wXw went back to the city where it all started, as the Turock in Essen kicked off this year’s Carat festivities.
Quick Results
Robert Dreissker pinned Katsuya Murashima in 7:52 (***¼)
Bobby Gunns, Alex Duke & Aleksander Bellamy pinned M4, Aeron & Conn Kelly in 11:33 (**½)
Miko Alana pinned Reyca in 4:59 (**½)
Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier pinned Starboy Charlie & Titus Alexander in 11:41 (***)
Erick Stevens pinned Luca de Leone in 4:32 (**½)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Spider Fly in 6:07 (**¾)
Jane Nero pinned Johnnie Robbie in 8:08 (***)
Elijah Blum, 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire pinned Toxin, Alan Angels & Dieter Schwartz in 17:34 (***)
— 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
It’s been the thick end of 20 years since wXw last ran in Essen city centre – so it’s only fitting that wXw went back to their roots to kick off the 20th year of 16 Carat Gold. We’re live on tape from the Turock, with Mett Dimassi providing English commentary from the balcony of what I can only compare as a very polished and larger version of the Resistance Gallery.
Robert Dreissker vs. Katsuya Murashima
This marked the debut of Murashima, who’s on excursion from New Japan… and talk about getting thrown in at the deep end!
Murashima didn’t back down early on, but a shoulder tackle finally sent him flying ahead of a slam and a splash that nearly ended this inside three minutes. The favour’s returned moments later as Murashama fought back with a shoulder tackle of his own, while a pair of rolling sentons kept him on track… until Dreissker’s rebound crossbody out of the corner restored order.
A deadlift suplex out of Murashima turned it back around, ahead of a heavy powerslam, before the pair traded clotheslines and right hands… but in the end, the combination of a fallaway slam and a Dreissker Bomb proved to be too much. A solid debut in Germany for Murashima, but this’ll be the first of many learning experiences for him here. ***¼
10/10 Next Level (Aleksander Bellamy & Alex Duke) & Bobby Gunns vs. M4 & Roadkill (Aeron & Conn Kelly)
It’s a wacky trios outing here, with Bobby Gunns using this as a warm-up of sorts for his Carat campaign, while M4 was wrestling in his home town.
M4 looked to draw first blood, but had trouble handling Gunns’ experience early on, with the former many-time champion focusing on the arm. Aleksander Bellamy didn’t quite offer the same threat, instead getting used for curls by M4 ahead of a slam, while a blistering chop brought an end to some double-teaming out of Next Level.
Roadkill took over with a top rope elbow out of Kelly for a near-fall, while the crossface punches in the ropes wore down Duke and Bellamy, at least until Gunns made the save. That started a long period of control from Gunns and Next Level, busting open Kelly’s nose in the process… but Kelly’s able to force an opening with a bulldog to Duke.
M4 gets the hot tag in, clearing out Next Level with clotheslines… there’s even one from Gunns (albeit by mistake), before a turnaround left M4 isolated and triple-teamed. M4 tries to sneak in a uranage to Gunns as Roadkill and Next Level brawled in the crowd, but a shotgun dropkick and a PK from Gunns proved too much as Bobby got his weekend going with a win. **½
Reyca vs. Miko Alana
On commentary, Mett played up how this was a clash of affiliated promotions to wXw – with Reyca coming from the Budapest Dojo, while Alana’s a West Coast Pro trainee.
Alana’s gutwrench suplex early on caused problems for Reyca, as both women were going for the big shots early. A missed clothesline into the corner almost caused problems for the Hungarian, but Reyca’s suplex kept her in control, before a short-arm clothesline into a neckbreaker got Alana back in it.
Miko’s back senton almost went through Reyca on the way to a near-fall, before a back suplex almost won it for Reyca… but in the end Alana was able to snatch the win with a double underhook piledriver. They didn’t have long here, but both Reyca and Alana showed plenty with their minutes here. **½
Crush Boys (Starboy Charlie & Titus Alexander) vs. The Grind (Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier)
Obviously non-title here, with Charlie and Titus making their German debuts.
Schreier and Charlie started off, going tit-for-tat en route to the obligatory stand-off, while Roman and Alexander eventually ended up somewhat even. A nice dropkick from Alexander put the Crush Boys ahead, with a pair of basement dropkicks sandwiching Roman as the Grind seemed to be out of sorts.
A quick turnaround saw Roman hold Charlie for a double sledge off the top as Schreier went on to add some mounted punches in the corner. Charlie’s able to escape the Grind Time and hit a double overhead kick as Alexander looked to build a new lead for the Crush Boys, hauling up Roman for a package backbreaker that almost won it.
Kicks from Alexander weakened Roman en route to a back suplex, before Roman came back with one of his own. Schreier’s in to properly spike Alexander with a DDT… but another turnaround from the Americans almost caught out the champs, with an Alexander knee nearly ending things. There’s room for one last momentum switch, leading to Charlie eating the Grind Time for the win. This was a solid outing to establish Charlie – and more importantly, Alexander – ahead of the weekend, while also showing a fair amount of weakness in the champions. ***
Luca de Leone vs. Erick Stevens
It’s our first sighting of the Italians this weekend, so you know what that means – the long CSI intro promo, leading to an interruption! This being Carat weekend, there’s a lot of unfamiliar music… this one being for a returning Erick Stevens.
A cheapshot from de Leone early on proved fruitless, as Stevens took Luca into the corner for a barrage of chops and forearms. Nordino’s distractions bought Luca some time, but he ends up getting thrown to the outside as the Turock crowd didn’t quite move quickly enough.
Back inside, Stevens continued to steamroll over de Leone… but Nordino again interferes… only to get launched into Luca, who then got stomped by the ropes ahead of an Air Raid Crash as Stevens picked up the pretty straightforward in. **½
Spider Fly vs. Peter Tihanyi
Tihanyi showed off his freshly-bleached hair for this – perhaps hoping that the golden hair would be an omen for Carat?
The crowd made fun of Tihanyi’s hair looking like Eminem, with that distraction allowing Spider Fly in… at least until he backflipped into a simple kick to the head as Tihanyi wasn’t in the mood for the Mexican’s showboating.
A Quebrada from Spider Fly forced a new opening for him, leading to a tornillo off the top rope as he finally found his groove. Spider Fly’s powerslam looked to set up for a 450 splash, but Tihanyi got the knees up and cradled him for a near-fall, before a slingshot cutter seconds later got the win for Tihanyi. This one never really got going for me – a few minutes added to this could have put it into a higher gear. **¾
Jane Nero vs. Johnnie Robbie
This was Robbie’s debut in Germany – as she was approaching the one-year mark as West Coast Pro’s Women’s champion, no less.
In the early going, Robbie looked to have Nero’s number, at least until Jane caught her in the ropes for a neckbreaker. Robbie tried her luck with a flash roll-up, but Nero was right back in the offence afterwards, before dropping a few Euros in the swear jar en route to a full nelson slam.
Nero stayed on Robbie with a grounded full nelson, but it’s eventually broken as Robbie eventually forged a new opening, landing an uppercut before kicks set up for a Northern Lights Bomb. Nero quickly cradles her afterwards, as both women looked to end things… Robbie’s Buzzball trapped-arm lariat looked to get the win, but it was an eventual Twist of Fate that led to the win, as Nero continued her strong run in wXw. ***
Alan Angels, Dieter Schwartz & Toxin vs. Cowboy Way (1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire) & Elijah Blum
How’s that for a “random” trio – with the Saturday main event having to work together? Meanwhile, Dieter Schwartz had a taste of what’d come this weekend with a crowd heavily in his favour.
Blum came out with a remake of an earlier wXw World title belt – the one that looked somewhat like the old ECW title. We started with Blum and Schwartz… but Thomas Shire tagged himself in at the bell, as those two instead indulged in a spot of mat work to start.
Schwartz fired off an uppercut, but it had no effect on Shire, whose chop felled the Bautzen native, before tags brought in Blum and Angels. They picked up where they left off last year, with a dropkick from Blum stopping Angels in his tracks. Manders took over with a chop that forced Angels to tag out, leading to the Big Bastard Toxin trying his luck.
Toxin’s able to counter a Stampede slam into a DDT that nearly upset Manders as we kept going, with Toxin enjoying a decent spell of offence on an isolated Blum. A nice one-legged surfboard stretched Blum as he remained trapped in the wrong corner. Eventually Blum’s able to break free with a neckbreaker on Angels, before Shire tagged in to clear house, wiping out Angels with a Manhattan drop turned backbreaker.
Shire rolled through a crossbody, but an Angels dropkick put Shire down briefly… as did a rebound German suplex from Schwartz. A back cracker from Toxin has Shire down… but Blum’s blind tag made him the legal man, and sparked a brief Parade of Moves, ending with a lariat to Angels as Manders was on his knees. We resume with a six-way scrap, which cleared the ring of Shire… and prompted some dives into the crowd.
In the end, it was Blum who managed to sneak out the win – ducking a Manders lariat that eventually wiped out Alan Angels – before he hit the Total Depravity to Toxin for the three-count. Post-match, Blum and Manders’ tense staredown was interrupted by Thomas Shire – seemingly as a favour to Manders, clobbering Blum from behind with a lariat before leaving Blum laying with a UFO. ***
While the occasion was always going to take centre stage, wXw’s first show at the Turock in two decades was your typically-strong Inner Circle that set the stage nicely for 16 Carat Gold – and sewed some seeds for the weekend to follow as well.