A little over 12 hours after winning the big one, Timothy Thatcher’s back in town for a superfight on the latest Ambition tournament!
It’s way-too-early on a Sunday as we’re back to the Turbinenhalle, with quite a few thick heads, especially among those who stayed out late for the traditional afterpart. For those who get hung up on these things, our stars here are purely for “how we enjoyed the match”…
We open with Karsten Beck and the parade of entrants, with A-Kid replacing Damon Moser.
First Round: Daniel Makabe vs. James Runyan
Hopefully Makabe does better than Sunderland did yesterday… he’s taken to the mat by Runyan early on, before he got back up and… got taken down with a drop toe hold.
Makabe gets Runyan’s back, but Runyan stands up and falls back to break the grip before using an armdrag takedown as Makabe was on the defensive. An armbar attempt keeps Runyan on top, but Makabe gets to the ropes… then was taken down with a Samoan drop as Runyan was looking for a stoppage.
Makabe beats the count, but he’s right back on the mat as Runyan proceeded to pepper him with uppercuts and knees. A spinning armbar takedown forces Makabe into the ropes once more, before he finally found his way through with forearms and a German suplex.
Another German suplex has Runyan down again, before Makabe got caught in a triangle armbar… but he spins out and forces the submission with a STF. A come from behind win… very apropos of the shirt! ***¼
First Round: Alexander Dean vs. Dominic Garrini
Dean looks for a takedown early, but Garrini rolls into the ropes, before Dean took him down in a headlock… which led to a stand-off.
In the guard, Dean throws fists from above, with Garrini managing to turn a negative into a positive as he rolled the pair into the ropes. An exchange of slaps led to another takedown, but it’s Dean who’s forced to turn defence into attack, as he looked for an ankle… only for Garrini to pick a spare leg and roll into the ropes again, before Garrini snatched the win with a submission with a knee hold. A little slow, but tactical to start with, with the win coming out of nowhere. ***
First Round: Kevin Lloyd vs. Rust Taylor
Lloyd’s taken into the ropes from the off, before returning the favour as Taylor proceeded to look for an arm.
Lloyd’s lifted off his feet, then put down as Taylor wrenched back on the arm, then on the elbow as Lloyd was forced to reach for the rope. Kev looks for a front facelock, but Taylor got to the ropes, only to get taken down as Taylor went in for a Fujiwara armbar. That’s escaped, but Lloyd’s cross armbar’s escaped also, with Taylor rolling in with one of his own.
Lloyd manages to take down Taylor, who took his time to get up, as Lloyd goes right back to a front chancery. An armbreaker from Taylor proved to be an equaliser, as it led to him going on the mat with a side headlock, before Lloyd found some form, working his way into a full nelson as he spun Taylor to the mat in a cravat.
A head kick from Taylor stings Lloyd, as does another to the arm… but third time wasn’t the charm as Lloyd took down the American. Taylor got free and landed another head kick, which left Lloyd down and out. Kev’s insisting he can continue, but he’s instantly rolled into a trapped arm armbar for the submission. Brave stuff from Lloyd continuing after getting rocked, but in the end Taylor was just too much. ***
First Round: Scotty Davis vs. A-Kid
Scotty keeps his PROGRESS music here (just don’t tell the Work Horsemen!), and has a strong support for his entrance.
A-Kid goes in for a takedown, grabbing Davis’ head on the way down before he wrapped around Scotty’s leg. Scotty makes him roll free, before the Irishman shot in for a takedown into the corner. From the restart, Scotty powered up out of an arm triangle, before they rolled into the ropes again – scrappy, but feisty this one!
A-Kid rolls onto Scotty’s back, slapping him across the head before Scotty’s search for an armbar ended with the pair rolling into the ropes for a break. More scrappiness ends with A-Kid getting Scotty in a front chancery, before a roll-over for a cross armbar ends… yup. In the ropes.
Wash, rinse, repeat, but this time Scotty rolls through and cartwheels free, only for A-Kid to go back to the front facelock. Scotty returns the favour, this time landing a Gator roll to send A-Kid sailing to the outside, and of course, that just angers A-Kid, who took his time getting back in.
The Spaniard ran in as the pair exchange palm strikes and vicious shots, ending with a Saito suplex from Scotty that started a ten-count. A-Kid beats the count, but ducks a reverse roundhouse… he can’t avoid a second though, before he rolled free and clubbed away on Scotty, turning into a double armbar that forced a stoppage. The ending was a little weird, but that was a hell of a performance in defeat from Scotty, picking up especially well in the exchanges after the Gator Roll. ****
They announced the Ambition Superfight for over 16 Carat Gold weekend – Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa!
Semi-Final: Daniel Makabe vs. Dominic Garrini
It’s a Chelsea shirt for Makabe now, who starts by taking down Garrini, only for the AMerican to roll over and land some body blows.
Makabe rolls free and turns Garrini into a STF, but Garrini escapes and looked for a triangle armbar… but Makabe gets a foot to the rope in the nick of time. Garrini picks the leg and rolls the pair to the mat next, trading palm strikes that knocked each other loopy. Makabe rolls Garrini down in a hammerlock, and looked to trap the head… but Dominic gets free and looks for a cross armbar… which is also escaped.
From there, Garrini ties up Makabe on a deathlock, but Dan’s able to get a hand and free himself… before Garrini grabbed a key lock, ending again in the ropes. A mounted rear naked choke drags Garrini to the mat next, before Makabe looked for a Makabe Lock! Garrini flips out of the Cattle Mutilation, and catches Makabe in a Twister… only for him to get free as they rolled into the ropes.
Another flurry of strikes ends with Makabe taking an enziguiri, then a German suplex, which left him barely answering the ten count. A receipt follows, which Garrini answered, before it’s back to strikes as Garrini made a point of going for Makabe’s leg. It backfires though, as Makabe trips him and locks in a knee bar for the quick submission! Fantastic exchanges here, with Makabe excelling. ***¾
Semi-Final: Rust Taylor vs. A-Kid
Someone jumped the gun… but at least A-Kid was ready as he spun Taylor down early on, eventually reaching a stand-off.
Taylor rolls him down, but can’t proceed with the armbar as A-Kid got to the rope. From there, A-Kid took down Taylor, but got caught in some headscissors before he got free and grabbed an ankle lock, only for Taylor to go after A-Kid’s taped-up elbow.
There’s a rope break called, as A-Kid came back with some aggression, only to get dumped with a gutwrench powerbomb. Taylor was stopped from rushing in on A-Kid before he got to his feet, and was quickly caught in a rear naked choke as A-Kid countered a suplex to force the submission. Brief, but all sorts of fun here, with Taylor seemingly still sore after that landing from Flamita last night. ***½
VT from Timothy Thatcher builds up his superfight with Oney Lorcan. I love how wXw has been utilising these to build up performers and matches this weekend. Oney’s got a reply too.
Superfight: Oney Lorcan vs. Timothy Thatcher
It’s a massively pro-Thatcher crowd here, like you’re shocked.
Lorcan goes for a leg, but it quickly ends in the ropes as Lorcan looks for a side headlock, and gets the takedown as he clung onto the headlock, despite Thatcher’s attempts to roll free. A waistlock takedown ended with both men outside, forcing referee Felix Schulz to take them back inside, where Lorcan continued to wrench away on the new wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion.
Again, Thatcher gets to the ropes, but got dragged down in a side headlock again as he finally got free, using some headscissors to trap Lorcan. Thatcher goes to a cross armbar, but Lorcan spun out into a front chancery. The tit-for-tat continues with Thatcher going for a Fujiwara armbar, which Oney blocked, so it’s back to their feet as Thatcher got reprimanded for a rebound belly-to-belly suplex off the ropes.
Oney stings Thatcher with some palm strikes, but that just gets Tim back in as they head into the corner. Lorcan gets into the guard of Thatcher, throwing some strikes from above before he was pushed away, with Thatcher whaling away on Oney’s back as they rolled to the mat. Another search for a rear naked choke is blocked, so Thatcher kicks Lorcan in the back, only for Lorcan to get up and dump Timo with a Saito suplex.
Thatcher gets back to his feet but an enziguiri is shoved away as Oney slapped him down to the mat. Oney charges in with a running uppercut, almost taking out the ref as Thatcher was right back down, before he got up and landed that enziguiri. A retaliatory slap follows, and that’s enough for the KO as Timothy Thatcher to leave with the win. An absolute war here, with Thatcher and Lorcan bringing their A-game – but it was the new wXw champion who prevailed. ****
After the match, Thatcher took the pic and put over Oney, before we got a bit of the Bro Hymn, with Timo directing it all!
Final: Daniel Makabe vs. A-Kid
I swear that Ambition trophy looks familiar…
Makabe goes for the takedown early, but there’s a quick stand-off as the Belgium-shirted Makabe ended up on the mat. A-Kid’s on top, but they roll to the ropes before A-Kid flipped out of a German suplex. A cross armbreaker looks to follow, but Makabe got a foot to the rope, as A-Kid ended up in the mount again, slapping Makabe silly.
A triangle armbar gave Makabe something to deal with, as he fought back to a sitting position as some more slaps were used to break up a knee bar. All the palm strikes ring around the Turbinenhalle, before Dan wound up for an almighty strike that almost ended things. A-Kid beat the count though, and took down Makabe with a Northern lights suplex, rolling into another cross armbar for another rope break.
Makabe rolls A-Kid to the mat, grapevining the legs until a rope break saved the Spaniard… and he’s straight back with a rear naked choke after absorbing some kicks to the legs. That choke’s rolled out of, but A-Kid’s back in the guard, only for Makabe to scoot out and roll into a STF, that turned into another rear naked choke and a Fujiwara armbar ahead of a rope break.
In the end though, it gets a bit wrestle-y as Makabe’s caught with a standing Spanish Fly, before a cross armbar forces the submission – the replacement wins the whole tournament, as Makabe was caught off guard. A good showing for A-Kid at short notice, as the final day of the World Tag Team Festival got off to a solid start. ***½
This was a mightily entertaining Ambition that flew by, as wXw brought some of the best in this style into one tournament – Daniel Makabe in particular stole the show in the tournament portion, but none of the eight involved let themselves down as they all added to their wrestling CVs on this rainy Sunday afternoon in Oberhausen.