wXw Dead End 2021
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS EZEL - Fine. Abdul is injured, but thinks he should be cleared to compete so that he can earn more money for his family. Nevertheless, he will be at ringside with Aytac as a show of solidarity. Aytac says that he knows The Rotation’s weaknesses and thus will be able to defeat him.
The Rotation won clean in a short match.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS AYTAC - Good. He talked about his father coming to Germany to make a better life for his family and the importance of not letting setbacks get you down. He wants a rematch with The Rotation. This felt like a babyface turn. Ezel’s message has always been a babyface one, with their heelishness coming from their cheating methods and the teased possibility that they were not being honest. Since Metehan left for NXT UK, neither of those have been present, so a babyface turn is natural.
Levaniel cut a good little babyface promo before the match. He won clean in just under ten minutes.
Levaniel cut a very good promo after the match when Andy Jackson interviewed him.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TRISTAN ARCHER - Fine. He says that he won’t go after Emil Sitoci’s injured leg.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS EMIL SITOCI - Good. He insists that his leg his healthy but still insists on telling us that he’s definitely not upset that Archer had previously gone after that leg.
Sitoci worked over Archer’s arm, but when that wasn’t leading to victory, he faked an injury to his knee, and then hit a Snapmare Driver when Archer tried to check on him. Archer wasn’t happy about this, but shook Sitoci’s hand after the match anyway.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TRISTAN ARCHER - Fine. He’s disappointed in Sitoci for taking advantage of their mutual respect to set him up in such a deceitful manner.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TEAM wXw WRESTLING ACADEMY - Fine. Not going to lie: While they were talking, I just wanted them to get on with the match rather than talk. There is less than an hour left in the show and none of the three big matches have started yet.
wXw WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS:
It turns out the reason that the Pretty Bastards tuned down a pre-match interview is not because they were afraid it would cause problems between them before the match but rather because they wanted to set an ambush for the babyfaces, who they attacked with weapons on their way to the ring.
While Maggot took it to Anil in the ring and the bell rang, Prince Ahura kept punching Avalanche on the outside. Maggot yelled at him to get back into the ring so they can focus on Marik, and they argued for just long enough to allow Avalanche to recover enough to run Ahura’s head into the railing they were up against and take him out, evening things up at one on one in the ring while Avalanche recovered. Even Avalanche did recover, he was able to get the hot tag from Marik and took it to Maggot, pinning him in five and a half minutes to win the titles for his team.
I’m rating this as a segment because the idea here was clearly to move towards a break-up of Pretty Bastards while saving time on the show. I will admit that my first thought after the finish was â€"why not have Marik get the pin to validate him,†but the more I think about it, the more I like this way better, as it both emphasizes that Maggot got stuck in a two-on-one situation, and sets up some other team being able to say that Marik just rode Avalanche’s coattails, allowing you to set a feud (and Marik getting the big pin and validation that comes with it) at the end of that.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT - Good. Maggot goes over and stares at the still-unconscious Prince Ahura. Norman Harras comes out as well. Maggot eventually tells Norman that he can take care of Ahura and walks off. Norman then revived Ahura and carried him to the back.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS THE NEW wXw WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS - Good. This was fine â€"we just won the titles†stuff. Avalanche put Anil over, and also made sure to plug Vincent Heisenberg’s Shotgun Title match, saying hat he topes Heisenberg brings another title to the Academy.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS VINCENT HEISENBERG - Good. Heisenberg seems more concerned with hurting Norman than winning the title at this point. This is even more meaningful thanks to the video package they just aired reminding me that Norman spitting at Heisenberg a few weeks ago was a callback to him doing the same thing in their Catch Grand Prix match, which enraged Heisenberg, and his hot temper led to his downfall.
wXw SHOTGUN TITLE MATCH:
Heisenberg jumped the bell on Norman. Norman got the advantage but Heisenberg quickly made a comeback. After failing to put Norman away with his powerslam, Heisenberg got frustrated and grabbed the title belt. Norman spat at him in an attempt to bait him into using it for a DQ but he gave it to the referee instead. Unfortunately, the referee putting the belt away allowed Norman to hit a pair of low blows on Heisenberg, setting up the Liquidation for the win. This didn’t work for me, and the reason for that is that Heisenberg’s facials just weren’t there. He seemed perfectly clam when he went to get the belt. This story required extreme frustration.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS NORMAN HARRAS - Fine. Dennis Zinner is getting the next title shot. Norman points out that he is totally undeserving, and I agree. This lottery needs to be reformed or abolished.
VINCENT HEISENBERG INTERVIEW - Great segment! He was asked for his thoughts on his friends winning the tag titles, and got very agitated. I agree that this was a bad time to ask that question. Anil and Avalanche showed up, and Heisenberg got even more upset because Anil had his title belt with him. He was upset with Avalanche for not being at ringside with him, and then said he didn’t want to be a part of their group anymore and told them to leave. They left, and Baby Allison appeared around the corner. Heisenberg yelled at the cameraman to leave as well.
wXw UNIFIED WORLD WRESTLING TITLE MATCH:
This was an extremely exciting match of what felt like back-and-forth finishers without actually burning thorough finishers. The match was put together so well that pretty much anything felt like I could have been the finish.
That being said, I can’t help but feel disappointed that this only went thirteen and a half minutes. It felt like they had been building this up for a long time and the result was always going to be a big moment- either we got a title change o Marius’ streak wound end. It just felt like it deserved more time.
Final Thoughts
This was a disappointing show from wXw. It definitely delivered the big storyline moments that are expected from a big show, but the in-ring just wasn’t there. In terms of the formatting and timing, it really felt more like another episode of the weekly show than it did the big show that things build to. It was the same interviews bookending matches and it went the same two hours, and with six matches and a bunch of interviews, the decision to only go two hours really strangled the in-ring. The main event was the only match that went more than ten minutes, and even with as exciting as that match was, it still didn’t feel as epic as it should have given the building because it didn’t even make it to fourteen minutes. The stories in wXw are excellent so I’m not going to stop watching even if the in-ring doesn’t deliver, but I am feeling quite frustrated because I know that a chunk of the roster absolutely is capable of delivering, and I just don’t understand why they aren’t being given the chance.
THE ROTATION vs. AYTAC (w/Abdul) - 4.5/10
The Rotation won clean in a short match.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS AYTAC - Good. He talked about his father coming to Germany to make a better life for his family and the importance of not letting setbacks get you down. He wants a rematch with The Rotation. This felt like a babyface turn. Ezel’s message has always been a babyface one, with their heelishness coming from their cheating methods and the teased possibility that they were not being honest. Since Metehan left for NXT UK, neither of those have been present, so a babyface turn is natural.
MICHAEL KNIGHT vs. LEVANIEL- 5.5/10
Levaniel cut a good little babyface promo before the match. He won clean in just under ten minutes.
Levaniel cut a very good promo after the match when Andy Jackson interviewed him.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TRISTAN ARCHER - Fine. He says that he won’t go after Emil Sitoci’s injured leg.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS EMIL SITOCI - Good. He insists that his leg his healthy but still insists on telling us that he’s definitely not upset that Archer had previously gone after that leg.
EMIL SITOCI vs. TRISTAN ARCHER - 6.25/10
Sitoci worked over Archer’s arm, but when that wasn’t leading to victory, he faked an injury to his knee, and then hit a Snapmare Driver when Archer tried to check on him. Archer wasn’t happy about this, but shook Sitoci’s hand after the match anyway.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TRISTAN ARCHER - Fine. He’s disappointed in Sitoci for taking advantage of their mutual respect to set him up in such a deceitful manner.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS TEAM wXw WRESTLING ACADEMY - Fine. Not going to lie: While they were talking, I just wanted them to get on with the match rather than talk. There is less than an hour left in the show and none of the three big matches have started yet.
wXw WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS:
Pretty Bastards vs. Team wXw Wrestling Academy (Anil Mark & â€"The Avalanche†Robert Dreissker) - no rating, good segment
It turns out the reason that the Pretty Bastards tuned down a pre-match interview is not because they were afraid it would cause problems between them before the match but rather because they wanted to set an ambush for the babyfaces, who they attacked with weapons on their way to the ring.
While Maggot took it to Anil in the ring and the bell rang, Prince Ahura kept punching Avalanche on the outside. Maggot yelled at him to get back into the ring so they can focus on Marik, and they argued for just long enough to allow Avalanche to recover enough to run Ahura’s head into the railing they were up against and take him out, evening things up at one on one in the ring while Avalanche recovered. Even Avalanche did recover, he was able to get the hot tag from Marik and took it to Maggot, pinning him in five and a half minutes to win the titles for his team.
I’m rating this as a segment because the idea here was clearly to move towards a break-up of Pretty Bastards while saving time on the show. I will admit that my first thought after the finish was â€"why not have Marik get the pin to validate him,†but the more I think about it, the more I like this way better, as it both emphasizes that Maggot got stuck in a two-on-one situation, and sets up some other team being able to say that Marik just rode Avalanche’s coattails, allowing you to set a feud (and Marik getting the big pin and validation that comes with it) at the end of that.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT - Good. Maggot goes over and stares at the still-unconscious Prince Ahura. Norman Harras comes out as well. Maggot eventually tells Norman that he can take care of Ahura and walks off. Norman then revived Ahura and carried him to the back.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS THE NEW wXw WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS - Good. This was fine â€"we just won the titles†stuff. Avalanche put Anil over, and also made sure to plug Vincent Heisenberg’s Shotgun Title match, saying hat he topes Heisenberg brings another title to the Academy.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS VINCENT HEISENBERG - Good. Heisenberg seems more concerned with hurting Norman than winning the title at this point. This is even more meaningful thanks to the video package they just aired reminding me that Norman spitting at Heisenberg a few weeks ago was a callback to him doing the same thing in their Catch Grand Prix match, which enraged Heisenberg, and his hot temper led to his downfall.
wXw SHOTGUN TITLE MATCH:
Norman Harras(c) vs. Vincent Heisenberg - 4.5/10
Heisenberg jumped the bell on Norman. Norman got the advantage but Heisenberg quickly made a comeback. After failing to put Norman away with his powerslam, Heisenberg got frustrated and grabbed the title belt. Norman spat at him in an attempt to bait him into using it for a DQ but he gave it to the referee instead. Unfortunately, the referee putting the belt away allowed Norman to hit a pair of low blows on Heisenberg, setting up the Liquidation for the win. This didn’t work for me, and the reason for that is that Heisenberg’s facials just weren’t there. He seemed perfectly clam when he went to get the belt. This story required extreme frustration.
ANDY JACKSON INTERVIEWS NORMAN HARRAS - Fine. Dennis Zinner is getting the next title shot. Norman points out that he is totally undeserving, and I agree. This lottery needs to be reformed or abolished.
VINCENT HEISENBERG INTERVIEW - Great segment! He was asked for his thoughts on his friends winning the tag titles, and got very agitated. I agree that this was a bad time to ask that question. Anil and Avalanche showed up, and Heisenberg got even more upset because Anil had his title belt with him. He was upset with Avalanche for not being at ringside with him, and then said he didn’t want to be a part of their group anymore and told them to leave. They left, and Baby Allison appeared around the corner. Heisenberg yelled at the cameraman to leave as well.
wXw UNIFIED WORLD WRESTLING TITLE MATCH:
Bobby Gunns(c) vs. Marius Al-Ani- 8/10
This was an extremely exciting match of what felt like back-and-forth finishers without actually burning thorough finishers. The match was put together so well that pretty much anything felt like I could have been the finish.
That being said, I can’t help but feel disappointed that this only went thirteen and a half minutes. It felt like they had been building this up for a long time and the result was always going to be a big moment- either we got a title change o Marius’ streak wound end. It just felt like it deserved more time.
Final Thoughts
This was a disappointing show from wXw. It definitely delivered the big storyline moments that are expected from a big show, but the in-ring just wasn’t there. In terms of the formatting and timing, it really felt more like another episode of the weekly show than it did the big show that things build to. It was the same interviews bookending matches and it went the same two hours, and with six matches and a bunch of interviews, the decision to only go two hours really strangled the in-ring. The main event was the only match that went more than ten minutes, and even with as exciting as that match was, it still didn’t feel as epic as it should have given the building because it didn’t even make it to fourteen minutes. The stories in wXw are excellent so I’m not going to stop watching even if the in-ring doesn’t deliver, but I am feeling quite frustrated because I know that a chunk of the roster absolutely is capable of delivering, and I just don’t understand why they aren’t being given the chance.