John Klinger may have left Dead End with the belt – but RISE still wasn’t united as tempers again flared on Shotgun this week…
As ever, this is set after Dead End in wXw canon, so if you want to watch that first… do so now! We open with clips from the Lucky Kid/Ivan Kiev match from Dead End, where Lucky Kid won his spot for 16 Carat… and the finish of Bad Bones/Mike Bailey. Yes, they showed Pete Bouncer staring a hole through John Klinger.
We’re in Hamburg this week with the fall-out from Dead End of course, band we first see a very happy Lucky Kid! Qualifying for Carat will do that to you… Ivan Kiev wanders in and is understandably disconsolate, but he shakes hands with Kid as Pete Bouncer takes the chance to remind us all that that match was why RISE is in trouble. Tarkan Aslan disagrees, while Lucky Kid was all about those star ratings. Kiev and Bouncer are still thinking that RISE’s days are numbered, even though John Klinger held up his end of the bargain.
Speaking of Klinger, we’re backstage with him on the phone to Christian Jakobi. He’s trying to tweak his Carat match… he wants “something special” for that Saturday match, and he suggests a streetfight… and that might be the match. I must say, I do like seeing these regular eavesdropping moments whenever Bad Bones is trying to influence Jakobi’s booking…
Veit Müller vs. Julian Pace
We’re going to the pre-show from Dead End – previously these matches were being released separately on wXw NOW… and it’s the advertised match as Julian Pace gets a test against a Veit Müller who was trying to break out on his own after the retirement of tag partner Jan Dietrich.
Pace offers a handshake, but Veit just pulls him into a headlock as we get the power moves to squash Pace’s speed. Eventually the wacky rope running confuses Müller for long enough for Pace to hit a dropkick, before Veit’s taken into the corner for a neat monkey flip and a running shooting star press. Hey, always gotta love new stuff in a repertoire!
Veit’s right back in it with an old school shoulder breaker, and the pressure’s kept up with a knee strike and an elbow as Pace found himself in trouble against the veteran. An inverted Boston crab gets turned into a pendulum submission, but all of that offence from Müller’s only getting one counts. A camel clutch doesn’t do much different apart from fire up Pace, as he slips out of a tiltawhirl and comes back with a leaping neckbreaker after avoiding a clothesline. An overhead kick in the corner and more wacky evasions follow, before Pace hits a satellite DDT to almost win the match.
Pace went for a kick, but it’s almost caught and turned into a powerbomb… only for Pace to save it with a ‘rana and a big boot before nailing the Final Lap – an imploding Vader Bomb-like senton out of the corner – for the win. A little hit and miss for my tastes, but it’s always a good thing to see new blood appearing regularly on these shows! **¾
They flash up a tweets announcing half of the Road to 16 Carat Gold tournament – as you’ll have seen in our preview, it’s a pair of four-ways leading to a final. The match focused on here is Jay Skillet vs. Bobby Gunns vs. Mike Bailey vs. Julian Pace… and that bleeds into a promo with Gunns, in front of a new Shotgun backdrop! Gunns announces that he’s not going to do the match though… because he calls the Road to 16 Carat Gold “someone’s leftovers”. He feels he shouldn’t have to qualify, and if “the B champion, Bad Bones isn’t in, why should I be?” Ouch.
With updated graphics, Alan on commentary confirms that it’ll now be a 7-man tournament: the winner of Skillet vs. Bailey vs. Pace faces the winner of Veit Müller vs. Marius al-Ani vs. Francis Kaspin vs. Michael Dante for that final spot.
Clips from the end of the Schwarz/Simmons match at Dead End air, complete with the wooden sword “beheading” and the submission. From there, the magic of low-light cameras bring us a promo with Jurn Simmons, addressing his recent “psychotic” behaviour… denying that it’s been a sudden change, because he’s always been this way. The last two years, Jurn’s won the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship at 16 Carat Gold… he might not be able to three-peat this year, but he’s going to leave David Starr laying in his own poop (I may have rephrased that) en route to winning the tournament.
Next… Toni Storm retains her wXw women’s title, despite that one fan crying “no!”. She’s backstage too, talking about her win… and how she’s not going to miss out on 16 Carat Gold, despite her impending tour of Japan.
Time to roll through the card for 16 Carat Gold! Why not take a look at – and bookmark – our preview of the weekend to keep up to speed?
Night Two: wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: WALTER vs. John Klinger (c)
Toni Storm will defend the wXw Women’s Championship (listed for March 10 and 11)
Night One: 16 Carat Gold First Round – Last Man Standing – Jurn Simmons vs. David Starr
The entrants, going too quickly for anyone to keep up with, are:
Absolute Andy
Alexander James
Avalanche
Chris Brookes
Da Mack
David Starr
Jonah Rock
Jurn Simmons
Keith Lee
Lucky Kid
Mark Haskins
Matt Riddle
Matt Sydal
Timothy Thatcher
Travis Banks
They replay the finish of the Jay FK/RINGKAMPF tag title match next… and now Jay Skillet’s trying to draw positives, saying that they weren’t “RINGKAMPF’s opponents, they were Jay FK”, despite defeat. Kaspin said he doesn’t want to be seen the “dojo boy” anymore, and this leads to a buddy moment between he and Skillet… before talk turns to the Road to 16 Carat Gold tournament.
Leon van Gasteren vs. Tyler Colton
It’s a pair of Shotgun debuts… I’d tell you more about Leon, who’s apparently a 20-year pro, but his Cagematch profile has been yanked at his request. Tyler Colton on the other hand is over from Canada for a tour, and my God, he stands out for his size.
Colton shoves Leon from a tie-up, and he’s right in with shoulder barges as the Canadian had the veteran reeling early. A cocky pin does absolutely nothing for Tyler, who keeps Leon grounded with a chinlock… but van Gasteren fights back to his feet and scores with a Dragon screw. Van Gasteren gets sent onto the apron, but he rebounds quickly with a springboard clothesline, as the Canadian was getting peppered mercilessly with European uppercuts in the corner. A Northern Lights suplex comes off for a near-fall as Leon heads up top, but he’s caught with a flying headbutt from Colton, then a press slam as Leon turned into Ric Flair for a second.
Tyler looked to finish things with a side slam into a facebuster, but van Gasteren kicked out at two. Out of nowhere, Leon busts out a stunner, but he’s too slow going up the ropes as he’s caught again… this time he shoves Colton down and finishes off the middle rope with a frog splash for the win. Perfectly fine TV-style wrestling – Colton showed flashes, but I want to see both these guys more regularly. **¾
We’ve a promo next with Leon van Gasteren with Thommy Giesen. He’s asked about his history, saying he’s worked in Europe and Japan, but now he wants to show his value in wXw.
The show ends with another RISE meeting, as John Klinger brags about those who have fallen – Ilja, Bailey and WALTER. Klinger wants to sort out the power struggle, by which he means everyone’s facing RINGKAMPF, so WALTER’s no longer a general, but a worn down soldier by the time we get to Carat. Finally Pete Bouncer snaps, fed up with being a puppet, but Bad Bones reminds him he’s only here because Ivan Kiev put in a good word for him. Oof.
Klinger keeps up the blackmail by saying that Kiev – and Bouncer – are only part of wXw because of Bones… so is Bouncer ungrateful? Especially after so many losses and injuries? Klinger demands more loyalty from Bouncer because of his outbursts, before reminding everyone that they’re a team. Yep, this is full-on blackmail, especially when Klinger asks what Bouncer’s projects are. There’s more of this as Klinger accuses RISE of failure because they lost their titles, not him, and it’s their job to get to their former glories. Bouncer is the only one left snarling as the end credits roll… and that’s all for Shotgun this week.
As an episode, it told you the key points if you weren’t able to get to Dead End yet, and we’re fully on-board the hype train to 16 Carat. Three weeks to go, albeit with a slight detour to Bielefeld to pick up the final passenger for the tournament… and we just cannot wait!