wXw-2012 16 Karat DVD Review-Night One

-Taped from Oberhausen, Germany

Match in Five Words or Less: Fun Opener

Match Highlights: Winner of this gets to wrestle Tommy End later on in the evening. Question of the match. Is Dante even supposed to be here today? It’s crazy to think two of these wrestlers are from the Neitherlands. One is from Isreal, and of course one is from the United States. Gresham and Dar begin pretty basic. Crowd does not like Dar. Some spinning before Dar gets a backslide. Shoulder tackle. Roll through by Gresham. Sunset flip gets two. Crucifix pin gets the same. Step-up enziguri. Dar exits the ring and Dante nails him with a clubbering blow from behind. Forearm. Into the corner for choking. Shoulder tackle. Bodyslam. Dar wins a forearm exchange. Headbutts. Gresham tossed. Sitoci in with forearms of his own. Rana followed by an armdrag out of the bodyscissors. Lucha springboard armdrag. Counter into a Russian legsweep. Split-legged moonsault gets two. Clothesline over the top rope. Dar kicks Sitoci in the back. Into the corner head first. Kicks in the upper body. Running dropkick. Gresham elbows him He preps for a charge but gets hit with a forearm. Gresham que bradas Dante on. Sitoci hits a forearm and nearly gets three. Dante misses a charge on Dar. Pounce. Neckbreaker out of the vertical suplex postion, but the count is broken up. Gresham cross bodies but Sitoci rolls through. Sitoci avoids a spear. Gresham does not and he gets folded up by Dante. Gutbuster by Sitoci. Dar takes advantage. Dragon screw legwhip into a leg bar. Sitoci reaches the bottom rope. Stomps to the leg. Sitoci hits a flatliner. Snapmare driver ends the proceedings. Dante spears him immediately after (this becomes important later). Well, that’s not very good sportsmanship.

Match Analysis: Too short to really mean anything. No one had a real chance to standout, but no one came out looking badly either. If nothing else, Sitoci looked like the most complete wrestler of the four and appeared to be the right choice to win. Gresham looked significantly better here than he has in some recent American appearances.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Emil Sitoci/7:42/**

Match in Five Words or Less: Boom

Match Highlights: I have an intense dislike for Bad Bones. To find out why, you should read my review of the first show wXw ever did in the United States. Sasaki is probably most known for his work in Big Japan and being a former co-holder of the tag team titles with Daisuke Sekimoto. Bones starts things off right away with a spear. Back elbow off the ropes. Back suplex. Shoulder tackle in the corner. Sasaki tries a forearm, but Bones fires back. Spear by Sasaki. Crowd loves him. He goes for the torture rack but can’t get him up. He gets him up on a second time, and Bones grabs a choke. Forearm exchange. Sasaki eventually hits a kick to the midsection and vertical suplex. Whip sends Sasaki in the corner. Pair of stiff forearms. Bicycle kick gets two. Dusty impression from the announcers! Drunk slam by Bones. Sasaki is placed in the corner. Bones climbs to the other side and dropkicks him. Wow. That was impressive. Series of counters. Knee by Sasaki. Release German suplex. He fires himself up. Lariat turned into a codebreaker. 1-2-NO! Sasaki with elbows to the back of the head. LARIAT! Torture rack into the burning hammer. 1-2-NO! LARIAT! Sasaki wins

Match Analysis: These two didn’t get a lot of time, but they certainly maximized it. This was a fun sprint. You couldn’t be much more hard-hitting and violent than these two. Honestly, I’d rather they just go for dropping bombs than waste our time with mat wrestling that won’t go anywhere.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Yoshihito Sasaki 5:37/**1/2

Match in Five Words or Less: With A Little Kiss

Match Highlights: Beck is in many ways the Joey Ryan of this promotion, both in look and style. I’ve seen him in some comedy matches in the United States. His gear has improved in the last year. Crowd is really into Younger. He’s clearly lost some weight and looks in very good shape. Beck attacks Younger from behind and fires away in the corner. I’m noticing a pattern. Back drop by Younger. Series of strikes. Judo throw. Sliding dropkick. Somersault cannonball to the floor. Strikes on the outside. Cross body. Vertical suplex. Back suplex. Chop in the corner. Series of right hands. Hard whip. Back elbow, boot, and dropkick off the top by Beck. Elbow drop off the ropes. Bodyslam followed by a knee drop. Butterfly suplex. Kick to the midsection.  Pair of suplexes ending with a neckbreaker. Beck climbs to the top rope. Younger punches him. Gordbuster by Beck. Younger press slams him. Right hands. Clothesline but Beck won’t go down. Beck follows him off the ropes. Younger hits a tiger driver. 10 punches in the corner. Whip reversed by Beck. Boots by Younger. Tornado DDT. DVD into the corner. 1-2-NO! Drake’s Landing countered. Beck hits a clothesline. Drake’s Landing but Beck gets his foot on the rope. A third attempt but Beck tosses Younger…nearly into the female official. Same thing for Beck. He kisses her, low blows Younger, and small packages him for the finish.

Match Analysis: It feels like both guys have gotten so much better in the last year or two. Younger is tan and appears to be getting in real good shape. I can’t believe how enjoyable this was, and the finish was one of the most creative I’ve seen all year.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Karsten Beck/8:02/***

-Beck talks some garbage afterward, so Younger chases him out. Beck continues talking outside the ring and tells his opponent to be a respectful loser by leaving the ring. Beck does the Macerena before leaving. It’s so terrible, I can’t stop laughing.

Match in Five Words or Less: Axeman Steals the Show

Match Highlights: Handshake to start. Axeman is a wXw regular. Marvin is mostly affiliated with Pro Wrestling NOAH. Feeling out process since they’re both upstanding guys. Axeman has clearly watched some World of Sport based on some of his holds. Marvin lulls Axeman in and gets a roll-up for two. Drop toehold and elbow drop. Chinlock while trapping the arms behind his legs. Axeman takes Marvin down and works on the left leg. Marvin backs Axeman up and breaks the hold. Axeman sits down gets a roll-up. Kick to the midsection and forearm by Marvin. Exchange of strikes. Marvin forearms Axeman down. Marvin focuses on Axeman’s arms. Axeman with forearms. Bodyslam and a hard knee drop into Marvin’s right arm. Shoulder blocks in the back. Clubbering blow. Axeman applies a bit of a crossface. Cover and a nearfall. Low kick by Marvin. Back suplex by Axeman. Stalling vertical suplex. Stalling back suplex. Forearm. Marvin tosses Axeman’s foot into the referee and hits an enziguri. Springboard spinning enziguri clips Axeman. Nice edit job. Whip in the corner but Axeman gets driven into the buckle. Marvin hits a spinning split-legged moonsault. Northern lights suplex by Axeman gets two. Block of the forearm and a neckbreaker. Running clothesline in the corner. Marvin overhead throws Axeman into the corner. Marvin leaps to the top. He walks the rope and hits a dropkick. Double knees off the top. Superkick. 1-2-NO! Series of superkicks. Spin kick. 1-2-NO! Even the Young Bucks are thinking too many superkicks are being used. German suplex and running kick by Axeman. That suplex was ridiculous. Back elbow and a set of forearms. Kick to the midsection. Enziguri and a death valley driver leads to a two count. Kicks to the side of the head. Clothesline exchange. Both men  are down. Axeman goes to the top and misses a swanton. La Maestral countered into a nearfall. Marvin hooks a standing crossface. They slowly go down. Axeman grabs the bottom rope. Apparently, it’s in the rules a wrestler must tap the mat thrice before the referee can stop the match. Hard strikes by Marvin. Knee to the gut by Axeman. Kick to the gut and spinning lariat by Marvin. One count. Marvin hits Santa Maria (half nelson driver) for the victory!

Match Analysis: I’m not sure what I was expecting… but this was an unbelievably awesome match. These two tore it up by first doing some quality mat wrestling before building to a great flurry at the end. I was expecting a cluster and for these two guys not to click. Boy, was I wrong. Axeman impressed the hell out of me with his power moves and agility. Even in a loss, he got a lot of offense in and looked awfully impressive against an international star like Ricky Marvin. Taking a look at the guy, you wouldn’t think he’d be anything special. Wrong! I seriously want to see him tour America and appear for Ring of Honor, DG USA, and PWG like now.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Ricky Marvin/16:05/***3/4

Match in Five Words or Less: Moss Takes A Huge Step

Match Highlights: Haven’t seen Doug Williams on the indies for a while. Wonder where he’s been. Must have taken some time off from wrestling. Moss is quite jacked, so this should be interesting. Williams attempts working Moss’s leg early. Moss works Williams’s left arm. Quick roll-up but Williams grabs the rope. Test of strength which Moss bridges Williams down. He grabs the legs and hits a short spinebuster. Williams knuckle locks him. Forearm exchange. Each man has the other’s legs grape vined. Some slaps and we are at a stalemate. Shove exchange. Drop toehold and a bridged chancery. Moss slaps and shoulder tackles him in the corner. Williams gets a knee to the gut. DDT blocked. Clothesline by Moss. Williams counters a slam but has his shoulder rammed into the post. Armbar by Moss. Back to the forearms. Hammerlock back suplex by Moss. Another hammerlock. Williams puts his foot on the middle rope. Boot by Moss. To the outside. Shoulder first into the post goes Williams. Williams gets out of the way of a splash and rolls him up for two. Strike by Moss. Knee strikes. Williams ducks. Headbutts. European uppercut. He can’t whip Moss because of his arm. Running high knee. Exploder. Moss meets Williams at the top rope. Williams shoves him off. Moss crotches him. Chop. Superplex. Strike exchange. Overhead suplex by Moss. Williams responds with a snap suplex. He climbs to the top. Charge misses. European uppercut gets two for Williams. Rolling German suplexes. Williams attempts Chaos Theory. Moss counters into a kimura. Williams reaches the ropes and counters into a roll-up. Uppercut. Charge misses. Boot to the face. Tornado DDT but Moss tosses him over and applies the key lock. Williams taps immediately.

Match Analysis: Very good basic wrestling match between these two. Moss worked the arm for the entire contest and won with a submission. Williams was unable to some of his bigger moves because of the injured arm. It’s common sense wrestling, and I have no problem with this.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating:  Johnny Moss/12:27/***

Match in Five Words or Less: The End For Sitoci

Match Highlights: Sitoci comes out selling the ribs he injured…courtesy of Mr. Dante’s spear after the bell rang. Feeling out process. Boots from End. Whip out of the corner. Back elbow by Sitoci. Armdrag into the armbar. Elbow by End. Pair of armdrags and a dropkick by Sitoci. Dive onto End and Dante. Sitoci continues working the left arm. Boot out of the corner by End. Takedown by End into the half crab. Sitoci reaches the rope. Kick to the arm. Clubbering blow. Series of kicks. Quick knee drop. Sitoci tossed to the outside. Dante rams Sitoci’s back into the apron a number of times as the official is distracted. Forearms by Sitoci. Dropkick. Kick to the ribs by End. He placed Sitoci on the outside. Sitoci hits a reverse 450, referred to as the tumbleweed by the announcers. Tombstone countered and End hits a kick to the head. Snapmare driver countered. Short German suplex gets two for End. Double stomp misses. Brain kick by Sitoci. Elbow by Sitoci. Boot from End. Short forearm. Gutbuster hit by Sitoci as End comes off the middle rope. Clothesline. 1-2-NO! Big splash met with knees. Double stomp in the ribs leads to a Tommy End win.

Match Analysis: Another match featuring some fairly easy psychology. Mike Dante’s spear after the first match actually made sense considering how this match was conducted. Sitoci looked solid in both matches. End didn’t show a lot of his offense, but he wrestled like a good heel should and paid off the injured rib storyline with a double stomp right to them. Good work all around.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Tommy End/8:48/***

Match in Five Words or Less: Frozen

Match Highlights: Sabre controls things on the mat and hooks in an early cross armbreaker. Ryan battles within the hold. Northern lights suplex and Sabre ties the legs up. And then… my DVD stops working. Well, that’s a bummer. So no match review or anything. Zack Sabre Jr. is in the second round, so I can only assume he won the match.

Match Analysis:

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Zack Sabre Jr./N/A/N/A

Match in Five Words or Less: There’s the Beef

Match Highlights: DVD starts working for this match involving Big Val Walter. Has to be a rib. Dreissker is thicker than Walter. Stahl is by far the smallest man in this match. Sekimoto and Walter start as the crowd chants “Next world champ” at Sekimoto since he has a world title match the next night. Chop exchange nearly right away. Boot by Walter and a shoulder tackle. Sekimoto grabs a headlock. Series of shoulder blocks and the champion is taken down. Dreissker and Stahl take their turn. Dreissker tosses Stahl out of the corner. Stahl fails to get a bodyslam but settles for a roll-up. Chops by Sekimoto in the corner. Snapmare and an elbow drop. Half crab. Walter chops Sekimoto to no avail. A boot does the trick. Stahl gets a snapmare and knee drop. Elbows in the head. Kick in the back. Boot in the corner. Sekimoto hits a series of his own. Forearms. Snapmare into a chinlock. Stahl with a right hand and forearm. Back elbow. Walter knocks his challenger off the apron. Chop on Stahl. Stahl rammed into the turnbuckle head first. Stahl ducks out of the way of the charge. Cross body… no sold. Not gonna lie. That was awesome. Press slam. Sekimoto fails to save his partner. Double team by the big men. Elbow drop by Dreissker. Vertical suplex. Boot to the midsection by Walter. Dropkick. Half crab. Sekimoto chops Walter. Payback from earlier. The big men stare each other down. Referee finally gets Sekimoto out of the ring. Boot to the back by Walter. Elbow drop by Dreissker. Forearms in the corner. Whip across. Stahl gets his boots up. Enziguri. Rana off the top and the hot tag. Sekimoto slams both men. Dropkicks on both men. Dreissker prevents a torture rack. Sekimoto lifts Dreissker in the torture rack. Stahl goes after Walter. Dreissker hooks a sleeper. Sekimoto counters into a back drop driver. Sweet Moses. Dreissker reverses a whip but eats a boot. Avalanche. Walter talks some garbage and slaps Sekimoto. Chop exchange. Walter transitions to booting Sekimoto. Sekimoto comes back and hits a dropkick off the middle rope. Stahl hits a cross body this time and gets two. Walter chops him. Strike exchange. Stahl with some nice uppercuts. Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Walter. Dreissker knocks Sekimoto off the apron. Double team on Stahl. Splash by Dreissker. Dropkick. Back drop driver into a bridge. 1-2-NO! Sekimoto clotheslines Walter. He nails Dreissker on the apron. Double team on the champion. Running clothesline in the corner by Sekimoto. Vertical suplex. Stahl hits a dropkick off the top rope. Walter hits a lariat. 1-2-NO! Sekimoto knocked off the apron. They brawl on the outside. Dreissker slams Stahl down with no effort. Stahl hits a powerbomb out of the corner. 1-2-NO! Walter breaks the count. Walter tossed outside by Sekimoto. Chop exchange. Dreissker hits a samoan drop. 1-2-NO! Vader bomb. Sekimoto deadlift German suplexes on Dreissker. JEEEEEEEEEEEESUS! He puts Stahl on top but Walter breaks the count. Sekimoto tosses the champion back outside. Forearm exchange in and out of the ring. Big boot after a series of counters. Avalanche by Dreissker. Burning hammer gets three.

Match Analysis: My knowledge of Stahl was minimal, but he played the underdog babyface extremely well. He bumped around and looked quite good in this contest. Sekimoto is one of my favorites who I don’t get to see that often. He had some great exchanges with the two big men on the other side. Big Van Walter is not exactly someone I’d run out and see, but he played the dick heel extremely well.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Big Van Walter and Robert Dreissker/17:43/***1/2

-Sekimoto and Walter continue brawling afterward. Sekimoto knocks Walter out of the ring.

Match in Five Words or Less: Generico Takes Marty Out

Match Highlights: In many ways, Scurll may be the most famous wrestler of the 16 based on his appearance on a UK dating show. Both men try to get the audience pumped up for the match. Code of honor followed. Scrull controls the arm to begin. Armdrag. OLE! Another handshake. SPORTSMANSHIP! More back and forth mat work. Dropkick to the legs and a kick to the side of the face by Scurll. He mocks Generico. A bit more tense of a handshake. Scurll knocks Generico down with a shoulder tackle. Big boot. Generico springboards. Leg lariat. Hard chops by Generico. Scurll responds. Stomp and Scurll’s head into the top turnbuckle. Snapmare into a cover. Scurll blocks a bodyslam. Forearms. Generico blocks a backslide. Scurll gets a forearm. Generico flails around like a drunk man. Headbutt by Scurll. Backbreaker. Knee placed in the back. Off the ropes and a forearm in the back. Shoulder tackles in the corner directed toward the back. Spin kick. Forearm exchange. Snapmare and kick to the head by Scurll. Chop from Scurll. Elbow to the back of the head. Single leg takedown and an elbow to the knee. Leg kicks by Scurll. Cravat. Knee to the midsection. Generico low bridges him over.  Tope con helo. Scurll charges and gets exploded into the corner for his trouble. Blue thunder powerbomb despite Scurll’s efforts. Scurll gets a boot out of the corner. Back elbow. Spinning lungblower. Torture rack blocked. Yakuza blocked. Step-up enziguri by Scrull. Boot by Generico. Up and over with a charge. He runs into a gutbuster. Elbow in the back of the neck. Oh my. Generico wins a forearm exchange. Forearm to the back. Generico hits a tornado DDT. Scurll immediately hits a superkick. Both men are down.  Top rope brainbuster blocked. Double knees to the upper body! Running kick! 1-2-NOOO! Shoulder tackle by Generico. Boot by Scurll. Springboard vertical suplex. Running forearm. Generico follows him with a yakuza kick. Brainbuster. 1-2- 3!

Match Analysis: This was a very good match, one of the best I’ve ever seen involving Mr. Scurll. He’s turning into a complete wrestler, and I hope he continues to get better and rise up the ranks of the European indies. Generico is obviously one of the best in the world, and him winning was the right decision. He is, as the announcers put it, one of the most graceful wrestlers in the world and can bring drama into any match.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico/19:02/***1/2

Match in Five Words or Less:  Vicious

Match Highlights: Well, at least these two don’t have to follow yet another Low Ki burial…amiright? Random note… I want Finlay’s theme song as an MP3 like yesterday. If anyone knows the song, please leave a comment or e-mail. Immediate yakuza kick by Calihan. Running boot to the corner. Finlay powders. He catches Calihan with a forearm on the way out. Front first into the apron. Finlay slaps him right in the face. To the outside and Finlay uses a stool. Back in the ring. Kick to the leg. Clubbering blow in the corner. Calihan chops out of the corner. Kick to the gut and another hard chop. Calihan tossed to the outside. Finlay climbs to the top. Kick to the head of Calihan. Calihan rams Finlay’s back into the side of the ring. Another chop. He chops the post. Finlay goes right to work on the injured arm. Calihan rams Finlay arm first into the side of the ring. Finlay kicks Calihan away. European uppercut. Headbutts. Drop toehold. Crossface. Back suplex. After going for a pair of covers, he applies a chinlock. Chinbreaker. Chop to the throat. Stomp in the corner. Knee drops. Elbows to the head. Another knee drop. Calihan flips Finlay off. He puts his weight across Calihan. Forearm. Calihan sent into one of the corner. Finlay boots him to the outside. Calihan tosses a chair for no reason. Calihan sent into steel rails. Calihan nails Finlay with various objects, Leg work in the ring. Finlay beats him up in the corner. Bodyslam into the bottom rope. Calihan kicks Finlay in the leg. A second slam against the ropes. He drags Calihan toward the corner and rams his leg into the ring post. He pushes his weight on Calihan while on the bottom rope. Half crab. He transitions into an STF. Back to simple stretching the leg out. Calihan crawls over the referee to grab the bottom rope. Finlay punts his opponent outside. Calihan throws a plastic cup. Finlay sends Calihan into the corner chest first. Calihan rammed into the middle turnbuckle. Whip across. Finlay misses a charge. Calihan hits a running kick. Chops. Into the corner. Finlay kicks Calihan in the face. Calihan brings him down by the legs. Running forearm. Stretch muffler! He ties Finlay all up, but he still reaches the rope. High kick. Awkward looking dive. Calihan climbs to the top. Finlay shoves him off into a group of fans. That was reckless. Cover in the ring only gets two. Calihan out of nowhere with a back drop driver. They stare each other down. Kick and a short hard DDT by Finlay. Celtic cross. 1-2-NO! Another Celtic Cross. A third one and Finlay then calls for the tombstone. Calihan works out of it but gets send end over end with a clothesline. Tombstone hits. Finlay wins.

Match Analysis: This was as good as their Evolve 9 match. Calihan did everything he could to stay alive, but it just wasn’t enough to put the veteran down. Having the defending16 Karat champion lose in the first round isn’t the best idea… except in a case like this with a guy like Finlay. A tremendously stiff and competitive match.

Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Fit Finlay/22:42/****1/4

-Finlay lifts Calihan up in a sign of respect. They shake hands and hug it out. Finlay thanks Calihan for the match.

Disk 1 Thoughts: Perhaps my expectations were so monumentally low for this weekend that I’ve been skewed. However, I thought night one was outstanding. Everything made sense within the context of matches. There was some great psychology throughout the night. We had a show-stealing contest in the first half, a fun tag team match featuring an underdog wrestler, and a main event to really cap the show off spectacularly.

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