wXw wrapped up their build for Back to the Roots with another Shotgun featuring the in-ring return of that snake, Absolute Andy!
We’re not hanging around – straight into action this week!
Cash Crash & Oliver Carter vs. Jay FK (Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin)
We last saw Cash and Oliver back in September, losing to A4 on Shotgun in a pretty good, if not overlong match… Jeremy Graves is on the call as this match starts with Jay FK jumping their opponents before the bell.
When things settled down, Carter eats a ‘rana for a near-fall, but recovers as Skillet gets isolated briefly… of course, things turn around as a pair of dropkicks put Jay FK back in the driving seat. We’re told that Jay FK will be on the Back to the Roots pre-show, facing the team of Prince Ahura and Maggot… also known as “Pretty Bastards”. Your mileage may vary… After a brief double-team, Carter almost nicks a win with a Quebrada, as it’s Kaspin’s turn to get cornered, with Crash working over him with a swift kick to the back. A pancake from Carter and a running knee almost puts Kaspin away… as does a Regalplex that dumped Kaspin right on his head.
Once he hits an enziguiri to Crash, Kaspin’s able to tag out to Skillet who’s a proverbial house on fire, dropping Crash with a neckbreaker… and there’s loud boos from Munich as Jay FK set-up for their neckbreaker/double stomp combo. That doesn’t lead to the finish as Carter breaks up the pin as the tide continues to turn, with a Rocker Dropper/Downward Spiral spiking Skillet for another near-fall.
Despite that, Skillet’s back on his feet pretty quickly as Jay FK went for Crash with a spear and a lariat at the same time, before the spike Michinoku Driver – the Magic Bullet Theory – gets the win. Another competitive match for Carter and Crash, but this didn’t outstay its welcome… although some of those bumps looked real scary for Skillet at the end. ***¼
Jay FK’s talking backstage, and Skillet’s feeling a little bewildered at just how much the talent in wXw has improved in the two years he was away. Jay remembers what Kaspin said before, that it’s okay to lose, before Francis reveals his plan for 2018 – using Skillet’s new training plan (available on wXwNOW – plug plug!), more social media, and some new shirts… I hope they mean merch.
They run through the Back to the Roots card:
Pre-Show: Jay FK (Jay Skillet & Francis Kaspin) vs. Pretty Bastards (Prince Ahuru & Maggot)
Da Mack vs. Chris Colen
Jurn Simmons vs. Dirty Dragan (this time, not in cosplay)
Martina vs. Melanie Gray
wXw Women’s Championship: Killer Kelly (c) vs. Toni Storm
Die Käfigschlacht III (cage match): Monster Consulting (Avalanche & Julian Nero) & RINGKAMPF (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) vs. RISE (John Klinger, Ivan Kiev & Young Lions (Tarkan Aslan & Lucky Kid)
Next up is David Starr, talking about how Jurn overstepped the mark at the 17th Anniversary show. Starr announces that he’s in 16 Carat Gold this year, but he wants to pick his first round opponent – he wants Jurn Simmons in a last man standing match. Take my money now!
So, your 16 Carat Gold field is:
David Starr
Travis Banks
Avalanche
Chris Brookes
Jeff Cobb
Jonah Rock
Jurn Simmons
Mark Haskins
Matt Riddle
Matt Sydal
There’s six spots left to go… the tension is building!
Chris Colen vs. Kim Ray
Staying in Munich for this one, and it’s Chris Colen who’s out of the gates early as he snapmared a rather shocked Kim Ray.
Commentary suggests that Colen might be looking past Kim Ray as he’s got Da Mack on Saturday… but Colen barges through Ray with a shoulder tackle to send the former Shotgun title to the outside. When he returns, Kim’s comeback is stopped as Colen takes him around the buckles before throwing in a Bionic Elbow for good measure… if you will!
Kim Ray returns the favour, but Colen no-sells the buckles and throws some chops, only for Ray to start a series of back-and-forth roll-ups as the wXw trainer started to get frustrated. Colen follows him outside for more chops, but Ray gets back into the ring first and sneaks in a dropkick as the tables turn… and stay that way after a PK off the apron connects. Ray continues the comeback inside the ring, pulling Colen out of the corner before raining down some punches from the mount… but Colen eventually roars back… and gets kicked once more. Another comeback sees Colen able to chop and slam Ray, but his elbow drop misses, and a knee to him in the corner just sees the Austrian crumple to the mat for another near-fall.
Eventually Colen fires back and takes down Ray with a couple of slams, before a suplex and a top rope elbow collects another near-fall. Kim escapes the Angel’s Wings and hits another knee to the face, but Colen’s resilient enough to come back with a uranage before landing those Angel’s Wings for the win. A pretty good back-and-forth match to set up Colen for this weekend – with Kim Ray coming agonisingly close in the end. ***
We get a video package next for the Jurn Simmons vs. Dirty Dragan match at Back to the Roots… then one for the Martina vs. Melanie Gray match…
Then we go to the kitchen, where Christian Jakobi discovers… an empty fridge? WALTER sees his disappointment, and thinks it’s because of “that rabble of a women’s division”. Come on WALTER, the man’s only sad because the fridge is bare! Jakobi reckons that Back to the Roots has the right matches to make things right, but WALTER still keeps on going, questioning why wXw has got a rookie as a women’s champion.
WALTER sighs and lets Jakobi have it his way… then he opens the fridge and realises why he was so down in the dumps. The moral of the story: never jump to conclusions!
Juvenile X vs. Absolute Andy
This week’s main event features… A SNAKE.
It’s Absolute Andy’s first match since World Tag Team League, and you’d think that a match against Juvenile X would be a bit of a foregone conclusion for the man that the crowd were chanting “Absolute Scheiße” at. Andy’s being very methodical here, wearing down Juvenile with some old school hidden punches in a headlock, before nonchalantly shoving him into the corner. A literal surfboard sees Andy stand on Juvenile, who’s fed up of being used as a joke… and takes down the veteran with a springboard crossbody before going to the armdrag well.
Juvenile keeps the pressure up with a flying chop, but Andy’s straight back up as he looks for the F5… but X escapes and runs into a massive boot. Those “Absolute/Scheiße” chants confound Andy, but he shrugs off his own distraction, going for another F5 before instead succeeding with a tiltawhirl backbreaker. A clothesline sends X to the outside as Andy takes a breather. Meanwhile, the crowd find a new chant – “Obsolete Andy”. I’m howling here.
Andy keeps going old-school with the abdominal stretch with a tug on the ropes, complete with a stone-faced “what, me?” plea of innocence before he’s caught by the ref, who kicks away the arm, leading to a hiptoss by X. I love that spot! Andy’s quickly back on top though, and finally plants Juvenile with the F5… Andy’s insisting on going for that move again, taunting Juvenile X by taking him to the top rope for a Super F5… but X escapes, and gets shoved down to the mat as Andy tries to fly. Except he’s caught up top as Juvenile lands a superplex and keeps up with a series of dropkicks, before a missile dropkick puts Andy down once more.
Juvenile takes a while to make the cover, as Andy kicked out at two, before punching X in the gut as he tried to fly. An awkward springboard DDT is blocked though as Andy goes for yet another F5, before Marius al-Ani appears out through the crowd! Marius leaps over Andy and escapes, but the distraction’s enough for Juvenile X to snatch the win with a schoolboy! A lovely old-school style match, with some classic stuff and exactly the kind of finish you’d expect in this feud. ***
The show ends with a production meeting as Karsten Beck and Sebastian Hollmichel are joined by Jenni and Miriam Grebe – I always enjoy how wXw credits virtually everyone who gets screen time. Nobody is “just a nameless face” here. They’re talking about the Käfigschlacht, with Beck worried that there’s not enough people to carry the heavy structure. He’s also worried about disinfecting the cage, given that there’s going to be blood and possibly injuries. Ah, a company that cares about preventing staph infections (and worse!)
One final video package for the Käfigschlacht wraps up Shotgun – and that’s the build for Saturday! The annual wXw cage match is always one to remember, and this year’s battle against RISE is looking to be no exception. Back to the Roots will be up on wXwNOW on Tuesday January 23 – with our review following in the days thereafter! You know the drill – wXw always nail these Shotguns, especially for the go-home episodes. Quite simply, if you’re not watching, you’re missing out on a lot, particularly as we head into 16 Carat season.