By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
With four strong events in the books, wXw closed out their World Tag Team League stretch of shows with the third, in which we would see whether Monster Consulting were able to retain their titles, as well as if RINGKAMPF could pick up the second successive victory in the tournament.
Speaking of RINGKAMPF, it would be they who opened the show against Okami, a match that felt designed for the big exchanges between WALTER and both Daichi Hashimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani. It would be Kamitani in particular who went to battle against WALTER with shoulderblocks, before an attempted slam failed in order to lead nicely into the eventual slam of WALTER that sees Kamitani collapse to the canvas due to the exertion. Timothy Thatcher would get in on the strike exchanges, losing out to Hashimoto’s kicks and getting a double suplex and double kick from Okami for his trouble. The high/low combination of strikes on Thatcher has to be broken up by WALTER, though it is Kamitani who eventually ends up in trouble. A shotgun dropkick, powerbomb and Euro uppercut/powerbomb combination wear him down, whilst a lariat by WALTER finishes the contest. Okami are out, whilst RINGKAMPF will need to see what happens on the rest of the show to see whether they’ll qualify for the final.
They wouldn’t have to wait long as CCK met the Lucha Bros, with CCK qualifying for the final with a victory. Jonathan Gresham is a brave man as he mocks Penta El Zero M, whilst the Lucha Bros show nifty initial tag teamwork with a flipping cannonball into both members of CCK. Unsurprisingly, this match doesn’t let up in terms of pace as all four men have their chance to shine. Chris Brookes landed a senton to the back of Fenix whilst also connecting with a dropkick on Penta, before CCK hit the Sick Fucking Tag Move for two. A combination of half nelson suplex, poison rana, praying mantis bomb and shooting star press by CCK should be enough for the win, but Fenix comes off of the top to break the pin at two. The ridiculous moves continues as a Canadian destroyer by Penta sees him caught with a Gresham shooting star press as he lands. It is the shooting star press that eventually puts the match to bed as a springboard ace cutter on Penta saw Gresham take out Fenix first with a cannonball senton to the outside before the press puts them into the final and eliminated RINGKAMPF!
A break in the tournament allows us to see some more action with the women from the Femmes Fatales tournament as LuFisto took on Wesna. LuFisto gets the better of the early exchanges after avoiding a charge into the corner, but a shoulderblock, big boot and slap ends up sending her to the outside. The fans would help Wesna by holding LuFisto in place for a chop, but LuFisto fought back by nailing Wesna with a dropkick as she sat on a chair. LuFisto would cleverly target the back of Wesna, using strikes as well as submissions to wear down her opponent. A clothesline gave Wesna a route back into the match and she would get two after an exploder suplex. LuFisto managed to hit a side suplex and a cannonball after once more avoiding a charge, but she would get caught on the top rope and dumped with a DVD for a Wesna victory. A surprise that Wesna went over, though she is the more immediately likely of the two in terms of future wXw bookings you would feel.
With CCK waiting in the final, Aussie Open almost qualified within seconds as they almost steamrollered JayFK with the sliding forearm and assisted ace crusher, only for Francis Kaspin to pull the referee out at two. Aussie Open would almost hit the fidget spinner within the opening minute as well, but JayFK managed to avoid it as Kaspin used a chop block. This led to Fletcher getting isolated in the heel corner, with the closest attempt to get a tag seeing Kaspin pull Mark Davis off of the apron before the tag could be made, with a repeat of the spot later on seeing Kaspin getting a punch to the face for his troubles, but Aussie Open not able to get the tag. A Michinoku driver finally allows Fletcher to get to his partner, and Davis cleans house with punches and chops, as well as a double slam on the members of JayFK. However, in echoes of what occurred the night before, Kaspin hit a low blow with the referee out of position, and a helping hand from Skillet allowed JayFK to pick up their second win and a spot in the final if Monster Consulting lost the next match.
Team SPLX were without a victory so far, but were a dangerous team as evidenced by Cobb and Avalanche’s mid-ring collision to begin the contest that saw both men tag out immediately afterwards. Julian Nero and Angelico would trade holds, before a second encounter between Avalanche and Cobb had Avalanche come out on top, leading to a double shoulderbreaker and the knee/splash combination. An Avalanche slam and splash scored a two count, yet Angelico would turn the tide by peppering Nero with kicks that led to a Cobb standing moonsault and the suplex/crossbody double team by SPLX. As things became increasingly desperate, both teams came close to winning – Final Consultation and Ripcord lariat for MC, Doomsday kneedrop and Tour of the Islands for SPLX – but would have the pins broken up. Angelico would escape a second Final Consultation, avoiding a Nero kick that collided with Avalanche, before utilising a cradle for the three count. Not only were Consulting eliminated, but they would lose their tag team titles in the process; JayFK had surprisingly made the final!
The World Tag Team League wasn’t the only thing coming to an end this night as the final Dirty Dragan Trial Series match took place, with the threat that Dragan would leave wXw if he lost hanging over it. After the attack the previous night, it was Dragan teaming with Emil Sitoci against Jurn Simmons and Alexander James. After footage is shown of Sitoci, Dragan and Sebastian Hollmichel hanging backstage, Dragan would come from the crowd to begin the contest by whipping James and Simmons with a belt as payback for the previous evening. As Dragan was dropped with a double shoulderbreaker, Sitoci would make his presence known with a double clothesline that saw him leap over the top rope in the process. Sitoci was on fire for much of this match, hitting a rana on James, a tiltawhirl DDT on Simmons, and a snapmare driver on James before a massive kick and piledriver by Simmons halted his momentum.
When the bell actually rung, Dragan landed a massive kick and came close to grabbing the three count within the opening seconds. He would get successive nearfalls with flash cradles, whilst the referee being out of position when Simmons grabbed a belt saw Dragan score two after a low blow and a piledriver. Once more, Sitoci would come to his friend’s aid as a double top rope crossbody saved Dragan after James had pushed him off the top rope. Sitoci landed a split legged moonsault and top rope elbowdrop on James, as well as a spinning tombstone on Simmons, which set him up for a Dragan Superfly splash. It appeared as if Dragan had won the contest, but James put Simmons foot on the rope. As the match was restarted, Simmons nailed a Massive kick for the victory and the end of Dragan in wXw, or so it would appear.
The big grudge match for this evening was Lucky Kid taking on Tarkan Aslan, and they would initially reverse several moves to really highlight how well they knew each other. After teeing off with forearms to the face, a dropkick to the chest put Kid in control, landing the basement dropkicks and adding some middle fingers to his dive feint. Aslan would grab Kid’s leg to pull him to ringside, sending him into the ringpost twice and slamming him on the floor for good measure. Back in the ring, a punch and an arrogant pin would only get Aslan two, whilst Kid landing on a German suplex would eventually see him hit an Asai DDT for two.
Marius Al-Ani would try and get involved, only to initially whiff on hitting Kid with the Shotgun Title. He did catch him as Kid went for the handspring back elbow, but Aslan was unable to put Kid away with the DVD. As Al-Ani distracted the referee for Aslan to grab the belt, it was revealed that Pete Bouncer and Ivan Kiev were both down at ringside. Bouncer would take the belt from Aslan and end up hitting Al-Ani, allowing Kid to grab the win with a dragon suplex and a crossface for the submission. Though Kid has defeated Aslan, you have to feel there is more to this storyline in the future.
The final match of the whole shebang would see new wXw Tag Team Champions as JayFK, sporting a new look of silver-sprayed hair and predominantly white trunks, faced off against CCK. Not breaking a habit of a lifetime, JayFK would jump CCK before the bell officially rung, taking the brawl into the crowd. Chris Brookes would end up putting a single leg Boston crab and an STF on Jay Skillet in amongst the fans, with Gresham also utilising the single leg Boston on Francis Kaspin. Skillet and Jonathan Gresham used to be wXw Tag Team Champions, and it is Skillet’s refusal to get into the ring with Gresham that means Kaspin and Brookes are able to utilise chairs with impunity, before Brookes was dropped with a brutal spinning slam by Kaspin on the rampway. After Gresham landed a moonsault on both members of JayFK, the match would officially begin as all four men crawled into the ring.
CCK would initially take control after Kaspin hit Skillet with a spear by mistake, including an ankle lock by Gresham following a Lionsault, as well as a bridging German suplex for two. Kaspin would then be sent into a springboard ace crusher by Brookes after Gresham kicked out of a roll-up, with both members of JayFK locked in an octopus hold moments later. JayFK would use their tag team offense to fight back, landing a neckbreaker splash combination, following up with a kick/death valley driver, spear/clothesline and lungblower/double foot stomp as they punished Brookes in particular. After a senton coupled with a dropkick saw Brookes wipe out JayFK in one move, the finishing sequences from earlier in the night would both be kicked out of as it became clear that something more was needed.
The ref would end up getting bumped, allowing a low blow on Brookes and a chairshot on Gresham to go unpunished. However, Gresham was able to kick out of the pin that followed the resulting superkick/DVD double team. At this point, Brookes was effectively kept out of the ring, and although Gresham kept kicking out of superkicks, a uranage backcracker combination was enough for the three count and would see JayFK crowned the new wXw World Tag Team Champions!
A fitting way to end an excellent sequence of events as JayFK score the huge upset in winning the World Tag Team League and the gold. As one of the best gimmicks in the promotion at the moment, it was also a well-deserved victory. The lengths JayFK will be willing to go to in order to keep the titles around their waist should be great to follow as we head towards the end of the year.
As a run of shows, all five had something to offer. The wrestling was strong across all shows, but wXw also delivered on the big moments. Simmons versus Starr, Ilja against Gunns for the atmosphere as much as anything else, the crowning of JayFK and the Meiko Satomura victory were all great in and of themselves; that they came show after show after show just showcased the strength of the promotion and its booking.
