BRM Reviews wXw Fans Appreciation Night 2021: Night 1
Posted: Jul 11th, '21, 01:04
wXw Fans Appreciation Night 2021: Night 1 (6/25/2021)- Oberhausen, Germany
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS BOBBY GUNNS- meh
It’s not that Bobby as bad or anything, but there just wasn’t anything interesting for him to say here.
DAN INTERVIEWS MICHAEL KNIGHT- same as above
We have no wasted three minutes that could have helped a match reach the next level.
BOBBY GUNNS vs. MICHAEL KNIGHT- 6.5/10
Bobby won clean. It took him a lot more time than you would expect, but I don’t think this went long enough or was good enough to really elevate Knight in defeat. It never felt like he might actually beat Bobby, and it certainly didn’t go long enough (just under thirteen minutes) to feel so out of the ordinary that they can kayfabe claim that Knight did some sort of excellent job here and was punching way above his weight.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS BOBBY GUNNS- fine
Bobby says he feels focused again.
The run-time on this show is 2:01:57. After just one undercard match and it’s associated interviews and replays, plus the opening video package and a merch plug, we’re over twenty-five minutes in. That doesn’t bode well.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TAYRA GATES- fine
She’s 0-1 in wXw, so she will give it her all get the win.
TAYRA GATES vs. DELIA- 2.25/10
Delia caught Gates in a Crossface-like submission but Gates was able to roll it over into a pin to pick up her first win in wXw.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS NORMAN HARRAS- great
A very human interview from Norman about needing to find his confidence. Said confidence should be more shot than ever after losing to someone who he beat when he was the Shotgun Champion (Dennis Dullnig) and now going into a similar situation against Fast Time Moodo, but he actually seems to be confident.
This was also the first time that he acknowledged that his former stablemates were dicks to him, which feel important to his babyface turn.
DAN INTERVIEWS FAST TIME MOODO- good
He wants to prove that if Harras had been wrestling fairly during their Shotgun Title match, Moodo would have beaten him for the title.
FAST TIME MOODO vs. NORMAN HARRAS- 6.25/10
Norman did a great job of looking like he was trying to get himself in the right space mentally before their match. Moodo won clean via referee stoppage with elbows, but Norman did control a decent portion of the match, so that’s a positive for him. He also pulled the turnbuckle pad off, hoping to injure Moodo and get the win via stoppage like happened in their previous match, but Moodo avoided it, fired up, beat the crap out of him. So it’s back to the drawing board for poor Norman. Hopefully this bit with the turnbuckle pad ties into the “Norman regains his confidence” story by having him learn to not rely on shortcuts like cheating. This is also the second match in a row where a tactic that helped him defend his Shotgun Title has been countered by that same opponent, leading to Norman’s defeat.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS FAST TIME MOODO- fine
HANDICAP NO HOLDS BARRED TORNADO TAG TEAM MASK VS. HAIR MATCH: Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto vs. Baby Allison, Vincent Heisenberg, & Maggot- 7.75/10
When did this become no DQs and Tornado rules? I’m not saying that those stips don’t fit for this feud. I just like these things to be announced in advance and have a reason behind them.
Your rating for this might be lower, but I was very invested in this feud (and, particularly, in wanting to see the babyfaces get revenge). I thought they made great use of the stips, and the apuesta in particular made all of the pinfalls feel like they were very important because of what the babyfaces were either about to lose or ensure that they didn’t lose.
They also did an excellent job of making Heisenberg look like a monster. Then they had him tap out… but they managed to find a way to do it (he was trapped in a double-submission) where it didn’t feel like it took away from the monster cred they had just built up. It was also nice to see wXw Academy trainee Feyyaz get some revenge on the heels for beating him up a few weeks ago by running in and preventing Heisenberg from using a chair on Senza.
I also really liked the idea to have Heisenberg be the one to get pinned and thus lose his hair, as he is the lackey, but is also one who they have been trying to build up as violent and uncontrollable. Does losing his hair make him sadder and thus more likely to stick with his newfound friends, or does he blame Maggot and Baby Allison for suffering this humiliation and go after them? We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, it’s definitely more interesting than shaving one of the other heels or having one of the babyfaces lose his mask.
HEISENBERG GETS SHAVED- good
He took it like an adult, but also somewhere between crying and angry. He was almost (or maybe even actually) crying, but it felt like he could snap at any moment. That the babyfaces were kind of being dicks didn’t help, but Heisenberg deserves it for what he helped do t the babyfaces (and did to Feyyaz, and tried to do to Levaniel). They didn’t shave him the whole way, which I understand not doing for the purposes of time, but he had better be fully bald on We Love Wrestling next week.
DAN TRIES TO INTERVIEW VINCENT HEISENBERG- GREAT!
Heisenberg doesn’t want an interview. Maggot and Baby Allison show up and laugh at him. He uses the camera (and they cameraman flips the monitor) so he can see what he looks like… and he’s not happy. He lets out a primal scream, and goozles Maggot and Baby Allison… but Allison tells him not to be angry at her because she could have saved him if hadn’t bumped into her towards the end, while Maggot convinces Heisenberg that Feyyaz is his enemy, not them. Heisenberg lumbers off to find poor Feyyaz… and Maggot and Allison laugh, knowing that they have dodged a bullet.
EARLIER TODAY, ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS ENDER KARA- GREAT!
He goes over the history between himself and Paris, and emphasizes how much he feels like he needs to win tonight’s match.
ENDER KARA vs. PARIS BALLIS- 4/10
Ender Kara won a fast-paced match clean with a Hidden Blade.
LEVANIEL PROMO- loved it!
This was comedy, but Levaniel’s character is such that you feel that the things he is saying are completely serious to him.
wXw SHOTGUN TITLE MATCH: Prince Ahura(c) vs. Levaniel- 6.25/10
Ahura wins clean.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Norman is out to pick the lottery ball again. He lost to Dan in Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would get to pick the ball. The lucky win of the next title shot is none other than Prince Ahura’s former tag team partner Maggot.
This was a pretty meh show from wXw. It felt big at times, but most of the matches were nothing to write home about. It did succeed in moving several stories forward, though, and that’s a key element of a big show. Hopefully tomorrow’s show can keep the same level of storylines and increase the work-rate.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS BOBBY GUNNS- meh
It’s not that Bobby as bad or anything, but there just wasn’t anything interesting for him to say here.
DAN INTERVIEWS MICHAEL KNIGHT- same as above
We have no wasted three minutes that could have helped a match reach the next level.
BOBBY GUNNS vs. MICHAEL KNIGHT- 6.5/10
Bobby won clean. It took him a lot more time than you would expect, but I don’t think this went long enough or was good enough to really elevate Knight in defeat. It never felt like he might actually beat Bobby, and it certainly didn’t go long enough (just under thirteen minutes) to feel so out of the ordinary that they can kayfabe claim that Knight did some sort of excellent job here and was punching way above his weight.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS BOBBY GUNNS- fine
Bobby says he feels focused again.
The run-time on this show is 2:01:57. After just one undercard match and it’s associated interviews and replays, plus the opening video package and a merch plug, we’re over twenty-five minutes in. That doesn’t bode well.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TAYRA GATES- fine
She’s 0-1 in wXw, so she will give it her all get the win.
TAYRA GATES vs. DELIA- 2.25/10
Delia caught Gates in a Crossface-like submission but Gates was able to roll it over into a pin to pick up her first win in wXw.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS NORMAN HARRAS- great
A very human interview from Norman about needing to find his confidence. Said confidence should be more shot than ever after losing to someone who he beat when he was the Shotgun Champion (Dennis Dullnig) and now going into a similar situation against Fast Time Moodo, but he actually seems to be confident.
This was also the first time that he acknowledged that his former stablemates were dicks to him, which feel important to his babyface turn.
DAN INTERVIEWS FAST TIME MOODO- good
He wants to prove that if Harras had been wrestling fairly during their Shotgun Title match, Moodo would have beaten him for the title.
FAST TIME MOODO vs. NORMAN HARRAS- 6.25/10
Norman did a great job of looking like he was trying to get himself in the right space mentally before their match. Moodo won clean via referee stoppage with elbows, but Norman did control a decent portion of the match, so that’s a positive for him. He also pulled the turnbuckle pad off, hoping to injure Moodo and get the win via stoppage like happened in their previous match, but Moodo avoided it, fired up, beat the crap out of him. So it’s back to the drawing board for poor Norman. Hopefully this bit with the turnbuckle pad ties into the “Norman regains his confidence” story by having him learn to not rely on shortcuts like cheating. This is also the second match in a row where a tactic that helped him defend his Shotgun Title has been countered by that same opponent, leading to Norman’s defeat.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS FAST TIME MOODO- fine
HANDICAP NO HOLDS BARRED TORNADO TAG TEAM MASK VS. HAIR MATCH: Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto vs. Baby Allison, Vincent Heisenberg, & Maggot- 7.75/10
When did this become no DQs and Tornado rules? I’m not saying that those stips don’t fit for this feud. I just like these things to be announced in advance and have a reason behind them.
Your rating for this might be lower, but I was very invested in this feud (and, particularly, in wanting to see the babyfaces get revenge). I thought they made great use of the stips, and the apuesta in particular made all of the pinfalls feel like they were very important because of what the babyfaces were either about to lose or ensure that they didn’t lose.
They also did an excellent job of making Heisenberg look like a monster. Then they had him tap out… but they managed to find a way to do it (he was trapped in a double-submission) where it didn’t feel like it took away from the monster cred they had just built up. It was also nice to see wXw Academy trainee Feyyaz get some revenge on the heels for beating him up a few weeks ago by running in and preventing Heisenberg from using a chair on Senza.
I also really liked the idea to have Heisenberg be the one to get pinned and thus lose his hair, as he is the lackey, but is also one who they have been trying to build up as violent and uncontrollable. Does losing his hair make him sadder and thus more likely to stick with his newfound friends, or does he blame Maggot and Baby Allison for suffering this humiliation and go after them? We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, it’s definitely more interesting than shaving one of the other heels or having one of the babyfaces lose his mask.
HEISENBERG GETS SHAVED- good
He took it like an adult, but also somewhere between crying and angry. He was almost (or maybe even actually) crying, but it felt like he could snap at any moment. That the babyfaces were kind of being dicks didn’t help, but Heisenberg deserves it for what he helped do t the babyfaces (and did to Feyyaz, and tried to do to Levaniel). They didn’t shave him the whole way, which I understand not doing for the purposes of time, but he had better be fully bald on We Love Wrestling next week.
DAN TRIES TO INTERVIEW VINCENT HEISENBERG- GREAT!
Heisenberg doesn’t want an interview. Maggot and Baby Allison show up and laugh at him. He uses the camera (and they cameraman flips the monitor) so he can see what he looks like… and he’s not happy. He lets out a primal scream, and goozles Maggot and Baby Allison… but Allison tells him not to be angry at her because she could have saved him if hadn’t bumped into her towards the end, while Maggot convinces Heisenberg that Feyyaz is his enemy, not them. Heisenberg lumbers off to find poor Feyyaz… and Maggot and Allison laugh, knowing that they have dodged a bullet.
EARLIER TODAY, ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS ENDER KARA- GREAT!
He goes over the history between himself and Paris, and emphasizes how much he feels like he needs to win tonight’s match.
ENDER KARA vs. PARIS BALLIS- 4/10
Ender Kara won a fast-paced match clean with a Hidden Blade.
LEVANIEL PROMO- loved it!
This was comedy, but Levaniel’s character is such that you feel that the things he is saying are completely serious to him.
wXw SHOTGUN TITLE MATCH: Prince Ahura(c) vs. Levaniel- 6.25/10
Ahura wins clean.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Norman is out to pick the lottery ball again. He lost to Dan in Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would get to pick the ball. The lucky win of the next title shot is none other than Prince Ahura’s former tag team partner Maggot.
This was a pretty meh show from wXw. It felt big at times, but most of the matches were nothing to write home about. It did succeed in moving several stories forward, though, and that’s a key element of a big show. Hopefully tomorrow’s show can keep the same level of storylines and increase the work-rate.