With Broken Rules finally putting to bed the saga of the wXw Unified World Heavyweight Championship, the Road to 18th Anniversary show began with a video in which David Starr challenged Absolute Andy for the gold at the 18th Anniversary event. Just like that, we have our main event, and a viable contender who is yet to win the big gold. Could be a big story if the happy ending plays out, yet Starr can also take a loss without being too hurt.
Another match that was announced for the bigger show was a gauntlet match that will see
The first match on the card continued an ongoing feud as Avalanche took on Alexander James, two men who will feature in the tag team gauntlet. The bigger man held the early control following a big throw out of the corner, an avalanche splash in the corner and a Samoan drop, but James soon began to target the knee after rolling out of a back suplex attempt. This attack on the limb continued when James found himself at ringside as he tripped Avalanche and rammed the leg into the apron. James wasn’t finished with using the ring as he returned later to apply a grapevine around the ringpost.
He ended up going to the well once too often as Avalanche eventually used his tree trunk legs to pull James into the steel, but Avalanche was clearly still feeling the effect of the assault on his knee. A belly to belly and a huge sidewalk slam earned him a two count, before a kick to the leg allowed James to go for a figure four. In getting kicked to the apron, the Prince of Pro hit a beautiful slingshot into a neckbreaker in some unique offense. The two men ended up battling on the turnbuckle, only for Avalanche to backdrop James to the canvas and land the second rope splash for the win. Slow at times, but a popular victory to start the show.
Between the first and second match, we were treated to Emil Sitoci trying to get Avalanche to put on his happy face as the numbers are up at Monster Consulting, whilst Sitoci was also eyeing up a chance to win the tag title for the first time in wXw.
A debut saw Kellyanne take on Kris Wolf, with Allan Pain in Kellyanne’s corner. His initial involvement saw Kellyanne shove Wolf to the floor, but eventually earn herself a bite on the bum. Wolf was equal opportunist with her attack as she bit Pain’s finger after a leg trip as well. This distraction did allow Kellyanne to build some momentum with a clothesline to the outside and a kick off of the apron. Back in the ring, Kellyanne had some fun heel spots including a threatened chop that saw her use an eye poke instead and a bear hug that had Wolf in a spot of trouble.
Another arrogant move, this time a feint of a cannonball that saw Kellyanne just slap Wolf instead saw the momentum swing as Wolf fired up and hit a codebreaker. A wheelbarrow bulldog followed for two, but Pain was again at fault for causing Wolf problems and effectively the match. He tripped Wolf as she was on the top turnbuckle, allowing Kellyanne to drop Wolf face first on the top turnbuckle and hit an aesthetically pleasing cannonball in the corner for three. A big win that – when coupled with Kellyanne’s Australian heritage – earns her a title shot again Toni Storm at 18th Anniversary. Kellyanne did enough to make me interested to see more of her in a wXw ring.
Prior to an anticipated rematch from 16 Carat Gold, Timothy Thatcher and Lucky Kid were shown backstage in different segments. Thatcher offered Veit Muller the chance to be in RINGKAMPF’s corner when they take on British Strong Style at 18th Anniversary, whilst Kid tried to deflect Tommy Giesen’s questions about the impact of Tarkan Aslan on Kid’s focus by stating that he always does his best. Before the two collided, we’d also see Aslan make the claim that he was the mastermind behind RISE all along, rather than pathetic people like John Klinger, Chris Colen or Pete Bouncer, thus the use of the RISE name in the tag gauntlet. The segment ended with Aslan, Da Mack and Marius Al-Ani declaring ‘We are RISE’.
The Thatcher versus Kid match really helped put Lucky on the map in terms of potential as a singles star, so this always looked a good match on paper. Kid managed to avoid an early half Boston attempt, even slapping on a quick schoolboy to show he was capable of matching up with Thatcher in places. However, a wristlock after a modified suplex and a chop/European uppercut exchange put Thatcher firmly in control until Kid upped the pace and hit his double basement dropkicks. No dive feint this time though as he launched himself with a plancha, only to then launch himself back into the ring and straight into a European uppercut. Thatcher began to punish Kid with uppercuts, whilst a big slam and elbowdrop earned him two and a cross armbreaker had Kid struggling for the ropes before a trademark Thatcher Gutwrench suplex.
Kid’s best efforts were to strike a dodge, but a knee cut him off and an attempted grounded clutch was quickly transitioned into a half Boston by Thatcher. A surprise handspring back elbow and Asai DDT kept Thatcher down for two, only for him to shrug off some slaps and absolutely blast Kid with some of his own. Still Kid continued to come, hitting an enziguri, a German suplex and La Mistica into a crossface that had Thatcher scrabbling for the ropes. A scuffle on the turnbuckle ended with Kid nailing the Liger bomb for a nearfall, only to handspring back elbow into a Fujiwara armbar that eventually was turned into a pin for the three count. A hard fought Thatcher win that was another really good showcase for both men.
Coast 2 Coast have been a fun addition to wXw shows in recent months and they headed out of the promotion with a match against Timo Theiss and Norman Harras. Harras, I believe, is a local wrestler, so the fans are not happy when Theiss tags himself in, though he soon tags back out to Harras when Leon St. Giovanni hit a dropkick. This was the order of the contest really, with Theiss and Harras working together, but not cohesively. It was only a blind tag following some C2C offense that allowed Theiss to get into the ring and turn the tide of the bout, but Harras then took an opportunity to tag himself back in after Theiss jawed with him.
The two failed to connect on a double team move, though
In a segment following the previous match, Julian Pace congratulated Harras on his debut, before revealing that it would be himself going against Theiss at 18th Anniversary.
The ongoing RISE saga took some further turns in the next two matches as firstly Marius Al-Ani defended the Shotgun Title against Ivan Kiev, a man whose past with the title made him a credible enough challenger. Kiev also managed to have the best of the early going as he scored two nearfalls with a schoolboy and a springboard crossbody, as well as turning an ankle lock attempt into another dropkick. When Al-Ani did threaten to take control with a dragon screw into the corner, the champion mocked Kiev with the RISE taunt. A more methodical Al-Ani wore Kiev out with a grounded clutch, though another attempt at an ankle lock saw Kiev use his leg strength to send Al-Ani into the turnbuckle.
Kiev’s knee was hurt however, and Al-Ani blasted him with a kick to turn the tide in his favour. Even with the injury, Kiev managed to land a springboard dropkick and a plancha to the outside as he fought off the pain, whilst a Pele kick and a small package saw him score a two count. Kiev landed a codebreaker but missed flip after his kick was caught by Al-Ani, the champion dumping him with an exploder for two. Out of nowhere, Tarkan Aslan gave Al-Ani the belt and he waffled Pete Bouncer and Kiev to draw the disqualification. Aslan grabbed the microphone to proclaim himself the true originator of RISE, whilst challenging Bouncer to get on with their match now. Gamely, but groggily, Bouncer entered the ring and our second RISE versus ‘RISE’ match began.
Aslan attempted to instantly use the belt, only to miss and be sent into the canvas with a slam followed by an elbowdrop. A trip saw Bouncer go face first into the mat, but the referee refused to count on the blatant punch that Aslan used moments later. Ever looking for a way to win, Aslan grabbed at the turnbuckle, though this distraction saw him wander into a sideslam before rolling to ringside. This allowed Al-Ani to give Aslan the knuckle dusters, and although he missed his first swing, a subsequent video from Da Mack on the tron halted Bouncer’s attempt at a double arm DDT and earned him a punch to the face for an Aslan three count. The Al-Ani/Kiev match was the best Kiev match in a while, testament to Al-Ani as champion, whilst the Bouncer/Aslan contest was more about the angle than the in-ring action if truth be told.
A post-match segment that had Bouncer and Kiev come through the curtains to see Lucky Kid also saw the announcement of Kid getting a Shotgun Title match at 18th Anniversary. Bouncer’s confusion would be apparent as RISE are banned from ringside, yet he wasn’t sure who wXw considered to actually be RISE at this point in time.
Prior to a main event match involving him, Absolute Andy spoke with Sebastien Hollmichel about how much of a legend he is, only to be cut off by David Starr. A pretty humorous promo followed as Starr threw Andy’s show away, before promising to truly make the wXw Unified World Heavyweight Title a world belt, something Andy doesn’t do. To finish, Andy made it clear that his new target was on the chest of Starr.
The main event saw Ilja Dragunov and the Arrows of Hungary face off against Absolute Andy and JayFK. The heels naturally jumped the faces prior to the bell, with Dragunov getting the brunt of some early triple teaming including a superkick DVD combo from JayFK. The Arrows tried to save their partner, but were dropped with an Andy double clothesline and successive suplexes as the main man showed off his prowess. It ended up being Dragunov who managed to get his team a foothold in the contest as a backflip into the ring built momentum for a double clothesline on JayFK.
The match finally officially begun at that point as Jay Skillet ended up being isolated from his team, getting hit with the Arrow’s trademark assisted cannonball. It was Francis Kaspin on the apron who managed to halt the Arrows; an illegal shoulder charge left Dover in trouble. The heel triumvirate bullied Dover for an extended period of time, until a fallaway slam allowed him to make the hot tag to Icarus. His first offense was to take out Skiller and Kaspin with a suplex and spinning forearm successively, only to get caught on the top by Andy and dropped with a belly to belly suplex.
Icarus received similar treatment to that which Dover had been subjected, though this time it was a double dropkick from the second rope to JayFK that allowed him to tag in Dragunov. Many myriad lariats follow, but Dragunov soon needed Dover as he was planted with an Andy F5. Andy and Dragunov ended up on their own in the ring as they traded strikes, before a sequence of top turnbuckle reversals led to Dragunov clotheslining both members of JayFK out of the ring in order for Dover and Icarus to land a cannonball senton and moonsault press respectively. Andy threatened with another F5 attempt, but it was reversed and Dragunov hit the Torpedo Moscow for the pin. Surprised Andy did the job here, but a fun, fast paced main event that sent the crowd home happy.
To finish, two more segments hyped up action at 18th Anniversary. A video with Toni Storm and Kellyanne played up the seven years they had known each other, with Kellyanne stating she was only here to win the title. David Starr and Ilja Dragunov exchanged pleasantries before the face to credits, with Starr promising Dragunov a shot at the title when he wins it.
Whilst perhaps a step down from the quality of their Marquee Events, there was enough good action and storyline development to make this a worthwhile watch. It lacked that really killer match, but Thatcher and Kid delivered once more, as well as a pretty decent Shotgun Title match and main event along the way.
