Week two of the Catch Grand Prix gets going with a match between two of block A’s early leaders.
You know, how cool would the Catch Grand Prix thing have been as a series of trading cards? We’re joined by Nico Schmidt, Dään Jokisch and Marius al-Ani on the panel for this one. They run through block A so far, with Dään noting how Avalanche and Hektor have had their pasts with Marius in the past. Marius is doing the entire week on the panel, I guess because Cara Noir doesn’t speak…
That gives Dään a way to bring up how Cara Noir beat Marius at Carat. Man, they do love giving Dään the questions that put him in danger, eh? Marius calls Cara Noir “a living art figure,” something that won’t succeed in a sporting tournament like the Catch Grand Prix. Backstage, Andy Jackson interviews Hektor Invictus, who reckons he’ll have no problem overpowering Avalanche… who was more bothered about getting a second win – acknowledging he’s found a weakness in Hektor’s game, which he’ll put to use…
Sebastian Hollmichel is back on commentary for the week, by the way…
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block A: Hektor Invictus vs. Avalanche
Someone’s brief 100% record is ending here!
Round 1: We open with a lock-up as the pair looked to back each other into the corner. Hektor slips out into a waistlock, which Avalanche nonchalantly broke before throwing Hektor down. A wristlock’s next as Avalanche wrung Hektor’s arm, but Hektor backflips in the ropes to reverse the hold, but Avalanche frees himself with a counter, taking Hektor down in another wristlock. That’s rolled out of as they continue to go back-and-forth, but this time Hektor rolls through with Avalanche… who just picks the leg and went in for a toe hold. That’s escaped, but Avalanche grounds Hektor with a hammerlock as time runs out.
Round 2: Hektor comes out swinging, booting Avalanche as he looked to work a knuckle lock to start us off. It turns into a Test of Strength, before Hektor threw a knee to the gut to take Avalanche down. It’s ruled legal, as Avalanche powered back up to his feet… and headbutted his way free before a Jim Breaks-ish arm lift helped throw Hektor down. It’s back to the armbar, as Avalanche keeps Hektor on the mat, but Hektor’s back up with a hair pull, before an attempt to slam Avalanche backfired as Avalanche fell onto him for a near-fall. A side headlock follows as Avalanche keeps Hektor down, but they hit the ropes… with Avalanche landing a clothesline in return before another armbar and a side headlock wrenched away on Hektro as time again runs out.
Round 3: Yet again Hektor comes out hot, booting and clubbing Avalanche, but an Irish whip is stopped as Avalanche takes him into the ropes for a shoulder tackle. Hektor tries to throw some shoulder tackles of his own, but it barely moves the Austrian, who charged him down instead. Avalanche misses a splash and gets drilled with a knee strike… taking him into the ropes as a pin is easily broken. More knees from Hektor keep Avalanche down, but a side headlock ends in the ropes as Hektor started to push the rules. In the corner, a kick from Avalanche is redirected as Hektor hangs him in the ropes for a kick to the thigh, which didn’t draw any fine… but did allow Hektor to go to ground as he worked over the leg again… except Avalanche got to the ropes. Hektor doesn’t break cleanly again, which earns him a €20 fine, but no yellow card… so he keeps stomping on Avalanche’s knee, then snapped the leg back as the third round ended with Avalanche on the mat.
Round 4: Avalanche’s walloped with a Yakuza kick at the bell, but manages to whip Hektor into the ropes and delivers a back body drop on the rebound. Clotheslines keep Hektor down, but Avalanche telegraphs a second back body drop, and instead has to make do with a Samoan drop for a near-fall. They go back-and-forth with elbows, but Hektor’s bounced into the ropes for a slam… only for him to pop up and hit one of his own seconds later! From their knees, the pair trade elbows, before a headbutt from Avalanche looked to rock Hektor… but they just continue to slug away as the round wound down again.
Round 5: Again, Hektor tries to boot Avalanche at the start, but it’s blocked as Avalanche nails a lariat that almost wins it. Avalanche picks up Hektor but a second ripcord lariat is floated out of as Hektor teases a piledriver… only to get knocked into the corner, A splash and another lariat knocks Hektor onto the apron, as Avalanche tries to bring him in… but a stun gun drags Avalanche across the top rope, before Avalanche caught Hektor up top, only for Hektor to hit a sunset bomb out of the corner. Avalanche pops back up though, and gets caught with a tornado DDT for a near-fall. They both got back to their feet for more back-and-forth strikes, but they’re both running on fumes as Avalanche nailed a Boulder Dash for a near-fall. Time begins to tick again as Avalanche keeps going for a pin, but Hektor kicks out, before Avalanche went to the corner for a Dreissker bomb… but Hektor clings onto his ankle and time runs out. The sense of urgency at the end was palpable, but truth be told this was a really even match between two guys who cancelled each other out.
Result: Avalanche and Hektor Invictus went to a draw after five rounds at 15:00 (***¼)
After our first draw, we’re left with a two-way tie at the top – which they’ll keep as Cara Noir has the week off…
So, the tables look like this:
Block A
Avalanche, Hektor Invictus (1-0-1; 3pts)
Cara Noir (1-0; 2pts)
Bobby Gunns (0-0; 0pts)
Anil Marik, Metehan, Fast Time Moodo (0-1; 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.
Andy Jackson interviews Avalanche afterwards, who noted he was close to winning, but didn’t appreciate the suggestion he underestimated Hektor. Meanwhile, backstage, Hektor is with Dään, who suggested that his draw “must have felt like a win.” That’s a backhanded compliment!
That’s all for today as tomorrow Anil Marik faces his toughest test yet, with the newcomer taking on Bobby Gunns.