The Catch Grand Prix continues as Anil Marik takes on wXw’s Unified World Wrestling Champion Bobby Gunns in his toughest challenge to date… even more so considering Bobby had last week off!
We’re back at the Steffy with this week’s panel of Nico Schmidt, Dään Jokisch and Marius al-Ani… they talk about yesterday’s draw, with Marius being shocked that Hektor couldn’t get the win “with his coaching,” saying that they’re both on the same level because they’re “equally bad.” The draw meant they got a point each, which Marius almost laughed at.
As for today’s match, Marius reckoned Marik could have had a chance… were he not being coached by Avalanche. He recalls how Marik was tempted by Marius’ ways, only for Avalanche to set him straight. Backstage, Andy Jackson is with Bobby Gunns, who was looking forward to the “old-school” stuff, even if he didn’t seem to care about it because he’s already the champion. As for Anil Marik, he recognised the size of the challenge ahead of him, having done a lot of tape study.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block A: Anil Marik vs. Bobby Gunns
Less than a year since his debut match at the wXw Wrestling Academy, Marik’s perhaps the big-time underdog in this one…
Round 1: Marik gets taken down early on, as Gunns looked to wring the arm, but Marik gets free with an armdrag as he looked for an early armbar. Gunns uses headscissors to get free, then rolled in with a trapped half crab that forces Marik to hand-walk to the ropes. There’s a stamp after the break, which Gunns managed to explain away, as he then returned with a cravat… which he clings onto despite Marik’s attempt to roll away. Second time’s the charm, as Marik finds a way back with armdrags, but his dropkick gets nothing but fresh air before they went back-and-forth on a crucifix pin attempt. Gunns slows down the pace again as he went to work in an armbar, which ends in the ropes… with time running out as the break’s forced.
Round 2: Gunns stuffs a lock-up attempt, but gets rolled down to the mat, prompting the pair to go face-to-face. Kicks from Bobby sting Marik, as do uppercuts, but a surprise backslide almost nicks Marik the win. A PK from Gunns blasts through the rookie after that, then a shotgun dropkick, before a German suplex folded Marik in half. Somehow, Anil returns with a Slingblade out of the corner, following up with a crossbody off the top as he kept pushing Gunns. Kicks have Gunns down, but a second Slingblade’s caught as Gunns pulled Marik into a Swish armbar, forcing the verbal submission. As brief as it should have been given their disparate places on the roster, but Marik managed to get a fair amount of offence in – and almost upset the champion to boot.
Result: Bobby Gunns submitted Anil Maril at 2:04 of Round 2 (**¾)
So, the tables look like this:
Block A
Avalanche, Hektor Invictus (1-0-1; 3pts)
Bobby Gunns, Cara Noir (1-0; 2pts)
Metehan, Fast Time Moodo (0-1; 0pts)
Anil Marik (0-2; 0pts)
Block B
Marius al-Ani, Vincent Heisenberg, Senza Volto (1-0; 2pts)
Prince Ahura (0-0; 0pts)
Tristan Archer, Norman Harras, Emil Sitoci (0-1; 0pts)
Disciplinary: €990 of fines; six yellow cards and one red card.
Post-match, Andy Jackson asked Gunns how he intended to follow up on that “clear message” – Bobby replied by saying he had enough armbars and leg locks to go around. Meanwhile, backstage, Dään interviewed Marik… Anil didn’t seem too disappointed as he wasn’t expected to win, but he recognised he could have been more aggressive.
Tomorrow, it’s Metehan vs. Fast Time Moodo in a battle of champions… and a match that should be a little more even than what we saw today!