Block B gets going for the week as Senza Volto looks to maintain his lead with a win over Prince Ahura.
We’re back at the Steffy in Oberhausen again, with Nico Schmidt and Dään Jokisch being joined here by Tristan Archer. They run down block B’s table, before discussing today’s match, with Tristan picking his compatriot Senza Volto here.
Prince Ahura’s interview has him wanting his nicknames again, before Andy Jackson quizzed him about his chances. He’s still getting used to “solo wrestling,” and reckons he has nothing to lose, while teasing “one or two new things.” Ahura also throws a few playful jabs at Senza’s tattoos…
As for Senza, he’s a little banged up from having had three matches so far – but he’s promising victory, and learns a bit of German too. Ausgezeichnet!
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Prince Ahura vs. Senza Volto
Ahura gets into it with a fan on the way to the ring, which is impressive given social distancing and all that. The crowd don’t want Ahura shaking hands with people, nor does the referee, who rings the bell instead!
Round 1: Senza goes to kick Ahura as he was stretching, so Ahura trash-talks Senza for wearing a “Mexican mask” rather than embracing his French culture. Ahura takes exception to some chants too, as the crowd wanted Maggot instead of him… before Ahura kneed Senza as they gawped at the trophy. Senza responds with a leapfrog before he kicked out Ahura’s knee, following up with a springboard ‘rana and a faked out dive to the outside. Ahura runs in, and gets thrown right back out… so he winds down the clock, only for Volto to chase after him as time ran out. Apparently a loss here eliminates Ahura… which means I better start figuring out eliminations on those standings!
During the break, the referee threatened to show a yellow card for time wasting to Ahura…
Round 2: Ahura gets caught with chops from the off, before he kicked Senza as he played to the crowd. Volto recovers with more chops, playing up to the crowd’s ask for “one more time,” before Ahura again powdered to the outside… which led to a €50 fine for Ahura. Senza drags him back in for more chops, but Ahura comes back with some rope walking… only to get the rope superkicked from under him, as he crashes to the mat. Senza then picked up the pieces for a double-jump springboard armdrag… and yeah, Ahura rolls outside. He walks away from a dive attempt, so Senza chases him, only to get thrown into the ring steps, which led to a count-out tease, but the ref’s count was way slower than one-per-second, as time runs out.
In the interval, Ahura’s given another fine… he mockingly suggests “make it €200”… so they do. They’re piling up.
Round 3: Ahura catches Volto with a kick at the bell, and instantly began to wear him down with shots to the gut. Elbows take the Frenchman to the corner, but Volto recovers with chops, before he got thrown back. Senza’s back with a bicycle kick, but he’s chopped in return as the pair went back-and-forth. Ahura throws his bandana at Senza, but the distraction doesn’t materialise as Senza superkicks the knee then went for an Eiffel Tower… but Ahura pushes off and comes back with a roundhouse kick for a near-fall. Ahura locks in a camel clutch, then a Boston crab, dragging Volto away from the ropes, but Senza gets to the ropes as the round closed out.
Round 4: Senza’s still getting to his feet when the bell sounds, and he’s knocked into the corner with a shotgun dropkick by Ahura. A front-facelock choke followed as we all thought Ahura was going for a suplex, but he lets go to club down Senza before a standing Spanish Fly surprised the Frankfurt native for a two-count. Senza keeps going with a double-jump moonsault, sailing more than halfway across the ring for another two-count, before Ahura threw a hair tie across the ring to distract the referee… and mask a poke to the eye. From there, Ahura tries a Gedo clutch, but Volto kicks out, before he caught Ahura with the Eiffel Tower for the win! The opening tactics from Ahura may get a little tiresome given how many are doing them, but this was a solid outing from Volto who remains unbeaten – and it’s that match with Marius al-Ani in two weeks which seems to be the proverbial cup final.
Result: Senza Volto pinned Prince Ahura at 1:44 of Round 4 (***)
That win for Senza’s wiped out half the block effectively, as his wins so far over Norman Harras, Emil Sitoci, Vincent Heisenberg and now Prince Ahura mean that the best some of them can do is tie his score… and then lose on tie-breakers.
Post-match, Senza is knackered and thrilled… as Nico translates the crowd’s chants for him. It left him speechless. There’s something about Volto’s puppy dog-like energy in these promos that’s really charming.
Meanwhile, the eliminated Prince Ahura can’t believe what happened. He reckons not being oiled up was the difference, as was his own jewelry. He’s fed up of “disgracing himself” in front of fans that he hates, while Andy noted how he’s probably going to go broke with all the fines.
Standings, with eliminations (including those who’d be eliminated on tie-breakers)…
Block A
Bobby Gunns (3-0; 6pts)
Avalanche (2-1-1; 5pts)
Cara Noir, Metehan (2-1; 4pts)
Hektor Invictus (1-1-1; 3pts)
Fast Time Moodo (1-3; 2pts) * eliminated
Anil Marik (0-4; 0pts) * eliminated
Block B
Senza Volto (4-0; 8pts)
Marius al-Ani (2-0; 4pts)
Tristan Archer (2-1; 4pts)
Vincent Heisenberg (1-2; 2pts) * eliminated
Prince Ahura (1-2; 2pts) * eliminated
Emil Sitoci (0-2; 0pts) * eliminated
Norman Harras (0-3; 0pts) * eliminated
Disciplinary: €2515 of fines; sixteen yellow cards and one red card.
Tomorrow, we’ve got Marius al-Ani in a possible banana skin of a match-up, going against Vincent Heisenberg.