wXw 16 Carat Gold 2023: Night 1

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Francesco Akira vs. Laurance Roman - 6.75/10

Akira won a very good opener, which I assume will set him up for a Shotgun Title match that he will lose on night 3 after being eliminated from the tournament tomorrow night.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Mike D. Vecchio vs. Tristan Archer - 7/10

Vecchio really impressed me here. He and Archer had some great chemistry. I’d like to see more of him in wXw.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Fuminori Abe vs. Masha Slamovich - 7.25/10

A great nine minutes!

DAN MALLMAN INTERVIEWS METEHAN - Very good. Dan asks Metehan if he and Norman Harras are in cahoots, noting that Norman has twice appeared to help him beat Bobby Gunns in a 16 Carat Gold qualifying match. He demands that Dan only ask him about his match tonight. Dan does, and Metehan replies that he won 16 Carat back in 2019, so he knows how to win this tournament. Metehan has his character down quite well.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Shigehiro Irie vs. Metehan (w/Rambo) - 8/10

These matches just keep getting better and better. Irie picking up the win seems to remove any Norman Harras shenanigans from the tournament. Hooray!

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Trey Miguel vs. Peter Tihanyi - 7.5/10

Good action. I was really happy to see the up-and-coming local guy pick up the win over the bigger name from overseas who was brought in just for this weekend.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Arez vs. Komander - 8/10

Lots of cool lucha. I’ve seen Komander about ten times now, in several different companies, all in supposedly big matches, and this is the first time I’ve seen him win.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Davey Richards vs. Axel Tischer - 8.5/10

More awesome wrestling. Tischer gets the win. With Metehan out, he’s the easy favorite to win the tournament.

DAN MALLMAN INTERVIEWS AXEL TISCHER - Very good. He says that he will win the tournament, and with it, the wXw Unified World Wrestling Title.

MAGGOT PROMO - There were no subtitles on this one, so I have no idea what he said.

16 CARAT GOLD TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH:
Ahura vs. Maggot - 8/10

Before the bell, they charged at each other and Maggot speared Ahura, then bit him hard enough to draw blood. That set the tone for this match quite well. These two do a great job of making me believe that they hate each other. Ahura won cleanly, unless ripping your opponent’s nose-ring out isn’t a legal thing to do. I was expecting Maggot to last longer, as Peter Tihanyi is now the biggest remaining babyface in this tournament.

Final Thoughts
This was an awesome show from wXw, with great wrestling from top to bottom. A perfect way to start out the tournament, and on a show that didn’t have so many of their biggest names (Bobby Gunns, Jurn Simmons, Levaniel, the Frenchadors, Robert Dreissker, and the Arrows of Hungary were all absent). Hopefully tomorrow night will be even better.