Mike D finally got his shot at Shigehiro Irie as the Belgian looked to leave Oberhausen with the gold.
Quick Results
Julia, JC Storm & Calypso pinned Ruthless Lala, Devlyn Macabre & Michelle Green in 9:04 (***)
Tristan Archer pinned Peter Tihanyi in 14:47 (***½)
Fast Time Moodo pinned Aliss Ink in 6:20 (**¾)
The Rotation, Anil Marik & Elijah Blum pinned Griffin McCoy, Matt Quay & Michael Mistretta in 9:50 (***)
Norman Harras beat Levaniel in a Strap Match in 13:30 (**¾)
Laurance Roman pinned Patrick Bork to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 6:48 (***)
Baby Allison pinned Maggot, Metehan & Aigle Blanc in 12:18 (***)
Bobby Gunns & Michael Knight defeated Dover & Icarus by 2 falls to 1 in 10:19 to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship (***¼)
Shigehiro Irie pinned Mike D Vecchio in 14:06 to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship (***¾)
Robert Dreissker pinned Shigehiro Irie in 1:51 to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de
First up, we’ve got the now-traditional Fight Forever pre-show match:
Calypso, Julia & JC Storm vs. Michelle Green, Devlyn Macabre & Ruthless Lala
Storm, Macabre and Lala were over as part of a wider European tour – with Lala and Storm in particular coming over from CZW…
Calypso and Green start us off as their appeals to the crowd eventually broke down into side headlocks and a charge into the corner. A suplex from Calypso leads to tags as Macabre and Storm came in, with Storm’s satellite headscissors into a roll-up getting a two-count.
Storm replies with a clothesline and a springboard armdrag, before Ruthless Lala tagged herself in. Julia’s in too, but she has trouble with Lala, eventually dropkicking her into the corner before running into a back elbow. Julia heads up top and lands a missile dropkick for barely a one-count, as Lala returned with a double-handed chop and a back senton she’s called the Breathalyzer. Macabre tags herself in, breaking Lala’s momentum… but was able to take down Julia with a clothesline as there looked to be some dissension in that particular team. Storm tagged in behind their backs and hit a tornillo off the top rope, only for Macabre to take her down moments later to pick up a two-count.
Green traps Storm in the corner as Lala threw in some body blows behind the ref’s back, which led to a Macabre hip attack and face-washing boot. Green’s in to add a clothesline to the back of Storm for a two-count, before Storm fought back with a cutter for just a one-count.
Calypso’s back in as we’re quickly amid a Parade of Moves, leading to a Shining Wizard from Macabre to Julia… but JC Storm runs in to knock Macabre into Lala as those two continued to have arguments. Macabre cowers from a Storm strike, but ends up taking a DDT onto the edge of the ring as Calypso followed up by diving into Green and Macabra on the outside. Back inside, Julia tagged in as Lala’s lariat ended up taking out Calypso. Lala’s celebrations are cut short by Julia’s Sugar Rush satellite DDT… and that’s enough for Julia to get the win in what was a pretty solid trios match to introduce the wider wXw crowd to Julia. ***
We’re back at the Turbinenhalle for wXw’s latest marquee event – but first, we’re backstage in the AMBOSS locker room as Robert Dreissker’s got a bee in his bonnet. He’s upset with how commentary’s making fun of how “the AMBOSS way” has become shorthand for cheating… so Laurance Roman and the Arrows of Hungary will be defending their titles tonight without anyone else from AMBOSS present. So the likes of us can shut our mouths…
Cue titles, cue Dään Jokisch as ring announcer, cue that funky music, and cue Dave Bradshaw on commentary.
Peter Tihanyi vs. Tristan Archer
Tihanyi’ll be resuming his best-of-five series against Axel Tischer after wXw’s summer break… so Tristan Archer’s the perfect opponent as he looks to keep himself sharp.
Archer looked to control the pace in the opening stages, as the pair traded holds, but it’s Tihanyi who had Archer grounded with a side headlock. Archer took offence at a Tihanyi fan, distracting himself as a dropkick and a clothesline took the Frenchman outside… only for Archer to pull Tihanyi outside and into the ring post. Tihanyi manages to regain the upper hand with some chops on the outside, before Archer’s punch to the jaw saw him cheapshot the Hungarian. A side Russian legsweep throws TIhanyi into the side of the ring, while a Tiger feint kick led to another right hand from the former champion.
A delayed suplex from the floor sees Archer dump Tihanyi on the ring apron… back inside, a short-arm clothesline keeps Tihanyi down for a two-count, while a pull-up Saito suplex out of the corner kept Archer ahead. Headbutts follow from Archer for another two-count, as the cobra clutch-like hold then tried to force a submission. Once more, Tihanyi elbows his way out, but a Kitchen sink knee spun Tihanyi down ahead of a backbreaker for a near-fall. Tihanyi’s able to buy some time as he got his knees up to block a back senton, following up with a leaping forearm and a swinging DDT off the ropes for a near-fall.
Things get a little closer with an enziguiri and an Asai DDT from Tihanyi, before a push-down stomp caught Tihanyi through the ropes. Archer follows up with a sit-down Dominator for a near-fall, before Tihanyi surprised Archer by grabbing a rear naked choke out of nowhere. Archer refuses to submit, as he instead crawled into the ropes and onto the apron to force the break. On the apron, the pair trade strikes until Archer got caught with an Asai DDT onto the side of the ring… before Tihanyi returned to the ring and went for a slingshot cutter. Archer pulls the referee into harm’s way, before snatching the win with a roll-up and a big handful of trunks – exactly the kind of veteran tactics that Tihanyi needs to be wise to when the Tischer series resumes! ***½
Post-match, Archer blindsides Tihanyi and laid him out with a Coup d’Etat…
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Shigehiro Irie… he’s learned some more German, and promises to take the title back to Japan with him after today. Everyone’s been brushing up on their Duolingo, it seems!
Fast Time Moodo vs. Aliss Ink
This was Aliss’ first match in wXw since the 16 Carat Gold Revenge show at the end of March…
We open with a handshake as Ink tries to take off Moodo’s head with a Dragon’s Tail at the bell… Moodo evades as the pair then looked to score with head kicks. They caught each other’s kick and reset, before a tijeras from Ink took Moodo into the corner ahead if a snapmare and running Meteora for a two-count. Moodo finds a way back in with a head kick that sent Ink down into the corner, while a chop aimed at the head took Aliss down. A release German suplex sends Ink flying into the corner as the Turbinenhalle gasped in unison, before a butterfly suplex drew a two-count. Ink tries to stem the tide with some kicks, before an attempted tornado DDT ended up as a regular DDT in the middle of the ring.
Ink goes for a Dragon’s Tail, but Moodo sweeps the leg instead before a knee trembler and a Made in Japan almost got him the win… Ink tries a roll-up but couldn’t keep Moodo down, before she kicked Moodo in the leg to avoid a Black Belt Kick. Duelling head kicks follow as the pair crashed to the mat, but it’s Moodo who’s able respond first, rolling over at the count of 8 as he got an arm onto Ink, enough to get a cover as Tassilo Jung made the three-count. This was fine for the time they had, with a few things not landing as you’d expect, but Moodo putting a little extra aggression on stuff here really made things stand out. **¾
We get a video from Ava Everett as she updated us on her defences of the wXw women’s title in America… and told us of her designs on winning extra gold, by challenging Delmi Exo for her MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship. It’ll be title versus title if Ava gets her way, and I can sense Dave Bradshaw vomiting a little at the “Y-2-Undisputie” nickname she’s coining…
Griffin McCoy, Matt Quay & Michael Mistretta vs. The Rotation, Anil Marik & Elijah Blum
This was billed as CZW vs. wXw, with McCoy, Quay and Mistretta part of a troupe of CZW guys who were over in Europe… however, the real story was the return of The Rotation after a year out injured, and my word, that pop warmed the heart.
Quay and Marik start us off… except Michael Mistretta tagged himself in at the bell. Mistretta didn’t exactly do well to start as Quay tagged in and began shaking hands with the wXw crew… he has a bit more luck with Marik, only to get caught with some armdrags and a dropkick into the corner. Marik’s caught with a bicycle knee as Quay fought back, as tags bring in Elijah Blum and Mistretta again… Mistretta’s uppercut took Blum into the corner, before Elijah returned with some clotheslines. Griffin McCoy runs in from behind to stop Blum tagging in the Rotation, as the CZW lads began to isolate Blum in their corner.
McCoy’s kick downed Blum for a two-count, before Quay tagged in to capitalise on the cornered Blum… stopping to ruffle his mullet as he went. Quay’s kicked away though as Blum scored with a neckbreaker… but was again stopped from tagging in the Rotation as Mistretta and McCoy pulled Blum’s partners off of the apron. A hesitation dropkick from McCoy in the corner’s good for a near-fall, before Mistretta came in and grounded Blum with a chinlock… Mistretta lets go so he could take shots again, before Blum caught him with a back body drop. McCoy charges in to stop that tag to the Rotation, before Blum’s double DDT to Mistretta and McCoy finally allowed him to make the tag.
Cue the Rotation and a bunch of dropkicks, as he then chopped McCoy into the corner ahead of a running dropkick and a satellite DDT for good measure. Mistretta breaks up the cover from that, before he ragdolled Rotation with a Saito suplex as we began a Parade of Moves. Mistretta eats a Parting Gift, while Quay came in to drop Blum with his Fix Your Mullet (an ushigoroshi). Marik takes care of Quay with a Codebreaker, while McCoy’s strikes led to a clothesline on Blum. McCoy heads up top as he almost ate you-know-what leaping into the pile – and almost into the front row too. That wiped out McCoy’s own team as well, allowing Rotation to capitalise, but he got hung up in the ropes on a flip-senton… he has more luck with a moonsault off the top rope, before he rolled McCoy back in to hit the Victory Over Gravity for the win. ***
We get a video package ahead of our next match, recapping Norman Harras’ rivalry with Levaniel…
Strap Match: Levaniel vs. Norman Harras
We’re running under the old-school “touch all four corners” rules.
Harras eventually gets strapped up as we began with a tug of war that ended with Norman slapping two corners early on, only for Levaniel to knock him into the ropes. Norman rolls outside, but he’s dragged back onto the apron as Levaniel then tried to suplex him in. Instead, Harras climbs back inside of his own volition as he knocked the former champion down, landing a back elbow before Harras went back to touching the turnbuckles. Levaniel uses the strap to catch Norman low after he hit two buckles, then spun him down as it was time for some whipping. From there, Levaniel spins Harras around and threw him outside, but the strap comes off of Norman’s wrist… so we stop and wait for the strap to be reattached.
Levaniel pounces on Norman, suplexing him back into the ring before Levaniel was pulled into the ropes as he was doing some turnbuckle touching. The pair scrap outside, with Harras ducking as Levaniel tried to whip him by the ring post… before he threw Levaniel into a dividing wall with some gusto. Norman misses another whipping attempt as the pair headed towards the entrance ramp… which is where Harras landed on a suplex. Metehan appears on the stage to distract Levaniel, allowing Harras to pull Levaniel into the ring post… from there, Harras places Levaniel onto the ring apron for a leg drop, before he began to whip Levaniel with the strap. Norman’s turnbuckle-touching again, but Levaniel stops him at three before he charged Norman into the corner… now that could have been counted as the final touch, but referee Alex Schneider’s not calling it, as Norman then charged out of the corner with a European uppercut.
A back body drop from Levaniel frees him the pair go back to the strikes… another distraction from Metehan’s shrugged off as Harras and Levaniel then went for their finishers. Levaniel’s lariat takes both men down, before more distraction from Metehan allowed Harras to choke out Levaniel with the strap. That strap’s used as Levaniel broke free, pulling Harras off the top rope before he used the strap in a crossface, mocking one of Metehan’s moves in the process. From there, Levaniel starts going for the corners, stopping so he could carry Norman on his back as he marched around the ring… but Harras is touching the pads as well, and since we’re not doing “four unbroken corners in a row,” you can see where this ends – with Harras slipping out of the Fireman’s carry before he raked the eye and dove into the final corner for the win. This particular feud isn’t doing it for me, and the strap match rules were always going to limit things… Metehan’s sort-of involvement now brings him closer to the centre of the Levaniel storyline, as I guess things will head that way? **¾
Post-match, Levaniel attacks a gloating Harras, throwing him into a crossface until referees separated the pair.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Patrick Bork vs. Laurance Roman (c)
This was Bork’s first wrestling match – if you don’t consider his win at Ambition a wrestling match, that is.
Roman started by going for the arm and wrist of Bork, who fought his way free before landing an armdrag. An armbar keeps Roman down, but Roman makes it to the ropes… then used a handful of hair to throw Bork down as the referee was badly positioned. A big shoulder tackle barges down Bork, who came back with another series of armdrags, while a hiptoss kept Roman rocked. Roman elbows away a waistlock as he proceeded to chop Bork into the corner… Bork returned with some body blows to knock Roman into the buckles, before Roman’s elbow shot to the kidneys rocked Bork.
Bork’s launched into the corner with an Irish whip, before a suplex out of the corner drew a two-count as Roman upped the aggression. A stalling suplex adds a two-count, before Bork managed to carve himself an opening with some strikes. Clotheslines followed ahead of an overhead belly-to-belly suplex… then a German suplex that bridged for a near-fall for Bork. An ankle lock from Bork’s countered as Roman rolled him into the ropes, before he quickly came back with the atomic drop lift into a facebuster for the win. This was largely one-way – save for Bork’s brief flurry of offence at the end – as Laurance Roman recorded another successful defence. Not quite a flop for Bork, but this certainly didn’t have the buzz of his Ambition debut in March. ***
“Earlier today,” Dan Mallmann interviewed Baby Allison about the upcoming four-way match… but he’s more interested in what’s going on between her and Maggot. Of course, that’s the cue for Maggot to appear and interrupt, saying the most important thing was they worked as a team to make sure neither of them lost and got the number one spot. That rubbed Allison up the wrong way, noting that Maggot was teaming with Psycho Mike at World Tag Team Festival before she stormed off…
Maggot vs. Metehan vs. Aigle Blanc vs. Baby Allison
There’s Shortcut to the Top ramifications here – whoever wins gets the number 30 shot, while the person who’s pinned or submitted has to go in at number one…
Baby Allison wanted no part of any tandem with Maggot early on, as Metehan attacked Aigle Blanc from behind… those two scrapped while Allison and Maggot debated. Metehan’s thrown outside by Maggot, but we quickly end up with Allison and Aigle left in the ring… Allison added a missile dropkick after landing a Thesz press, but it’s only enough for a one-count as Metehan waited to pick his spot. Allison’s shoulder charge misses as she sends herself sailing through the corner to the outside… in comes Maggot, who eats an uppercut in the corner from Aigle, before Metehan came in and kicked away a back body drop. A stomp to the foot, then a low dropkick has Aigle in the ropes, before Maggot’s downed with a body blow as Metehan stopped to pose over his fallen foes.
Maggot gets up to put himself between Allison and Metehan, but Aigle Blanc’s missile dropkick cleared the ring… before he went for a full nelson on Metehan. Allison sneaks in a Scorpion kick on the apron, but another switcheroo led to Metehan almost winning with a roll-up. An Eye of the Hurricane drops Aigle as Maggot returned to take his shots… we switch around to Allison’s Saito suplex to Aigle Blanc for a near-fall, before Aigle’s twisting suplex sent Allison to the outside. Aigle followed up on that with a tope con giro into the trio, before a Meteora to the back of Metehan almost got the Frenchman the win. A 450 splash connects for a near-fall as Maggot and Allison broke up the pin. All four stay in the ring as every took their turn on Metehan, bouncing him around with strikes before Maggot accidentally caught Aigle Blanc with a kick.
Things implode from there as Aigle fought back, only to get caught with a lariat from Metehan for a near-fall. Allison breaks the pin, then tested Metehan’s resolve to never hit a woman… he instead pushes Allison out of the corner as Aigle Blanc came charging in. Maggot comes in with a spear to Metehan, before he back body dropped Aigle Blanc onto Metehan for good measure. Ground and pound from Maggot looked to put the former Shotgun champion in the driver’s seat, as Allison finally got involved with a spear to Aigle, a spinning DDT to Metehan, before Aigle and Metehan got clotheslined to the outside. From there, Allison hugged Maggot… only to catch him off guard with a bridging backslide for the win. This one didn’t quite stick the landing, but kept the Maggot/Allison story going as Maggot again can’t stay focused… ***
Best Two Out Of Three Falls for wXw World Tag Team Championship: Only Friends (Bobby Gunns & Michael Knight) vs. Arrows Of Hungary (Dover & Icarus) (c)
We’re back to the original Only Friends music – namely, Bobby’s theme – as they looked to win tag team gold here.
Icarus attacked Bobby Gunns on the apron at the start of the match… distracting Knight as the Arrows blitzed him the Alabama slam/kick combo and a Crossfire to go 1-0 up after just thirty seconds. Bloody hell, lads. That looked to have laid out Knight, who Gunns dragged into the corner so he could tag in. Gunns runs wild with clotheslines to Icarus as Knight was still laid out on the side of the ring… Dover’s intervention is shrugged off as Gunns hit a flying European uppercut, then a bridging German suplex for a two-count thanks to a break-up from Dover. A clothesline takes care of Dover, as Gunns then turned around into a cross-chop from Icarus, who kicked the stricken Knight off the apron as he proceeded to hit Gunns with a suplex.
Dover’s in to slam Gunns for a two-count, while Icarus began to prod Gunns with some kicks to the head. Dover’s back to knock Knight off the apron as he’d pulled himself up… but Gunns capitalises with a roll-up to level the score at 5:48. The Arrows argue after that, leading to Icarus tagging himself in as Gunns unloaded with an enziguiri… only to get low bridged to the outside by a pissed-off Dover. Gunns gets rolled back in for Icarus to pick up a near-fall, before Icarus’ pop-up powerbomb almost got the win. Dover heads towards the timekeeper’s table and comes back with one of the tag title belts… he’s caught red handed as Gunns ended up fighting off both of the Arrows before he made the tag out to a recovered Michael Knight.
Knight clears house as he bulldogged Dover onto Icarus, before a double Sliced Bread almost led to the title change. Icarus saves Dover from an ushigoroshi, but the Arrows looked to be slipping as Gunns returned to hit an assisted German suplex. Dover’s back with the title belt, but his belt shot misses as Knight instead dove onto Icarus on the outside, before Gunns snatched the win with a Euro clutch! This felt a little short at a little over ten minutes, but the story they told was a good one with the Only Friends recovering from an early setback to get the definitive victory. ***¼
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Mike D Vecchio vs. Shigehiro Irie (c)
Mike D won this shot over 16 Carat Gold weekend – but injuries meant that the planned title match in Hamburg was postponed…
Eventually the bell rings as we started with a lock-up that’s thrown aside… Irie grabs a side headlock, but he’s pushed off as Mike D resisted a shoulder tackle, leading to see-saw shoulder tackles and an eventual crossbody that took Mike D down. A bodyslam and the see-saw splash lands for just a one-count for Irie, before the challenger fought back with a spear into the corner and a back suplex out of it. Irie kicks out at two from that surge, as Mike D proceeded to keep him grounded with a chinlock… before Irie took him into the corner for some shoulder charges. Mike’s suplex keeps him in it, as an elbow drop continued to keep Irie on the back foot, while a running neckbreaker dropped Irie for another two-count.
The Oberhausen crowd tried to get behind Irie, as he traded strikes with Mike D… only to get knocked down with an elbow off the ropes. Mike D adds a powerslam out of the corner, before a splash in the corner led to Irie getting taken up top for a superplex. Irie knocks Mike out of the corner with a headbutt, then followed him down with a big splash… but the recoil after landing cost Irie time as he could only get a near-fall from that. A cannonball to Mike D’s back in the ropes followed, before Mike D flashed back with a snap German suplex, then a sliding clothesline for a enar-fall by the ropes. Irie’s caught with a roundhouse enziguiri, then a back elbow before he got knocked down with a knee strike. Mike D traps Irie in the ropes after that, but his running knee’s caught and turned into an impressive powerslam on the edge of the ring, as the crowd then curried as a diving crossbody knocked Mike D into the second row.
Back inside, Irie crashes into Mike D with a cannonball in the corner for a near-fall. A dropkick from Mike D sends Irie outside as he was going for a Beast Bomber… and the Belgian dives from there, scoring a leaping body press before a lariat back inside and a twisting brainbuster almost led to the title change. Mike D goes for power again, but his gutwrench powerbomb’s escaped as Irie ended up getting taken into the corner. Mike D’s springboard cutter out of the corner’s caught and turned into a chickenwing… but Mike D powers up and into the ropes to force a break. The pair go for simultaneous clotheslines as we looked to be in the home stretch. A superkick from Mike D earned him an elbow smash, then a Beast Bomber for a near-fall, before a second Beast Bomber wiped through the Belgian for the win. This was exactly what I was hoping for from this – two big lads knocking each other silly, but it wasn’t to be for Mike D, who came achingly close to winning the big one. ***¾
Post-match, the Oberhausen crowd continued to chant for Mike D, who definitely came out of this stronger than he did coming in.
Irie’s celebrations get cut off by the AMBOSS music, as the entire crew appeared together for the first time tonight. Robert Dreissker congratulated Irie on the title defence, then mocked Irie for his goal of defending the title across the goal, comparing it to a Disney movie. That turned into a taunt, as Dreissker demanded a match for the belt… but “anyplace, anytime” would be in the Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen… right now. Uh-oh. Dreissker takes off his protective face mask as referee Rainer Ringer returned to officiate as this one was made official.
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Shigehiro Irie (c) vs. Robert Dreissker
We run through the ring introductions again, which took some of the shock out of this… but Irie attacks Dreissker from behind during the introductions, sending him into the ropes for a cannonball.
A Beast Bomber quickly follows, but Dreissker kicks out at two. In return, Dreissker nails a springboard crossbody out of the corner for a two-count, before Irie looked to hammer away on Dreissker with some elbows. Dreissker returns with a clothesline of his own for a near-fall, before he teased a belt shot… the referee stops him, but that just allowed Dreissker to clock Irie with the face mask as the ref was putting the belt back, before a Dreissker Bomb out of the corner completed the shock. A heartbreaking end to the title reign for Irie, as Robert Dreissker leaves Oberhausen as the wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion – completing his Grand Slam of wXw titles, having previously held the tag and Shotgun titles.
We’re not done yet though… Dreissker noted that the title win came a year after AMBOSS were originally formed, but their reign of terror throughout the continental European scene wasn’t going to continue with all of them. Dreissker gave the word as Laurance Roman attacked Dover from behind, while Icarus just stood and watched as Dreissker declared that Dover was a better fit for being in the crowd than in the ring. A conflicted Icarus continued to stand there, refusing to help Dover… before he turned his back on Dover and stood with the rest of AMBOSS on the stage as thew show faded to black…
Drive of Champions was certainly a memorable event – if only for the title changes and the departure of Dover at the end of the show. A new set of champions in wXw paves the way for new challengers for Robert Dreissker – while September’s World Tag Team Festival undoubtedly will be the first big test for the Only Friends.