Time to jump in the time machine as we start our look back at 2015 wXw, with a show that saw a surprise arrival – and an even more shocking finale.
Quick Results
Absolute Andy pinned Peter Fischer in 13:20 (***)
Sha Samuels & Karsten Beck pinned Eugene & Grado in 13:56 (**)
Axel Dieter Jr. pinned Drew Gulak in 18:23 (***¾)
John Klinger pinned Axel Tischer & Ilja Dragunov to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 15:02 (***½)
Lucas di Leo pinned The Rotation in 6:07 (**¾)
Tommy End pinned Will Ospreay in 11:08 (***¼)
Big Daddy Walter, Robert Dreissker, Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt pinned Sasa Keel, Jurn Simmons, Kim Ray & Aaron Insane in a Street Fight in 30:08 (***)
Karsten Beck pinned Big Daddy Walter to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 2:19
This is the first part of a new project I’m starting on, effectively watching all the big shows that I’ve not seen already. Some obvious points – these reviews will be through current-day eyes, and at various points there will be names brought up from Speaking Out – so I’ll be sticking to the usual “play by play” reviews for the most part there.
We’re kicking off with the 2015 uploads from wXw NOW, which do have some shows with English commentary… however, this one is only available auf Deutsch, with commentary from Sebastian Hollmichel and Christian Bischof.
After the traditional Summon The Rawk video opener, we’re inside the Steffy inside the Turbinenhalle with Thommy Giesen welcoming everyone. This was the start of the More Than Wrestling tour, which would go on to feature dates in Germany (duh), England and Czechia. We’ve an old-school, standing-by-the-ring crowd, and overdubbed intros…
Peter Fischer vs. Absolute Andy
Fischer – one half of French Flavour – was getting settled in as a tag team champion, having beaten Hot & Spicy a few months prior…
Both men play to the crowd, but Andy’s the favourite here, in spite of a vocal pocket of fans for Fischer. Andy chops away a wristlock attempt early, before Fischer bailed outside for a breather. When he returned, he went back to the wristlock, but Andy’s able to boot him away before an A-Klasse attempt ended with Fischer bailing once more.
Resuming once more, Andy tries going hold-for-hold, pulling Fischer’s beard as he moved into a side headlock. Fischer pushes free, but ends up raking the eyes before Andy charged him down with a series of shoulder tackles, prompting Fischer to bail once more. “Oh mein Gott…” a plancha from Andy?!
A chair comes into play, with Andy chopping Fischer into it… then booting him out of it. It’s all Andy back inside as well, with chops leading to a stalling suplex… but Fischer slips onto the apron, then hung up Andy across the top rope as the Frenchman began to mount a comeback. Fischer gets a two-count out of a legdrop, then from a suplex, before he tried to wear Andy down with a chinlock. Chops keep Fischer on top as he proceeded to choke Andy in the ropes, going back to the chops until Andy scored with a flying forearm.
A Manhattan drop, then an atomic drop keeps Andy on top, as did a Snake Eyes and a clothesline… before an Absolute knee drop planted Fischer for a near-fall. Fischer wriggled out of an A-Klasse, but couldn’t avoid a spinebuster seconds later, before he returned fire with an enziguiri and a Falcon arrow for a near-fall.
Fischer teed up for a superkick, but Andy sidesteps and countered with a F5 for a near-fall. After kicking out, Fischer was able to press slam Andy off the top, only for Andy to catch him with a dropkick in the corner… then a top rope ‘rana for good effect. From there, the A-Klasse followed, and that’s enough for Andy to get the win in a decent opener – and a weird watch given Andy wasn’t exactly doing ‘ranas and planchas just a few years later! ***
The Piledrivers (Karsten Beck & Sha Samuels) vs. Eugene & Grado
This was Grado’s wXw debut – and Eugene’s return to wXw after five and a bit years. Yes, THAT Eugene. Grado was over like a mother in Oberhausen, and was gladly telling us he had a brother and a sister. Auf Deutsch… und English.
We got going with Eugene and Sha, with the latter scoring with a shoulder tackle in the early going. Grado tags in, to a huge pop, as he proceeded to… do a half-decent Cockney accent to mug off Sha with. Sha punches his way free of a wristlock, while Grado just rolled free of one… dizzying himself in the process.
Karsten Beck demanded Grado be fined for some of his tactics, as Sha played the comedy fool as Grado stomped on his foot, poked him in the eye, then went for an F5… that went nowhere. Sha slapped him silly for that, so Grado tagged in Eugene to let the head die down.
Beck’s tagged in, but is sent packing courtesy of the ol’ thumb up the bum from Eugene. There’s even one for Sha as well, and referee Tassilo Jung… prompting Eugene to promise not to try that again. Of course it was a ruse, as Eugene instead caught Beck with a double thumb up the bum, leaving it a little stinky…
Beck had had enough by that point though, bringing Eugene in for a side headlock… only for Eugene to switch around and force-feed Beck that stinky thumb… then snap Beck’s braces back on him. There’s a second one too, springing the braces back at Karsten’s Becks, before Beck sidestepped a shoulder tackle from Eugene.
Returning to the ring, Eugene’s criss-crossing Beck in the ropes… then slid outside as Beck continued to give himself a cardio workout. At least until Sha stopped him and told him to “stop making an arse out of yourself.” Sha tags in… and gets grounded by a wristlock from Eugene… we’ve an errant elbow drop from Karsten to Sha, as the Piledrivers just couldn’t get going… and right on cue they shove Grado and Eugene into each other.
Chops from Sha wear down Grado after that… but Eugene’s back to make a comeback, bumping the Piledrivers into each other. A Rock Bottom on Sha led to a People’s Elbow for a near-fall, while Beck ran in… and took an RKO… before the ref missed a low blow from Sha to Eugene, and the overdubbing kicks in so that must be the end as Sha gets the win. I appreciated the goofiness of this, but this was so “not my graps” – particularly given how the evening ended… **
Grado got chants of “16 Carat” after the match… he’d not make that field, but would be make a return later in the year…
Drew Gulak vs. Axel Dieter Jr.
Astonishingly, at time of writing, at least, this is their first and ONLY meeting. They’ve both been in the same company now for years… you’d think at least random button booking would have given us a chance meeting elsewhere, right?
Gulak looked to control things from the off, taking Junior to the corner to start, before Junior returned the favour. Responding, Gulak took him to the mat with a headlock takedown, then with a wristlock as Junior was forced to bridge out of a pinning attempt. Dieter looked to carve an opening with an armbar, taking Gulak down for the bridging hammerlock… only for Gulak to fire back with another headlock takedown.
Things stay on the mat as the headlock was countered with a headscissor escape, which Gulak eventually extricated himself from before a double stomp caught a helpless Junior. Gulak walks the dog as he rolled Junior into a trapped-arm crossface, and continued to build pressure with a delayed slam, throwing Junior into the corner.
Dieter fought back with forearms, before a wristlock looked to build into a Blockbuster… but Gulak countered with a back suplex instead for a two-count. A cravat followed, before Gulak tied up Junior in a pretzel-like heel hook, then with a Romero special, crossing Junior’s legs for extra pressure.
Relenting, Gulak goes back to a slam, dumping Junior in the ropes for a two-count, before a Cobra twist was fought out of. Chops knocked Junior back to the ropes, but he fought back with rights of his own, crumpling Gulak into the corner before a dropkick found its mark. Junior keeps going, ducking clotheslines en route to another dropkick, following up with armdrags and a headscissor takedown.
A Northern Lights suplex gets a near-fall, before he returned a favour from earlier, dumping Gulak in the ropes with slams. Trading uppercuts led to a backslide for Junior, as the pair continued to struggle for a hold, leading to a side suplex that folded Gulak back on himself. Recovering, Gulak blocks another Blockbuster attempt, pulling Junior down into an ankle lock, switching it up into the Edgecator standing Sharpshooter… but that ends in the ropes.
Third time was the charm for Junior as he hit the Blockbuster in response for a near-fall, before he caught Gulak with a rolling guillotine. Gulak powers up to his feet and eventually switched back for an ankle lock, before a bridging cravat suplex – the Southern Lights suplex – almost took the win. Another strike exchange led to Gulak catching an enziguiri, only to get rolled through… another enziguiri lands from Junior, who added an Implant DDT seconds later for the win. This was some beautiful stuff from a young Junior – with the match feeling like a legitimate struggle at times, in the right way. Why haven’t they matched up again since? ***¾
wXw Shotgun Championship: Axel Tischer vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. John Klinger (c)
Well, isn’t this a time capsule? Tischer and Dragunov come to blows before Klinger had even made his entrance…
Klinger’s all about the elbows early on, knocking Tischer to the outside… only for Dragunov to try his luck. A roll-up nearly ends things for Klinger in the opening moments, before a back body drop sent Ilja flying as he came out of the corner. Ilja’s out, Tischer’s back, but Klinger remained ahead, crashing into the Axeman with a crossbody for a two-count.
A Kitchen Sink knee from Klinger dumps Tischer… but a trip up top ends with Tischer booting Klinger to the floor, just as Dragunov returned with some chops. Klinger’s quickly back, but Dragunov kept the upper hand as we’re still playing two in, one out… leading to Tischer tossing Dragunov to the outside, so he could choke Klinger in the ropes.
An eye rake from Tischer lets him throw Klinger outside… hey, Ilja’s back! He’s taken to the corner by the Axeman, who added a bridging German suplex for a two-count. Dragunov gets his eyes raked as he tries to fight back, before a springboard out of the corner’s turned into a death valley driver instead for a near-fall.
Klinger’s back for a Famouser on Tischer, but it’s not enough… a follow-up led to Ilja landing a Torpedo Moscau on Tischer, before he ran into a Codebreaker from Klinger. Tischer’s tossed outside by Dragunov and Klinger, so they could chop each other in a precursor to their bigger feud that’d follow a few years later…
Tischer saves Dragunov from a suplex, so he could hit one himself… then get slammed by Klinger. A spinning enziguiri sees Klinger stay on Tischer, as did a suplex, but it’s not enough to get the win as the pair end up trading shots on the apron… Dragunov knocks Tischer off with a Torpedo Moscau, before he took Klinger outside.
We get a dive, but from Klinger, as Tischer stopped Ilja from taking off… Klinger returned his focus to Dragunov with a drive-by kick on the apron, before Tischer came back with a flying clothesline back inside. A sleeper suplex dumps Dragunov on his head, but Tischer can’t follow up as he ate a Decapitation kick… before Klinger got wiped out by Dragunov as the momentum swung all over the place.
Dragunov manages to overpower Klinger to land a uranage for a near-fall, before he and Tischer fought in the corner… Ilja’s on the top rope, fighting away Tischer only to get dropped across the turnbuckle by Klinger. Tischer capitalises with a bicycle kick to the champion as he tried to steal the win, before a Ligerbomb to Dragunov forced Klinger to break up the pin. From there, Klinger looked for a Shadow Driver, but settled for a crucifix buckle bomb before Dragunov got belly-to-belly suplexed into the corner by Tischer. Wrecking Ball Knees from Klinger follow to Tischer, and that’s enough for the win – a match which started very patterned, with the two in, one out format, but heated up pretty nicely by the end… which saw Dragunov steal the title belt on his way to the back. ***½
Lucas Di Leo vs. The Rotation
HOLY TIME CAPSULE. IT’S BABY ROTATION!
As sure as night follows day, Rotation was beloved in Oberhausen, and he was all over di Leo early on, looking for a flash pin. A step-up ‘rana took di Leo into the corner, before he handwalked his way in for some satellite headscissors and a dropkick to the tag champion for a two-count.
Di Leo manages to stop that all with a front kick, dropping Rotation for a two-count, before a delayed bodyslam and an elbow drop picked up another two-count. A monkey flip takes Rotation out of the corner, with di Leo staying on him with a lariat to the back of the head for another near-fall.
Rotation makes a comeback with a wheelbarrow armdrag, following up with a dropkick into the corner, then a leg lariat… before a missed 450 splash allowed di Leo in with a facebuster to snatch the win. Rotation pushed him hard, but in the end it was one missed move that got the tag champion the W here. **¾
Tommy End vs. Will Ospreay
This is the first of four singles matches these two have had so far – with Southside, the German Wrestling Promotion and Future Pro Wrestling hosting the rest. Hey, AEW can run this one back in 2024…
Tommy and Will check each other with kicks early on, forcing Ospreay to try and flip his way past those kicks. A twisting headscissor takedown led to a dropkick that took End outside, only for the follow-up dive to be kicked away in mid-air. Back inside, End took the wind out of Ospreay with kicks, virtually pinning him into the corner with chest kicks.
End dumps Ospreay with a snap bodyslam for a two-count, before a chinlock kept Ospreay grounded. A roll-up snuck a two-count for Ospreay, who added a handspring enziguiri to the surprisingly-loose ropes… taking End outside for a Sasuke special. Smart, not risking a second dive getting kicked away…
Ospreay pulls End back onto the apron, but a suplex back in is blocked as End instead kneed Ospreay in the face. A double stomp off the top misses as Ospreay ended up eating what would become Black Mass, only to spark some see-saw pins seconds later. A pop-up reverse ‘rana surprises End next, but a corkscrew press off the top missed, allowing End to try and snatch a win with a bridging German suplex.
From there, a Dragon sleeper squeezes out Ospreay, but Will flips free, only to get kicked out of his boots for another near-fall. A brainbuster adds to Ospreay’s woes, but still he kicks out… and found a way back in with almost a Zig Zag. Heading up top, Ospreay goes for a shooting star press, but End gets the knees up… only to get cradled for a near-fall.
Straight from the kick-out, End connects with Black Mass, then a double stomp off the top… and that’s your lot. Obviously not as polished as what they’d be able to do today, but this was a hoot for the time it got. ***¼
Post-match, End took the mic and announced he’d be entering 16 Carat Gold…
Street Fight: Keel Holding (Aaron Insane, Jurn Simmons, Kim Ray & Sasa Keel) vs. The AUTsiders (Big Daddy Walter & Robert Dreissker) & Prost (Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt)
The Käfigschlacht wasn’t a thing in wXw until 2016 – but this may as well have been the precursor… and we start in the stairway as Keel Holding began the brawl around the venue. I feel like this one’s going to be a bit tricky to keep up with…
Dreissker bowls Sasa Keel into the crowd, only for Kim Ray to blindside him… then throw Dreissker into the bar. Meanwhile, Mike Schwarz is finding himself outnumbered as he threw Kim Ray into a stairway as everyone made their way to the bar. Sound tactic. Unfortunately for Schwarz, he ended up getting charged into the bar while Keel was choking out Dreissker with some cabling.
Walter makes his way to the bar to punch out Aaron Insane, before Jurn Simmons – who I did NOT recognise at all – charged Schwarz into the wall. We’re finally in the ring as Walter smashed a chair to pieces off of Kim Ray’s head, following with a clothesline and elbow drop to the bloodied Ray.
More find their way to the ring, but unfortunately for Ray, none of them were his partners as Dreissker and Walter combined to drill a cowbell and a rope into him with a clothesline. Schwarz and Blunt get involved too, setting up a chair for Ray to be slammed onto, before Dreissker splashed a chair onto Ray for the hell of it.
Walter’s directing traffic as he proceeded to chop Ray in the corner… Schwarz tries his hand at it too, beating down Kim Ray before Simmons, Keel and Insane hit the ring with chairs to wipe out their opponents. Insane smashes a road sign against Schwarz’s back, while Keel threw Walter on the floor with a back body drop… prompting Blunt to try and fight back for his team… only for an American Football helmet-wearing Insane to tackle Blunt instead.
Dreissker sidesteps another charge as Insane ended up cracking Jurn in the corner… a Samoan drop takes Insane out of the picture briefly, before Walter threw that road sign at Keel on the floor. Dreissker’s busy with some boards, setting them up in the corner… while Kim Ray’s attempt to intervene were quickly squashed, before Jurn got speared through a board.
Ray rolls away as Dreissker cannonballed himself through the other board… and got back to his feet in time to grab a Kendo stick, nailing Walter with it almost out of desperation. One end of that Kendo stick’s horribly frayed, which must have sucked for a bloody Schwarz to have taken as Kim Ray was left standing alone. Jurn Simmons is finally getting back to his feet as Keel Holding isolated Walter, wearing him down with plunder and punches.
Blunt again tries to make a save, but he’s quickly dispatched as Insane… brought in a ladder? It’s propped up into the corner as Insane and Simmons bounced Walter into it, before Keel lit up a cigar… Schwarz tries to intervene, but gets burned with it before Walter’s attempt to fight back was quickly smothered.
Schwarz goes all Terry Funk with that ladder, bouncing away Keel Holding… Blunt finally gets involved with some offence, running up the ladder to dive onto Keel Holding. Mike Schwarz joins in with a diving headbutt of sorts off the ladder, before we returned to the ring with Walter going all Abdullah the Butcher, stabbing Keel in the head repeatedly with a fork.
Of course, Keel comes up red from that, but Walter wants to stab him some more before Jurn Simmons got suplexed into the ring as he tried to intervene. Calling for a table, Walter ends up with Dreissker bringing in a board and some stands for a makeshift table… which Deissker ended up superplexing Jurn through for a near-fall. Kim Ray broke it up, but quickly paid for doing so.
Another ladder comes into play – this time one of those ridiculous articulating ones, which they manage to manipulate into a literal bridge as Jurn was carried away. Kim Ray’s draped over the ladder, but Keel’s back with chairshots to stop anything from happening as his troops began to focus on Dreissker. Blunt’s back in with a ladder to clear house, draping it on the ladder bridge… but his attempt to be flashy ends up crashing and burning as he’s shoved off it to the outside.
Ray, Insane and Keel combine for a what’d later be called a Cerberus bomb on Dreissker through the ladders, which, to put it bluntly, can’t have not sucked. Things pick up from there, with Schwarz taking a Rough Ryder off the apron through a board by Insane… before Walter wrecked another chair over Kim Ray’s head. Fair enough.
We’re back to brawling all over the Steffy, where another table had been set up… Walter drapes Kim Ray over a table, while Blunt senton’d off of the balcony to put Ray through it. Walter heads back to the ring, where Sasa Keel was waiting… they trade stiff blows for a spell, ending with a wicked lariat for a two-count from Walter, who then choked out Keel with the bull rope… only for someone identified as “der Apotheke” (the pharmacist?) to intervene.
Ah, he’s quickly wiped out by an errant cowbell shot from Keel, who responded by punting Walter low ahead of the Vijak (uranage). More chairshots follow as Keel tried to keep Walter down, burying Walter under a pile of chairs… only for Walter to rise up and powerbomb him off the buckles into that pile of chairs for the win. I feel like I’d have gotten more of this match had I known some of the background – rather than parachuting in, as this was starting to feel a little long in the tooth by the end. ***
Tassilo Jung’s clearing the ring of plunder as Walter’s left laying in the middle of the ring… Mike Schwarz and Robert Dreissker joined him to celebrate, as did Toby Blunt (eventually), before Walter was interrupted by the appearance of Vince Russo, who came in through the front door. Russo won points for speaking in German, but then lost them for calling Oberhausen “Obenhauser”. Close. He introduces himself (although one fan very loudly knew him already as the guy who “fucked up WCW, man”), as a new investor in wXw.
Walter wanted no part of Russo, who seemed to think that Walter’d just won a bloody fight for the title (he’d beaten Tommy End for it the prior July…) as Russo then made a move that was “best for wXw.” That led to him bringing out Karsten Beck, who had to deal with a fan trying to Beck’s towel on the way to the ring. Karsten gets a hug from Russo… and some “you sold out” chants. Beck gets the mic and runs his mouth. From my rudimentary German, and from what happened next, he talked his way into a title match…
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Big Daddy Walter (c) vs. Karsten Beck
Beck attacks Walter from the bell, charging him into the corner with some knees.
Walter cuts him off with a bodyslam, but a boot gets Beck free ahead of a dropkick off the middle rope. A lariat lands for a near-fall, before Beck goes for a piledriver… which was countered with a back body drop. Walter’s back with a missile dropkick, before he powerbombed Beck… but Russo pulls out and lays out Tassilo Jung.
The screwjob is on! In comes Sha Samuels, who clocks Walter with the belt, before Russo came into the ring and took off his jacket to reveal a referee’s shirt. Beck makes the cover… and we close the night with a new champion, while Tassilo Jung and Felix Kohlenberg are left aghast, watching on helplessly from the floor. Just how much money was Russo (kayfabe) pumping in here?!
Post-match, Russo showers Beck with praise, while Beck ended up getting cheered by the Oberhausen crowd by the end as the show closed out. Now, I get the importance of this match in wXw’s history… but given that two hours or so early he was playing the comedy heel for Grado and Eugene, this was quite a pivot!
So, for my first proper taste of 2015 wXw… this obviously wasn’t a million miles away from the wXw I laid eyes on at the back end of 2016. Back to the Roots XIV has its place in wXw history for the debut of Vince Russo – but even on the undercard the pieces for the company’s not-too-distant boom were in place. A cracking match with Axel Dieter Jr. and Drew Gulak was the in-ring highlight for me, and I can’t wait to watch where things go from here.