March 8th, 2018 – wXw Wrestling Academy, Essen, Germany

Before all the bright lights and giant screens power up in Oberhausen’s Turbinenhalle 2 on Friday’s 16 Carat Gold opener, it’s tradition for wXw to hold the extremely intimate Inner Circle events in their own Academy facility in Essen. On arrival, apart from the signage on the gates, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this anonymous looking building for a wood yard or something – the building having found use as a plant hire centre and hotel prior to its now more famous occupants. Once you make it past the big metal gate, through the courtyard and into the doors it becomes clear that this is a very special venue. It’s a very homely affair at these shows, with the likes of Francis Kaspin and Jay Skillet helping to serve beers to the raucous crowd, the walls crowded with old tour posters from previous years as well as signatures from the various talents and guest trainers who’ve used the facility over time.

With regular master of ceremonies Thomas Giesen out of the evening’s show due to a family occasion, wXw owner Christian M. Jakobi was on hand to replace the ever-popular announcer – but if you’ve ever had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Jakobi on commentary (wXw Broken Rules 2017 immediately springs to mind) you’ll know that he is more than capable enough to keep the evening flowing and the audience engaged. After a brief preamble and welcome it was time for our first match of the night and of the weekend.  

MATCH 1: Travis Banks vs. Alexander James  

Opening the show is PROGRESS Wrestling’s then world champion Travis Banks taking on ‘The Prince of Pro’ Alexander James. James is not exactly the most high-profile name in the European scene but the Maryland-native made wXw his home and established himself as a key member of the roster in the second half of 2017 – and a match against one of the UK’s finest (yep, I’m claiming him) was a tantalising prospect for followers of wXw, especially as he’d only been back with the company two weeks prior to this show. For my money, I can see James being on a similar level to Thatcher within two or three years if he continues at the trajectory he’s working at – especially if he can keep his ‘wrestling diet’ varied by continuing to make the trip to wXw from the United States as well as hopefully making the jump to the United Kingdom soon enough.   

As you’d expect, this was a tightly contested affair which gave equal time and attention to both James’ technical acumen as well as Banks’ famous striking ability. One of the great things about the wXw Academy is that the noise from chops and kicks reverberate around the walls – and it was clear that these two were playing off this during the match. Much of James’ focus seemed to be on the arm of Banks as the American would repeatedly return to this after – among other things – sending the Kiwi into the ringpost and applying the chickenwing. However, James would fall to the Kiwi Crusher after a footstomp and a coast to coast. All in all, a great way to open the night.  

MATCH 2: Julian Pace vs. Timothy Thatcher  

Following the opener was a real clash of styles as the then-current wXw Academy Cup holder and motorsport fanatic Julian Pace took on Ring Kampf’s Timothy Thatcher. Jakobi announced Thatcher as “hailing from next door” as a reference to the American’s residence in the Essen school in recent months – and it was clear that he was revelling in the ‘teacher vs student’ style of this match.  

Thatcher took control in the early stages of the match – limiting the aerial attack of Pace by keeping the youngster grounded from the get-go. Pace would struggle out of the holds and even attempt a hammerlock on Thatcher which would be quickly countered into a hammerlock of his own, before rolling it into a pin attempt.  

Following the one-count of the first pin, Pace would get his first shot at his aerial game by nailing Thatcher with a smooth dropkick – before attempting to activate Voll Gas! and begin his trademark rope running spot. Unfortunately for the German, he’d run right into Thatcher’s boot face first – but it didn’t scupper him as he’d eventually get the better of Thatcher after another dropkick and a near fall from a crossbody. At this point, Thatcher slowed Pace down again, locking him in a single leg Boston Crab. This was one of my favourite moments of the match – as Thatcher made sure that everyone in the arena was able to see the expression he was pulling, further showing the meticulous attention to detail Thatcher shows off in his work. After escaping, Pace had another short burst of speed but in the end Thatcher was too much for the young German – hitting a beautiful butterfly suplex for the three count.  

Whilst it was an expected result, Pace proved that he is deserving of the Academy Cup and hopefully will have a breakout year like Francis Kaspin did the year before. Match of the night for me.

MATCH 3: Chris Brookes vs. David Starr  

The third match of the evening was a rematch from December’s PROGRESS Dome show, with the second #CCK representative taking on many people’s pre-tournament favourite in David Starr. There was a little bit of shenanigans before the bell, as CMJ opted to not perform the David Starr nickname spiel – instead giving his notes and the microphone to a fan on the front row to reel off the numerous names.

This match was worked in a semi-comedy style from the start, with David bemoaning Brookes’ height from the opening bell and Brookes seemingly focusing all of his early assault on Starr’s crotch area.  

A particularly humorous moment was when Starr failed to nail Brookes with a hip thrust and was caught straddling the middle rope. Just as Brookes was about to take advantage of the unfortunate situation, the official slapped his hand away and remonstrated with him – however in the process he’d inadvertently bounce Starr on the middle rope and cause the American even more discomfort.  

Unfortunately, the match came to a head prematurely after Starr seemed to be caught by surprise when Brookes dove out the ring and was in completely the wrong position to catch him. At the press lunch on the following day, Jakobi explained that he knew something was wrong – and as Brookes has “legs like a spider” – he managed to smack his chin on his own knees, breaking his back teeth in the process – meaning the Brit was in a bit of a rush to leave the ring at the end. After bringing Brookes back into the ring, Starr hit his signature Product Placement suplex for the pin, meaning the American got his 16 Carat Gold off to a solid, if uncomfortable start.  

MATCH 4: Jonah Rock vs. WALTER  

Next up was the battle of the big lads, as the Australian Monster Jonah Rock made his wXw debut against the Ring General WALTER. I’d mentioned earlier that the Academy venue can make a well-struck chop rattle around the rafters and this match was no exception – with one twitter user dubbing the bout as having “more chops than a butchers’ shop window”.

The match begins with the classic big man trope of duelling shoulder blocks with neither man initially able to get an early advantage over the other – before WALTER managed to land the first blow and put Rock down. Rock quickly reaffirmed his position in the match by replying with a crossbody – which would then lead into the part which most of the audience was clamouring for: the chop battle. Despite Jonah Rock having a solid chop of his own, WALTER was the man who won this particular battle, dropping the Australian after a flurry of three agonising strikes.  

WALTER spent most of the bout trying to successfully lock in his devastating sleeper hold while Rock opted to attempt to wear down the Austrian with various suplex variations before attempting (and failing) a frog splash from the top rope – which was met by a swift ‘John Woo’ style dropkick. After all that, WALTER finally locked in the sleeper – to which Rock showed little resistance before tapping.  

MATCH 5: Killer Kelly vs. Veda Scott

After a short intermission, the second “half” kicked off with the match which probably had the most story behind it coming into Inner Circle – a clash between Femmes Fatales breakout star Killer Kelly and visiting wXw Academy resident Veda Scott. The pair had been trading barbs with each other in previous weeks on wXw Shotgun – with the story seemingly culminating at this show as the co-main event.

Kelly stormed out of the gates with her ferocious strike game on Scott, which was quickly reciprocated by the American – hitting a jawbreaker and a number of spears to neutralise Kelly for the majority of the match. Unfortunately, most of this match was a standard heel beatdown in favour of Scott – switching between strikes and chokes on the downed Kelly.

After an awkward submission attempt, Kelly booted Scott into the ropes – but for some reason Scott just stood there and allowed Kelly to hit another high kick to the head and an awkward bridging German suplex for the pin.

It was a real shame that this match didn’t come off well – with this being the first opportunity for many travelling fans to see Kelly before she exploded later on in the year, but the young Portuguese warrior did at least get the best out of a bad situation and have two very good matches later in the weekend.

MATCH 6: Mark Haskins vs. Mike Bailey

The main event of the evening saw the number one contender to the Shotgun title ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey go head to head with Mark Haskins. Speedball came into the weekend with his eyes focused on a battle for Bobby Gunns’ Shotgun title on Saturday night – with the “King of Smoke Style” having trouble getting into the cool head of Bailey.

The match begins with a flurry of kicks for the opening exchange which then turns into a stand off to much applause. What follows is an extremely intense bout on all levels – the pair skit in and out of the ring on multiple occasions, lock up on a grounded grappling session and of course indulge in some high flying action as well. Haskins begins to get the upper hand in the match when an STO submission causes Bailey to struggle with his right knee – which is something Haskins returns to on multiple occasions.

Later on in the match, the pair tussle on the ring apron – with Bailey seemingly going for as suplex to the floor. Haskins is lifted but manages to wrap his legs on the top rope and crawls into the ring before lamping Speedball with a dropkick. The great part about this bit is that because of the small crowd the venue is near silent with concentration – another reason why these shows are so unique. Haskins runs towards the ropes and fakes out a tope which Speedball avoids anyway – the Canadian scurrying up onto the turnbuckle and landing on Haskins with a perfectly executed moonsault to the outside.

Without wanting to give too much more away about this match (because it’s so worth a watch), Speedball finishes off Haskins after a great sequence with a backflip fall away slam for the win. If it wasn’t for the Thatcher/Pace bout, this probably would have been my match of the night – with this being a really nicely paced match from start to finish.

 

✏️ @MikeKilby

wXw Inner Circle V is available to watch on wXwNOW with both German and English language commentary: https://www.wxwnow.com/en/events/wxw-the-inner-circle-5