By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
wXw promised us an XXL Shotgun, and that was exactly what we got. With a main event that saw the one night reformation of Cerberus, alongside Doug Williams challenging Marius Al-Ani for the wXw Shotgun Title, as well as Tarkan Aslan and Lucky Kid coming face to face, the show was packed to the gills full of exciting wrestling content.
Coming off of the back of an interview with Christian Michael Jakobi in which Absolute Andy complained about scoliosis (and the surgery he might need when he was soon thirty…), Jakobi would book JayFK to do the heavy lifting for him in a six man against Ilja Dragunov and Monster Consulting. Following a segment where the former Cerberus members would have a brief reminisce, whilst also being aware that they were better since the trio had dissolved, their reunion would begin with Dragunov nailing Andy with a Torpedo Moscow that sparked a pier-six brawl in and around the ring. JayFK would save Andy from another Torpedo Moscow shortly afterwards, though he wouldn’t be so helpful after ducking out of a triple suplex on the stage that saw both Francis Kaspin and Jay Skillet take a nasty bump on the floor. The former partners would be in complete control of Skillet, showcasing standard Consulting combinations like the kneedrop big splash, though also harkening back to the older days as Dragunov and Nero hit a senton/kneedrop simultaneously on Skillet.
Having tried to introduce a title to the fight earlier, Skillet would hit Avalanche with one whilst Andy had distracted the official with an attack on Dragunov. The heels would do an effective job of keeping Avalanche in the corner, whilst also mocking his partners in ways that kept the official busy. Unfortunately for Skillet, an attempted crossbody saw him bounce off of the larger man, leading to a tag to Dragunov that saw the official effectively lose complete control. A pumphandle powerbomb by Dragunov scored a nearfall, whilst a Wasteland by Nero set up a top rope senton. It would be Andy who halted Dragunov most effectively, stopping a dive to the outside with a top rope throw instead. With Consulting and JayFK dealing with each other, Dragunov and Andy had their chance to throw bombs, including an F5 that only scored a two. Finally, JayFK would be thrown out of the ring, allowing a Final Consultation and a Torpedo Moscow to put Andy down long enough for a Dragunov pin. A hectic six man contest, showcasing that Dragunov more than has it in him to defeat the wXw Unified Champion.
The show wouldn’t finish with the main event though, as Lucky Kid would come out to call out Tarkan Aslan. Having told Pete Bouncer and Ivan Kiev to not come to the ring due to the personal nature of the conflict, Kid would be blindsided by Aslan as he was distracted by Marius Al-Ani. The same brass knuckles that won the match for Aslan and Al-Ani at Fan were used, whilst Aslan would be in a position to try and break Kid mentally, something he had spoken earlier in the show about doing. Whilst he suggested that Kid had been the start of RISE, this – to Aslan – effectively represented the end of RISE. With Al-Ani starting a new era of success, Aslan just doesn’t need Kid anymore, and neither do the fans. Aslan leaves the fans by stating that if you break someone, they won’t get up again.
Speaking of Al-Ani, he would defend the Shotgun Title against Doug Williams earlier in the show. A competitive outing, it would start off with some grappling as both men worked for control, control that Williams maintained several times with a simple side headlock takedown. Al-Ani’s first way in saw him telegraph a back body drop with a kick, nail a dropkick to the knee and hit his pop-up elbow, yet Williams fired back mere seconds later with an atomic drop and a jumping shoulder tackle. A dropkick halted the challenger’s fire as Al-Ani then tries to use a chinlock to wear Williams down, whilst also stopping a headbutt/Euro uppercut onslaught with his schoolboy into nipup Pele kick. Al-Ani managed to fight off an attempt a T-bone suplex, but Williams just used an overhead belly to belly instead, before a jumping back elbow and a top rope European uppercut scored a nearfall. Williams also managed to reverse the nipup T-bone suplex into one of his own, but a Chaos Theory was blocked, and a Bomb Scare Kneedrop attempt saw him crotched on the top. A superplex and frog splash were enough for the Al-Ani victory, but it wasn’t easy and was a strong outing for both men.
During the contest, it would be announced that Alpha Female had been suspended for putting her hands on Jakobi in a segment that we had seen earlier in the show. Jakobi was having a lot of problems with the ladies of wXw as Melanie Gray used her time talking to Tommy Giesen to air some grievances (and thank her fans) as she talked about how she had built the division. She welcomed Jakobi to his worst nightmare as she looked forward to title match negotiations in the near future.
The first match on the show gave RISE a chance to regain some momentum in a tag match against the Pretty Bastards. It would be Maggot initially who would feel the wrath of RISE, getting hit with a Pete Bouncer clothesline, and an Ivan Kiev splash and jumping kick. RISE would need to cut off the Bastards as they headed to ringside, but the heels lured Bouncer and Kiev back into the ring for a beatdown of their own. Some unique double team offense saw an assisted Maggot kick on Bouncer as well as an elbowdrop/kick combination, but an attempt later for Ahura to use a Tranquilo-style feint on a dive to the outside saw him get taken out by Kiev. After Bouncer would show off his strength by turning a crossbody into a slam, the Bastards would have one more attempt to take the victory after a low bridge by Maggot allowed Prince Ahura to attack Kiev from behind. However, a collision between the Bastards allowed Bouncer to come in, and he would finish the match with the double arm DDT. A decent match, made better for seeing a bit more the Bastards on offense.
With tag teams at the forefront, we’d have a few segments that spoke about the upcoming World Tag League. Monster Consulting were still promising to take the belts all the way though, RINGKAMPF particularly considered Thatcher teaming against Chris Brookes considering their PROGRESS ties, and JayFK just seemed happy to be in the tournament, though Francis Kaspin still had an ominous envelope that he currently has been wielding for power in his grasp.
Alongside a brief introduction for Kris Wolf (looking to taste Germany’s finest meats in and out of the ring), a Get Well Soon video for Toni Storm, and Veit Muller thanking Doug Williams for their match at Fan, we also saw the fallout from the Jurn Simmons and David Starr match. With Starr pissed off that the match had not settled the score, he offered to take Simmons on at World Tag League in a match of Simmons’ choice. Though Simmons would tell Giesen that he didn’t care about beating Starr any more, he would admit to a desire to humiliate him. The match choice? Hair versus Hair – a chance for Starr to live with the shame of losing to Simmons every day.
I feel like I say this with all of wXw’s events this year, but World Tag League is shaping up to be one of the best weekends of wrestling in the calendar year. Can Monster Consulting be the first team to take the belts through the tournament? As Dragunov, Andy and Bobby Gunns scrap over the wXw Unified Title, Tarkan Aslan and Marius Al-Ani continue to torment RISE, and Melanie Gray lords it over the Women’s Division, there isn’t a place you can look in the promotion where something interesting isn’t happening. Check it out – you will not be disappointed.
