The final day of World Tag Team Festival kicked off with an all women’s show – and a surprise move at the end of it all.
Quick Results
Femmes Fatales 2024 Semi-Final: Anita Vaughan pinned Rhio in 10:11 (***)
Femmes Fatales 2024 Semi-Final: Debbie Keitel pinned Jane Nero in 6:49 (**½)
Dev Lynn & Kelsey Raegan pinned Calypso & Anastasia Bardot in 5:10 (**¼)
Ava Everett pinned Tank in 5:06 (**)
No Disqualification: Stephanie Maze pinned Jessy Jay in 9:59 (***¾)
Madison Marley pinned Iva Kolasky, Diana Strong & Reyca in 5:46 (**¾)
Baby Allison submitted Ayame Sasamura in 9:40 (***½)
Femmes Fatales 2024 Final: Anita Vaughan pinned Debbie Keitel in 11:39 (***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 at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for this – and with Dave Bradshaw saving his voice for the evening show, we’ve a different tandem on English commentary in the form of Mett Dimassi and Robin Christopher Fohrwerk.
Femmes Fatales 2024 Semi-Final: Rhio vs. Anita Vaughan
This was a wXw debut for Rhio – not counting that joint show with NORTH last year – but she’s on the defensive early on as the pair traded side headlocks.
A hammerlock from Vaughan gets countered as Rhio tripped her up… but Vaughan’s able to recover with a wristlock that Rhio tried to roll out of. Instead, Vaughan stayed on top of her, taking Rhio into the corner for a clothesline and a charging uppercut.
Lucha rolls can’t help Rhio as she’s caught with a dropkick, then flung with a fallaway slam before Rhio finally began to make some headway, taking Vaughan into the corner with a dropkick. Clubbering shots from Rhio help her on the way to a two-count, before she used a cobra clutch to just throw Vaughan into the mat.
Escaping the hold, Anita’s able to return with shoulder tackles, but Rhio stems the tide with an ushigoroshi before a sit-out Ki Krusher nearly nicked the win for Anita. In the end though, a swinging side slam does the job as Anita got the clear win in what was a pretty even opener. ***
Femmes Fatales 2024 Semi-Final: Debbie Keitel vs. Jane Nero
The relative veteran Keitel looked to put Nero in her place early on, only to get tripped up on the way to some armdrags and a running flip neckbreaker from Nero.
Some headscissors from Keitel pull Nero into the corner, while a dropkick through the ropes took the pair outside as Keitel began to take control. A grounded cobra clutch kept Nero in trouble, throwing Nero around in search of a submission before releasing the hold in search of a ripcord clothesline.
Instead, Nero avoided it and hit a clothesline of her own for a two-count, before a Dragon sleeper attempt was blocked by Keitel. Debbie’s able to fire back with chops, then a diving kick before she ran into the Woman’s Right. A bloodied Nero’s not able to get the three-count from that though, nor from a full nelson slam, before Keitel found a way in with a diving knee. Nero kicked out from that, but had no answer for the Midnight Espresso sit-out pedigree as Keitel booked her spot in the final against her student. **½
Anastasia Bardot & Calypso vs. Venom And Violence (Dev Lynn & Kelsey Raegan)
Bardot and Calypso formed something of an odd couple team, as Calypso had clearly brought the happy-go-lucky face with her today.
An early distraction from Bardot allowed Calypso to boot Raegan for a two-count… before Calypso scurried to the corner to make the tag. Bardot ended up on the defensive, with Dev Lynn coming in to hit a back elbow and some chops ahead of some mudhole stomping in the corner.
Bardot catches a crossbody, but Raegan escaped before Calypso snuck in a cheapshot from the apron. Raegan’s kept in the wrong corner as she had Bardot launched at her for a hip attack, before tags brought in a fresh Dev Lynn, who charged into Calypso with a Thesz press.
Lynn keeps up the momentum with running knees to Calypso in the corner. Bardot’s attempt to stop Raegan from making a tag ended with her eating a cannonball instead, before Calypso was left to take an abdominal stretch driver from Raegan for the win – Saki Akai’s Quetzalcoatl for those of you familiar. **¼
We’ve a pretape interview as Dan Mallmann’s got Mike D Vecchio and Nick Schreier with him. The new European champion was a little disappointed that Nick was just partying last night… so he’s got a surprise for him: a match between the two later on tonight.
Tank vs. Ava Everett
This was Tank’s first singles outing in wXw since she took on Robert Dreissker’s open challenge in Hamburg last year… while Ava Everett had Jacob Crane and M4 out with her here.
Once we got going, Tank easily threw Ava aside from the lock-up, before she goozled Ava for a chokeslam. Everett escaped but couldn’t avoid a clothesline, as she then powdered outside… only for M4 to shake her out of her funk. Unfortunately, a fired-up Ava… got charged down again.
Tank keeps going with armdrags as a chokeslam then nearly put Ava away. From the kick-out, Ava tried to mount a comeback with some forearms and a Codebreaker… but Tank doesn’t leave her feet. Ava called in M4 to help, but he’s just speared before a second charge into the corner from Tank missed, allowing Ava to steal the win with a roll-up. **
No Disqualification Match: Jessy Jay vs. Stephanie Maze
Both Jessy and Stephanie were trained by Alex Wright (yes, das Wunderkind) at NEW – and their shared history led to this being a no-DQ outing. Prepare the plunder!
These two didn’t hold back, swinging chairs and Kendo Sticks at the bell as Maze looked to land the first big blow. Maze kicks away Jay’s Kendo stick, then scored with a kick to the side of the head, then with a suplex as the former tag champion picked up an early two-count.
Jessy goes for the eyes to buy her some time as she used a chair on the back of Maze, then the Kendo stick as Jay lived up to her “Kendo Stick Pitbull” name. Maze manages to duck a shot as she headed outside… for a barbed wire Kendo stick. Bloody hell…
Maze uses the barbed wire stick on Jay’s midsection and back for a two-count, but Jessy broke free and pulled out a spike from under the ring and raked it into Maze’s forehead. More chairs come into play from under the ring, but a Kendo stick shot to the head eventually yielded some blood from Maze’s forehead.
Jessy begins to pick her spots as she went back to the barbed wire Kendo stick, laying it into Maze before Stephanie made a comeback, swinging a chair at Jessy. Out comes a bag of drawing pins, which Maze scattered across the ring… before she eventually got powerbombed into the pins for a near-fall. It’s how wrestling works – introduce the weapon, you usually get hit by it.
Setting up a crash pad made out of chairs, Jessy looked to inflict more pain on Maze, but an avalanche powerbomb’s thwarted as Maze instead superplexed the pair of them through the chairs for the win. That one earned a standing ovation live, and stole the show in the space of ten minutes – something I wasn’t expecting. Pleasant surprises are pleasant. Unless it involved you falling in pins… ***¾
Diana Strong vs. Reyca vs. Madison Marley vs. Iva Kolasky
We’ve three debuts and a return here, with Kolasky back for the first time since June’s Drive of Champions.
After the early skirmishes, things looked to boil down to Strong and Marley… after a bodyslam from Strong to Kolasky, then a low dropkick took the former wXw women’s champion to the outside. Reyca tries for a discus clothesline on Marley, but ends up getting caught with a headscissor takedown before a dropkick off the middle rope nearly put Reyca away.
Kolasky returns to pull at Marley’s hair, only for Diana Strong to interrupt things with a back suplex. Reyca tries to take over, knocking Strong down with a forearm, then with a Michinoku driver… but Marley’s in before Reyca could go for the pin. A discus clothesline took care of Marley, but Strong’s back in search of a Finlay roll into the corner.
Reyca rolls outside… and got into a brief fight with Kolasky that Strong’s through-the-ropes dropkick stopped. Marley joins in with a crossbody off the ring post, before Kolasky took Marley back inside… and missed a moonsault as Marley ended up getting the win with a flying Codebreaker. This was pretty good for the time they had – with the three newcomers (to wXw) impressing me. It’s an example of the sort of talent that is being missed out on by wXw not having a defined women’s division. **¾
Baby Allison vs. Ayame Sasamura
Sasamura came with her 2AW tag team title and her SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea tag team title belts… maybe looking to use that to get under Baby Allison’s skin?
Allison used the hair to counter out of a side headlock, before things spilled outside for a moment. Allison threw Sasamura back in, but lost track of her opponent as Ayame came back with a dropkick through the ropes, then a crossbody off the apron. Back inside, Sasamura headed up top… but Robin Christopher Fohrwerk rolled Allison to the outside as the fight continued.
Sasamura got in Fohrwerk’s face, only for Allison to post her ahead of a Northern lights suplex back inside for a near-fall. A clothesline in response from Sasamura’s avoided as Allison instead landed a pair of butterfly suplexes, almost spiking Ayame on the way to a near-fall.
A whip into the ropes was reversed as Sasamura charged down Allison with a shoulder block, but a series of back suplexes looked to put Allison back in it, ahead of a spear that led to another near-fall. An exchange leads to Sasamura sneaking in a suplex… only for a follow-up off the top rope to be stopped as Allison landed a spider superplex instead.
From there, the Baby Exorcism followed… but Sasamura’s able to roll out and in for a Magistral cradle for a near-fall… before a bridging fallaway slam almost nicked the win. Pushing on for the win, Sasamura nails a clothesline, before she got tripped up for another Baby Exorcism that forced the stoppage to end this sprint of an outing. ***½
Post-match, Fohrwerk took the mic but was quickly interrupted by Elijah Blum who’d run from backstage to try and get his pound of flesh. Referees and security end up escorting Blum out of the building, as he’d be “banned” from the evening’s show…
Femmes Fatales 2024 Final: Debbie Keitel vs. Anita Vaughan
This all-Irish final was also the teacher versus the student… and the battle of the current EVE tag team champions. That being said though, it was Vaughan who looked to make light work of things, taking Keitel into the corner for some uppercuts in the opening moments.
A trip up and a straight punch from Keitel helped her to an early two-count though, before a Midnight Espresso attempt was fought out of as the pair ended up colliding into each other with duelling crossbodies. Vaughan stayed on top of Keitel with a dropkick, but a second one was avoided as Keitel went back to the trip-and-punch combo, this time beginning to focus on Vaughan’s lower back.
A running knee traps Vaughan in the corner as Keitel began to play with her foe for a spell – but the crowd getting on Keitel’s back threatened to prove a distraction, as was Vaughan’s determination. Keitel lands a dropkick to the back of Vaughan for another two-count, before Vaughan sidestepped a charge to take Keitel outside for an eventual apron PK. Keitel makes it back inside before the count-out and began to throw some shots at Vaughan, including an eye rake before a series of bodyslams put Anita back in control.
Vaughan’s able to land a fallaway slam for good measure, before a spinning backbreaker dumped Keitel for another near-fall. Taking things to the corner, Vaughan missed a charge and got caught with a high kick from Keitel… who then added some running double knees to the back of the head. Down come the knee pads as another running knee looked to follow, only for Vaughan to come right back with a sit-out Ki Krusher… and finally a swinging side slam. It’s still not enough though, so Vaughan hauls up Keitel for a sit-out powerbomb, and that’s finally enough to get the win. ***½
Post-match, a jubilant Vaughan celebrated with the Femmes Fatales trophy – then brought up how the winner of the tournament usually got a shot at the Women’s title. This year though, that’s not an option… so she called out Levaniel and asked for a crack at the Shotgun title later that day.
The first edition of Femmes Fatales since wXw put their women’s title in mothballs last year ended up being a pretty damn good show – and one that put the spotlight on several wrestlers who I’d hope are given more of a look in in the coming months.