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 

Inner Circle 4 Review - David Starr vs. Homicide [Live]

On 5th October 2017, Westside Xtreme Wrestling held Inner Circle 4 at the wXw Wrestling Academy in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The show featured Homicide taking on David Starr as well as Timothy Thatcher, WALTER, Kim Ray, Jurn Simmons and JAY-FK in action. But was my first wXw show any good? Let's take a look!

Alexander James def. Julian Pace (9:05)

A strong opener here, with both men impressing as I caught their work for the first time. The bout was well paced, using it's time well with the roles being strongly defined, helped a long by a crowd that was eager to start it's graps weekender. After some hard chops, the bout quickly moved towards it's main narrative thread with James hitting an arm wringer across the top rope and beginning to work the arm viciously, managing to get a decent amount of heat in the intimate Academy venue. The arm attacks were varied and kept the match interesting when the paced dipped, whilst an early attempt for a grounded top wrist lock (think Zack Gibson's Shankly Gates) introduced the move that would eventually gain the victory for James. Pace is someone who would seem to have an extremely bright future based on this outing, with his selling being particularly impressive, alongside the speed and smoothness of his comeback, as he swung in and out of the ring before hitting a sweet jumping neckbreaker. There was perhaps more work that could have been done on the arm to lift the bout further, with their being potential to work it into near falls and add a little bit more drama, but within the context of an opening match it was pretty much spot on content and time wise. 

Kim Ray def. Rafa (5:20) 

A decent bout that once again was between two wrestlers that I was unfamiliar with. This was probably the weakest match of the show, but that says more about how strong the show was than the quality of the match. Whilst it was brief and featured mostly low-key action, everything was done crisply and never wandered into sloppy territory. The strongest section of the contest for me was a sequence that saw Rafa initially escape a suplex attempt, before eventually nailing a double stomp following a double leg takedown after some high tempo back and forth. Overall, the match was fine, but within the context of the show it struggled to stand out or produce anything particularly memorable. 

Timothy Thatcher def. WALTER in an Ambition Rules Match (9:15) 

What an absolute treat of a match as the Ringkampf boys went one on one in a hard-hitting, grapple fest under Ambition rules. If you're unfamiliar with Ambition Rules, it's essentially shoot style, with immediate ropebreaks and victory only decided by submission, KO or TKO. This produces a very different style of professional wrestling match, that perhaps is perfectly suited for a smaller venue like the Academy with the fans close to the ring. The match was all big powerful strikes, technical hold exchanges and crisp, substantial power moves. The power moves were in some ways enhanced by the rules, contrasting with the technicality and submission holds, with a great fast-paced sequence that concluded with a immense powerbomb from WALTER being the standout moment of the bout. The conclusion felt very much of this style with WALTER laying in some thunderous and quick slaps, only for Thatcher to catch one and swiftly transition into a Fujiwara armbar, locking the move in and getting the submission victory almost straight away. I would've liked to have seen this go a little bit longer as I was really getting into he style of the bout, but with the two having the World Tag Team League shows coming up it made perfect sense to keep thing relatively short and the immediate tap out adds to that idea within kayfabe as well. 

EYFBO (Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik) def. JAY-FK (Francis Kaspin & Jay Skillet) (12:11) 

The first half main event gave us a look at one of the entrants in WTTL, EYFBO's Angel Ortiz & Mike Draztik (who you may know for being Ortiz & Santana in LAX on Impact Wrestling) in their first European match with the two proving instant hits with the Academy. Whilst the plentiful EYFBO chants created a buoyant atmosphere, it was the wrestling that satisfied the most as Ortiz & Draztik looked like a polished unit, with a variety of exciting double team moves and just generally looked like a team that had been tagging since 2012. The bout flowed well with both of Jay-FK working short periods as the face in peril, with elements of rookie vs. veteran narrative as the inexperienced team of Francis Kaspin and Jay Skillett looked to match the tag team savvy of the former Impact Tag Team Champions. The contest built well to it's finishing stretch with a slew of double team offence following a Skillet hot tag with a neckbreaker double stomp and springboard spike piledriver getting near falls, before a ridiculous sequence involving a mad rope hung cutter situation from EYFBO that I couldn't do justice to if I tried to explain it here. EYFBO would then pick up the victory with their Street Sweeper finish (Powerbomb and Diving somersault neckbreaker) to conclude the first half with a very good tag team contest.

Jaxon Stone went to cut a promo before the next bout, but no one was ready for this and each word of his speech was cut off by loud boos. I have no idea what he said, but it was glorious.

Jurn Simmons def. Jaxon Stone (10:24) 

Jurn Simmons is over as fuck, pals and rightly so as he showcased his palpable charisma and in-ring prowess in this fun second half opener. The match verged into comedy territory at points, bringing a nice little bit of variety to the show and producing a few chuckles as the two kicked things off with arm wrestling contest and also pulled out a cheeky bit of comedy selling. The two went mostly back and forth throughout the contest, trading big moves and near falls as the audience sang loudly for Simmons and hurled boos at Stone who lapped up the reaction. Whilst there was nothing that was overly noteworthy about the action, it was once again all performed skillfully with the nearfalls being done particularly well as Stone came close with a Death Valley Driver and a lifting DDT. Simmons picked up the win with a Massive Piledriver, building some momentum heading into World Tag Team League, where he'll tag with David Starr as Massive Product.

David Starr def. Homicide (14:06)

A stellar main event, as Homicide returned to wXw thirteen years after his only other appearance. The two began with one of the longest collar and elbow tie-ups I've ever seen, which could have been a little dull, but both bought a lovely intensity that kept it interesting with the compact venue complimenting this type of grappling. After some wild brawling on the outside and tasty suicide senton from Homicide, the contest settled into a nice rhythm with Homocide acting as the aggressor using dirty tactics, whilst the crowd got behind Starr, creating a brilliant atmosphere inside the Academy. The contest featured a number of big spots like Starr hitting a DDT onto the apron, as well a verticle suplex neckbreaker (Adam Cole's Last Shot) from Homicide, but the story of the bout came in the moves that didn't get hit. Starr repeatedly went for Product Placement (Bridging Package German Suplex) with Homicide able to escape, whilst Homicide looked for his legendary Gringo Killer (Vertebreaker) manoeuvre, creating a feeling that whoever hit their move first would take the victory. The finishing stretch saw Homocide seemingly building momentum, getting two really strong near falls, firstly with roll-up out of a physical strikes sequence before a brilliant back and forth stretch resulted an Ace Crusher getting a long two count for the Notorious 187. It was clear that only a Gringo Killer would give Homicide the victory, but his second attempt at the move was escaped by Starr, leaving the Jewish Cannon in the perfect position to hit Product Placement at the third time of asking and pick up the win in a satisfying finish that wrapped the match up in a lovely stand-alone package. 

David Starr would bring the show to a close with a lovely promo, putting over Homicide as a performer and person, mentioning he'd wanted to wrestle him for a very long time. 

For a first wXw show this was a great taster for what the promotion is all about and a good introduction a number of different talents. The Ambition rules match, EYFBO v Jay-FK and the main event battle it out for my match of the night, where I'd probably go for the tag bout if pushed. I was also impressed with Julian Pace in the opening bout, with the current wXw Academy Trophy Champion looking like he's got much more experience than he actually has and generally being a superb advert for the wXw Academy. The loud crowd and packed venue gave the show a really nice atmosphere, reminiscent of Fight Club: PRO's time at Fixxion Warehouse. This show worked as a wonderful start to the World Tag Team League weekend, that has whetted my appetite for the graps fest that is to come over the next three days.

Review by James Marston