Two more names were confirmed for 16 Carat Gold and OSKAR returned from New Japan as wXw hit Das Powercrowd for a Dead End…
Quick Results
Yoichi & Tatsuya Hanami pinned Nick Schreier & Elijah Blum in 8:00 (***)
16 Carat Gold 2024 Qualifier: Laurance Roman pinned Bobby Gunns in 9:47 (***¼)
The Rotation pinned Leyton Buzzard to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 11:59 (***½)
Nikita Charisma & Michael Schenkenberg vs. Tristan Archer & Anil Marik ended in a double pin at 13:01 (**¾)
16 Carat Gold 2024 Qualifier: Mike D Vecchio pinned Leon Slater in 10:12 (****)
Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus pinned Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championships in 13:23 (***½)
Aigle Blanc pinned Metehan in 21:05 (***½)
Yuto Nakashima, OSKAR & Shigehiro Irie pinned Icarus, Robert Dreissker & Laurance Roman in 17:44 (***¾)
— In the next week or so, I’ll be chatting about this show with Mike Kilby on the Auf Die Fresse podcast. Links to stream that episode when it drops, as well as back episodes are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de
We’re coming live-ish from the Markthalle in Hamburg – and we’re watching this near-live on wXw NOW, in German, naturally, with commentary from Mett Dimassi and the lover of championship belts, Robin Christopher Fohrwerk.
Elijah Blum & Nick Schreier vs. Yoichi & Tatsuya Hanami
Hanami was making his wXw debut, having come over on tour from Japan – he’s a former three-time tag champion with 2AW.
Hanami and Schreier start us off, with Hanami breezing through Schreier with uppercuts early on… following up with a dropkick before Nick hit back with armdrags. A Tiger feint into an armdrag keeps Hanami on the back foot before a springboard crossbody drew a one-count for Schreier.
The crowd’s chanting for Yoichi to come in, and they get him… he shoves Schreier away before Nick fought back with some forearms, which barely made a dent compared to the singular strike in return. Elijah Blum gets the tag as he picked up where he left off in the Turbinenhalle with Yoichi, trading shoulder tackles before a dropkick knocked Yoichi into the corner.
Blum keeps going with a clothesline before he rolled Yoichi down for a low dropkick. Schreier’s back in, but he can’t charge through Yoichi and ended up eating a shoulder tackle instead. Hanami’s back in as an elbow drop/legdrop combination gets him a two-count, following up with a charging uppercut for another two-count, before he brought Yoichi back in.
Yoichi catches Schreier’s floatover attempt is caught, before Schreier evaded both Yoichi and Hanami… Blum’s in to take on the two-on-one with dropkicks and enziguiri, while a neckbreaker laid out Hanami. A crossbody takes down Yoichi, who was then shotgun dropkicked into Hanami in the corner. Schreier’s back to take down the big man with a double-team suplex, before a double-team finisher on Hanami was fought out of.
Schreier hits a huge crossbody on Hanami anyway, only to go for a second one… that springboard crossbody’s caught and turned into a Muso (uranage), and that’s it – Yoichi’s two-for-two in wXw, and my word, that was impactful. Give me a rematch of some sort over Carat weekend, please! ***
Post-match, Blum stared down Yoichi from ringside… and that feud must continue!
Onto the main show…
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2024 Qualifier: Laurance Roman vs. Bobby Gunns
Icarus is in one of the qualifying tournaments tomorrow… Laurance has a single match here to get in, but it’s against someone who’s done everything in wXw but win Carat. Oh, and someone who’d been unbeaten in singles matches in Hamburg for almost six years at one point…
Gunns starts by going for the arm and wrist of Roman, but Roman gets free and pushed Gunns away. Man, the Hamburg crowd is noisy tonight… Gunns beats Roman to the punch, then caught him with a front kick coming off the ropes as Roman was taken into the corner. Recovering, a snapmare and a kick to the back has Roman crowing… but Gunns is right back with uppercuts before he returned the favour with kicks to the back.
A PK from Gunns gets a two-count, before Roman hit back with a shot to the kidneys, taking Gunns down into the corner for some boot choking. Clothesline follow into the corner as Roman proceeded to work over Gunns’ hand, snapping the fingers, before a back elbow out of the corner gave the former champion an opening.
Roman tries to shut Gunns down, but he’s taken into the corner with a Flatliner before Gunns added uppercuts and a kick to take Roman down. More uppercuts crash into Roman in the corner ahead of a German suplex for a near-fall, but Roman’s rolling elbow and Northern lights suplex swung things back in his favour for another two-count. Gunns fights out of a swinging DDT and nearly stole the win with a roll-up… another German suplex and a shotgun dropkick sees Gunns pull ahead further, while a John Cena-like Death Valley driver got him closer to the win.
Knees from Gunns wear down Roman ahead of a twisting suplex for a near-fall, while a short-range lariat blasted down Roman once more. Gunns looks for the Ehrenmann Driver, but Roman escapes and ripcords his way into the swinging DDT… which almost won it. Icarus gets involved behind the ref’s back, landing a gamengiri to Gunns… and that left the door open for Roman to snatch the win with the facebuster. Roman looked a little upset that Icarus got involved, and the seeds of discontent… they be sprouting! ***¼
Post-match, Gunns attacked Icarus, but Roman makes the save… before new music hit as Young Blood – Oskar and Yuto Nakashima – chased away AMBOSS. This lead to a challenge for a trios main event – with Oskar and Yuto looking for a third man to take on AMBOSS…
wXw Shotgun Championship: Leyton Buzzard vs. The Rotation (c)
This was Buzzard’s first match for wXw in Germany since Carat last year – and he’s walked right into a Shotgun title match.
Certainly, Rotation’s a much different proposition to Minoru Suzuki, who Buzzard faced this past weekend… and Buzzard’s looking to take the upper hand, only to get tripped down by the Shotgun champion. Buzzard tries again, whipping Rotation into the corner, but a floatover and armdrag gets Rotation free… before Buzzard’s armdrag was cartwheeled out of.
Rotation rebounds off the ropes to trip up Buzzard once more, before Buzzard chopped his way out of a submission attempt. Back to their feet, Rotation ties up Buzzard in a modified cravat before the Bristolian freed himself… but Rotation remained a step ahead, at least until Buzzard charged him down with a shoulder tackle.
Buzzard plays to the crowd a little too much as Rotation got back up for rope-walk armdrag, while a dropkick drew a two-count moments later. Rotation heads up top and moonsaults into Buzzard, who’d rolled outside for respite, before a Gedo clutch back inside almost ended things.
Escaping a suplex, Buzzard clocks Rotation in the back, sending the champion into the ropes for a knee to the back, while a backbreaker off the ropes earned the former ICW champ a two-count. A dropkick follows, before another knee to the back was added to with an apron superkick, then a missile dropkick for a near-fall.
In response, a wheelbarrow from Rotation gets a near-fall, before Buzzard caught a springboard and turned it into a uranage for a near-fall. Yoichi’ll be mad. We’re into the final five minutes of the time limit now, with Buzzard going for a powerbomb… but Rotation escapes and countered a second one with a ‘rana. From there, Rotation lifts up Buzzard for an elevated twisting suplex, which almost wins it, before Buzzard escaped a Victory over Gravity to almost snatch the title with a pop-up powerbomb.
Staying on Rotation, Buzzard heads up top… but misses a moonsault, allowing Rotation back in with a superkick and the Victory Over Gravity for the win. ***½
High Performer Ltd. (Tristan Archer & Anil Marik) vs. Rott und Flott (Nikita Charisma & Michael Schenkenberg)
We’ve got two refs on hand to try and avoid any shenanigans in this number one contender’s match…
Charisma and Archer start us off as Charisma’s early wristlock’s countered in kind before a dropkick caught Archer. A roll-up from Charisma sees him grab the ropes for leverage, and he’d have won it too in under 90 seconds had Tassilo Jung at ringside not caught the obvious cheating…
Anil Marik tags in as Charisma’s forced to escape a double back suplex before he tagged in Schenkenberg, who found his way through with uppercuts. Marik escapes a back suplex but couldn’t avoid a splash in the corner as Schenkenberg pulled ahead, following up with a spinning back suplex for a two-count.
Charisma’s back in, but he distracts referee Rainer Ringer so Schenkenberg can choke on Marik in the corner… but Tass spots it instantly, so they stop. Rott und Flott’s finding their own stipulation is going against them here, but Schenkenberg’s able to power through it all, literally, with a slam/powerbomb combo for another two-count.
A blind tag in from Archer’s allowed because Tass spotted it on the floor, as High Performer Ltd. turned it around with a forearm-assisted suplex on Schenkenberg. Marik’s back as they continued to wear down Schenkenberg, scoring a two-count from a bulldog, before Charisma came in to break up a pin from Archer’s backbreaker.
Tassilo Jung again spots some cheating as he stops Marik from aiding on an abdominal stretch… Schenkenberg hiptosses his way free, but is quickly brought down again. Finally Schenkenberg tags out… but Charisma wasn’t holding the tag rope so it’s ruled out as Archer and Marik continued to push ahead.
Marik and Archer make a show out of the tag rope as they prepared for a double-team on Schenkenberg, but it’s escaped as Schenkenberg ended up suplexing Archer into Marik. OOF. Charisma gets the hot tag in from there, and of course he’s all about the dropkicks, adding a springboard one to take Archer off the apron before a Tiger feint kick caught Marik int he ropes.,
A cannonball off the apron wipes out Archer as a missile dropkick followed on Marik for a near-fall… with Rainer Ringer having been pulled out by someone. As everyone stood and stared, Marik rolled up Charisma… but Tassilo Jung slid in to count and also got pulled out of the ring.
Rather than call for DQs, they let things continue, with Archer tagging in to go for a Coup d’Etat… but he ends up swinging Charisma into Ringer. Charisma DDTs his way free, but Schenkenberg tags in and runs into a Codebreaker from Marik as things were going all Keystone Cops here… even more so when Robin Christopher Fohrwerk shoved Tassilo Jung aside in a tug of war for his cane.
Ringer stops Fohrwerk’s cane from going into the ring while Tassilo Jung ejected the manager… before low blows and duelling roll-ups led to both refs counting the pin as we were left with a draw. The way we got there was perhaps way too hectic and a touch too cute by the end, particularly since Schenkenberg and Marik were the legal men by the end (with Schenkenberg having scoring the fall), so I guess we’re heading towards a three-way tag at Carat? **¾
wXw 16 Carat Gold 2024 Qualifier: Mike D Vecchio vs. Leon Slater
This was technically Leon’s wXw debut, having worked the show with NORTH last year (where he defended the NORTH title against Peter Tihanyi).
Slater tried to charge though Mike D early, but the Belgian laughs off the shoulder tackles before Leon just picked the leg. Back up, we get wacky lucha leapfrogs and roll-throughs, then rapid pinning attempts before a handspring back elbow from Slater took Mike D outside… for a plancha.
Mike D’s rolled back inside as Slater looked to keep him on the deck, but Mike gets back up and chops Leon… then sent him into the air with a suplex toss. OH YES. A stalling suplex followed from Mike D, whose running back suplex gets countered as Leon hit back with a front kick before duelling springboards saw the pair crash into each other.
Mike D’s back to his feet first, and goes for Leon with a gutwrench… but Leon slips out and takes Mike D onto the apron for a front kick. He makes the crowd scatter as Slater goes for a dive, but Mike D walks away… and slides back in to avoid an over-the-corner dive, instead hitting a back suplex and a wicked lariat for a near-fall.
The incredulity continues as Mike D misses a shooting star press, but Slater’s diving leg lariat to the back of the head capitalises on it, as did a corkscrew suplex as Leon almost got the W. Something goes flying from Mike D’s mouth as he ate a running dropkick in the corner for a two-count, before Leon’s right hands kept Mike D woozy by the ropes.
Slater eats a right hand in return, knocking him down before the pace quickened, with Mike D’s rolling elbow leading to a springboard… but Slater counters in mid-air with a cutter! Heading up top, Leon rolls through a 450 splash, then folded Mike D in half with a leg lariat before a running dropkick was caught and turned into a spinning powerbomb for the win. This was a damned sprint of a match, and after having been put into Carat as a late sub last year, Mike D earned his way in with a fine win over a game Leon Slater. Run this one back any time, anywhere fellas… ****
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze vs. Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus (c)
Maze and Moodo were looking to become three-time champions – with Maze in particular trying to regain a title she wasn’t beaten for…
Dullnig and Maze start us off, but Hektor tags himself in, fed up with the posturing from his tag partner. Hektor shoves aside Maze from the opening lock-up, then took her into the corner before the pair bumped fists. If you know, you know. Maze returns the favour, but fakes out punching Hektor in the corner before she got waistlock’d to the mat.
A lucha roll-up gets Hektor a two-count as Maze struggled to get into gear, prompting Dullnig to tag in as he wanted to try his luck. Unfortunately for Dullnig, Moodo also got tagged in as they went back and forth with wristlocks and side headlocks for a spell. Kicks get Moodo ahead, while a back elbow and a leg sweep took Dullnig down for a two-count as Moodo looked to have things under control.
Hektor blind-tags himself in and hits a slingshot spear into Moodo for a two-count, before a dropkick led to another two-count after Moodo had escaped a chinlock. Dullnig’s back as a double back elbow and a legdrop keeps things ticking along for the champions. A brief fightback from Moodo led to tags as we go to Dullnig and Maze, but it’s Maze who struck the first shot, double-legging Dullnig before she laid into him with kicks that I swear someone had a rubber chicken to squeak along to.
A head kick from Maze nearly KO’s Dullnig, and Hektor’s attempt to make a save sees him run into a side suplex. Maze goes back after Dullnig with a diving knee for a two-count, before Maze got charged into the corner as Dullnig tried to escape a front facelock. It’s the wrong corner though, as Moodo tags in and helps pepper Dullnig with kicks on the way to a two-count.
Dullnig eventually finds his way back in with a wacky gutwrench into a gutbuster, but he can’t make the tag out as Moodo began to exchange quick tags with Maze and isolate Dullnig. A Pedigree’s escaped by Dullnig, who dove over to Hektor to clean house, dropping Moodo with a snap powerslam while Maze ate a spinebuster for good measure. Moodo’s German suplex is shrugged off as Hektor bounced back with a shotgun dropkick, before Maze barely broke up a cover from a 3D in time.
Moodo rolls away from the duelling Hektor-Knies as another turnaround was threatened, with Hektor taking a superkick-aided Pedigree for a near-fall. Hektor’s in trouble after that, as Maze and Moodo looked to sandwich him with kicks, but Hektor avoids it all and hits a swinging DDT on Moodo… who then ate the Hektor-Knies for the win. This was a heck of an outing – with no shenanigans from Moodo after recent shows… but it’s a definitive win that looks to put the former champions to the back of the line. ***½
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Aigle Blanc talking about Aigle’s recovery from the Käfigschlacht… and how he was meant to be facing Peter Tihanyi tonight. Unfortunately, Tihanyi’s unwell, and is going to be replaced by a mystery opponent. Aigle hopes Tihanyi gets well soon, and is ready for whoever’s up against him…
Aigle Blanc vs. Metehan
Replacing Tihanyi, this was Metehan’s first appearance for wXw since last August – when he lost a World Tag Team Festival qualifier at the Markthalle… and got greeted with chants of his former name.
Aigle’s handshake’s rebuffed as he ended up taking Metehan down to the mat in a hammerlock. A back elbow frees Metehan, who began to stomp away on Aigle ahead of a short-arm clothesline out of the corner. Things got a little testy as Metehan got shoved on his rear, before a lucha roll through from Aigle led to a gamengiri to take things into the corner.
Metehan’s draped across the rope as a back senton followed from Aigle, but Metehan’s able to strike his way back into the match… only to get clotheslined over the top rope and down to the floor. Aigle follows him outside for some chops, outsmarting Metehan’s attempts to strike back before Metehan found a way in as he whipped Aigle into the ring post.
Back inside, Metehan works over Aigle with a backbreaker, before a hard Irish whip bounces Aigle into the corner. Metehan stays on Aigle with a neck twist a la Zack Sabre Jr., while back-and-forth strikes ended with a gut shot from the former Carat winner. A neckbreaker nearly wins it for Metehan, who then found himself on the defensive as Aigle caught him with a sunset flip… only for Metehan to miss an elbow drop.
Aigle’s headscissors are caught and turned into a Boston crab from there, but Aigle powers free, then managed to stay ahead of Metehan before sneaking in with a Michinoku driver. There’s no pin attempt from there as Aigle pulled himself back up in the corner, before landing a springboard crossbody and a ripcord enziguiri en route to a corkscrew suplex for a near-fall.
Metehan pushes away from Aigle and powders outside… but he’s quickly caught with a tope as Aigle refused to let things lie. Unfortunately, a rapid lariat back inside looked to give Metehan an opening, but Aigle’s right back in with roll-ups, including a Skayde special, before another lariat almost took the win for Metehan.
Metehan heads into the corner and begins to untie a turnbuckle pad… he’s not stopped by the ref. Instead, Metehan throws the pad into the crowd, but Aigle avoids being run into the exposed corner as he’s instead thrown outside as Metehan resumed the focus on the lower back. Up on the apron, Aigle tries to hit a slam, but the pair flip back into the ring over the top rope, as Aigle instead found a way back in with a springboard Meteora to the back of the head.
Aigle’s able to get a two-count from that, before he got hung up in the ropes by Metehan. Another turnaround sees Aigle land the ‘rana driver through the ropes for a near-fall, before Aigle got knocked off the top rope after Metehan had baited him in. We’re back to back-and-forth strikes from there, before Aigle rolled through a German suplex attempt and eventually hit a Dragon suplex on Metehan.
Metehan begs off as Aigle looked to attack… but of course it’s a ruse as Metehan kicked out the knee, then began to go after the mask. As the ref told the ring announcer he’d issued a whopping €200 fine for that (inflation is real, folks), Metehan ran Aigle into the exposed corner… and was only able to get a two-count from it. In response, Metehan loosens his belt and threatens to whip Aigle with it… but Aigle caught the belt, only to get his eyes raked as a roll-up almost got the win for Metehan.
Aigle remained on the defensive as he ate a clothesline in the corner, before he stopped Metehan with a corkscrew superplex… before a 450 splash ended with Metehan grabbing the bottom rope in the nick of time. Out of nowhere, Metehan nails Aigle with Nazar… but he can’t make the cover, and ends up trying for another Boston crab. Aigle rolls free, sending Metehan into the exposed corner, before a clothesline and the Desert Eagle – Shingo’s Last of the Dragon – finally got the win. Last year I was really cooling off on Metehan, but his outing here was like rolling back the clock at times. This did start to feel a little long in the tooth by the end though, as Aigle picked up another scalp to build up momentum going into Carat. ***½
AMBOSS (Robert Dreissker, Laurance Roman & Icarus) vs. Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima) & Shigehiro Irie
Irie was the mystery partner, which led to quite a smorgasbord here, and that’s just the line-up opposite AMBOSS!
This was OSKAR’s return to wXw – and his debut in Hamburg – which was quite the 1-2 punch. It’s Irie and Icarus starting us off, with a headbutt from Irie knocking Icarus down from the start ahead of a slam and the slingshot splash, which might well have been named the “Auf die Fresse splash.”
Laurence Roman tags in to save Icarus’ skin, but he too gets cracked with a headbutt before an attempt at the Burning Nail was easily countered into a delayed back body drop and a sit-out splash for a two-count. It’s all looking too easy for Irie here, with an incensed Dreissker watching on from the apron. Roman knocks OSKAR off the apron, but it’s Yuto Nakashima who tags in and charges down Roman ahead of some kicks into the corner as AMBOSS were really stalling here.
Nakashima’s suplex is escaped as Roman rakes the eyes, before he took Yuto into the corner… and tagged in Dreissker, who was more than happy to put the boot in. Yuto squares up to Dreissker, trading blows before he was taken into the corner with a suplex for a two-count, before Yuto shrugged off a shoulder tackle and went nose-to-nose with the champion again.
Back-and-forth forearms eventually got Yuto free as he tagged in OSKAR… and the crowd got LOUD for that faceoff. OSKAR swats Icarus and Roman off the apron, but Dreissker’s quickly back to the past as a headlock takedown saw him try to school his returning foe. Getting back up, see-saw shoulder tackles end with a leaping dropkick from OSKAR, before Yuto was tagged back in as Young Blood double-teamed Dreissker in the corner.
A bodyslam from OSKAR drops Dreissker for a two-count, before a distraction from Icarus allowed Dreissker to blindside Nakashima… then take him into the corner as AMBOSS swarmed him. Roman tags in as he continued to rough up Yuto, aided by the knees of Icarus as a front suplex onto the Hungarian’s knees almost led to the win.
Icarus distracts the referee as Dreissker again put the boots to Yuto, this time from the apron. Roman’s back with shoulder charges… while Dreissker came in for more of the same as AMBOSS had Yuto trapped in the corner for a mugging. Dreissker even finds time to antagonise Irie before he grounded Yuto with a side headlock.
Yuto tries to break free, but Icarus and Roman charge the ring to clear the apron… then picked up Yuto for a suplex, only for it to be reversed. That bought Nakashima time to tag in Irie, who was going all Honma on the apron… and he’s all about the headbutts! A piledriver from Irie sees him dump Icarus onto Roman as AMBOSS again looked to be in trouble… but Dreissker slides in to break up Irie’s pin.
Irie and Dreissker square off and trade blows from there, leading to a cannonball that Dreissker manages to avoid as AMBOSS then went after Irie. The crowd’s chanting for their local lad OSKAR as Roman had Irie in a chinlock, and wouldn’t you know it, OSKAR’s raring to go! Irie’s again swarmed in the corner ahead of an Icarus dropkick for a near-fall, while Roman came in to kick Irie in the back – and we continue to build to the inevitable from OSKAR.
Roman’s forearms start to have little effect as Irie hit back with a Bossman slam… but Roman’s able to tag in Dreissker, who clears the opposite apron, before a back body drop from Irie took the champion down. There’s nobody on his apron to tag in though… so Irie stays on Dreissker with clattering clotheslines, only for Dreissker to squash him with a springboard crossbody out of the corner.
Irie’s back up though, and hits a flurry of strikes on Dreissker ahead of double lariat as Irie went for the Beast Bomber. Hey, OSKAR’s back up on the apron… and that pop when OSKAR tagged in! OSKAR cleans house on Icarus, then on Roman as a sidewalk slam took down Lauri. Off comes the t-shirt as a back suplex lays out Icarus, before Yuto tagged in to hit a flying knee on OSKAR’s Michinoku driver… and that’s enough to get the win! This was a hell of a bit of business for the main event, with OSKAR being the most popular figure on the entire show… hey, absence really does make the heart grow fonder, eh? ***¾
wXw returns Saturday night in Bielefeld for a We Love Wrestling show including two 16 Carat Gold qualification tournaments, and a one-off qualification match for Baby Allison – that too will be “near-live” on wXwNOW.
Dead End was a night marked by two Carat qualifiers and two surprises, Dead End built from wXw’s strong start to the year with another cracker of a show – and with one (taped) show left before Carat, things really do seem to be simmering nicely as Robert Dreissker’s chickens seem to be on their way home to roost.