wXw made their debut in Bielefeld as Axel Tischer and Big Daddy Walter locked horns in the main event.
Quick Results
Kim Ray pinned The Rotation in 12:15 (**¾)
Robert Dreissker pinned Julian Nero in 7:23 (***)
Franz Engel & Laurance Roman pinned Bobby Gunns & Vincent The Beast in 11:11 (***)
John Klinger vs. Ilja Dragunov ended in a double KO in 12:10 – Klinger retains the wXw Shotgun Championship (***½)
Melanie Gray submitted Nixon Newell in 6:32 (**¾)
Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack pinned Tyler Bate & Karsten Beck in 16:22 (***¼)
Big Daddy Walter pinned Axel Tischer in 19:15 (***¾)
We’re at the Forum in Bielefeld for wXw’s debut in the building – it’s become a regular stop on the wXw schedule, with 20 shows having been held there at time of writing. We’re a fortnight away from 2015’s 16 Carat Gold weekend… there’s no “road to 16 Carat” gimmick here, just a straight-up card. Commentary comes from Sebastian Hollmichel and Christian Bischof…
Kim Ray vs. The Rotation
We start this one with Kim Ray backing Rotation into a corner, before some standing switches led to Ray taking Rotation down to the mat.
A side headlock’s pushed away, but Rotation’s charged back down to the mat… eventually returning with a lucha roll-up to spark some back-and-forth pins. Hand-walking headscissors take Kim into the corner, while a step up ‘rana followed to take Kim outside for the obligatory dive from Rotation… this time in the form of a plancha.
Back inside, Kim Ray took over as commentary mentioned that today’s main event was part of Axel Tischer’s farewell tour. Staying with this match, a face-washing kick from Kim Ray kept Rotation down, before a missed charge into the corner opened things up for the Rotation to take to the skies. Except Ray cuts him off, trapping him through the ropes ahead of a draping DDT for an eventual two-count.
Ray hangs up Rotation in a Tree of Woe, adding a dropkick into the mix before Rotation escaped a suplex… he mounts a comeback with some dropkicks, before a moonsault press out of the corner almost won it. A tiltawhirl DDT surprises Ray next, before Rotation went up… and landed in Ray’s knees from a 450 splash.
Kim Ray takes over from there with a clothesline for a near-fall, before the Jet Kick was countered into a roll-up. Rotation tries his luck some more, almost pinning Ray with a crucifix, before a knee strike knocked Rotation out for the three-count. I liked that finish, the one-shot kill putting out Rotation’s lights as Kim Ray looked to establish himself after Back to the Roots. **¾
Robert Dreissker vs. Julian Nero
Not quite a wXw debut for Nero here – but certainly the start of his big run in a Time Capsule of a match.
Starting with a lock-up, Dreissker went to work with a wristlock on his future tag partner, as the pair went back and forth. It’s Dreissker who takes the upper hand, scoring a headlock takedown that Nero countered out of, only to get slammed to the mat as elbow drops helped Dreissker on his way.
Nero bails as Dreissker was teeing up for a splash… but back inside a shoulder tackle has Nero consulting with the mat. A clothesline has a similar result, before Nero charged Dreissker into the ropes and rebounded with a knee strike. Dreissker’s downed with a big boot after that for a two-count, while Nero added another running kick, this time into the corner for another two-count.
Dreissker eventually hits back with a Samoan drop as he began his comeback, taking Nero into the corner ahead of a back body drop. A big splash followed for a two-count, but Nero’s able to get back in for a knee drop off the middle rope. That’s enough for a near-fall, but a missed scissors kick allowed Dreissker to hit back with a belly-to-belly suplex en route to a Dreissker Bomb for the win. ***
Die Schilds (Bobby Gunns & Vincent The Beast) vs. Waschbären Auf Koffein (Franz Engel & Laurance Roman)
The Waschbären were just about the favourites here in Bielefeld, as we started with Engel and Gunns… while Bielefeld sang THE SONG. Woah oh oh ah-oh.
Gunns took Engel to the mat early on, with the pair going hold-for-hold, trading armdrags until Gunns backed into the ropes. Engele’s offer of a handshake is kicked away as Vinny and Roman tagged in. Roman’s crossbody gets caught as Vinny just pushes him aside… Gunns is back to blast through Roman with an uppercut, before Roman sidestepped a charge and began kicking away at Gunns.
The Waschbären pepper Gunns with kicks by the ropes, leading to a double back body drop. An attempted hair pull from Gunns backfired as we’re back to the double-teaming, leading to a standing Engel moonsault for a two-count before a turnaround saw Gunns and Vinny isolate Engel for a spell. A barrage of elbow drops soften-up Engel before there was some confusion over who was legal… it’s sorted out as Vinny’s suplex led to Gunns coming in for a Muta lock on Engel.
After letting go, Gunns tried to out-kick Engel, before a Dragon screw took Franz down to the mat in a heap. A missed crossbody out of the corner saw Engel crash and burn, but he’s able to recover and make the tag out to Roman, who cleared house on die Schilds… leading to a low dropkick sandwich on Vinny.
Bobby’s the legal one, and he wandered back in for a back cracker from Roman, before Vinny returned to help out… die Schilds go all Hardy Boyz on us, before an Alabama Slam from Vinny and a bridging German suplex from Bobby… led to no count because Laurance wasn’t legal? In among the confusion, Engel heads up top for a sunset flip, which caught Gunns by surprise and led to the win. ***
wXw Shotgun Championship: Ilja Dragunov vs. John Klinger (c)
The feud continues!
Dragunov looks to end this one in a hurry, but Klinger’s expecting the early onslaught as we have a flurry of pinning attempts in the opening seconds. Shoulder tackles drop Ilja en route to a two-count, followed up with a back body drop after Klinger had whipped him into the corner.
Ilja charges back out at Klinger with a Torpedo Moscau headbutt for a two-count, while a clothesline kept the hits hard and the counts at two. Klinger’s kept in the corner with stomps, before a snapmare and another kick kept Dragunov on top. We’re back to the pair trading blows, culminating with Dragunov getting met with a powerslam… prompting him to roll outside for respite.
Klinger prepared for a dive, but he’s cut-off as he ends up taking Dragunov onto the apron… then kicked him down to the floor ahead of a dive. That’s good enough for a two-count back inside, before more strikes end with Dragunov running into a punch. Ilja retaliates with a uranage, but only got a two-count out of a delayed cover. A dropkick from Klinger gets him back in the game, before a Drive By kick from the floor was wiped out by way of an Ilja lariat. Bloody hell.
Dragunov heads out to try and roll Klinger back inside so he could try and get the pin… but by the time he’d done it, Klinger was able to kick out at two. Klinger hits back with a buckle bomb, before Dragunov’s springboard was caught… leading to a teased Shadow Driver, only for Dragunov to get hung up in the corner and dropkicked in the back.
Klinger armdrags out of another uranage, but couldn’t avoid a springboard Torpedo Moscau out of the corner that almost led to the win… Wrecking Ball knees from Klinger only led to a swift lariat in return, but neither man’s able to beat a standing ten-count as this hard-hitting outing ended in a double KO. ***½
The crowd wanted five more minutes – as did Klinger – but this feud… must continue!
Melanie Gray vs. Nixon Newell
…time for something different, with the future Tegan Nox making her second main show appearance for wXw.
Newell rolled past Gray in the early going, but ended up clubbed into the corner… returning with a dropkick before she telegraphed a back body drop. Instead, Newell’s able to land a Samoan drop seconds later, before Gray pulled her down and into a Northern Lights suplex.
Gray took Newell to the ropes for some choking from there, followed up with a vertical suplex for a two-count as Gray continued to control the pace. A reversed Irish whip got Newell free though, as she then swept Gray’s leg and followed in with a Shining Wizard… but it’s only good for a near-fall.
Newell tries to add a crossbody, but it’s caught and turned into a swinging sidewalk slam for a near-fall. A small package nearly gets the win for Nixon, before she ducked a slap and nailed a superkick for another near-fall, with Gray barely kicking out in time. A missed moonsault from Newell looked to cost her though, and while she was able to score with more roll-ups, Gray’s able to come back in with the Melo-Dram cloverleaf to force the submission. **¾
Karsten Beck & Tyler Bate vs. Hot And Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack)
Before the match, Beck welcomed Bielefeld to the “Karsten Beck Appreciation Tour”… which led to someone chucking some paper into the ring. A jump cut brings out Hot & Spicy, with Da Mack returning after a few months out…
When we get started, it’s Axel Dieter Jr. and Tyler Bate in the ring, locking up into the corner. Tyler, by the way, would have been 17 here… Junior’s able to take him down with a wristlock, which then led to the bridging hammerlock that drew Beck in to stomp things apart. The double-teaming ends with a headlock/headscissor takedown from Junior, who brings Mack in for an eventual double team high/low.
Mack’s dropped onto Junior after that, before Beck came in and took a low dropkick as Hot & Spicy were on top. Bate’s back in, but had little answer for Junior’s uppercuts… before he resorted to a stomp to the foot and a poke to the eyes as things turned around. Beck’s in to keep Junior down, before Bate ended up losing sight… and got caught with an uppercut.
Mack’s back with some headscissors to Bate… Beck tries to shut it down, but he’s met with dropkicks before Hot & Spicy got caught into the corners. They doe-see-doe on an Irish whip as things turn around, leading to mounted punches, before Mack armdragged Bate to the outside, before some headscissors on Beck were countered into a lawndart into the corner.
Beck snuck in a knee drop to Mack before Bate took over, scoring with a seated splash for a two-count. Mack knees his way out of a submission attempt, but Bate retains control and tagged in Beck, whose sidewalk slam added a two-count to things, only for Mack to hit back with a tornado DDT.
Tyler Bate’s snuck around the ring to pull Junior off the apron to prevent a tag from being made. A slam helps Tyler get a two-count before Mack caught him with an enziguiri… then made the tag out to Junior, who dropkicked Beck off the apron before going to work on Bate. An elbow to Tyler led to the springboard Blockbuster for a two-count, before Beck came in and got double-teamed by Hot & Spicy for another near-fall.
Beck lifts Junior over the top to the floor… before he was joined on the outside after a Mack dropkick. Mack tries to join in, but he’s caught in an Airplane spin by Bate, dizzying both men… but Junior’s legal and was able to catch Tyler with an uppercut into the corner. Beck’s still around though, only to get caught with a cutter from Da Mack, before the sandwich enziguiris – die Pattuse – proved to be enough for Junior to get the win. ***¼
Axel Tischer vs. Big Daddy Walter
At time of writing, this was the last singles match between these two – with Tischer having left a few months later to go to WWE… returning to wXw in 2021, having overlapped with Walter’s win in the States.
Tischer kicked away a handshake – having ignored Walter’s offer during their earlier promo – as we got going with Walter working over Tischer’s arm. Walter blocks armdrag attempts as we end up with Tischer in a side headlock… pushing Walter away, only to get charged down off the ropes.
A leapfrog and dropkick has Walter on the back foot, but he returns the favour seconds later, before Tischer’s offer of a handshake led to a cheapshot. Walter’s stomped into the corner, but he recovers as things head outside, with Walter taking Tischer into the timekeeper’s table as the hard camera tried to keep them in focus.
Tischer takes the fight into the stands, before a back suplex onto the side of the ring saw Walter pull ahead. A suplex back into the ring bounced Tischer, before he pulled Walter off the top rope… only picking up a one-count in the process. A neck crank keeps Walter down, as did a knee drop to the back of the head, before Walter hit back with a bopdyslam.
Walter’s missed elbow drop quickly put him back on the defensive though, but he’s able to turn it around with a snapmare before he stomped on Tischer’s elbow. The pair exchange chops for a spell, with Tischer’s not having much impact as they upgraded to elbow strikes before Walter’s big boot hit the elbow.
Things go to ground after that, with Walter working an armbar, before another rare trip up top saw Walter get thrown down with a belly-to-belly superplex. Perhaps today’s not the way for flying Walter! Tischer teases a deadlift German, but the work to the arm meant he’s got little grip strength, as he ended up pulling Walter into a German suplex instead for a two-count.
Walter tries to fight back, but his powerbomb’s countered with a back body drop as Tischer continued to build up a head of steam… only to be wiped out with a lariat for a two-count. A German suplex takes Tischer out of the corner, but Tischer’s able to hit back with a front kick… before a Ligerbomb attempt was thwarted. Tischer had more luck with a death valley driver, picking up a near-fall, before a second one ended with Walter slipping out… and hitting a powerbomb of his own for a near-fall.
Walter measures up Tischer once more, clotheslining him into the corner… before a German suplex and a wicked lariat finally got the win. This heated up well at the end, as Walter scored a huge win on his road to facing Karsten Beck at Carat. ***¾
wXw’s debut in Bielefeld was a stronger show than the rest of the tour so far – with main event and the testy Shotgun title match perhaps being the highlights of the card.