The final card for Sunday’s Road to 16 Carat Gold in Bielefeld was wrapped up as the march to Oberhausen continued!
Jeremy Graves is on the call as we’re back in Cologne, and this week he has no choice but to say “Pretty Bastards”, as that team are in action tonight! First though, WALTER is in the wXw offices, with the least useful mouse pad…
Timothy Thatcher walks in to tell him he’s late for training, but instead WALTER’s messing around with spreadsheets? Timmy’s eager for them to train because he wants RINGKAMPF with all of the gold, but he’s worried that WALTER is taking on too much other stuff. One cut-away later, and we’re back to the academy, where WALTER’s stressing with Christian Jakobi. Rather than worry over Jaxon Stone’s graffiti, WALTER’s a little annoyed that Bad Bones is “sucking up to the office”.
Or, to be more specific, that he’s talked his way into a street fight, while WALTER wants a clean wrestling match. Jakobi wants a suggestion from WALTER, and he’s given time ot think it over.
Pretty Bastards (Prince Ahura & Maggot) vs. Monster Consulting (Julian Nero & Avalanche)
Ahura starts off with Avalanche, trying to kick away on him… and yeah, it goes as well as you’d expect, with Avalanche tossing the Prince across the ring with ease.
A charge into the corner misses, and lets the Bastards in, with Maggot trying a back suplex… and failing before Avalanche squashes the pair of them ahead of a double fireman’s carry takeover. Nero’s in to keep up on Maggot with a back suplex, before the beatdown continues, as Avalanche’s crossbody gets a near-fall. Ahura breaks up the cover and scurries away, wisely, before Maggot bites Nero’s hand in response to the offer of five minutes of his time. How ungrateful! A tag brings the Prince back in, and he’s doing pretty well with Nero in the corner, as the “Certainly Certified Consultant” took a back suplex.
Just like that though, Ahura’s wiped out with Wasteland, before Maggot takes the Final Consultation (double-team Go To Sleep) and a clothesline as Nero and Avalanche take the win. Pretty short, but an ultimately dominant performance from the former Cerberus pair. **¾
Speaking of Avalanche, we’ve got a replay from Broken Rules last year, where he was involved as Dirty Dragan accidentally broke Emil Sitoci’s nose. The Dragan Chronicles continued at Back to the Roots when Jurn Simmons whacked him with a Singapore cane, and now we get a sit-down piece with Dragan. He’s sad about losing a friend in Jurn, but changing how he does things didn’t work either…
Dragan’s a little job scared as he knows what happens to folks who lose a lot… but he promises to never give up. He also knows that Emil Sitoci’s waiting to return and break his nose in retribution, but he’s not going to let that happen. Interesting – so that little story still has some legs!
Hey, it’s Alexander James! Accompanied on his sofa with the Xcite Wrestling International championship… he’s on the phone to someone, saying he’s in a much better place than he was at the end of last year. James has some stuff to take care of when he gets back to Germany, saying there’s “very big things coming”. Intrigue!
They run through the Ambition 9 card – we’ve got that on our 16 Carat Gold Preview… but in short, we’ve got tournament matches in Alexander James vs. Timothy Thatcher, Bobby Gunns vs. RAFA, Heddi Karaoui vs. David Starr and Mike Bailey vs. Jonah Rock. There’s a non-tournament SuperFight between Matt Riddle and WALTER too, plus the remainder of the tournament matches.
A recap from Dead End follows, showing Absolute Andy losing to Bobby Gunns… and now we’ve got a sit-down interview with Thommy Giesen and Andy. He instantly takes offence when Giesen asks about the loss, but Andy sums it up by saying that he never wanted to be Shotgun champion anyway. Talk turns to the A4 split at World Tag Team League, where Andy seems to be a little bitter at how he was doing the work but Marius was getting the plaudits… and taking the falls! I feel Andy’s one step away from yelling at us to get off his lawn, as he moans about Killer Kelly getting title shots. Man, Andy hates the young ‘uns!
Giesen dared ask if Andy is past his prime… it aggravates him, and in comes crew to calm him down as the segment ends. This gave me flashbacks to those old JR sit-down interviews back in the Attitude era, but at least Thommy didn’t end up getting laid out!
A Melanie Gray video airs, where she calls herself a princess that was never rescued. She’s mad that she created a women’s division out of nothing, and despite outlasting trainees like Svetlana (Kalashnikova, formerly Ilja Dragunov’s manager) and Alice, she’s still treated poorly. Gray wants to take what’s hers… and so much more. Melanie’s gunning for Toni Storm!
Veda Scott & Melanie Gray vs. Toni Storm & Killer Kelly
Gray instantly goes for Kelly at the bell, taking her into the corner before a pump kick in retaliation almost ended things early.
Toni Storm tags in to wash Melanie’s face with her boot, but Veda Scott gets involved, kicking Toni onto the apron as the referee was distracted by Kelly on the other side. They isolate Toni for a spell, cornering her for some boot chokes as referee Rainer Ringer was looking a little unsure of things.
Kicks from Veda follow, as the women’s champion is kept as far away from the tag as possible. Toni fights free of a chinlock from Gray, but she’s again distracted by Scott… who accidentally gets knocked off the apron by Gray as Kelly gets the hot tag back in! A running enziguiri decks Gray for a near-fall, before a blind tag to Toni caught Gray unawares… just in time for a pair of German suplexes!
Dropkicks and hip attacks in the corners come next, but Gray fights away from a Strong Zero and counters into a swinging side slam to leave Storm laying. Meanwhile, Kelly kicks Scott off the apron, but gets knocked down as Gray takes herself outside courtesy of a diving spear through the ropes (and through the Portuguese native). Veda dives too after a spot of rope walking, before Toni’s tope complete the set!
Back inside, Toni tries to counter a Cloverleaf into a cradle, but the pin’s broken up before Gray wipes out Toni with a piledriver… and the stolen move gets the win! Melanie Gray beats Toni Storm with her own move, and that’s a statement to make going into 16 Carat! **½
They announce another match for Sunday’s Road to 16 Carat Gold show in Bielefeld, as Melanie Gray takes on Killer Kelly and Veda Scott in a three-way to determine a number one contender for Toni’s title.
After that, it’s backstage for Veda Scott bullying Killer Kelly some more. Kelly is distinctly unimpressed as Veda claims that she should have won the women’s title at Dead End… or at how Scott is unhappy at having to wrestle again to get a title shot. It’s a conspiracy! Kelly finally loses her cool, and promises to win the match in Bielefeld by pinning Veda!
We cut to Mike Bailey, who’s on his phone with Julian Pace. They’re in the same semi-final on Sunday, and Pace seems a little starstruck. Bailey doesn’t watch Shotgun, as he doesn’t know why Bobby Gunns isn’t in the match. The two shake hands, and they’re all pally!
After a reminder of what happened with Bobby Gunns last week, we’re taken to a confrontation with him and Bad Bones. Klinger takes exception to some of Bobby’s remarks, and Gunns tries to neutralise things. It backfires a little, as Bones challenges Gunns to a champion’s challenge in Bielefeld! Oh my, I forgot how much wXw love those champion vs. champion matches!
We end with a wrap-up for this Sunday’s show in Bielefeld, with this final card:
Bobby Gunns vs. John Klinger
Number One Contendership for wXw Women’s Championship: Veda Scott vs. Melanie Gray vs. Killer Kelly
RINGKAMPF (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) vs. RISE (Lucky Kid & Ivan Kiev)
Road to 16 Carat Gold – Semi-Final – Veit Müller vs. Marius al-Ani vs. Francis Kaspin vs. Michael Dante
Road to 16 Carat Gold – Semi-Final – Mike Bailey vs. Jay Skillet vs.Julian Pace
Road to 16 Carat Gold – Final
By the time we get to Shotgun next week, we’ll know the full field for 16 Carat Gold – and it’ll be full steam ahead to Oberhausen from there on!