If it feels like we only reviewed a wXw Shotgun last week\u2026 you\u2019re right.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For those keeping track, we\u2019ll be reviewing Broken Rules after the English version has gone up, but first, we\u2019re back to Shotgun Plus, and it\u2019s Rico Bushido opening the show once more, before leading into a highlight video from Broken Rules.<\/p>\n
Clips from Jurn Simmons vs. Marty Scurll feature, along with the introduction of the new \u201cdirector of sports\u201d of wXw and some footage from the TLC match, which seemed to feature a wobbly ladder. Rico pitches to footage from Broken Rules where Christian Michael Jakobi introduced his \u201cbusiness plan\u201d for wXw. Thankfully, it\u2019s all subtitled. Jakobi insists the only thing that has value in wXw is success, but before Jakobi can get going, he\u2019s interrupted by another man in a suit: Sebastian Hollmichel.<\/p>\n
Apparently this is a make-good for a prior interview, but instead of some questions, we get a surprise, as Hollmichel wheels out a new sports director for wXw: Karsten Beck! If this segment were on, say, Raw, people would howl about it, but since I\u2019m new to wXw I\u2019ll give them a chance to show me that they\u2019re not going to saturate us with authority figure garbage.<\/p>\n
They plug some upcoming shows on wXw now, before recapping how Marius von Beethoven\u2019s friendship with Alpha Kevin has fallen apart. They take us to Broken Rules, and the three-way mixed tag team match, where Kevin was in the ring with Marius, until the latter played up his knee injury. We see Hakeem Waqur blast Kevin with a Fisherman Driver, before the camel clutch forced Kevin to tap out.<\/p>\n
From there, we\u2019re taken backstage where Melanie Gray\u2019s unhappy with Kevin for not punching out Marius when he had the chance. Kevin\u2019s still conflicted about giving his former best friend a receipt, and that leads to a match from Bielefield on October 15:<\/p>\n
Melanie Gray vs. Toni Storm<\/strong> Storm cheapshots Gray with a boot to the midsection, before the two trade shoulder tackles, with Gray\u2019s finally taking down the Aussie. A running Meteora gets Gray a near-fall, but a back senton misses as Storm gets her knees up to block it. Some kicks to the back of Gray get Storm just a one-count, before an uppercut goes one better.<\/p>\n Storm uses a couple of hip attacks, to the joy of the Bielefeld crowd, but her offence ends when Gray catches a kick and eventually lands a Northern Lights suplex to get her a two-count. Second time was lucky for the back senton, getting Gray a near-fall, but a swinging side slam sees Storm counter with a DDT before going back to another hip attack. A Fisherman\u2019s suplex gets Storm a two-count, but Toni takes too long climbing the ropes and gets caught as Gray tries for a German suplex, but instead gets one herself. Storm quickly goes up top this time, and doesn\u2019t hesitate as a top rope legdrop secures her the win. A decent, if short match, but Gray and Storm worked well together. More of the same please folks! ***<\/p>\n After the match, we get a music video building up some names who\u2019ll be involved in wXw\u2019s 16th anniversary show on December 10: it\u2019s some of the names you\u2019ll expect from the roster. WALTER, Jurn Simmons, A4, Marty Scurll, Da Mack, Cerberus (who were pictured with the wXw tag titles\u2026 even though they\u2019re not champions), and a surprise in the form of Adam Cole. Which makes sense since he\u2019s working PROGRESS the next day in Sheffield.<\/p>\n Rico Bushido is even happier with the announcement of Adam Cole, because it means he can announce that Cole\u2019s getting a wXw title shot too. They recap Jurn Simmons\u2019 oss to Marty Scurll at Broken Rules, and this leads to a backstage segment with Scurll and Emil Sitoci.<\/p>\n Scurll\u2019s bragging about his win, saying that this is the start of the Villain in wXw. Sitoci brings up the Simmons\/Cole match, and reckons that Christian Jakobi\u2019s going to add Scurll to the match and make it a three-way. Instantly, Karsten Beck pops up and suggests that Scurll team with A4 for a change, to take on Ringkampf and Jurn Simmons in a six-man tag.<\/p>\n We go next to Nico Schmidt in the wXw event centre, and he rams home that new main event for the 16th Anniversary Show: confirming it will be Jurn Simmons defending the title against Adam Cole and Marty Scurll.<\/p>\n Moustache Mountain are added to the 16th anniversary show, and then that segues to a match from Stuttgart on October 21 for the Shotgun title:<\/p>\n wXw Shotgun Championship: Lio Rush vs. Tyler Bate (c)<\/strong> Bate starts by grabbing the wrist of Rush, as the pair reverse it back and forth until Bate turns it into a headlock. After a reversal, Bate gets out and into a wristlock, before Rush acrobatically reverses out and into a front facelock. Rush shoves Bate into the ropes, but he\u2019s met with a shoulder tackle, before a rope running sequence ends in Bate getting a kick to the midsection, followed by a springboard \u2018rana.<\/p>\n Rush took Bate to the outside with that, but Tyler cuts off a dive with a big boot, before deciding to go airborne himself\u2026 aborting a tope and then eventually taking a tope con hilo into the aisle from the ROH star. Bate takes some stiff kicks to the chest, before a third kick is caught and eventually turned into a scoop slam. Rush gets schoolboyed for a near-fall, before a diving knee to the back of the head folds Rush in half and gets the champion a two-count.<\/p>\n Rush returns fire with a series of chops to Bate, but Tyler grabs an armbreaker and drags Rush to the mat, only for a sunset flip attempt to be countered with a springboard roundhouse kick off the bottom rope. A missed clothesline from Bate sees him dropped with a handspring elbow from Rush, who then wriggles out of an Airplane spin and peppers Bate with some kicks for a near-fall.<\/p>\n Bate mounts a comeback with a headbutt to the chest, but he\u2019s caught with a small package for a one-count, before Rush walks on his hands to avoid being swept face-first to the mat. They trade kicks and boots, before Bate deadlifts Rush into a German suplex for a near-fall. Tyler places Lio on the top rope in search of a superplex, but Rush shoves him down and counters with an enziguiri before going back up top for frog splash\u2026 but Bate rolls out and eventually gets a Saito suplex, then a knee strike, and finally a brainbuster\u2026 but that still only gets the champion a two-count!<\/p>\n The Stuttgart crowd piped up with chants of \u201cSchnurrbartman\u201d (Moustache Man) at Bate, who tried for a TTD (Tenzan Tombstone Driver), before they went back and forth with running strikes in the ropes. Rush dropkick\u2019d Bate in the knee, before a roundhouse kick connected, as Rush went airborne with a 450 Splash\u2026 but Bate moves away, before hitting the TTD to retain the title. Another fun match from Tyler Bate, who\u2019s surely going to reach even bigger heights next year. ***\u00be<\/p>\n Straight away we\u2019re backstage with Thomas Giesen who\u2019s interviewing Tyler Bate. Tyler recalls his time with wXw, then says that \u201c(doing interviews) isn\u2019t me\u2026 my job is to put on entertaining wrestling matches\u201d. Well, Tyler\u2019s doing a damned good job, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n We get a video package advertising future wXw house shows again, including one show that I might just have made had I planned a trip to Berlin better!<\/p>\n Next up is Nico in the event centre, running down upcoming house show dates and some matches for those shows. November 11 in M\u00fcnster will see Axel Dieter Jr. return from injury to face David Starr, whilst the next day in Weyhe will see that six-man tag that Karsten Beck booked earlier, with A4 and Marty Scurll against Ringkampf and Jurn Simmons.<\/p>\n Backstage again, we\u2019ve got Axel Dieter Jr. and Christian Michael Jakobi, and they\u2019re discussing Axel\u2019s future after he returns from injury. They tease an Axel\/Mack match in Hamburg, before Jakobi offers to take him to the tailor\u2019s. Looks like Axel\u2019s going to get a suit\u2026 now why isn\u2019t that a vignette on its own?<\/p>\n Cerberus (Dirty Dragan & Ilja Dragunov) vs. Chris Colen & Francis Kaspin<\/strong> Dragan quickly tags out to Dragunov, who works over Kaspin by whipping him into the corners, but the youngster Kaspin comes back with a leaping forearm, only for a single clubbing forearm from Ilja to knock him straight back down. Kaspin comes back with a sunset flip, before tagging out to Colen, who starts trading massive lariats with Dragunov, finally decking the Russian with a stiff clothesline. The babyfaces double-team Dragunov, with a Colen slam getting Kaspin a two-count.<\/p>\n Dragunov catches a leaping Kaspin, and shoves him into the wrong corner, but Cerberus\u2019 attempts at double-teaming don\u2019t quite go to plan, although Ilja finally scores that Saito suplex and dumps Kaspin on the mat. Dragan comes back in to stomp away at Kaspin\u2026 then he tags straight back out. Ilja rolls Kaspin back to his feet, just so he can chop him back down for a near-fall, before Kaspin fights out of another Saito suplex, only to take a snap suplex into the corner. Dragan returns for an STF set-up, before he just rakes Kaspin\u2019s back instead. Another tag out brings Dragunov back in for a slam, as Dragan returns to stamp some more.<\/p>\n Cerberus try a double team, but Kaspin backflips himself free repeatedly, and then dropkicks Cerberus into the corner before making the hot tag to Colen. A fisherman\u2019s suplex gets Colen a two-count, but he gets a big boot as he rushed into a cornered Dragunov. They slip up on a suplex, before Dragunov lands a short-arm clothesline to take down Colen.<\/p>\n Dragunov looks to finish things with a back senton, and he connects off the middle rope for a near-fall as Kaspin and Dragan go to work outside – and eventually, inside – the ring. Cerberus try to connect with stereo superplexes, but Dragan\u2019s fails, which somehow leads to Colen hitting a frog splash across the ring on Dragunov for a near-fall. Not quite sure how Ilja\u2019s superplex led to him selling more\u2026<\/p>\n Colen and Dragunov trade slaps in the middle of the ring, then forearms, before some more double-teaming fails as a Cactus Jack clothesline takes out Dragunov and Colen, leaving Dragan and Kaspin alone in the ring. Forearms and slaps from Kaspin follow, but Dragan rakes the eyes, only to run into a dropkick and a series of chops. A springboard bulldog from Kaspin takes down Dragan, just as Colen returns to hit a double-underhook facebuster (think Christopher Daniel\u2019s Angel Wings) for the win. A decent match, but this was hurt badly by Dragan\u2019s involvement in my mind. **\u00bd<\/p>\n We go back to clips from Broken Rules as Rico reminds us that Bad Bones was attacked with a shoe by Cerberus\u2019 Adam Polak. Apparently that made Bad Bones bleed, as Rico signs off by telling us that although there\u2019s no wXw show this weekend (for the first time in two months), there will be an Academy show\u2026 and that\u2019s it for another week!<\/p>\n Another decent outing of Shotgun\/Plus, with Tyler Bate for the second week in a row being part of the best match on the show. I must say, this format of showing clips from big shows, plus random (good) house show matches is a good way to make every show feel important. It sure does avoid creating the stigma that house shows are unimportant and unavoidable, and it gives fans a reason to attend when wXw comes to town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If it feels like we only reviewed a wXw Shotgun last week\u2026 you\u2019re right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_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":"","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":[690,6,2037,829],"tags":[854,454],"class_list":["post-1854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-european-indies","category-reviews","category-shotgun","category-wxw","tag-shotgun-plus","tag-wxw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-tU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/wxw-shotgun-fullscreen.jpg?fit=700%2C395","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854","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=1854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nToni\u2019s managed to upgrade to boots since I last saw her wrestle, and she starts off with a ground-based offence, reversing a wristlock by bridging backwards and then landing a headlock takedown on Gray.<\/p>\n
\nWell, we saw Pete Dunne beat Rush last week, and of course, Bate beat Dunne for the title, so this is the last combination left!<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019re in Bielefeld from earlier in October for our main event, annnd we start off with Dirty Dragan rushing into the ropes as he tried to cheapshot Kaspin early on.<\/p>\n