16 Carat Gold weekend continued with a We Love Wrestling event, featuring the first defences of the Shotgun, tag and Unified World Wrestling Championships.
Quick Results
Jurn Simmons & Levaniel pinned Gulyas Vilmos & Gulyas Öcsi in 6:31 (***)
Ava Everett defeats Orsi in 5:23 (**½)
Baby Allison, Maggot & Vincent Heisenberg submitted Feyyaz Aguila, Oskar & The Rotation in 6:14 (**¾)
Ninja Mack defeats Tamas Szabo in 6:23 to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship (**¾)
Dennis Dullnig, Laurance Roman, Nikita Charisma & Sebastian Suave defeat Michael Schenkenberg, Norman Harras, Psycho Mike & Vaughn Vertigo in 14:30 (***½)
Iva Kolasky defeats Gaya Glass in 1:59 (NR)
Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze defeat Michael Knights & Bobby Gunns via referee stoppage in 12:00 to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship (***¼)
Tristan Archer pinned Fuminore Abe in 11:36 to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship (***½)
We’re back inside the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for a Sunday matinee show… so the timeline for this (legitimately) is “the morning after the night before,” complete with an intro video that’s Carat clips. I approve.
Frank Fehrmann’s your ring announcer for this one, and Dave Bradshaw is with Andy Jackson on English commentary. Fehrmann invited Tristan Archer to the ring for the opening promo. The new wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion is in exactly the mood you’d expect, mocking the fans who were backing Levaniel just over 12 hours earlier. Before he can say a word, Archer’s interrupted by Fuminori Abe, who came out and pointed at Archer’s belt… Francis Kaspin senses what’s about to happen and heads onto the stage and booked the match for today’s main event. Sometimes in wrestling all you need is one guy wanting a fight for a belt as opposed to a soliloquy.
Jurn Simmons & Levaniel vs. Gulyas Brothers (Gulyas Vilmos & Gulyas Junior)
They came up empty handed last night, but Jurn Simmons and Levaniel are teaming again here – but first, Levaniel thanks the crowd for believing in him yesterday, and while he didn’t get it done, he’s young and his future’s bright and full of love! They’re up against a tandem debuting in wXw as Gulyas Junior’s brought his brother Vilmos with him… and some music familiar to those who go to British shows.
Vilmos and Levaniel start with a tie-up, but it’s Levaniel who’s sent into the corner before his attempt at a waistlock ended with Vilmos charging into the ropes. Levaniel returns with a spinning heel kick, then a chop, before a suplex dropped the newcomer. Junior tags in to shove Levaniel back into the corners, before a slam ended Levaniel’s chances of a suplex. Levaniel popped right back up to go for a slam, but Junior fell on top for a two-count, before Vilmos returned to slam Junior onto Levaniel for a two-count. Junior tagged back to hit some Dusty punches, before splashes in the corner led to a cannonball from Junior for a near-fall. Eventually Levaniel fought back, blocking a suplex before he hit his slam, before tags brought in a fired-up Jurn to elbow and boot away on Vilmos.
A reverse slam drops Vilmos, before Junior punched away a piledriver attempt, only to get caught with a swinging side slam. Levaniel’s discus lariat took care of Junior, while Vilmos fell to a Jurn press slam and standing moonsault had the former champ fired up, as a piledriver got the win. A good tag match, with the Gulyas Brothers looking good, but ultimately overpowered by Jurn in the end. ***
Orsi vs. Ava Everett
A rematch from Thursday’s Inner Circle, as Orsi made her Turbinenhalle debut…
Opening with a lock-up, Orsi shoved Everett aside, prompting Ava to mock the crowd’s claps. A waistlock from Ava’s countered into a takedown by Orsi, before she withstood a shoulder block from Ava, whose attempt to hit a cheapshot just saw her charged down. Orsi continued with a slam out of a crossbody, before Everett slipped out of a Fireman’s carry and ran back with a neckbreaker. Orsi tries to fight free, but gets met with knees and forearms as Everett pushed on. A forearm knocked Ava down as chops and forearms took the champion into the corner, while a sidewalk slam drew a two-count for the Hungarian. A missed charge from Ava led to her getting flipped inside out with a German suplex for a near-fall.
Back inside, Everett looked to get back in, chopping out Orsi’s knee as a series of low superkicks just wound up Orsi… only for her to get pulled into the ropes as the Tunnel Vision got Ava the win. Pretty short, but I was really impressed with Orsi across these two shows – with her showing forcing Ava into taking a shortcut to win here. **½
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Anil Marik… who had Oskar, The Rotation and Feyyaz Aguila flanking him. Marik’s gutted that he wasn’t able to wrestle this weekend, particularly in the upcoming trios match, but he’ll be with his coach, the Rotation, who’s put Aguila in his spot. Robert Dreissker interrupts the interview, unhappy that they’re doing a rematch against Maggot, Baby Allison and Heisenberg, saying that the Academy had already been embarrassed by them. Dreissker tried to intimidate the trainees (although curiously, not getting directly in Oskar’s face), as he chose to pick at Aguila and Marik, before telling them that they didn’t have his approval for what was about to go down… Salty!
Maggot, Baby Allison & Vincent Heisenberg vs. The Rotation, Oskar & Feyyaz Aguila
Cue that catchy music of Maggot’s… and everyone screaming along for Oskar.
Oskar and Heisenberg start with a staredown, but a headbutt from Heisenberg breaks things up ahead of some shoulder blocks between the two. Heisenberg eventually knocks down Oskar ahead of more headbutts as Maggot tagged in, as did Rotation, with the Academy trainer managing to stay a step ahead. Maggot tries a cheapshot, but Rotation caught the kick, only to get thrown down as Baby Allison came in for a hook kick to the back. Rotation stops himself from chopping her… but Allison had no such qualms… so Rotation finally threw one back. Feyyaz tags in as Allison’s in the corner, scooping her up for a slam before Allison Matrix’d past Feyyaz, as Maggot caught him on the apron.
Aguila’s taken to the corner and roughed up by Allison and Maggot, with the latter throwing kicks and stomps as Feyyaz was trapped in the wrong corner. A stomp from Maggot leads to Heisenberg tagging in for a fallaway slam that threw Aguila from corner to corner. Baby Allison’s back, but Maggot attacks Aguila from behind as he tried to fight back, before a Scorpion kick and a Northern Lights suplex got Allison a near-fall. Oskar breaks it up as things begin to fray… Heisenberg clotheslines Oskar to the outside, then caught Rotation’s dive, turning him into a projectile that was thrown to Oskar on the floor. That left Feyyaz alone to take an enziguiri, then a suplex into a Muta lock from Baby Allison, forcing Feyyaz to tap. Almost a squash for Maggot’s cult, but one that made them look dangerous. **¾
wXw Shotgun Championship: Ninja Mack (c) vs. Tamas Szabo
The Shotgun title lottery was reactivated for this, with Tamas Szabo making his wXw debut here in a bid to stop the Shotgun title from going back to the States. You could say for Szabo, it was almost an obsession…
The opening tie-ups led to Szabo being rolled around the ring as Ninja Mack went for a spinny thing… he misses, only to get charged into the corner as Szabo put the boots to him. Mack returns with a dropkick, taking Szabo outside, as an attempted apron superkick was caught… but Mack spins and landed on his feet on the floor. A superkick from Mack helps take things back inside, but Szabo’s able to get back in it, crotching Mack in the ropes ahead of a chop, following with a suplex as he could only get some one-counts. A stalling suplex leads to Szabo applying a grounded cobra clutch, before a spin kick got Mack back in it.
Mack chops Szabo ahead of a cartwheel moonsault, but it’s blocked by knees as Szabo chained some strikes into an Angle slam. A springboard stomp’s next for a two-count, but Mack kicks his way back in ahead of a corkscrew splash for a near-fall, before an attempted Ninja 630 was stopped as Szabo met him in the ropes. Szabo looks for a superplex, then rolled through into a Made in Japan that almost led to the title change! From there, Szabo heads up top for a frog splash, but Mack lifted up the knees, then went up for the Ninja 630 for the win. A decent outing on his debut from Szabo, but Mack was able to get past him to record his first defence. **¾
Nikita Charisma, Dennis Dullnig, Sebastian Suave & Laurance Roman vs. Michael Schenkenberg, Psycho Mike, Vaughn Vertigo & Norman Harras
Billed as a wildcard tag match, this ended up as a parejas incredible outing, with Rott und Flott ending up on opposite teams. Schande, indeed! Of course, the early going saw them try to bargain with referee Tassilo Jung so they could be put together, as Oberhausen went mad for Psycho Mike.
When we got going, Schenkenberg and Charisma start by shaking hands, then by posing and teasing a Fingerpoke of Doom™… but Sebastian Suave and Norman Harras tag themselves in to avoid a farce. They then threaten to do a Fingerpoke-like farce as the referee crossed his arms in disapproval…
Psycho Mike and Laurance Roman tag in as we wait for our first bit of offence, and thankfully, Mike wants to do some wrestling. And show off just how great he can maintain eye contact with the hard cam while holding in a wristlock. It’s a simple bit, but it connected fantastically with the Oberhausen faithful. When you’ve got Dennis Dullnig asking “was ist dir los?” (what’s the matter with you?), you know there’s something up! Dullnig comes in and gets the same wristlock treatment, before Suave came in and… yeah. Play to the camera! Eventually Sebastian Suave sent Mike into the ropes, only to get charged down as Mike wanted to do some bodyslams… but Norman Harras tagged himself in and admonished Mike, whose heart broke right about… there.
Harras slammed Suave, just to wind up Psycho Mike, before a missed boot on the corner left Harras prone for a Dragon screw. Suave heads up the ropes, but misses an elbow drop on the mat, as did Norman, as those two continued to miss before tags bring in Vertigo and Roman. The pace picks up a little as Roman looked to put Vertigo away, only to get cradled for a near-fall, with Vertigo then hitting an Edge-o-Matic and a Shining Wizard for a two-count. Charisma comes in to eat a dropkick, which enraged him ahead of a low dropkick to Vertigo. Psycho Mike comes in and threatens a slam on Charisma, but Schenkenberg blind-tagged himself in to stop it as we’re back to Rott und Flott hijacking the match. They have a sit-down protest, which earned them escalating fines, with €80 each being enough to make them consider (at least I know where my shirt money went…)
Schenkenberg and Charisma then hatch a plan to attack the opposite aprons, before we get the Fingerpoke threats, with the pair arguing over who should get pinned… a double pin was stopped as Psycho Mike stopped Tass mid YMCA-ing, before he finally got to slam people. Schenkenberg, then Charisma, then Dullnig. Roman’s crossbody’s turned into a slam, before a Vertigo senton and a massive pile-on pin somehow didn’t lead to the win. A crossbody from Roman sent he and Harras to the outside, while Rott und Flott went after Suave… Psycho Mike breaks it up, but got talked into attacking Suave as Mike was left a sobbing mess after he’d been corrupted… before an elevated DDT ended up laying out Mike, before Dullnig snuck in with a knee strike to Schenkenberg for the win. Entertaining as hell, with this match being the perfect outing to help ease everyone in on the final day – well worth watching just for the grins ands giggles! ***½
Backstage, Iva Kolasky’s with Dan. She’s a little peeved after losing the women’s title the prior night, and didn’t want to talk about her loss. Nor how Dan was putting over Orsi’s showing earlier, and I guess Iva’s now gone bitter?
Gaya Glass vs. Iva Kolasky
The former champion’s looking to get back on the winning books here, and she started out with some forearms to wear down Glass.
A clothesline earned Iva a two-count within the opening seconds, before she wrapped Glass’ hair around the ropes in the corner. Glass fought back, but ends up eating a Fisherman suplex for a two-count, before she avoided an axe kick. Glass’ jawbreaker and cartwheel clothesline gets her an opening, while a cartwheel splash nearly put away Kolasky… who returned by sidestepping Gaya in the corner before a splits kick got the win. Very short, but not exactly a blow-out either…
Backstage, Dan’s with Michael Knight and Bobby Gunns, who won a shot at the wXw tag titles in Saturday night’s tag team gauntlet. They’ve had a long feud against each other, but that rivalry’s pushed them closer together, as Gunns promised that their match wouldn’t be a “shame” for tag team wrestling…
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Bobby Gunns & Michael Knight vs. Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze (c)
Despite being two-time champions, this was Maze and Moodo’s first defence of the tag titles…
Maze and Gunns start us off, with Maze peppering the former champion with kicks before she got charged down. She reverses a suplex though, then charged down Gunns before tags brought us to Moodo and Knight. A wristlock from Moodo comes without any playing to the camera as Knight countered with one of his own, only for some bodyscissors to spark a series of pinning attempts before dualling dropkicks led to a staredown. An O’Connor roll from Knight is blocked, with Moodo returning fire with kicks as a Cornish Hipe nearly gets the win. Maze returned to help pepper Knight with kicks ahead of a high/low for a two-count. A suplex has Knight rocked, with Moodo tagging back in, only to get pulled into the ropes ahead of a Trailer Hitch. Gunns tagged in to torque on Moodo’s arm ahead of a stomp to the elbow, before the pair traded snapmares and kicks to the back – since they were allowed here!
Rather than go for a tag, Moodo and Gunns begin to pelt each other with right hands, but Moodo caught a shot and elbowed away at the back of Gunns’ head, then threw him into the corner so Maze could tag in and go to work with knee strikes. Elbows and kicks sink Gunns, who took a bad landing after a dropick-assisted German suplex as the champions pulled ahead. Moodo continues with the kicks as Gunns tried to laugh it off, but a Dragon screw drops Moodo as a hot tag brings in Knight… who hits a reverse DDT/uranage combo to wipe out the champions. A kick-out keeps Moodo in it, as Knight ducks a Sky Fall kick before he got tripped into a calf slicer/Cattle Mutilation combo that Gunns broke up.
Knight rolled Moodo back into a Trailer Hitch as Gunns’ Octopus had Maze trapped, before Gunns added a Swish armbar to Moodo as the referee broke up the hold. Moodo remains on the back foot as he’s double-teamed, but he’s able to boot his way out of the corner before an errant knee from Knight took Gunns down. Maze gets the tag in as Knight’s rocked from a back elbow, leading to a superkick-assisted Pedigree, which Knight took high on his head… and picked up what looked to be a Stinger from it. Maze rolled Knight over for the pin, but Gunns broke up the count at two. ***¼
Either way, the referee waved for the bell, as the match was stopped due to Knight’s injury – with medics hitting the ring to provide treatment. Knight was able to leave the ring under his own steam, and of course, our best wishes go to him for a continued recovery, which was surely aided by the rapid treatment on-site.
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Fuminori Abe vs. Tristan Archer (c)
Archer’s first defence wouldn’t be an easy one by these standards, with Fuminori Abe looking to add more championship to his collection back in Japan.
Starting with waistlocks, the pair go to ground early on as Archer melted into the ropes when Abe grabbed a side headlock. Archer grabbed Abe and looked to stretch him, following with a Bow and Arrow hold that saw Abe flip out and nearly win with a pin. A hammerlock from Abe’s rolled through by Archer, but Abe clung on as Archer again looked to be in a foul mood. Going nose-to-nose with Abe was a bad idea as Archer was slapped, but he’s able to chuck Abe to the outside… then have his dive swatted away. A kick to the back from Abe followed on the outside, before a side Russian legsweep into the apron, then a 619 on the apron had Abe into the front row.
Back inside, forearms from Archer wear down Abe in the ropes ahead of a boot choke, while some body blows had Abe down in the corner. A snapmare and a kick to the back gives Abe an opening, before Archer came back with a simple chinlock. Abe’s dropkick gives him a shot after he’d gotten free of Archer, following with a dropkick to the knee that had Archer stunned. A spinning rear kick into the corner keeps Archer in trouble, as things break down into back-and-forth strikes. Archer’s knee cuts off the wind-up punch, but Abe rebounds off the bottom rope to hit it anyway, only for a discus punch from Archer to leave both men laying. Abe’s ‘rana sparks more back-and-forth pinning attempts, with near-falls going all over the place, before la Guillotine nearly did the deal for Archer.
Archer pulls up Abe for La Terreur, but Abe countered out as he pulled the champion into an Octopus stretch, then rolled Archer down into a crucifix for a near-fall. The wind-up punch takes Archer back into the corner, but a second spinning kick’s countered into a leg trap suplex, before the Coup d’Etat got the win. Abe provided a stern test for Archer, who managed to get a clean win in his first defence – as bigger challenges likely lie in his future. ***½
As a matinee show, there were relatively low expectations going in (particularly with just the one match announced as of bell time)… but this exceeded those and kept the positivity around Carat weekend going. Come for the wacky wildcard tag, and make sure you stick around for the title matches!