By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
As if looking to make up for the break that they took in the summer, wXw has been allowing its fans to gorge on some of the most packed episodes of Shotgun seen this year ever since they returned at the end of July. They used this hour wisely as always: building up ongoing storylines, pointing the way towards future developments and offering us some really solid in ring action. Most notably, the spectre of the new alliance between Marius Al-Ani and Tarkan Aslan loomed large over the show.
The World Tag League was the overarching interest for the non-title main event between RINGKAMPF and Monster Consulting, though the arrogant arrival of JayFK would quickly turn it into a triple threat contest. Jay Skillet and Francis Kaspin’s ability to avoid conflict actually saw the two WTL entrants go head to head for the bulk of the contest, with Avalanche in particular feeling the brunt WALTER and Timothy Thatcher’s ire. A Boston crab, a big slam by WALTER, and a combination bow and arrow/stomp had the tag champion in trouble, yet it would be Kaspin who almost stole the victory with a blind tag as WALTER hit a vertical splash. After a double clothesline by Avalanche allowed Julian Nero to enter and utilise his five punches on Thatcher, it would be Skillet this time who tried to steal the win with another blind tag following a basement crossbody by Avalanche.
Skillet and Kaspin didn’t want to engage until a chop block after WALTER caught Skillet coming out of the air allowed them to build up some momentum as they sought to isolate Nero with strikes and quick tags. Eventually, a dropkick off of the second rope led to the hot tag to Avalanche, with the tag champions coming close to winning with a Boulderdash by Avalanche and the assisted Go2Sleep on WALTER. However, it would be RINGKAMPF who came out on top as both members of JayFK were dropped with powerbomb/European uppercut combinations, Kaspin taking the pinfall loss. Post-match, RINGKAMPF would hand the belts back to Monster Consulting, but you have to imagine that with Thatcher back in the picture, RINGKAMPF are in prime position to take the titles during the World Tag League.
You’d believe Millie McKenzie would be glad to see the back of Alpha Female after a third week saw the beast attack the youngster from Coventry, but after a contest between Melanie Gray and McKenzie was thrown out due an attack by Female on both wrestlers, Grey and McKenzie would form a tentative alliance backstage. The match itself had seemingly been heading towards a McKenzie victory as she was able to fight back from a drop toehold to the bottom turnbuckle, a curb stomp variation and a rolling Samoan drop to land an ace crusher and three German suplexes. Unfrotunately, Female would make her presence known with a German suplex of her own on McKenzie and a back suplex on Grey. With a brief interview with Thommy Giesen indicating Female’s belief that the Women’s Division isn’t ready for her, the alliance between Grey and McKenzie might not be the worst idea.
The opening match of the show was one that saw Jurn Simmons in his first singles match back from injury. His opponent was Koray, a wrestler who was never trly coing to challenge Simmons, though he would manage to come close to scoring the huge upset with a second rope blockbuster after Simmons had spent the early exchanges beating him around in a derisory fashion. Sensing the need to finish things before a mistake cost him the contest, a Simmons trip and elbow to the back set up for the Rings of Saturn and an easy submission victory. With a David Starr promo later on in the show – in which Starr was happy that Simmons had returned healthy as it allowed him to beat the crap out of the ‘Massive’ one – leading to the announcement of a Last Man Standing match in Oberhausen, it was perhaps surprising that Emil Sitoci came down to ward off a post-match attack on Koray. After commenting that he has a bigger stick than Simmons, Sitoci offered Simmons out for a match further down the line.
Outside of the ring, this show belonged to Tarkan Aslan. Having accompanied Marius Al-Ani as the new Shotgun champion jumped Bobby Gunns mid-promo, a promo that had called into question the ‘bullshit’ that Al-Ani had brought to his title challenge, Aslan would lay out a list of all the people that Al-Ani and himself had ‘killed’. This prompted the arrival of RISE to challenge Aslan and his ‘tattooed girlfriend’, a match that would be booked for next week’s Shotgun. To finish the show, Aslan would have one more input as a pull apart saw Ivan Kiev, Pete Bouncer, Al-Ani and Aslan almost come to blows, though they would be kept apart by Christian Michael Jakobi and several other members of the crew.
However, it was the middle part of the show, which saw Aslan sit down with Giesen that was one of the highlights of the episode. It would not only allow Aslan to develop his reasons for turning on RISE, but it also showcased him in a manner that a newer fan of the promotion might not have seen since his time spent in the background Lucky Kid’s manager. With Giesen ably taking Aslan through his past in the promotion from RISE’s inception to current day, Aslan spoke about his experiences at each step. When RISE formed, it was beautiful in Aslan’s eyes, but as changes occurred and conflict threatened to spark out of control, Aslan decided that it was time to decide whether to sink with the others or become the predator.
Turning to his past with Lucky Kid, Aslan mentioned how he managed overcome a broken back to win titles everywhere alongside Kid, someone who was a kindred spirit in terms of his willingness to work. After focusing on the injury that almost forced Aslan’s retirement, Giesen would ask whether the betrayal of Kid hurt Aslan. To Aslan, words are just words, and he would dub Kid ‘ungrateful’, before reminding Giesen that he wasn’t there to shake hands or kiss babies, he was there to hunt. Briefly, Aslan would talk about Marius Al Ani, proclaiming that he is like Kid in terms of his drive, but ten times better, though this would draw the interview to a close as Aslan stated they’d talk more about Al-Ani when the champion was with them.
It speaks to how much action there was throughout the show that the wXw Unified Heavyweight Champion’s promo wasn’t a significant focus of this episode. However, Absolute Andy was his usual charming self, calling himself the ‘God Emperor of wrestling’ and showing off his technical skills on a jobber called Baris as well as attacking Sebastian Hollmichel before the segment cut. Theoretically, this was Andy showing Zack Sabre Jr. what he was capable of, though it was mostly about Andy throwing his proverbial weight around. Having been absent last week, Ilja Dragunov responded to his loss to Andy in an interview with Giesen. Notably, Dragunov would place the blame for the loss at his own feet, rather than give Andy the credit for his downfall. The two men will meet in Oberhausen, no matter what the outcome of Sabre Jr.’s title shot the night before in a match that will be highly anticipated.
Finally, segments would see Sebastian Hollmichel and Dirty Dragan discuss Dragan’s recent therapy sessions, sessions that have allowed the Serb to accept his weaknesses whilst leaving him in a position to try and improve as a wrestler, as well as Veit Muller challenging Doug Williams to a match, a challenge thrown out as much as a mark of respect for Williams’ legacy than any heat between the two.
The Fan Appreciation Nights are beginning to build up and look like stellar Marquee Events once more:
Hamburg 31st August
Absolute Andy © vs Zack Sabre Jr. for the wXw Unified World Title
Marius Al-Ani © vs Bobby Gunns for the wXw Shotgun Title
Doug Williams vs Veit Muller
Kris Wolf and Millie McKenzie vs Killer Kelly and Toni Storm
Oberhausen 1st September
Absolute Andy vs Ilja Dragunov (will happen even if Zack Sabre Jr. wins the wXw Unified Title the night before)
Jurn Simmons vs David Starr in a Last Man Standing match
Doug Williams vs Fred Yehi
Melanie Grey vs Killer Kelly vs Kris Wolf vs Millie McKenzie
