It’s the show that kicked off a monster of a weekend, as wXw welcomed everyone to Gelsenkirchen for the latest bout of the Inner Circle.
Quick Results
Jaden Newman submitted Nick Schreier in 7:58 (**¾)
OSKAR pinned Marc Empire in 5:02 (***¼)
Anil Marik pinned Ryan Clancy in 7:56 (**¼)
Shigehiro Irie & Tatsuya Hanami pinned Danny Fray & Derek Neal in 9:13 (***)
Mochizuki Jr. pinned Griffin McCoy in 15:21 (**½)
Anita Vaughan pinned Jane Nero in 5:16 (**¾)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Jacob Crane in 8:49 (***¼)
YOICHI & Elijah Blum pinned Thomas Shire & 1 Called Manders in 14:14 (***¾)
— 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
You know the score by now – the Thursday night before a big wXw festival weekend, everyone heads to the wXw Wrestling Academy base for the curtain raiser… this time around we’ve got a packed crowd of 100 people inside, and thankfully an open window or two (if you know, you know!)
English commentary comes from the voices of Ricky Slatter and Norman Harras…
Nick Schreier vs. Jaden Newman
Newman’s back in wXw for his third festival weekender, and he’s not exactly thrilled at the reaction he got.
Newman initially plays keepaway as he toyed with Schreier in the early going… but Nick got his own back pretty quickly. A side headlock from Newman threatens to stall the match until the crowd cheer him, but Schreier escapes and begins to work over the arm…
A swinging armdrag out of the ropes takes Newman down, as did a dropkick, before Newman escaped some mounted punches and returned fire with a diving kick. An arm whip wrenches Schrier to the mat ahead of a back senton, but Newman’s lax covers from what I can only describe as belly flops only got two-counts.
A straitjacket choke from Newman’s fought out of, but a back suplex drops Schreier again as Newman again went for the lax pins… another back suplex is floated out of, before Scheier found an opening to land an enziguiri. Schreier’s momentum continues with a springboard crossbody and some more mounted punches, ahead of a tiltawhirl DDT for a near-fall.
Schreier heads up top, but ends up leaping over Newman ahead of him running into the KSPS (Kitchen Sink knee into a powerslam) for a near-fall. Newman complains and gets caught with a roll-up… but he kicks out, then pulled Schreier down from a springboard, following up with a Hangman’s Clutch for the submission. **¾
Marc Empire vs. OSKAR
It’s an Inner Circle debut for Empire, who’s been on some of the Wednesday Night Heat Academy shows… but it’s a big ask for him here as we’ve a massively popular Inner Circle return for OSKAR.
The two big lads charge into each other with shoulder tackles, then begin to pelt each other with forearms. More shoulder tackles finally put down Empire, who’s then blistered with chops before a low crossbody crashed into OSKAR’s midsection.
Empire goes for a suplex, but OSKAR reverses it, then came back in with a dropkick for a two-count. More back-and-forth strikes lead to chops before Empire blocked a slam… and took down OSKAR with a headbutt. A powerslam from Empire nearly wins it, before OSKAR returned with a big boot and a Michinoku driver for the win. Nice and brief, but they weren’t holding back here… ***¼
Anil Marik vs. Ryan Clancy
It’s the first sighting of the weekend for Robin Christopher Fohrwerk… and spoiler alert, you’d best get used to him!
Slatter nearly breaks Norman Harras on commentary by comparing Clancy to Bruno Sammartino. After some posing, Marik got us going by working over Clancy’s arm, before an arm whip spun Marik down to the mat. Staying on the offensive, Clancy scores a headlock takedown or two, before a leaping crossbody took Marik back down after some criss-crossing in the ropes.
Marik’s taken back down with a step-up bulldog out of the corner, before he blocked a Monkey flip attempt. Fohrwerk leaps up onto the apron and distracts as Clancy’s pulled down into the buckles, before a side suplex drew a two-count. Distracting himself, Marik’s caught with a roll-up… but goes right back to Clancy, nearly winning with a bulldog of his own.
Clancy manages to sidestep Marik in the corner as he began to fight back with right hands… that Monkey flip finally lands, then a sweet dropkick for a near-fall for Clancy. Standing switches dizzy Clancy as he’s then sent into the corner, allowing Marik to finish him off with a double-arm DDT for the win. **¼
Danny Fray & Derek Neal vs. Shigehiro Irie & Tatsuya Hanami
Fray’s been gunning for Hanami after losing the wXw Academy title to him last month…
Neal and Irie start us off, feeling each other out with side headlocks and shoulder tackles, before Neal suckerpunched Irie with a slap to the face. Retaliating, Irie’s bulldog sets up for the Auf Die Fresse splash, getting a two count before tags brought in Neal and Hanami. Kicks to the leg from Hanami earn him a knee to the midsection from the bigger Fray, who tried to wear him down, only for Hanami to take him down in the corner for a low dropkick.
Fray hits back, hanging up Hanami in the ropes before Neal’s leaping elbow drop back inside nearly put him away. Neal’s Northern Lights gets another two-count as Fray tagged himself back in to stomp on Hanami some more. A knee drop keeps Hanami on the defensive, before Fray’s snap chokeslam kept the near-falls piling up on Hanami.
Eventually, Hanami’s able to push away a superplex attempt and take down Fray with a missile dropkick before he made the tag out to Irie. Neal’s in too as Irie ran wild, landing a Samoan drop to Neal, then a right hand to the face for a near-fall… before Neal stemmed the tide with a cross-chop.
Fray’s back in as Irie got handed off to him for a spinning sidewalk slam for a near-fall… Hanami comes in to help out as he took Fray into the ropes for an Irie cannonball to the back, before a sliding punch almost got Irie the win. Hanami takes Neal outside, leading Irie free to wallop Fray with the Beast Bomber for the win. ***
Griffin McCoy vs. Mochizuki Jr.
This was McCoy’s return to wXw, having appeared last summer as part of a CZW excursion… while Mochizuki was making his wXw debut.
McCoy takes Mochizuki down early on, only to get caught in a toe and ankle hold as things stayed on the mat in the early going. They head into the corner, where McCoy slaps Mochizuki on the break… and gets punted in the back for it. Kicks to the back and front take Griffin down for just a one-count, before McCoy tried some kicks of his own.
The retorts from Mochizuki had more mustard behind them, but McCoy’s able to get back in with chops by the ropes… before he baited Mochizuki into the ropes for more kicks… and some middle fingers for the crowd. A clothesline from McCoy downs Mochizuki, before things went back to the mat with a chinlock.
Mochizuki tries to fight free, but McCoy stayed in control, absorbing chops before he brought up Mochizuki’s dad. I wonder if Masaaki really did chop his kid? That baiting seemed to fire up Mochizuki, who flew in with a leaping knee to take McCoy into the corner, before a running front kick almost put Griffin away.
The pair trade kicks for a spell, before a deadlift bridging German suplex earned Mochizuki Jr. a near-fall… McCoy’s back with a leaping spin kick, before a clothesline dumped Mochizuki outside for a plancha. Back inside, Mochizuki blocks a piledriver, but couldn’t avoid a half-and-half suplex… he’s right back up with a diving boot, before more back-and-forth led to a hesitation dropkick from McCoy.
A superplex attempt from McCoy’s shoved down, but he lands it at the second attempt, before a sit-out powerbomb almost led to the end. Mochizuki Jr. kicks out, then fought off a half-and-half suplex… rolling through for a near-fall before the Railgun roundhouse kick and the twisting Fisherman driver – Twister of the World – got the win. This was fine, but felt a little on the long side by the end… **½
Post-match, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s back out to grab a mic… and sign Griffin McCoy to High Performer Ltd, claiming McCoy only needed the right mindset to be a winner.
Jane Nero vs. Anita Vaughan
The second half kicks off with the newcomer Nero, who’s taken down early on with an armbar.
Nero counters free, but is quickly on the deck again as she kicks away Vaughan, following up with some punches as Vaughan started to get serious. Picking the leg, Vaughan works a toe hold, before grounding Nero with a chinlock.
Vaughan tries to go for the arm, but Nero fights free… only to get taken back down with a Cornish hype. Body blows from Nero take Vaughan into the corners. Vaughan counters with shoulders to keep Nero at bay, while a suplex out of the corner led to a two-count. Clotheslines from Nero take Vaughan down, before Nero went for the Women’s Right… Vaughan ducks it, then came back with a swinging side slam for the win. **¾
Jacob Crane vs. Peter Tihanyi
This was the start of Crane’s last weekend of bookings in Europe before heading over to Big Japan… and he’s got a chance to upset a pre-tournament favourite here.
Crane flips off the crowd’s asking for a dance-off, as we got going with a wristlock from Tihanyi… then an armbar. Headscissors on the mat had Crane claiming he couldn’t breathe, but referee Tassilo Jung was of the mind that “if you can talk, you can breathe,” forcing Crane to try and escape on his own.
Headlock takedowns have Crane in trouble again, but he gets up to the ropes, and found his cheapshot break ended up sparking some back-and-forth, ending with a dropkick from Tihanyi. Chops from Tihanyi trap Crane in the corner, before Crane had to escape the Ghost of festivals past with a bodyslam.
Kicking Tihanyi’s leg out of his leg allows Crane back in briefly, while a clothesline took the Hungarian down for a Figure Four. Tihanyi’s bad back’s tested as he’s forced to sit up out of pinning attempts, before he rolled the hold over as Crane ended up having to crawl to the ropes for a break.
Dusty punches from Tihanyi lead to a swinging DDT on Crane for a near-fall, before more back-and-forth led to Tihanyi landing an enziguiri. His back gives out on a bodyslam attempt, but second time’s the charm as a diving knee and a slingshot cutter ended up putting Crane away. A little on the short side, but this pretty good for the time they had as Tihanyi looked to enter Carat with back and knee injuries… ***¼
1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire vs. Elijah Blum & YOICHI
It didn’t take Gelsenkirchen long to come up with a name for the pairing of Manders and Shire… and hey, that’s quite the full circle moment as former rivals Blum and YOICHI team up.
Shire and Blum start us off, with Shire taking things to the mat for an armbar, before Blum rolled out into a wristlock. Shire tries to gutwrench Blum down, but Elijah escaped… and poked fun at Shire for his cowboy hat.
Tags bring in the big boys as Manders and YOICHI came in… they lock up into the corner, with Manders chopping on the break. YOICHI returns the favour as they “play stupid games, and get stupid prizes” for it, in the form of marked up chests. They switch up with shoulder tackles, with Manders finally charging down YOICHI ahead of a retort from the NOAH star.
YOICHI keeps going with a stalling suplex, before Blum tagged in and got slammed onto Manders for a quick cover. Knocking Shire off the apron, YOICHI comes in to help with double-teams on Manders, who replied to the crowd’s request of “do some chops” by… taking a neckbreaker from Blum.
Shire’d blind tagged in during that, and blasted Blum with a pop-up forearm for a two-count. Manders is back and finally gives the crowd their request as Blum was kept on the defensive, getting taken to the corner as Shire again tagged in and threw a right hand. Blum trades shots, but gets caught in the ropes as Shire’s uppercut to the back, and a wild clothesline to the front from Manders almost ended things.
YOICHI breaks up the pin, but got a kicking for it… Blum forces an opening with a dropkick to the back of Manders, but still had work to do to break free. Eventually he kicks Manders away as tags bring us back to YOICHI and Shire, who swing for the fences again, before Manders kicked apart a slam attempt from YOICHI. Double-teaming gets them nowhere as YOICHI charged down Manders before a splash landed on both men…
All four men trade shots in the ring as the ref was on the verge of losing control. Manders and Shire nearly clock each other in the chaos, before a froggy crossbody from Blum took down Shire… a Manders lariat took out Elijah, before YOICHI flew into Manders. The Parade of Stuff keeps going, with a German suplex from Shire, before YOICHI escaped a UFO attempt and caught Shire with the Muso for the win. If you love your big lads laying into each other, you’ll adore this main event – one to send the crowd home happy! ***¾
As solid as ever, Inner Circle got Carat weekend off to a hot start – introducing several new faces for the weekend to the select crowd without giving away too much for the many, many shows ahead.