Despite their summer break, wXw’s still pumping out Shotguns as they look ahead to next month’s Fight Forever tour opener!
We start with Sebastian Hollmichel with Ilja Dragunov, building up to his wXw title shot next weekend against Jurn Simmons and Bad Bones. Seb’s standing behind Ilja like he’s operating a hand puppet… thankfully that’s not the case as Ilja tears into RISE, before telling us how he won despite having his chest burst. Well, WALTER’s chops at 16 Carat will do that to you.
Ilja recognises that he’s yet again crossing paths with Bad Bones, before telling Jurn that he respects him… but he’s going to watch the king fall and take his title.
Next up, Melanie Gray’s mad at Alpha Kevin for believing that something’s going on with her and Bobby Gunns. That segues into a Smoking Break as Gunns mocks the folks he’s beaten lately: Koji Kanemoto, Da Mack, Drago… and he promises to start the Fight Forever tour by adding Alpha Kevin to the list. Gunns calls himself the “Godfather of Cheating”, taking credit for reviving Kevin and Melanie’s love, which is a bit extreme.
After a plug for Shortcut to the Top, we get… the dark match from that show!
Alexander James vs. Francis Kaspin
This was built up after some terse exchanges at the wXw training school, and James launches into Kaspin at the bell, taking him into the corners for some chops as James mouthed off to the crowd.
Kaspin launches back with chops of his own, before tripping James for a low dropkick, only for James to keep him back in that corner. A side Russian legsweep doesn’t lead to a Sharpshooter, but instead a grounded Octopus stretch as Kaspin’s firmly left on the back foot.
An uppercut knocks Kaspin to the apron, as James tried to DDT him back in… but instead Kaspin fought free and found himself knocked down again with an enziguiri. Finally Kaspin makes a comeback with some forearms, only to run into a clothesline as the American kept snuffing out any hope.
Kaspin gets dropped with an Emerald Fusion after blocking a Tower of London, but he finally unloads a barrage of shots, then a missile dropkick and a series of running boots into the corner a la Kanemoto. James tries to get the win by chaining together an O’Connor roll into a Dragon sleeper, but Kaspin reverses it, which too is reversed as James flips him onto the ropes for a Tower of London for a near-fall.
In the end, James kicks away Kaspin whilst keeping him by the wrist, but Kaspin snaps back with a right hand and traps Alexander into a Ranhei (snap cradle pin/Kofi Kingston’s old SOS) for the win! A little out of nowhere, but this was a nice little match that did more for James than it did for Kaspin. ***¼
We then get a repeat of the segment from a few weeks back with Kaspin and Jay Skillet talking about their ring gear. At least, that’s what I thought, as they were talking about the same thing, before Dirty Dragan and Young Money Chong attack them and beat them down into a corner. Dragan calls himself a Maverick Shooter, whilst Chong’s trying to be a Rock rip-off, before labelling Skillet and Kaspin “posers”. They steal Kaspin’s fluorescent yellow jacket, and they’re trophy gathering!
Next up is Julian Nero and a Jaguar. He’s got a client called Martin who’s able to ditch other cars for that Jag, all because of Nero Consulting. This is leading… somewhere? A video package follows for the Young Lions vs. A4 rematch at the tour opening next weekend, focusing on the Lions wiping out Absolute Andy’s knee in an attack a few weeks back.
They then run down the card for the Fight Forever Tour Opening show: Young Lions vs. A4 for the tag titles; Jurn Simmons defending the wXw title against Bad Bones and Ilja Dragunov; Chris Colen vs. WALTER; Bobby Gunns vs. Alpha Kevin; Alex Windsor vs. Melanie Gray; Ivan Kiev vs. Kim Ray.
Speaking of Ivan, he’s got a promo with the rest of RISE, as he and Pete Bouncer declare that they’ve worked too long to have things taken away from them.
Rico Bushido’s got Jurn Simmons for an interview, addressing how Christian Michael Jakobi’s added Bad Bones to the title match next week. Jurn’s not happy at being in “dumb, multi-man matches”, before labelling Bad Bones as a coward, a fake and a phonie. Jurn doesn’t feel that Bones has earned the opportunity, but he’s looking forward to beating him once again.
A cool music video follows to build up Ilja some more for that title match… and then there’s a promo for the upcoming wXw women’s championship tournament.
Next, Rico’s back with Emil Sitoci. He’s trying to say that Sitoci ordered the attack on Kaspin and Skillet earlier… something that Emil flat-out shoots down. Dragan and Chong turn up and make Sitoci’s denial look ridiculous… along with themselves!
Emil Sitoci vs. David Starr
We’re in Münster for our main event today, and it’s Starr who looks to end things quickly with a big boot and a snap suplex in the opening seconds.
Sitoci fights back though taking Starr into the opposite corner for more stomps, but David returns the favour with the Violence Party of chops and forearms, before a sliding crossbody into the corner collects a near-fall.
Sitoci shocks Starr with a trapped-leg jawbreaker for a near-fall as the Dutchman took over with a series of elbows, before he makes a point of pulling out Starr’s chest hair. In return, Starr gives Sitoci a nipple-assisted hiptoss, only to take a backbreaker as Sitoci kept up the pressure.
The latest Starr fightback ends with him taking a Fisherman’s suplex for a near-fall, before Sitoci throws a series of forearms into Starr’s back in the same corner. Starr comes back with some joint manipulation, before landing a Thesz press for another near-fall. The chain wrestling continues as Starr takes Sitoci onto the apron, then dropkicks him off it, before catching Sitoci with a Product Recall (Flatliner out of the ropes) for a near-fall.
Starr loses a Product Placement as Sitoci instead swaps out into a gutbuster before getting a near-fall on the (then) former Shotgun champ with a top rope elbow. A split-legged moonsault from Emil just gets the knees of Starr, who again comes back with a forearm and a reverse slam, before his Product Placement attempt was countered into a roll-up with a big handful of tights for the win. Decent enough, but this felt awfully short as Starr again lost uncleanly to the grimy Dutchman… and that’s it for this episode of Shotgun! ***½
Another decent episode of Shotgun, as the company builds up to next weekend’s Fight Forever Tour Opener in Oberhausen – and I’d expect Shotgun next week to finish off that build and perhaps throw in a new match as well.