wXw kicked off the new year with the Käfigschlacht as Peter Tihanyi and Elijah Blum went to war inside the steel cage.
Quick Results
Bobby Gunns pinned Laurance Roman in 11:26 (***½)
Levaniel pinned Hardcore Schreier in 8:18 (***)
Fast Time Moodo pinned Yokai in 6:14 (**¼)
OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima pinned Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 8:51 (**¾)
Ahura pinned Aigle Blanc in 12:53 (***½)
Cara Noir pinned Axel Tischer in 15:32 (***½)
Table Elimination Match: Icarus & Anil Marik defeated Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire and Norman Harras & Alex Duke in 12:38 (**¾)
Meiko Satomura pinned Stephanie Maze in 8:58 (***)
Käfigschlacht: Elijah Blum defeated Peter Tihanyi via submission in 21:15 (****¼)
— Check out the Auf Die Fresse podcast for further wXw coverage… Links to stream are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
It’s the start of a new year and we’re back at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen with an absolutely crammed card. But first, we have a Fight Forever match… English commentary comes from Mett Dimassi.
Bobby Gunns vs. Laurance Roman
Surprisingly, these two have only met twice in singles matches before – with Gunns winning an AMBITION tournament match in 2022, while Roman beat Gunns last year to qualify for Carat. And we all know what happened next for Lauri…
This was the King of Smoke Style’s return – and I must say, it’s a bit of a surprise that this is the Fight Forever/pre-show match. Opening with some grappling, Gunns took Roman down with a wristlock, before Roman got back up and hit a shoulder tackle. Gunns kept going for Roman’s leg early on, but it’s a dropkick that got Laurance ahead as he began to chop away on Gunns in the corners.
A quick turnaround sees Gunns take it outside for an apron PK, before a suplex back inside got Gunns a two-count. Following up with a Boston crab, Gunns forced Roman to the ropes for a break, before he walked into a clothesline after Gunns had tried to manipulate Roman’s fingers.
Adding a missile dropkick, Roman’s able to buy himself some more time, before a back elbow dumped Gunns coming off the ropes. Roman tries for the swinging DDT, but Gunns goes to the fingers to break it up before Roman almost snatched the win with a Fisherman package driver.
One big clothesline to the back of the head, then a Saito suplex helps Gunns turn it back around, but Roman’s got enough left in him to kick out before some back-and-forth in the corners looked to have Roman back in front… only for Gunns to find a way back in with charging uppercuts. Roman’s diving clothesline puts the brakes on that, before Gunns snapped at Roman’s arm, clearing the way for an Ehrenmann Driver, planting Roman on his head for the win. This was a really good outing for these two, like you’d expect, and while it’s very early days for Gunns as a baddie again, there’s a few on board here… ***½
Levaniel vs. Hardcore Schreier
Levaniel had Mike D Vecchio’s Shotgun title with him… and was wearing the EU flag as a t-shirt. That’ll bait some people. Meanwhile, Hardcore Schreier got the Extreme Wrestling Party entrance, complete with a cigarette and Enter Sandman… and an entrance that left Nick a bloodied mess before he’d even gotten to the ring.
Schreier unloads on Levaniel at the bell, forcing the former Shotgun champion to cower into the corner. Levaniel’s low blow doesn’t get the match thrown out, so I guess we’re under relaxed rules?
Levaniel heads outside and grabs Schreier’s Kendo stick, but Nick just about blocks it, and takes control of the stick for a spell. A turnaround has Levaniel choking Schreier, before Levaniel hit himself with the Kendo stick after it rebounded off the top rope. Like the comedy chair shot we all love!
Things head outside as Schreier lands a tope, before he took Levaniel towards the merch area. Hey Zeritus! A baking tray lays out Levaniel, before a second crack ended with Levaniel shoving Schreier into the ring post. That backfired as Schreier found a bag under the ring, and we know what that means… not drawing pins, but BOTTLE TOPS!
Schreier spills them into the corner, but ends up taking a back body drop into the remains of everyone’s Christmas drinks as Levaniel forced his way back in, only for a White Russian Legsweep from Schreier to get a near-fall as he dug into his Sandman watching. In the end though, Levaniel snuck back in with a Kendo stick shot, before a belt shot and a Galactic Facecrusher onto the European title got the win in a pretty entertaining opener. ***
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Cash and Hektor… Dullnig’s munching on what I assume is a protein bar and has a protein shake too. He’s turned over a leaf, I see as Hektor made a pinkie promise – that they’d be three-time tag champions tonight. HMM…
We’re told that Anita Vaughan’s off tonight’s show due to injury – she was due to have defended the Shotgun title, but instead she was introduced to ringside to address the crowd. Vaughan brought up that she reinjured her knee in a time-limit draw with Bobby Gunns the prior night in Münster, but she wanted to defend the title anyway. Talk then turned to Anita’s spot in 16 Carat Gold, and she’s promised to be the first Shotgun champion to win Carat. That’s a hell of a shout…
Of course there’s an interruption as Fast Time Moodo came out dressed to wrestle… and told Anita to go backstage to listen to the English feed so she could understand him. Moodo wanted wXw to award the title to him if she was really injured, before he baited Anita by saying no woman is able to beat him. We have a referee out, and this being wrestling, this leads to a match… but fortunately, not Vaughan vs. Moodo.
Fast Time Moodo vs. Yokai
Yokai’s last singles match here was the no-contest with Pahlevan Nima back in May…
Moodo nonchalantly kicks away at Yokai to start, but that underestimation allowed Yokai into things… but a kick to the chest puts us back to square one as Yokai’s on the defensive. More kicks and body blows have Yokai in trouble, at least until he came out of the corner with a clothesline.
Yokai’s leaping forearms have him ahead, as did a front kick off the ropes, before a uranage almost got the upset. Moodo’s able to get back in with some kicks, before the Made in Japan led to a near-fall – with Moodo flipping off the crowd as he went. A combination of strikes led to a knee to the face, before Moodo hit a double underhook facebuster for the win. This was what it needed to be – but Moodo’s really finding his groove as a naturally unlikeable character here. **¼
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus vs. Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima) (c)
Cash & Hektor dropped the tag titles at the start of last year’s World Tag Team Festival – and have worked their way back to title contention.
OSKAR and Dullnig start us off, with Dullnig seemingly unsure of himself as we got going. An overhand chop to OSKAR in the ropes lands, but OSKAR responds in kind to take Cash down, before Hektor got the tag in to try his luck… only for OSKAR to bring in Yuto Nakashima instead.
Yuto beats Hektor to the kick, but a blind tag from Dullnig… goes awry as Dullnig leapt into a knee strike from Yuto instead. Thanks for coming! Dullnig’s firmly on the defensive as OSKAR dumped him with a bodyslam for a two-count, then with a back elbow as Dullnig tried to carve himself an opening.
Nakashima’s back to score a two-count from a kick to Cash as the crowd was almost silent watching Dullnig getting picked apart here. They eventually wake up and get behind Cash as he escaped a Blood Rush, before Hektor got the tag in to clear house. A powerslam takes care of Yuto, but OSKAR’s still the legal man… and ends up running into a spinebuster instead.
Hektor teed up or the Hektor-Knie, but Dullnig tagged in to try and go for a double diving knee. It doesn’t work, but Dullnig’s able to snatch a near-fall out of a roll-up before OSKAR killed him again, this time with a boot. A powerbomb/neckbreaker combo from the champions gets a near-fall as Hektor makes the save… but Yuto’s not able to make the most of things as he ends up getting caught by a 3D by Cash and Hektor.
From there, Dullnig looks to go all Hardy Boyz on us, hitting a low blow before getting booed by the crowd after hitting a Twist of Fate. Hektor berates Dullnig for that shortcut, allowing OSKAR in to hit a chokebomb to Dullnig, before the Blood Rush sent Dullnig sailing out of the ring. OSKAR rolls him back in as a Nakashima knee strike proved to be enough for the win in a match that the crowd didn’t really seem to get invested in… outside of the Hektor/Cash story. **¾
Post-match, Dullnig crawled back up to his feet as Hektor waited for him. The pair argue over the loss, as Dullnig ended up walking out on Hektor. That might not be such a good idea, Cash…
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s waiting for someone to interview. Apparently he was meant to interview Elijah Blum, but he’s not there… instead he’s interrupted by Alex Duke and Norman Harras, who promise to leave town tonight as the number one contenders to the tag titles, but not before they took digs at Robert Dreissker.
Aigle Blanc vs. Ahura
A first-time singles match here, as we’ve got two of the favourites for Carat… and it seems that Aigle Blanc’s got a new furry ring jacket for Christmas. Meanwhile, Ahura’s out with his Dashing Cody Rhodes facemask, and commandeered a fan’s phone so he could time the match. Where’s Gadge when you need him?
When we got going, Aigle played “got your nose” with Ahura’s mask as things got a little tetchy, leading to Ahura threatening to remove Aigle’s mask. After playing Matador with Aigle, Ahura took things outside as he teased a dive, but instead it’s Aigle Blanc who lands flip senton after a switcheroo.
Back inside, the headscissor takedown keeps Aigle ahead, forcing Ahura to hand-walk his way out of the hold… but that facemask is proving real problematic. Ahura slips on a springboard attempt as he tried to force his way in… and that prompted a change of game plan as commentary was telling us that Ahura was a little rusty.
Ahura tries to do the Absolute (Andy) knee drop, but to no avail before things burst into life for a spell with see-saw pins. Aigle’s right back with a corkscrew suplex though, before a springboard knee strike to the face almost got the Frenchman the win. Another trip up top for Aigle sees him miss a 450 splash as Ahura then pulled him up for a powerbomb… but a headscissor counter sees the pair spill outside. On the apron, Aigle scoops up Ahura, but they’re back inside looking for a big blow… which came via the hands of Ahura with a clothesline.
A deadlift German suplex attempt from Ahura came to nought as Aigle countered with a snap Dragon suplex, only to get caught on the top rope as a superplex brings down Aigle Blanc. Ahura’s attempt at a powerbomb’s again countered, this time with a DDT as Aigle almost won it, before Aigle’s latest springboard was countered into a sit-out powerbomb for a near-fall.
Ahura tries to go for a Salamandra, but it’s countered into a tombstone piledriver… before the Desert Eagle was stopped as Ahura messed with Aigle’s mask, allowing Ahura to eventually snatch the win with a bridging backslide – the ol’ BUSHI roll. This was a little unpolished, but with the story of Ahura not being 100% after his injury worked well here. ***½
Cara Noir vs. Axel Tischer
These two have met three times previously in wXw, all back in 2022, with the Axeman edging out that three match series. Cara also got new entrance gear for Christmas…
Opening with a lock-up, Tischer backed Cara into the corner as they pair looked to get into the others’ minds, going back and forth in the early going. A vault over in the corner allowed Cara to keep the Axeman down with a headlock takedown, but Tischer targets Cara’s old injury with a kick, only to get cracked with a headbutt.
Cara runs Tischer into the corners in response before things spilled outside briefly for a dive. Back inside, Cara stomps the leg of Tischer before a PK connected… Tischer throws Cara outside, but only so he could cheapshot him on his return to the ring as more stomps looked to wear down the previous Carat winner.
Tischer’s chinbar gets fought out of by Cara, but Tischer begins to hook and stretch away at his opponent… only for Cara to fire back with a flurry of kicks. A diving knee has Tischer down as Cara ended up adding a clothesline for good measure, then a rebound German suplex and a Rude Awakening neckbreaker for a near-fall.
Tischer again tries to go for Cara’s foot, but it’s stopped as he instead tried to slingshot Cara into the corner… ending with more shots to that left foot. Cara’s up kick bought him some time, only to eat a rebound lariat seconds later as Cara tried his luck, this time knocking away at Tischer’s knees.
A gut shot stops the Axeman briefly, but a ragdolling German suplex wakes everyone up for a near-fall as the back-and-forth sees Cara land a shotgun dropkick before he got planted into the corner with a death valley driver. From there, Tischer called for a Horrible Slam, but a DDT countered it as the Axeman got a foot to the rope just in time.
We keep going as pair of Ligerbombs almost got Tischer the win… before his trash talking almost cost him… instead, an O’Connor roll from Tischer led to the Blackout sleeper from Cara, who clung on until Tischer fell on his back to break it. Cara reapplied the hold as things burst into life again, leading to the Madame Guillotine package piledriver for the win. This some good flashes, but a lot of this just didn’t connect with me at all – but that’s a “me” problem with the Cara Noir character. ***½
We’ve got the Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix happening in the September weekender – Femmes Fatales, the World Tag Team Tournament, and König der Catcher. That’s in addition to Inner Circle and We Love Wrestling across that weekender… Tickets go on sale at the end of the month…
Tables Elimination Match: Big Bucks (Norman Harras & Alex Duke) vs. Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire) vs. High Performer Ltd. (Icarus & Anil Marik)
The winners get a shot at Young Blood’s tag team titles – and the mixture of tables and elimination rules make this rather unpredictable. There’s no Robin Christopher Fohrwerk with his charges… I smell a rat, given Elijah Blum “still hasn’t appeared.”
Big Bucks tried to attack Planet Gojirah at the bell, but that fell flat on its face as Marik and Icarus hit the ring and got met with duelling fallaway slams from the big lads. It was only when the Bucks and High Performer Ltd. combined their efforts that Dreissker and Empire were slowed down a little… but Dreissker’s able to oblierate Harras with a crossbody out of the corner before the Bucks pulled Dreissker out of the ring.
That allowed Marik and Icarus to isolate Empire for a spell, but again Empire’s able to break free as the story of the early going was all about Dreissker and Empire absorbing double-team attacks. Empire finally overpowers as Gojirah stood tall… and five minutes in, it’s time to go hunting for tables.
We get a table, but the Big Bucks stop it being used as Harras and Duke target Dreissker, then set up a table as they looked to suplex him through it. Empire makes the save as Harras ended up getting draped on the table, before Alex Duke was Biel’d through Harras and the table for the elimination at 7:47.
That leaves us with Planet Gojirah and High Performer Ltd. for a shot at the tag titles, as all four men scrapped around ringside. A double handed chop from Empire has Marik reeling, but there’s no table in sight yet as Empire instead tried to splash Marik through the turnbuckles. A hip attack does the job too, before Icarus hit a low blow to save Marik from a powerbomb.
A uranage onto Marik’s knees from Icarus helped put Fohrwerk’s guys in charge – and bought them enough time to bring in a table as their sights turned to Dreissker. An attempt to whip Dreissker through the table came to nought as he instead laid out Marik with a spinebuster.
Icarus’ chairshot stopped Dreissker’s idea of superplexing Marik through a table… a few more do the trick though, sending Dreissker sailing backwards off the middle turnbuckle, with the plunge putting him through the table as the High Performer Ltd. tandem booked their future title shot. **¾
Stephanie Maze vs. Meiko Satomura
This was Meiko Satomura’s last match in Germany – and a hell of an opportunity for Stephanie Maze… while wXw dug up the real music for Meiko Satomura. Rock Your Life Away!
Satomura controlled the pace from the off before she shrugged off some shoulder tackle attempts, then decked Maze with an uppercut. Tying up Maze, Satomura almost took home the win with a pinfall attempt, before Maze finally found a way through with a kick, then with a suplex, before some charging knees by the ropes led to a STO-like takedown for a two-count.
Maze crashed and burned on a missile dropkick before Satomura found her way in with a STF. The ropes save Maze here, who returned with kicks to the front and back of Meiko before her take on a Cattle Mutilation forced Meiko to back into the ropes for the break. A snap overhead kick pushed Meiko back into control, at least until she ran into a kick to the midsection.
Second time was the charm for Maze’s missile dropkick, but a snap DDT and a cartwheel kneedrop sees Satomura come close to slamming the door shut on Maze’s dreams of an upset. From there, a death valley driver lands for another near-fall, before the Scorpio Rising kick and a second death valley driver got the win – this wasn’t entirely Meiko playing the hits, but this was pretty much one-way traffic for her final match in Germany. ***
Ahead of the main event, they played the Robin Christopher Fohrwerk promo on behalf of Peter Tihanyi – with some veiled threats towards Elijah Blum, as you do.
Käfigschlacht: Peter Tihanyi vs. Elijah Blum
Tihanyi’s Undisputed World Wrestling title wasn’t on the line here, but Elijah Blum didn’t come out when his music hit, playing up that he’d not arrived. Instead, we got Peter Tihanyi coming out first, before the Fohrwerk soliloquy saw him claim that Blum had taken notice of his threats and had chosen not to appear.
Out go the lights, as we get new music and video for Elijah Blum, who’s in today’s favourite colour: black!
Tihanyi attacks Blum as soon as he hit the cage, and this one didn’t start with wristlocks and takedowns as these two instead scrapped right from the get go. Things eventually settled into a more wrestling-centric style, with a headlock takedown from Blum seeing him trying to squeeze out Tihanyi, only for a hair pull to force a break as Tihanyi fired back with a quick throw into the cage, then a running Meteora.
Blum’s thrown into the cage repeatedly as Tihanyi opted for a more measured approach, before Blum popped up Tihanyi into the cage wall to get him a measure of revenge. Clotheslines trap Tihanyi in the corner, but Tihanyi managed to grab his title belt… and busted open Blum with it.
Tihanyi pounces on the wound, grating Blum’s bloody face into the cage before a slingshot into the cage only helped Blum rise up that proverbial Muta scale. A tornado DDT keeps Tihanyi on top, only for Tihanyi to get carried away as he’s caught on the top rope… Blum cuts him off, but to no avail as Tihanyi hit a crossbody instead, going for the Dreissker-crushing move from two years earlier.
A second belt shot’s ducked by Blum, but he can’t use the title before Tihanyi superkicked it into him instead. Tihanyi headed back up top, but a second leap off the top jarred Tihanyi’s old back injury, with the Wrecking Ball knees to the back seemingly resetting Tihanyi’s back to its state last year.
All of a sudden, Baby Allison, Anil Marik and Icarus appear on the stage with a member of the ring crew… they rob the key to the padlock off of him and try and storm the ring, only for Planet Gojirah to make the save as Empire re-locked the cage as Dreissker carried Allison to the back. Sadly, rather than eating the key, Empire just chucks it into the crowd as Blum went to work on Tihanyi, using the steel pipe that Dreissker had snuck into the ring.
Our second White Russian legsweep of the night has Blum ahead, before he repeatedly ran Tihanyi into the cage walls. Tihanyi manages to back out of an attempt at the Parting Gift, instead pulling Blum back into the cage before a tornado DDT was caught… and countered into a Boston crab instead. Blum pulls Tihanyi away from the ropes – although I’m not sure if they’d have had any effect as instead Robin Christopher Fohrwerk just jabbed Blum in the kidneys to break it up.
Blum avoids a cane shot and tries for the Boston crab again, but instead hits the Parting Gift before rolling Tihanyi back over into a Lion Tamer-ish half crab. Pushing Blum free only earned Tihanyi a Sliding D in response, before he went back to that steel pipe, wearing through Tihanyi’s back with it. Fohrwerk intervenes again to pull the pipe out of the ring, and in the process created a distraction that allowed Tihanyi to capitalise as Fohrwerk’d pulled Blum’s leg through a hole in the cage.
With Blum upside down, Tihanyi uses Fohrwerk’s cane on Blum… before Fohrwerk instructed Tihanyi to unscrew the cane for a surprise. It’s a goddamn screwdriver!? Tihanyi swings at Blum, but ended up jabbing Fohrwerk’s multi-tool into the top turnbuckle, before the pair exchanged low blows as Blum was virtually fighting for survival here – something the Oberhausen crowd rallied behind.
Blum’s got his hand on the screwdriver, forcing Tihanyi to beg off… then mock Blum. Of course, Blum snapped – and in the midst of charging at Tihanyi with a screwdriver in hand, Tihanyi verbally quit – before getting the hell out of there. A hell of a showing for Blum, who continues to surprise in this new character. ****¼
After the match, Blum took the mic and calmly addressed Tihanyi – challenging him to a title match over 16 Carat Gold weekend… and based on what I’ve seen so far, I’d not be surprised if Elijah stood tall after all that.
A strong start to the year for wXw as Back to the Roots combined a solid undercard with a blowaway Käfigschlacht – one that not only served to emphasis Blum’s new attitude, but also put the pieces in place for the biggest match of his career over Carat weekend.