Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix weekend kicked off with the usual trip to the Wrestling Academy – and a match with König der Catcher opponents on the same side.
Quick Results
Nordino pinned Robert Dreissker in 6:03 (***)
Judas Icarus & Travis Williams pinned Conn Kelly & Aeron in 8:47 (**½)
Anita Vaughan pinned Emzy Allosa in 6:30 (****)
Katsuya Murashima pinned M4 in 5:12 (**½)
Killer Kelly, Ori Gold & Hadar Horvitz pinned Jane Nero, Alex Duke & Aleksander Bellamy in 8:56 (***)
Myron Reed pinned Hugo Brand in 7:52 (**¼)
Safire Reed pinned Allie Katch in 6:59 (**)
Brendan White & Danny Jones pinned Thomas Shire & 1 Called Manders in 12:46 (***¾)
— Don’t forget to subscribe to the Auf Die Fresse podcast – we’ll be talking about the Pro Wrestling Grand Prix in an upcoming episode. Links to stream that episode when it drops, as well as back episodes are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
As is tradition before these festival weekenders, it’s time for another trip into the Inner Circle – with a packed crowd inside the wXw wrestling academy in Gelsenkirchen. English commentary comes from Mett Dimassi and Marc Shuttle…
Robert Dreissker vs. Nordino
A singles match kicked off the Inner Circle, with Nordino doing well in the early going against one of the men he unseated as tag champion six weeks ago.
Dreissker’s burst of offence ended with a missed splash and a stomp to the hand that turned him a little fugazi, but Dreissker’s able to shake it off and squash Nordino with a back senton to keep it going. A stunner out of nowhere bought Nordino time… as did a side-step to Dreissker’s springboard crossbody out of the corner.
Nordino’s able to capitalise on all that, before he wandered outside and grabbed a screwdriver from under the ring. Planting it in Dreissker’s boot took the referee’s attention… and allowed Nordino to score with a roll-up for the win. Pretty straightforward stuff, but entertaining – and the post-match beatdown from Dreissker and save from Luca de Leone kept the crowd happy too. ***
Sinner And Saint (Judas Icarus & Travis Williams) vs. Roadkill (Aeron & Conn Kelly)
Sinner and Saint were wrapping up their tour of Europe this weekend, with this being a warm-up for their shot at CSI’s tag titles the next night.
Roadkill enjoyed the better of the early going, with a double-team flapjack helping keep Icarus down as the Canadians stumbled out of the blocks. A tag in to Travis Williams turned things around though as Sinner and Saint were able to bust out some double-teaming, tapping Kelly in the corner for a pair of kicks for a near-fall. There’s a quick swear jar contribution as Roadkill began to fight back, leading to Aeron coming in to clear house, leading to a death valley bomb for a near-fall as we kept going.
Roadkill built up to an elevated bulldog that almost put Williams away, but the Canadians fought back – and with the help of a blind tag, Judas Icarus almost nicked the win with a roll-up, before a flurry ended with Williams’ brainbuster for another near-fall… while a kick-assisted Jay Driller finally got this one done. This was fine, but Sinner and Saint seemed to have a big reliance on double-team flurries, which feels like a weakness. **½
I preferred the original fizzy canned water ads that didn’t have jump cuts.
Emzy Allosa vs. Anita Vaughan
This was one of Emzy’s first matches back after injury, and this was quite the test for her.
AV looked to make an example out of the rookie, charging through her early on while Emzy tried to use her quickness to stay a step ahead. A Tiger feint kick’s caught and turned into a spinning backbreaker with some gusto as AV pushed on, leading to a running kick for a two-count.
Forearms from Allosa led to a dropkick as Vaughan tried to shut down the newcomer, only to get caught with a step-up ‘rana. The Tiger feint kick followed, as did a crossbody, before Emzy got wiped out with a lariat en route to a powerbomb as Anita managed to slam that proverbial door shut. This was a cracker of a match for the time they had, with Vaughan having to survive a scare – and Emzy made damn sure she wasn’t going down without a fight. Remember that name for the years ahead. ****
M4 vs. Katsuya Murashima
There was no holding back to start this one as M4 and Murashima charged at each other at the bell.
After that initial surge, M4 began to take control… until Murashima managed to fight out of an armbar and slam M4 to the mat. Chops, a leaping shoulder tackle and a spinning death valley driver keeps Murashima ahead. There’s a hell of a bruise developing on M4’s back as he looked to make a comeback, lighting up Murashima with chops and forearms before a clothesline turned it back around, leading to a wrist-clutch brainbuster to get Murashima the quick win. **½
10/10 Next Level (Aleksander Bellamy & Alex Duke) & Jane Nero vs. Better Together (Hadar Horvitz & Ori Gold) & Killer Kelly
This was a warm-up of sorts for Jane Nero’s first round match in Femmes Fatales against Killer Kelly.
We started with Next Level and Better Together trading barbs as the revolving door of tags quickly got us to Nero and Kelly locking horns. Kelly briefly had the advantage, but Bellamy tags himself in, which got him a telling off… then a kicking from Kelly before Better Together joined in for their take on the Best Friends group hug.
Nero and Duke on the apron combine to blindside Horvitz before Alex Duke almost took Horvitz’s head off with a brainbuster. Fortunately, Hadar survived and tried to mount a comeback, only to run into an elevated Flatliner as Bellamy tried to get the win…
Kelly’s able to get the tag in and catch Bellamy with trapped headbutts though, before the old Shades of Shibata cracked 10/10 in the corner. A hockey fight breaks out from there between Kelly and Nero, with our second brainbuster of the match nearly ending things, before a Parade of Stuff filled and cleared the ring, en route to Kelly planting Nero with the Vale de Morte for the win. Scary brainbuster aside, this was a decent trios match – and one that had me thinking Nero was taking the loss before clearing the field later in the weekend. ***
Hugo Brand vs. Myron Reed
It’s a rare singles outing in wXw for Brand here, while this was Reed’s debut in wXw.
Brand looked to frustrate Reed early on, catching out Myron with clotheslines and a neckbreaker, before Reed’s Burnout rebound powerbomb turned the match on its head. Reed tries to flow it down with a sleeperhold, but Brand breaks free and went for some more roll-ups.
Reed escapes a slam, only to get pulled in for a spinebuster that almost got Brand the upset. Reed’s stunner counters Brand as the comeback looked to be on, with a superkick and the Hang Five – an F5 into a draping DDT – nearly slamming the door shut. Brand tries for another spinebuster to stem the tide, but see-saw pins follow before Brand ate crap on a crossbody out of the corner.
From there, Reed lands another cutter, before an air raid crash got the win. This was a little clunky at times, but perfectly fine given the experience levels. **¼
Safire Reed vs. Allie Katch
Katch’s appearance here was a surprise – given she wasn’t advertised for anything wXw-related this weekend owing to her being booked in England and France.
Reed looked to dominate Katch from the off, but Allie’s elbow drop surprised Safire after a drop down as the American looked to make her mark. A hip attack and a cannonball trapped Reed in the corner for a two-count, before a Dragon screw from Reed created an opening.
Safire’s springboard European uppercut out of the corner keeps Katch down for two, before the Warhead springboard headbutt out of the corner was slapped away. An exchange of strikes follow, leading to a release Northern lights from Katch, then a hammerlock clothesline, but Safire’s able to fight back once more before taking home the win with the Warhead. **
Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. Cowboy Way (1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire)
This was the only announced match going in to Inner Circle, with an interesting dynamic given that Manders and Shire would be facing off on night one of the König der Catcher matches.
The tension in the air diffused enough for the match to start, with Shire and White feeling each other out… before Danny Jones and Manders opted to just go “eff it” and chop the crap out of each other. Shire wasn’t too thrilled on Manders holding Danny Jones in the corner after a tag, which was the first signs of fraying… and that fraying quickly accelerated.
Shire’s back to chopping at Danny… but Jones showed why he’s called himself “Made of Stone” with chops of his own before Brendan came in to stifle Shire some more. A double-team suplex gets stuffed as Shire reverses it, before tagging Manders back in. Of course Manders cleared house, chopping and slamming Brendan en route to a two-count.
Jones snuck in a boot to Manders through the ropes as the Greedy Souls quickly turned the match on its head. Shire breaks up a pin as the ring stays full leading to a Parade of Stuff… and a LOT of heavy hits. Manders’ strikes end up earning him an Exploder from Jones as the Greedy Souls began to dominate… until Shire broke up another pin.
The flurries keep on coming, but Shire’s losing his temper and riles up Manders… leading to a blow up between “Tom” and “Steve” – with Brendan White capitalising with a cheeky roll-up on Shire for the win, before Shire and Manders brawled to the back, just in case you thought they were going to make up. Considering everyone involved had three more days of this to go, this was a fantastic hard-hitting main event – and those kind of matches always land in the confines of the academy building. ***¾
As always, Inner Circle was a good appetizer for the festival weekend – with the main event, and Anita Vaughan’s toughening up of Emzy Allosa the standouts for those of you cherry-picking across the weekend.