Marius al-Ani looks to tie for the lead of block B – at least for now – as he faces a Pretty Bastard in Prince Ahura tonight.
Nico and Dään are again joined by Norman Harras who looks like he’s trying to avoid looking at an imaginary bowl of dog food in front of him. Photoshop can do some weird things… Dään addresses Ahura as Norman’s “good friend” – a relationship that’s quickly downplayed to “co-worker” – as they talk about how a win for Marius would tie up the rankings at the top.
Norman tells us he underestimated Marius earlier in the tournament and paid for it – and suggested that Ahura could do the same… then said he’d be looking forward to getting some revenge on Ahura for all of the teasing he had in Shotgun last season.
This time around, Ahura doesn’t like the “Papi Chulo” nickname as he tells us he doesn’t “get” singles wrestling… nor how everyone else gets so amped up for it. Turns out Ahura’s way too laid back (I know, right?!), and seems a little unnerved at Marius al-Ani’s streak… but he has a plan.
As for Marius, of course he thinks he can extend the streak to 13-0, and he knows he’s already had his bye week, so he’s in the driver’s seat…
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Marius al-Ani vs. Prince Ahura
Round 1: Marius starts out aggressive, swinging for some kicks, knocking Ahura into the corner as he looked to intimidate. Ahura grabs the rope as Marius looked for a lock-up, playing the stalling game… but Marius kicks out the ankle as Ahura fell to the mat. He’s quickly back to his feet as the pair looked to tie up, but Marius throws him down to the mat as they reached a stand-off. An attempted Superman punch off the ropes misses, but Marius goes in for a release Fisherman suplex… which Ahura popped up from to take Marius into the corner. There’s a clean break, with Marius looking to come back for a chinbar, before he rolled Ahura down for a leg spreader… except it ends in the ropes as the first round closed out.
Round 2: Ahura looked for a fist bump to start the round, which he gets before an attempt to grab the arm ended with the pair backing into the corner. There’s another clean break, but Marius comes back and seemed to accidentally poke Ahura in the eye as he went for a lock-up… it doesn’t get a fine, and of course it’s a ruse as Ahura looked to throw his bandana at al-Ani. Except Marius is wise to that, and he just socks him with a punch instead. “That failed miserably” indeed! al-Ani looks for a suplex, but Ahura fights free, and came in with a back elbow after side-stepping a Superman punch… only for Marius to get the snap suplex off ahead of a crossface-like hold. A shove into the ropes leads to Marius charging down Ahura with a shoulder tackle, following up with kicks in the corner and another elbow off the ropes, which gets a two-count before Ahura had to ride out the rest of the round surviving an attempt at a chinlock.
Round 3: Ahura tried to catch out Marius at the bell, charging at him before the start of the round… but al-Ani sidestepped him and came in with some body blows instead. A Superman punch misses as a rising headbutt from Ahura connects square, taking Marius outside as the ring post came into play twice… earning Ahura a yellow card. Back inside, Ahura heads up top for a crossed-arm splash, but it only gets a near-fall before a camel clutch was applied. It’s rolled into a Gedo clutch for a near-fall, but al-Ani kicks out and traps Ahura in a seated surfboard… then rolled it into an ankle lock. Ahura rolls free, then hit a rear spin kick to deck al-Ani… who kips up for an up-kick of his own. Eventually the pair fight from their knees, as the third round wound down.
Ahura ignores the bell and tries to go after Marius in the interval. Yep, that’s another yellow… and another for al-Ani for reciprocating.
Round 4: Ahura tries kicks again, but he’s caught with a Superman punch in response. Marius follows up with some punches, forcing the referee to shove him off, but there’s no instant KO call as he instead issues a standing ten-count, which Ahura answered… except he can’t keep his hands up, so the referee waves it off instead. A decent outing for Ahura, but that one punch was enough to undo all the groundwork he’d laid early on.
Result: Marius al-Ani defeated Prince Ahura via technical knock-out at 00:36 of Round 4 (***)
They’re really going to the wire with this block – next week, Marius faces Senza Volto… and then has Tristan Archer in the final week. Post-match, Marius was rolling his eyes at Senza Volto, then laid into Ahura for being disrespectful. They show Ahura being helped away, as Marius dismisses Archer and Volto as “not even being up to Ahura’s level.” Then we see Ahura incoherent backstage, thinking he’d not had his match yet.
Standings, with eliminations (including those who’d be eliminated on tie-breakers)…
Block A
Bobby Gunns (3-0-1; 7pts)
Metehan (3-1; 6pts)
Avalanche, Cara Noir (2-1-1; 5pts)
Fast Time Moodo (2-3; 4pts) * eliminated
Hektor Invictus (1-2-1; 3pts)
Anil Marik (0-5; 0pts) * eliminated
Block B
Marius al-Ani, Senza Volto (4-0; 8pts)
Tristan Archer (2-1; 4pts)
Prince Ahura, Norman Harras, Emil Sitoci (1-3; 2pts) * eliminated
Vincent Heisenberg (1-4; 2pts) * eliminated
Disciplinary: €3305 of fines; twenty-three yellow cards and one red card.
Week five wraps up tomorrow with Senza Volto against Tristan Archer in an all-French affair…