WALTER takes on Shigehiro Irie on the final “new” wXw show to hit VOD before the enforced shutdown.
We were in Oberhausen live for this – so our match reports will be the same as from our live review. wXw added in some other segments too… including a pre-tape from Dennis Birkendahl, who tells us that Carat weekend was the last weekend wXw were able to film content. The wXw schedule is up in the air right now for the obvious reasons. There’ll be promos here for matches that were meant to happen in Frankfurt, but that show’s been postponed, but they’ve been left in for posterity’s sake. Loved the multi-cam set-up for this, by the way…
We open with a recap of Cara Noir winning 16 Carat Gold, as he’s “congratulated” backstage by Eddie Kingston, who warned Cara that he didn’t kill him. Even more dangerously, he made Eddie a liar (because he didn’t win the tournament). Eddie tells Cara to go for a drink “or whatever swans do” (eat at Alex?), and enjoy the moment.
Daniel Makabe vs. Rust Taylor vs. Anthony Greene vs. Scotty Davis
This four-way started with some heavy hits as the ring cleared – and we got round two of Makabe and Davis… featuring a corner dropkick to Scotty and a tope from Makabe!
Back inside, Greene elbows Makabe but the Canadian turned it around as he set up the pieces for a deathlock on Greene and an Octopus on Taylor… before catching Scotty with a cravat too. Davis gets free and dumps Makabe with a Gator roll, before suplexing Taylor into the corner. Greene’s back, but he gets bounced into the buckles with an overhead belly-to-belly. Taylor tries to capitalise with an ankle lock, but Makabe broke it up as Greene proceeded to play around with Taylor. Davis returns and gets pancaked, before Makabe charged down Greene… who bridges up neatly out of the pin.
A Big Unit stuns Greene, but he’s able to recover with a fancy crossbody off the top rope before things broke down into a slugfest, ending with a quartet of superkicks. Davis tries to fly in off the top, but eats an uppercut from Taylor, who then connected with a buzzsaw kick for a near-fall before Makabe charged in to break up a double armbar. A trapped-leg German suplex nearly gets Makabe the win, before Greene almost snuck it with a So Much Pretter on Makabe… but Scotty’s right back in with a Chaos Theory to Greene before a brainbuster gets the Irishman his maiden win. A fun four-way to get us going, with Davis and Greene standing out. ***½
They replay the wacky dives from the trios match on night three of Carat… and then we segue to Julian Pace who’s remniscing about his weekend. Leon van Gasteren’s there too, like a proud dad, and he wants another crack at the wXw tag team titles. Julian’s not so keen though, and he wants to go back to being a singles wrestler. Leon wants the same, as he’s been told he was getting a singles match on wXw’s Tampa show. I bet it was going to be against Julian… they shake hands and part ways, as Voll Gasteren’s run out of fuel.
Video time: they replay Jay-AA winning the tag team titles… Tarik and Norman Harras’ tiff from after the Jay-AA Tag Team Experten Wildcard Gauntlet…
Norman Harras, Pretty Bastards (Prince Ahura & Maggot) & Oliver Carter vs. The Pillars (Sebastian Suave, Tarik, Tyson Dux & Brent Banks)
There’s a lot of bodies in that ring for this one…
Dux and Harras start us off, as a section of the crowd tried to sing Oh Canada. I feel like I’m back in the late 00s TNA! Dux worked over Harras’ wrist, before tagging in Tarik… and of course, Harras scattered as he brought in Ahura. Prince Ahura had his ankle heavily taped, and he tried to dick about with kicks, only to get punched out by Tarik. You love to see it.
Banks and Carter come in next, with Brent hitting a leaping knee before Carter’s back elbow found its mark. As did a knee drop. Banks slaps Carter back as we continued with the Oliver’s Twist kick to leave Brent in the corner. Banks fights back, but he gets clotheslined to the outside, where Maggot puts the boots to him. Back inside, Maggot clubs away on Banks as Harras returned to land a delayed spinebuster for a near-fall. An elbow drop from Maggot follows, but Banks gets free as Suave tags in… and got kicked in the ropes. A Thesz press of all things from Maggot puts Sebastian down, before Ahura came in to clear the apron… but Suave stops all that momentum with a spinebuster.
Dux and Maggot tag back in, and he runs wild on the Bastards with chops and clotheslines! Dux shows off as he stacks up the Bastards, but Harras breaks it up before Tarik finally got his hands on him. Harras accidentally knocks Carter off the top rope, then ate a backpack stunner for a near-fall, before the two teams worked into a big ol’ suplex. Which the Pillars landed. Harras gets left in there on his own as he’s bounced around the Pillars, with Tarik finishing him off with a springboard lungblower… but it’s only enough for a two-count as we swap places, with Tarik getting isolated. A triple-team wacky cutter gets Carter a near-fall, before both teams flooded the ring… and Tas has long since lost control!
In the end, a Gorilla press slam from Dux to Harras begins the process of stacking up the Bastards, as an elbow drop off the top from Tarik squashed the lot. The Bastards recover though, and Harras quickly drops Suave with a front kick, before a Red Light Driver/Quebrada combo got the win. A little long, but this was perfectly decent stuff to play off of last night’s gauntlet. ***
Video central shows us Marius al-Ani beating Daniel Makabe on night two… then we go to Dään Jokisch with Marius backstage. Marius gloats about beating the winner of Ambition, which (in his head) means he should win it. Dään shuts down Marius by talking about his short Carat run, before Jurn Simmons walked in to mock. They square up… and then we head back to action.
Marius al-Ani vs. Chris Ridgeway
You know what you’ll be getting here. Ridgeway takes down al-Ani as he looked for a heel hook, but he had more luck with a Kimura.
Marius gets free and took Ridgeway into the front row with a Superman punch off the apron, before a knee to the gut has Ridgeway in a heap. A Dragon screw gets Ridgeway back in as he uncorked some kicks to al-Ani, including one as Marius came off the ropes, then a massive PK that gets Ridgeway a near-fall. Marius goes for the roll up into a kip-up kick, but eventually finds his way through with (yes) an ankle lock, that Ridgeway countered into a leg clutch for a near-fall. A sunset flip counters a Diamond Driver, with Ridgeway keeping going with a German suplex before he was met with a suplex, a Superman punch and a powerbomb for a near-fall. From there, a Diamond Driver finds its mark, and that’s the win for al-Ani. Decent enough, but my word, Marius is racking up the wins this weekend. ***
Video central replays Killer Kelly refusing the wXw women’s title shot on night three, nuch to the disgust of Alexander James… and then Stephanie Maze coming up short against Amale. The post-match stuff with Alexander James making Kelly choose between the fans and him follows, as did the King’s Landing to Levaniel, before we go backstage to Stephanie Maze trying to find out what’s going on. Kelly didn’t want to talk about that…
Elsewhere backstage, Amale’s furious that the attention isn’t on her, despite winning her match at Carat. She wants Levaniel to take care of Alexander James, but Levaniel has a surprise for Amale: they were going to be in a mixed tag match in Frankfurt: Levaniel and Amale vs. James and Kelly. My French is bad, but Amale wasn’t happy…
Stephanie Maze & Killer Kelly vs. Baby Allison & Valkyrie
These certainly are two teams… Kelly and Valkyrie start us off, with Kelly landing a takedown before she got caught with a bridging O’Connor roll.
The pair go back and forth before reaching a stand-off, as Allison tags herself in, but had to land a kick to break some waistlocks. An armbar grounds Kelly, but she gets free with a Thatcher choke/slap combo before rolling Allison in for a PK. In comes Maze, who went for a kick, but got caught in the ropes as Allison worked her way into a hanging sit-out DDT for a near-fall, before a stink face kept Maze in the corner. Allison misses a shoulder charge, going into the corner as Maze brought her out with a German suplex. Valkyrie tags back in but runs into a kick from Maze, who went for a PK, only for Valkyrie to avoid it and come back with an enziguiri and a Head Hunter running Blockbuster.
Kelly’s back to blast through Valkyrie with short-arm clotheslines, before she caught Valkyrie for some capture headbutts. Tags bring us back to Allison and Maze, with the latter landing a spinning heel kick off the ropes, forcing Allison to scurry out for a tag. Valkyrie looks for the win with a standing moonsault, before she tagged in Allison… who quickly ate a kick from Maze for the win. Some decent stuff from Maze here, but they’re quickly overshadowed… **¾
Post-match, Alexander James comes out to tell us he’s angry. He spills the beans about how Kelly’s mad at not being in the women’s title picture, and blames Kelly for being too nice. He threatens to get in Maze’s face… before telling Kelly to go backstage and watch a future champion. Hmm.
Alexander James vs. Joe Gacy
Straight out of the Combat Zone!
James plays to the crowd, calling himself a “real champion” (as opposed to Gacy, who’s the CZW champion). He’s quickly cornered as Gacy caught him with a dropkick, but James goes for the arm while Gacy nibbled away at James’ nose.
Gacy keeps up with a uranage, then a superkick to the back of the head that sent James rolling outside as a tope followed. James catches Gacy back in the ring with a draping DDT, then roughed him up with his forearm before he bit back at Gacy. James gets too wrapped up with Kelly though, trying to end a message to her as he proceeded to get laid out with an elbow from Gacy. Running elbows follow, as James gets charged into the counter ahead of a sit out death valley driver for a near-fall. James replies with a T-bone suplex and a gutwrench powerbomb for a near-fall. Gacy keeps going with a clothesline, which nearly ends it, before a handspring ends in a rear naked choke as James gets the win. Solid stuff, with Gacy looking good in there against James… who still has something to prove. ***
Video central replays the ending of the Jay-AA Wildcard Tag Team Experten gauntlet. I’ve probably butchered that name… but it leads into this:
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Young Guns (Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs) vs. Jay-AA (Absolute Andy & Jay Skillet) (c)
Chris Ridgeway’s out with the challengers… North West Strong, is it?
Allen starts with a headlock, but Skillet gets to the ropes and celebrated for doing so. Allen tries with a wristlock, but Skillet goes back with an arm wringer… then goes for the ropes when it’s reversed. Smart and frustrating stuff! A tag brings in Andy and Jacobs, but Luke doesn’t quite get the benefit of the doubt from the rope breaks as Andy was having fun with the youngster. Andy just sits on Jacobs, which was effective, but it just fires up Luke, who takes Andy into the corner with a barrage of body blows.
Jacobs stomps a mudhole through Andy, then tried to chop away on the Veteraan before Andy threatened an F5. Allen’s in as the Young Guns quick double-teams blew him away for a near-fall. Double-teaming from the champions turn it around as a clothesline got Andy a near-fall on Allen, before double back elbows off the ropes got the challengers all cocky. Referee Tassilo Jung stops them from the endless double-teaming, but accidentally elbowed Allen as he tried to charge at the champions. After those shenanigans from the dodgiest ref this side of League One, Andy hits a suplex throw on Allen… which Skillet copied before Andy threw Ethan into the buckles Bret Hart style. Ethan at least took it differently the second time.
Ethan’s getting treated like a crash test dummy here, but he’s back with a springboard moonsault to Skillet… which bought him enough time to tag out to Luke Jacobs, who was the proverbial house afire. Kobashi chops trap Andy in the corner like he was Big Daddy Yum Yum, before a thunderous lariat drops him for a near-fall. A thrusting uppercut from Andy looked to get him back in, but the Young Guns double-team their way to a near-fall as they came agonisingly close to the titles. Andy’s back as he wrecked Allen with a chop, before a superkick to Jacobs gets caught. The attempted enziguiri goes nowhere as he hops towards the corner to make a tag.
Skillet wants him back in action straight away for a pair of suplexes, which they get, before a stomp-assisted F5 took Allen to the outside. Jacobs eats a stomp-assisted A-Klasse… and that’s enough for the champions to retain. In the words of the Ogdens, “oh bollocks” – a hell of a showing in defeat from the Young Guns though. I really, really, REALLY hope this isn’t the last we see of them in and around wXw, as they won over a lot of fans this weekend. ***¾
Post-match, Bobby and his Bastards attack, as Julian Pace and Scotty Davis made the save. Everyone flies too, to make sure the Bastards go away.
Video central replays Alexander Wolfe winning the Shotgun championship… then for formation of Ezel, who are going to put the curse of the evil eye on everyone.
Backstage, Alexander Wolfe’s talking about Carat brought surprises… which this year was his return. Avalanche interrupts to congratulate Wolfe, then to bring up how sore he was to lose the belt on his first defence. It led to Avalanche almost getting a match, but Ilja Dragunov walks in, complaining that Wolfe being added to the match was “like going to a bakery for some bread, and getting a sausage instead”. I’ve had orders messed up worse than that in the past…
Ilja asks Wolfe if he’s proud of his student (himself), and asks for his rematch too – so we were meant to get a replay of the Carat triple-threat in Frankfurt. Ah man.
Shigehiro Irie vs. WALTER
Big. Lads. Wrestling. I’m going to love this…
We start with WALTER having to reach for the ropes as Irie grounded him, swapping headlock takedowns and headscissors for fun. Irie ducks a chop out of the corner, but gets taken into the ropes as we get the Big Lads shoulder tackles, which Irie bounced up from, before charging through a chop to knock down WALTER. Irie follows WALTER outside but gets more chops and a suplex on the apron as the NXT UK champion tried to push ahead.
Back in the ring, Irie went for the legs, but got kneed in the side as WALTER then tried to twist his neck off. A chop follows, as does an attempt at a Boston crab, which turned into a half crab as Irie gets to the ropes. Another chop has Irie down, as the Turbinenhalle began to get behind him. Chop. Chop. Chop. Eventually Irie monsters up and walks through the chops, only to get taken down as WALTER picked up a near-fall.
Irie tries for a suplex, but WALTER just chops free before he’s finally taken down! A headbutt staggers WALTER, but he’s right back with a rear naked choke that Irie threw his way out of, following up as he sidesteps a shotgun dropkick and met WALTER with a clothesline for a near-fall. WALTER’s back with a rear naked choke and a RINGKAMPF German suplex for a near-fall, before he proceeded to kick away at Irie. More chops follow, with WALTER keeping wrist control, but Irie eventually gets free with clotheslines that eventually took down WALTER.
WALTER blocks a Beast Bomber and charges in with a clothesline of his own for a near-fall on Irie, before a chop to the back and a powerbomb drew another two-count… with WALTER then going up top to flatten Irie with a splash for the win. A little more one-sided than I’d have hoped, but Irie was no push-over for WALTER here – forcing the NXT UK champion to pull out the “big match finish” to get by him. ***½
After the match, we go backstage as Jay-AA are with Scotty Davis. Andy’s fawning over that moustache. Bobby Gunns and his Bastards arrive too as there’s a lot of cross-talk going on. The Pretty Bastards are sore over losing their tag titles, which Absolute Andy characterised as them “screwing everything up”. Andy gets in Bobby Gunns’ face next, while Oliver Carter shot back, saying Andy’s had a “midlife crisis for 30 years”. Old jokes.
Things break down as we get Bobby & The Bastards vs. Jay-AA, Scotty Davis and a fourth man proposed for Frankfurt. We’ll never know, as the VOD ends with a message from wXw, thanking everyone for their support, and asking fans to support the wrestlers by buying their merch if they can.
This was a fun show that got the final day of Carat going – with that Young Guns tag really leaping off the page as they look to avoid being 2020’s Schadenfreude in breaking out over Carat weekend before largely disappearing from the radar. It’s just a shame that the VOD version teased a bunch of stuff that we’re likely not going to get for quite some time!