Tag: 16 carat gold results

wXw 16 Carat Gold night three results: Tournament winner crowned

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Over the past few years, each of the three nights of wXw’s 16 Carat Gold tournament had a bit of a unique emphasis on how it was presented.

Night one usually establishes the tone and showcases all participants as characters and workers. Night two is more angle-heavy with strong accentuation on storyline progression, surprises, and the story about the big World title match that has had months of build. Night three has big drama, unique matches, and opens a new chapter for how stories are being told over the following months.

In that regard, night three of the 2019 tournament delivered perfectly.

Hardly has a 16 Carat Gold tournament final ever been as dramatic, telling a story of hardship and how to overcome it, and helped establish a performer as a main event talent from that point forward. Rarely has a six-man tag featured talent from wXw, WWE, Big Japan Wrestling, DDT, and a founder of a respected shoot-style promotion.

And as far as the following months go for wXw, they may never have had such a unique mix of intriguing storylines to look forward to in the months to come. And rarely has there been a weekend in wXw that was so obviously a changing of the guard and putting new talent in the front row, while still counting on established stars to back them up and supplement them as supporting characters.

Lucky Kid single-handedly defeated 2017 winner Ilja Dragunov and all the participating RINGKAMPF members, submitting WALTER in the finals in dramatic fashion to win the tournament this year.

Lucky (real name Metehan Kocabasoglu) just turned 26 one week ago but is already a veteran of more than 10 years in the business. The young man from Berlin with Turkish roots originally was looking at a career in soccer and almost got signed to a developmental deal with a big team, which fell through due to a last-minute knee injury. When a friend from his school, Cem Kaplan, told him about wrestling training, he figured he’d try his luck at that.

Lucky trained at the GWF wrestling school in Berlin and was a mainstay there for many years. He teamed with Kaplan until 2014 and then started teaming with fellow GWF mainstay Tarkan Aslan. It was this team, the Young Lions, that first brought him to wXw in 2015. And in 2017, they became regulars on the roster.

Upon their re-debut in 2017, they immediately were founding members of the RISE stable, and in that capacity, dominated storylines all throughout the past few years. Around the same time, Lucky, who also had done two tours with Kaientai Dojo of Japan in 2015 and 2016, started improving more and more and also received additional bookings in the UK, competing for Defiant, Fight Club: PRO, RevPro, OTT, Southside, ATTACK!, and others over the past two years.

Lucky is on the smaller side at 6′ and 180 lbs, but very athletic, with unique charisma and has a child-like charm to him that endeared him to fans, even when he still was a heel. He probably modeled his in-ring behavior off the kind of crazy hyenas from the Disney movie “The Lion King” and uses a signature expression of “BLAAAH!” in his matches. I would probably compare him best to a young Sean Waltman in terms of size, style, and abilities, as he is a very solid technical worker who also has great speed and flying moves.

Besides the tournament, the show also had some unique matches, as WWE’s Alexander Wolfe teamed with wXw’s Timothy Thatcher & Veit Müller to take on the Japanese all-star team of Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW), Shigehiro Irie (DDT) & Yuki Ishikawa (founder of BattlArts).

After the match, WALTER and Axel Dieter Jr. came out and the four original RINGKAMPF members surrounded Müller, who had been trying to prove himself to WALTER and Thatcher in recent months. WALTER went to choke him out, but it was just a playful ruse, as they handed him a RINGKAMPF shirt and formally inducted him into the stable.

They all shook Müller’s hand and Wolfe left the ring, bidding farewell to Germany for the time being. Thatcher shook Müller’s hand but refused to do so for WALTER and Dieter, looking to effectively leave the stable.

Later on the card, Dieter returned for a one-time reunion with former tag team partner Da Mack, reviving their old Hot & Spicy theme and defeating wXw regulars Jay FK.

Schadenfreude, which as of now consists of Chris Brookes & Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher), took on the Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) & Rey Horus (Dragon Azteca in Lucha Underground) in a crazy semi-main event six-man tag. They also came out on the stage after Lucky Kid had won and celebrated with his RISE brothers, but instead of confronting them, just clapped and left.

Both Lucky Kid and Thatcher belong to Schadenfreude in Fight Club: PRO, so them being part of wXw now opens all kinds of possibilities, not to mention that they kicked WALTER out of the original group, when Thatcher attacked him a few weeks ago.

In addition to these stories, there are others that will eventually play out over the next few months: what will David Starr do to overcome his obsession of beating WALTER? There are possibilities there, including going down the path of a Gargano/Ciampa storyline of Starr eventually dropping his core beliefs in order to achieve his goal.

What will the future hold for Julian Pace, who looked tremendous all weekend, including in a crazy brawl at a WrestlingKULT show on Saturday morning and winning a four-way with established stars? He is in a feud with Emil Sitoci now, one of the most talented wrestlers in Europe from the previous generation and working with him will certainly benefit him.

What’s in store for Marius Al-Ani, who got to beat Alexander Wolfe and got a tremendous rub from it? And how will the next chapter in the story between newly-crowned World Champion Bobby Gunns and former champ Absolute Andy play out, especially as there was some foul play in the title win?

Also, how will the signing of WALTER and Ilja Dragunov (in addition to Killer Kelly and Toni Storm) to WWE affect the product going forward? After a slight slump in storyline progression, with an unusual number of holes and quirky transitions, wXw’s creative team seems to be back firmly in the saddle and ready to continue pursuing their goal of telling the best stories in the business with a group of talented people.

wXw sold 1,341 tickets, which was more than on Friday and a bit less than on Saturday.

16 Carat Gold tournament semifinal match: Lucky Kid pinned Ilja Dragunov in 14:12 after a 450 splash

This was a brutal affair, with Dragunov beating up Lucky and the smaller man showing more heart than brains in trying to fight back.

Dragunov wiped Lucky out with a dive into the first few rows of chairs early. Dragunov popped right back up from a Liger Bomb, then went into chopping the hell out of Lucky and hit him with a swiveling lariat for a near fall.

Lucky hit a missile dropkick, but Dragunov came right back with a Death Valley Driver into the corner, then followed it up with a Coast-to-Coast and Burning Hammer. Dragunov went for Torpedo Moscow, but it was a ruse by Lucky as he rolled him up for a close near fall.

In a cool spot, Lucky went for his handspring back elbow off the ropes — and Dragunov drilled him with a Torpedo Moscow in the stomach while he was upside down for a super close near fall that had the crowd going crazy.

Dragunov rained down Danielson-style elbows on Lucky as he prepared for another Torpedo Moscow. As he was about to hit it, Lucky fell down again.

Dragunov was in a rage, screaming at Lucky to get back up. He eventually did, but avoided a third Torpedo Moscow. Lucky avoided him and Dragunov crashed into the turnbuckles. Lucky then hit a 450 splash and picked up the win.

16 Carat Gold tournament semifinal match: WALTER submitted Avalanche in 11:36 with a double wristlock

The story here was that WALTER is a former mentor and tag team partner of Avalanche, which did nothing to prevent WALTER from displaying “total hardship” on his former protege.

WALTER pointed at the 16 Carat sign over the ring, but when Avalanche looked up, he got nailed with a big boot. Avalanche came back with a back body drop, slam, and DRSKR Bomb in an attempt to end the match early, but WALTER reached for the ropes during the pin. WALTER took a Flair bump off the top and a big splash for another two count.

They brawled outside, including Avalanche taking a nasty spill over the top and hitting the walkway ramp awkwardly with his elbow and shoulder. WALTER, now seeing a target painted on the arm, started working it mercilessly. After a Fujiwara armbar, WALTER followed up with a huge German suplex and even bigger powerbomb for another near fall.

Avalanche went for a powerbomb of his own and slightly collapsed upon execution, but still brought down WALTER safe. He hit another DRSK Bomb, but upon impact, WALTER grabbed his arm for the double wristlock and Avalanche had to tap.

Six-man tag team match: Daisuke Sekimoto, Shigehiro Irie & Yuki Ishikawa beat Alexander Wolfe, Timothy Thatcher & Veit Müller in 11:02 when Irie pinned Thatcher after the Beast Bomber

Ring announcer Thommy Giessen told us that the next match would be one of the unique bookings made possible on such a weekend. The crowd went crazy for Wolfe and got in a frenzy when he was joined by RINGKAMPF aspirant Müller and founding member Thatcher. The fans got even more giddy when it became clear they would face the three popular Japanese wrestlers.

Thatcher coached Müller against Ishikawa, before tagging in himself against his mentor. Sekimoto came in next and Thatcher belly-to-belly suplexed him off the ropes. After some more tags, Wolfe hit a German suplex on Irie. Irie blocked a sunset flip by Müller and then piledrove Thatcher on top of him in a unique move.

Sekimoto put Müller in the Torture Rack, as Ishikawa locked Thatcher in an Octopus Hold, but Wolfe came in and broke both up. Müller actually picked up Sekimoto for an airplane spin, which left both men dizzy. More tags were made — until Sekimoto hit another German on Thatcher and Irie hit the Beast Bomber for the win.

After the match, WALTER and Axel Dieter Jr. came out to introduce Müller into RINGKAMPF, as mentioned above.

wXw Women’s Championship match: Toni Storm retained against Killer Kelly in 12:56 with a cradle

They had a great video package before the match, telling the story and friendship of both women over the past 18 months in wXw. In short, while Storm beat Kelly for the title, they were great friends and a tag team afterwards until Kelly showed compassion for Melanie Gray, who Storm sent packing out of Oberhausen after a loser leaves town match.

Kelly picking up the Women’s title after winning a non-title three way in Hamburg last month didn’t help matters as Storm went off on Kelly, telling her she’d be nothing without Storm and that “Killer Storm,” their former team, was over.

Kelly was really over as a face and Storm was booed like crazy. They did the Frye-Takayama spot early and Storm missed a hip attack but hit a headbutt. Storm threw her to ringside and set up Kelly for another hip attack on a chair but missed and crashed into the chairs as Kelly moved.

Storm then threw her into the stairs anyway and wanted a countout victory, but Kelly was back in by five. Storm hit three consecutive Germans and went for a hip attack in the corner, but Kelly escaped, and as they battled on the ropes, managed to trap Storm in a spider dragon sleeper.

They brawled up the ramp and Storm hit a Storm Zero piledriver at the entrance area, but Kelly made it back into the ring in time.

Storm pulled out Kelly’s mouthpiece and put it in her own mouth, then hit a dropkick in the corner. Kelly rose up, hit a head kick, reclaimed her mouthpiece, and hit a corner dropkick of her own. Storm hit another German and another Strong Zero, but Kelly managed to kick out, much to Storm surprise.

Storm ran into a Death Valley Bomb by Kelly but also kicked out at two. Kelly went to hit more dropkicks, but Storm managed to cradle her off an attempt and picked up the narrow victory.

Tag team match: Hot & Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack) defeated Jay FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) w/ Pattuse

Jay FK came out and complained about not being featured enough this weekend. They claimed they would now stop the show and turn it into a meet and greet with them.

Karsten Beck came out and told them he had two opponents for them ready. “Nordish by Nature” hit and the crowd exploded, as Axel Dieter Jr. and Da Mack appeared, reforming their successful team, Hot & Spicy, for one night only.

Skillet attacked Dieter right away, but he was quickly overwhelmed by European uppercuts. Mack was in and got distracted by Kaspin, resulting in Skillet hitting him from behind for the quick advantage.

Skillet had Mack on the ropes, but he got pushed off and hit with a flying kick, allowing the Mackster to tag out to Dieter. Dieter managed to hit a double blockbuster from the top on both Jay FK members. Hot & Spicy then hit Pattuse, their double enzuigiri finish, for the victory. This was a great feel-good moment on the show.

Six-man lucha rules tag team match: Schadenfreude (Chris Brookes, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) & Rey Horus in 10:29 when Brookes pinned Horus after a double underhook piledriver

This was an insane match with way too much happening to describe here. The semi-main on day three always has a crazy tag or multi-man spotfest match, but this one just might have taken the cake.

Some highlights: Aussie Open hitting a double-team GTS on Horus, followed by dual superkicks. Fenix hitting a huge tope in the crowd. Pentagon assisting a super dropkick by Horus, who ran down the ramp and got propped up by Penta. Horus with a standing Spanish Fly on Fletcher, followed by a springboard cutter by Brookes, followed by a superkick by Penta. A Gold Coast waterslide by Davis with a simultaneous tope by Fletcher. A triple superkick by the lucha team, followed by a pop-up tope con giro by Horus to the outside, followed by a top rope senton by Fenix to the outside, followed by a tope con giro by Penta on the outside. A super Canadian Destroyer from the top rope from Fletcher!

The finish came from a triple superkick by Schadenfreude, followed by an Aussie Arrow on Horus, a pull-up piledriver by Davis, and a Praying Mantis Bomb for the win. Just watch it when it comes out on VOD in a few days.

16 Carat Gold tournament finals: Lucky Kid submitted WALTER with the RISE Lock

Intense atmosphere at the start, as Lucky avoided a charge but quickly got murdered with chops, a sleeper hold, and a big boot. His face was rubbed into the mat and he was thrown to the outside.

Lucky managed to flip over on a German suplex, then sent WALTER to the outside and feigned a tope. He then connected with a springboard dropkick as WALTER went back inside. Lucky followed with a tope con giro.

WALTER, ever the bully, then suplexed Lucky onto some chairs. Lucky hit a dragon screw as WALTER went back into the ring, but he got caught in a Boston crab, crossface, and Fujiwara armbar in quick succession. WALTER started working over Lucky’s elbow in the armbar.

WALTER kept pummeling the smaller man, who caught him in a small package for the near win. WALTER transitioned a Gojira clutch into a powerbomb for another two count.

They brawled on the top rope, and Lucky managed a rana in mid-air off a top-rope powerbomb, which was an amazing visual. Lucky hit an Asai DDT and went for a crossface, but WALTER managed to stand up and pull Lucky into position for a tombstone piledriver for another near fall.

WALTER got Lucky on the top rope once more and wanted to go for a butterfly suplex, but Lucky escaped and turned it into a powerbomb of his own. Lucky once more tried La Mistica into the RISE Lock, but WALTER powered out and turned it into a huge uranage slam for another near fall as the crowd willed Lucky to survive.

WALTER locked in another Gojira clutch, but Lucky managed to roll back on it for a near fall, then hit a number of running double foot stomps, two consecutive 450 splashes off the top rope, and finally locked in the RISE Lock (crossface) in the middle of the ring, until WALTER tapped out to a huge pop!

Lucky couldn’t believe he actually won, needing a few more minutes in the corner to comprehend what just happened as his RISE brothers, Ivan Kiev and Pete Bouncer, came into the ring to celebrate with him. WALTER begrudgingly shook his hand before leaving.

After a few minutes of celebration, Schadenfreude came out on the stage. But instead of confronting RISE, they just clapped for Lucky and left. A great ending to an amazing weekend of wrestling in Oberhausen.

Other events —

wXw Road to New York (taped March 10, 2019 in the afternoon for a release on wXwNOW on March 22) — Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany — Attendance: 425

– Absolute Andy pinned Vinnie Vortex after an F-5

– wXw Shotgun Championship match: Marius Al-Ani retained against Jurn Simmons after DK

– Crowchester vs. Lucas Robinson went to a no contest when Al-Ani attacked both men.

This led to Julian Pace, Emil Sitoci, and Leon van Gasteren running in.

– Wesna pinned Yuu

– Contract match: Pretty Bastards (Ahura & Maggot) pinned Arrows of Hungary (Dover & Icarus)

– Emil Sitoci & Marius Al-Ani beat Julian Pace & Leon van Gasteren

WrestlingKULT #11: Früh Choppen — Kulttempel, Oberhausen (March 9) — Attendance: 200 (sold out)

– Tag team match: Hollandse Glorie (Johnny Evers & Mot van Kunder) beat Schwinger Club (Gerrit Wiebenson & Rick Baxxter)

Fun comedy match with some sexual stereotypes.

– Four-way match: Vinnie Vortex beat Kevin Roadster, Matthias Bernstein, and Timo Theiss

– Three-way match presented by Wrestlegate (UK): Sean Kustom beat Robbie X and Senza Volto

This was the best match on the show, with all three looking excellent.

– Women of KULT Championship match: Amale Winchester pinned Melanie Gray to win the title

– Singles match: Carnage beat Demolition Davies for a title match at #WrestlingDeutschland II

– WrestlingKULT Championship match: Three-way: John “Bad Bones” Klinger beat Kay Jutler and Tristan Archer to win the title

#WrestlingDeutschland II — Steffy, Oberhausen (March 9) — Attendance: 390

This was a showcase event for some smaller German promotions and schools.

– Multi-promotion battle royal: Lukas Robinson won in 6:59

– wXw Wrestling Academy: Vinny Vortex, The Rotation & Norman Harras beat Timo Theiss, Levaniel & Bailey Matthews in 9:33 when Vortex pinned Theiss

– Next Step Wrestling: Laurance Roman retained against Ronny Kessler in 6:30 after a frog splash

– Mad Wrestling Association (MWA): Three-way dance: Fynn Freyhardt beat Nickolas Kluth and Crowchester after pinning Kluth

– German Wrestling Promotion (GWP): Mixed tag: Keesa the Bambi & Chase Jenkins beat Bruder Chaos & Xara Grace in 4:35

– Championship of Wrestling (cOw): Blackwell beat Jester in 4:26 after a brass knuckles shot

– German Hurricane Wrestling (GHW): Pretty Bastards (Prince Ahura & Maggot) beat Keel Holding (Michael Isotov & Sadistico) in 5:50

– WrestlingKULT: John “Bad Bones” Klinger retained against Carnage in 10:30 after a schoolboy

wXw 16 Carat Gold night two results: WWE’s Alexander Wolfe appears

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

The second day of Germany’s wXw 16 Carat Gold 2019 managed to put an exclamation point on the fact that wXw is probably the premier wrestling promotion in Europe right now.

The match quality and in-ring work was even better than on day one in many matches — and the show nicely managed to progress the stories for a number of characters like WALTER, Lucky Kid, and Avalanche.

Also, for the second year in a row, wXw managed to blow the roof off the place with a surprise that virtually nobody saw coming. Former wXw wrestler and current WWE main roster member Alexander Wolfe (formerly known as Axel Tischer and Axeman in wXw) made a surprise appearance to answer an open challenge of wXw Shotgun Champion Marius Al-Ani.

Al-Ani was in the ring for the semi-main event spot of the show to issue his challenge. wXw Director of Sports Karsten Beck came out and asked if he was serious and said that he had met someone backstage who might be interested.

Most people probably expected the return of Bad Bones John Klinger here, who was suspended for some sort of backstage snafu shortly after last year’s Carat, had been on two smaller shows in the same arena complex that day, and was openly wandering around the show for the first time since leaving the promotion. Instead, as the lights went out, air raid sirens started playing and a spotlight appeared on the screen.

After a few seconds, the SAnitY theme hit and — as people recognized what was going on — there was a pop that rivaled the surprise return of Ilja Dragunov last year as people went nuts for Wolfe, who came out in his WWE gear, removed his shirt to reveal a RINGKAMPF one (as he is one of the members of that stable), and went to the ring. He had a great match with Al-Ani but came short of winning.

The other highlight on the show was the final ascension and World title win of Bobby Gunns, 26, who finally managed to best Absolute Andy. As was the case in his match back in October with Dragunov, the rabid mixed German/UK crowd chanted “Gunns, Bobby Gunns” throughout the match, only this time it felt like it didn’t happen as organically as it did before.

The promotion very much bet on the chant happening again, with them repeatedly hyping the previous chant that lasted 14 minutes straight and them putting this match on before the same crowd. While it certainly is a cool thing to brag about, the problem is that it felt like the chant being more over than the wrestler. And as history has shown, especially with the “What!?” chants in WWE, giving fans an easy way to put themselves over in a match can come back to haunt you in the end.

Now, I am not saying that this will happen, I am only fearing that if fans are being conditioned to chant this, whether it is warranted or not, it might eventually become a distraction in Gunns’ matches in the future and may hurt him as a character. While it’s certainly a nice tool and a unique thing, Gunns is more than talented enough, both as a worker and a promo, that he does not need this as a crutch.

The match itself was very good, but the continuous chanting also distracted from it, as virtually no natural reactions such as pops, boos, or other chants to fire up the face or heckle the heel had a chance to get started — and the immense noise in a way also felt a bit like the match was just on mute on the other hand.

In tournament news, WALTER, Dragunov, Lucky Kid, and Avalanche advanced to the semifinals. WALTER beat Fenix, who he inadvertently unmasked twice in the process and seemed to cement a heel turn that had started the previous day with his victory over David Starr. Dragunov defeated Pentagon Jr. in a great match, Lucky pulled out another surprise over RINGKAMPF member Axel Dieter Jr., and Avalanche bested Japanese powerhouse Shigehiro Irie.

Elsewhere, Aussie Open won the wXw Tag Team titles with some help by Chris Brookes and subsequently founded the wXw incarnation of their Schadenfreude stable, putting Lucky Kid in a precarious situation, as there was tension between the RISE and Schadenfreude stables which he both belongs to.

wXw had 1,510 tickets sold, making this their biggest crowd ever.

Killer Kelly & Yuu defeated Toni Storm & Wesna in 9:32 when Kelly pinned Wesna after a Death Valley Driver

A surprise match as Storm wasn’t expected to be here until the next day for her match against Kelly and Wesna. Storm got in Kelly’s face early on and played the cocky heel champion here.

The finish saw Storm eat a double team buckle bomb and Kelly pick up Wesna for the DVD, which she initially struggled with, for the win.

David Starr promo

David Starr came out after losing to WALTER the night before and was devastated that he didn’t defeat WALTER.

Starr apologized for an interview he did with Rico Bushido and Alan Counihan after the match the previous night and how he conducted himself (Alan later told us that he legit never was as scared as he was during this interview, so I guess this is something to look forward to once the show gets released in a few days).

Starr said that we all knew that WALTER tapped out and that he was a coward. He was here for two things only (beating WALTER and winning Carat) and now that both of those are out the window, he was sorry, but he would not be competing in any matches for the rest of the weekend and didn’t want to be part of some multi-men dream match that internet fans can fawn about.

Starr left, as devastated as he had entered.

16 Carat Gold tournament quarterfinal match: Ilja Dragunov pinned Pentagon Jr. in 10:37 after Torpedo Moscow

As was to be expected with these two, this was another tremendous offering, with the crowd going into a “this is awesome” frenzy even before the match kicked off. There were hard strikes, chops, kicks, flips, and a ton of charisma between these two.

A big enzuigiri by Dragunov literally blew the taste out of Penta’s mouth as spit went flying everywhere. Highlights were Penta getting a near fall with a pumphandle driver and Dragunov coming back with a Death Valley Driver into the corner.

Dragunov hit a back senton, then did a headstand in the corner off a whip and Penta superkicked him off from that position in a spot that looked both cool and dangerous. Penta at one point also hit his package piledriver on the apron.

Penta went to break the arm, but Dragunov countered out and hit a series of elbows, only to get caught with a backcracker. The finish came with a lariat, swivel lariat, and Torpedo Moscow and Dragunov progressed to the semis. The match was far better than I can even begin to describe here.

16 Carat Gold tournament quarterfinal match: Avalanche pinned Shigehiro Irie after a DRSKR Bomb

This was a mean guy hoss fight. Irie came off of winning AMBITION 10 in the afternoon and Avalanche came off the street fight the day before, so both had proven their worth in battle and were now scheduled to clash.

Avalanche managed to tackle Irie right away, sending him to his butt. Avalanche hit a belly-to-belly and a running sunset flip for a two count.

Irie hit a splash off the top for a near fall and a Beast Bomber for another one. They traded strikes and elbows and at one point, corner charges, culminating with Irie hitting a running corner-to-corner cannonball.

Finally, Avalanche hit a fallaway slam and the DRSKR Bomb for the win. 

Four-way match: Julian Pace defeated Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto, and Rey Horus in 8:17 after pinning Horus with a small package

Fun match with a unique cast. Everyone ganged up on Sekimoto early, who did the roar spot to send everyone flying. Horus tried a shoulder block and literally spun around his axis as he bounced off the big man. An enzuigiri by Pace connected, but Sekimoto pressed him over his head and threw him to the outside onto Brookes and Horus.

A four way chop-around started, with Pace getting the worst of it from Sekimoto. Pace hit his Vollgas Code Red on Brookes, which looked impressive with a guy that size. Another match highlight was a tower of doom German suplex spot, with Sekimoto German suplexing a full stack of opponents from the top rope in one of the coolest spots of the night.

Eventually, Pace picked up the win with a small package on Horus.

After the match, as Pace cheered, Emil Sitoci in a hoodie with new music and graphics hit the ring and gave Pace two spinning piledrivers. Sitoci is great, but by this point his number of unexplained turns may rival that of the Big Show.

16 Carat Gold tournament quarterfinal match: WALTER submitted Fenix in 11:45 with the Gojira clutch

This was amazing — and these two got together like peanut butter and jelly. WALTER was so great being the grumpy big mean guy who would cancel any cool move Fenix pulled out.

Fenix wanted to do a cool back handspring move? Let him try that while eating a lariat to the back of the head. He wanted to fly at WALTER? Sure, have another lariat to go with that. Fenix wanted to do a cool springboard move? Try that with your leg kicked out from under you. WALTER was mean and Fenix flipped in a symphony that most probably would have watched for hours on end.

There were “Big Daddy Sellout” chants for WALTER early, courtesy of the David Starr performance the previous night. Fenix did the Matrix duck on a chop early on, which was a cool visual. WALTER ripped on Fenix’s mask but used a bit too much power as he ripped about half of the mask off and a lot of Fenix’s face was exposed.

What was worse was when the mask fully came off on a top rope powerbomb by WALTER, sending the ref scurrying to put it back on while Fenix covered his face. It came off again a second time on a cutter by Fenix, until somebody brought him a spare mask to put on.

The finish saw WALTER, after trying about everything in his arsenal, put on the Gojira clutch and with the other hand, pull off Fenix’s mask, forcing him to tap to protect his identity. The crowd and the ref were furious, but I guess there are no rules against being a d*ckhead.

Tremendous match everyone should watch, a bit hampered by the unintentional coming off of the mask, but in a way, that added a bit of realism to the whole affair.

16 Carat Gold tournament quarterfinal match: Lucky Kid pinned Axel Dieter Jr. (NXT/NXT UK’s Marcel Barthel) in 14:42 with a rolling reverse prawn hold

Another very good match between these two. It was actually their first singles match, after they had only faced off in tag team matches before. Dieter started out strong and bounced the smaller Lucky Kid around. He did his “Nein!” Spot, which he also does on NXT. Lucky pulled off some of his antics, screaming “NEIN!” back at Dieter, who was in no mood for these antics.

Dieter suplex Lucky into the corner and then back on the mat, before finally disposing of him and throwing him out of the ring a number of times. Dieter was going for the countout victory and repeatedly told Lucky to stay down. Lucky at one point hardly beat the count, making it in after the nine count. Dieter showed some more heelish tendencies here and the fans actually started to boo him and cheer Lucky more.

Lucky hit a missile dropkick and went for La Mistica, but Dieter transitioned it into a choke. Lucky rolled through for a near fall. Lucky then hit La Mistica into a crossface until Dieter made the ropes. Dieter went for a top rope uppercut that was blocked, but he hit a lariat for a near fall anyway.

As Dieter got more and more frustrated, Lucky suddenly rolled him up for the upset victory and has now defeated two members of RINGKAMPF!

wXw World Tag Team Championship tornado three-way match: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated RISE (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer) and Jay FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) in 9:50 to win the titles

RISE and Aussie Open got rid of Jay FK early on and battled among themselves. When Jay FK were back in, they took over for a bit until Davis picked them both up for an impressive double slam. Aussie Open hit a double-team running Iconoclasm and Fletcher also hit a tope on RISE on the outside. Skillet then took a hanging neckbreaker for another near fall.

Kaspin came in with the belt and laid out Fletcher, but Chris Brookes appeared and pulled the referee out of the ring. Of course, Brookes and Jonathan Gresham lost the finals of the World Tag Team League to Jay FK back in October and also are associated with Aussie Open in the Schadenfreude stable.

Aussie Open then hit a sliding punch and Fidget Spinner on Skillet to win the match and the titles.

Post-match, Aussie Open and Brookes got together and displayed the Schadenfreude banner, a super-group which was established in Fight Club: Pro, which also includes Gresham, Kid Lykos, Timothy Thatcher, Jinny, and Lucky Kid, who is also a member of RISE — who just had lost the titles.

Of course, RISE went to confront Schadenfreude, prompting Lucky Kid to run out and try to play peacemaker, which he mostly succeeded in. For now.

wXw Shotgun Championship match: Marius Al-Ani retained against “Axeman” Axel Tischer (WWE’s Alexander Wolfe) in 14:32 after a frog splash

Al-Ani came to the ring to issue an open challenge to anyone in the back. Karsten Beck came out and said there was someone in the back who probably had some issues with what Al-Ani had been saying.

As the lights went out, a spotlight appeared and the SAnitY theme played. The crowd went berserk, as Alexander Wolfe, the former Axel Tischer, came out. He went wild on Al-Ani to kick things off.

They went into the crowd brawling, then Al-Ani hooked on an ankle lock back in the ring. Wolfe turned an armbar attempt into a brainbuster for a near fall.

Wolfe followed up with a number of uppercuts, a flying clothesline, and a bridging German suplex for another near fall. Al-Ani came back with an exploder and took Wolfe outside before hitting his dive over the post.

Back inside, Tischer went for a superplex but got his eyes raked, hit with double knees, and then a big frog splash by Al-Ani got the win.

wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship match: Bobby Gunns submitted Absolute Andy in 26:03 with the SWIFT armbar to win the title

They had really cool entrances, with Gunns coming in through the back of the venue through a lot of smoke and a spotlight on him, while Andy basically descended from the heavens on a platform veiled in white.

The crowd was crazy from the get-go, with the above mentioned “Gunns, Bobby Gunns” echoing through the arena for virtually the entire length of the match.

Andy went for a cheap shot right away, but Gunns thwarted it. Gunns worked the arm and even got in a rope-assisted armbar by escaping an F5 attempt by Andy. They traded clotheslines and uppercuts and Andy tossed Gunns to the outside.

Back inside, Andy locked in a figure four and used the ropes for assistance. Gunns gritted through it and eventually turned the move around. Gunns came back with a superplex and German suplex for a near fall.

Andy rolled through a flying SWIFT armbar for a near fall, then hit a huge spinebuster. Gunns averted an A-Klasse, transitioned into a triangle and then a rear naked choke, but Andy wouldn’t quit just yet. Eventually, Andy managed to transition the move into an F5 for another close fall.

Andy got his belt and wanted to use it, but referee Tassilo Jung stopped him. Andy then wanted to leave, but Gunns’ brother, Vinny Vortex, came down the ramp to stop him. Vortex clotheslined Andy into the ring and Gunns applied another armbar, but Andy got his foot on the ropes.

Gunns went for a superkick, but Andy turned it into an F5 attempt and eventually hit the A-Klasse for a close near fall.

Andy went for the belt again. Vinny stopped him — but Andy moved out of the way of Gunns, who accidentally charged into his brother and threw him off the apron, allowing Andy to hit another A-Klasse. Gunns narrowly kicked out again.

Andy’s superkick missed, and after some back and forth low-blow attempts, Gunns actually hit one right in front of the referee, who was aghast and conflicted about what to do. In the end, he covered his eyes and decided he didn’t see anything, finally paying Andy back for all the cheating he had committed in all the matches over the past year.

The crowd exploded as Gunns won with the SWIFT armbar. The new champion celebrated his victory in the ring with his brother.

Other events —

AMBITION 10 — Trubinenahlle 1, Oberhausen, Germany (March 9, 2019) — Attendance: 513

This was a UWF/RINGS/BattlArts style tournament, which is really fun for fans of that style.

Quarterfinals: Rico Bushido defeated Veit Müller via TKO

Quarterfinals: Punch Drunk Istria defeated Danny Jones via submission

Quarterfinals: Shigehiro Irie defeated Laurance Roman via submission

Quarterfinals: Chris Ridgeway defeated A-Kid via submission

Semifinals: Rico Bushido defeated Punch Drunk Istria via TKO

Semifinals: Shigehiro Irie defeated Chris Ridgeway via TKO

BattlArts Superfight: Yuki Ishikawa defeated Timothy Thatcher via submission

Ishikawa is Thatcher’s mentor and former trainer — and Thatcher was greatly influenced by BattlArts. They had a mean, stiff match and gave each other nothing.

Ishikawa finally got the win, besting his former student and the two shook hands and embraced afterwards.

Finals: Shigehiro Irie defeated Rico Bushido via submission

wXw 16 Carat Gold night one results: WALTER vs. David Starr

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Day one of the 2019 16 Carat Gold tournament is in the books — and it was a very strong show with very good to great matches.

Fenix vs. Rey Horus, Timothy Thatcher vs. Lucky Kid, Ilja Dragunov vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, and WALTER vs. David Starr all were tremendous in their own ways, while the rest of the matches were not too far behind. The show was a really strong opener on what promises to be a great tournament and a fun weekend of wrestling.

wXw had about 1,300 fans in the main arena of the Turbinenhalle complex, featuring a number of freshly opened balcony areas. For Saturday, there are 1,500 tickets sold and Sunday should have another 1,300+.

The crowd, a mix of German casual and hardcore fans and a rowdy contingent of hardcore fans from the United Kingdom and Ireland, were lively and loud all night and will probably continue to be for the days to come.

Alternate four-way match: Veit Müller defeated Julian Pace, Kyle Fletcher, and Leon van Gasteren after hitting Pace with a DDT

Fun opener with three young and one experienced (van Gasteren) wrestlers. Pace at first overwhelmed everyone with his speed, but he was then quickly ganged up on.

Müller, who is aligned with RINGKAMPF, was the most over guy and was cheered wildly. They did a tower of doom spot and Müller at one point took a Flair bump but got dropkicked to the floor. Pace hit a Code Red on Fletcher for a near fall, then tried to follow up with a BME-style moonsault but got thwarted.

Müller eventually hit the DDT on Pace for the win.

Karsten Beck was brought out as the director of sports with the 16 Carat trophy and everyone paraded into the ring for a picture.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Axel Dieter Jr. defeated Marius al-Ani with a release Landungsbrücken suplex

It was surprising to see Axel Dieter Jr. (Marcel Barthel in NXT/NXT UK) so early in the card. The crowd was into him a lot, but he didn’t get quite the hero’s welcome he got back in December and the pops were still a bit low in the beginning.

They worked a very good match with Dieter hitting a lot of his spots, like a number of variations on a European uppercut, the Landungsbrücken suplex, and the headstand to escape from a headlock.

They did a sick-looking spot where Dieter dove through the ropes into the ring from the apron with a spear, while al-Ani did a scissors kick right into his neck with Dieter taking a brutal-looking bump on his head. Dieter went for the Axel Dieter (senior) special submission. al-Ani rolled out of it, only to be caught in the move right again.

al-Ani tried for a frog splash, but Dieter got his knees up. They traded yay/boo punches and Dieter finally hit a release Landungsbrücken suplex to pick up the victory.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Rey Fenix pinned Rey Horus after a sit-out Muscle Buster

This was a crazy lucha match with lots of insane flips, counters, and flying action. Fenix got to show off his incredible sense of balance pretty much right away, as he jumped from the middle to the top rope and back with ridiculous ease to avoid and counter arm drags.

Horus, not to be outdone, then hit a tornillo arm drag. Seconds later, Horus did a tope con giro over the turnbuckle to the outside. This had the crowd going crazy just minutes into the match.

As Horus missed a move and was sitting on the middle of the rope, Fenix jumped on the top turnbuckle and virtually ran along the top rope with a soccer kick to Horus’ head. Wow. Fenix ate a DDT and a Spanish Fly for a near fall.

Fenix cleared the ropes 619-style on a whip-in and grazed a fan’s head in the process. The fan thankfully took it in stride. Fenix then got the win with a sit-out Muscle Buster.

Amazing match, with some money being thrown into the ring after. BattlArts founder Yuki Ishikawa sat with us in the press section and seemed to have the time of his life watching this.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Shigehiro Irie pinned Chris Brookes after a Beast Bomber

They one-upped one another with playfully adjusting each other’s knee pads early on. Brookes offered a handshake, which Irie accepted, then bowed, which Irie also mirrored, only to be slapped into the back of the head. Irie answered by pouncing Brookes halfway across the ring. Brookes avoided a sit-down splash and came back with a senton on a doubled-over Irie.

Irie escaped a brainbuster attempt, felled the bigger man with a headbutt, and hit the sit-down splash for a near fall. Irie removed his elbow pads and went for a Beast Bomber but got rolled up.

Brookes followed with a slingshot cutter and Praying Mantis Bomb for a near fall, then locked in an Octopus hold, countered into a Death Valley Driver, and followed with a cannonball senton into the corner. Irie then hit a Beast Bomber and picked up the win.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Lucky Kid pinned Timothy Thatcher with a roll-up

An excellent video package on Thatcher aired before the match, where he talked about his upcoming AMBITION match against his mentor (Yuki Ishikawa) and also how much wXw and RINGKAMPF had meant to him over the past few years.

Thatcher said that RINGKAMPF being his family wasn’t just something he said but something he 100 percent meant. Thatcher said he made two very close friends in WALTER and Axel Dieter Jr., something he usually doesn’t do in the wrestling business.

Thatcher said that they made decisions for themselves, as screenshots from Twitter of WALTER joining NXT UK were shown, while he had made decisions for RINGKAMPF. He said that if he met either of his two former RINGKAMPF brethren in the tournament, he wouldn’t hold back.

To accentuate Thatcher’s emancipation from RINGKAMPF, he also no longer came out to Antonín Dvorák’s New World Symphony but rather Lonesome Boatsman by the Dropkick Murphys.

This was a rematch from last year’s tournament — and Thatcher right away showed he was serious about winning as he started to beat the ever-living hell out of Lucky, seemingly also wanting to declare independence from Fight Club: Pro’s Schadenfreude stable in addition to RINGKAMPF.

The crowd adored Thatcher, and while they loved themselves some Lucky, they were firmly behind Thatcher on this one. Lucky early on did his leg-hugging spot, but he got slapped and gut-wrenched halfway across the ring for his trouble. Thatcher manhandled Lucky Kid with a chicken wing, butterfly suplex, and cross armbreaker.

Lucky briefly managed to get some offense in, but missed on a missile dropkick and Thatcher locked in a single-leg Boston crab. Lucky made it out and connected on a second missile dropkick, but he got caught in a Fujiwara armbar. Lucky managed a roll-up out of that position but quickly got beaten down again. Thatcher hit a top rope belly-to-belly and got a cross armbreaker — but Lucky made the ropes.

They traded palm strikes and Lucky managed a small package off a German suplex attempt, then followed up with a roll-up for the upset win.

The crowd briefly was shocked, as was Thatcher, who looked pissed and upset and quickly left the ring, just as Lucky looked shocked at his own victory in the ring. Interesting result, with Thatcher being pushed with that tremendous video package and being considered one of the favorites to win the tournament this year.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round falls count anywhere match: Avalanche defeated Jurn Simmons after a Dreissker Bomb off a balcony barrier onto the ramp

A crazy, brutal brawl that also seemingly served as the blow-off to their feud.

These two had problems starting as far back as last October after Avalanche’s partner Julian Nero got hurt and Simmons and partner in crime, Alexander James, mocked Avalanche. They traded wins in tag matches, as Avalanche tried out a number of partners, then segued into singles matches that left no clear winner, once going to a double countout, then a no contest as Simmons sped away in a car in their latest no countout match.

Simmons hit his massive Boot right out of the bat, but Avalanche no sold it and went for a Boulder Dash for a near fall, all in the opening minute. They brawled right to ringside and Avalanche got suplexed into a row of chairs.

They kept brawling and Simmons suplexed Avalanche into a raised metal stand, which left an Avalanche-sized dent in the metal. They brawled towards the stage and then out of the arena, as footage of the continuing brawl in the bowels of the Turbinenhalle aired on the big screen.

They brawled around a storage area, hitting each other with everything under the sun and trading a number of pinfall attempts on various stacks of stuff. Simmons hit Avalanche with a sheet of metal, then went to choke him out, but Avalanche wouldn’t quit.

Avalanche found some metal steps backstage and leapt off them, but Simmons moved and he crashed into a pile of stuff. Simmons found a kendo stick, as those just lie around backstage at arenas everywhere. They brawled back into the beginning, with Simmons beating down Avalanche with his stick and even snapping it off Avalanche’s back.

They ended up back in the ring, where Simmons had Avalanche down and actually cut a promo on him, telling him he was superior in every way. Simmons said he was about to slay the Monster of a Man, then went for the decapitation-style hit on the back of the neck with the kendo stick, just to have Avalanche come back and wrestle the kendo stick out of Simmons’ hands

They brawled back into the crowd and up the stairs, where Simmons tried to climb over the barrier of a flight of stairs, around ten feet off the ground and the metal ramp they brawled on earlier. Avalanche knocked him off, then climbed the barrier himself and hit a Dreissker Bomb off the barrier onto Simmons on the steel ramp for the pin and the victory.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Pentagon Jr. defeated Mark Davis after a leaping Destroyer

Penta offered a hand shake, but just put the Cero Miedo hand gesture in Davis’ face. On the second attempt, Davis slapped Pentagon’s hand so hard his glove flew off.

A number of punches and leg kicks were ended as Davis hit a sit-down splash on Penta. Davis tried for a superplex but got thrown off and hit with a double foot stomp. Penta went for a piledriver, but it got countered into a Gold Coast Waterslide for a near fall.

Penta hit a springboard backcracker, but the leaping Destroyer got blocked. Davis hit a sliding punch, but Penta then rolled out of a pull-up piledriver and caught Davis’ arm. Penta snapped it, then hit the leaping Destroyer for the win. 

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: Ilja Dragunov pinned Daisuke Sekimoto after Torpedo Moscow

Holy crap. This was an all-out, hard-hitting war between these two, as was to be expected and they did not disappoint for even a second. Dragunov, at one point, probably tried to set the record for most strikes thrown in a wXw match, as he just blasted Sekimoto with slaps and palm strikes for probably at least 30 seconds straight.

They locked up and Sekimoto went for a cross armbreaker, but it was countered as they fought on the mat. Sekimoto hit the first chop of the match. Dragunov retaliated with a lariat that missed, then ate a uranage backbreaker as he bounced off the ropes and into the ring.

Another chop dropped the mad Russian, followed by a vertical suplex and a Boston crab, which he eventually escaped. They traded brutal chops and forearms, which Dragunov seemed to revel in, asking for more.

Dragunov hit some clotheslines and lariats that sounded as brutal as they looked. He hit a Saito suplex and went for a back senton off the middle of the ropes but missed. Sekimoto then hit a gutwrench and locked in the Sharpshooter, but Dragunov made the ropes.

Sekimoto hit a big splash for another near fall. Dragunov came back with a swiveling lariat, but Sekimoto avoided it and hit a German suplex and a lariat of his own. Sekimoto followed with an enzuigiri that had Dragunov on his knees, but Dragunov got back up and hit a Death Valley Driver into the corner, followed by another back senton for a two count.

Dragunov then finally hit Torpedo Moscow for the win to advance into the next round.

16 Carat Gold tournament first round match: WALTER beat David Starr by referee stoppage with Gojira clutch

This match was preceded by another great video package, chronicling the history of WALTER and Starr and focusing on Starr never being able to beat WALTER before, no matter where in the world they wrestled.

Starr talked about all the things he had accomplished before — but the one thing he failed at every time was beating WALTER. He said he was obsessed with beating him, while clips of WALTER aired where he said Starr was an egomaniac who only thought about himself. Starr picked WALTER to be his first round opponent. Words can hardly do this justice, just watch it yourself if you have around four minutes to spare. Starr was a tremendous promo with great emotional range here.

Starr went to attack WALTER right away before any introductions, but the big Austrian clobbered him with a forearm across the face. Starr was not impressed and kept attacking.

They ended up at ringside and Starr drove WALTER into the post. He then badly crashed and burned on a tope as WALTER sidestepped and Starr flew full speed into the first few rows of chairs in a crash that looked horrifying.

Starr was okay to continue and quickly found himself locked in a Boston crab back in the ring. As Starr escaped that, he was hit with a uranage slam for a near fall. WALTER went to the top, but Starr was right there with him and hit a belly-to-belly off the top.

They traded more strikes, then Starr leapt on WALTER’s back and tried to apply the big man’s own sleeper hold. As WALTER went to reach for the ropes, Starr slapped his hands away and hit a German suplex, which is a sequence WALTER usually does in many of his matches.

They went back and forth for a few minutes and WALTER had Starr down on is knees in the corner, when Starr, whose mouth was bloodied up by that point, defiantly spat a gob of blood on WALTER’s chest in a great and disturbing visual. WALTER rubbed the blood off, then proceeded to slap Starr and lock in a sleeper of his own.

Starr got out but was immediately hit with a shotgun dropkick. Starr used a rana to get out of a powerbomb attempt and followed with Han Stansen for near fall. Starr tried lariat after lariat but got chopped down with hard blows to the chest. He managed to hit a Blackheart Buster for a near fall.

Starr hit a superkick, then hit the Product Placement for another close near fall that had the fans at the edges of their seats. Starr hit a number of forearms and WALTER actually begged off, but it was a con as he quickly hit a quick powerbomb and got the Gojira clutch as the crowd started booing.

Starr escaped and tried his own sleeper, but WALTER scaled the turnbuckles and fell back, breaking the hold. Starr, like a terrier, quickly locked in his own Gojira clutch again, then as WALTER escaped, hit a lariat to the back of the head, a German suplex, and another sleeper.

WALTER was down and the hold was locked in tight as the crowd roared for him to tap and Starr to finally beat him. WALTER eventually tapped, getting Starr to release the hold, but before that he had smartly positioned his foot under the rope — which he quickly pointed out to the referee, so the match continued.

As Starr argued with the referee, WALTER snuck in and locked in another tight Gojira clutch, trapped Starr’s arm, sank in the hooks with a bodyscissor, and finally sent Starr to sleep as the referee checked his arm and Starr could not keep it up.

The crowd booed as WALTER celebrated, even snatching a RINGKAMPF scarf from a fan, posing with it on the ramp, then throwing it back into the crowd. Starr looked devastated as he slowly slunk down the ramp and to the back.

Interesting booking here, with both Thatcher and Starr not being able to fulfill their quests or even make it out of round one. As wXw usually are very good at telling stories, it will be intriguing to see where things go from here for those two for the rest of the weekend and the upcoming weeks and months.

Other events — 

wXw Inner Circle 8 at the wXw Academy (March 7, 2019) — Attendance: 170 (sold out)

– David Starr defeated Jay Skillet in 7:27 after a powerbreaker

– Chris Brookes defeated Francis Kaspin, Julian Pace, and Avalanche in 5:45 after an underhook piledriver on Kaspin

Avalanche wore a plain black singlet as a tribute to King Kong Bundy here.

– Jurn Simmons defeated Kyle Fletcher in 9:05 after a low blow and a piledriver

– Ilja Dragunov defeated Mark Davis in 12:06 after Torpedo Moscow

Super hard-hitting match.

– Killer Kelly defeated Yuu in 7:55 after Carnation Revolution

– RINGKAMPF (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) defeated Yuki Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie in 24:43 when Thatcher submitted Irie in a Fujiwara armbar

This was an amazing match, especially if you enjoy submission-based strong-style matches. Thatcher and Ishikawa meet again on Saturday in the AMBITION super fight, in a UWF-style match.

16 Carat Bowled — Oberhausen Open II (March 8, 2019)

This was a fun bowling tournament taking place after the action of day one, featuring fans and a big number of current and former wrestlers and wXw officials, officially endorsed by wXw and organized by the two Sarahs of the similarly named podcast.