Rocky Romero and Adrian Quest defeated The DKC and Danny Limelight
Good match. DKC and Limelight have already appeared on NJPW Strong, while this was Quest’s debut on the show.
Midway through, Limelight took Romero out with a jumping knee strike that left both temporarily KO’d. DKC tagged in next and showed lots of fire before plating Romero with an inverted Samoan Drop. The finish saw Quest do a crazy twisting plancha from the top to the floor to take out Limelight before Romero pinned DKC after using Sliced Bread #2 for the win. The three young guys were impressive in this.
Brody King and Flip Gordon defeated Jay White and Chase Owens
Gordon hasn’t been on TV since February in ROH. Neither he or King were wearing their Villain Enterprises gear.
Owens and Flip started the match off, but White intervened early on. He and Owens took turns wearing Gordon down in their corner. This was also Jay White’s first match in months, but he didn’t look to have any ring rust.
On commentary, Kevin Kelly said that Gordon changed up his in-ring style because of past knee injuries. He didn’t fly around too much tonight.
Flip was finally able to tag out to Brody King after a few more minutes. King cleaned house, laying White out with a spinning Boss Man slam. King then pinned Owens after a spike Gonzo Bomb to pick up the win.
This was really good. For some reason, White and Owens came off like they’d been a teaming forever. A rematch could be great down the road.
After the match, Jay White grabbed Gordon and went for a Bladerunner before King chased him off. Out of the post-match chaos appeared Hikuleo, younger brother to Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, and laid out King. Looks like a program is building between these groups.
*****
New Japan announced that starting next week at the same time, the company will air NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed on the NJPW World streaming service.
*****
KENTA defeated David Finlay to win the 2020 NJPW USA Cup
There was no time limit in this one. The two grappled in the center of the ring for the opening minutes. The story here was that KENTA got an advantage over Finlay unless he resorted to cheating. It’s a subtle way of getting Finlay over in our minds without him having to do much. Hats off to KENTA, who relishes his 2020 heel life.
The pace of this might be too slow for a lot of people’s tastes, but I thought it was perfect for the context. KENTA worked slow and heavy over Finlay for a long five minutes or so. Finlay rallied back with a back suplex, then a knee strike and a spear only a two-count. It’s notable how much Finlay has improved a lot since his shoulder injury; his past three matches on this show have been solid. He’s crisper in the ring than before and it shows.
As Finlay went for Prima Nocta, KENTA shoved him into the referee, then kicked him low. This happened in KENTA’s match with Cobb also. The ref got back up but KENTA could only score a two-count on Finlay. The two went on to trade hard European uppercuts before KENTA was able to cinch in the GTS to put Finlay away for the win. KENTA is the first ever New Japan Cup USA winner.
KENTA was awarded a trophy and IWGP US title briefcase as his reward. He called out Jon Moxley next, shouting “Where’s Jon Moxley? What’s he doing?!”, saying he was coming for the current IWGP US champion.
KENTA switched to Japanese next and reiterated what he’d said in English until Jeff Cobb jumped into the ring. Cobb tried German suplexing KENTA, but KENTA escaped and ran out of the ring. The two jaw-jacked from a distance before the show ended.
Final thoughts:
Another solid hour of pro wrestling from NJPW. The tag match between White/Owens and Gordon/King was good, and it’s great to see those guys getting a chance to be in front of the cameras after half a year.
The main event was really good, though the slower, thinking-man’s pace isn’t for everyone. Regardless, both KENTA and Finlay did a great job, and it was cool to see Finlay finding his groove as a singles wrestler. Despite losing clean in the finals, he still got over.
NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed will air in the same time slot as NJPW Strong next week on Friday at 10 EST/7 PST on NJPW World.
The reasons behind Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale buying the XFL in bankruptcy court, the new WWE President and how television viewership of all the major pro wrestling shows has changed since the pandemic started are the lead stories in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer. Newsletter.
We look at the timeline of the XFL purchase, financials behind it, the goals, can the goals be achieved, why Dwayne Johnson is key, what Johnson is trying to do with the league that Vince McMahon couldn’t, and why this is such a difficult time to do so and why the interest level was what it was.
The new issue also covers:
WWE’s hiring of Nick Khan as President and Chief Revenue Officer, where he comes from, his connection with wrsetling, his connections in sports, the value of his contract, and the specific strongest value he brings.
We go through every wrestling show with notes on viewership overall and in demos, who is losing and at what pace. We look at what is turning viewers away, what is keeping viewers, and what show actually has increased viewers in an age group and what this says, the key takes from the patterns of gains and losses.
The return of pro wrestling to Mexico City and the restrictions that have been put in place.
The issues with unionizing wrestlers as well as Equity on treatmet of women in U.K. pro wrestling.
Updates on the major U.S. pro wrestling shows over the next month.
The NBA playoffs affecting the AEW schedule in August and September.
Rey Mysterio and contract talks.
Notes on furloughed WWE employees, chaos backstage at WWE tapings, WWE developmental and NXT talent and training, News from the Saudi Arabia lawsuit, behind Raw Underground, update on WWE draft, NXT writers update, Canadian ratings, Ali talks his situation, new WWE sigings, upcoming TV matches, and the most-watched shows on WWE Network.
A feature on Rollerball Mark Rocco, the best U.K. wrestler of his era.
This past week’s UFC show.
The migration of the audience and what days they watch wrestling, and the one demo that is holding firm to Friday in a big way.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
This week’s episode of The Bump features Bret Hart talking about some of his most famous matches at SummerSlam. It also has Matt Riddle, Big Show, and comedian Gabriel Iglesias.
Paul Heyman reveals WWE 2K Battlegrounds’ game modes in a new trailer.
A 3 1/2 hour Best of Alexa Bliss video has been added to the WWE Network.
Beth Phoenix will be the guest on this week’s After the Bell with Corey Graves.
WWE has filed for the following trademarks: Pretty Deadly, The Hunt, Zack Gibson, Rinku, and Saurav.
In an interview with Newsweek, Adam Cole was asked if he’d like the chance to have a babyface run: “When I first started in my wrestling career, I was a babyface like a lot of people start, and I remember feeling so uncomfortable in that role. I just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to act. Then I became comfortable when I got to play the part and the role of being the heel. When I really developed the Adam Cole character, that really helped me. Now I do. I think back on that time when I had no idea what I was doing. It was like a year or two into wrestling and still figuring everything out. I’m still figuring stuff out now, but I just have a much better grasp of who I am at least. Yeah, I think I would. I think I would love the chance to be in that babyface role. By no means would that babyface role mean the Adam Cole that you see now would change very much, but I do think it would be a cool challenge and something interesting for me to do to kind of be put in that role. I think it would be really fun.”
Brandi Rhodes spoke to TVInsider about the decision for AEW’s Women’s Tag Team Cup to be on YouTube: “With YouTube, it’s its own show. That means we are trusted enough to carry our own show and don’t have to be compared to men. We were also not restricted on time. So it’s really the dream scenario. Better than finding out when we are live and something went long, you may only have four minutes to put it out there. That’s really hard, especially when you are trying to introduce new women and put that kind of pressure on them. Being it’s our own show without the restraints and to be able to tell these stories how we want to is a really great situation.”
Brandi was also asked if she sees the tournament being parlayed into a women’s tag team division: “The tournament has been really well-received. When I last checked the first episode surpassed 500,000 views on YouTube, which is kind where people start paying attention and say, ‘This is really cool.’ On a success level, I think we’re doing well. I think it opens the door to possibilities for more. As far as the when, where and why, that isn’t something we’re not in any rush to do because we’re very new. To be able to do something like this and be successful this early is a really good sign.”
Jeff Cobb is teasing a major promotion announcing his signing. On Wrestling Inc. Daily, he said “Well, technically I’m a free agent until whatever group announces that I signed. I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I was going to make a decision but then this craziness kind of happened. So kind of just laying low until the company announces it, and then we’ll go from there. I want the company to do it so the company will get the recognition. I’d rather them do it that way so they can get the spotlight instead of me, and I’ll go from there.”
The US Patent and Trademark office has denied Cody Rhodes’ request for reconsideration for the trademark ‘Bash at the Beach’.
The two semifinal matches in the NJPW Cup USA tournament have been set.
KENTA and Jeff Cobb will square off in the first semifinal match. KENTA defeated Karl Fredericks to advance, while Jeff Cobb defeated Tanga Loa of the Guerillas of Destiny.
The second match is between David Finlay and Tama Tonga. Finlay defeated Chase Owens, while Tonga defeated Brody King of ROH.
The winners of both semifinal matches will face off on next week’s episode of Strong. The winners of those matches will advance to the finals of the tournament, which take place on August 21.
Whoever wins the NJPW Cup USA tournament will be eligible for a future IWGP United States title match. The title is currently held by AEW’s Jon Moxley, who won the championship back on January 4.
NJPW Strong, which focuses on NJPW of America talent, premiered tonight. It replaced Lion’s Break Collison, a show that aired in July that also highlighted NJPW USA talent, including Jeff Cobb and Karl Fredericks.
Clips from last week aired at the beginning of the show, including Tom Lawlor submitting Rocky Romero in Lawlor’s debut match and Jeff Cobb ambushing Karl Fredericks after his tag team win.
Tom Lawlor defeated Alex Coughlin
Solid grappling from both in this. Lawlor is so good at adapting modern jiu-jitsu technique for pro wrestling. Coughlin looked great here too and showed more fire than usual.
Lawlor took most of the offense in this one. He slammed Coughlin with an exploder suplex midway through. Coughlin returned the offense with hard chops and elbows, but Lawlor had an answer for everything, either a counter-hold or strike. He later put down Lawlor with a bridging fall-away slam for two. About a half-minute later, Coughlin looked to lock on a Russian tie hold, but Lawlor reversed it into a brutal leg cradle pin to put Coughlin away. Good stuff.
After the match, Coughlin got in Lawlor’s face. In a backstage interview, Lawlor called Coughlin a piece of trash. “You just met your daddy tonight, young boy!” Lawlor finished by saying Coughlin got the spanking he deserved.
Misterioso defeated Danny Limelight
Quick bout. Both of these guys are talented, but the flashy aerial style they do really suffers without a crowd. There was a point in the match where Limelight did a crazy tornillo dive, but with the dubbed commentary they missed the call, and without the crowd, it was just silence for an otherwise spectacular spot. Fans would have freaked for it, I imagine. Misterioso put Limelight away with a backcracker for the win. The match clocked in at just under five minutes.
TJP & Clark Connors defeated Rust Taylor & Rocky Romero
Top-tier stuff. TJP and Rust Taylor started the match off for their teams. A knuckle-lock tie-up quickly led to a lightning-fast sequence of pinning attempts, escapes, and counter-escapes. Kevin Kelly described it as “silky smooth wrestling,” which is accurate. It was a different kind of technical wrestling match compared to Lawlor vs. Coughlin from earlier, which had more of a connection to MMA in style.
Connors and Romero charged at each other a couple minutes into the match. Connors was fiery in this, he and Rocky have great chemistry together. Connors locked Romero into a Boston crab and wouldn’t let go.
Taylor came into the ring and laid in some hard low kicks but Connors wouldn’t break the hold. “It’s like kicking a cement wall!” Kelly exclaimed. Taylor and Romero double-teamed Connors until he planted Romero with a snap powerslam out of nowhere. He tagged out to TJP who sprung into the ring with a flying forearm. Connors and TJP laid Taylor out with a beautiful doomsday blockbuster into a jackknife pinning combo for two.
Connors accidentally crashed into partner TJP, which allowed Romero to make the save. Connors quickly took Romero out with a hard spear and both spilled out onto the floor. In the ring, Taylor transitioned from a standing wrist lock into his signature Gaea lock on TJP. This guy needs to get in the ring with Zack Sabre Jr. immediately, for the sake of all New Japan fans.
Taylor went for a Brazilian kick but TJP blocked and countered with a dragon screw leg whip. He then hit Detonation on Taylor for the win. Romero and Taylor argued afterwards while TJP and Connors celebrated in the ring. Really good match.
Romero was in the middle of complaining about his month-long losing streak when Rust Taylor stormed into the frame. He shouted at Rocky and blamed him for losing. He claimed Romero left him alone with TJP and Connors, which is why they lost, according to Taylor. Romero big leagued him, calling him a chump then walked off set. Simple and effective. TJP talked about being undefeated on Collision and praised Connors in the next promo.
Jeff Cobb defeated Karl Fredericks
After three weeks of waiting, the two charged at each other as soon as the bell rang. They unloaded on each other and it was awesome. Fans would have exploded.
These two have a unique chemistry together, not all unlike Keith Lee and Dominic Dijakovic in a way. These two are built for a long rivalry.
This month’s shows have done an excellent job at developing Karl Fredericks’ persona. On commentary, Kelly and Gino Gambino described Fredericks as the “cool kid” in school, the alpha dude.
The same goes for Jeff Cobb. He was great and this, and while he usually is, he also looked more comfortable in the ring than usual, more confident, maybe. He was more emotive with his face and accentuated simple power moves, like a shoulder block or a back elbow, making them look and feel massive. He didn’t even use a suplex until towards the end of the match, when he spiked Fredericks with a swinging back suplex that made Karl look like a real life pendulum.
Cobb slowed things down halfway through, locking on a tight chin lock for a while. The two blasted each other with more hard chops and elbows. Cobb hit Fredericks so hard that his cool earring flew out of the ring.
Fredericks made a comeback, using a modified backbreaker and a hard right kick to lay Cobb out. Cobb got a bloody nose. Fredericks started firing machine gun elbows at Cobb, who was prone in the corner. Fredericks offered Cobb a back suplex of his own.
Cobb rallied back with a running uppercut. Fredericks returned the attack and locked in a Boston crab until Cobb grabbed the bottom rope for a break. The two traded more hard forearms and chops in the middle of the ring. They looked gassed.
Fredericks did a big dropkick but was a little early on the execution, so it looked funky. He did a rolling savate kick that Cobb intercepted and turned it into a snap German suplex. He went for Tour of the Islands next and almost dropped Fredericks, but saved the move, deadlifting Fredericks back up in the air and down onto the Lion Mark in the middle of the ring for the win.
Backstage, Cobb complimented Katsuyori Shibata on his training of the LA Dojo wrestlers. He said maybe he shouldn’t call Fredericks a Young Lion anymore because he’s “an alpha,” but an alpha only in his pond, not Cobb’s. He said tonight was step one and next time would be part two.
At the end of tonight’s broadcast, a new show called NJPW Strong was announced. It will air every Friday night starting August 7 on NJPW World.
Final thoughts: This is a top-shelf pro wrestling program. Tonight’s episode was the best show of the series so far. It was full of action for only one hour. The highlight was the main event, and while it wasn’t perfect, it had me looking forward to more of their matches in the future.
The show opened with an interview between Karl Fredericks and Kevin Kelly discussing Frederick’s new career chapter in NJPW. He is no longer a young lion.
The show opened with a slick opening graphic, and showcased a new production style for the new brand. The show’s ring announcing was in English, with Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, and Gino Gambino calling the action. The setup itself looks good. The ring is smaller than usual, but it works for television.
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata did guest commentary for the Japanese language broadcast.
Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin went to a ten-minute draw
Really good. Lots of tight matwork at the top. Coughlin went after Connors’ arm early on. He looks bigger than before.
They exchanged huge chops and power moves midway through. Coughlin used a creative fall-away slam into a bridging pin for two; Connors responded with a picture-perfect powerslam.
More chops. Coughlin used a big side suplex on Connors for two. He locked in an armbar seconds before the bell, Connors didn’t tap, and the match ended in a draw. Good stuff from these two. They had an intense little exchange in the ring together afterwards.
Connors said in his post-match interview that wins and losses matter in NJPW. He said that he refused to be the last trainee to graduate from the LA Dojo.
Karl Fredericks and TJP defeated Jeff Cobb and Rocky Romero
The story here highlighted TJP and Rocky Romero, as they were a part of NJPW’s first dojo in Los Angeles. Karl Fredericks has a new haircut and red tights with tassels.
This was all action. TJP looked impressive here, especially when he and Rocky were in together. Good chemistry between the OGs.
Fredericks really looks like a superstar now. His exchange with Cobb toward the end of this was impressive, especially when he landed a crazy-looking kuru-kuru dropkick.
At around ten minutes in, TJP landed a slingshot dropkick to the apron, knocking Cobb back to the floor. Fredericks was able to keep Romero down for a three-count with a backslide pin for the upset win.
Fredericks and Cobb got into it right after the match, and it looked intense. In his post-match promo, Fredericks said that Rocky Romero isn’t a real LA Dojo guy anymore, that he’s CHAOS, and that he shouldn’t keep claiming he’s a part of his dojo.
Final thoughts:
This was an easy watch. Two solid matches that featured talent that probably wouldn’t get the proper look otherwise. Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors and especially Karl Fredericks will be important cogs in the NJPW machine going forward.
Next week on NJPW Young Lions Collision: DKC vs. Rust Taylor and Danny Limelight vs. TJP
Last weekend’s wXw’s 16 Carat Gold 2020 was a very newsworthy edition with one former top talent (David Starr) reportedly having to leave the company at the urge of WWE while a WWE contracted performer (Alexander Wolfe) is on a temporary deal there through mid-April (or whenever wrestling picks back up again).
Those two stories somewhat overshadowed the actual tournament which had a lot of very good and one insanely great match. The winner was wXw newcomer and current PROGRESS world champion Cara Noir who impressed people with his performance as everything from his entrance to his facial expression and mannerisms up to certain spots in the match seem to be constructed with the high arts in mind.
He beat Mike Bailey in the main event in somewhat of a surprise match as many people had picked Dutch-born Jurn Simmons as one of the sure-fire finalists. The match of the weekend was had by Bailey and Bandido, who did some insane spots and had a match that will probably go down as one of the best, if not the best, in 16 Carat history.
The promotion was super lucky when it came to the COVID-19 virus as on Tuesday after the shows, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia (the state where 16 Carat took place) prohibited all events with more than 1000 people in attendance. Had they run this weekend, they would have had to cancel. COO Tassilo Jung said while they had some sort of backup plan, it would have been a gamble at best and could have meant a massive loss for the company.
The weekend followed the typical formula of establishing everyone on night one, having great and dramatic matches on night two and progressing storylines and saving raw emotion for night three
Here are the highlights of the weekend, followed by results to all the shows:
David Starr leaves wXw, indicates WWE is responsible
The 29-year-old came to wXw in early 2016 when he was a CZW regular through the relationship the two promotions had established that dates back to the early 2000s. He started in WXW (Afa’s promotion in Pennsylvania and no relation to wXw) and mostly wrestled for CZW, Beyond, and a couple of smaller indies in the Northeast. wXw took a chance at him and he quickly showed both his talent and promo skills, becoming a regular over the years as well as a major player in storylines.
He began a feud with WALTER which spanned multiple promotions and lasts to this day with the key being that he never beat WALTER (except for some tag matches where he still never was the one to beat him), held the wXw Shotgun title on three different occasions, and became part of the main event picture.
Being in wXw put him on the map to a number of other promotions in Europe, and he soon started wrestling for almost every major promotion in the UK, including PROGRESS, OTT, Revolution Pro, and Defiant back when there were fewer political issues on who you worked for. He also got noticed by PWG in the US, who started using him in January 2018.
Very outspoken and left-leaning on the political spectrum, Starr idolizes Bernie Sanders to the point he is being billed as “the Bernie Sanders of pro wrestling” among a ton of other nicknames. He moved to the UK in order to be eligible for public health care and is the founder of “We The Independent”, an organization striving to improve working conditions for wrestlers. He is a strong proponent of unionization and has been working with Equity in the UK, the trade union for those in the performing arts (similar to SAG in the US).
Starr is very outspoken about the way some major wrestling organizations conduct their business, publicly calling out both WWE and ROH owners Sinclair repeatedly and also got into a war of words with Gabe Sapolsky of EVOLVE about the payment of some of their talent. He last appeared for PROGRESS on December 30 of last year and hasn’t been mentioned there since which got some people talking.
At the end of January after the two clashed in an eight-man War Games-style single cage match, the match with wXw World Unified Wrestling champion Bobby Gunns was announced for night two of 16 Carat when it traditionally happens. Starr, seemingly out of nowhere, established a title vs. career stipulation. They did a good build up including some tremendous video packages and interviews by both guys and the match felt important, but the buzz seemed to be lower than for similar matches in the past.
The bout started slow but picked up pace and went 41:15 and saw both men give it their everything, kicking out of big moves. Starr messed up his back on a crazy dive where he virtually crashed into the first few rows of seats (hardback plastic chairs) at full speed, while Gunns also hurt his leg when Starr threw him off the entrance ramp as the two brawled around ringside, landing on a set of risers for standing room fans to get a better view of the action. After some fantastic back and forth action, Gunns retained the title with the “Ehrenmann Driver” (“man of honor driver”).
After his loss, Starr cut a very emotional promo and talked about how “freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequences” and that he and wXw mutually agreed to part ways. He thanked everyone in the office and said that wXw put him on the map on a major level and that he wouldn’t be where he was if not for them. He talked about CEO Felix Kohlenberg taking a chance at him when he was “just a stupid kid at CZW, begging them to book him and had no idea what he was doing.”
He talked about creative director Dennis Birkendahl taking him to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (Starr is Jewish and about 70,000 Jews were killed there during WW II) which he said changed his life forever. He thanked Christian Jakobi, the former CEO who left due to occupational burnout, and said that he helped him out a ton but would hate certain spots in matches which is why they included one today just to piss him off if he watched it. He said he also meant to thank WALTER “But, f*ck WALTER. Who did he ever beat?” He said he felt a certain disconnect with the locker room over the past 2-3 years, but that before this match, people came up to him, saying they loved him. He also said this was goodbye for real, not some intricate storyline or angle.
He tweeted last Monday that “I won’t go into further details regarding wXw on this platform and idk when/if I will in any public setting. Like I said, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences and that this mutual decision was one that neither of us wanted to make. I love wXw & always will.” He was very emotional at the merch table as well, hugging fans and saying goodbye to everyone personally who took the time to walk up to him. Starr himself confirmed to me that this was very much a WWE call.
wXw also thanked him and that they would miss him while COO Tassilo Jung took to Twitter and wrote “It has been an unbelievable ride and I’m gutted it had to end.”
At a Sunday media panel, Jung said there would be some limit on how deep they would dive into the topic of Starr and any possible WWE involvement. He said they sat down with Starr beforehand and told him that after the match, the mic was his to say whatever he wanted to say, basically giving him the chance to keep things within the realms of storyline or let the person behind David Starr speak, and Starr chose the latter. He said they appreciated what he said, the kind words he said, and later posted on social media about wXw and that they would miss him a lot.
He said they would not comment on the decision itself but wanted to make sure that people knew how much they appreciated Starr as a person as well as a talent. He said they made the decision when they set up the match a few months ago. Jung praised Starr for his work ethic and that he always showed up, eager to give his best and help people, stating examples of the four way at their 19th Anniversary show, theior two January shows in France, the cage match in January at Back to the Roots, the Dragunov match in February at Dead End, and Saturday’s performance.
He said Starr went out as an absolute professional and that they hold him in the best regards. Jung said Starr said he’ll always be a wXw guy and they’ll always have his back.
The one thing to say for wXw is that they built this match up, gave Starr a storyline exit so fans would get closure and a reason of him not being there, and giving him a live mic after the show. In PROGRESS, it was seemingly the same deal. There, he simply lost a match to Jimmy Havoc on December 39th and hasn’t been heard from or seen since.
It will be interesting what the future has in store for Starr, who still holds the OTT world title in Ireland and also the SWE (Southside Wrestling Entertainment) title, which now is part of RevPro (who have a working relationship with New Japan) as well as the Liverpool-based TNT world title. OTT seemingly has a relationship with WWE, but it seems less intense than what WWE, PROGRESS, ICW or EVOLVE have.
If you want to take a deep dive into the whole topic, Will Cooling, who also was there this weekend has an excellent article on Starr and his political campaigning among others things over.
Cara Noir wins 16 Carat Gold, Mike Bailey and Bandido have the match of the weekend
Noir (real name Thomas Dawkins), the current PROGRESS champion, had his first matches in 2010 to mixed success under his given name and several other monikers. He almost quit the business in 2016, but after a conversation with longtime friend Chris Brookes, decided to develop the gimmick of Cara Noir, the black swan of wrestling, supposedly a former ballet dancer (and computer genius with an MMA background) that was kicked out of the academy for his anger management issues while being harassed there.
He wears swan-like face paint and enters the ring in darkness with just a spotlight on him to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake before a performance in the ring where he brings up his cape of peacock feathers. He is a very unique individual who views wrestling as the ultimate art form and expresses himself through facials, body language, mannerisms, and a unique move set. He does dozens of small things in each match which almost feel like a musical composition. After a few notes, you recognize the composer, but like music, each match is different with different overtures and themes reaching back to earlier spots in the match, and often enough there are unique things he does with certain opponents, exclusive to that match.
Noir beat “Speedball” Mike Bailey in the finals in a very good, dramatic match that went 28:27 and saw both guys put on a great performance. While it was face vs. face, Bailey showed some heel tendencies. Noir, at times, very much played the dying swan. At one point, he took three running kicks to the chest with Bailey becoming more and more reluctant to deliver the punishment and asking Noir to just quit. Noir looked pained by having to go yet another round, but asked Bailey to pull him back up and deliver another kick, the third after which he suddenly powered up. He also hugged Bailey and seemingly told him everything was going to be OK before delivering his own finishing sequence.
They also did some crazy spots like Bailey missing his moonsault knee drop both on the apron and on the steel ramp at one point. Noir kicked out of the Flamingo Driver which looks like a variation of the One Winged Angel. After Bailey missed the moonsault knees on the ramp, Noir hooked in the Blackout sleeper and then left Bailey laying in order to get the countout victory, but Bailey made it back at nine.
The finishing sequence was Bailey hitting a top rope moonsault fallaway slam which Noir narrowly kicked out of and came back with a Madame Guilltone and package piledriver for a kickout by Bailey. Noir finally hit a Blackout sleeper suplex, followed by a Blackout sleeper for the victory by referee stoppage. Noir pulled up Bailey, who still seemed out of it, for a long hug before posing with the trophy up the ramp and in the ring.
Bailey had another great outing the night before, facing Bandido in the match of the weekend. In a near eighteen minute match, they did some unreal spots and had the crowd in the palms of their hands, starting off with duel chants and songs and having people in an absolute frenzy as the match progressed. After a ton of spectacular near falls, the finish was a fisherman moonsault fallaway slam from the top rope by Bandido. Afterwards, the fans starting pelting the ring with money to the point there was fear somebody could get hurt by being hit with a coin. Ring announcer Thommy Giessen then made the call to ask people to throw notes instead of coins.
Both men hugged and even brought Bandido superfan Chris Lawson, who was at ringside, into the ring and put him on their shoulders. From the match itself to the post-match, this was one of those 16 Carat experiences on par with the surprise Ilja Dragunov return, the Alexander Wolfe surprise last year, and Jurn Simmons turning on Karsten Beck to win the world title, an angle no one will forget and will be talked about and featured in video highlights forever.
Bailey beat UK indy and NOAH prodigy Chris Ridgeway in the first round, Bandido in the second, and put away favorite Jurn Simmons in the semifinals. Noir beat al-Ani in round one, eliminated Jeff Cobb in round two and then Eddie Kingston in the semi before going on to win the tournament.
Two other standouts were wXw’s homegrown talents Julian Pace and The Rotation who hung in there move for move and spot for spot with Bandido and Puma King respectively in the first round. Pace, 24, who only has been wrestling professionally for less than four years, is one of the most exciting young workers in Europe today, has great speed and tremendous flying ability and never looked out of place, going toe-to-toe with one of the most amazing wrestlers out there in 2020. He is the first full-fledged graduate of the wXw Academy and was trained, among others, by WALTER and Timothy Thatcher.
Rotation is a similar high flyer and started in 2013 after training at the Westside Dojo, the predecessor of the wXw Academy, before it became a full-time school. After a few years in wXw in an enhancement role, he toured Mexico in the summer of 2015, mostly working for DTU, but also had two matches for AAA. He returned full time in wXw last fall and has been great ever since. He hung with Puma King in many typical lucha spots and did impressive stunts, such as standing on the top rope, jumping up to avoid a punch and landing on the rope again or cartwheeling along the top rope to avoid another attack. Puma King and Black Taurus also both looked good the whole weekend, and hopefully international fans will see more of them outside of AAA.
Simmons, who many saw as the favorite for the tournament, looked impressive, both with an improved physique and a new moveset which included power moves such as a gorilla press and athletic moves like a standing moonsault. Him being eliminated by Bailey was a surprise to many and a return to the main event picture seems imminent.
Alexander Wolfe makes a surprise appearance, wins wXw Shotgun title, gets attacked by Lucky Kid’s new heel group
On Sunday, a wXw Shotgun title match was scheduled between champion Avalanche and Ilja Dragunov, set up after the finish of Bobby Gunns vs. Avalanche at February’s Dead End in Hamburg when they did an angle where Dragunov attacked Avalanche and got beat up.
Most suspected this to be a bonus match of sorts, a hard-hitting battle between two former partners who have always delivered and as a way to get Dragunov on the show the day he was first available after two days of NXT UK tapings.
During ring introductions, ring announcer Thommy Giessen was handed another cue card and announced that the wXw championship board of directors had added a third man to the match at which point the Ringkampf/Imperium music played and Alexander Wolfe appeared to a big pop. Initially this was somewhat lackluster since it was a mix of Dragunov getting added to the world title match against Bad Bones two years ago and Wolfe appearing as a surprise with his old Sanity-gimmick last year.
They had a fun match with Dragunov initially suggesting Wolfe team with him, playing off their previous friendship and NXT UK contracts, but Wolfe refused.
The finish came when Dragunov hit Torpedo Moscow on Avalanche, who fell out of the ring. Wolfe then pinned Dragunov after a sitdown power bomb to win the title to a shocked reaction as nobody believed that to be a possibility.
Wolfe held the then-vacant title in 2014, ironically winning it after the then-champion Dragunov was out with a broken skull after suffering the injury at a WWE tryout in 2013. Wolfe cut a promo, saying that the title meant a lot: it meant that the champion had to be the best and defend it against all comers.
He then put the title down in the middle of the ring and said that he could not take it back with him to the U.S. After some boos, he reconsidered and said “F*ck it. I’ll stay in Germany and defend this title until somebody from the locker room takes it from me, but I’m not going to make it easy for them.”
At this point, the big eye, which had distracted Lucky Kid in matches over the past few weeks including his first round loss to Simmons in 16 Carat, flashed on the screen. As Wolfe looked at it, he was attacked by two burly guys in black shirts (Abdul Kenan and Aytac Bahar, who teamed as Grup Arnasi in the Berlin-based GWF and also were trained there). Lucky ran out and confronted them, signaling to Wolfe to stay back before attacking him and the three then beat him down.
Lucky then cut a fiery, bitter promo as it was important to him to explain what he was doing here. He had been a part of various groups over the past few years and slowly lost his honor and his identity in the process. In RISE, he was the crazy guy; with Schadenfreude, he was the stupid, childish kid; with The Purge (Ivan Kiev & Pete Bouncer), he was their good friend Lucky. Now, he was the leader of his own group and would go by the name his mother had given him, Metehan (his actual real first name; he has Turkish roots but was born in Germany).
He said he would get everything back that was taken from him and that his new group would be called Ezel (which is Turkish for “Eternity” based on a show of the same name that seemingly aired in Turkey years ago). He slapped each of the Grup Anarsi members and then proceeded to beat down Wolfe some more.
Wolfe has since been confirmed for five upcoming shows (3/28 in Frankfurt, 3/29 in Erfurt, 4/17 in Limbach-Oberfrohna, 4/18 in his hometown of Dresden, and 4/19 in Leipzig). No matches have been confirmed, but matches against former champion Avalanche, Dragunov (maybe in Dresden as Dragunov was injured when they last wanted to do the match there in November), Metehan, and possibly a tag match against Grup Anarsi al seem like logical choices.
Shoot style reigns supreme with AMBITION 12 thanks to two young guns and a senior citizen BattlArts superfight
AMBITION, wXw’s take on the shoot style concept, keeps playing an important part at these big festival weekends. After almost abandoning the concept after four events (plus an almost forgotten AMBITION on the Road mini-tournament) back in 2013 due to low attendance, they brought it back as an experiment in October 2014 as part of the World Triangle League weekend with much better success as the hardcore fans in town from all over Europe ate the unique show up.
They moved it to March in 2016 and it has been a part of 16 Carat weekends ever since, expanding to a show in Toronto over SummerSlam weekend last year, as well as a “Wildcard Edition” this past October. Last year’s AMBITION 10 and AMBITION 11 in Toronto also featured Yuki Ishikawa, the legendary founder of BattlArts, who seemed to have the time of his life in his fights.
AMBITION also undoubtedly inspired concepts such as Bloodsport over WrestleMania weekend and Tetsujin: Hybrid Wrestling in the UK, which even added two more shows after its initial one shot event. It was at the final Tetsujin show in November, where Tassilo Jung, who is also wXw’s head referee, officiated some matches as Tetsujin and wXw had worked together from the start. It was there that he saw Ethan Allen and Luke Jacobs, the two members of the England-based Young Guns, have a match against each other and immediately offered to bring them in for AMBITION.
While both men are barely of drinking age (in the UK, at least), they trained at some of the premier schools of the country and put an intensity into their AMBITION match that would put more established grapplers to shame. Allen won their bout by submission, but both men won over the hearts of those in the Turbinenhalle that day. They also prevailed at the Jay-AA Tag Team Experts Wild Card Tournament later that night, a fun, parejas increibles style gauntlet, supposedly decided by an app that Absolute Andy programmed on the fly the night before (including creating all the graphics for it).
Then, there were Yuki Ishikawa and Daisuke Ikeda, longtime rivals and partners, who have been in the ring with each other on close to 100 occasions dating back to 1994 and at least 60 times in BattlArts. They gave people a first taste of what to expect when they teamed with each other against Chris Ridgeway & Daniel Makabe at the Inner Circle show, a prelude to the 16 Carat string of events. This was a dream match, especially for Makabe who traded BattlArts tapes as young as 14 and idolized Ishikawa ever since. He told me a story of when he first met Ishikawa in Toronto last summer. He told him about it and Ishikawa was baffled that some kid in the U.S. actually got his tapes from Japan. It was then when he told him “Maybe, one day, you and me, we work together”.
In their AMBITION fight, the impression people got was that they legitimately tried to end each other then and there. Never before have I seen two men aged 52 and 53, respectively, hit each other so hard with punches, slaps, kicks and shoot headbutts and getting so much joy out of the process. The headbutts especially were something else with both men having huge bumps on their forehead, but who am I to tell those two men what to do or not do. This was a fight that people should go out of their way to see.
They faced each other one more time the next night as Ishikawa teamed with longtime protégé Timothy Thatcher who had his farewell match in wXw for the time being against Ikeda & WALTER. Those four, the answer to the trivia question of who you would want to back you up in a bar fight, had another hell of an outing as you would expect from them. This was another symphony of violence, especially when Ishikawa no sold WALTER’s chops. Thatcher submitted Ikeda in an armbar after which the four men paid each other their respects.
Thatcher then refused to address the crowd and indicated he would choke up and cry if he did. Then, when the whole roster came out on the stage to say goodbye, he could not handle it anymore and left the ring through an exit by the crowd. Thus ended the era of Timothy Thatcher in wXw, the last and only real man in the world, who is kind enough to let us lesser men live in it.
Alexander James is an abusive boyfriend, Killer Kelly is no longer with NXT UK
A story that progressed throughout the weekend (and on World Women’s Day, nonetheless) was the story of Alexander James being an abusive, toxic boyfriend to his girlfriend Killer Kelly.
The backstory was that Kelly came out during a James vs. Jurn Simmons Singapore cane match back in December in order to stop James from putting a beating on Simmons, at which point, AJ shoved her down.
Kelly, who wrestled and beat newcomer Stephanie Maze (an Alex Wright trainee with a kickboxing background) at Inner Circle, then came out during James’ tournament match against Jeff Cobb on Friday to cheer him on. James didn’t take kindly to it, screamed at her, and ordered her to the back before eventually losing to Cobb.
On Saturday, James came out and demanded the best challenger available, at which point Alpha Kevin came out who James quickly beat with a cobra clutch. Kevin had his girlfriend, Melanie Gray, with him who was on crutches due to a knee injury. James kept attacking Kevin and also shoved down Gray, who entered the ring despite her injury to help out her boyfriend. Kelly came out to confront James, but in a backstage promo later, was defending him to Kevin and Melanie, claiming that he had a hard time and needed support. Melanie then told Kelly that she would show her what real support looked like and offered Kelly her title shot against Amale the next day.
Then, at Sunday’s Feature event, which was taped in the afternoon, Kelly and Stephanie Maze beat Valkyrie and Baby Allison with Maze getting the deciding pinfall. A furious James came out again and berated Kelly, telling her he lacked the killer instinct she once had and asked why she let a rookie get the deciding win. He also threatened to punch Maze at that point and sent Kelly to the back to watch what a real killer looked like after which he faced and beat CZW champion Joe Gacy.
On Sunday, Kelly (who refused the shot) had another backstage promo with James where he again told her she was wasting chances and how she got opportunities he never got and never used them to her advantage. Kelly and Gray then presented Maze as the new surprise challenger for Amale, who eventually beat her. James then came out once more and again berated Kelly, beat down Kevin and Levaniel, and threatened to beat up Melanie, telling Kelly to decide between the love of the fans or the love of him. Kelly, seemingly choosing James, sulked to the back while James beat up Kevin some more.
The promos here were really good and I am intrigued to see where the story goes as it gives both James and Kelly something to do, and also can involve Melanie while she recuperates her injury, plus Kevin, Levaniel, and possibly Amale and Karsten Beck when he returns.
Kelly also confirmed that she is no longer with NXT UK, which was obvious since she appeared for RevPro at their March 1st show, attacking Giselle Shaw and also wrestlling for EVE twice in non-dark matches after last being at NXT UK in October. Kelly also is the first female Ringkampf brand athlete.
Maze has a good look and good movement, but still is very rough around the edges and needs to improve her ring speed and precision. Then again, she started just over two years ago and had only around 60 matches, so changes should be noticeable soon especially if she spends more time at the wXw Academy.
As far as Beck (who is an on-screen GM as the “Director of Sports”), Jung said at the media panel that he had some issues (possibly medically related as he had surgery for a brain tumor twice before) but they would not comment on it and said they’d let him talk about what they were on his own time, and when those things were sorted out, he would probably be back.
wXwNOW Showcase a success, CZW returns to Germany
wXw’s streaming service wXwNOW features a plethora of different promotions from all around the world. Seven of them joined forces to present the wXwNOW Showcase with each of them presenting once match. The Showcase followed the somewhat ill-received #WrestlingDeutschland shows of the past two years which had a similar concept for smaller promotions in Germany. While the first show was fun, the second was mostly abysmal with many bad matches and talent clearly not ready for a bigger stage.
The Showcase was generally considered a success with every promoter very happy about it and most matches being good and well received by the crowd, especially the ones put on by CZW (wXw’s longtime U.S. partner promotion), SMASH (Canada), Rising Sun (Italy) and White Wolf Wrestling (Spain). DJ Hyde, the owner of CZW, came out after the Joe Gacy vs. Anthony Greene match and announced that CZW would return to Germany on November 14 in Frankfurt and would also “bring the ultra violence”. The date will be a doubleheader with CZW promoting an afternoon show and wXw promoting in the same venue in the evening.
Odds and ends from various panels and informal talks
Tassilo Jung said that they were monitoring the WWE Network situation closely and could not say what it meant for them or if anything would be changing regarding a multi tier system and their content eventually being on the Network. He said they didn’t have that level of access to WWE management and basically followed the situation of Michelle Wilson and George Barrios being gone from the company just like everybody else.
They also said that they did not see WWE pulling talent or having NXT UK tapings head to head as a major problem as they saw during the Tag Festival with all the late cancellations and that they could work around it. He said Lio Rush very much had been the top draw as most tickets moved after he was announced. He said WWE offered them a replacement but would not comment who it was. At that point, they had already gotten Jeff Cobb, who was available that weekend.
It looks like Veit Müller has burned his bridges with wXw for the time being as he told them just four days in advance that he would not be there. He pulled out of most of the Tag Festival in October due to complications his wife had with his pregnancy which was totally understandable. Jung said the minimum they expect from their talent is to show up to work and how they would not work with Müller for the time being. Müller later posted a tweet with his child, saying “some things are more important than wrestling,”
Francis Kaspin is out with a herniated/bulging disc. He tried various methods of therapy, none of which have really worked. They brought him in after his injury, but he eventually said he’d prefer not to come as each long car drive back and forth really hampered his progress in recovery. They will see when he feels better to incorporate him back into storylines.
They haven’t talked to Jazzy Gabert since she quit NXT UK, but no door ever is closed in wrestling and they’d be open to work with her again if the right opportunity arises.
They also were very understanding of the whole Alex Shelley situation and hope they will be able to bring him in one day. Felix Kohlenberg was been waiting for more than a decade to book him.
Killer Kelly seemingly quit NXT UK, but did not want to further elaborate on it. She appeared for RevPro and EVE in the UK after she last was at NXT UK tapings in early October. She also now is the first female Ringkampf athlete for their sports apparel/merchandise brand.
DJ Hyde talked extensively about the various deal they had for streaming their content, including wXwNOW, their own CZW Studios (on Pivotshare), IWTV, and FITE TV as well as Stone Cutter Media where they put old content on PPV around the world through Steve Karel, who also was instrumental in the old ECW television deals. He said while he didn’t have all the data yet, the FITE TV numbers looked really good. He said it was a challenge to upgrade old tapes to be HD ready and how each iPPV they did was a struggle as the money will not come in for months. He said they would be simulcasting their first show on IWTV and FITE TV and also would get on PPV soon.
Methehan (the former Lucky Kid) reiterated to me that his new group, Ezel, was not to be understood as any kind of Turkish nationalist group and that he very much considers himself German as he was born and raised in the country.
The full 39-minute media panel with the wXw office can also be viewed here.
Julian Pace pinned Rust Taylor after the Best Moonsault Ever (9:22)
Avalanche pinned “Goldenboy” Santos after a DRSKR Bomb (6:44)
Four Way: Marius Al-Ani beat The Rotation, Hektor and Vertigo after pinning Vertigo with a Diamond Driver (4:24)
Jay Skillet pinned Absolute Levandy (Levaniel) after an FtY (9:57): Pure comedy gold, with Levaniel doing a spot-on Absolute Andy impersonation
Killer Kelly pinned Stephanie Maze after the Carnation Revolution (9:17)
Shigehiro Irie pinned Scotty Davis after a Beast Bomber (8:30)
Daisuke Ikeda & Yuki Ishikawa beat Chris Ridgeway & Daniel Makabe when Ikeda pinned Ridgeway after a high kick (17:44): Super fun shoot-style match with everybody being great at the style
Alternate Four Way Dance: Rust Taylor defeated Levaniel, Hektor & Scotty Davis when he tapped out Levaniel with the Rings of Saturn (6:30)
16 Carat Gold first round: “Speedball” Mike Bailey pinned Chris Ridgeway after a Flamingo Driver (12:55)
16 Carat Gold first round: Jurn Simmons pinned Lucky Kid after a piledrive (4:32): The eye appeared again at the beginning of the match, prompting Lucky to almost get pinned right away
16 Carat Gold first round: The Rotation pinned Puma King after Victory over Gravity (8:57)
16 Carat Gold first round: Eddie Kingston pinned Daniel Makabe after the Backfist to the Future (9:33)
16 Carat Gold first round: Bandido pinned Julian Pace after a Top Rope Fallaway Moonsault (9:39)
16 Carat Gold first round: Shigehiro Irie pinned Black Taurus iafter a Beast Bomber (10:30)
16 Carat Gold first round: Jeff Cobb pinned Alexander James after Tour of the Island (12:44)
16 Carat Gold first round: Cara Noir beat Marius Al-Ani via ref stoppage after Al-Ani passed out in the Blackout Sleeper (11:32)
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Jay AA (Jay Skillet & Absolute Andy) beat Pretty Bastards (Maggot & Prince Ahura) (c) after a belt shot and the JAA-Klasse (15:47): This was a fun, very good match. Bobby Gunns and Norman Harras came out at one point, handed the belts to the bastards who clocked Jay-AA with them but didn’t get the pin; referee Tassilo Jung then caught Gunns and Harras in the ring with the belts a second time and threw them out, allowing Jay-AA to use the belts and then hit JAA-Klasse for the win and title change.
First Round Match: Daniel Makabe submitted Kevin Lloyd with an STF
First Round Match: Chris Ridgeway beat Vincent Heisenberg via TKO after a head kick: Heisenberg replaced Veit Müller here and is actually the son of Baron von Hagen, the first ever 16 Carat Gold winner back in 2006
First Round Match: Rust Taylor submitted Tyson Dux with a modified double arm bar
First Round Match: Scotty Davis submitted “Speedball” Mike Bailey with an arm bar/hammerfists combo
Next Generation AMBITION Fight: Ethan Allen submitted Luke Jacobs with a double arm stretch and kicks to the back: Really impressive performance by those two, they should be back in wXw soon and will also debut for PROGRESS at the end of the month
Semifinal: Daniel Makabe submitted Scotty Davis with an upside down armbar headscissors combo
Semifinal: Chris Ridgeway beat Rust Taylor by TKO after a head kick
AMBITION Superfight: Daisuke Ikeda knocked out Yuki Ishikawa with a punt kick: This was unreal violence between two senior citizens who looked to kill each other with death
Finals: Daniel Makabe submitted Chris Ridgeway with an Indian-style Cattle Mutilation
16 Carat Gold quarter final: Cara Noir submitted Jeff Cobb with the Blackout Sleeper (11:40)
16 Carat Gold quarter final: Eddie Kingston pinned The Rotation after a Backfist to the Future (9:26)
Marius Al-Ani pinned Daniel Makabe after a Diamond Driver (9:44): This was preceded by a backstage segment, where Al-Ani challenged Makabe after his AMBITION 12 tournament win earlier in the day
The Young Guns won the Jay AA Tag Team Experts Wildcard Gauntlet (24:09): The build-up to this was hilarious, after Andy cracked up the crowd with his dad humor, then claimed he had designed a graphic for the match with the “paid version of Microsoft Paint” and studied color theory for it, plus he had developed an app which would randomly choose partners for the gauntlet.
Puma King & Julian Pace beat Leon van Gasteren & Lucky Kid when Puma pinned Lucky after a sitdown powerbomb (5:42): This had Pace and van Gasteren, actual tag partners against each other, which Pace was upset about
Black Taurus & Avalanche beat Puma King & Julian Pace when Taurus pinned Puma King (4:22)
Black Taurus & Avalanche beat Tarik & Norman Harras when Taurus pinned Tarik after a Spinning Fishermans Buster (3:42): Harras and Tarik didn’t get along, leading to a challenge and an eight men tag at the wXw Feature Event taped on Sunday afternoon, where harras, The Pretty bastards and Oliver Carter faced The Four Pillars of SMASH
Black Taurus & Avalanche beat DJ Hyde & Levaniel when Avalanche pinned Hyde after a DRSKR Bomb (0:46): This was amazing. Hyde was upset that Levaniel, who does a sleazy “Prince of the Stars” gimmick, where he claims that he has a castle in the sky, sees the most shooting stars in the sky and wants to spread “the love” was his partner. While Hyde was getting beat up in the ring, Levaniel, totally oblivious of what was going on, cut this amazing promo about how his father was a death match wrestler, who made him sleep in broken glass and would set his blanket on fire before putting him to bed. Hyde then chased him away.
Scotty Davis & Chris Ridgeway beat Black Taurus & Avalanche when Davis submitted Taurus in the Rolling Prawn Hold (2:01)
The Young Guns (Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs) beat Scotty Davis & Chris Ridgeway after a Gotch-style Piledriver/PK combo on Davis (7:36) to earn a shot at the wXw tag team championship
Alexander James submitted Alpha Kevin in 2:02 with a cobra clutch: James kept attacking Kevin, then shoved down an injured Malenie gray who came to make the save; Killer Kelly then came out to confront him
16 Carat Gold quarter final: Mike Bailey pinned Bandido with a Meteora Dream (17:36): Unreal good, match of the weekend. The fans showered both men with money afterwards and it was one of the all time great 16 Carat matches
16 Carat Gold quarterfinal: Jurn Simmons pinned Shigehiro Irie after a piledriver (9:01)
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship – Title vs. Career: Bobby Gunns (c) pinned David Starr after an Ehrenmann Driver (41:15)
wXw We Love Wrestling Feature Event (March 8, 2020/afternoon – attendance: 450, Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen/Germany)
This takes place chronologically between Night 2 and Night 3 as far as storyline progression goes
Four-Way-Dance: Scotty Davis beat Daniel Makabe, Rust Taylor & Anthony Greene after pinning Greene with a Spinning Fishermans Buster (7:59)
Eight-Man-Tag-Team Match: Pretty Bastards, Oliver Carter & Norman Harras beat The Four Pillars of SMASH (Tarik, Sebastian Suave, Tyson Dux & Brent Banks) when Carter pinned Suave after a Redlight Driver/springboard moonsault combo (16:43)
Marius Al-Ani pinned Chris Ridgeway after a Diamond Driver (6:35)
Stephanie Maze & Killer Kelly beat Baby Allison & Valkyrie when Maze pinned Allison after the Black Mass (7:24)
Alexander James submitted Joe Gacy with a corba clutch (7:04)
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Jay AA (Jay Skillet & Absolute Andy) (c) beat The Young Guns (Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs) after the JAA-Klasse on Jacobs (14:42). Bobby Gunns, Norman Harras, Oliver Carter and The Pretty Bastards attacked Jay-AA after the match, until Julian Pace and Scotty Davis made the save
WALTER pinned Shigehiro Irie after a big splash of the top rope (12:51)
16 Carat Gold semi-final: “Speedball” Mike Bailey pinned Jurn Simmons after a Flamingo Driver (10:40)
16 Carat Gold semi-final: Cara Noir submitted Eddie Kingston with the Blackout Sleeper (8:15)
wXw Women:s Championship: Amale pinned Stephanie Maze after the Champions Maker (9:06) Maze replaced the injured Melanie Gray here, after Killer Kelly refused the shot since she believed she hadn’t earned it; after the match, there war another scene with Alexander James and Kelly
Special Attraction Tag Team Match: Timothy Thatcher & Yuki Ishikawa beat WALTER & Daisuke Ikeda when Thatcher submitted Ikeda with an arm bar (16:42)
wXw Shotgun Championship: Alexander Wolfe beat Avalanche (c) & Ilja Dragunov after pinning Dragunov with a sit-down power bomb (12:44)
Bandido, Julian Pace & Jeff Cobb beat Puma King, Black Taurus & Hektor when Bandido pinned Hektor with the 21 Plex (12:28)
16 Carat Gold finals: Cara Noir beat Speedball Mike Bailey via ref stoppage in the Blackout Sleeper (28:27)
Adam Brooks won’t be making his ROH debut at Friday’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view after all.
ROH has announced that — due to travel issues — Brooks will no longer be appearing at their 18th Anniversary PPV. Jeff Cobb is replacing Brooks and will face Slex at the show.
It was confirmed last month that Brooks has signed with ROH. Him facing Slex at the Anniversary PPV was going to be a matchup between Australian wrestling standouts.
Slex also recently signed with ROH. He debuted at Free Enterprise last month and has had three matches for the promotion.
ROH wrote that “Cobb, who is willing to take on anyone in any promotion, wants to wear ROH gold around his waist again, and he knows a victory over Slex would strengthen his case for a title shot.”
ROH’s 18th Anniversary PPV is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada this Friday. The venue will also host ROH Past vs. Present the next night.
Here’s the updated card for the Anniversary PPV:
ROH World Champion Rush defending against Mark Haskins
ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee defending against Bandido
ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon)
The Briscoes vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) vs. Rey Horus & Alex Zayne
Dealer’s Choice match: Dan Maff vs. Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor vs. Bateman (winner gets a future title shot of his choosing)
wXw 16 Carat Night 1 is in the books: a fun show with some very good matches that saw some favorites and surprises advance to the next round.
1160 fans packed into the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, Germany, set up once more to look amazing by creative director Dennis Birkendahl, live event production company BE-247, and their team. Featuring a huge entrance area of video walls, plus an entrance way covered in red carpet, the view was amazing. wXw recently also got new video equipment, including cameras with wireless capacities, so they also had a screen up which showed the action and is was live edited by wXw’s head of live media, Katja Pilz.
The show kicked off with the alternate four way dance, the winner of which will be the standby participant in the tournament should somebody get injured.
Rust Taylor beat Hektor, Levaniel, and Scotty Davis in an alternate four way dance (6:30)
This was a fun, all-action match with lots of flying and fast-paced transitions. Levaniel (the “Prince of the Stars”) and Davis (the 19-year old suplex machine who some compare to an early Tyler Bate) were the stars of the match. At one point, Davis and Taylor had their opponents locked in armbars facing each other and traded slaps in a unique spot. Taylor made Levaniel tap to the Rings of Saturn to win.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Mike Bailey pinned Chris Ridgeway (12:55)
This was a stiff, shoot style match with both participants trading kicks and blows, some of which looked and sounded super stiff. Bailey did his 450 knee drop, but got caught in an armbar on impact in a cool spot. He later landed a second 450 knee drop which hit the mark. Bailey hit a Golden Triangle moonsault to the outside. In the end, Ridgeway went for a choke, but Bailey escaped and hit the Ultimate Weapon and Flamingo Driver for the pinfall victory. This wasn’t really an upset, but some people saw Ridgeway advancing here as a new face in the company.
Simmons physically looks like a million bucks right now. and got a cool video before his entrance, which detailed his entire wXw career. Lucky, last year’s winner, again got distracted by the big comic eye on the screen, which first appeared at Dead End in Hamburg. Simmons almost got the victory right away, hitting the Massive Boot and piledriver for a close near fall. Lucky came back with the Lucky Lock, but Simmons escaped. Lucky hit some elbows that drew some boos from the crowd, which up to that point had been about 50/50.
Lucky went for his handspring elbow, but Simmons hit another Massive Boot into Lucky just as he was upside down and about to bounce back in a great visual. Simmons then hit the piledriver to eliminate last year’s winner from the tournament. This was an impressive performance by Simmons, who looked like one of the clear tournament favorites. It will be interesting how things will progress for Lucky who sulked away like a beaten dog after the loss.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: The Rotation pinned Puma King (8:57)
Before the match, a video from backstage with Rust Taylor and Rotation aired. Taylor wished him luck and told him to go win, but that he would be waiting for him in case anyone got injured.
This was an all out lucha battle with Rotation not looking one bit out of place, going spot for spot with Puma King, a member of one of Mexico’s most prominent wrestling families. At one point, Puma hit a long, delayed vertical suplex, one of the rare power moves in the match, followed by a Codebreaker. Rotation, at one point, was on the top rope and evaded an attack by cartwheeling along the top rope. Puma King applied a submission, but Rotation made the ropes. Rotation then hit a Victory over Gravity 450 splash from the top rope for a near fall and hit another one for a slight upset victory.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Eddie Kingston beat Daniel Makabe (9:33)
This was possibly the weakest match of the show. It wasn’t really the fault of either guy but more of a styles clash with Kingston being more of a sloppy brawler and Makabe a submission specialist. The crowd was into Kingston, but didn’t care so much about the match itself. Makabe wore a Chelsea football jersey and got booed by the UK fans for it. Kingston escaped an STF and then hit an STO and overhead suplex. Makabe came back with a German suplex and the Makabe lock, which Kingston also escaped.
Kingston ate two Big Unit punches which he recovered from and then hit the Backfist to the Future for the win. He cut a promo afterward vowing to win and that he was done making stars.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Bandido pinned Julian Pace (9:39)
Bandido was over like crazy and the crowd also was into Pace. This was one heck of a match with Pace never looking out of place, hanging with Bandido both as far as moves and speed goes. They traded moves early and both kipped up at the same time at the end of the sequence. Bandido took over with a superkick and shooting star press for a two count. Bandido hit an impressive one-hand gorilla press, showing off his power. Pace did his fast pace rope running spots where he criss-crosses the ring and evades his opponent every time while the crowd goes “vrrroooom” like an engine gearing up.
Pace hit a standing Spanish Fly for a near fall, but then got caught by a running knee after that. Bandido hit a somewhat torture rack GTS for another close call. Pace hit the Final Lap off the top rope for a near fall and then went for the Best Moonsault Ever but landed on Bandido’s feet. Bandido then hit a backflip fallaway slam from the top to gain the pinfall victory.
This wasn’t an upset, but some people had seen Pace go as far as the finals so those dreams were crushed for now.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Shigehiro Irie pinned Black Taurus (10:30)
This was a hoss fight with two burly guys going at it. They went for shoulder tackles early and Taurus actually got Irie off his feet. Taurus took over with a Samoan Drop while the crowd chanted, “if you love beef, clap your hands.” Irie came back with a huge black hole slam for another near fall after which Taurus hit a Whisper in the WInd followed by a spear for a near fall. Irie came back with a cannonball into the corner and the Beast Bomber for the win.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Jeff Cobb beat Alexander James (12:44)
Cobb was very over as he came in as a late replacement for WWE’s Lio Rush. AJ was mostly met with boos or indifference. Cobb took over early with an overhead belly-to-belly and gutwrench suplex before James hit a Tower of London off the apron to the floor. He took over for a while until Cobb came back, prompting Killer Kelly, AJ’s girlfriend, to come out and cheer him on. She also had come out during a James/Jurn Simmons singapore caning match late last year where AJ took a swing at her. AJ was livid and sent her to the back, allowing Cobb to hit a German suplex and some forearms, a Samoan Drop, and standing moonsault. James briefly came back with some more offense, but Cobb eventually put him away with Tour of the Islands.
16 Carat Gold Tournament 2020 first round match: Cara Noir beat Marius Al-Ani by ref stoppage (11:32)
Noir’s entrance is unique as he enters to his music into total darkness and just a spotlight. This was Al-Ani’s fourth Carat as he was in every year since 2017 but never made it past the second round. Noir kissed Al-Ani’s fist, drawing the ire of Marius who threw Noir out in trying to get the countout victory. Noir came back with a dropkick, but got whipped into the corner and took the best chest first corner bump I have seen since the glory days of Bret Hart.
After an ankle lock by Al-Ani, they ended up outside once more when Noir then licked Al-Ani’s hand. Noir repeatedly escaped ankle lock attempts which led to an Al-Ani power bomb and superman punch. Noir finally got the win from behind, applying the Blackout sleeper for the win.
Jay-AA (Absolute Andy & Jay Skillet) beat The Pretty Bastards (Maggot & Prince Ahura) to win the wXw Tag Team Titles (15:47)
Jay-AA cut a backstage promo before the match, riling up the crowd. Andy is probably the best German promo and one of the best in Europe at this point with his dry humor and dad jokes.
This started out with some comedy as Andy and Skillet couldn’t agree on who should start, so Andy picked up Skillet for the F-5 and lifted him over the ropes to the apron. Andy ran wild for a bit until he got cut off. They did a thing about Ahura’s tights (which he removes mid-match) and Andy eventually pulled them down and even locked in a sharpshooter with the half-down pants.
Skillet was the face in peril for a while until Andy finally came back in to run roughshod on both Bastards. At one point, wXw Champion Bobby Gunns came walking down the entrance and distracted referee Tassilo Jung, prompting fellow stablemate Norman Harras to come from the crowd and hand the Bastards the tag titles. The champs hit both Jay-AA members with the belts, but it wasn’t enough to put them away.
As the Bastards distracted the referee, Gunns and Harras entered with the belts once more, but Tassilo Jung caught them and ejected them. As he guided them down the aisle, Jay-AA got a hold of the belts and hit the Bastards with them, following up with the JAA-Klasse for the victory and title change.
**********
Inner Circle results (Thursday, March 5, wXw Academy, Essen/Germany in front of a sellout 170)
Julian Pace pinned Rust Taylor (9:22) after a Best Moonsault Ever
Avalanche pinned ‘Goldenboy’ Santos (6:44) after a DRSKR Bom. Santos, the current Academy Cup holder, came out and claimed no one could beat him. Avalanche, the new Academy head trainer, then came out and did just that.
Marius Al-Ani beat Rotation, Hektor and Vertigo in a four-way (4:24), pinning Vertigo after a Diamond Driver
Jay Skillet pinned Absolute Levandi (9:57) after FtY. Levandi was actually Levaniel, who came out as Absolute Andy and had his body language, facials, and way of talking down pat. He did a promo before the match that sent the crowd into a frenzy and was hilarious. He also copied a lot of Nady’s moves, but Skillet finalĺy put him away.
Killer Kelly pinned Stephanie Maze (9:17) after a Carnation Revolution. Maze trained with Alex Wright and has a martial arts background. She has a good look and good charisma and could be something. They did a shoot-style match that was fine, albeit a bit sloppy at times.
Shigehiro Irie defeated Scotty Davis (8:30) after hitting the Beast Bomber.
Daisuke Ikeda & Yuki Ishikawa beat Chris Ridgeway & Daniel Makabe (17:44) when Ikeda pinned Ridgeway after a high kick. This was an amazing shoot-style match with four guys totally into this style. Ikeda and Ishikawa have a long history, both as partners and opponents and will meet at AMBITION 12 in a superfight. This was a very good match, super stiff and featuring crisp submissions and transitions. This was a dream come true for Makabe, who started tape trading BattleArts tapes at age 14 and idolized Ishikawa ever since.
Ahead of the tournament starting on Friday, wXw has announced a change to this year’s 16 Carat Gold.
Jeff Cobb is replacing Lio Rush in the three-night, 16-wrestler tournament. wXw wrote that the change was made due to Rush being pulled by WWE: “Unfortunately WWE has pulled @itsLioRush from #wXw16Carat due to his WWE schedule. We are as dissapointed about this as you are. We are excited to confirm @RealJeffCobb as Lio’s replacement for #wXw16Carat.”
16 Carat Gold is taking place in Oberhausen, Germany this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The first round matches are:
Marius Al-Ani vs. Cara Noir
Jeff Cobb vs. Alexander James
Bandido vs. Julian Pace
Daniel Makabe vs. Eddie Kingston
Chris Ridgeway vs. Mike Bailey
The Rotation vs. Puma King
Lucky Kid vs. Jurn Simmons
Black Taurus vs. Shigehiro Irie
It was also announced yesterday that Alex Shelley, who was only set for 16 Carat Gold night two, would no longer be appearing. wXw posted a statement from Shelley and tweeted: “We regret to inform you that [Alex Shelley] won’t be at #wXw16Carat. As Alex works with immunocompromised patients in a clinic in his real job, he cannot risk exposing himself to a possible infection with the corona virus by traveling to Germany & wrestling.”
On the Friday, March 13 episode of 205 Live, Lio Rush will be one of the captain’s in the NXT vs. 205 Live originals Captain’s Challenge match. The 10-man elimination tag match will be Rush, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Tyler Breeze, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Tony Nese, Mike Kanellis, Brian Kendrick, Ariya Daivari & Jack Gallagher.
In a surprise announcement on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, former PWG Champion Jeff Cobb will make his promotional debut on next week’s show against Jon Moxley.
While AEW World Champion Chris Jericho was doing a backstage promo directed toward Jon Moxley, he said he scoured the globe looking for a bounty hunter/assassin and next week, Moxley will take a tour of the islands. The following video then played:
The corresponding tweet said, “Jeff Cobb is all elite. Welcome to AEW.”
At the end of the show, Cobb’s music hit and he came out to assist The Inner Circle in a beatdown of Moxley to close the show.
According to Dave Meltzer, the 37-year-old Cobb hasn’t signed a contract the company and at least for now, he is just in for this angle.
On last Sunday’s ROH Free Enterprise show, he and Dan Maff earned an opportunity to take on ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham on a future date. He and Maff will face the Briscoes at Bound By Honor later this month, and he, Maff, and Gresham will face the Mexa Squad for the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles at Gateway to Honor, also later this month. Meltzer said he’s expected to honor all dates.
In January, Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the former ROH TV Champion is working on a per-show basis there instead of with a contract.
Additionally, he was just announced for March’s PWG 2020 debut against David Starr and has several bookings for WrestleMania weekend in Tampa, FL, including Bloodsport, Black Label Pro, and ROH’s Supercard of Honor, teaming with Maff against KENTA and Ishimori.
ROH has revealed KENTA and Taiji Ishimori’s plans for Supercard of Honor XIV.
It was announced this morning that Bullet Club’s KENTA & Ishimori will face Jeff Cobb & Dan Maff in a tag match at Supercard of Honor. This is the second match confirmed for the show, joining Marty Scurll vs. Jay White.
Cobb & Maff vs. ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham is set for ROH’s Free Enterprise show this Sunday. If Cobb & Maff win or the match goes to a time-limit draw, Cobb & Maff will get a future shot at the ROH Tag Team titles.
KENTA is challenging Tetsuya Naito for both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental titles in the main event of NJPW’s New Beginning in Osaka on Sunday.
Supercard of Honor XIV is taking place at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, April 4. It’s going against NXT TakeOver: Tampa during WrestleMania weekend.
El Phantasmo, Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, Amazing Red, and Nick Aldis are among the other wrestlers who have been announced for Supercard of Honor.
The 37-year-old’s deal with ROH was up on January 1st and he chose not to sign an exclusive multi-year contract with the promotion but on a per-show basis instead, according to the report.
He is booked for ROH’s return to Center Stage in Atlanta Saturday in a three-way tag match, one of two events they are putting on this weekend. He and Dan Maff will also challenge for the ROH tag titles on Sunday, February 9th.
Cobb, a wrestler in the 2004 Olympics, started working in ROH back in 2018 and won the TV title shortly after his promotional debut. A pro for ten years, Cobb has worked in Lucha Underground, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, and for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He was the PWG Champion for more than a year before dropping the belt to Bandido in late-December.
On Monday night, GCW announced that Cobb is the first participant in Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport III, scheduled for Thursday of WrestleMania weekend in Tampa, FL.
After facing off in a six-man tag match earlier this month, Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff are set for another meeting.
ROH has announced Cobb vs. Maff for Final Battle 2019. The pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 13.
Maff returned to ROH for the first time in 14 years at their The Experience and Unauthorized shows this month. He teamed with Marty Scurll & PCO to defeat Cobb, Cheeseburger & Colt Cabana at The Experience, then lost to PCO in a singles match at Unauthorized.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced the lineup for their next show, The Makings of a Varsity Athlete.
The PWG title will be on the line, with Battle of Los Angeles winner Bandido facing champion Jeff Cobb. The PWG Tag Team champions, The Rascalz, will face Aramis & Rey Horus in a non-title matche.
Other matches signed for the event include Rey Fenix taking on Jonathan Gresham, JD Drake (making his PWG debut) vs. David Starr, Orange Cassidy vs. Tony Deppen and Jake Atlas vs. Blake Christian.
The card will take place on December 20 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California. Tickets will go on sale on PWG’s website on November 21 at 11 p.m. ET.
Here is the full card:
Bandido vs. Jeff Cobb for the PWG title
Rey Fenix vs. Jonathan Gresham
The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier) vs. Aramis & Rey Horus in a non-title match
Jeff Cobb vs. Brody King will take place on the Death Before Dishonor pre-show later this month. The pre-show will air for free starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, September 27. That’s a half hour before the Death Before Dishonor main card begins.
In addition to the outlets where the PPV is available, the Death Before Dishonor pre-show will stream live on Facebook and YouTube.
ROH’s announcement of Cobb vs. King claimed that they’re “presenting this main event-caliber match as a special treat for fans and to once again show everyone in the wrestling world why it is the absolute best wrestling on the planet.”
Cobb defeated Matt Taven, Kenny King, and Jay Lethal in a Defy or Deny match at Honor for All last month. The win set up that Cobb will challenge for the ROH World Championship at ROH’s Honor United show in Bolton, England on October 27.
Taven is defending his ROH World title against Rush in the main event of Death Before Dishonor.
Brody King holds the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles with his Villain Enterprises stablemates Marty Scurll & PCO. Scurll vs. Colt Cabana and PCO vs. Kenny King are set for Death Before Dishonor. Both are first-round matches in the tournament to decide a World title challenger for Final Battle.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
