Big Daddy Walter’s chase of Karsten Beck continued as the More Than Wrestling tour headed into Chemnitz.
Quick Results
John Klinger submitted Kim Ray in 10:53 (***)
Robert Dreissker pinned The Rotation & Johnny Rancid in 5:01 (**½)
Absolute Andy pinned Julian Nero in 16:26 (***¼)
Franz Engel & John Klinger pinned Bobby Gunns & Vincent the Beast in 9:49 (***)
Ilja Dragunov pinned Miguel Ramirez to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 12:13 (***)
Big Daddy Walter, Axel Dieter Jr & Da Mack pinned Kevin Roadster, Marius van Beethoven & Karsten Beck in 16:56 (***¼)
We’re at the Haus des Gastes as wXw began life after the Axeman – and we’re several weeks away from the Superstars of Wrestling marquee events, which are tricky to build up to on these shows given the amount of non-wXw names on them.
We open up with Frank Fehrmann… and then a jump cut to Hot & Spicy in the ring. They’re playing to the crowd, saying how they’re happy to be back in Saxony, and Chemnitz in particular, but they’re interrupted by Karsten Beck and a sneaky mic hand-off. This led to a sneak attack from Reich und Schön, with Marius van Beethoven and Kevin Roadster blindsiding Axel Dieter Jr. and Da Mack… Big Daddy Walter makes the save, and wouldn’t you know it… that’s how we get to our six-man tag main event!
Commentary once again is only in German, courtesy of Christian Bischof and Sebastian Hollmichel.
John Klinger vs. Kim Ray
We start with the crowd getting in Ray’s head, before Klinger took things down to the mat with a wristlock as he looked to work over Ray’s arm.
Chops keep Kim in the ropes, ahead of a whip into the corner and a Stinger splash before Kim tried to return the favour… only to get met with a back body drop after a reversed whip into the corner. Kim’s able to swat away a dive from Klinger, but Bad Bones’ second attempt finds its mark to take Kim into the front row.
Back inside, Klinger connects with a missile dropkick before a crucifix bucklebomb looked to be the precursor to the Wrecking Ball knees… but Ray sidesteps them as Klinger comes up short. There’s an obvious opening now, with Kim targeting the knee and leg of Klinger, only to get caught with a powerslam.
Kim hangs Klinger up in the ropes as he moved back in with a half crab… that ends in the ropes as Kim kept pushing ahead with kicks, while a STO caught out Klinger for a near-fall. Out of nowhere, Klinger shuts down Kim with some Wrecking Ball knees, but he can’t make the cover, and that bought Kim time to respond with a Jet Kick.
After taking way too long to make the cover, Kim’s caught when Klinger kicks out and pulled him into a crossface – and there’s the submission, as the former Shotgun champion managed to pull a win from deep down the jaws of defeat. ***
Robert Dreissker vs. Johnny Rancid & The Rotation
This one was billed as a triple threat match coming in, but ended up being an “Alaska Catch” match – or a handicap match.
Rancid and Rotation tried their luck with dropkicks early on, eventually taking Dreissker into the ropes before a pop-up dropkick from Rotation took the big man to the outside. Rather than keep the fight on the outside, they roll Dreissker back into the ring… but a double clothesline perhaps proved that was a mistake as Dreissker got right back in it.
Slams lay out Rancid and Rotation, before Dreissker Biel’d Rotation across the ring. Rancid tries to make the save, but he’s walloped with a clothesline as this was just one-way traffic… with Dreissker then countering a double-team suplex with ease. Forearms from Rancid looked to offer hope, but he’s just a distraction as Rotation landed a missile dropkick for a two-count.
An avalanche in the corner cuts off Rancid though, before Rotation’s back senton broke up a pin from a Dreissker bomb. Incensed, Dreissker just wipes him out with a lariat… and that’s the win. So far they’ve done a bang up job establishing Dreissker a real monster since the turn on Walter, even if they’ve been limited to spot shows… **½
Absolute Andy vs. Julian Nero
Nero’s back after he was last around in Bielefeld in February – he’ll be on all of this weekend’s cards in Saxony…
We’ve got boo/yay stuff at the bell, with Andy having Rainer Ringer taking the cheers on his behalf. Andy takes the lead, going from wristlock, to headlock and hammerlock as he ended up taking Nero to the deck. A side headlock’s fought out of, but Nero’s caught with an armdrag and armbar, ending in the ropes as Nero looked on incredulously at a fan.
Nero offers a Test of Strength as we resumed, which takes us back into some grappling as the pair looked for a hold… before Andy was shoved off and came back with a shoulder tackle. Another armdrag takes Nero back to the mat, while chops took Nero to the outside. Andy follows him as more chops took them around ringside, before Nero was chucked into the wall.
Andy grabs a chair, which gave me flashbacks to that series with Kim Ray, as Andy then kicked Nero out of a chair. More chops and uppercuts take Nero around ringside, before a second attempt to kick Nero out of a chair ended when Julian… just rolled back into the ring. He’s chopped for that, then taken up with a back body drop, before a stalling suplex kept Nero upside down for a spell.
Nero rolls back outside for respite, where he’s able to hang up Andy in the ropes ahead of a diving knee back inside for a two-count. Andy kicks out from a knee drop, but couldn’t make it past the ropes as Nero chokes him there, then pulled him out of the corner as Nero picked up another two-count. A clothesline’s next for a similar result for Nero, along with a knee drop off the top.
Andy eventually fights back out of a sleeperhold, before a flying forearm took down Nero… more forearms bounce Nero to the mat ahead of a slam and an Absolute knee drop. Nero kicks out at two from that, before he escaped an A-Klasse and ran into a superkick. A Wasteland from Nero offered some hope, as he then headed outside and grabbed a belt from under the ring, wrapping it around his hand…
Nero distracts the ref with a water bottle before he punched Andy with the belt buckle for a two-count… only for Andy to hit back with a spinebuster. That buys him time to go outside for his plunder – the pipe wrench – but the ref takes that away from him… not that it matters as Nero quickly ended up eating a F5 as Andy took the win. ***¼
Franz Engel & John Klinger vs. Die Schilds (Bobby Gunns & Vincent The Beast)
Klinger’s pulling double duty tonight, but he’s at least playing along as he’s wearing the Waschbär face paint…
Engel and Gunns start us off as the makeshift Waschbären enjoyed the best of the early going, with Vinny coming in and getting taken into the corner for a chops and battering ram kicks. Engel even hits his take on the Wrecking Ball knees, before Gunns snuck in to chop block Klinger’s knee – having clearly watched the opener.
Gunns ties up Klinger in an Indian death lock, rolling Klinger around to turn that into a pinning predicament, before Vinny came back in to work over the knee. Gunns returns to get a two-count from that, as the Schilds were exchanging frequent tags to try and keep Klinger on the defensive.
A slam from Vinny gets a two-count, before a double spear from Klinger took down both of the Schilds. Engel tags in and keeps building momentum with a missile dropkick as he proceeded to clear the Schilds from the ring, while a double back body drop sent Gunns skyward. Vinny’s back to shove Engel off the top rope to the floor as another turnaround saw Klinger get isolated in his own corner for the Hardy Boys step-up dropkick…
The Schilds push on with an Alabama Slam and a German suplex on Engel, but Klinger’s back to take care of Vinny with a Codebreaker. That leaves Gunns on his own as a crucifix bucklebomb took him into the corner, before Engel hit a flying kneedrop onto Gunns for the win. ***
Post-match, Engel and Klinger celebrated with Laurance Roman, who was there in street clothes. I can only assume he’s been injured, but still had time to overdo the Waschbär paint…
wXw Shotgun Championship: Miguel Ramirez vs. Ilja Dragunov (c)
We last saw Ramirez at Dead End in Frankfurt a month earlier – as part of a tag match that felt a little unpolished.
Dragunov locks up with Ramirez into the corner to start, before the favour was returned, with Ilja demanding an instant break. Ramirez counters a wristlock before a wheelbarrow armdrag took Dragunov down… ahead of some headscissors as the challenger looked to be on the front foot.
Ramirez takes Dragunov down with a dropkick, but then went to play to the crowd… and got caught with a Torpedo Moscau headbutt in the corner. Kicks from Dragunov take Ramirez into another corner for some chops, before a snapmare helped Ilja pick up a couple of two-counts.
Ramirez tries to mount a comeback, but his headscissors were pushed away as the champion added a suplex for barely a two-count. A Greetings from Moscow lariat’s ducked as Ramirez tried his luck with roll-ups, before he just ran into another chop. Shaking it off, Ramirez finds his way through with the backflip into some headscissors, before a crossbody off the middle rope clattered into Ilja for a two-count.
A wheelbarrow bulldog keeps Ilja down, as did a standing moonsault, but Ramirez only gets a two-count from it before Dragunov scored a Russian Bottom (uranage) to stop the challenger in his tracks. From there, Ilja teed up Ramirez, but lariats miss as an overhead kick connected instead, before Dragunov hit back with the Grüßen aus Moskau lariat to get the win. ***
Karsten Beck & Reich Und Schön (Kevin Roadster & Marius van Beethoven) vs. Big Daddy Walter & Hot And Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack)
We’ve got about two months before Walter would again face Beck for the title – so prepare for several more of these kind of tags!
Beck backs away from Walter at the bell, before Marius and Kevin attacked from behind after Beck had finally engaged with a Test of Strength. Walter quickly put paid to Reich und Schön with a double clothesline as he cleaned house, leading to a stalling vertical suplex on van Beethoven.
Hot & Spicy come in next, with Mack and Junior double-teaming Marius, before Walter tagged back in… and had his eyes raked. Kevin Roadster gets an unexpected tag in, and is quickly swarmed with chops from Walter, who added a rare dropkick to the mix. Junior’s back with a stomp off the top rope to the arm of Kevin, while Walter hit a running boot to it as the future Alpha Kevin was quite literally on the ropes.
Mack’s in with a double sledge off the top, before a kick to the back from Beck provided enough of an opening for Kevin to… ah nevermind, he takes too long and got elbowed as he sized up Mack for a shot. Marius sneaks in to chop block Mack’s knee as Beck’s crew turned things around, exchanging frequent tags as they isolated Mack from his corner.
Eventually Mack finds a way back, hitting a dropkick as tags bring in Marius and Junior… Axel’s forearms and elbows have Marius all over the place, leading to a bridging hammerlock, which Kevin stomped apart. A neck crank from Kevin keeps Junior in trouble, but Axel fires back with uppercuts until Karsten Beck came in to save his comrade… complete with a completely dodgy tag that the referee just let go.
A whip from Marius takes Axel to the corner, but Junior can’t get past Kevin Roadster as yet more chicanery led to Kevin choking Junior amid a Tree of Woe. Junior’s freed, but a clothesline from Marius adds a two-count before Beck came in and caught Axel with a Sister Abigail-like DDT.
Punches from above from Beck wear down Axel some more before a headscissor/headlock takedown finally got Junior free of Reich und Schön. Beck stops Axel from making a tag out though, but Junior’s enziguiri to Kevin, then an uppercut to Beck finally got him through to tag in Walter, who ran wild with right hands and boots.
Mack comes in to hit a Slingblade, before Mack and Junior double-teamed Beck to take care of him. Double planchas wipe out Marius and Kevin on the floor, leaving Beck alone in the ring with Walter. Karsten tries to powder, but Hot & Spicy just roll him back inside as Walter was waiting with some right hands and chops. It all built up to a sit-out splash on Beck, before a powerbomb was broken up by Marius… who was easily thrown aside.
A shotgun dropkick from Walter takes Kevin into Marius in the corner… the Patteuse double enziguiri from Axel and Mack keep Kevin woozy, with a lariat from Walter knocking Kevin down… before Marius got powerbombed onto him for the match-winning pin. Beck and Reich und Schön looked to have Hot & Spicy’s number, but once again Walter was the difference maker in a crowd-pleasing main event. ***¼
All in all, a solid show as wXw hit some potentially tricky ground as far as not being able to build up much to the next big show – for reasons we’ve covered.