Six matches, five promotions and four title matches all in one place as wXw launched their first Independent Wrestling Summit.
Quick Results
Andrew Cass pinned Starboy Charlie to retain the West Coast Pro Golden Gate Championship in 8:13 (**)
Nico Angelo pinned Gabriel Fuerza in 15:17 (**)
Cory Zero pinned Mila Smidt to retain the Fury Championship in 11:51 (**½)
Jay Joshua pinned Joe Lando in 15:20 (***)
Toxin pinned Spider Fly to retain the CVW Absoluto Championship in 18:01 (**)
Johnnie Robbie pinned Miko Alana to retain the West Coast Pro Women’s Championship in 11:17 (***)
— 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
Carat Saturday kicked off with the latest format for this timeslot – with wXw inviting independent promotions from around the world to put their best foot forward. English commentary comes from Dave Bradshaw and Norman Harras.
West Coast Pro Golden Gate Championship: Starboy Charlie vs. Andrew Cass (c)
Cass had only won this belt about a week prior, beating Alan Angels and G. Sharpe in a three-way for the title in Commerce, after originally losing the title to Angles at the start of the year.
A pretty even start was ground to a halt as Charlie grabbed a chinlock – but the one thing that was pretty striking early on was that neither Charlie nor Cass played much to the crowd. As such, you had the crowd reacting, but a lot of this was just moves – like a backbreaker and back body drop from Charlie picked up a one-count.
Charlie continued to dominate, but a right hand from Cass leaves Charlie in the corner, ahead of a death valley driver/neckbreaker variant for a two-count. Cass gets caught up top as Charlie’s backflip overhead kick knocked him down to the floor for a Sasuke special, before some back-and-forth pins back inside ended with Cass snatching the win with a sunset flip. This may as well have been wrestled on a closed set given how this went… **
Nico Angelo vs. Gabriel Fuerza
This was a battle of New Wave’s Welsh and Canadian training schools – and it started with Angelo taking down Fuerza to slow down the pace after a frantic start.
Fuerza wasn’t taking that lightly though, as he took Nico into the corner for some chops, before Nico hung him up in the ropes for a kick and a chop on the way down. A Void Walker pull-up death valley bomb almost ended this one in a hurry for Nico, who added some more chops that prompted a response out of Fuerza.
Things head outside, but Fuerza’s dropkick through the ropes misses, allowing Angelo back in ahead of him clearing the crowd for a spot of chair bowling. Of course, it was Nico who went into the seats instead, before a half crab – dubbed the Witcher Lock – was aborted back inside.
Nico tries to hit back with a Void Walker, but it’s stuffed and countered back into that Witcher Lock. Escaping, Angelo took things onto the apron with a belly-to-back piledriver onto the side of the ring, before a top rope elbow drop following for a near-fall…
Fuerza’s able to hit back with a handspring cutter and a standing shooting star press for a near-fall in his favour. A second belly-to-back piledriver from Nico just ends with him charging Fuerza into the corner. We keep going, as Fuerza shrugged off an elbow to the lower back and retaliated with a standing Spanish Fly, before Nico hit back with the Split Personality for the win. This was fine, but two matches deep, I’d like to see more than good vs. good matches on this show. A little spice, please! **
Fury Championship: Mila Smidt vs. Cory Zero (c)
Coming in off the back of a controversial/viral week, Cory’s swapped balconies for defending her Fury title here.
The opening lock-up was for nought, so Smidt changed tactics, taking Zero to the mat with some Judo-style throws… only for Cory to respond by rolling her down for some finger manipulation. A rope-walk armdrag keeps Cory ahead, only for Mila to return with a DDT onto the side of the ring.
We’re shown Jessy Jay standing near ringside – clutching the Fury “golden ticket” – as they seemingly teased a Money in the Bank-style cash-in for the title. Meanwhile, a double clothesline left Smidt and Zero laying… an exchange of suplexes ends with a slingshot spear from Zero, who was starting to push on some more, adding almost a Falcon arrow for a near-fall.
In return, Smidt threw Zero into the ropes, following up with a German suplex… but Zero quickly breaks a pin with an armbar. The ropes save Smidt, who manages to come back with a Madame Guillotine (Widow’s Peak)… but Zero rolls outside to avoid being pinned. Recovering, Zero found her second wind, landing a hanging neckbreaker out of the corner before a rope-walk moonsault led to the win. This was a strong outing with both women overcoming the whole “establish yourself” thing that everyone on this show had to do. **½
Joe Lando vs. Jay Joshua
Rev Pro offered up this champion vs. champion offer, with neither title on the line. We’ve one prior singles meeting between these two, with Joshua winning on a New Wave show in 2024.
After the feeling-out process, Lando took Joshua down into the corner with a ‘rana, only for Joshua to pluck Jay out of the air with a snap powerslam to turn the match on its head. That’s followed-up with a lovely pull-up side suplex out of the corner for a two-count, before Lando hit back with a DDT to stop Joshua in his tracks. A German suplex keeps Lando on course, as did a running shooting star press, before Joshua got back to the ring to stop a dive, instead slamming Lando between the ropes as the heavyweight took control once more.
A right hand from Joshua knocked Lando down, but Joshua opts to throw some more rather than go for a pin, and that almost bit him in the rear as Lando was able to catch him out with a backflip into a cutter. We keep going, with roll-ups ending with Joshua countering into a wheelbarrow suplex.
Lando’s able to hit a Destroyer, but it sends Joshua to the outside… a follow-up dive ends in a DDT from Lando on the floor, but once Joshua was able to hit a lariat, it was curtains for Lando, who was quickly put away with a Screwdriver. This was pretty good stuff, but in this vacuum it had a pretty limited ceiling. ***
Please, I’m begging for a character to boo on this show…
CVW Absoluto Championship: Spider Fly vs. Toxin (c)
This was the first match announced for this show – and while Spider Fly and Toxin had wrestled a bunch in trios matches, they’d never met one-on-one before.
A front facelock from Toxin grounded Spider Fly early on, before Spider Fly retaliated with a Muta Lock in the middle of the ring. Escaping the hold, Toxin busted out a single-leg surfboard, but he wasn’t able to hold it for too long as Spider Fly was able to roll out.
Norman Harras turned off his filter for a bit here as the match continued, with the pace quickening as takedowns and a standing moonsault led to just a one-count. Toxin shoves off a ‘rana attempt, but couldn’t avoid an armdrag that sent him to the outside, where Spider Fly stayed ahead with a dive before a splash back inside almost put an end to it.
Toxin took over with chops in the corner, before a pump handle driver was escaped… Spider Fly’s ‘rana nearly won it seconds later. Heading into the ropes, Toxin caught Spider Fly with a tarantula, before the pair scrapped on the apron, leading to a back suplex from Toxin onto the side of the ring.
Shotgun dropkicks from Spider Fly end up backfiring as he sent him self outside… with Toxin following afterwards with a tope suicida that took out several chairs in the process. Back inside, Toxin goes for the pumphandle, but again it’s escaped as we’re back outside for a step-up switch moonsault to the floor from Spider Fly.
Back inside, a flying crucifix driver nearly won it for Spider Fly, as did a shooting star press, before a superkick from Toxin shut it all down, allowing him to land the Bastard-1 pumphandle facebuster for the win. This wasn’t what a lot of people were expecting – with the opening stretch just not landing at all. Things picked up by the end, but this was underwhelming. **
West Coast Pro Women’s Championship: Miko Alana vs. Johnnie Robbie (c)
Wrestling With Wregret’s Brian Zane was brought out to ring announce this one…
Robbie looked to be a step ahead early on, but got caught with a body slam and a back senton from Alana, who followed up with a snap suplex out of the corner before Robbie found a way back in, trapping Miko by the ropes for chops and running boots.
A camel clutch kept Miko at bay, with Robbie transitioning it into a Dragon sleeper only for Miko to power out and back up into the corner to break it. Miko’s strikes looked to weaken Robbie, but a headbutt puts an end to that as Robbie quickly followed up with the Buzzball hammerlock’d lariat for a near-fall.
Miko’s able to return fire with a release German suplex as she tried to claw her way back in, adding a cannonball into the corner, before Robbie cut off a trip up top. Alana’s able to withstand it, hitting a Gnarly Tiger Driver (that’s almost a piledriver) for a near-fall, forcing Robbie to use the ropes to keep her title alive.
Robbie’s able to push on though, hitting almost a Kamigoye knee for a near-fall after she’d backslid Miko into position, before a step-up double knee drop – the TYK – proved to be enough for the win. This probably could have done with a few more minutes, but this was perhaps the best of the title matches on show here. ***
As a format, the Independent Wrestling Summit isn’t too far removed from the old wXwNOW Showcases – just with a higher level of talent. These shows are still a good way to get eyes on folks who may well end up on future wXw shows down the line. With that being said, this year’s iteration suffered greatly from a lack of characters – a lot of good guys doing wrestling for the sake of wrestling. A statement that’s perhaps a bit harsh, but by the end of the show everything just felt like it bled into each other.