BRM Reviews wXw Shotgun 2020, Episode 1 (5/29/2020)

[Big Red Machine]

OLIVER CARTER & THE PRETTY BASTARDS HAVE A SECRET MEETING- meh
There was way too much “what is the plan?” “nobody knows!” going on. It’s possible that this them joking about Bobby Gunns having some sort of plan and keeping them in the dark, a clue that the three of them have a secret plan that their stablemates Bobby Gunns and Norman Harras don’t know about, or it could just be them making fun of fans and other wrestlers for not seeing their ruse coming when Oliver Carter joined the heel faction (which has finally received a name: Die Racherpause), although that last one seems a bit odd, seeing as how that turn took place back at the end of November, and doing a flashback doesn’t really fit in with wXw’s presentation.
We did, at least, get some reason for Carter’s turn other than him just being friend with these guys. Basically, he thinks too many of the other wrestlers are marks for themselves and the business, going on Twitter and talking about who they think they would have an exciting match with. He didn’t quite use those terms, but he got the idea across in a way that made kayfabe sense.

ALPHA KEVIN & MELANIE GRAY TRY TO SEE THE DIRECTOR OF SPORT, BUT THE OFFICE IS LOCKED- This established the little storyline that would be revisited throughout the episode. Also, Kevin got to be entertaining.

AXEL TISCHER MUST RELINQUISH THE wXw SHOTGUN TITLE DUE TO THE PANDEMIC- well… there goes that title reign. Darn COVID. Wolfe was as good as can be in this horrible situation of having to give up a title that he just won in a surprise return and vowed to stay around and defend until he would lose it.

RAMBO vs. “THE AVALANCHE” ROBERT DREISSKER- 4.5/10
This was Rambo’s first match in wXw in five years. He lost to Avalanche in six minutes.

AVALANCHE INTERVIEW- fine
He wants to regain the Shotgun Title, and he also wants to give back to the business by helping the next generation.

ALPHA KEVIN & MELANIE GRAY ARE STILL TRYING TO SEE THE DIRECTOR OF SPORT- fine for what it was
Also, The Rotation showed up. He, too, is looking for Karsten Beck. Melanie finally gets a message from wXw that because Karsten is in the high-risk category for COVID, he won’t be around for now, and we’ll have a new Director of Sport. The message didn’t say who it was. This moved this story along nicely and created a mystery. I could have done without that dumb thing with the hat that Kevin and The Rotation were doing. Kevin sure is lucky that he’s funny or Mella wouldn’t put up with him.

DAS HIMMSELSCHLOSS- fine
This is Levaniel’s new talk show. He wanted Amale to be his guest but she can’t because of the pandemic, so instead he has a hastily thrown-together slideshow to present their “love story” (in his mind, anyway). Because this was hastily thrown together, he did a bad job of picking the slides, leading to some comedy. Essentially, this was an entertaining recap of their story so far (or at least the way Levaniel wants to present it. Karsten Beck, who Amale is theoretically dating- or at the very least trying to manipulate in exchange for favorable bookings- was notably absent). He promised to have a real guest next time.

EZEL PROMO- meh
This was advertised as a “mission statement” from this new faction led by Metehan, the former Lucky Kid, and I don’t think it really succeeded. The idea seems to be that his mother became very sick and he realized that he needed to provide for his family so he decided to become a heel and get more serious so he could win more, and if the fans don’t like that, then they’re not really his family like they thought they were. This could have been presented more clearly, and seeing as how this was a pre-tape, there really isn’t any excuse for it not to be done well.
In an attempt to fill in a plot-hole, Lucky also explained that the eye appearing on the Tron wasn’t him “distracting himself” but actually him attempting to refocus, because that logo reminds him of what is truly important in life: Family. I guess that fills in the plot-hole in that it explains why Lucky would have that graphic show up (and I guess he had someone in production helping him), but based on the evidence, I don’t think you can argue that this idea didn’t massively backfire on Lucky, so he still looks kind of silly for having done it.

FAST TIME MOODO & THE ROTATION BACKSTAGE- decent
We got a little mission statement from The Rotation (he wants to prove that his big win over Puma King in the first round of 16 Carat Gold this year wasn’t a fluke) and a little introduction to Fast Time Moodo for those of us who had never heard of him before (he’s a martial arts guy).

FAST TIME MOODO & THE ROTATION vs. EZEL (Abdul Kenan & Aytac Behar) (w/Metehan)- 5/10
This was also short. It was fine. Everyone looked good. When The Rotation went to check on Moodo after the match, Metehan kicked him in the back for no reason.

FAST TIME MOODO, THE ROTATION, & AVALANCHE BACKSTAGE- good
The two undercard guys are disappointed at losing. Avalanche comes up and gives the two youngsters a pep talk. I’d be very interested in seeing these two form a tag team like this segment hinted at. They should call the team “Flips & Kicks.”

THE SMOKE BREAK, WITH BOBBY GUNNS & THE REST OF DIE RAUCHERPAUSE- odd
Oliver Carter was there only via Zoom. Bobby Gunns cut promos on various people and ordered the Pretty Bastards to win the tag titles back and make Jay-AA “bleed.” Then the rest of the group tried to peer pressure young Norman Harras into smoking with them but he wouldn’t, and they eventually left him alone. That’s an odd choice of story, considering that Harras hasn’t been a heel for very long, and fans have no reason to want to see him turn babyface.

THE NEW DIRECTOR OF SPORT IS REVEALED- it’s f*cking ABSOLUTE ANDY!
On the one hand, this is a good use of resources, as it gets Andy out of the ring for a bit (he apparently has some nagging injuries) while still keeping him on the air and letting him talk. On the other hand, Andy is one of the tag champs, so there is a conflict of interest here, and he also still feels like a heel to me, so him being given this job is odd. That said, in kayfabe management did like his tag team gauntlet match idea at 16 Carat Gold, so they apparently don’t feel the same was as me, and they actually do have a kayfabe reason to think he’d do a better job than some other person they had lying around.


This was fine for what it was. I’m not expecting much out of the matches on this show, as this is clearly meant to be more of a stoyline show, with short matches mostly just to get people over. It’s really nice to have wXw back, and this series shows that they do have plans in mind for when they return.