THaving stepped away from the promotion for a couple of shows, I return to watching wXw on a night where Bobby Gunns and Aussie Open were set to defend their Unified World and Tag Team Championships respectively. With Lucky Kid versus Absolute Andy on the show as well, it looked like a potentially strong offering from the promotion.
Aussie Open versus Jay-FK (wXw World Tag Title Match)
To me at least, it isn’t entirely clear whether Aussie Open are supposed to be face or heel and the opening exchange almost sets things up as heel versus heel as both teams attempted to attack before the bell. After initial double teaming deals with Kaspin and Skillet, illegal interference by Kaspin from the apron allowed the ex-champs to cut Fletcher off and isolate him. Heeling 101 followed in the form of stomps, chokes and the ref being manipulated out of position. Playing into the ‘Kyle is a heavyweight’ narrative, he turned things around with a double suplex on Jay-FK. Davis showed off his own strength with a double complete shot and though a low-blow/assisted roll-up nearly earned Jay-FK the win, a fidget spinner finished off Skillet. A decent, if unspectacular opening contest.
Veit Muller versus Oliver Carter
Carter appears to be getting more bookings with wXw now and was a guy who impressed me at Road to 16 Carat London. Early exchanges established that Carter can mix it up with Muller, though the high flyer was soon grounded by a Muller deadlift gutwrench. Carter had some neat offense as he grabbed a two with a leap through the middle ropes into a backcracker. He also had some power to his game, sending Muller across the ring with an exploder-style suplex. After avoiding Muller’s capture fisherman, Carter earned nearfalls with a lionsault and a powerslam as the pace began to pick up. However, Muller laid Carter out with a clothesline and hit his capture fisherman for the win. Took a little time to get going, but the finishing stretch was good.
Killer Kelly versus Amale Winchester versus Valkyrie
This is a rematch from the Road to True Colors show, a match which Valkyrie won after Winchester was a late addition. A potential number one contender contest with Karsten Beck deciding who will fight Toni Storm after this match, the match began quickly with all three women laying in strikes at ringside and inside the ring. Valkyrie showed off some impressive athleticism with a dropkick through the ropes and a back elbow off of the second rope after a flipping escape. Winchester was more no-nonsense when she took control, kicking Valkyrie about with ease until a fiery comeback from the smaller wrestler popped the crowd. Winchester’s desire for a title shot is the narrative and she nailed a hip attack on Kelly and draping DDT on Valkyrie as she pushed for the victory. Just as it looked like Valkyrie might win once more with her top rope axe kick, Amale pushed Kelly into the turnbuckle, taking out Valkyrie and leading to an STO variation that gave Winchester the victory. Good to see other wrestlers promoted in the women’s division and a pretty solid triple threat.
Absolute Andy versus Lucky Kid
A clash between the 2018 and 2019 winners of 16 Carat Gold as Kid looked for some measure of revenge after Andy had been involved in RISE/Schadenfreude business as of late. Early mind games had both men taunting each other several times after successful moves, though a dive feint gave way to a proper dive from Kid as he took control. It was perhaps surprising that Kid was one step ahead for a prolonged period of time, yet Andy eventually outsmarted Kid with a clothesline to halt the skid. It wasn’t for long though as Kid landed a handspring back elbow and a superplex after a brief grapple on the top turnbuckle. This sparked more back and forth as neither man was able to stay on top. A missed 450 and an Andy F5 could have been it, but Kid kicked out before the three. Unfortunately for Kid, a pinning combination out of the corner saw Andy grab the rope to halt the move and pin Kid using the added leverage. A good match in places, but expected Kid to fight from underneath a lot more considering their styles.
The Crown versus Julian Pace/Wheeler Yuta
Having been bullied backstage by the Crown, Pace chose Yuta to be his tag partner in an interesting clash of styles. Yuta and Pace initially used their pace and technical acumen to take the match to James and Simmons respectively, with some quick tags used to cut Simmons off in particular. It was Yuta who ended up getting controlled by the heel duo after an assisted pop-up European uppercut by James, leading to some bully boy punishment from the bigger team. Yuta finally managed to escape the corner to get a tag to Pace, who entered with a double springboard dropkick to kick off a sequence that bamboozled the Crown with speed. An excellent spot saw the Crown catch both Yuta and Pace’s crossbody attempts and dump them with simultaneous sitout gutwrench powerbombs. This signalled the beginning of the end for Pace and Yuta as Yuta was put away with the Royal Execution (assisted curb stomp). A solid big men/little men contest with the Crown becoming a really solid heel duo.
Avalanche is down in the ring to complain about Emil Sitoci not being here. However, Avalanche is ready to fight and had asked the wXw Academy to send their strongest fighter…
Avalanche versus Vinnie Vortex
…the reigning wXw Academy Cup holder, Vinnie Vortex. Vortex is game, but the opening exchanges have Avalanche largely shrugging off his offense and throwing Vortex around the ring. A slam and a big splash earned him an early two count, whilst a belly to belly slam cut off an attempted comeback by Vortex. Vortex cannot get anything going outside of avoiding a superplex off of the top, with Avalanche getting the victory with the Boulder Dash. A real squash.
Bobby Gunns © versus Ilja Dragunov versus Marius Al-Ani (wXw Unified World Title Match)
Coming off the back of a brawl at the end of Road to True Colours, Gunns found himself defending his title in the main event against both Dragunov and Al-Ani. In his hometown, Dragunov started like the proverbial house on fire, landing successive suicide dives before taking the fight to both men in the ring. Al-Ani looked to up the ante with a DVD on the apron on Gunns as the fight spilled out of the ring, only to end up getting sent through two chairs with a double suplex by Dragunov and Gunns. This allowed the latter two to go at it in an attempt to recreate some of the magic of their previous singles match (though with a less vociferous response if we’re being honest), including a Konstantin Special for two.
The momentum began to shift between all three men at this point after Al-Ani regrouped. Gunns managed to apply the switch armbreaker on Al-Ani but to no avail, before ‘The Body’ launched his trademark corner dive successfully on both of his opponents. A double German suplex showcased Gunns’ impressive strength, though a lariat wasn’t enough to take out Al-Ani. A chairshot and a modified slam should be, yet Dragunov grabbed the referee from the ring at two. After a poorly thought out German suplex on Dragunov into a set of chairs, Gunns picked up the win with a small package on Al-Ani after Dragunov fought off an anklelock. A good main event, though the fans were naturally unhappy with Dragunov coming out on the losing end.
Nothing was particularly blow away amazing, but the majority of it was at least solid. The best match of the night was probably the main event, though the Tag Team Title match and the Crown/Wheeler and Yuta contest both had their moments. As always, Superstars of Wrestling looks interesting coming up in June – Ken Shamrock, Bob Holly, Brian Cage and Joey Janela are all booked to appear. It should be wild.
