By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
Shotgun often has a mixture of notable matches and contests that showcase the native or more prominent wXw wrestlers against outsiders in the closest thing you’ll get to what are effectively squash matches with a smidgen more competition along the way. However, this week’s Shotgun had – on paper – one of the bigger matches the promotion could offer: Zack Sabre Jr. versus David Starr. With able accompaniment by Emil Sitoci taking on Lucky Kid, it isn’t surprising that this is one of the better in-ring editions of the programme so far this year.
The Starr and Sabre Jr. contest does really live up to the expectations of seeing two of the best independent wrestlers go at it. I in particular like any opportunity to see dickish heel Sabre Jr., as he metaphorically shows ass when necessary, but also bends his opponents into pretzels when angry. The opening exchanges actually saw Starr outmanoeuvre Sabre Jr., even scoring two quick nearfalls with a Thesz Press and a small package. It is Sabre Jr.’s willingness to bend the rules that allowed him a route into the contest, hitting Starr with a kick and European uppercut after supposedly clean breaks, whilst adding an additional stamp to Starr’s leg after a leglock sees the American reach for the ropes. Both men were very quick with the verbals as well, with Starr intimating that Sabre Jr. was unwilling to wrestle with him for fear of being outwrestled.
Starr would continue to have success, attacking the arm and cutting off some strikes with a clothesline, before hitting the Product Recall after escaping an abdominal stretch whilst in the ropes. Starr managed to block a PK that followed a leg sweep, but Sabre Jr. would eventually manage to move himself into an Octopus hold, a move that Starr then fought out of with two tiltawhirl facebusters. Both men ended up on the canvas following a huge strike exchange, but it is Sabre Jr.’s submission offense that always leaves him dangerous, tripping Starr and holding on to the count of four as Starr used a rope break to escape another leglock.
Starr would come close to winning the contest several times, hitting the Blackheart Buster and a superkick for two counts, before bridging into a unique pin to work his way out of a Sabre Jr. leglock for another nearfall. A powerbomb into a back cracker and the Han Stansen seemed to have Starr in control, but Sabre Jr. fought out of Product Placement, tripped Starr to the canvas and locked on Orienteering with Napalm Death for the submission. This was a great match, with Starr looking good but unable to put the finishing touches in a contest against a man who is just that sliver better than him. This also gives Sabre Jr. momentum going into the next Marquee Event and a main event against WALTER.
After a backstage segment that saw an excited Dirty Dragan urged to focus on his next challenge in the Dirty Dragan Trial Series, Veit Muller, it is the man who gives this sage advice, Emil Sitoci, up against Lucky Kid. Tarkan Aslan is back in the corner of Kid, whilst the match is for a chance at the Shotgun Championship. Sitoci was on top of Kid from the opening bell, catching a plancha at ringside and dumping Kid face first into the apron, before targeting the arm with locks, double knees and a hammerlock slam. A brief flurry of offense from Kid, including a jumping enziguri, shotgun dropkick and handspring back elbow, give way to more control by Sitoci – a gut buster and splitlegged moonsault earning a two count.
The damage done to the arm allowed Sitoci to shrug off a second rope crossbody by slapping on a hammerlock, only for Kid to escape and drop him with standing sliced bread. After Kid would fight his way out of a dangerous situation in the corner to hit a Liger bomb for two, Sitoci looked to be close to winning after the snapmare driver, but Aslan would chuck the ringbell into the ring, distracting the referee. This allowed the cornerman to punch Sitoci in the face, knocking him loopy and into position for a small package by Kid that is enough for the three. Kid is often better when wrestling from underneath, and the work on the arm by Sitoci was aggressive enough to make this a very watchable match. In footage also shown from after Kid’s loss to Jay Lethal, Pete Bouncer would tell Kid that he believed Kid was capable of winning the Shotgun title, with or without Aslan in his corner.
The rest of the show was primarily about recapping events of Superstars of Wrestling, as well as building to the next Marquee Event. Having suggested Marius Al-Ani pinning Absolute Andy at SoW might prolong their feud, Andy would request a match against Al-Ani, with Christian Michael Jakobi booking the match. Another segment would also see Toni Storm talking to Tenille Dashwood, with mention of a Facebook message she sent to Dashwood when she was only fourteen years old. Nothing much comes of it, but it is a sweet little scene nonetheless.
More notably, the next wXw Unified Heavyweight Champion contender was revealed to be Alexander James. The Prince of Pro ran his mouth to WALTER early in the show about how he knows he can beat Ilja Dragunov, before Dragunov had an interview moments later that not only celebrated his victory over WALTER, but warned James that he will feel remorse for ever having said a bad word about Dragunov’s family.
Lastly, we were shown footage of Monster Consulting after Jay-FK stole their tag belts, a scene that showed them to be understandably furious. The last moments of the show are given over to a Jay-FK promo video, with the two men cockily lounging around with the belts in hand as the graphic proclaims they are ‘Fresher Than You’. I look forward to seeing them in the ring with this new heel demeanour.
A longer and busier episode of Shotgun, but all the better for it. Key storyline developments, fallout from the big show, and two good (well, one great) matches – can’t really ask for much more. Having seen some big storylines finish, either in the ring or due to other circumstances, I do feel that the promotion is beginning to kick into gear and escape a period of time where things were quite unsettled. The Kid/Aslan tension, James versus Dragunov and the Jay-FK heel turn are all interesting bits of booking that should be fun to watch play out.
