The 25th Anniversary Tour reached its finale in Oberhausen, with Ahura looking to end the year on a high by unseating Peter Tihanyi.
Quick Results
Dieter Schwartz pinned Stephanie Maze in 6:14 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold Qualifier: Bobby Gunns submitted Shigehiro Irie in 6:36 (**¾)
Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier pinned Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 15:49 (***½)
Jane Nero pinned Madison Marley in 10:22 (***)
Dennis Dullnig pinned Jurn Simmons to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 10:26 (***)
Metehan & Rambo pinned Aleksander Bellamy & Alex Duke, Kuro & Mecca and Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo in 8:49 (***)
1 Called Manders pinned Timothy Thatcher in 14:22 (***½)
Street Fight: Elijah Blum pinned Robin Christopher Fohrwerk in 13:45 (**½)
Ricky Sosa pinned Zoltan & Joseph Fenech Jr. to win the wXw European Championship in 14:21 (***)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Ahura to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 19:55 (***½)
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We’re live inside the Turbinenhalle for the final wXw show of the year – and as always we start with the Fight Forever matches… with an old school throwback of the crowd around the ring. I miss when wXw was mostly-standing…
Dieter Schwartz vs. Stephanie Maze
Despite racking up a lot of losses on the tour so far, Schwartz has been mighty impressive – and with Stephanie Maze somewhat out of form, this is a big opportunity for Dieter.
Schwartz enjoyed the best of the early going, scoring with a Regalplex that almost ended things two minutes in, before he closed the distance with a cravat once more. Maze managed to break free and finally fire off a series of kicks to Schwartz, only for Dieter to break free and launch Maze with a release German suplex seconds later. A teardrop suplex follows… and that’s enough for the win. That’s only his second “main roster” singles win here, and a heck of a way to end the year… **¾
Backstage, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s fretting… while Peter Tihanyi said that he didn’t need Fohrwerk in the main event, and only needed him to take care of Elijah Blum in their street fight later.
16 Carat Gold Qualifier: Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie
So much for that theory that they only put throwaway matches on the pre-shows!
Shrugging off a kick at the bell, Irie happily traded blows with Gunns early on, setting up for the slingshot Auf Die Fresse splash for an early near-fall. Irie quickly found himself in trouble by way of a punt to the cheek from Gunns, before a Black Hole slam out of nowhere again took Gunns to the brink.
Irie replied to a shotgun dropkick with a torpedo-like headbutt, before almost an inverted cloverleaf forced Gunns to drag himself to the ropes. A cut-throat burning hammer of all things almost won it for Irie as he improvised amid Gunns’ resistance, before a pair of Beast Bomber lariats looked to win it… only for Gunns to roll through into a Swish armbar for the stoppage. There were some good flashes in this, but something about this didn’t fully click – and as much as Gunns has his fans, the Turbinenhalle fell silent for the finish here. **¾
Onto the main show, with English commentary coming from Mett Dimassi… and we’ve got a nice little package featuring the first wXw show 25 years ago, and a lot more clips of wXw through the years. Hi there, jumpscare!
wXw World Tag Team Championship: The Grind (Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier) vs. Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire) (c)
We open the main show with a last-time-ever outing… and a nice video package chronicling their feud, with Robert Dreissker bringing up how Laurance Roman’s not exactly free of skeletons in his closet when it comes to bending rules. Meanwhile, the champions came out in spiked shoulder pads. Oh, what a rush.
Schreier, for so long perceived as the inexperienced, weak link of the Grind, started out with Dreissker, and enjoyed a bright start, at least until Dreissker shrugged off some mounted punches before crushing Schreier with a crossbody out of the corner.
Roman had tunnel vision for Dreissker, which led to him just getting barged down by Marc Empire as he tagged in. Laurance finally got something going, with a back suplex, a five knuckle shuffle and… then something very un-Cena… a double-team suplex. Well, two of the five moves is enough for now.
Schreier’s back with a pop-up dropkick and those mounted punches for Empire… who countered it by launching Nick into the corner before a ragdolling powerbomb almost ended things. A fallaway slam from Dreissker keeps the pressure up from the champions, forcing Schreier into almost an obligatory comeback that was quickly swatted off.
Empire pulls Schreier out of the corner for a powerbomb, but a blind tag in from Dreissker proved fortuitous for Nick, who managed to send the champions into each other before finally making it through to Roman, whose missile dropkick put the challengers in control. A cheeky roll-up – and a lot of tights – from Dreissker got broken up with a Roman superkick, while Roman used Dreissker’s singlet straps to choke him en route to the neckbreaker/splash combo.
Out of camera range, Marc Empire powerbombed Roman on the outside as the champions looked to finish things off with an avalanche fallaway slam and a big splash… but Schreier kicks out in the nick of time. The ring fills as Planet Gojirah hit a pair of half crabs, leading to Roman and Schreier trying to talk each other out of submitting as they instead powered free.
The champions push on though, with a stacked-up Samoan drop from Dreissker flattening the challengers as he then set up for a Dreissker bomb… only to get nothing but boots as the Grind managed to fire back with the Grind Time – the fireman’s carry/rolling neckbreaker combo – for the decisive win. They teased a run-back of some of their past finishes, but the Grind showed they’d learned from the past as they ended their year with hardware – Nick’s first on the wXw main roster. ***½
Post-match, Dreissker snatched the titles… then just threw them at the new champions before storming out.
Jane Nero vs. Madison Marley
Nero’s been feuding with Marley all tour long – and this is where it’s all paying off, after a week-long session at Bayley’s Lodestone training camp.
Nero begged off early on, claiming Marley had caught her in the ear… but it was just a ruse for her to hit the Dane with a body blow that was quickly shrugged off. Marley’s able to come back with a springboard armdrag and a step-up knee into the corner, before a trip up top led to Nero press slamming Marley to the mat.
Catching Marley between the ropes, Nero remained ahead as right hands trapped Marley in the corner as things were beginning to feel rather one-sided here. Problem was, Marley’s resistance just riled up Nero some more, allowing the Dane to fire back with a missile dropkick that bought her some time.
Back-and-forth strikes eventually backfired for Nero as Marley managed to chain some shots together, leading to a crossbody off the top for a near-fall. Nero responds by DDT’ing Marley onto the ring apron as a way of looking for a count-out win, but Marley makes it back in and just about connected on a roll-up… before Nero threw Marley into the corner to stop another springboard.
The referee quickly stops to check on Marley to check on a possible injury… but Nero’s poised in the background and pounced with a Twist of Fate for the win. ***
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Dennis Dullnig – who has an open challenge out for his Shotgun title later. He said he’d leave with the title and again prove he’s not the dummy.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Dennis Dullnig (c) vs. Jurn Simmons
So… who’s the open challenger? Massive Jurn Simmons! Save for Shortcut to the Top this year, we’d not seen Jurn since Levaniel stuck the knife in him at the 23rd Anniversary show…
Boots and clotheslines from Simmons had Dullnig all over the place to start, while a press slam and standing moonsault set up Simmons for a spear for a near-fall from a fast count. Dullnig crawls away from a piledriver attempt, then low bridged Jurn onto the apron before an eventual boot knocked the former unified champion to the floor.
Back inside, Jurn’s thrown into the ring post, as Dullnig continued to wear down his challenger… before a back body drop threw Dullnig into the air. The pair exchange strikes as Jurn looked to find his second wind, launching the champion with a gutwrench suplex. A slap from Dullnig just earned him a lariat and a suplex throw in return, before a massive boot and a F5 almost led to the title change.
Jurn again went Double Blum in calling for the finish, but Dullnig kicks away the piledriver, sending Jurn into the ref… an eye rake, a piledriver and a Hektor-Knie later… and that’s the win. Those hoping for a shock probably had their hopes dashed when Jurn’s shock and awe tactics didn’t get the job done. ***
Post-match… Hektor’s back! He hits his own knee to Dullnig before security hit the ring to hold him back so Dullnig could leave safely. Hektor took the mic and issued a challenge… he and Cash in the Käfigschlacht next month at Back to the Roots, loser leaves town!
More Anniversary moments were played throughout the show – including Killer Kelly winning the women’s title at the 17th Anniversary show… and Ilja Dragunov winning Carat in 2017. They noted both Dragunov’s current success and formerly-WALTER’s big match tonight.
10/10 Next Level (Alex Duke & Aleksander Bellamy) vs. Hype Dawgs (Kuro & Mecca) vs. KxS (Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo) vs. Metehan & Rambo
I swear Alex Duke’s morphing into Mark Jindrak more and more these days… and the fact that they were rushing through the entrances perhaps said something about this match’s relative importance.
Everyone had a go early on, but things quickly settled down to KxS and Next Level arguing among themselves. That allowed Metehan to tag out to Kuro, who cleared house en route to a Falcon arrow on Tischer for a near-fall. Mecca’s in to help Kuro with a doomsday cutter on Tischer, with the rest of the teams breaking up the cover.
Things continue as Rambo and Mecca stared each other down, which the crowd were more than up for. A brief interruption from KxS was taken care of as Mecca and Rambo threw them outside for a dive, before Metehan wiped out Next Level with a double handspring back elbow.
I forget who’s legal here… not that it mattered as Kuro dove onto a pile on the floor, before Bellamy ate a clothesline and a sliding punch from Metehan to end things. ***
1 Called Manders vs. Timothy Thatcher
A battle of the two Americans that wXw fans have taken to their hearts the most in the past decade… and that’s putting it lightly! We even had a rare moment with Tim Thatcher on the mic, putting over Manders before the bell, before heeling on everyone, saying he should be retiring John Cena instead.
Thatcher threatened to go all Tracey Smothers on us too, before things got going with the pair laying in with strikes and shoulder tackles. A guillotine from Thatcher ended with him getting lifted out to the floor, where the fight continued, before Manders caught Thatcher with chops on his way back into the ring.
A headbutt from Thatcher broke it up, but led to him staggering off the apron as another brief scrap in the crowd put Thatcher in charge. Manders got pulled into a bow-and-arrow hold briefly, while uppercuts kept Manders down as Thatcher controlled the pace while the crowd continued to sustain duelling chants… in spite of Thatcher’s pre-match work.
Manders manages to fire back with almost a Stampede out of the corner, before an attempted slam off the top rope was stopped by way of a rear naked choke. Thatcher adds the RINGKAMPF belly-to-belly to the mix for a near-fall before Manders held on and began to smack the taste out of Thatcher.
Another Thatcher headbutt stopped Manders in his tracks, but again dazed Thatcher enough so that Manders was able to capitalise once more, eventually landing a Boss lariat for a near-fall. That one lariat was enough for Thatcher to move his focus onto the arm, only to get caught with a suplex on the floor as he’d stopped to change tactics.
Back inside again, Manders telegraphed a Boss lariat and got caught with a Fujiwara armbar instead… he rolls up to his feet and hits a short-distance lariat to break free, before one last Boss lariat got the job done. Thatcher changing his approach subtly – or at least, going back to how he started in wXw – perhaps took the crowd out of it to start. ***½
Post-match, Thatcher reminded the crowd that “leben ist kein Ponyhof,” then snapped out of it and thanked everyone for being here. Thatcher’s attempts to silence the “oh Timothy Thatcher” chants didn’t go to plan though as Manders wanted to make sure Thatcher “got his flowers,” sparking the crowd in one more chant before leaving Timo in the ring to absorb it all in.
We crash back from intermission with a video package summing up how Robin Christopher Fohrwerk was forced to accept a street fight with Elijah Blum…
Street Fight: Elijah Blum vs. Robin Christopher Fohrwerk
Fohrwerk came to the ring to a new song – thanks to the deal he’d made with Blum’s own band, Hallways… except it was all a cover, so he could attack Blum from behind to get the match going.
Blum quickly shrugged it off and took the fight to the floor, parting the crowd so he could launch Fohrwerk into the third row. Out comes a table with the German word for revenge sprayed onto it (“rache”), but another attack from behind from Fohrwerk takes things back outside, where this time a box of goodies got bounced off of Blum’s head.
Inside that box is a XLR cable, which Fohrwerk used to stretch out Blum, before Fohrwerk smashed the arse out of a chair on Blum. Eventually, Blum wrestled the chair away and used it on Fohrwerk, before launching Fohrwerk into another chair in the corner.
With the help of referee Tassilo Jung, that table’s set… but Fohrwerk rakes the eyes to avoid being sent through it, before hitting a low blow in the corner and powerbombing Blum through that table for a near-fall. More plunder followed in the form of Fohrwerk’s old cane, which is used to assist a crossface… but Blum bit his way free before another low blow bought Fohrwerk time to… reveal the spike that was in his cane.
Fohrwerk’s able to jab Blum in the head with it, which means blood… but Blum wouldn’t stay down, instead kipping up before he retrieved the spike. Uh oh. Fohrwerk’s bloodied next, before a double underhook DDT a la Anil Marik… then a sliding D to get the win. This was pretty much what you’d expect – not the first time we’ve said “it felt like a write off,” but if this isn’t the last we see of Fohrwerk for a long while… then something must be wrong. **½
Another wXw anniversary moment replayed Absolute Andy beating Bryan Danielson for the title back in 2009…
wXw European Championship: Ricky Sosa vs. Zoltan vs. Joseph Fenech Jr.
Originally advertised as a four-way, Leon Slater being in the States for WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event meant this match lost a body… and yes, this does feel like something of a cursed title.
The elder in the match, Fenech, tried to influence the match, but it was Sosa and Zoltan who controlled things in the opening stages… careering into Fenech in the front row with a huge tope.
Back in the ring, Zoltan took over with a crossbody off the top for a two-count, before Fenech finally got involved… holding Zoltan in place as the Hungarian managed to hit a doomsday suplex to Sosa that almost went horribly awry. Fenech tries to jump in, but his handspring back elbow’s countered into a German suplex as Zoltan’s superkick then set up for something… but probably not the moonsault and battery moonsault fallaway from Sosa that he got instead.
That woke the crowd up a little!
From there, Sosa goes back up top… but Fenech cuts him off. Zoltan again laid out Fenech before going back to Sosa, but this time it’s Fenech who lands a blow, dumping Sosa across the turnbuckles ahead of topes to the outside… before a moonsault back inside almost put Zoltan away.
My feed drops briefly, returning to see Sosa crack Zoltan with a roundhouse enziguiri, before a top rope ‘rana launched Fenech into a Zoltan cutter. Zoltan adds another cutter out of the corner for a near-fall… we keep going with Sosa’s almost-corkscrew Blockbuster, but it’s blocked as we end up with a Parade of Moves that put Fenech back in control for a while.
A cannonball from Fenech’s caught by Sosa though, who counters into a powerbomb for a near-fall. More near-falls followed, until Zoltan’s Cactus clothesline took he and Sosa outside… Fenech pounced on the Hungarian as he came back in, lawn darting him into the buckles before a draping DDT drew in Sosa for the save. One last go from Sosa sees him superkick Zoltan, then follow up with a Blue Thunder Bomb to get the win – and the vacant title. This match felt like it was lacking something for me – Zoltan and Sosa controlling swathes of the match led to a lot of fireworks, and while there’s clearly a lot of potential there, it led to the match feeling rough around the edges. ***
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Ahura vs. Peter Tihanyi (c)
There’s something that tickles me about Ahura suddenly becoming a wXw history respecter…
An extremely measured start was eventually punctured by Ahura ducking, then landing a punch, with the ensuing skirmish sending Tihanyi outside for respite. It didn’t quite work though, with the champion returning to the ring, only to get kicked and chopped, before he hung up Ahura in the ropes en route to a swinging DDT.
Back outside, Ahura’s able to chop Tihanyi into the front row… then boot him out of it. A second chop nearly wiped out a fan though, before Ahura caught a tope from Tihanyi and redirected him into the front row with a Salamandra. Ahura had to beat the 10-count after a sucker punch from Tihanyi saw him almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat…
A folding powerbomb from Ahura nearly wins it, before a second one bounced Tihanyi off the ropes… only for the Hungarian to rebound with a knee strike to cut off Ahura for a near-fall of his own. Tihanyi made a point of going after Ahura’s boot, which was held together by tape (it’s not what you make, it’s what you save, kids), ripping the sole apart to leave Ahura a little compromised.
The distraction worked to a point, with Tihanyi able to hit the slingshot cutter, before a heel hook almost forced a submission. Instead, Ahura rolled up Tihanyi for a near-fall, before getting waylaid with the running knees. A second slingshot cutter’s turned into a back cracker though, before Ahura hit a slingshot cutter of his own, before the Divine Sandstorm tornillo caught out Tihanyi on the outside.
Having removed his torn boot, Ahura went for a springboard… but crashed and burned on the top rope. With the referee checking on an apparent injury, Tihanyi shoved Rainer Ringer aside so he could punt Ahura low… then added more running knees. Another slingshot cutter’s caught though, as Ahura tried to counter for Salamandra… it’s blocked as we get Ahura smooching the ref to mask a low blow, before the Karsten Beck piledriver almost won it.
Ahura keeps going with a Boss Lariat, but it’s countered back and forth… with Tihanyi countering into almost a stunner. Another slingshot cutter’s chopped away, but instead a slingshot Dragon screw targets Ahura’s leg, before one more cutter took the air out of the room en route to Tihanyi sealing the win. The longer this went, the longer it was starting to feel its time, with the closing minutes feeling like we were looping around finishers rather than finding the killer blow. I’m not sure how I take Tihanyi’s fondness for other wrestler’s footwear, mind you… ***½
Tihanyi exits stage left, leaving Ahura in the ring to gather his thoughts… then send the crowd home with the show-closing speech that was faded to black… but by all accounts saw Ahura announce himself for 16 Carat Gold, with the caveat that if he lost, he’d retire from wrestling.
As the traditional year-ender, wXw’s 25th anniversary was suitably epic – wrapping up lots of loose ends (we hope!) while making sure that 2026 doesn’t have a standing start. That being said, Tihanyi leaving the scene without anyone front and centre to challenge him certainly points to something of a lengthy title run – with the Carat winner likely to be the next big tentpole defence… and we’re not even at Carat!