojira clutch from Thatcher neutralises Seven in the corner, with the Axel Dieter Special trapping Bate! Somehow Tyler escaped and broke up WALTER’s submission with a German suplex, before tags had Trent back in to chop away at Thatcher’s neck, as duelling Gojira clutches eventually backfired on RINGKAMPF.
Trent goes airborne with a dive to RINGKAMPF on the outside, followed by Pete Dunne’s Orihara moonsault, and finally a Spiral Tap to the floor from Tyler! Back in the ring, a rebound lariat-assisted Dragon suplex gets Trent a near-fall on Thatcher, before a forearm from Dunne just riled up Thatcher into a comeback that quickly turned into a Parade of Moves that ended with a shotgun dropkick to all of BSS. From there, a powerbomb/uppercut from WALTER and Thatcher to Trent gets a near-fall, before Junior’s diving European uppercut/powerbomb combo with WALTER gets yet another two-count on Trent.
Junior keeps up with the Hamburgerkreuz on Trent, with a big splash off the top from WALTER getting another near-fall. Tyler tries his luck with rebound lariats on WALTER, but they’re eventually cut-off with chops as WALTER’s taken for an airplane spin! Thatcher sneaks in with a RINGKAMPF belly-to-belly to Tyler… then to Trent… before Dunne bit the nose to stop the hattrick as a kick-assisted piledriver and a Tyler Driver set up Thatcher for a Better End that didn’t put Thatcher away.
In instant retaliation, Thatcher pulls Trent into a Fujiwara armbar… that Dunne kicks apart, before the release Landungsbrücke from Junior took care of Dunne. Trent and Thatcher exchange chops, until a half-nelson suplex from Trent hits its mark… but his Seven Stars lariat is ducked and met with another Fujiwara armbar. Tyler tries for a save, but he’s chopped and dragged into a Gojira clutch by WALTER. A Fire Thunder Driver stopped Bate after he’d powered up, and all that’s left is for Thatcher to roll up Trent out of the Fujiwara armbar for the win.
Well, you know my big gripe about British Strong Style trios is that they’re all full of pointless gaga that only appeals to a select group of fans? We had none of that here – none of the arsing around, none of the shtick… and this match was all the better for it. Yeah, it had some issues, but it was nice to see Thatcher getting the win when so many perhaps had Junior tagged for that spot. It’s a little odd that ADJ perhaps wasn’t highlighted as much, but nevertheless this was a fantastic main event to close out wXw’s 2018, with RINGKAMPF standing tall. ****¼
Post-match, the crowd chanted for Junior as all six men shook hands, with a (traditional) swapping of Christmas presents. Timothy Thatcher holding the Moustache Mountain towel is… like a dodgy cosplay? There’s a chant of “16 Carat” from the crowd as Dunne waited for his present… which was WALTER kicking away his mouth guard, only for Tyler to make the save. Well, there’s a second career in cricket waiting for him if this wrestling thing doesn’t work out!
All that was left, was for the show-closing promo from Axel Dieter Junior, thanking the crowd (as my poor German’s shown up once more!). There’s chants for Hot & Spicy, as Junior reminisced, singing the team’s old theme music, before those pesky Carat chants perked up again. Either people knew what was coming or this was started by someone in the know, because sure enough, Junior announced his entrance into March’s 16 Carat Gold, as he looked to go one better than in 2016, where he ended up losing out to Zack Sabre Jr.
Cue the graphic, cue the delirium, and I guess there’s a whole load more tickets suddenly sold for 16 Carat Gold as the night drew to a close…
Going by social media responses live, this didn’t have the buzz of a show that hit the heights we’ve been used to… however, having watched it on-demand, that wasn’t the case. Sure, the way the women’s matches were used was a bit of a disappointment, particularly in terms of their brevity, but aside from that everything seemed to fit in place. Not knowing the full story about Nick Hein makes me not want to comment any further beyond this: the beauty of wrestling is that pretty much everything is under the control of “creative” – so if something is met with such a vitriolic rejection, it perhaps makes sense to change, or at least tweak plans.
That being said, with the challenge of having to deal with injuries that wrecked two title matches, wXw managed to keep things on course and set up the main stuff for January’s Back to the Roots, with two cage matches on the card instead of the usual War Games-style cage match… although with just three weeks to go, it’ll be interesting to see what else is put on the card as we begin on the long road to 16 Carat Gold.
All in all, wXw’s 18th Anniversary was a solid show with a fantastic main event – and when that’s coming from someone who’s so “meh” on British Strong Style trios matches, you know it’s got to be good!