Views from the Hawke’s Nest: wXw AMBITION 8 Review

This was the shoot-style tourney wXw ran in the midst of their three-night 16 Carat Gold Tournament. Here are some select reviews of the 2017 Carat.

Great: WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, WALTER vs. David Starr, Paul London vs. Bad Bones
Good: Donovan Dijak vs. Matt Riddle, WALTER vs. Matt Riddle, Matt Riddle vs. Mike Bailey, Donovan Dijak vs. Jeff Cobb, Timothy Thatcher vs. Koji Kanemoto, Ilja Dragunov vs. Bad Bones
Eh: ACH vs. Mike Bailey, ACH & Mike Bailey vs. JT Dunn & Donovan Dijak, Ilja Dragunov vs. Timothy Thatcher
Bad: ACH vs. David Starr vs. Absolute Andy vs. Paul London, Koji Kanemoto vs. Bobby Gunns, Koji Kanemoto vs. Francis Kaspin

 

March 11, 2017
Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland

 

Bobby Gunns vs. David Starr

This was an AMBITION 8 First Round Match.

This was not much unfortunately. Just as the match had a chance to get going, Gunns won via submission. It was easy to watch at least! (**)

 

Jeff Cobb vs. WALTER

This was an AMBITION 8 First Round Match.

This was significant step up from the first match of the tourney because it was two BIG BOYS going at it quickly. It ended after Cobb Rampage Bombed BIG DADDY WALTER and then made him immediately submit. Lovely stuff. (***)

 

Marius Al-Ani vs. Timothy Thatcher

This was an AMBITION 8 First Round Match.

There was some good intensity to this bout, but it never really got a chance to get going. It felt like a good first ten percent of a match that had a lot more story to tell. Thatcher winning via standing submission was cool though. (**1/4)

 

Matt Riddle vs. Mike Bailey

This was an AMBITION 8 First Round Match.

This match was *just* getting going when it ended unfortunately. The story they told at the end was really cool as well because Speedball clearly had all the momentum and almost finished Riddle with a big high. He was getting a full body vice when Riddle out of nowhere submitted Bailey using his legs to twist Speedball’s ankle. That finish needs to find its way to regular Riddle matches. (***)

 

Bobby Gunns vs. Matt Riddle

This was an AMBITION 8 Semifinal Round Match.

Riddle submitted him in seconds which was incredibly satisfying because Gunns is the runs. (Yay)

 

 

Jeff Cobb vs. Timothy Thatcher

This was an AMBITION 8 Semifinal Round Match.

This felt long for the sake of long. It was about the STRUGGLE~! I don’t know. Some people like what these two do together, and I’m sure they will like this one. I find it needlessly tedious.

The finish was at least cool, as Cobb finally began to overwhelm Thatcher only for The Thatch Man to catch him with a submission out of nowhere. (*3/4)

 

Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher

This was the AMBITION 8 Final.

This was very much a Timothy Thatcher match instead of a Matt Riddle match. The review could probably end there in all honestly.

Thatcher is obviously a great talent, but he struggles a lot to produce fun work when no one forces him out of his comfort zone in any way. This was slow and just all about the damn STRUGGLE~! It will be a polarizing match for sure. Riddle won after a million leaping knees to the face. (**1/4)

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Including the AMBITION tournament in the Carat weekend is an excellent idea for wXw. It gives this mini-tournament access to their biggest guest stars, and it helps to make the weekend seem like a bigger deal than it already is. The execution here was not perfect, but the margin of error was so much bigger because it was a show that basically only went an hour (even with ring entrances). You can watch this tournament here.