wXw began their 25th anniversary tour in Bielefeld, with The Grind looking to make up for their World Tag Team Tournament loss by taking Planet Gojirah’s tag titles.
Quick Results
Mecca & Kuro pinned Aleksander Bellamy & Norman Harras in 8:45 (**¾)
Dennis Dullnig pinned Yokai to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 9:16 (***)
M4 pinned Rob Drake in 8:06 (***)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Conn Kelly in 4:06 (**½)
Ahura pinned Zoltan in 13:35 (**¾)
Madison Marley pinned Reyca in 6:25 (**¾)
Elijah Blum pinned Bobby Gunns in 13:27 (***½)
Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire pinned Nick Schreier & Laurance Roman to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championships in 22:02 (***½)
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We’re back at a sold-out Forum in Bielefeld – the town that’s imaginary, but the ticket sales sure as hell aren’t! The live stream came with only German commentary from Mett Dimassi and Christian Bischof…
Norman Harras & Aleksander Bellamy vs. Hype Dawgs (Kuro & Mecca)
Aleksander Bellamy started things… and was quickly on the defensive as Mecca and Kuro cornered him with a hip attack and a cannonball in the opening minute.
More double-teaming led to a uranage/double stomp combo that almost put Bellamy down, before Norman Harras got involved, hanging up Kuro in the ropes before tagging in. Boot choking from Harras allowed Bellamy back in, but Kuro almost snatched a roll-up as the motif in this one was clear – Harras clears the way, and Bellamy tried to pick at the bones.
Eventually the 1-2 combos failed as Kuro kicked the pair away, before stepping off of Bellamy for a ‘rana to Harras, as Mecca then came in to storm the match. Almost a Blue Thunder Bomb forces a late kick-out from Bellamy, whose attempt at a slingshot into the ring was caught and turned into a bucklebomb by Mecca… with Kuro’s Falcon arrow forcing Harras to break things up at the death.
That dropkick from Kuro took care of Harras, before Bellamy escaped a Hype Maker… only for a second slingshot into the ring to almost go awry. Bellamy saved it with a sunset flip, before an errant spear from Harras aimed at Kuro took out his own man, ahead of a stomp-assisted death valley driver from Mecca for the win. This was short, but did everything it needed to to highlight the Hype Dawgs, who look to be putting together the starting blocks for a title shot at the end of the year. **¾
wXw Shotgun Championship: Yokai vs. Dennis Dullnig (c)
This was Dullnig’s first defence of the title he’d won over the Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix…
After a tentative start, Dullnig began to put the boots to Yokai, only for things to spill outside as Yokai got a grip. A turnaround sees Dullnig beat Yokai to the punch, dropkicking him in the ropes before fighting Yokai into the front row – this time without a fan getting their crotch stomped on.
Back inside, Dullnig stomps mudholes into Yokai, only to charge into a drop toe-hold as Dullnig conspired to leave an opening. Yokai’s uranage almost led to the unlikeliest of title changes… before Dullnig dawdled and took a back body drop.
By this point, Yokai’s face paint had sweated off, so we had raw Yokai hitting a Finlay roll… before a missed Vader Bomb allowed Dullnig to hit the old Hektor-knie for the win. Dullnig’s left holes in his proverbial game that a more experienced opponent would have used to tear him to shreds here. ***
Post-match, Dullnig hit the ring and attacked Yokai some more, grabbing a belt (not his Shotgun belt, a dress belt) and used it to choke his beaten challenger with.
Rob Drake vs. M4
It’s a wXw return for Drake, who’s probably been told to go play in traffic by a few unkind souls in the past. Hopefully not the M4… and yes, I’m going to try and shoehorn in motorway jokes.
This one started off hot with chops and forearms as M4 managed to break through with clotheslines in the corner, before a suplex out of the corner took Drake by surprise. Drake’s reply turned it around as the tit-for-tat continued, with M4 largely relying on strikes en route to a sidewalk slam.
Some biting from Drake forced an opening, with a Falcon arrow quickly making use of it for a near-fall. A death valley driver yielded little better, before M4 managed to hit back with a uranage to pick up his first singles win of the year – a match that saw Drake do his damndest to make M4 look good. ***
Conn Kelly vs. Peter Tihanyi
Kelly was accompanied by his Roadkill teammate Aeron for what was the biggest test of his brief wXw career to-date.
Any thoughts of Tihanyi taking Kelly lightly were dispelled almost instantly, beating the Irishman to the punch in the early going. Kelly didn’t go down easily though, and that proved an irritant for the newly-crowned unified world champion, even more so when Kelly found an opening…
But Kelly ended up crashing and burning from a shoulder charge too many, going right into the corner before a slingshot cutter put him away. Exactly what this needed to be. **½
Post-match, Elijah Blum hit the ring and double-legged Tihanyi – remember, Tihanyi’s new wXw contract has it forbidden that the two ever meet. Robin Christopher Fohrwerk slid in with a chair to stop Blum from hitting the Parting Gift… and if you think that contract’s not eventually going to get renegotiated, then I don’t know what to tell you!
Zoltan vs. Ahura
Exit Blum, enter Ahura – with the latter still buoyant from winning the König der Catcher three weeks ago.
Ahura looked to toy with Zoltan early on, backing off into the ropes from a tie-up before he palm-faced the Hungarian away. Zoltan responded with a waistlock takedown, only for Ahura to hit the same, with Ahura again taking Zoltan lightly.
Zoltan faked out a kick, which Ahura reacted to… before he got booted to the outside for a plancha. Upon returning to the ring, Ahura booted Zoltan as things spilled back outside momentarily… and again, Zoltan’s got a second wind as he mounted another flurry of offence. A rolling thunder splash almost won it for Zoltan, before a springboard cutter out of the corner was telegraphed.
From there, Ahura powerbombed Zoltan into the ropes, then followed up with a sit-out powerbomb for a near-fall. A Salamandra attempt is escaped as Zoltan fired back with the cutter out of the corner on the slack Ahura. Things headed up top, but Ahura takes too long and ate a cutter off the top rope… only for Ahura to roll away from a Mamba splash. In response, Ahura walloped Zoltan with Manders’ Boss lariat… and that’s enough. No matter how it was shrugged off afterwards, this match perhaps exemplified the worst of the Ahura character – overly cocky by way of his tournament win last month, and it led him to coast throughout the match, almost into the jaws of defeat. **¾
Madison Marley vs. Reyca
Marley recently wrapped up a tour of Japan – and is spending the rest of the year (mostly) on tour with wXw…
Reyca broke a test of strength early so she could suplex Marley, but it came to nought… before a second test of strength got broken up with Marley’s monkey flip. Marley pushed on, with a missile dropkick out of the corner for a two-count, before Reyca used her power advantage to just hurl the Dane into the corners.
Marley managed to switch it up, leaping up top for a crossbody to cut off the Hungarian, before a head kick and a Codebreaker off the middle rope led to the win. Something of an establishing win for Marley, who was over in Bielefeld – and you suspect she’ll be getting more focus on these shows. Hey wait, let me type that before you get onto the angle! **¾
Post-match she’s attacked from behind by… a returning Jane Nero! These two met a few months back in Papenburg – but Nero’s just come back from a few months on the shelf. Well, there’s your feud for the tour!
Bobby Gunns vs. Elijah Blum
It’s a rematch from the König der Catcher tournament, which saw Gunns take a loss to Blum during what had to be a disappointing outing for the former champion. Of course, we’re in Bielefeld, so Blum got a huge reaction as he always seems to here.
Blum had tape on his neck, following Fohrwerk’s chairshot earlier in the night, and while Blum had a bright start… the neck was causing him problems straight away. Gunns avoided the Total Depravity and took down Blum with a Euro clutch, before a punt to the back left the König der Catcher finalist in agony.
A stomp to the gut, then another punt to the back kept it going for Gunns, but a follow-up suplex goes nowhere as Blum somehow managed to rebound with one of his own. Forearms and dropkicks see Blum build up pressure, while a crossbody off the top almost led to the win.
Gunns tries for another PK, but it’s avoided as Blum… couldn’t get off Total Depravity, and instead hit a crossbody off the ropes. Third times’ the charm for the running Angle Slam, but a vault over from Blum jarred his back, allowing Gunns back in with a shotgun dropkick, a death valley driver and a PK… but it’s still not enough.
A Boston crab targets the lower back once more, but Blum makes it to the ropes to force a break as the pair go back to exchanging strikes… Blum’s attempt at a shotgun dropkick’s caught, but he’s able to cradle his way out of another Boston crab and snatch the win. There was a smattering of boos there from the Bobby Gunns fans in the room, but it’s a big win for Ahura – and a clean one too, despite the injury he’d come into the match with. ***½
wXw World Tag Team Championships: The Grind (Nick Schreier & Laurance Roman) vs. Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire) (c)
The Grind eliminated Planet Gojirah from the World Tag Team Tournament three weeks ago, leading to this title shot… but remember, there’s been some disquiet between Roman and Schreier throughout the tournament.
We started with the AMBOSS throwback to Dreissker and Roman, with Dreissker enjoying the better of the early going, taking down Roman before Roman forced his way free ahead of Schreier getting a hard tag in. Dreissker remained in, forcing Schreier down in a knuckle lock before he punched out Schreier for flipping him off.
Schreier played keepaway with Dreissker, and it worked… if the aim was winding up Dreissker, who ate the mounted punches in the corner before he blocked an Acid Drop and turned it into a side suplex. Empire’s in to keep going on Schreier, but Roman’s able to make it back in and turn things around, nailing a missile dropkick… before a TKO from Empire restored order.
A double-team Biel out of the corner flings Roman across the ring for a two-count, while Dreissker’s snap suplex kept Roman on the back foot. Dreissker’s rebound crossbody out of the corner almost ended it, as did a slam and a splash as Schreier was slowly pulling himself back up to his feet.
Schreier finally makes it in and looked to make inroads, low-bridging Dreissker outside for a plancha, while Empire took a crossbody off the top. Roman’s back as he smelled blood, setting up for the neckbreaker/splash combo… but Empire thwarts it, then pulled Roman out of the corner and into a powerbomb. From there, it looked pretty straightforward, with Planet Gojirah combining for the Powerplex, but Roman broke up the pin just in time to keep the match alive.
The ring filled up again, but this time the Grind’s able to take out Empire with the neckbreaker splash… problem was, he wasn’t legal, and that just sparked a Parade of Moves that culminated in a missed Dreissker crossbody. Rolling clotheslines from Roman looked to make a dent, but Dreissker gets his eyes raked… and that almost led to him wiping out the ref. Roman took care of that seconds later with a Stinger Splash into Tassilo Jung, which meant that the Samoan Drop/neckbreaker combo on Dreissker was for nought.
Things spill outside with all four men scrapping around ringside, and of course we’ve got plunder as Dreissker pulls… a German bierbank from under the ring (a wooden bench.) Roman’s used to smash that bench in half after Dreissker’d propped it between the ring and the seating deck… but on the other side of the ring Nick Schreier’s gone all ECW on us, finding a chair and a Singapore cane.
Nick Van Dam’s chair-assisted dropkick takes out Empire, ahead of an Acid Drop to Dreissker. Now we get a table, or at least a board, which he propped up in the corner for a Destroyer… but a bloodied Empire breaks it up before helping to Biel Schreier through it, then wake up Tassilo to count the pin. A strong main event, with Nick Schreier falling on his own sword as his desire to “get hardcore” cost the Grind back-to-back wins over the tag champions. ***½
This was another solid show in Bielefeld – albeit an understated one – with a strong finish as wXw’s first full-length, fully-named tour season in seven years got underway.