We’re not even a week removed from Carat, and wXw’s back on the road to Frankfurt for Dead End.
Quick Results
Absolute Andy submitted Jurn Simmons in 8:02 (**¾)
Sasa Keel & Kim Ray pinned The Rotation & Miguel Ramirez in 8:54 (**¼)
Da Mack pinned Aaron Insane in 6:50 (**½)
Axel Tischer pinned Axel Dieter Jr. in 13:35 (***¼)
Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt defeated Peter & Lucas di Leo via disqualification in 11:05 – French Flavour retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship (**½)
Shanna pinned Melanie Gray in 8:58 (**¾)
Big Daddy Walter & John Klinger pinned Tyler Bate & Karsten Beck and Tommy End & Michael Dante 18:10 (***½)
This is the kind of turnaround that you wouldn’t get in wXw these days – at least, in terms of going from a named event to another named event. It’s the first (and so far, only) time the Batschkapp has hosted a Dead End…
Absolute Andy vs. Jurn Simmons
We open with yay/boo stuff as Jurn wasn’t getting the better of it… particularly as Andy was conducting the crowd’s reactions.
It led to Jurn blindsiding Andy in the corner, before Andy began to bounce Jurn around with clotheslines in return. Chops and a back body drop have Simmons flying, while a stalling suplex looked to have Jurn in trouble. At least until he grabbed referee Tassilo Jung to block a superkick – then attacked a distracted Andy.
A suplex from Jurn keeps the turnaround going, before Andy hit back with a series of shoulder blocks off the ropes. Jurn cuts him of with a DDT though, then resumed his offence, bouncing Andy hard into the turnbuckles. In response, Andy scores a leaping clothesline after he was sent into the ropes… then the atomic drop and Manhattan drop combo… before more shoulder tackles took Jurn down.
An Absolute Knee drops Jurn for a near-fall, before Jurn slipped out of a F5 and hit back with a uranage takedown. Andy tries for the F5 again, but has more luck with a spinebuster, before the F5 landed for a near-fall. From there, Andy’s superkick is blocked… but he’s able to take down Jurn for a Sharpshooter for the submission. **¾
Keel Holding (Kim Ray & Sasa Keel) vs. Miguel Ramirez & The Rotation
Ramirez is a new name and face to me – according to Cagematch, this was his 8th outing for wXw, with the Austrian having mostly worked for them in Mannheim.
Ramirez and Ray start us off, with Ramirez escaping a wristlock before he got charged down off the ropes. Hiptosses go a bit weird as Ramirez backs away, before tags brought us to Rotation and Keel… with Keel’s attempt to blindside Ramirez backfiring, as he hung himself up in the ropes with Rotation taking him outside.
A plancha from Rotation’s caught by Keel, but Ramirez tries to make the save with what felt like the world’s slowest headscissors off the apron. Keel and Kim get themselves wound up with the streamers that had been thrown for Absolute Andy earlier, so they lose track of Rotation… at least until he hit a moonsault into them.
Back inside, Ramirez tries to slam Keel, but to no avail… Rotation tags in and hits dropkicks as Keel’s trapped in the corner. There’s one for Kim Ray too as he tried to intervene, before Rotation went up for the Victory Over Gravity on Keel. Kim distracts, allowing Keel to blast Rotation with a clothesline… a bodyslam follows for a two-count for Sasa, before a Karelin-lift suplex drew a similar result.
Ray tags in as Rotation’s kept isolated, but referee Tassilo Jung refuses to count after Ray had choked Rotation in the corner. A single kick apparently changes things, leading to a two-count, before Keel returned to charge down Rotation. Ray returns to keep things going, kicking Rotation between the ropes before he took too long following up.
Rotation manages to get back in it with a leg lariat to Ray, before he tagged out to Ramirez… Kim’s met with some tiltawhirl headscissors, while Keel ran into a dropkick to the knee. Ramirez’s small package gets him a two-count, before Rotation tagged in and tried – and failed – move Keel with an Irish whip. Instead, Keel hurls Rotation with a belly-to-belly into the Vijak… and that’s enough to get the win in a match that felt very rough around the edges. **¼
Aaron Insane vs. Da Mack
Mack seemingly challenged Insane to a gauntlet before the match, slapping him with a sparkly glove…
Insane has Mack in the corner early on, before Insane clung to the ropes as Mack threatened a dropkick after a couple of leapfrogs. A leapfrog and some headscissors have Insane down, while armdrags keep Mack in front, ahead of more headscissors that took Insane to the outside.
Mack tries for a plancha, but Insane just yanks him down to the floor… back inside, a slam and an elbow drop gets Insane a two-count. A tiltawhirl slam keeps Insane ahead, before Mack slipped… but still managed to hit a springboard roundhouse off the top rope. Again, Insane powders outside, so Mack follows with a springboard bodypress… then tool Insane back in for a two-count.
A Rough Ryder from Insane almost wins him the match out of nowhere, before the Mack Magic cutter ended up getting Mack the win. **½
Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Axel Tischer
Tischer’s farewell tour rolled on here – he’d still be around until the end of the month, as we had a rematch from Ambition. This time, headbutts are legal!
Tischer scores with a waistlock takedown early on, before Junior’s headlock takedown was quickly neutralised with some headscissors. A reversed knuckle lock forces Junior into action as the pair continued to go hold-for-hold, leading to Junior’s bridging hammerlock on the mat.
Junior’s offence is quickly stuffed when Tischer threw him down with an arm lift, then rolled up Junior for a two-count, before Junior landed on his feet from a monkey flip, then triggered some see-saw pinning attempts between the two Axels. An enziguiri from Junior’s cartwheeled away from, before Axeman ran into an uppercut, allowing Junior to pick up a two-count.
Tischer lifts Junior onto the apron, but can’t avoid a gamengiri… he does catch Junior on the buckles, then brought him down with a belly-to-belly of sorts for a two-count. A suplex keeps Tischer ahead, with referee Tobias Gerold making a two-count before Tischer tried to ground Junior with a chinlock.
Junior fights free, but is quickly dumped down with a bodyslam as a knee drop proceeded to get another two-count for Tischer. In return, Junior shook off a big boot as he almost wins with an uppercut, while an overhead belly-to-belly suplex led to another near-fall. An attempt at the Landungsbrücke is fought off by Tischer, who adds another front kick to things ahead of a Ligerbomb… which is blocked when Junior got to the corner and countered with a Blockbuster instead.
A roll-up from Tischer sees him try to snatch the win amid a strike exchange, before Junior rushed back in with an enziguiri. Elbows looked to set up for a second Blockbuster, but Tischer pulls him down off the top rope, before he stacked up Junior with a Ligerbomb for the win. ***¼
Post-match, we’ve another farewell speech from the Axeman – it’d be six and a half years before he’d be back here.
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Prost (Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt) vs. French Flavour (Lucas Di Leo & Peter Fischer) (c)
French Flavour’s had a lot of rather unedifying DQ losses as of late… and this was the first time Blunt had been seen in wXw since Back to the Roots.
Di Leo and Schwarz get us going, but Blunt hits the ring as he saw Fischer do the same… it distracts the ref, who misses Fischer sneaking in a gut punch to Schwarz. Fischer tries the same trick, but the roles reverse as Tassilo Jung stops him… allowing Blunt to hit the gut punch.
Third time wasn’t the charm as Fischer snuck in and had his hand stomped on by Schwarz, who came in with a double clothesline to take the French lads out. Tags bring in Fischer and Blunt, allowing Toby to hit some headscissors and a neckbreaker for a two-count, before di Leo’s attempt to save Fischer from being run into the corner… led to Blunt just kicking him away.
All four men end up in the ring as French Flavour were more like Keystone Cops as they were being bounced around by their challengers. Things recover as di Leo has Schwarz cornered with uppercuts, before he baited Blunt into the ring to mask some more double-teaming. This playbook’s pretty straightforward, huh?
Schwarz rebounds with a shoulder tackle and a wacky legdrop-aided sidewalk slam to Fischer for a near-fall, before Fisher just bounced Blunt into the top rope. Di Leo’s back in to pick up the pieces, clotheslining Blunt for a two-count, before Fischer pulled Schwarz off the apron to stop Blunt from making a tag out.
Fischer spits towards Schwarz, providing cover for more double-teaming behind the ref’s back. An inside cradle gets Blunt a two-count against the run of play, while a sunset flip helped him get free and make the tag out to Schwarz, who dumped di Leo with a Rhein-Ruhr-Schwinger… while a fallaway slam sent Fischer skyward.
Di Leo stops Schwarz from the Schicht im Schacht, while Blunt saves Schwarz from a double-suplex… then leapt off of Schwarz’s back for a double clothesline. A sidewalk slam/neckbreaker combo gets Schwarz a near-fall, before Fischer ended things with a low blow in front of the referee for the obvious DQ. Yup. I can imagine me watching this in 2015 would have been equally as thrilled with this run as I am today… **½
Post-match, Fischer and di Leo attack Prost some more, before they left Schwarz laying under the Tricolore… at least until Schwarz rose up and hit a double Schicht im Schacht chokeslam to the champions, then celebrated with the German flag and the tag titles.
Melanie Gray vs. Shanna
The debuting Shanna is the touring opponent for Melanie Gray this time around, and the crowd weren’t exactly keen on Melzi this time out.
Gray pie-faces Shanna to start, but got rolled up for an early two-count as Shanna tried to catch her unawares. Shanna baseball slides and trips up Gray, following up with a Shining Wizard for another two-count, but a crossbody off the middle rope’s caught and turned into a swinging side slam instead.
Gray takes off Shanna’s arm bands and spits on one of them… before she choked Shanna with the other while the ref was taking an inordinately long time to get rid of things. Shanna tries to make a comeback, but gets charged down ahead of a bodyslam from Gray.
From there, Gray ties Shanna’s arms behind her back with her own armband, which the referee just stood and watched happen as Gray threw some slaps… and mockingly offered herself a free strike. Instead, Shanna hit back with a headbutt and some kicks as the referee finally untied her.
Shanna’s comeback continued with back elbows off the ropes, then a dropkick, which was good for a two-count, before a wheelbarrow bulldog led to another near-fall. Gray shrugs off a head kick to drop Shanna with a powerbomb, but that too only gets a two-count before a superplex attempt was countered… Shanna pushes Gray into a Tree of Woe, adding a double stomp off the top, but it’s still not enough.
After the kick-out, Shanna comes in with a stunner for a near-fall, before a crossbody off the top – dubbed the Perfect Press – finally got the win. **¾
Die Kampagne für eine Bessere wXw (Karsten Beck & Tyler Bate) vs. The Sumerian Death Squad (Michael Dante & Tommy End) vs. Big Daddy Walter & John Klinger
This was dubbed the Contender’s Clash – something that was set up by Vince Russo on an episode of Shotgun (which, at time of writing, isn’t available to watch). Basically, whoever gets the pin here gets a shot at Karsten Beck – but if Beck wins, there’s no title shots for anyone involved here.
Walter and Beck start us off, but of course, Karsten backs into the ropes and tagged in Tyler Bate to take his spot. Hey, there’s a singles match down the road… Walter’s almost derisive of Bate, who catches him from behind before Walter returned with a big boot – think of it as a belated 18th birthday present, eh?
A slam and a sit-out splash gets Walter a two-count, before he chopped John Klinger to tag him in. There’s dissension between those two for… reasons. Klinger and Walter take turns chopping Tyler, with increasing ferocity, before a dropkick from Klinger took Tyler down. Walter’s back to hit a single-leg dropkick as the Sumerian Death Squad were just spectators in their corner.
A suplex drops Bate from there, before Klinger came in to hit a Kitchen sink knee… then a suplex of his own. Bate manages to sneak in, hotshotting Klinger into the ropes, before he brought in Beck to try and capitalise, choking Klinger in the ropes. Tyler’s back to get a two-count from some elbow drops, while a hammerlock by the ropes was eventually broken… because Tyler kept grabbing the ropes for leverage.
Beck’s back as Klinger was getting worn down, at least until the former Shotgun champion took down Beck with a neckbreaker. Beck had knocked Walter off the apron, so Klinger’s only able to tag in a Dutchman… with Tommy End coming in to kick the living daylights out of Karsten. Beck scarpers, allowing Tyler to blindside End, which in turn let Beck take over with some eye rakes and a knee drop back inside.
Bate returns to get a two-count from a dropkick, before a double underhook suplex from Beck drew a two-count. End and Dante finally hit back, catching Beck on the top rope… but it took Walter to spark off the Tower of Doom, powerbombing End and Dante ahead of a double suplex… before Tyler Bate used Klinger as a Terry Funk ladder amid an airplane spin. Tyler’s dizzied so much he accidentally airplane spins Beck, before everyone ganged up on Bate.
A tope from Klinger wipes out Dante on the outside after he’d evaded a knee strike from End… before Bate came in to attack End from behind. I’ve lost track of who’s legal, but at this point I don’t think it matters. Dante’s back to blindside Bate after an Orihara moonsault from End… before Bate’s flying uppercut off the middle rope picked up a near-fall. Klinger’s back to try and go for a Shadow Driver, but has more luck with a Decapitation kick for a near-fall.
End took care of Klinger with a rear spin kick… but then almost lost to a roll-up from Beck, who then added a Doctor Bomb for a near-fall. Dante avoids a mule kick low blow from Beck, but Walter’s in to break up the cover. Bate and Beck double-team Walter in the corner, before Walter fought free with a shotgun dropkick. Klinger adds a missile dropkick to Beck, before Beck and Bate ate a powerbomb and over-the-knee buster respectively for a pair of near-falls.
The Sumerian Death Squad break up the pin before they looked to put a dent in Beck and Bate. End’s double-teamed en route to a German suplex from Bate for a two-count… Klinger’s in to go after Tyler again, catching a springboard fireman’s carry and turning it into a death valley driver amid a big ol’ Parade of Moves… ending with Klinger spearing End through the ropes to the outside, as Walter was left alone to powerbomb Tyler for the win. This one got a little too tornado-taggy for my liking towards the end, with tags just being cosmetic, but this was a good main event as wXw repositioned Walter back into the title hunt. ***½
Overall, Dead End was a pretty mixed bag of a show – with the Axeman/Junior match standing out in the midcard alongside the main event of what was otherwise pretty skippable fare.