We’ve got a collection of ten matches from wXw’s tour of East Germany from last November – covering shows from Magdeburg, Leipzig and Limbach-Oberfrohna… so let’s get into them!
All of these shows are behind the wXwNOW paywall, with German commentary from Emil Völler, starting at the Factory in Magdeburg…
Big Bucks (Alex Duke & Norman Harras) vs. Nick Schreier & Dominik Fischer
Fischer’s a local lad from Magdeburg, making his return to wXw after being a part of the We Love Wrestling wildcard show over Carat weekend.
Schreier and Duke start us off with some back and forth, but it’s Duke who prevailed early with a shoulder tackle before he got shut down with a crossbody. A tag brings in Fischer, who came close with a low dropkick, before Duke took over and brought in Norman Harras to ground things with a chinlock.
The Magdeburg crowd chanted for Fischer as he got backed into the ropes to break up a wristlock, but Fischer had more luck with a pop-up ‘rana and a dropkick as he finally has Harras on the back foot. Duke’s in to break up some mounted punches in the corner, but Schreier cuts him off as the Big Bucks end up in the corners for duelling mounted punches.
Dropkicks clear the ring as Duke and Harras end up eating duelling planchas, before a step-up clothesline back inside allowed Schreier to pull ahead, leading to a bulldog on Harras. A distraction from Harras allowed Duke to knock Schreier off the top rope, with the turnaround quickly leading to a spear from Harras for a near-fall, but Schreier remained hardy as the Bucks continued to isolate him.
Eventually bypassing the pair, Schreier’s able to make the tag out to Fischer, who clears house before he leapt off of Harras’ back for a crossbody to Duke. All that led to a back suplex on Harras for a near-fall, with Duke breaking up the pin as the Bucks eventually found their way in for a double-team spinebuster to Fischer for the win.
Result: Alex Duke & Norman Harras pinned Dominik Fischer & Nick Schreier in 8:44 (**¾)
Robert Dreissker vs. Marc Empire
Some would say this was a Godzilla-sized encounter between the head coach of the wXw academy and its former champion.
Dreissker’s boasting early on as he took Empire into the corner… Empire returned the favour as things remained largely even. A shoulder tackle took Empire into the corner, only for Empire to hit back with shoulder tackles, a uranage and a back senton to give him a two-count.
Dreissker returned with a springboard crossbody out of the corner, then with a dropkick as the veteran caught out Empire before things went back to the mat, Empire held on through a chinlock, fighting out of it before he hit a Bull lariat off the ropes. The pair trade forearm shots in the middle of the ring before Empire reversed a suplex…
Empire keeps going with a splash in the corner, before countering a crossbody into a bodyslam for a near-fall. The pressure’s kept up with a clothesline from Empire, before a second Bull lariat was caught and countered into a ripcord spinebuster by Dreissker for the win. They kept this simple – no need to be flashy when hitting each other and power moves went down a treat with the crowd. ***
Result: Robert Dreissker pinned Marc Empire in 8:43
wXw Shotgun Championship: Levaniel vs. Anita Vaughan (c)
This’d be Levaniel’s last shot at the title for the time being – having failed to regain the belt a week earlier at FAN in Frankfurt.
Levaniel was dismissive of AV in the early going, throwing her outside before Anita took down Levaniel with an armbar back inside. Chops keep her ahead, at least until a shoulder tackle from Levaniel and a side headlock turned the tide. Anita tries her luck with a shoulder tackle of her own, but a dropkick takes Levaniel off his feet as things remained even.
Vaughan’s caught from behind by Levaniel, who started to change his focus as a backbreaker earned him a two-count, before a flash roll-up from Vaughan… just earned her a spinning heel kick as Levaniel began to look comfortable. A Cobra Twist’s eventually fought out of as Anita broke free with a hiptoss, leading to a strike exchange as Vaughan pulled ahead with leaping forearms.
After landing a crossbody, Anita looked to go for a powerbomb… but Levaniel back body dropped free before landing a clothesline for a near-fall. In the end, Levaniel looked for a powerbomb of his own, only to get countered with a roll-up… he’s able to recover with a death valley driver, before some mounted punches in the corner got countered with a sit-out powerbomb as Vaughan did just enough to secure the defence.
Result: Anita Vaughan pinned Levaniel to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 12:02 (**¾)
KxS (Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo) vs. Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima)
We’re up to the main event in Magdeburg, and a non-title outing here as KxS were warming up for their shot at the champions the following week.
OSKAR’s heeling it up, proclaiming the North’s superiority. That’ll go down well here. OSKAR and Tischer start us off as OSKAR overpowered the Axeman in the early going before a trip-up from Tischer and a shoulder tackle knocked OSKAR to the outside.
Tags bring in Yuto Nakashima and Fast Time Moodo as the future challengers had the crowd on their side, leading to the pair trading kicks as we crossed the five-minute mark. A roundhouse headkick from Moodo lands, but a distraction from OSKAR has him on the defensive as some double-teams from Young Blood put them into the lead.
The tables quickly turned in favour of KxS though, as they kicked away at OSKAR, then took him outside with a double clothesline. Returning to the ring, Nakashima’s in to kick away at the Axeman, before a distraction tied up the referee as OSKAR snuck in a clothesline from the apron as Young Blood again took the upper hand.
Tischer can’t avoid a splash in the corner as OSKAR picked up a two-count, before Nakashima tagged in for another spot of double-teaming as the champions kept the pace down. Some choking from Nakashima doesn’t help the Axeman’s cause, nor did a spot of hair pulling from OSKAR as Fast Time Moodo continued to get wound up on the opposite apron.
OSKAR pulls the usual stunt of distracting the referee to stop him seeing a tag out – which led to Moodo getting fined €100 for his protesting… and had the Axeman back in the wrong corner after some more chicanery. Finally the Axeman’s able to break free, taking down Nakashima with an X-Plex… but OSKAR’s taken Moodo off the apron to prevent the tag. Pretty sure that was worth every bit of his €100 fine as Shooter Schulz wasn’t messing around with his fines today.
Tischer flips off OSKAR after he’s gotten to an empty corner… then took down the big man with a German suplex before finally making the tag out to Moodo, who’s able to clear house by himself, suplexing Nakashima into OSKAR in the corner. Moodo took his time following-up, going for a Coast to Coast to both members of Young Blood, before Tischer returned as KxS finally began to chain some offence together.
A stomp-assisted gutbuster and a Made in Japan should have won it, but OSKAR pulls out the referee… and baited him to call for the disqualification. It doesn’t come as Tischer’s snuck up behind OSKAR for an attack as things spilled back into the ring with OSKAR’s double clothesline putting us back to square one.
Nakashima’s back as Moodo’s left on his own as a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo almost finished things. Tischer breaks up the pin on that, and helped KxS mount one last charge as they took Nakashima out of the ring, before the Dragon Murder (kick and suplex) for the win. This was a little on the slow side, perhaps too slow for the crowd at times, but a well-deserved win for KxS ahead of their title match.
Result: Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo pinned OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima in 20:58 (***¼)
Moving onto matches from the Stadthalle in Limbach-Oberfrohna…
Nick Schreier vs. Anil Marik
Of course, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s out there as this opened up the show… and he’s not exactly walking right into everyone’s good books. Nor was Peter Tihanyi, who opted to watch this one from the stage…
It’s pretty damn hazy in Limbach as Schreier got going with a wristlock takedown, then with a headlock takedown, before Marik’s headscissors looked to provide an escape. Of course, Schreier gets free with a headstand, before he cut off Marik’s attempted comeback with a dropkick.
A springboard dropkick catches out a distracted Marik, who’s sent down to the floor, before Marik pulled Schreier to the outside. It doesn’t go well for Anil though, as he’s thrown into the side of the ring, then back inside for some mounted punches in the corner. Escaping those, Marik dropped Schreier into the buckles as a Slingblade helped put him in control.
Using the ropes, Marik runs the ropes against Schreier’s eyes ahead of a clothesline that gets him a near-fall… just in time for Schreier to mount a comeback as he scores with a springboard crossbody, then with a pop-up dropkick. Those mounted punches from earlier finally come off as Schreier added a Shining Wizard for a near-fall, before Schreier’s leap off the top rope saw him turn around straight into an enziguiri.
Marik looks to capitalise with an Angle Slam from there, before Schreier’s attempt to fight back ended at the hands of a distraction from Fohrwerk. That allows Marik to press slam Schreier off the top, before a double-arm DDT got Marik the win.
Result: Anil Marik pinned Nick Schreier in 9:55 (***)
Stephanie Maze vs. Jane Nero
Maze had beaten Nero the prior night in Magdeburg, as these two were in the middle of a three-match run on these shows…
Maze looked to patronise Nero early on, and that prompted a response from Nero, who hit back with a clothesline off the ropes, then a swinging Fisherman’s neckbreaker for a two-count. Shoving away a Twist of Fate attempt, Maze connects with a head kick that puts her in control for a spell.
Nero fights out of a chinlock, but can’t avoid a ripcord forearm as Maze stretched her with a reverse full nelson of sorts, ahead of a suplex that landed for a two-count. A front facelock on the mat ends with Nero backing into the ropes, as she then tried to bait Maze in for some crossface punches… only to get dragged in between the ropes for a springboard stomp.
Nero’s able to counter a suplex into a stunner to buy her some time, before the pair resumed trading strikes back-and-forth. It’s Nero’s boxing abilities that gave her a slight edge as she has Maze rocked, ahead of a Final Cut for a near-fall, before some crossface punches in the ropes took Maze down.
From there, a diving clothesline almost wins it for Nero… and while Maze was able to hit back with a back suplex, Nero’s able to snatch the win with a roll-up seconds later – her maiden win over Stephanie Maze in wXw.
Result: Jane Nero pinned Stephanie Maze in 8:27 (**¾)
Levaniel vs. Ryan Clancy
At this point, Clancy was still looking for his first win in wXw – and started off brightly, trading wristlocks with Levaniel in an even start.
Slams and a headlock takedown keep Levaniel on the back foot, before some criss-cross rope running led to a standing crossbody on the former Shotgun champion. Clancy heads up top, but gets pulled down to the mat by Levaniel, who pushed on with a suplex for just a one-count, before he ran Clancy into the buckles… then stretched him out with a Cobra Twist.
Clancy breaks free and began to look for a flash pin, but instead a clash of heads between he and Levaniel left the pair rocked. Back to their feet, it’s Clancy who’s landing the first punches, before he faked out Levaniel for a DDT ahead of a monkey flip out of the corner for a near-fall.
Levaniel’s able to hit back with a discus lariat to stop Clancy in his tracks, before a Galactic Facecrusher’s countered out of… but in the end Levaniel’s able to hit a snapping Galactic Facecrusher for the win.
Result: Levaniel pinned Ryan Clancy in 8:34 (***)
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Elijah Blum vs. Peter Tihanyi (c)
One week on from his loss in Frankfurt, Blum’s got another crack at the title – but more importantly perhaps, another crack at Peter Tihanyi.
This one was a fight from the off with the pair spilling outside for a scrap… Elijah Blum uses the side of the ring to drop Tihanyi on, only for the champion to post him seconds later as things returned to the ring.
A crossbody and a dropkick gives Blum an opening, with Tihanyi again spilling outside as Blum followed up with a plancha for good measure. Tihanyi pulls up the ring apron as he’s rolled back into the ring… and with the ref fixing things, he misses interference from Robin Christopher Fohrwerk that clearly wound up one fan so much he got out of his seat to have a word.
With that having died down, Tihanyi took Blum into the corner… then out of it with a suplex for a two-count. A tornado DDT adds to Blum’s woes as Tihanyi almost put this one away in double-quick time, before he slowed things down with a strait-jacket choke. Of course, Blum escaped… and is put right back in the hold, before another escape led to him taking down Tihanyi with a dropkick.
Blum keeps going with an enziguiri, then with some clotheslines into the corner, before he cut off Tihanyi’s response with a neckbreaker as the challenger looked buoyant. A froggy crossbody’s next for a near-fall, before another dropkick was caught with Tihanyi smashing his way in with a running Meteora instead. Tihanyi looked to add a slingshot cutter, but Blum countered it in mid-air into a neckbreaker, before a sliding D was countered.
Tihanyi’s unable to capitalise as the back-and-forth led to a cross-legged driver from Blum for a near-fall. Rolling onto the apron, Tihanyi looked to buy himself some time, but he wandered into an attempt at the Parting Gift from Blum – an attempt that Fohrwerk interfered in as Tihanyi was able to trip up Blum and stack him up for the pin, with both feet on the ropes. This was real good for the time it got, with the Limbach-Oberfrohna crowd frothing at the mouth over the cheap finish – they’ve absolutely got something in this Blum/Tihanyi feud, that’s for sure.
Result: Peter Tihanyi pinned Elijah Blum to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 11:34 (***¼)
…and finally, a pair of matches from Leipzig’s Hellraiser…
No Holds Barred: Laurance Roman vs. Robert Dreissker
This was a warm-up for the following week’s brawl in Hamburg…
Roman jumped Dreissker before the bell, taking him outside for a plancha before the pair exchanged shots back inside. A missed splash in the corner from Dreissker gives him an opening as he added in some mounted punches and some forearms for a quick pin on Dreissker.
Dreissker’s right back in it with a fallaway slam as things headed outside once more, where Roman was the first to reach for a weapon, pulling a chair from under the ring. He’s stopped from using it as Dreissker beat him to the punch… quite literally, as Dreissker grabbed a baking tray and cracked it over Roman’s head!
Roman’s dropped onto the tray on the side of the apron as the pair remained ringside… scrappoing towards the bar as Roman got dropped onto a table, then onto a bench as they fought towards the stage. Luckily the hard camera’s mobile and has a good zone for this, as Dreissker teased throwing Roman down the ramp, before settling for a shoulder tackle instead.
A slam onto the ramp followed from Dreissker, before a snap suplex back inside launched Roman across the ring for a two-count. That’s added to with a death valley driver as Dreissker was going for all the high-impact stuff, but it’s still not enough as Roman eventually booted away avalanche splash attempts before literally chucking a chair in Dreissker’s face.
The pair trade some boo-yay punches between themselves as Roman started to pull ahead, landing a clothesline for a near-fall as the crowd chanted for Roman to use the chair. Heeding their advice, he grabs a whole load more from under the ring and began wearing them out on Dreissker, yeeting another chair in his face for another two-count. Ow.
Dreissker avoids Roman coming off the top rope and quickly found a way in with a spinebuster. Wedging a chair between the turnbuckles feels like a bad omen, but Dreissker does it anyway before he pushed Roman into a chair and slapped him. Roman responded with a drop toe hold into the chair, before throwing Dreissker into the corner chair… then heading up top for a frog splash for the win.
Result: Laurance Roman pinned Robert Dreissker in 14:14 (***¼)
Elimination: Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima) & Big Bucks (Norman Harras & Alex Duke) vs. KxS (Fast Time Moodo & Axel Tischer), Nick Schreier & Zoltan
The main event of the whole tour was a rare-to-wXw elimination tag. Hey, someone’s got to do them if Survivor Series has switched to War Games! Of course, we’re still in East Germany, so we’ve got Young Blood as baddies, with OSKAR bullying small kids.
Zoltan and Schreier were made honorary members of KxS tonight, and we’re still doing the Bret Hart in Canada stuff. Hey, it works, so why change the formula?
Anyway, Zoltan and OSKAR start us off with OSKAR shrugging the Hungarian aside early on before Zoltan finally returned fire with a dropkick. A big boot from OSKAR just shuts down the newcomer though before Nick Schreier came in to help as Zoltan was about to get choked out.
The pair low bridge OSKAR to the outside as the ring continued to fill up… leading to the bad guys all ending up on the floor for dives aplenty. Even Axeman gets in on the act as the merriment continued on the floor with the bad guys getting punched and kicked in the crowd.
Back inside, Harras broke up a pin from Zoltan before Harras and Duke’s double-team spinebuster led to our first elimination, with Zoltan getting pinned at 5:15. Schreier’s in next to try and level things up as he took down Duke with an armbar, before Axel Tischer came in to land a knee drop to the arm.
Schreier’s back in, but OSKAR creates a distraction for Norman Harras to land a cheapshot as the Erzgebirger was taking a beating. Harras came close to scoring the next elimination as the Big Bucks were working pretty effectively against Nick. At least until Schreier broke free to hit a crossbody as he turned into a one-man wrecking crew, wiping out the Bucks before OSKAR hit the ring and cleaned him out ahead of a powerbomb/neckbreaker from Young Blood to eliminate Schreier at 10:15.
KxS are two-on-four down, so what better time to lead the charged comeback? Leipzig were firmly behind Moodo as he peppered Nakashima with kicks, but a cheapshot from OSKAR in the ropes has him on the defensive with Young Blood and the Big Bucks all taking their shots in the corner, shutting down every sniff of a comeback he got.
Well, until Harras missed a moonsault out of the corner as he got ahead of himself, leading to Moodo making the tag to Tischer, who had a little more luck between the ropes. German suplexes took care of Duke and OSKAR, before a rebound lariat dropped Harras ahead of a Ligerbomb for our next elimination at 15:13.
Yuto pounces on Tischer as he celebrated as Young Blood looked to repeat what they’d done moments earlier to Moodo – divide and conquer at its best. Moodo argues about the triple teaming going on, which led to him eating a fine of €80. It’s been an expensive few days in the east… helped out by a fan paying it for Moodo. Real or not, I loved that gesture from fans back in the day.
More arguing from Moodo, perhaps emboldened by the fan, led to a €100 fine as Young Blood and Duke continued to beat in Tischer… and this time the wallets stayed closed as the crowd instead offered vocal support for KxS. It worked too as Moodo finally got the tag in and went to town with kicks, laying out Yuto and Duke with spinning heel kicks. That led to a butterfly suplex as Nakashima’s thrown into Duke in the corner, then a Coast to Coast, before the Descent into Badness elbow drop eliminated Yuto at 21:27.
It’s KxS against Alex Duke and OSKAR now, but Axel Tischer hits the ring to stop a jump start. Things break down as OSKAR’s booted down by KxS, who then turned their sights to Alex Duke, battering him with a series of double-teams ahead of the stomp-assisted gutbuster and Made in Japan combination for a near-fall.
OSKAR gets involved to save Duke from the Dragon Murder… and hit a low blow to Moodo behind the ref’s back that directly led to Duke pinning him at 23:45. It’s Axeman against OSKAR and Duke, and decided to after the pair of them at the same time. Things settled down to OSKAR chopping his way through the Axeman (aha!) before Alex Duke came in to try and keep it going…
Duke’s snap suplex forces a late kick-out from Tischer, before OSKAR’s bodyslam kept the pressure up… but there’s an argument at the worst possible time between Duke and OSKAR, leading to a roll-up from Tischer for the pin at 27:17. We’re down to the last man on each side, which emboldened Tischer as he looked to finish strong… only to get booted and slammed again by OSKAR for a near-fall.
Things head into the corner as OSKAR looked for a superplex, but Tischer headbutts his way free as he came down with a flying clothesline instead. A deadlift bridging German suplex nearly does it, before a back body drop from OSKAR countered a powerbomb as he hit back with a Michinoku driver for a near-fall again.
We’ve a ref bump as Shooter Schulz shoved back at OSKAR and got laid out for it… and with no ref, that’s the cue for plunder. OSKAR grabs a chair, but Fast Time Moodo’s out to stop him with a Black Belt Kick. Yuto Nakashima’s out, as is everyone else from the match for a big ol’ Parade of Moves, ending with Moodo helping Tischer land the Dragon Murder to get the win. This was a wild match – and a format I’d like wXw to do with some regularity, particularly in the run up to a big title match – but this was absolutely helped by the crowd dynamics towards KxS in the east here. Hunt this one down!
Result: Axel Tischer was the sole survivor after 32:22 (***¾)