wXw Inner Circle 15 (3.7.24) 

 

March 7, 2024 

 

We’re in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany for wXw’s Inner Circle show. I have been to something like 7 Inner Circles, and I love the intimate venue with fans right up against the ring. It also serves as a great introduction to what will happen on a wXw weekender. It’s usually the calm before the storm. The handshakes before the pints start to kick in. Skimming the run list for this show I see a whole bunch of names I don’t know. Is this an exciting new dawn for Eurograps, or are we dredging the depths for talent? Let’s go and find out. 

 

 

Nick Schreier vs. Jaden Newman 

I’ve seen both guys before, which is a good start. Newman is playing the obnoxious Yank against Nick’s local hometown babyface. I’m scanning the crowd for familiar faces and it’s nice to see folks like Ian Hamilton and BlueGodzilla have made the trip. Someone in the crowd has a Bullet Club hoodie on. In 2024. What are you doing man? In the ring matters are not much better. The stand up switches are outright bad. When wrestlers can’t do basics convincingly, I almost immediately tune the match out. Once I’ve been lost, I take a lot of winning back. Newman wins. This wasn’t good at all.  

 

A reminder that I’m not rating matches under three stars on Indie shows. This was significantly under that. 

 

Oskar vs. Marc Empire 

This is immediately better. Two big lads gingerly hitting each other with forearms. Empire wins me over by running through a weak clothesline and simply flattening the boy with a crossbody. All meat, no drama. If these two lads died in a plane crash in the Andes, they could feed the rest of the passengers for a month. Oskar has enormous potential but needs reps with better workers. His movements around the ring are still a little awkward. They tell a very simplistic, and therefore good, story with Oskar trying to get the slam on the rotund Empire. He eventually gets the Michinoku Driver to win it. This was solid. Empire, despite some iffy selling, really caught my eye too.  

 

Anil Marik vs. Ryan Clancy 

Anil Marik has immaculate hair. I can hear the jealously from a sea of mediocre Barnets in attendance. Ryan Clancy emerges to weird jazz music and starts making friends. Anil takes exception to Clancy being dubbed “Fancy” Ryan Clancy. “There’s nothing fancy about you!” Clancy’s gimmick certainly works. The crowd can chant about whether something is fancy or not. Clancy struggles with his striking. His punches don’t look convincing. His dropkick is downright pretty though. Pros and cons. Marik finishes with a double arm DDT. I would watch both guys again. Marik is solid and looks the part. Clancy has a decent gimmick and shows signs of something more. 

 

Danny Fray & Derek Neal vs. Shigehiro Irie & Tatsuya Hanami  

Irie + three guys I’ve never heard of. There’s a possibility I’ve seen Hanami wrestle for Kaientai Dojo or Big Japan back when I watched obscene amounts of wrestling. Fray is enormous and has gnarly chest scars. He can’t sell for Hanami and probably shouldn’t, given their size difference. Neal has a godawful look. Like a homeless Terry Gordy. However, his work is tidy. He hits hard and his transitions and suplexes are smooth. He’s a good match up for Irie. Two big lads, smacking the shit out of each other. I’ve always loved Irie and his massive head, shaped like a typewriter. Hanami takes some nice bumps. Everyone does a good job in this. Irie pins Fray with the Beast Bomber. I’d throw **½ at this. I liked the hard scrapping mentality of Irie and Neal. Fray needs to learn how to use his size better and Hanami, while a great bumper, was unconvincing on offence against a bigger man.  

 

Mochizuki Jr vs. Griffin McCoy 

Griffin claims to be a “top guy” but his moustache says otherwise. Mochi Jr has great kicks, although if he didn’t, you’d be questioning whether his old man had anything to do with his training. McCoy endears himself to the crowd by being a dick. He hits hard though, so I like him. That feels like my only metric for liking someone now. Does he lay it in? Yeah? He’s good then. The academy is always a good place to chop the shit out of people too. It echoes around and the crowd is so close it always seems more intense. I saw WALTER in Essen and it’s a fucking experience, man.  

 

Unlike some people, I like strike duels because they demonstrate two guys trying to be more manly than the other. It’s a proper dick measuring contest. The modern version of the Super Posedown. “Why would you let someone hit you?” To prove you can take it. I CAN TAKE DOUBLE WHAT YOU CAN. McCoy ruins his potential high snowflake rating with a thigh slap. There’s no need for it. Things further deteriorate as McCoy attempts to run the ropes for a super rana and falls off in mid-move. Apart from these minor issues, they had a nice time smacking the shit out of each other. A win, imo. ***¼ 

 

Jane Nero vs. Anita Vaughan 

When Anita came through the curtains, I briefly thought she was Charlotte Flair. The hair and face are very similiar in my defence. Nero goes after the ribs with punches in between Anita overpowering her. The rib shots cause issues because Anita just stands there waiting for them, and it feels wrong. It’s all tentative. Vaughan finishes with the wind up urinage. They were going for striker versus grappler here, but Vaughan just popped off power moves. Considering Nero’s lack of experience, it was ok.  

 

Jacob Crane vs. Peter Tihanyi  

Tihanyi isn’t a guy I’ve ever really liked but I do like his smoothness in the ring. He’s clearly developing into someone who’s very comfortable when it comes to working. You can tell when someone has switched gears to that next level and he has, clearly. Tihanyi gets his leg kicked out from under his leg, giving him something to sell. Peter is in a fun mood and decides to keep going after a bodyslam, to banter off Crane, and that’s not good for the bad wheel. Slingshot cutter finishes for Tihanyi. This felt very low energy. Obviously, Tihanyi has some ring time ahead of him, so he didn’t want to go balls out. The match was heavily structured around Tihanyi and both his strengths and weaknesses.  

 

Thomas Shire & 1 Called Manders vs. Elijah Blum & YOICHI 

YOICHI, the former Inamura, has a much larger chest than I recall. There is high ‘meat slapping’ potential. As soon as he steps in with Manders, MEAT is indeed slapped. It’s testament to how good it is, that I’m annoyed when Blum tags back in. Thomas Shire runs like a horse with two legs. I’m not sure if that’s a complement but it does fit his cowboy gimmick. Or should I say, horseboy. Manders battering Blum with a lariat makes me cackle with joy. Come on Manders, do some fucking chops! Comms start talking about Masato Tanaka tomorrow night and to my horror, I discover he’s working Blum. Anyone else in this match and that would have fucking rocked, dude.  

YOICHI puts Shire away and this was probably the second best match on the show. Call it ***.  

 

The 411: 

This is a bad sign. I have only watched one wrestling show all year, trying to keep myself mentally fresh for Mania week. I struggled through a 1h 45m show. The good news is that I liked almost everything on the card. The opener was bad, and the women’s match wasn’t great but was only five minutes. Everything else was at least passable. I almost loved Griffin McCoy vs. Mochizuki Jr. It was very close to hitting some decent flakes until they made a couple of mistakes. Overall, this was a good show and Inner Circle is a show to get you in the mood, not a show for hitting for the fences. An appetiser, if you will.