Three days, 31 matches – a whole lot of wrestling, and a renewed appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes. So, how was our World Tag Team League experience?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
wXw were kind enough to offer us access to the 2017 World Tag Team League weekender in Oberhausen – so of course, we had to accept. After all, it was last year\u2019s World Tag Team League that got us watching wXw in the first place!<\/p>\n
After a few unwanted delays (thanks BA, for having me check in luggage when there was space in the overhead lockers!), I arrived at the media centre inside the Turbinenhalle just before 5pm on the Friday afternoon\u2026 thanks to some pointers from Arnold Furious, and confirmation from Christian Jakobi that \u201cyes, that is the right door\u201d.<\/p>\n
For those who’ve never been, the Turbinenhalle is a rather unassuming venue to the naked eye, just a short walk away from (of all things) a discount erotic video store\u2026 if it weren\u2019t for the giant sign right above you, you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking you were in the wrong part of town. But persist, and ye shall be rewarded.<\/p>\n
First up for us were those Q&A panels, held in front of a slew of \u201cwrestling media\u201d and their assorted podcasts. We\u2019ll have some select quotes from those later this week- just to give you a flavour of what happened away from the cameras.<\/p>\n
After some choice words from Jurn Simmons, David Starr, Tassilo Jung and Dirty Dragan, it was go time, as one soon-to-be-former-favourite would say. Our review of the opening night of Tag League was up moments after the final bell, and as a first taste of the \u201ctrue\u201d wXw live experience, this was unbeatable. We\u2019ve already reviewed the three nights, but there’s one thing that goes without saying – a huge part of the live experience is seeing the entrances that can’t be shown on the VOD. As catchy as RetroFuture Dirty is, nothing beats Cerberus coming out to Gunnar Olsen’s Barge… or Ilja Dragunov to the Soviet Union’s theme from the Command & Conquer 3 video game… or Dirty Dragan and Young Money Chong using Pitbull Terrier by Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra. You get my drift… and I’ve not even touched<\/p>\n
Academy<\/strong> Following those drills, we were then treated to an almost hour-long Q&A from James, WALTER and Thatcher, which covered a litany of topics, from a perceived need for a medical policy, to why Academy trainees are required to make their debut for wXw before taking other bookings, to why less is so much more in wrestling. Sitting under the learning tree, even as a fan, was absorbing – and had there not been shows going on later in the day, I\u2019m pretty sure we\u2019d still have been there asking and listening\u2026<\/p>\n Replacements Ahoy!<\/strong> Melanie Gray, who went out in the first round to eventual finalist Viper, picked up a knee injury during her match\u2026 which meant that she had to forfeit her championship tournament match against Jinny later in the evening. Whilst Killer Kelly ate another loss, her performance across the two shows may well have done enough to get her back in wXw – and sure enough, between me writing this on the way back home and posting this, Kelly has been announced as Pauline\u2019s replacement for the rest of the tournament!<\/p>\n Carat Announcements<\/strong> Then was the announcement of a combined show that\u2019ll be held over 16 Carat Gold weekend next year. The Kult Temple, a venue that\u2019s literally in the shadow of the Turbinenhalle, will play host to a show called #Wrestling Deutschland, which will feature multiple smaller companies in Germany banding together for a show that\u2019s designed to give them a bigger platform.<\/p>\n Think of it as a version of the Weekly Pro Wrestling \u201cBridge of Dreams\u201d show from 1995 – a 12 match show which had a \u201cfeature match\u201d from a dozen promotions. That show will be taking place on the \u201cmiddle Saturday\u201d during Carat weekend – as well as the AMBITION tournament and the Carat show as well. Add in the after-party, it\u2019s going to be a crammed Saturday in Oberhausen\u2026<\/p>\n Finally, wXw announced the first three entrants into Carat. Travis Banks, Jeff Cobb and Penta el Zero M. No big deals, eh?<\/p>\n Surprises<\/strong> Alexander James<\/strong> has been a little under the radar in wXw, featuring more on Shotgun than in main storylines; but this weekend has really opened our eyes to him. Likewise with Jaxon Stone<\/strong> – perhaps a polarising figure given his propensity for vanity searching on Twitter (but be realistic, it\u2019s part of any wrestler\u2019s job description these days, it feels!). Still, to be able to generate a vociferous reaction from a crowd for something as simple as taking a jacket off is a good sign. It fits within wXw\u2019s credence that there\u2019s more to wrestling than good matches – because whilst being able to throw a hiptoss or believably react to an armbar is part of being a wrestler, if the character giving or receiving doesn\u2019t connect, then it\u2019s all for nothing.<\/p>\n EYFBO<\/strong>\u2026 I don\u2019t watch Impact. Or GFW. Or whatever they\u2019re calling themselves this month. Total Global Impact Force? Indeed, the first I\u2019d even seen of EYFBO was on the Beyond Wrestling show that was on Powerbomb.tv last month (our review of which will be going up tomorrow in lieu of a Shotgun review for the week). Over the course of three matches, EYFBO won over some new fans in Germany – and if things work out, I can see them being a semi-regular part of the company.<\/p>\n Bobby Gunns<\/strong>\u2026 when we first started watching wXw, we were far from sold on Gunns, but throughout 2017, as wXw has gotten behind him, the overall package has come in in leaps and bounds. Initially slotted for just a four-way over the weekend, Gunns came in as a late addition to Sunday\u2019s card for a match against Homicide – one that was a fair bit removed from his usual style. It worked though – and another W for Gunns has left him well on the path to more serious title contention, although it may need to be in the post-RISE era since he\u2019s been kept well away from that storyline.<\/p>\n Cerberus<\/strong>\u2026 I\u2019m bunching everyone together here, but the way the Cerberus and RISE stories intertwined over the weekend was a marvel. Starting off with Da Mack narrowly losing to Julian Nero on the Friday, to Mack deliberately costing Ilja Dragunov the world title on Saturday (and then joining RISE), to the reunion of Cerberus\u2026 even a week ago, this was not something that anyone could have seen coming. Sure, Avalanche was up against Ivan Kiev, whilst Ilja had Bad Bones\u2026 but the first nine months of 2017 were spent establishing the split. Surely the reunion would go down like a lead balloon?<\/p>\n Absolutely not. Cerberus\u2019 return generated a huge roar in Oberhausen – and if this is more than a one-time deal, then it seems that the wXw \u201chome team\u201d have a new dog in the fight against RISE.<\/p>\n Community<\/strong> Jakobi\u2019s Wrap-Up<\/strong> Among a largely British contingent, there was a rather eyebrow-raising reason given as to why wXw use the smaller rings they do: apparently there\u2019s laws against certain trucks driving on Sundays, and since a bigger ring would require a larger truck, it was a mutually exclusive deal.<\/p>\n Some more quotes from Jakobi included this gem: \u201cCarat was a gift of a show because it gave fans so many moments, a lot of feel good moments\u2026 it can\u2019t always be Christmas. Sometimes you have to invest\u2026 couple of risks you\u2019ve taken, and some we\u2019ll be taking today.\u201d That was CMJ talking about paying off storylines, noting that they like giving fans presents. Such as the Cerberus return later that night\u2026<\/p>\n It was a refreshing talk from Jakobi – one that perfectly summed up the promotion\u2019s entire approach for the weekend. Professional, yet open. Revealing, yet still able to maintain an air of mystique around events of the weekend. At a time when some promotions can be easily construed as viewing the \u201cwrestling media\u201d as a pain, this was refreshing… and we’re not just talking about wXw’s newly instituted “GIF policy”. Which is “Go Nuts, and tag wXwNOW.de”.<\/p>\n In a plea for feedback, Dan from Rock Bottom Radio offered up that an announcement made during the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship match was lost on a lot of folks who didn\u2019t speak German. That announcement being the declaration that if Bad Bones got disqualified\u2026 he\u2019d lose his title. Some companies could have reacted with a rather blunt \u201cyou\u2019re in Germany, what\u2019d you expect?\u201d or perhaps a \u201cit\u2019ll have been mentioned on commentary\u201d.<\/p>\n Not wXw.<\/p>\n
\nThe next morning saw a trip to the wXw Wrestling Academy in Essen. On the outside, it\u2019s a very unassuming building, save for the signage that gives it away. Inside though, it\u2019s extremely functional – it\u2019s the same building that the Inner Circle shows take place in, with the addition of a padded flooring for warm-ups, and some gym equipment to help. Once warmed up, five trainees were put through some drills led by Alexander James – who showed himself to be a quite amenable, but demanding coach. From the basics of critiquing bumps, to pointing out to trainees why they need to look in certain areas – be it before they leave their feet, or when they\u2019re getting back up – James showed wisdom much beyond that you\u2019d expect from his age.<\/p>\n
\nIt was back to Oberhausen for the Femmes Fatales tournament, and it has to be said that this show was a bit of a cursed one for wXw. There were multiple changes to the initial 8-woman field; first, Amale Winchester was replaced by Alex Windsor\u2026 who then dropped out late on and was replaced by Wesna. Just hours before the show, Pauline dropped out with an injury that was going to rule her out of the remainder of the wXw Women\u2019s Championship Tournament as well. There was no short-notice replacement, so Wesna got a bye to the semis\u2026 Alpha Female was also announced, but withdrew as well. Her replacement, Portugal\u2019s Killer Kelly, stole the show despite going out in the first round – so much so that she ended up being added to the second night of the World Tag Team League. Yep, because\u2026 injury.<\/p>\n
\nDuring the weekend, various announcements were made for wXw\u2019s short\/medium-term future. Firstly, was the return of Zack Sabre Jr, who\u2019ll be back for their 17th anniversary show at the end of the year\u2026<\/p>\n
\nThroughout the weekend, there were several wrestlers who stood out that perhaps took us – and the rest of the media panels – by surprise. We\u2019ve already shouted out Killer Kelly from the rooftops, so we\u2019ll park that one. This isn’t an exhaustive list, so if your favourite wrestler isn’t on here, it’s not a slight. Nobody on the entire weekend was a disappointment – which says a lot given the sheer number of performers on show over the three days.<\/p>\n
\nUp on \u201cpress row\u201d was a rogues gallery of some of the \u201cwrestling media\u201d\u2019s finest. As much as I loathe that term\u2026 from a personal perspective, there were many names whom I\u2019d spoken to online (and in two cases, interviewed\/been interviewd by), but had barely met. Given how rare these things are, it\u2019s nice for the collective to band together and help each other out. Whether it was correcting quotes, filling in blanks (particularly before Thommi Giesen started doing bi-lingual announcements) or just giving nudges\u2026 the wrestling community, at its best, works like a brotherhood. This weekend was just one of many examples.<\/p>\n
\nThe press panels wrapped up on the Sunday afternoon with a panel with Christian Michael Jakobi. Once the issue regarding Low Ki\u2019s injury (which has since emerged as a torn ACL (all from a double stomp onto WALTER on the ramp), talk turned to more mundane matters.<\/p>\n