Shotgun comes from Münster on this latest stop, as we continue full steam ahead to the anniversary show!
As ever, excitable Rico is on hand as he tells us how successful the Weyhe show was, despite the loss of Marty Scurll, and Mariuses van Beethoven and al-Ani due to sickness or injury. He then tell us how Tyler Bate defeated Bobby Gunns to retain the Shotgun title in Weyhe (with Da Mack missing his rematch as part of the card shuffles).
Apparently it’ll be Bate vs. Pete Dunne at the 16th Anniversary show… but first, Tyler meets again with Da Mack backstage. Mack has at least learned to speak to Tyler in English this time, as he bemoans not having his title match… and asks to be added to the match with Pete Dunne. Tyler says yes. Is second time the charm?
Not if David Starr has anything to do with it, as he approaches the insular Tyler and calls him out for being a loner in a corner. He’s a little wound up with Tyler’s attitude, which is far from the last time Starr doesn’t see eye to eye with him. Those two face each other in Gotha – with Starr having talked his way into a title match while Tyler threw in a contender for the bloopers episode.
Francis Kaspin & John Klinger vs. Cerberus (Dirty Dragan & Ilja Dragunov)
It’s a different-looking Cerberus here, as it’s Dragunov and Dragan pairing up for Adam Polak’s mob.
We start with Alan Counihan on the call, as Klinger tries to talk some sense into Dragunov… while Dragan was distracting Bad Bones from the apron. Klinger and Dragunov exchange strikes, before Klinger took over… and brought in Kaspin to help with a double-team suplex. Forearms from Kaspin keep Dragunov cornered, as does a knee, but things turn around as Dragunov took Kaspin into the corner.
Dragan tags in, as Alan didn’t exactly mince his words about his feelings for Dragan, who saw his side headlock on Kaspin broken as the rookie came back with a crucifix into a facebuster before Dragan powdered to the outside. Klinger’s back in and pulls Dragan into a chop, as he threatened to dominate.
Cerberus’ cause isn’t helped when Dragan accidentally hit Dragunov, who tags in and ends up getting double-teamed by Klinger and Kaspin. A back body drop from Klinger dumps Kaspin onto Dragunov for a very-delayed near-fall, before a series of forearms from Kaspin just earned him a chop from Ilja. The Saito suplex drops Kaspin for a near-fall, as it was back to the chops with Dragunov lighting up the rookie.
Clotheslines keep Kaspin in the corner, but he ducks a second before he was dumped with an atomic drop. Ilja follows that with a back senton for another two-count, but he misses one off the middle rope as Kaspin instead went for a roll-up before making a blind tag out… with a Bonespear hitting Dragunov by surprise. A half-nelson suplex is next as Klinger turned the match on its head, before Dirty Dragan hit a low blow for a delayed near-fall as Dragan celebrated too much.
Dragan and Dragunov choke Klinger by the ropes as Polak taunts… Dragunov chops keep Klinger down, but he’s right back with a scoop slam. A pair of swivelling lariats from Ilja restore order for a near-fall, as Dragan returned with a nerve hold/armbar variant. Klinger fights off and hits a spinebuster, but a cheeky clothesline from Dragunov on the apron helps Dragan get another two-count.
A running Yakuza kick from Dragunov keeps Klinger on the back foot, as the pair begin to trade chops. Klinger trips Ilja into the corner as he build up a head of steam, but a pumphandle Blue Thunder bomb gets Dragunov a near-fall. Dragan blind-tags himself in, much to Ilja’s chagrin, and it all backfires when Dragan gets shoved to knock Ilja off the top rope, before Adam Polak came in and accidentally splashed Dragan in the corner.
A lungblower from Klinger gets rid of Polak, before Dragan ate the Wrecking Ball knees for the win. Solid stuff here, underscoring Klinger and Kaspin’s pairing while also continuing the gradual fall of Cerberus… ***
Rico pitches to footage from Weyhe, of Francis Kaspin beating Ilja Dragunov with a Rick Steiner-esque bulldog, thanks to Adam Polak’s badly-executed run-in. We then go to Thommi Giesen who was meant to be interviewing Cerberus, but instead he gets John Klinger instead. Klinger tells us that Dragunov joined Cerberus because he lost once… and recently, despite being part of Cerberus, he’s had a lot of losses. Planting seeds…
Nico Schmidt is back in the Event Center to build up the 16th Anniversary show, which is in Turbinenhalle 1… we’ve got the three-way for the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship as Adam Cole and Marty Scurll challenge Jurn Simmons. Chris Colen vs. Emil Sitoci’s added to the line-up in a first-time-in-wXw match.
Emil Sitoci vs. Johnny Evers
It’s a rematch from last week’s show, and this time, Sitoci jumps Evers… who replied with a boot to the gut and a back senton as the young Dutchman sent Emil packing.
Sitoci drags Evers to the outside for some right hands, but Evers fought back and threw Sitoci back into the ring. Elbows from Sitoci offer little as Evers chops Sitoci into the corner, following up with some mounted punches… which end with Emil dropping Evers across the top rope.
Boots from Emil get cut off as Evers takes Sitoci back into the corners, but a charge misses with Emil instead hitting a double sledge off the top for a near-fall. Emil gets mad at the slow count from Markus Weiss, and proceeded to take it out on Evers, landing a pendulum backbreaker for a near-fall before a Snapmare Driver was countered with a roll-up for a near-fall.
Evers keeps going with a suplex, but ends up getting caught with a backpack stunner before Sitoci took him down to work over the arm. Taking Evers to the corner, Sitoci wears him down some more, but can’t get the gutbuster off as Johnny slips free and hits a German suplex. Stinger slashes follow, as does a back elbow for a near-fall… a Northern Lights gets him a little closer, but Sitoci’s right back in with a gutbuster.
A top rope elbow drop is next from Sitoci for a near-fall, before a Snapmare driver was pushed away. Instead, Sitoci lifts Evers to the top rope… but gets shoved down as a crossbody from Evers gets the newcomer a near-fal… Sitoci tries to come back with a split-legged moonsault, but Evers gets the knees up, only to lose to a roll-up as Sitoci eked out the win again. That’s two in a row now that Evers came so close… but ultimately came up short in. ***
Backstage, Emil is crowing about his win, but Johnny Evers instead vowed the next time, he’ll leave with the win. “Later that day,” Tengkwa approaches Sitoci about the whole thing, only for Emil to call him a loser that “lived in Tommy End’s shadow”. Hey, Emil said the End-word!
Backstage, we’re with Alpha Female, who’s in the gym. Melanie Gray interrupts as we’re sans-subtitles. Melanie tries to mock Alpha’s Femmes Fatales win, saying that “Marius won it”. Sure enough, Marius appears, and accepts a challenge for an intergender tag team match in Hamburg.
Nico’s back with another event center, running down the Hamburg show in December. Added is Rosemary vs. Toni Storm, Jurn Simmons & WALTER vs. A4, and Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Da Mack. The next night in Berlin, the German capital is getting Absolute Andy vs. WALTER, Marius al-Ani vs. Axel Dieter Jr., Jurn Simmons vs. John Klinger, Chris Brookes vs. David Starr vs. Dave Crist vs. Ilja Dragunov, and Alpha Female vs. Rosemary. A stacked line-up in Berlin there for some reason…
Cologne has more matches: WALTER vs. Marty Scurll, Cerberus vs. John Klinger & Chris Colen, Tengkwa vs. Emil Sitoci, and Chris Brookes vs. Marius al-Ani.
Rico’s back to recap how Alpha Kevin beat Drake Destroyer in Weyhe last week, before meeting Karsten Beck. Kevin asked Karsten to check the validity of Marius van Beethoven’s doctor’s note… and Beck agreed to do just that. Just like that?
We get a trailer for Junior vs. Mack 2 in Hamburg, before Karsten’s back to talk about “the mood backstage.” Beck tells us that Junior’s fighting on too many fronts right now… which leads us into the main event this week…
Absolute Andy & Da Mack vs. RINGKAMPF (Axel Dieter Jr. & WALTER)
This was meant to be A4 vs. RINGKAMPF, but an injury to Marius al-Ani forced the change as the unofficial WOW movement was represented here. So instead got a preview of Hamburg.
Mack and Junior go to the ground, with Axel working over the wrist early on, only for Mack to flip free and sweep Junior’s legs out from under him. Junior’s back though, catching a leapfrog as he tries for an early Hamburgerkreuz, but Mack instead counters with a dropkick as tags brought in WALTER and Andy.
The two big lads have a staredown before a lock-up ends with the pair trading chops, as WALTER’s sent reeling into the corner. A clothesline from Andy barely staggers WALTER, as we go back to shoulder tackles, which ended with a leaping one from Andy to knock WALTER down. WALTER fought back with a big boot, but couldn’t avoid a dropkick as Andy came back in with a stalling suplex.
Mack’s back in, but he’s quickly overwhelmed by WALTER as RINGKAMPF tried to take over… only for Mack to fire back with double-handed chops… before Junior caught him with a cross chop to the throat for a near-fall. WALTER returns for a brief spell, then brought Axel back in to land a snap suplex.
Mack gets free and caught Junior with a ‘rana before Andy came in to help with a double back elbow. A pendulum backbreaker from Andy followed for a near-fall, only for Junior to counter back with a tiltawhirl facebuster to Mack. More of WALTER leads to Mack taking more chops, before Mack escapes a powerbomb and tagged in Andy.
Andy’s first move is to hit a spinebuster, but Mack has to return to make the save as a battle of suplexes ended with Mack getting tossed outside before Andy hit a double suplex. Junior low bridges Andy to the outside as he prepared for an Absolute Knee… and when Andy returned, he was taking a beating at the hands of WALTER with crossface punches. Junior’s back with a snap suplex on Andy, as RINGKAMPF began to dismantle him instead. Clubbing forearms from WALTER keep Andy in the corner, as does a clothesline… but Andy elbows WALTER back before a back cracker surprised the Austrian. Axel dives in to stop Andy from tagging out, and it worked too as WALTER boots Mack away as the domination continued. A German suplex keeps Andy rocked, as does a butterfly suplex, before WALTER got distracted by Da Mack and fell to a back body drop from Andy.
Mack tags in and is a proverbial house afire, hitting a Slingblade to Junior, then Rolling Thunder for a near-fall. An enziguiri and a front kick from Mack knocks Junior down, but WALTER quickly sneaks in to cut him off as Andy returned to almost eke out the win with a F5. Another tag brings back Mack, but WALTER avoids another F5 and catches Mack on the top rope with a gorilla press slam. That almost gets WALTER the win, as he proceeded to take Mack to the top rope… but Andy delays things as Mack returned with a Mack Magic Upside Down Crack Smash instead! From there, Andy calls for an Absolute knee drop on WALTER, before Mack moonwalks into a PK, as a sandwich of superkicks instead took out Junior, allowing WALTER to toss Mack outside from a cutter. Mack’s back to hit it anyway after a superkick from Andy, but Junior barely breaks the cover in time.
An O’Connor roll from Mack gets a near-fall, but from the kick-out he’s caught by Junior before WALTER chokes out Mack with a Gojira clutch for the submission. A straightforward win in the end, but a valiant effort from the makeshift pairing on the other side. ***½
We wrap up in the studio with Rico who pitched to Christian Michael Jakobi with WALTER & Axel Dieter Jr. CMJ promises that this’ll be the “most decisive card of the year”, and he’s delivered already – because of the three-way main event. Jakobi’s “second decision” was to put RINGKAMPF into the tag title match at that show, which means it’s A4 vs. RINGKAMPF as WALTER closes out with the “three categories” speech that became his hallmark for a while, in which he called Andy a “showman,” and Marius al-Ani “naive”.
Another week, another solid build to the 16th Anniversary show – and if you look at where the anniversary show went, there’s a LOT of seeds being sewn as wXw prepared to leap from 2016 into the new year…