World Tag Team League 2017 Night Three Review // Ringkampf vs. Massive Product [Live]

On 8th October 2017, wXw held World Tag Team League Night Three at the Turbinhalle in Oberhausen, North-Rhine Westphalia. The show featured the final of the tournament that saw Ringkampf's Timothy Thatcher and WALTER battle Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) over the vacant World Tag Team Championship and a decisive last match in Block A between the aforementioned Massive Product and then World Tag Team Champions The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan), as well as action featuring Homicide, RISE (Da Mack, Ivan Kiev, John Klinger & Pete Bouncer), A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani), The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) & The Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey). But was it any good live? Lets take a look! 

Photo Credit - wXw

The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki) kicked off the night with the news that Low Ki would be unable to compete against the Briscoe Brothers in their final Block B match, due to injury, meaning that The Briscoes would receive three points via forfeit. Bobby Gunns interrupted the pair, calling them "old timers", before a match was scheduled between Gunns and Homicide for later on the show.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block A Match: The Spirit Squad (Kenny [Kenny Dykstra] & Mikey [Mike Mondo]) [3] def. A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani) [3] (6:23)

This match featured one of the most memorable moments of the entire weekend as Absolute Andy turned on Marius Al-Ani and A4 exploded. The pair had just hit an aided leap frog body guillotine on Kenny and set up to do the same on Mikey, with Andy holding Mikey in place, Al-Ani bounced off the opposite ropes and charged directly into a superkick that echoed around Turbinhalle. The noise from the crowd was one of utter shock, a gasp and then silence for a moment. It took a second for my brain to realise what had actually happened. I'd really gotten into Andy and Al-Ani's act over the weekend and so ended up having a pretty legitimate reaction to their break up. Credit also to Kenny and Mikey who played the moment well, with their looks of confusion and Mikey keeping his eyes on Andy for the duration of the pinfall selling the moment and adding a little seasoning to the situation. 

World Tag Team League 2017 Block A Match: Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) [9] def. The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan) [3] (13:39)

The standing of the group meant that Block A was left with this Winner takes all match, whilst Young Lions would be forced to vacate the World Tag Team Championships if they were unsuccessful  A simple enough set-up, with the match following suit as The Young Lions and their RISE buddy Pete Bouncer did everything they could to keep the belts that Lucky Kid and Tarkan Aslan had been wearing since May, only for the seemingly unstoppable Massive Product to overcome and pick up the win with a Spike Piledriver. The winner takes all vibe produced a number of strong near falls for the Young Lions, especially once Bouncer arrived at ringside, with a distraction roll-up being followed up by a great false finish after David Starr took a title belt to the skull. For me, this was the best performance from the Young Lions across the weekend, with Massive Product providing the complimentary peaks to the Lions heely cheating troughs.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block B Match: Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) [6] def. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) [3] (11:30)

The final group match of the tournament was interestingly poised. If Ringkampf came out victorious they would go through the final, being level on points with The Briscoes but also having a victory over the ROH pairing, whilst had EYFBO beaten WALTER & Thatcher, the Briscoes would advance due to Jay & Mark defeating Ortiz & Draztik on Night Two. Whilst, the action was just as good, if not better than the final match from Block A, the match lacked some of the drama, with a general feeling that Ringkampf was the logical choice, rather than what would've been a flat way for the Briscoes to make the final. Whilst the contest felt like a forgone conclusion, there was still some good work put in by both teams, with another impressive display from WALTER as his explosive power shone when in control. WALTER's tiger bomb would get the win for Ringkampf, after a dominant sequence from the pair, setting up a fascinating final opposite the undefeated Massive Product.

RISE were out next with Unified World Wrestling Champion John Klinger [Bad Bones], new member Da Mack, Chris Colen, Tarkan Aslan, Shotgun Champion Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Pete Bouncer all present, obviously I didn't understand the promo, but I imagine it was Bones discussing retaining his title on Night Two. This brought out Julian Nero...then Avalanche [Robert Dreissker]...then Ilja Dragunov...then the returning Adam Polak, before Dirty Dragan completed the Cerberus faction, getting a much deserved reaction with the two sides going to war in the middle of the ring.

Cerberus (Avalanche, Dirty Dragan, Ilja Dragunov & Julian Nero) def. RISE (Da Mack, Ivan Kiev, John Klinger & Pete Bouncer) (12:11)

As someone with very little experience of wXw prior to this weekend, this bout could have been difficult to get into. I had no knowledge of Cerberus or their importance in the promotion, beyond what a couple of fellow media personnel had told me and in fact having seen some of the performers earlier in the weekend, they appeared to be a rag tag bunch of lads and I was curious to see how the four would come together to make the whole. Luckily, however, I had no such problems, partly due to the crowd being into every movement and partly due to the bout being full of action, hitting the right notes at the right times and a thrilling back and forth closing sequence between Dragunov and Klinger. Would I have been more emotionally invested with more knowledge of the product? Of course and that would have made this bout even more enjoyable for me, personally. But that didn't stop this being a tremendously entertaining, rollercoaster of a story. From getting to know wXw over the four days, this contest was everything the company is about right now displayed across twelve minutes.

Of course, it would've been silly to have The Briscoe Brother in attendance and not have them compete, so Jay & Mark headed to the ring, issued an open challenge which was subsequently answered by Jay-FK (Francis Krispin and Jay Skillett)

The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) def. Jay-FK (Francis Krispin & Jay Skillett) (11:39)

Veteran team vs. rookie team (Jay-FK have only been tagging regularly since August) is one of my favourite arrangements for story-telling, giving lots of avenues to develop narrative and action, so this bout made a happy boy. The Briscoe Brothers controlled much of the match, able to cut off a number of hope spots and fire ups from Jay-FK with superior team work and know-how. Skillett would eventually get a hot tag that managed to showcase a lot of what Jay-FK are about, including a nice diving double stomp neckbreaker combination, but the section that elevated the bout and Jay-FK in general was Kaspin going toe to toe with Mark Briscoe, taking a massive chop, before firing back with slaps to the face. It was a well crafted moment, with both men playing it perfectly. The final stages saw Jay-FK get a near fall off a Spike Michonoku Driver II, before a flurry of offence from Mark and Jay, including Redneck Boogie (Crucifix Powerbomb/Neckbreaker combination), a Jay Driller (Double underhook piledriver) and a Cut-throat Driver (Inverted death valley driver) from Mark. Jay-FK showed they are capable of working high-profile matches against the world's best tag teams in this one and hopefully this will lead to bigger things for the talented duo in wXw and potentially a spot in next year's World Tag Team League.

Relaxed Rules Match: Bobby Gunns def. Homicide (9:41) 

A great example of how wXw is brilliant at pacing their shows (and indeed the entire weekend), as this bout was completely different from anything on the rest of the show, allowing the audience to take a break from the tag team action and revel in a scrappy, weapon-filled brawl, that was peppered with comedy and generally just an entertaining near ten minutes of wrestling. The two weren't going to feature in anyone's match of the weekend list, but that wasn't what they where here to do. Homicide had a fork, there was a bin, hip tosses into chairs, the steps being used a rudimentary sled, a table spot and the shocking win for Gunns against the former ROH World Champion and whilst not everything came off as well as it potentially could have, the bout was rarely boring and managed to hold a tired crowd eager for the main event. Show pacing and variety is something that is often forgotten when discussing professional wrestling, but it's something that becomes extremely notable across wrestling weekenders. Not everyone gets it right, but wXw have it nailed on. 

Post-match, Bobby Gunns continued to show disrespect towards Homicide, leading to The Notorious 187 nailing the Cop Killer (Vertebreaker) to a sizeable pop.

World Tag Team Championship World Tag Team League 2017 Final Match: Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) def. Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) (21:25)

Was this ever going to be anything other than magic? So much tag team loveliness and the perfect culmination to the weekend as David Starr & Jurn Simmons went to war with Timothy Thatcher & WALTER. The similar composition of the teams played a massive part in this, with the various combinations offering plenty of diverse options, in terms of both one on one duels and the narrative of the bout as a whole. Big hoss battles between WALTER and Simmons, smooth technical exchanges between Starr and Thatcher and everything in between, before the match had even begun there was a solid foundation for the four to play around with and build upon. With duelling chants from the very beginning the atmosphere inside the Turbinhalle had reached it's peak as an emotionally drained audience, was pulled up by the scruff of the neck and sent them wild with hot tags, near falls and gorgeous, physical, sexy and gritty wrestling. 

The storytelling here was rich, like a well-made quiche, with ingredients pulled in from across the weekend to produce those dramatic near falls, whilst also taking unexpected avenues before building to it's thrilling conclusion. Both teams used what got them to dance to try and put their opponents away, including repeated attempts from Ringkampf to lock in the rear naked chokes that bested the Briscoe Brothers and a tantalising false finish when Massive Product hit the sequence that had got them past A4, the Spirit Squad and the Young Lions in the group stage, only for Thatcher to kick out when it felt like it was all over, made even more impressive because Starr had pulled out a front flip piledriver to set up the move! There was A LOT more to the bout and I would tell you to go and watch it, but I honestly don't think you'd enjoy it as much without having watched (at the very least) Massive Product and Ringkampf's three previous matches across the weekend. Each bout played into this one in one way of another and whilst the bout stands up on it's own merits, there's certainly more enjoyment to be found in watching it as part of a set. Get yourself a wXwNow subscription and get your binge on. 

By the end of the weekend, I walked away with a tangible feeling of exactly what wXw is all about. Their style of professional wrestling at first appears to lean on a variety of styles, giving it a familiarity, but just like pro wrestling as a whole, when looked a little deeper, there really is very little else out there like this product. When taken on their own each show was good, but not excellent, hitting the right notes at the right times, rarely dipping below a high average standard and offering variety, but not hitting you over the head with incredible matches either. But the weekend as a whole, when each piece of the puzzle was factored in, when stories were built up and subsequently paid off, when strings were left hanging for future shows, I was left having one of the most complete wrestling weekend experiences one could wish for. This won't be my last experience with wXw and I can't wait to get to know this product even better going forward.

Review by James Marston 

World Tag Team League 2017 Night Two Review - John Klinger vs. Ilja Dragunov [Live]

On 7th October 2017, wXw held the second night of the World Tag Team League at the Turbinhalle in Oberhausen, North-Rhine Westphalia. The show featured John Klinger [Bad Bones] defending the Unified World Wrestling Championship against Ilja Dragunov and Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) taking on The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki) in Block B of the league, as well as A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani), The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe), The Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey), World Tag Team Champions The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan) and Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) in action. But was it any good live? Lets take a look! 

Photo courtesy of wXw

World Tag Team League 2017 Block B Match: The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) [3 points] def. EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) (11:55) [3 points]

With EYFBO tasked with opening the show for the second night in a row, this was an exciting fast-paced opener, but one that didn't threaten to a become a breakout contest. The Briscoes got much more fan support than Night One, when they took on the popular Ringkampf and that seemed to give the bout some extra energy. Whilst the two teams could have probably created a better, more complete match with a little more time, this slot allowed them to keep the action coming, as they work relatively short face in peril spots, bu took time to play to the crowd with a strong hot tag from Jay Briscoe. EYFBO continued to impress me with their tag team creativity and whilst they're still not quite the complete product, they are tremendous fun inside the ring, in particular the Poetry in Motion style cannoball they do is glorious. The finishing sequence was some of the best work of the match with the Briscoes coming into their own with Draztik missing a 450, Mark nailing Ortiz with a cannonball off the apron, a massive lariat from Jay and then once Draztik escaped a Jay Driller attempt, Briscoe Brothers opted for a wicked looking Doomsday Device to take the three points. The novelty of getting to see top tag teams from Impact Wrestling and ROH do battle (for the first time) also played into the fun factor of the bout.

Shotgun Championship Fatal Four-Way Match: Ivan Kiev (C) def. Avalache [Robert Dreissker], Bobby Gunns and Alexander James (6:53)

This bonus match featured four guys that I was yet to become familiar with and at the time I found myself drifting from the contest a little, with the crowd a bit subdued also, but I came away having found plenty to enjoy. Avalanche looked particularly impressive here, with the booking of the bout making him feel like a star, as he took a bump into the steps early as Bobby Gunns and Alexander James combined, and then later came back dominant, including a double Samoan drop in the closing stages. There was also general multi-man stuff like the tower of doom, whilst Ivan Kiev hit a nice looking frankensteiner and Alexander James pulled out a Tower of London. These types of bouts often suffer from a little sloppiness and awkwardness with the amount of competitors, but I don't think that was the case here, with most of the action looking good, even if the bout rarely made the most of the amount of competitors in the ring. Kiev walked out with his title still round his waist, making the most of an opportunity after the dominance of Avalanche to pin James with a Samoan driver.

With Melanie Gray having suffered an injury during Femmes Fatales earlier in the day, Jinny cut a tweener promo, insulting Gray but putting over the division (mostly the British based talent), before offering an open challenge...

Jinny def. Killer Kelly (6:59)

A much better performance from Killer Kelly here than from Femmes Fetales with the Alfacinha benefiting from having a clearly defined character (and a heel, despite the previous promo). A big bicycle kick early doors from Kelly set her up as a potential threat to the calm, collected and confident Fashionista, who had only lost her first singles match in wXw earlier in the day. The simple structure, defined characters and some slick wrestling (one of the loveliest surfboard transitions I ever did see) held me for the time the two were in the ring, with some good pacing building towards some nice back and forth as the contest headed towards it's conclusion. Jinny continues to improve in the ring and develop her ability to hold a crowd, having got her character pretty nailed earlier on in her career, her selling in particular here stood out, taking time during the back and forth to show the damage that was being done and bring credibility to Kelly's MMA-esque gimmick. After a german suplex near fall for Kelly, Jinny would get the win with a rainmaker, giving her more momentum in the Women's Championship tournament,.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block A Match: A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani) [3 points] def. The Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan) [3 points] (15:43)

This was my first proper look at the Young Lions, after their debacle with the Spirit Squad from Night One and I took to them much more after this one. I thought they worked well as the spoiler for A4's antics, using classic heel tactics to control the match for a long time in the middle of the bout. This was helped by an spectacular face shine from A4, that got the crowd riled up early on, including it looking like Absolute Andy coud've won the match for his team with a sharpshooter within a minute. We then got a tease of a comeback with an Marius Al-Ani hot tag, only for Young Lions to double up, trip Al-Ani on the apron and take control once again. I know, eye rakes, referee distractions and t-shirt choking, isn't for everyone and perhaps the heater went on a little too long for the match, but I get a lot of of matches that are structured like this, especially when I'm into the babyface team and I was really into A4 after their Night One performance. 

Post the Absolute Andy hot tag, which featured a cool moment with a sharpshooter and boston crab being locked on by A4 simultaneously, I'm not sure if the bout managed to delivery on the potential energy that the heat sequence had been building too. A4 brought the intensity to match the sneakiness of Lucky Kid and Tarkan Aslan, but I found the action ended up becoming a little repetitive with a couple of near falls coming across as samey with Andy hitting about two thousand Fireman's carry facebusters and Al-Ani the same with frog splashes, meaning that when the pair won the match with those moves it ending up feeling a little flat. Cool moments like Andy no-selling a dragon suplex, lifted the home straight a little, but overall I would've liked to have seen a little bit of variety, not just in the moves being hit, but also in the story that was told, as the narrative became repetitive and hit the same beats for those last few minutes.

World Tag Team League 2017 Block B Match: The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki) def. Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) (17:29)

Two nights of World Tag Team League and two match of the nights from Ringkampf's Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. What makes that even more impressive is that this was a completely different match to Thatcher & WALTER's tangle with The Briscoes on Night One, with less structure and more of an out-of-control feel about the whole presentation. The scramble around ringside was a pleasure to watch as the audience moved out of the way of four men hitting each other really hard, with the balcony providing the perfect vantage point to see it all unfold. With the teams scrapping at ringside and beyond, there was a visceral energy to proceedings, that grabbed the audience and forced it to pay attention, unless they wanted a wayward chop to connect with their chest. The idea that The Rottweilers had to go for this wild style, to combat the dominant Ringkampf was a lovely piece of psychology as the match went like a runaway train towards it's conclusion. 

The bout shied away from having one team in control for too long, almost feeling more like a Fatal Four-way in how it flowed from big nasty chops, forearms and kicks, to big move near falls like Homicide's 187 cutter to WALTER and then a great submission sequence that mimicked the finish of Ringkampf's match with The Briscoes on the previous night, only to Low Ki to roll through on his sleeper hold to hit a double stomp, before saving Homicide with a springboard. The finisher sequence ironically featured some of Low Ki's best work of the weekend, but also resulted in an injury that would stop the Rottweilers from competing on Day Three! Ki landed on his feet after being gorilla pressed into the ring from WALTER on the elevated ramp, slickly nailed a dropkick before climbing to the top rope and hitting a Warrior's Way on the Austrian, ending up landing awkwardly on the ramp. In fact, any interaction between Ki and WALTER was barrels of fun and ferocity, I can't be the only that would love to see the two face off one on one again (they previously clash in wXw in 2008). The Rottweilers picked up the victory with 5150 (Electric Chair and Cutter combination), leaving everyone in Group B with three points heading into the final round of group matches.

The Spirit Squad's heel promo was going annoyingly well and then Kenny mentioned the war. Man's clearly never watched Fawlty Towers.

WTTL Block A Match: Massive Product (David Starr & Jurn Simmons) def. The Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey) (11:32)

After a long day, I was pretty unforgiving to this match live, especially the portion that devolved into an arm wrestling contest between Mikey and Jurn Simmons. I couldn't work out what was going on, the match stopped and then there was a weird table in the ring and to be quite honest I'm still baffled by the whole situation. Perhaps if I'd have had more energy I'd have enjoyed this a little bit more, because it was a little out there and completely different to the rest of the show, but in the moment I wanted it all to end and end quickly. The actual match was a step or two up for the Spirit Squad after their match with the Young Lions bombed on Night One. Having Kenny and Mikey work a clear heel role, opposite the over as fuck Massive Product was a much more effective use of the team, that, at least, gave the match some direction. Massive Product became the first team to pick two victories winning with a Spike Massive Piledriver, meaning that Spirit Squad would be unable to reach the final after two straight losses.

Unified World Wrestling Championship: John Klinger (C) def. Ilja Dragunov via Disqualification (18:35)

Over-booked, Attitude Era title matches have come into vogue in European wrestling recently, we've seen Travis Banks vs. Pete Dunne in both FC:P and PROGRESS and Morgan Webster vs. Chief Deputy Dunne in ATTACK! They toe a fine line between being exhilarating storyline magic, where the action never stops, pulling on past storylines and alliances and just being a mess. I don't think my lack of investment in the John Klinger vs. Ilja Dragunov feud in comparison to the examples above, particularly impacted on my enjoyment of this, because the issues had been made clear on the previous night, however, for me there was way too many moving parts here to produce a wholly satisfying main event. RISE being removed from ringside, Klinger being able to lose the belt through disqualification, RISE coming back later on, A4 and Massive Product aiding Ilja Dragunov, Da Mack's belt shot to Klinger and subsequent disqualification, only for Mack to be revealed as part of RISE. There was way too much going on, with parts of it lacking strong storytelling logic that I had gotten a feel for over the previous two shows. Obviously, the main difference between the three matches mentioned above is that the babyface eventually overcame and won the title, having all that build over fifteen plus minutes to conclude with a disqualification, with the match being just a step in a larger storyline left me feeling a little flat by the end.

That being said, let's talk about how good Klinger and Dragunov are, because when they went at it one on one, they put on some great, compelling action. This was my first exposure to Dragunov in the ring and I quickly began to see why he has become so popular in the promotion. He absorbed a shit load of punishment, with chops leaving his chest a bloody mess and then came back and dished out some of his own. Watching Ilja Dragunov is a cathartic experience, he pulls you in with sheer wrestling ability, he hits hard, he's smooth and has intent in his move delivery, but perhaps his biggest skill is in making you believe and almost feel every strike, blow and slam. He shows it in his face, his eyes, his mouth, his arms, legs and back...with every fibre of his being Ilja shows the pain, oozes charisma and breaths fire. Let's not forget that Johh Klinger was in this, as well, and showed exactly why he's been the figurehead of the promotion since August. The two combined wonderfully at points when left to it, brawling in the crowd, exchanging hard strikes and telling a great story of a desperate champion trying to combat at challenger who clearly had his number. These are two guys that I'd love to see more often, obviously in the UK, where both would be able to do amazing things with the likes of British Strong Style's Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven, as well as Travis Banks and Mark Haskins.

After the bout, it was made clear that Da Mack had joined RISE as he struck Ilja Dragunov, before watching as Julian Nero entered and got beat down by the group, which eventually lead to Avalanche hitting the ring and turning the tide to send the stable packing. The show closed with an emotional promo from Ilja Dragunov, which even though I had no idea what he was saying was delivered beautifully and with real emotion. 

I think Night Two was slightly ahead of the opening night, being more consistent in it's quality, but at the same time nothing matched Night One's epic main event between The Briscoe Brothers and Ringkampf. Of course, WALTER and Timothy Thatcher still had the best match on the card with The Rottweilers, whilst I also had a lot of time for the Young Lions vs. A4 and EYFBO vs. The Briscoes, whilst the main event was tremendous fun at times, even with the over-booking as John Klinger and Ilja Dragunov impressed. The Shotgun Championship match was an improvement on Night One's effort offering something different and the Spirit Squad were used much better, with the exception of their cheapest heat promo. All round, most of the things that I had criticised from Night One were improved on on Night Two, with the stage being set for a massive final night of action on Night Three...

You can check out this show now with both English and German commentary on wXwnow.com

Review by James Marston