By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
wXw We Love Wrestling Frankfurt (21.4.18)
The fun of following wXw as a promotion is that not all events feel like they share parity in terms of overall importance. This may seem like an odd compliment to make, but it means that at times, an event such as this Feature Event on wXw Now will showcase different talents than what you might see at 16 Carat or one of the other big name events. Whilst we have no wXw Unified World Title match here, or big gimmick match like the TLC from True Colors, there is a lot for the wrestling fan to enjoy. There is no WALTER, but you get a main event of Lucky Kid versus Zack Sabre Jr. No Toni Storm, but it allows Melanie Gray a chance to fight once more with Killer Kelly. Jay-FK are absent, but we get to see the Arrows of Hungary take on Monster Consulting for the belts instead. So on and so forth. It feels fresh.
Pre-main event, it is Pete Bouncer, joined by Ivan Kiev, who challenges Da Mack to a one on one contest – alongside telling the crowd that they are all RISE – prior to introducing Lucky Kid for his contest against Zack Sabre Jr. It is a huge vote of confidence by the promotion to have Lucky Kid in such a high profile match, and the first half of the contest plays off of the difference in the wrestling styles of both men. Sabre Jr. is his usual arrogant self, whilst Kid frustrated the relative veteran with his usual range of odd behaviour. The two men end up trading seated kicks in a spot that showcased just how much power Sabre Jr. can still get with a flat foot to the chest, but as one fan calls out ‘boring’ and gets called a ‘cunt’ by Sabre Jr. moments later, things had been arguably a little slow in getting going.
That epithet aimed at an audience member seemed to be the spark to light the match on fire, as the stretch after that is excellent work by both men. With his schtick largely out of the way, Kid is able to show what he is capable of, blasting Sabre Jr. with a shotgun dropkick before a missile dropkick earned him a two count, whilst he is equally as capable as Sabre Jr. with his strikes as the man from the Isle of Sheppy crumpled to the canvas after an overhand strike to the chest. The transitions in a Sabre Jr. contest are often beautiful, which we see with a Tornado DDT into butterfly submission, before a handspring elbow landed Kid in a dragon sleeper for another seamless sequence.
Not just a showcase for both men, we get some story development after Kid managed to survive a PK attempt, as Kid threw away a pair of brass knuckles that were handed to him by Tarkan Aslan. What followed are a sequence of nearfalls by Kid that included a small package that had me biting on the finish. It is Kid who pushed the pace as the match reached its conclusion, nailing an Asai DDT and turning an armbar into a sitout bomb. However, Sabre Jr. made his name in wXw and continued a successful 2018 as he is thrust back in the promotion’s spotlight by using a stretch (including holding a leg, half a straitjacket choke and elbows to the stomach) to make Kid pass out for the win. Afterwards, Zack told the crowd he is back, so expect more Sabre Jr. in wXw going forward. Eventually, a very good match, even if it took a while to get going.
Bobby Gunns’ defense of the Shotgun Title versus Mark Davis was always likely to be different then recent matches against Mike Bailey and Julian Pace, with it naturally centring on Gunns’ ability to avoid the bombs thrown by his challenger long enough to wear him down. The first strike of the match sent Gunns not only to the canvas, but fleeing to ringside to reinforce how dangerous Davis was on offense, whilst an abdominal stretch was escaped from with ease by the big Aussie. Sticking and moving was the name of the game for Gunns, as he caught Davis with the arm lock in the ropes, before targeting the elbow and the thumb with strikes and joint manipulation aplenty. The decision to try and trade with Davis failed miserably, with Gunns instead getting wiped out with a huge discus lariat.
Gunns’ submission offense was liable to be ineffective at points during the contest, as Davis powered his way out of an armbar and turned it into a buckle bomb, leading to the sliding corner forearm for two. It would be the guillotine choke that Gunns turned to in order to try and slow his man down, even reversing an attempted Close Your Eyes And Count To Fuck into an armbar followed by a choke. Gunns would use the momentum of the ropes to hit an impressive German suplex, though a big lariat from Davis almost threatened to stop any and all momentum for the champion. The two men ended up on the top, with Gunns landing a superplex for two, before a leap into a leg and arm submission was enough to get the tap out and retain his title. The finish was a bit sloppy in execution, but the match before played off of the strengths of both men well enough. Perhaps a surprise victory as some had tipped this to be the match where Gunns loses the Shotgun Title, but he lives to fight another day as champ.
The first televised defense of the wXw World Tag Team Titles for Monster Consulting saw them take on the weirdly attired (at least upon entering) Arrows of Hungary. The opening exchange told a decent story of Avalanche chucking Icarus around with ease, only for Dover to drag the big man to the outside and for the challengers to send him into the ringstep shoulder first, playing off an old injury for Dreissker. This allowed some sustained pressure from the Arrows, with Dover landing a salto suplex as well as back body dropping his own team mate in some unorthodox offense. When Nero was able to reach the corner, Avalanche was still out of position. The unique double teaming by the Arrows continued with a T-bone suplex followed by an Irish whip for extra venom on the Icarus corner cannonball.
This all built nicely to the eventual hot tag after Nero hit double knees off of the second rope, with Avalanche coming in with a big Samoan drop and Consulting nailing Dover with the sidewinder, only for the pinfall to be broken up by a Swanton by Icarus. The Arrows were still competitive to the last: an Air Raid Crash almost earned them the victory, whilst Icarus showed off his aerial manoeuvres with a moonsault to the outside. However, a miscommunication saw Icarus land a springboard kick to Dover by mistake, setting things up for the assisted Go 2 Sleep and the ripcord lariat for a three count. An obvious result, but one that was at least made more engaging by the clever work of the challengers early on.
A pre-match promo by Melanie Gray about being a veteran is followed up by a sneak attack that any heel would have been proud of as she jumped Killer Kelly in the corner. This sparked a brawl that was harder hitting than any of the wXw matches from the Women’s Division this year, and much the better for it. A tease of a forfeit was cut off by Kelly’s return to the ring, whilst the fight ended up at ringside and in amongst the chairs moments later as Gray ended up missing a cannonball into the metal. A reversal of an Irish whip into the apron allowed Gray to press home her advantage from the damage caused earlier on, with a side effect earning her a two count.
Kelly used a fisherman suplex almost as a hope spot, yet as she caught Gray with a cravat, was able to blast her with several knees. This lead to the Cristiano kick off of the apron, only for Kelly to get caught at ringside with a suplex onto the metal ramp and the Melodram. It is the wear and tear from the attack that costs Kelly in the long run, alongside a decision to go high risk – after knocking Gray off of the top with a kick, Kelly herself was caught on the top rope, dropped with a powerbomb and submitted with the Melodram. A heated match that puts Gray back near the top of the Women’s Division, whilst Kelly continues to improve.
When Emil Sitoci came up with the Dirty Dragan Trial Series, Dragan probably wasn’t expecting his first opponent to be Absolute Andy. Andy has no time for Dragan, offering him to lay down so as not to get hurt. Dragan kicked away a handshake and landed several strikes, but an Irish whip doesn’t work and Dragan ended up flying over the top rope to the floor. Andy just bullied Dragan from then on out, though an F5 is reversed into a roll-up, only for Dragan to run straight back into a big spinebuster to lose momentum once again. Dragan also landed a DDT after escaping the A Klasse, but two clotheslines aren’t enough to drop Andy, halting Dragan with the F5 to secure the victory. The 16 Carat winner also had an F5 ready for Sitoci, who came down to look after his friend. A match that was all about showing Dragan has an uphill battle to win anything out of the series.
The opening match saw two men who could do with a win, David Starr and Marius Al-Ani, in a four way contest including Ivan Kiev and Emil Sitoci. The lack of tags allowed for the usual reversals, double teaming and multi-man spots, including a headlock chain with Starr at the front. It was Al-Ani who would get the first real showcase, taking out Sitoci with a step-up elbow and Kiev with a hipblock takedown, before a sequence of dives saw Sitoci land a pescado, Starr a suicide dive and Kiev a cannonball. Al-Ani grabbed a short lived ankle lock on Sitoci, only to get sent into a Cherrymint DDT from Starr. Impressively, Sitoci was able to catch Starr mid-crossbody, dump him with a gutbuster and a split legged moonsault. Near finishes followed as Kiev hit a top rope leg lariat on Al-Ani, Starr nailed a Blackeart Buster on Kiev, and a powerbomb/back superplex spot saw Sitoci almost take advantage with a top rope elbowdrop. In the end, it is the guy who needed the win the most, Al-Ani, who closed things out with an anklelock on Kiev. A fun opener with the right result, even if I’m still not the highest on Al-Ani.
Alexander James’ request for the biggest opportunity doesn’t play out quite as he would have hoped, with an injury to Ilja Dragunov meaning he is unable to compete. However, calling the wXw champion’s son a ‘bastard’ is always going to get the Russian riled up, so he does indeed hit the ring. Two referees kept Dragunov way from a goading James, only until the Prince of Pro went for his bow and was wiped out with a Torpedo Moscow. Considering his inability to perform, this was a simple enough segment to give people a chance to cheer the champ.
The show as a whole felt fun, without being too po-faced or heavily storyline driven in the process. The main event and the women’s match were the two main highlights, yet no match really disappointed, whilst wXw haven’t had to force storylines such as WALTER versus Ilja Dragunov onto the card and burn through them for no reason. A good placeholder with enough to make it worth a watch.
