RISE is a new stable in Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and they have all the championships. The leader, “Bad Bones” John Klinger is the current wXw World Heavyweight Champion. All wXw championships are currently in the hands of RISE, but who are the men behind this faction ?
RISE consists of the following Wrestlers: John Klinger, Chris Colen, Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid, Pete Bouncer and Tarkan Aslan. They made their debuted at Superstars of Wrestling on May 13th. Ivan Kiev, Pete Bouncer and Chris Colen attacked the defending champions A4 (Absolute Andy & Marius Al-Ani) during a Tag Team match agains the Young Lions ( Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan). By the end of the match, the Young Lions had defeated the reigning champions. They are now the current wXw Tag Team champions.
On July 1st, John Klinger won Shortcut to the Top (which is wXw´s version of the Royal Rumble). Klinger left the match when they played out an injury angle, but returned later in the match. Him, Ivan Kiev and Pete Bouncer where the last three man in the Ring when John “Bad Bones” Klinger fell to his knees, spread his arms and the other man simultaniously left the ring and revealed Klinger as their leader who had now won an opportunity for the wXw World Heavyweight championship.
He eventually won the title in the beginning of August at the Tour opening show where he defeated Ilja Dragunov and then champion Jurn Simmons in a three way match.
At that point of time RISE had captured every title except the Shotgun championship, which could be considered similar to an internet / television title.
RISE To The Top
On September 1st, Ivan Kiev defeated the ROH star Flip Gordon and the defending champion David Starr at the Fans Appreciation Night 2017 to bring the Shotgun championship into the stable subsequently making the faction the holders of every title in wXw.
THE MEMBERS OF RISE
“Bad Bones” John Klinger
Debuting in 2004, he is the most well known German Wrestler around the world. He worked for TNA / GFW, CZW, WCPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH just to name a few. In terms of recognition, WALTER is just shortly behind, as he is currently competing for EVOLVE, PROGRESS and PWG.
Klinger is a three-time wXw World Heavyweight champion (current) and he won the 16 Carat Gold Tournament in 2008. He has been a constant in wXw since 2005 and he is not even 35 years old.
Before his alliance with RISE, he was known as the “Lost Rebel“ and his theme song was “I Walk Alone“ by RAW Soulution. So his Gimnick was this lonely warrior kind of guy, for most of the time until RISE was created…
Chris Colen
The veteran in the group, having 13 years of ring experience. He is from Austria and is also known in WXW since 2005. Despite his height / weight of 6´1 and 220 lbs he is very agile and a profound technician.
The Young Lions (Tarkan Aslan & Lucky Kid)
Lucky Kid has 9 years of experience while just being 24 years old. He is a High Flyer / technician. Tarkan Aslan has debuted in 2003. They both had been booked for WCPW before. They are the current WXW Tag Team champions.
Ivan Kiev
The current WXW Shotgun champion. Another young wrestler with many years of wrestling in his body: 11 years of experience at the age of 28. Also known as the “Ukrainian Snake”, he had an upset win over WALTER during the Summer when the We Love Wrestling Tour stopped by in Hamburg.
Pete Bouncer
The highly charismatic 30 year old with the cold eyes is the least experienced of all the RISE members with 5 years of experience in the ring. He and Colen are the only members of RISE with no title around their waist.
RISE To The Future
RISE consists of the ones who consider themselves as the forgotten, the ones who got no respect. Now, they have all the gold. Next weekend (October 6 – 8) the wXw World Tag League 2017 is scheduled, where they have to defend the Tag titles in a tournament when international teams try to capture the Tag titles. Some names competing for them are: The Briscoes, The Rottweilers (Homicide & Low Ki), Massive Product (Jurn Simmons & David Star) and former WWE Tag Champs The Spirit Squad.
Next year the 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2018 will happen, where RISE are going to be dominant…or are they ? In some recent Shotgun episodes (Shotgun is a weekly television series where wXw storylines and matches are explained and developed. It contains matches, backstage segments, vignettes, promos etc., and each episode is approximately 50 minutes long. It can be watched as part of WXW´s streaming service on Vimeo, wXw Now). Chris Colen seemed not too happy about his position in RISE and his role behind John Klinger. Maybe there is some tension within the RISE…
