wXw: Ambition VII Review

From what I know about the company this is their “shoot style” tournament that they have. Every match is submissions or knockout only (and by knockout I mean you fail to answer a quick 10 count that the referee gives you). And it’s not just the rules that are different, it’s a completely different style of working a match. They can’t throw punches, they don’t do Irish Whips, they keep it in the ring, and they don’t go off the top rope. Certainly not for everyone but I’ve seen some matches like this before and they can be a nice change of pace.


First Round:
Sasa Keel vs. David Starr

I liked it well enough. Keel was bigger, not a lot bigger but bigger, and it showed. He would go for suplexes and throws while Starr constantly went after a leg. I liked how Starr acted the entire time because he would stay low on purpose and tried to avoid going toe to toe with Keel. There are few bad spots because Keel got poked in the eye by mistake and his boot got untied. Both resulted in awkward stoppages that Starr tried his best to play off. Not a bad shoot style match as both guys came in with a strategy that I was able to tell and they stuck with it.
** 


First Round:
Timothy Thatcher vs. Big Daddy Walter 

Another simple but effective story. Walter was bigger and he had every intention of using that to his advantage. Thatcher had to overcome that and respond to all of the clubbing blows and throws. He appeared to be more skilled on the mat but there were some times where Walter just used his size to get an advantage. The ending was cool because it looked like Thatcher was in a lot of trouble but he was able to pull off a quick submission. Nothing too amazing but a decent match.
**½ 


First Round:
Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Mike Bailey 

A lot more striking in this match and it was nice to see them take a different approach. Some really stiff kicks and strikes along with some cool mat wrestling makes for an enjoyable 5 minutes. I think this match probably came closer to feeling like a real fight than the 2 previous matches as well. I got the impression that both guys wanted to end things right away and were going for moves that had a real chance of winning.
**¾ 


First Round:
Bobby Gunns w/Some German Guy vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Favorite match of the night so far. Sabre looked fantastic in it. He had a killer instinct that the other guys sort of seemed to be lacking. He hit a really stuff kick early on and saw how well it worked and that became the basis of his offense. After one flurry of kicks I felt bad for Gunns. Gunns had a manger that would talk a little bit and would put his hands on the ropes all the time. It wasn’t 80s heel manager level stuff but it was the only type of rule breaking that was seen in the entire first round. At one point Sabre yelled at him and then later on, when Sabre seemed to be on the brink of winning, he kicked the guy when he put his hands between the ropes. When he did this he turned his back to Gunns who immediately took advantage and proceeded to choke out Sabre. I was annoyed at the ending because I wanted Sabre to win, but it was the good kind of annoyed. It was the “I want to see this asshole get killed next round” kind of annoyance. Sabre was great and the match was fun.
*** 


Semi-Finals: 
Sasa Keel vs. Timothy Thatcher 

Cool match. Thatcher is really good at playing an underdog in these types of matches because he always looks like he is really getting his ass kicked. Everything he does is smart and he makes himself look really tough for staying in the match after taking all of the offense he does. In this one he just gets overpowered and wasn’t able to take the onslaught from Keel. At times it looked like he was going to find the right opening but he never did. Good match.
***


Semi-Finals: 
Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Bobby Gunns w/That German Guy

I don’t know who the manager with Gunns is but he is a fucking pro. Dude is still selling his arm after Sabre kicked him in the first round. Anyway this was short but sweet. Dieter slaps the shit out of Gunns, which was fun to see. In fact the whole time it seemed like Dieter had it in the bag but then Gunns sort of comes out of nowhere with a brutal looking hammerlock and gets the submission. Good stuff.
**¾ 


Rico Bushido vs. Dominic Brackner

Holly shit was this awesome. I want to say that in 10 minutes there are about 30 seconds that could be taken out and I might be convinced this was just a real fight. And if someone told me this was real I wouldn’t be completely shocked. I was fooled on numerous false finishes and just enjoyed every second of this. The match was cool to watch but it’s just amazing how real they tried to make this feel. This was just fucking awesome. It blows everything else away.
**** 

Finals: 
Sasa Keel vs. Bobby Gunns w/That German Guy

We very quickly figure out that Gunns is in a lot of trouble. He is just completely overpowered. It shows and he takes a bunch of suplexes early on. He gets in some offense and gives a nice effort but he is fairly easily dispatched when Keel just keeps giving him suplexes without letting go. The ref stops the match after 5 suplexes with no end in sight. Kind of a weak way to end the card. I mean I was happy to see the guy with the cheap win early on get his ass kicked but I was hoping for a little more out of the finals.
**¼ 


I liked this show a lot. It only lasted an hour and twenty minutes so it wasn’t a time crunch at all. Nothing went over 11 minutes and the style was a nice change of pace. And that non-tournament match is just amazing.