Lio Rush pulled from wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament, Jeff Cobb added

Ahead of the tournament starting on Friday, wXw has announced a change to this year’s 16 Carat Gold.

Jeff Cobb is replacing Lio Rush in the three-night, 16-wrestler tournament. wXw wrote that the change was made due to Rush being pulled by WWE: “Unfortunately WWE has pulled @itsLioRush from #wXw16Carat due to his WWE schedule. We are as dissapointed about this as you are. We are excited to confirm @RealJeffCobb as Lio’s replacement for #wXw16Carat.”

16 Carat Gold is taking place in Oberhausen, Germany this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The first round matches are:

  • Marius Al-Ani vs. Cara Noir
  • Jeff Cobb vs. Alexander James
  • Bandido vs. Julian Pace
  • Daniel Makabe vs. Eddie Kingston
  • Chris Ridgeway vs. Mike Bailey
  • The Rotation vs. Puma King
  • Lucky Kid vs. Jurn Simmons
  • Black Taurus vs. Shigehiro Irie

It was also announced yesterday that Alex Shelley, who was only set for 16 Carat Gold night two, would no longer be appearing. wXw posted a statement from Shelley and tweeted: “We regret to inform you that [Alex Shelley] won’t be at #wXw16Carat. As Alex works with immunocompromised patients in a clinic in his real job, he cannot risk exposing himself to a possible infection with the corona virus by traveling to Germany & wrestling.”

On the Friday, March 13 episode of 205 Live, Lio Rush will be one of the captain’s in the NXT vs. 205 Live originals Captain’s Challenge match. The 10-man elimination tag match will be Rush, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Tyler Breeze, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Tony Nese, Mike Kanellis, Brian Kendrick, Ariya Daivari & Jack Gallagher.