It was loser leaves town as wXw’s first marquee event of the year saw Hektor Invictus and Dennis Dullnig do battle in the Käfigschlacht.
Quick Results
Bobby Gunns pinned Nordino in 4:08 (**½)
Marc Empire & Robert Dreissker pinned Aleksander Bellamy & Alex Duke in 5:57 (**½)
Ricky Sosa pinned Leon Cage to retain the wXw European Championship in 12:59 (***¼)
Ahura pinned Luca de Leone in 5:04 (**¾)
Stephanie Maze pinned Ella Envy in 2:45 (**)
Dani Luna defeats Jane Nero via disqualification in 7:39 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold Qualifier: Zoltan pinned BK Westbrook in 9:45 (***)
Nick Schreier & Laurance Roman pinned Brendan White & Danny Jones to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championships in 10:19 (***¼)
Käfigschlacht / Loser Leaves Town: Dennis Dullnig submitted Hektor Invictus to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 19:29 (***)
Pure Rules: Elijah Blum submitted Peter Tihanyi to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 22:58 (****¼)
— Don’t forget to keep up to date with the Auf Die Fresse podcast… Links to subscribe and stream are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
We’re at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for wXw’s first signature event of the year – there’s a lot of stipulations up and down the card, and every title’s on the line. Let’s get to it… but first, the Fight Forever pre-show match, with Mett Dimassi on English commentary throughout the evening.
Nordino vs. Bobby Gunns
The Collagamento Siciliano Infernale are here… but it’s just Nordino who’ll be in action. Or Nourdino, as the lower third’s said. I’ll go by what he’s put on his arse…
Nordino started by blowing his nose on Bobby Gunns’ towel. I anticipate a swift demise. Gunns got his own back by drying his undercarriage on the Italian flag, and bang goes any bookings there. Some strikes from Nordino just earned him an Exploder, before a punt to the back earned Gunns a solid two-count.
Gunns got whipped into a corner and ate a step-up enziguiri as Nordino fought back, but Luca de Leone at ringside tried to coach his tag partner… and it backfired as Gunns hit back with a suplex and a shotgun dropkick. Another PK followed, and that’s your lot. Thanks for coming, Nordino! **½
Backstage we’ve got Dan Mallmann with Jane Nero, who’s found herself out of a match tonight as her scheduled outing with Ella Envy was hijacked by Stephanie Maze. She’s furious and wants her match back, but it seems there may be something for her later…
Hey, we’ve a second Fight Forever match!
10/10 Next Level (Alex Duke & Aleksander Bellamy) vs. Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire)
I have a bad feeling that Next Level may be counting the lights here… and who’s cut through all the Gojirah shirts?
Duke and Dreissker start us off, with Duke’s early start just earning him a Bionic elbow from Dreissker. Bellamy’s quickly in to hit a slingshot rolling neckbreaker before a Dreissker suplex put the former champs back in control, leading to a double-team gutbuster and a battering ram onto Aleksander.
Duke tries to help, but to no avail as he’s thrown into the ring… but his presence allowed Bellamy time to recover and make a comeback. It doesn’t last too long though as Duke eats a spinebuster from Dreissker, before shoulder tackles from Empire to Bellamy led to the old Jeff Cobb Spin Cycle suplex.
From there, Empire’s shoulder tackle off the middle rope looked to pave the way, but a quick turnaround allowed Next Level in with a side Russian legsweep/clothesline combo. Dreissker puts the brakes on with the Tanahashi crossbody though, before a death valley driver and an Empire splash off the top got the win as the former champs made a hurried exit. **½
Onto the main show now, which was the first time wXw had gone live on IndependentWrestling.tv…
wXw European Championship: Leon Cage vs. Ricky Sosa (c)
This was Sosa’s second defence of the European title, and the German debut of Leon Cage, who was giving up a lot of height here.
Cage blocked a right hand early on, only to get nonchalantly shoved down as Sosa looked to mock the Welshman. A moonsault out of the corner’s caught and turned into a DDT by Leon, taking Sosa outside as a flip dive ended up with Cage just throwing Sosa into the crowd… but a switcheroo seconds later led to Sosa hitting a moonsault off the turnbuckles to Cage on the floor.
Back inside, Sosa chops through Cage in the corner, before a dropkick stunned Cage momentarily. Returning with some kicks, Cage managed to find a way through with a top rope ‘rana after he’d been caught on the top. Sosa’s attempt to return sees him eat a forearm strike before a diving neckbreaker off the middle rope from Cage was quickly followed up with a blue thunder bomb from Sosa.
After both men regained their composure, we’re back to the strikes with front kicks from Sosa. One of those got him hung up in the ropes, allowing Cage to try for the Stomp into the Future… but Sosa’s able to avoid it, only to get caught up top seconds later with a Spanish Fly.
Sosa’s able to kick out from that, but rolls outside as Leon went up top again. That proved to be a bad move as Cage just repositioned himself as time froze before he moonsaulted onto Sosa on the floor. Back inside, Cage crashes and burns on a Phoenix Splash… but countered a powerbomb into a ‘rana for a near-fall as we were into the flash pin attempts before a Styles Clash from Sosa almost got the win. From there, an avalanche Blue Thunder Bomb lands for the win – this was good, but with more experience in these lads, there’s a better match in them. ***¼
“Earlier today” we see Ahura backstage. He’s not booked, so I assume he’s just here for the catering, but picking up some dried pasta just brings in our favourite Italians. I’m getting flashbacks to those guys on Instagram. CSI reckoned Ahura could have avoided his bad shoulder if he’d eaten his pasta… Ahura just slaps Nordino on his bald head… but Luca does the same after Nordino broke some spaghetti. Slapstick!
Luca de Leone vs. Ahura
Nordino’s still feeling a bit sore after what happened earlier… and the Bobby Gunns match too! If you believe the storyline, we’re into the final weeks of Ahura’s career.
Despite having a taped-up shoulder, Ahura easily took down de Leone with a headlock takedown at the bell, following up with a cravat as he tried to pop the head off. A distraction from Nordino bought Luca some time, but it was brief as Ahura had him back in the ropes for some mounted punches.
More distractions allow Luca back in with a neckbreaker, but it barely gets him a one-count as Luca’s punches led him to feign injury… distracting the ref as Nordino choked Ahura with the flag. Problem was, Luca got carried away, and after some hip swivels he has his face kicked off by Ahura… who then slipped as he went for a springboard.
Luca goes right back to that arm, but Ahura’s able to cut him off and hit the Salamandra for the win – a pretty straightforward outing, but that slip added some peril as Ahura clearly is far from 100% going into his final weeks. **¾
Post-match, Nordino tries to interfere, but he’s booted out of the ring… before Ahura hit a Divine Sandstorm onto both of CSI for good measure. We’re still not done! CSI’s chucked back into the ring so Luca could eat a Boss lariat, while Nordino took the second Salamandra of the night as the Italians were left begging for mercy.
Ahura wouldn’t listen to them though, and after threatening more harm on Nordino, the Italians tried to hold the ropes open for him to leave… which was accepted, despite them making mean faces behind Ahura’s back. It’s caught, but the slapstick continues as Ahura twanged the rope into Nordino as he left the ring, as I’m left wondering who the German equivalent of Antonio Inoki swinging a chair to end this…
We cut to Peter Tihanyi backstage with Dan Mallmann ahead of his Pure Rules match later. Dan mentions that there’s no Robin Christopher Fohrwerk, and Tihanyi reinforces that he’s not here, like in Bielefeld. Tihanyi’s asked why he picked the pure rules stipulation, to which he replied that the rules require you to control your emotions – so this’ll stifle Elijah Blum.
Ella Envy vs. Stephanie Maze
Ella was originally meant to face Jane Nero, but after getting pinned in Bielefeld last week, Stephanie Maze managed to get this changed.
A cheapshot from Envy takes Maze into the corner for a hip attack, before a clash of heads kept Ella ahead. A second hip attack misses as Maze manages to trap Ella in the corner with some strikes, while a double underhook suplex and some mounted punches on the mat left Envy covering up, before Maze’s pop-up knee got the job done in double quick time. **
Maze celebrated at ringside, only to get attacked by Jane Nero, who attacked her and Envy with a chair. Cue a call for the mic, and we’ve Nero complaining about the office robbing her of a match. She wants a new opponent, and she’s gotten what she asked for – here’s surprise Dani Luna!
Dani fights a dodgy mic and confirms she’s Nero’s opponent…
Jane Nero vs. Dani Luna
Luna smothers Nero from the off, landing an Exploder suplex and a sliding clothesline at the bell.
A series of snap bodyslams has Nero in trouble, before Nero slipped out of a Luna Landing and hung up Dani in the ropes. Dani’s chucked into the ring post after that, sending her to the outside, before a snapmare and some kicks to the back kept the former TNA Knockouts tag champion on the back foot.
Nero’s body blows boxed Luna into the corner, leading to a full nelson slam for a near-fall, before a back body drop countered a double underhook suplex attempt. From there, clotheslines and a dropkick put Luna back in it, with a rebound Blue Thunder Bomb almost getting the win… but Nero narrowly kicked out.
A double underhook DDT out of nowhere offered Nero hope, but out of frustration she went back outside for the chair she’d used earlier. Referee Felix Schultz stops her, allowing Luna back in with a clothesline… but Nero slips out of the Luna Landing before chop blocking the knee as a chairshot gets the obvious DQ. This one didn’t really get going, but that finish tells you the rivalry is far from over, and I’d not be shocked if this ended up playing out into Carat weekend. **¾
16 Carat Gold Qualifier: BK Westbrook vs. Zoltan
This is Westbrook’s last match on this tour, but I have a feeling he may be staring at the ceiling in the Turbinenhalle…
Oberhausen quickly realised that there’s something else that BK stands for, as Westbrook wasn’t exactly having it his way, with Zoltan’s dropkick taking him outside for a tope. Back inside, Zoltan gets caught as he went up top, allowing Westbrook to hit a wacky death valley driver to hang up the Hungarian in the ropes on his way to the floor.
An overhand chop from Westbrook takes Zoltan into the corner, before an abdominal stretch left Zoltan in trouble… at least until he hiptossed Westbrook to the outside. There’s no follow-up though, as Zoltan’s taken down for a springboard elbow drop that nearly won it, before Zoltan’s crossbody off the top bought him some time.
Forearms bounced Westbrook around the ring, ahead of a Slingblade and an Aigle Blanc-esque twisting suplex as the match continued to go back-and-forth… a superkick from Westbrook finds its mark, before Zoltan countered a powerbomb into a DDT, with a follow-up springboard cutter out of the corner almost getting the win.
Heading up top, Zoltan’s splash lands in BK’s knees, while a simple knee strike laid out Zoltan ahead of Westbrook getting beaten to the punch on a cutter, as Zoltan finally landed his splash to book his spot in Carat – and be the youngest wrestler in Carat’s history. This was solid, but the crowd definitely waned by the end. ***
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. The Grind (Laurance Roman & Nick Schreier) (c)
It’s a rematch from the World Tag Team Tournament finals back in September, as the Greedy Souls looks to reclaim the gold… and the Grind’s got the unedited version of their theme now they can proclaim to be the champions.
Starting with Danny Jones and Nick Schreier, Nick looked to be a step ahead early on, only to get caught in the corner for a few chops. Nick tried to escape, but he’s caught and lawndarted into the corner as Brendan White came in… as did Laurance Roman, as the champions looked to regain the upper hand.
A backbreaker from Brendan caught Roman off guard, opening things up for the challengers as the Greedy Souls’ back senton picked up a two-count. Nick Schreier’s inexperience is used against him as Brendan White wound him up to mask some cheating from Danny Jones, but Roman’s able to engineer an opening, taking the Greedy Souls outside before tagging Schreier in to hit a flip dive.
Nick keeps going with a crossbody to Brendan, then a dropkick to Danny, before a satellite DDT almost put the match away. Brendan misses a back senton as the Grind pushed on, but Danny Jones stops the Grind Time neckbreaker, pulling Nick to the floor as the Souls instead went for the Souled Out slingshot Bossman slam… only for Nick to break up the pin.
Schreier tries a crossbody, but he’s caught… Roman’s dropkick finishes it off. That inadvertently sparked a Parade of Stuff, leading to a second Souled Out attempt… but Schreier counters it into a crucifix pin for the win. This was pretty solid, but I don’t think the crowd were buying any kind of title change tonight. ***¼
The Greedy Souls attack after the bell, only for Robert Dreissker and Marc Empire to come out for the save. Problem was, Laurance Roman thought that Planet Gojirah had attacked Nick, not helped him, and started attacking the former champions, leading to all hell breaking loose as we ended with Nick eating a Beast Buster. I have a feeling that Planet Gojirah may be getting added to a tag title match in Hamburg again…
Loser Leaves wXw Käfigschlacht for wXw Shotgun Championship: Hektor Invictus vs. Dennis Dullnig (c)
With the loser gone from wXw, it’s one more time for the very last time between the former tag team champions. Almost five years on from the first time they’d teamed together in wXw… this is it.
Hektor started things off with a double-leg takedown as he went to work, throwing Dullnig into the sides of the cage, before countering a return with a crossbody. After squashing Dullnig into the cage walls, Hektor added a clothesline before Dullnig clung onto the ropes to avoid a whip into the corner.
Cash tries to climb the cage – but this isn’t escape the cage rules – and after baiting Hektor onto the top rope with him, a poke to the eye and a trip to the cage wall took down the flag-waver. Dullnig keeps using the cage, hooking Hektor’s mouth as he was pushed into the cage wall, while slowly targeting Hektor’s lower back.
Taking his time, Dullnig went for a piledriver… but Hektor put on the brakes and managed to use the cage to escape, only to crash and burn on a moonsault seconds later. Dullnig goes back to the cage, charging Hektor into it, before a second spear came up short as Hektor sidestepped.
Hektor’s able to respond first, hitting a diving knee… but a Hektor-knie is blocked and countered into a powerbomb, as Dullnig hits one of his own. Since the Käfigschlacht is no-pin, Dullnig went right after him with a rear naked choke… only for Hektor to hold on and power his way back into the corner to break the hold.
Dullnig’s lifted up top, but spat in Hektor’s face… it riled him up, to the point where Hektor popped up for a superplex, then rolled through into a powerbomb… before a Hektor-knie found its mark. Again, there’s no pins, and with neither guy here exactly famed for submissions, Hektor went to try and beat Dullnig into submission. Except he had second thoughts, which gave Dullnig time to recover and hit his former tag partner with a low blow.
After that, Dullnig stole the belt from referee Rainer Ringer and tried to whip Hektor with it… he misses, but the pair connect with clotheslines. A ripcord uranage and a Hektor-knie follow from Dullnig, before he used the belt to choke Hektor… the referee almost goes to call it, but Hektor grabs him to stop the decision, only for Dullnig to pull on the belt some more as the unavoidable decision was called. Hektor loses and is out of wXw – in a match that didn’t quite hit some’s expectations. It’s another feather in Dullnig’s cap, but it didn’t live up to prior Käfigschlacht matches. ***
Once Dullnig had made his exit, Hektor was left to face up to that being his farewell from wXw – a run that started back in 2017 as TKO, that’s our lot for the man who we’ve long since championed as the “glue” of wXw.
Special announcement time – Pro Wrestling Grand Prix returns in September between the 25th and 27th, running the same three-tournaments-in-one-weekend format as 2025.
Coming out of the second intermission of the night, there were some chants for Elijah Blum going into the main event…
Pure Rules Match for wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Elijah Blum vs. Peter Tihanyi (c)
Under pure rules we have judges, who were all introduced beforehand: Doug Williams, Tengkwa and Stefan Haupt (promoter of the old Independent Wrestling World out of Hannover, ran 1997-2003). On top of the better-known rule about rope breaks, there’s the rule that anyone who interferes is fired – now, is Robin Christopher Fohrwerk technically still “hired” after his manager’s license expired?
After making a deal about the match needing to start on a handshake… they just start it anyway as Blum delayed his handshake, eventually clinging onto Tihanyi before punching him in the face at 31 seconds. That’s a warning for Blum…
Tihanyi made a point of keeping the pace slow here, looking to frustrate Blum every time he got on top. A dropkick from Elijah? Tihanyi just rolls outside, making use of the 20-count on the floor. Back inside, Tihanyi tried to bait Blum into throwing another punch, before he faked taking a punch to the face after referee Tassilo Jung separated the pair by the ropes.
Despite not seeing it, the referee charges Blum a rope break at the 4:30 mark, before Tihanyi tried to bait Blum into burning rope breaks. It backfires as Elijah countered a hammerlock and shoved Tihanyi into the ropes… but behind the ref’s back Blum’s punched in the face as Tihanyi regained the upper hand in an instant.
Controlling the match, Tihanyi looked to wear down Blum with elbows before he looked to for Blum’s heel. A heel hook’s kicked away, so Tihanyi switches to a figure four, only for Blum to roll it over… before Tihanyi rolled the hold back into the ropes, costing Blum his second of three rope breaks as we’re not even nine minutes in.
A stomp to Blum’s ankle cuts off a flurry of offence as Tihanyi went back to the heel hook, forcing Blum into the ropes – that was his last one, at 10:23. So from now on, those ropes can’t save Elijah.
Tihanyi stayed on Blum after that, with running knees connecting… but Blum catches Tihanyi up top and brought him crashing down with a superplex. Getting back to his feet first, Blum’s able to add a swinging neckbreaker, only for a sliding D to get countered into a crucifix… but Blum’s able to break free and head up top again, this time landing a crossbody as he set up for an anaconda vise that forced Tihanyi into the ropes.
That left Tihanyi with one rope break at 13:30, but Blum still retained the paper hand, at least until his leap off the top seemed to jar his knee. Tihanyi pounced again with a heel hook, but Blum found out the hard way that the ropes can’t save him… so he ended up dragging himself out of the ring to force the separation. Rather than take the count-out, Tihanyi hit a dive to send Blum into the second row… before his slingshot cutter back into the ring was caught and turned into Total Depravity for the three-count at 17:05… except Tihanyi’s arm was under the rope the whole time, so that’s been wiped off and charged as a rope break. Deflating.
A leaping knee from Tihanyi stopped Blum in his tracks, before dawdling over a Parting Gift… allowing Blum to hit it instead. Duelling strikes follow, with uppercuts going back-and-forth until Tihanyi was caught throwing a closed fist. Blum stopped himself hitting one as now both men were left with no more chances… before Blum took it back to the mat for a Figure Four.
The ropes come into play, but the pair just roll onto the judge’s table, then down to the floor. On the outside, Tihanyi slingshots Blum into the underside of the table, sending it flying before a rush back into the ring saw Blum counter a slingshot cutter into the anaconda vise. Again, the ropes can’t save Tihanyi, and once Blum rolled them back into the middle of the ring, there was nothing Tihanyi could do but tap out. As the Germans say, titelwechsel! Elijah Blum leaves Back to the Roots with the gold after a match that ticked all the boxes when it came to the Pure rules – but ultimately, Peter Tihanyi’s baiting of Blum blew up in his face. ****¼
Back to the Roots was a card that perhaps could have done without the extra matches it gained on the night, but ultimately a show that more than delivered when it mattered. The farewell of Hektor Invictus perhaps felt a little flat given that Hektor hadn’t been around much since dropping the Shotgun title in September, but the surprise that was Blum winning the title throws the cat among the proverbial pigeons as we head into 16 Carat Gold season.