This week on Shotgun – do Monster Consulting get their titles back, or will Jay FK keep up being petulant?
We’re in Bielefeld again this week, with Jeremy Graves on the English commentary. Once we’ve had the preview for this week’s episode, we’re taken to the belt thieves!
Skillet and Kaspin pour fuel on the fire as they called Avalanche “sluggish” and mock Julian Nero for his “Ponzi scheme”. Oof. Apparently their “freshness” should be enough to earn Jay FK the belts, but we’ll see if that’s the case.
Dirty Dragan’s out next for his… trail series? Well, it is a long road. He’s rather more subdued than he was in Hamburg, and for some reason gets chants of “you deserved it”. That’s harsh! He apologises to the crowd for getting a little carried away with earlier wins, before reminding the crowd that Emil Sitoci is refusing to tell him who his opponent is.
Dirty Dragan vs. Emil Sitoci
Hey, the guy in the crowd was right!
Dragan looked stunned when Emil came out, and for just cause. But first, an advert for some new uploads coming to wXwNOW, including a Young Buck vs. Young Buck match. That’s going in the pile…
Sitoci offers a handshake, but Dragan seemingly feels like he’s been stabbed in the back here. He offers little resistance as Emil lifted him onto the top rope, with the Dutchman seemingly playing therapist as well as opponent here. Dragan does start with some offence, working on the arm, going back and forth with wristlocks, before Sitoci took him to the mat and broke cleanly. Dragan didn’t take too kindly to the “charity” he was being shown, and reckons that Sitoci isn’t his friend anymore. That’s the cue for Emil to take him down with some armdrags, as a simple armbar forced Dragan to squirm for the ropes, before a head kick downed Dragan like a UFC fighter that’s out of his depth.
That’s kind of the vibe you got here – after a sea of opponents that were vaguely around Dragan’s level (and Joey Mercury), Emil Sitoci was just outclassing Dragan, working on his arm, including with a backcracker-like move to the limb. Cool and strong just wasn’t cutting it here, as a Jim Breaks-like arm lift continued the pressure. A small package gave Dragan feint hope, but Emil’s right back on him, before Dragan escaped a gutbuster and came close with a roll-up.
Yet again, Emil’s back with a dropkick, then a neck crank as the Snapmare Driver was teased… but Dragan escapes and comes back with a leaping kick and an elbow drop for a near-fall. Sitoci dares Dragan to keep up the offence, and he gets a suplex before Dragan nailed his DDT! Another One Bites The Dust? Perhaps not, as Dragan started to get a little too arrogant, and runs into a superkick before a split-legged moonsault and a top rope elbow followed… as he looked to make a statement, locking Dragan in a Kimura for the eventual submission. A spirited showing, but in the end the same old failings cost Dragan as his playing to the crowd gave Emil the opening the needed. ***
Next up, a video promo from RISE, as they feel the wXw tag titles belong to them…
We then get a recap of the Absolute Andy & Alexander James beating of Ilja Dragunov, and WALTER’s subsequent save and challenge. Ilja’s response is next, as he claims that he’s constantly been surrounded with stormy waters since he won the wXw Unified World Wrestling title. He reckons that for Andy, every day is a Shortcut to the Top, since he lacks the stamina to follow Ilja’s path to the top. It’s another enthralling promo from Ilja, even if you don’t speak a word of German… and next week, we’ve got that tag match!
They replay the finish of Mike Schwarz vs. Veit Müller from the Shotgun contender’s tournament, as we get a nice little promo from Veit to build up to his semi-final with Marius al-Ani next month. I like the work that’s been put into these vignettes – particularly with the lesser-known names, as it makes the tournament look less like a sure thing for the likes of al-Ani or Lucky Kid.
We’re reminded of LuFisto and Melanie Gray’s locker room bullying attempt from last week, including the shot at Jurassic Park. LuFisto’s got an interview with Thommy Giesen, as she brags about dumping Killer Kelly on her head… but next week, we’ve got another tag match! LuFisto reckons she’s coming for Toni’s title…
Next up is Killer Kelly. Thommy Giesen announces that she’s going to be part of the WWE UK show at the Royal Albert Hall next Monday. There’s something to be said when wXw promotes her appearance better than WWE/WWE UK are… Of course, Melanie Gray has to crash the party, upset that “recognising women’s wrestling in Germany” didn’t translate into “recognising her”. She makes a snide remark to Kelly, reminding her that she’d best focus on next week’s tag match rather than her four-way for a NXT Women’s title shot in London. Bigger things are foot, I feel…
One more video package here, as Monster Consulting show off their merch while perhaps overlooking Jay FK as Avalanche noted that RISE would be the bigger challenge in the match… that’s coming up next!
RISE (Pete Bouncer & Ivan Kiev) vs. Jay FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) vs. Monster Consulting (Avalanche & Julian Nero)
Hey, Jay FK remembered to bring the belts! It’s a non-title match, and with Julian Nero starting, Ivan Kiev forcibly tagged in Jay Skillet at the bell as Jay FK were doing their damndest to avoid getting in the match.
Everyone wants a bit of Jay FK, but after a bit of playing around, we finally get the match underway as Kiev caught Nero with some forearms, before he was met with a big boot and some mounted punches in return. Avalanche gets the tag in and flattens Kiev with a diving crossbody, but he stops and turns his attention to Jay FK, which allowed Pete Bouncer to get a few shots in… only for Avalanche to hit a shoulder tackle!
Bouncer’s right back in with a reverse DDT for a near-fall, but now Jay Skillet wants in as he forcibly tagged himself in… of course, the second Avalanche gets back to his feet, Jay runs like the proverbial scalded dog as Jeremy Graves did his best to describe the pair without swearing. We’re back to Bouncer and Avalanche, as RISE and Monster Consulting seemed to be content to do the tag match without the third team.
A blind tag from Francis Kaspin brings him in as Jay FK continue to annoy, this time isolating Ivan Kiev in their own corner. Kaspin’s rear chinlock keeps Kiev on the mat, as Kaspin and Skillet start to exchange frequent tags as they put the boots to a cornered Kiev. The Jay FK petulance begins to appear as they question the referee’s count, but eventually Kiev begins to fight free, clocking Kaspin with an overhead kick before getting the tag out to Avalanche.
Oh dear. Kaspin tried to tag out, but Pete Bouncer wanted no part of it… nor did Jay Skillet! Clotheslines to Kaspin keep the crowd happy, as do shoulder charges and a Samoan drop, but Pete Bouncer dives in to break up the count. Skillet tries to capitalise, but it backfired a little as Kaspin takes another clothesline as the ring fills up a little for a mini Parade of Moves. Kiev’s leg lariat is followed up with a death valley driver from Kaspin, who then gets charged into the corner by Avalanche…
Pete Bouncer misses a splash and blind-tags in so he could drop Kaspin with a DDT, and that’s the out-of-nowhere win! It’s a win for RISE, and although Monster Consulting got their belts back… Jay FK stole them again as the champions were arguing with RISE! A pretty decent tag match, although that sudden finish felt a little weird. ***¼
That’s it for Shotgun this week, as we close with “damn Jay FK”. Next week we’ve got a pair of tag matches, with WALTER & Ilja Dragunov taking on Absolute Andy and Alexander James, while there’s women’s action with Melanie Gray and LuFisto facing Killer Kelly and Toni Storm. A solid episode of Shotgun for this week, as the stories with the tag title division continue to rumble on – and there’s plenty of juice left in the Dirty Dragan story, as we wait to see just what happens next for Dragan and his trial series after he was outclassed by Emil Sitoci.