After a dogged fight that ended the last season of Shotgun, Norman Harras starts his Catch Grand Prix campaign against a French Senzation.
Sorry for the pun. It’s back to the Steffy in Oberhausen, as Prince Ahura remained alongside Nico Schmidt and Dään Jokisch. They touch upon yesterday’s upset, which Ahura called a scandal before mocking Tristan Archer. Ahura perks up when Dään brought up how Harras was beaten in the Academy match… claiming that Avalanche disgraced the Academy, before picking Norman to win. Of course.
Senza Volto gets the first backstage interview, where he says that coming back is such a great gift… while Norman Harras doesn’t want the niceties and just wants his question… because of course, it’s about his recent losses. That’s rough. Norman wants to put it behind him and make up for lost time.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Norman Harras vs. Senza Volto
Of course the Oberhausen crowd barked for Norman… who didn’t want an introduction, and just wanted this to get underway quick.
Round 1: We open with a lock-up as the pair rolled into the ropes, before Senza came in with a side headlock that’s broken via the ropes. The Baha Men get a shout-out from the crowd, while Harras pulled down Senza by the mask as he tried to kip up out of a wristlock. There’s another rope break before Senza came back with a leapfrog over Harras, then a springboard clothesline that caught Norman right in the mush. Senza fakes out a dive, then dropkicked Norman off the apron for a two-count, before he took Harras to the corner for a blistering chop. Norman punches back in, before he shook the ropes to crotch Senza in the middle of a rope-walk, before he booted Senza off the rope, earning him a yellow card and a €100 fine to end the round.
Round 2: The second round started with Senza still in the corner – clearly, there’s no extra time to recover from low blows and such-like – but he surprises Harras with some roll-ups to try and end things early. A sunset flip is sat down on by Harras for a two-count, before a side headlock keeps Senza grounded. Harras clubs Senza back down for a two-count, then went back to the headlock, following that up with a side suplex that Senza floats out of. A chop catches Harras off guard, as do some more, before Harras booted him out of the corner. Volto’s leaping enziguiri and a leg sweep has Harras down, ahead of a Code Red for a near-fall. More chops sting Harras, who’s doubled over as time ran out on the round.
Round 3: Harras begs for more time at the start of the round, but it’s a ploy as he suckered in Volto, putting the boots to him as the choke earned another yellow card. Harras is walking a fine line as he caught Volto in the ribs despite him holding the ropes… a spit’s missed by the ref too, before Senza came back with some rapid-fire clotheslines. A handspring back elbow takes Harras down into the corner, but a cross-chop from Harras buys him some time, only for Senza to catch him with a standing Spanish Fly for a near-fall. Harras kicks and punches Senza, then raked the eyes… and that’s enough for the referee to issue a straight red card as Norman tried to claim ignorance. Either way, a third yellow would have had the same result, but it was a straight red as our first Friday night match ended in a DQ – with Norman Harras being made to pay for his lack of obedience.
Result: Senza Volto defeated Norman Harras via disqualification at 1:28 of round 3 (**¾)
The post-match ringside interview had Senza Volto gushing over wXw, while Norman Harras didn’t give any words afterwards.
Block A
Avalanche, Hektor Invictus, Cara Noir (1-0; 2pts)
Bobby Gunns (0-0; 0pts)
Anil Marik, Metehan, Fast Time Moodo (0-1; 0pts)
Block B
Vincent Heisenberg, Senza Volto (1-0; 2pts)
Emil Sitoci, Prince Ahura, Marius al-Ani (0-0; 0pts)
Tristan Archer, Norman Harras (0-1; 0pts)
The final match of the week is tomorrow, with Emil Sitoci vs. Marius al-Ani… and the running totals see us at €850 of fines, five yellow cards and one red thus far in the tournament.