Inner Circle is the wXw show that sparks the whole 16 Carat Gold weekend into life. Held at the wXw Academy, it is about as intimate a venue as you can get for a promotion of wXw’s size. The show often is a fun introduction to a number of talents who will be on the 16 Carat shows, as well as a show that feels somewhat outside of cannon, thus allowing the booking to be a little more flexible.
David Starr versus Jay Skillet
Part of the appeal of Inner Circle is that you get a number of ‘fun on paper’ match ups that wouldn’t otherwise fly on a wXw Marquee Event. This is a perfect example as Starr and Skillet would rarely have need to cross paths in their respective positions, but here they are. Skillet channels his inner Memphis heel and refuses to initially engage; it took Starr suckering him in before they truly got going. Schürrle chants were loud and proud as Skillet managed to turn the tide with a whip that sent Starr throat first into the middle rope. His control was short lived after a novel back suplex into backbreaker, though Skillet did almost steal the win with a Schürrle kick (his call) and a brainbuster. However, he soon charged into a Han Stansen that set up for a brutal looking powerbomb backbreaker to give Starr the win. Fun opening contest and Starr is all set for WALTER on Night One of 16 Carat.
Avalanche versus Chris Brookes versus Francis Kaspin versus Julian Pace
With three faces and one heel, Kaspin’s initial idea to try to get some help from someone is unsurprisingly futile. After some initial back and forth, we get the usual trading of big moves that we expect from a four way match: Brookes hit a back senton on Kaspin; a big spinebuster by Avalanche on Brookes, Pace with a swinging DDT on Avalanche and swanton bomb dive to the outside that hits everyone. With four men in the ring, some unique spots are possible and Brookes slingshot Pace into Kaspin’s nuts in one particular sequence. After Pace’s high flying, we saw Avalanche’s power as Pace bounced off him with a top rope crossbody and Kaspin’s sneaky ways as he almost took advantage of a Pace neckbreaker on Brookes. Pace used a moonsault to break up an Avalanche pinfall, only to fall victim to a slingshot cutter by Brookes before Kaspin was downed with a praying mantis bomb. Nothing special but a decent enough showcase for all four men.
Jurn Simmons versus Kyle Fletcher
Having not seen much of Fletcher since he has become a ‘heavyweight’, the opening exchanges with Simmons were a lot of fun as he took Massive down with a succession of shoulder barges and even won a battle over a suplex. Unfortunately for Fletcher, the real big man in the match soon took over with a slam that saw him throw Fletcher across the ring, before landing a Massive kick for good measure. A gutwrench powerbomb by Simmons drilled Fletcher into the canvas, but was only good for two. An impressive feat of strength had Fletcher pick up a two count following a Liger bomb, only for Simmons to land a low blow after a near collision with the referee to set up for the piledriver and the victory. Simmons needed the win heading into 16 Carat, whilst the crowd’s response to both men created a good atmosphere.
Mark Davis versus Ilja Dragunov
The crowd remained heated as the two men began by trading holds on the ground to an eventual stalemate. Inevitably, this gave way to more high powered offense, including a block by Dragunov leaving him open to a high five from Davis and Dragunov absolutely leathering Davis with a Molotov chop that reverberated around the room. Davis gave some measure of retaliation with a crushing senton moments later, before several sequences saw the two men trade strikes and Dragunov sell brilliantly for some brutal Davis’ chops. A Saito suplex dumped Davis hard on his head, but he still managed to work his way into a position for two attempts at Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck. Both were unsuccessful, with the second seeing Dragunov then hit a DVD into the turnbuckle, a top rope senton and the Torpedo Moscow for the win. A good match that felt like they weren’t holding too much back considering how important the rest of the weekend will be.
Yuu versus Killer Kelly
Early hold trading was accompanied by some dubious singing from the crowd. It was Yuu who hit the first real move in anger with a spinning sidewalk slam, though a running knee and cravat knees helped Kelly find her way into the contest. A missed kick in the corner allowed Yuu to land a slam and a hit a John Woo dropkick, before catching two errant swings from Yuu led to double underhook headbutts, a butterfly suplex into the corner and Shades of Shibata. Kelly managed to fight her way out of a Tazzmission en route to a victory via a rolling DVD, yet the match felt a step down from some of the other action tonight, especially when compared to the previous encounter.
RINGKAMPF versus Shigehiro Irie and Yuki Ishikawa
Add another match to the ‘fun on paper’ list as we received a match that you didn’t know you wanted as the Japanese imports, including the 52 year old Ishikawa, took on RINGKAMPF. It is worth noting how over Thatcher was with the crowd, though he was often outwrestled in the early exchanges by Ishikawa. Ishikawa also didn’t back down much from WALTER, whilst Irie managed to drop the Austrian with a big slam after several mid-ring collisions. Irie proved he was no slouch on the mat either as he went toe to toe with Thatcher at times, before mounting WALTER in order to trade chops. Even when it looked like RINGKAMPF had isolated Ishikawa, he was able to fight back and trade submissions with Thatcher.
A Thatcher belly to belly on Irie finally put RINGKAMPF in decisive control, especially when WALTER attacked Ishikawa on the apron to mixed reaction from the crowd. After a Saito-style suplex by WALTER, it took a Beast Bomber clothesline to allow Irie to make the tag to Ishikawa. Thatcher would get the worst of some Ishikawa submission offense until WALTER chopped the old man to break the hold, before Irie nailed a snap cannonball into the corner, but was eventually downed with a seated armbar by Thatcher as RINGKAMPF were victorious.
A strong match to finish and a hard workout for both teams. Ishikawa definitely isn’t phoning in this weekend and RINGKAMPF have momentum going into the tournament.
Inner Circle was a good, no-nonsense offering from wXw that helped to whet the appetite for 16 Carat. All the matches were at least watchable; Davis versus Dragunov and the main event were particularly good.
