World Tag Team Festival Entrants<\/strong> Timothy Thatcher and Veit M\u00fcller<\/span>: on paper, this could be quite awkward. Veit just got into RINGKAMPF over 16 Carat Gold weekend, after months of trying to gain WALTER’s approval\u2026 while Thatcher walked away, sensing what WALTER was going to turn into\u2026 Thatcher\u2019s return at Shortcut to the Top saw him win the eponymous match to earn himself a title shot. Heck, the only thing Thatcher\u2019s not doing this weekend is Femmes Fatales and the bowling! Maybe I\u2019m reading into things too much, but I wouldn\u2019t be too shocked if Veit did the dirty on Timo at some point. Loyalty to the scarf and all that…<\/p>\n Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch<\/span>: on loan from WWE, both men have had experience in wXw in a former life. Lorcan, as Biff Busick, was a losing finalist in 2014\u2019s World Triangle League, while the former Martin Stone has much more pedigree in wXw, being a former tag team champion here. While it\u2019s not beyond the stretch of possibility to see Lorcan and Burch leaving Oberhausen with gold, I think we\u2019re more likely to see them eliminated on the Saturday, leaving Oney with less to focus on, as he\u2019s got that SuperFight with Tim Thatcher at Ambition.<\/p>\n Violence is Forever<\/u> – Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku: a late replacement due to Bandido’s injury, the former SADKAMPF make their European debuts this weekend. Their highest profile outing – to European fans at least – came in a loss to Aussie Open on the second episode of Beyond’s Uncharted Territory earlier this year, but making it to Europe isn’t too bad considering that Cagematch lists their career as a team as lasting barely a year so far. Watch out for Kevin Ku’s painted leather jacket – it looks, erm, familiar…<\/p>\n Work Horsemen<\/span> – J.D. Drake and Anthony Henry: Perhaps best known for their run in EVOLVE (and a two-month run as tag champions in 2017), they\u2019re currently feuding with each other in that promotion, so we well may be watching the dying days of their run as a team.<\/p>\n David Starr and Norman Harras<\/span>: with WALTER and Ilja Dragunov not appearing as final bosses, the David Starr was looking to get some help from Eddie Kingston – bringing in their AAW team of WRSTLING (because it’s better without the E, get it?) to Germany. Except… a family emergency has meant that Eddie Kingston has had to drop out, so David Starr had to pick a replacement. His choice? Norman Harras – the man who put on a star-making performance just 24 hours earlier at the Inner Circle as a late replacement to team with Timothy Thatcher.<\/p>\n Anti-Fun Police<\/span> – Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Santos Jr: returning to Germany for the first time since Timothy Thatcher \u201cmurdered\u201d him, the Anti-Fun Police will be looking to make sure we all have a rotten time. I can only imagine them at the after-party… and not just because of how bloody hot it gets!<\/p>\n The Crown<\/span> – Alexander James and Jurn Simmons: throughout 2019, they\u2019ve been flirting with the tag title picture, but have yet to have a straight-up two-on-two title shot. If they make it to the finals here, they still won\u2019t, but that four-way format will at least mean that the champions don\u2019t need to be beaten for a title change to occur. Perhaps the Crown\u2019s best shot yet…<\/p>\n Jay-AA<\/span> – Jay Skillet and Absolute Andy: with Francis Kaspin on the shelf with a herniated disc, Absolute Andy is stepping in to help mentor Jay Skillet to a second successive tag festival victory. Hopefully. Recently, Andy\u2019s been a part of a trios act with Jay-FK, leading to mixed success in the ring but absolute gold on camera. Now\u2026 will Andy be able to pull of Francis\u2019 style?<\/p>\n Pretty Bastards<\/span> – Maggot and Prince Ahura: originally they missed the cut because of poor performances after getting their wXw contracts over 16 Carat Gold weekend\u2026 but on the Road to World Tag Team Festival show in Neum\u00fcnster, they were selected by Leon Van Gasteren, following an attack that ruled Julian Pace out of the tournament. Now, far be it from me to accuse , but both halves of Vollgasteren getting attacked is a bit\u2026 suspicious. What\u2019s the second half of this team\u2019s name? Hmm\u2026.<\/p>\n Purge Club<\/span> – Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer: my original draft of this preview was talking about this being the \u201cdying embers of a group that once ran wild in wXw\u201d, but the events of FAN put RISE to bed when Ivan Kiev also turned on Lucky Kid. So, Kiev and Bouncer stay together as the Purge Club, and will be looking to add to the European tag titles they hold in Maximum Wrestling.<\/p>\n Arrows of Hungary<\/span> – Icarus & Dover: replacing Team Whitewolf, Dover\u2019s back from injury as they\u2019ll return to wXw for the first time in over six months. While their run in wXw has been patchy – at least in terms of results – they\u2019ll be looking to right a wrong from Carat weekend, as their loss to the Pretty Bastards meant that they lost out on a contract with the promotion.<\/p>\n Ambition Entrants<\/strong> James Runyan<\/span>: I\u2019ll be honest… I know next to nothing about him. A trainee out of Santino Marella\u2019s BattleArts school in Ontario, he\u2019s had some brief appearances for Impact, but this is likely to be the first time the majority of people inside the Turbinenhalle will be seeing this lad.<\/p>\n Scotty Davis<\/span>: the winner of PROGRESS’ Natural PROGRESSion Series tournament in September, Davis is arguably one of Ireland\u2019s hottest stars right now, this\u2019ll be Scotty\u2019s debut in Germany, having mostly appeared in the UK and Ireland so far. It\u2019s been a hell of a career so far too, with wins over the likes of Jushin Thunder Liger, Mark Davis and A-Kid. Allegedly has a contract with Fight Club Pro, but hasn\u2019t been seen there in almost a year\u2026<\/p>\n Damon Moser<\/span>: perhaps best known for his run in PROGRESS as part of the Faceless, Moser\u2019s been well away from chapter shows for the best part of three years now, having last been seen in an outing when James Drake broke his jaw. Since then, Moser\u2019s become a key part in Riptide\u2019s Money vs. Everyone group under Spike Trivet, while past experience in a similar shoot-style tournament for Breed Pro Wrestling saw him lose in a first round match to MK McKinnan back in June\u2019s Hybreed event.<\/p>\n Dominic Garrini<\/span>: we\u2019ll forget about his run as part of Catch Point, which irritated the hell out of me when I was a regular EVOLVE watcher. Garrini will be in his element here as he\u2019s in the midst of some fresh exposure as part of a new run in MLW.<\/p>\n Alexander Dean<\/span>: it\u2019s been over eight years since he\u2019s been here, but this is technically Dean\u2019s wXw return. Granted, he was under another name last time out (as Sean South, in a losing effort against the future Michael Dante)… his career\u2019s had a recent resurgence in Ireland for the likes of Fight Factory Pro, Phoenix and the shuttered Courage Wrestling, but also gained a rather tragic milestone as he ended up being Lionheart\u2019s final opponent before his passing earlier this year.<\/p>\n Rust Taylor<\/span>: coming into Ambition with 15 years experience, Taylor\u2019s recent outings have been with Bar Wrestling\u2026 but fans of a certain vintage will look fondly on his run with PWG at the start of the decade.<\/p>\n Kevin Lloyd<\/span>: a regular on the northwest scene, the former Sexy Gent is looking to continue his journey as \u201cSerious Kev\u201d in what\u2019ll be his highest profile outing to date. Recent shoot-style outings have seen him lose in the Hybreed tournament in a first round match to Danny Jones, along with a loss to Dan Evans in a no-rope grappling show from Leeds\u2019 Tidal Wrestling.<\/p>\n Femmes Fatales<\/strong> Faye Jackson<\/span>: returning after the briefest of runs earlier this year, Jackson\u2019s also on a short trip to Germany. If the commentary at Dead End is anything to go on, she\u2019ll be a runaway favourite of Rico Bushido\u2026<\/p>\n Vivien<\/u>: Replacing Saraya Knight (who dropped out on Thursday due to illness), the GHW trainee debuted for the promotion a year ago, and has been on most of their shows since. Recently teaming with Baby Allison, Vivien is in the position of coming in with nothing to lose and everything to gain.<\/p>\n LuFisto<\/span>: in her retirement year, LuFisto\u2019s become a semi-regular with wXw, having appeared at last year\u2019s World Tag Team League weekender, along with this year\u2019s Toronto show. Making the finals of last year\u2019s Femmes Fatales, don\u2019t be too shocked if LuFisto at least matches that this year.<\/p>\n Wesna<\/span>: returning for this year\u2019s tournament, Wesna went out in the first round to eventual winner Meiko Satomura in 2018. Judging by Cagematch, Wesna\u2019s 2019 has been more focused on training than wrestling, with only 5 matches at time of writing, mostly due to GWF slowing down.<\/p>\n Martina<\/span>: as part of last year\u2019s card, Martina came up short against then-champion Melanie Gray, with the demons from THAT match 18 month ago well and truly put to bed. Depending on how far Martina goes in the tournament we may see \u201csomewhat serious\u201d Martina or the comedy Martina – both are good…<\/p>\n Lana Austin<\/span>: another wXw debut here, Austin has appeared in Germany before for WrestlingKult, GWF and the GWP. Most recently, Lana\u2019s dates have seen her appear briefly in PROGRESS while her feud with the former Lizzy Styles (now Lizzy Evo, for those keeping score) was the final feud for Defiant\u2019s women\u2019s title before their closure.<\/p>\n Baby Allison<\/span>: a debutant in Femmes Fatales, Allison made her debut in the fall-out from 16 Carat Gold, but was largely used to help Amale get a step up as the \u201cWitch Bitch of Wrestling\u201d completes her third year in the game.<\/p>\n Sammii Jayne<\/span>: the former Pro Wrestling EVE champion\u2019s making her wXw debut with this tournament. Sammii\u2019s only just getting back into the swing of things after missing the best part of 18 months on and off with injury – and I\u2019d not be too shocked if she added Femmes Fatales 2019 to the Rev Pro Queen of the Ring tournament win from earlier this year.<\/p>\n Leyla Hirsch<\/span>: on tour from America, the CZW trainee has suddenly come to the fore in recent weeks, thanks in part to a recent run with Beyond\/WWR. Sporting an MMA gimmick, Hirsch had largely been away on CZW\u2019s Dojo shows, but hopefully this run in Germany will only help.<\/p>\n ANNOUNCED MATCHES<\/strong><\/p>\n Thursday October 3 – Inner Circle (6.30pm doors, 7pm bell)<\/span> Friday October 4 – World Tag Team Festival: Night One (6.30pm doors, 8pm bell)<\/span> Saturday October 5 – Femmes Fatales (1.15pm doors, 2pm bell) First Round: Sammii Jayne vs. Leyla Hirsch Saturday October 5 – World Tag Team Festival: Night Two (6pm doors, 7.30pm bell)<\/span> Sunday October 6 – Ambition: Wildcard Edition (11.45am doors, 12.30pm bell)<\/span> Ambition First Round: Daniel Makabe vs. James Runyan Sunday October 6 – World Tag Team Festival: Night Three (3.30pm doors, 5pm bell)<\/span> Unfortunately lengthy “subject to change” notes<\/span> TRANSPORT<\/strong> If you\u2019re staying in Oberhausen, trains from D\u00fcsseldorf Flughafen run pretty frequently: direct trains run roughly every quarter of an hour, with the journey taking around 15 minutes. Alternatively, if you\u2019re flying into Cologne, there\u2019s direct trains to Oberhausen too, which\u2019ll take you about 50 minutes, with direct trains leaving fairly regularly.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to the Inner Circle, you\u2019ll need a train from Oberhausen to Essen-Zollverein Nord. Trains to Essen-Zollverein Nord run less frequently, leaving Oberhausen every hour \u2013 which means you\u2019ll have to decide between leaving at 5.42pm for the Inner Circle and killing time there, or taking the 6.42pm train and risk missing the start of the show. It\u2019s the same deal coming back too, with trains from Essen-Zollverein Nord back to Oberhausen leaving at six minutes past the top of the hours.<\/p>\n If you get to the venue early, you\u2019re advised not to queue too early\u2026 and while there is a cash bar inside the venue, there\u2019s also some stores not too far away. However, since Inner Circle this time around falls on German Unity Day (\u201cTag der Deutschen Einheit\u201d), you may find that a lot of stores are closed…<\/p>\n Map showing Essen-Zollverein Nord & wXw Wrestling Academy \u2013 it\u2019s a residential area…<\/em><\/p>\n HOTELS<\/strong> BUSES & TRAMS<\/strong> For those going to the Oberhausen Open after the show, unless you\u2019re going to hail a cab, then you\u2019ll need to get to Knippi\u2019s Bowling Palace by foot. Leave the Turbinenhalle and walk past the McDonalds, before crossing Mulheimstra\u00dfe at the traffic lights. Head into the industrial park and walk towards the Burger King, crossing through their car park, then head right and follow the ring-road (Max-Planck-Ring) around turning onto any side-streets.<\/p>\n A handy map of the Turbinenhalle and surrounding areas\u2026 RIP Busters…<\/em><\/p>\n In terms of food around the Turbinenhalle, you\u2019re pretty limited I\u2019m afraid. Both the McDonalds and Burger King (one on either side of M\u00fclheimerstra\u00dfe) get really busy in the run-up to door opening times. Our tip: leave a little earlier try your luck at the CentrO, which is about a 20 minute walk each way unless you take the bus (Feuerwache & Lipperfeld are nearby stations which will also get you towards the CentrO \u2013 make sure you\u2019re taking a bus towards Neue Mitte!). You\u2019ll have slightly more choice there, with a few decent bars and restaurants on the Promenade, including Alex, Teatro, Three Sixty and the aptly-named (for some!) Brauhaus Zeche Jacobi.<\/p>\n Which leads us into some other tips…<\/p>\n A change in format means that wXw\u2019s autumn wrestling festival offers something for everyone – as we\u2019re all heading back to Oberhausen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"wXw World Tag Team Festival 2019 Preview - #wXwWTTF - a change in format means that wXw\u2019s autumn wrestling festival offers something for everyone - here's our preview of what's going on in Oberhausen next week!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3404],"tags":[32,4717,821,4715,1241,4714,4716,454,4720],"class_list":["post-16994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","tag-ambition","tag-ambition-wild-card","tag-femmes-fatales","tag-femmes-fatales-2019","tag-inner-circle","tag-world-tag-team-festival","tag-world-tag-team-festival-2019","tag-wxw","tag-wxwwttf2019"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-4q6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/wxw-wttf19-previewlogo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16994"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17281,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994\/revisions\/17281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00bfSchadenfreude?<\/span> – with Mark Davis’ knee injury forcing Aussie Open to vacate the wXw tag titles, Kyle Fletcher’s hanging around and bringing perhaps the weirdest \u00bfSchadenfreude? pairing to Oberhausen for this weekender. If you’ve followed \u00bfSchadenfreude?’s exploits, you’ll know that Lucky Kid is a strained member of the group, so much so he’s had to go undercover as himself. But that’s not in wXw. Can \u00bfSchadenfreude? follow in the footsteps of Aussie Open and leave with the gold?<\/p>\n
\nDaniel Makabe<\/span>: a few weeks on from his debut in Breed Wrestling against Carlos Romo, Daniel Makabe\u2019s slowly making inroads into Europe, having amassed quite the run of matches under his belt lately, with outings against Timothy Thatcher and Jonathan Gresham being quite attractive. It’ll be a busy weekend for Makabe, starting at Inner Circle on Thursday before doing some shows for Riptide in Brighton ahead of this tournament…<\/p>\n
\nAmale<\/span>: the current wXw women\u2019s champion, Amale has had quite the rapid ascent as the promotion\u2019s women\u2019s division has had a makeover. Expected to not be a part of the tournament, this matinee event should be adding another title defence to her CV.<\/p>\n
\nVeit M\u00fcller & Timothy Thatcher vs. Work Horsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
\nAnti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.) vs. \u00bfSchadenfreude? (Kyle Fletcher & Lucky Kid)
\nAlexander James vs. Daniel Makabe<\/p>\n
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Veit M\u00fcller & Timothy Thatcher
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: Arrows of Hungary (Icarus & Dover) vs. Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku)
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: The Crown (Alexander James & Jurn Simmons) vs. David Starr & Norman Harras
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr.) vs. Work Horsemen (J D Drake & Anthony Henry)
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: Jay-AA (Jay Skillet & Absolute Andy) vs. Pretty Bastards (Maggot & Prince Ahura)
\nWorld Tag Team Festival – First Round: \u00bfSchadenfreude? (Kyle Fletcher & Lucky Kid) vs. Purge Club (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer)
\nJonathan Gresham vs. Flamita<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>wXw Women\u2019s\u2019 Championship: Faye Jackson vs. Amale (c)<\/p>\n
\nFirst Round: Vivien vs. LuFisto
\nFirst Round: Lana Austin vs. Baby Allison
\nFirst Round: Martina vs. Wesna<\/p>\n
\nwXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Timothy Thatcher vs. Bobby Gunns (c)
\nwXw Shotgun Championship: Alexander Dean vs. Avalanche (c)
\nThree x World Tag Team Festival Semi-Finals<\/p>\n
\nSuperfight: Oney Lorcan vs. Timothy Thatcher<\/p>\n
\nAmbition First Round: Kevin Lloyd vs. Rusty Taylor
\nAmbition First Round: Alexander Dean vs. Dominic Garrini
\nAmbition First Round: Scotty Davis vs. Damon Moser<\/p>\n
\nWorld Tag Team Festival Tournament Finals for wXw World Tag Team Championships<\/p>\n
\nMarius al-Ani was set to face Mike Schwarz at one of the World Tag Team Festival shows, but al-Ani\u2019s suspension from wXw means that\u2019s now off the books.
\nWALTER & Ilja Dragunov were also slated to appear on the Sunday show, but a scheduling conflict means WALTER will miss the show. Ilja is still scheduled to appear in some capacity.
\nBandido is off World Tag Team Festival after picking up an injury on a ROH show… Flamita remains booked, but will no longer be in the tournament after Violence is Forever replaced them. Saraya Knight was forced out of Femmes Fatales with illness, and was replaced by Vivien.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIf you\u2019re coming in from the UK, this is probably the last wXw weekender before Brexit, unless it’s delayed again… So, enjoy the relatively-speedy walks through the EU passport queue while you can!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/wxw-16caratgold2019-essenmap.jpg?resize=700%2C326\")
<\/p>\n
\nHopefully you\u2019ve booked yours up by now! The more popular hotels for travelling fans seem to be the NH (which is a five-minute walk from the Hauptbahnhof), the Tryp (which is near Neue Mitte \u2013 by the CentrO), the recently-opened Holiday Inn (same area as the Tryp), or the Mercure (which is on Max-Planck-Ring, right next door to Knippis, where Oberhausen Open 3 is taking place). Since there\u2019s so many hotels and possible AirBnBs available, we\u2019ll leave it to you to figure out how to get around town, but the public transport in Oberhausen is fairly frequent if you\u2019ve left it a little too late to get to a show.<\/p>\n
\nIf you\u2019re getting the bus or trams around Oberhausen, you\u2019ll of course need to buy tickets for each journey. The nearest bus\/tram stop to the Turbinenhalle is called Feuerwache. WHen you get off there, you\u2019ll need to use the stairs to exit onto Mulheimstra\u00dfe \u2013 then turn right and walk towards the water tower. You\u2019ll spot the McDonalds and Turbinenhalle on the right hand side!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/wxw-16caratgold2019-oberhausenmap.jpg?resize=700%2C519\")
<\/p>\n\n