Night three of the 2013 16 Carat tournament was in many ways the strongest and most consistent of the three nights. It kicked off with Zack Sabre Jr. overcoming a low blow and belt shot from Karsten Beck and humiliating the hated heel with his cross armbreaker submission hold. This was a competent match with storytelling that at least made sense. What makes Sabre special is his ability to be a threat despite his size. It’s very believable that he can defeat the much bigger Beck because of his abilities as a wrestler and striker. His execution of moves are quite excellent, and he certainly has a connection with the crowd. Literally the only thing preventing him from coming to the states and becoming a big television star is his size. Otherwise he’s probably in the top 10% of any wrestler.
Very short non-tournament match came next as Jason Hendrix made his first appearance of the weekend by defeating Aaron Insane after a simple kick to the back of his head. The wrestlers were fine for the five minutes this went. Not quite sure what the point was except to get both guys on the show.
While I understand the need for the semifinal matches to not go as long as the other three rounds given two of the men are wrestling on the same night, it was unfortunate to see Shinobu lose out so quickly after putting in solid efforts the first two nights. End won quickly by submission with his Sumerian choke hold in a match where they tried to pack a lot of action and exchanges. These two certainly could have delivered with more time.
Up next was a bit of an odd tag team match as Hot and Spicy wrestled Eddie Kingston and Kim Ray. Ray is pretty well despised by the crowd and every time he was in the ring, the German faithful chanted for Kingston instead. Hot and Spicy put together a very good match with Ricochet and Chuck Taylor the night before, and while this didn’t completely meet those expectations, this was at the very least watchable and solid throughout. The story saw Dieter and Da Mack try to quicken the pace while the heels slowed things down. Kingston in particular was breaking out the heavy duty chops. The most shocking aspect was seeing Kingston take the fall in the end given he was Grand Champion at the time, and he was essentially a guest star. Kingston was further humiliated after the match when Ray spin kicked him. What a jerk.
Also similar to night two, there was a bit of a six man tag team showcase match. This time, the wXw world heavyweight champion was involved as Axel Tischer, Paul Tracey, and Toby Blunt defeated Michael Dante and Keel Holding in very good match. Even though he wasn’t in the tournament, Blunt came away with the pinfall in both six man tags and seemed to in many ways be the primary performer. Keel Holding did a fantastic job heeling it up and getting the crowd to hate them. They used an in-ring interview during night two and mostly played up their antics on night three. Blunt pinned Sasa Keel with the swanton in a fun match.
In the match that presumably followed intermission, Masada won over Robert Schild. The match went six minutes and barely seemed to exist. Masada won with a brainbuster. The end. This felt inconsequential and pointless.
Yuji Okabayashi and Bad Bones had some interaction in a four way match that took place on night two, but they were matched up during night three. This was very different than almost anything else on the card both because it wasn’t a tag team match and because it featured two big bruisers just trying to out stiff the other. I’ve been pretty harsh on Bad Bones, but he has improved a great deal in three years. This felt like a strong style/Pro Wrestling NOAH style match circa 2003 with what they were trying to accomplish. Lots of hard chops and lariats both sides. You know it was rough because Bones was bleeding hardway from the nose. Okabayashi finally came away with the victory after a powerbomb.
On paper, I can’t say I was all that excited about the prospect of seeing two giant men in Big Van Walter and Robert Dreissker wrestling Jonathan Gresham and Jay Skillet. I was expecting a borderline squash since Walter has a tendency to figuratively eat his opponents and do a minimal amount of selling. The match was so much better than anything I could have hoped for with a thrilling ending sequence that could have seen either team win. Gresham and Van Walter became the focus of the match in the end and exchanged finishing type moves. It seemed like the three count could legitimately have come at any time, and the crowd was way into this one. Walter got 2.9 counts on a clothesline and powerbomb. For Gresham it was the rana into the prawn hold and the 450 splash. Walter finally won with the sitdown powerbomb, and I wasn’t nearly as offended as I thought I would be thanks to the great effort of both men. Skillet and Dreissker were essentially supporting players, but Skillet in particular had a good weekend of matches. Gresham though, how does he not get more work in the American independent scene?
My only problem with the next match was that it came after a very good tag team title match. It was also way more predictable as the Pro Wrestling NOAH Junior tag team champions of Ricky Marvin and Super Crazy wrestled Ricochet and Chuck Taylor, two wrestlers most identified with Dragon Gate internationally. Was there any doubt who would win with that in mind? At least we got a really good match out of it as Ricochet and Marvin carried most of the action. Crazy and Taylor lent support and at least took the match seriously. These two can have a tendency to goof off or not take what they’re doing seriously, but that wasn’t the case here. Marvin finally won the match for his team after hitting an exploder while in an electric chair position. There were some pretty crazy sequences including an incredible stretch where they seemed to be clotheslining and superkicking each other for a good two minutes. Another really fun match.
The finals of the tournament literally was a battle of the best of Europe. Zack Sabre Jr. wrestled someone who was actually of the loser of the 2012 final, Tommy End. This went under 15 minutes, but similar to the other matches that didn’t get a lot of time, they packed a lot into it. Michael Dante was at ringside but played a minimal role. Last year, he got involved with Generico and it hurt the match slightly. This year, End won clean with the Sumerian choke hold he used throughout the tournament. This played well into the story and made a lot of sense. Sabre of course went for his submission finisher but couldn’t lock it on the bigger End. Nothing was as good as the finals of last year’s tournament, but they ended things very strongly and showed why they’re two of the best workers in the world.
Nights two and three of this tournament made it a justifiable purchase for me. This year was a lot more focused on the Europeans than the American or Japanese guest stars. It was a chance for me to get to see a lot of wrestlers I’d seen little to nothing of while retaining a similar quality as 2010. I only wish some of the matches could have gotten a bit more time with others just being plain cut out.
Grade: B
Overall Tournament Grade: B-
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
-Taped from Oberhausen, Germany
-2013 16 Carat Gold Tournament- Semifinal #1: Zack Sabre Jr. defeats Karsten Beck by submission with the cross armbreaker/16:49/***1/4
-Jason Hendrix defeats Aaron Insane by pinfall after a kick to the back of the head./4:30/*1/2
-2013 16 Carat Gold Tournament- Semifinal #2: Tommy End defeats Shinobu by choking Shinobu out/6:08/**1/2
-Hot and Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack) defeat Eddie Kingston and Kim Ray by pinfall after a double enziguri on Kingston /12:56/***
-Axel Tischer (wXw Heavyweight Champion), Paul Tracey and Toby Blunt defeat Michael Dante and Keel Holding (Sasa Keel & Michael Isotov). Blunt pinned Keel after a swanton bomb /16:34/***1/4
-Masada defeats Robert Schild by pinfall after a brainbuster/6:17/*
-Yuji Okabayashi defeats Bad Bones by pinfall after a powerbomb/11:42/***1/4
-wXw World Tag Team Championship: AUT-siders (Big Van Walter and Robert Dreissker) defeat RockSkillet (Jay Skillet and Jonathan Gresham) to become the new champions. Walter pins Gresham after a sitdown piledriver./14:40/***1/2
-Ricky Marvin and Super Crazy defeat Chuck Taylor and Ricochet. Marvin pinned Ricochet after an exploder./15:32/***1/2
-2013 16 Carat Gold Tournament- Final: Tommy End (w/Michael Dante) defeats Zack Sabre Jr./13:02/***1/2
To purchase this entire tournament, plus all other wXw releases, check out Smart Mark Video.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingPonderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor