wXw’s spring tour wrapped up in Oberhausen with Tommy End getting another shot at Karsten Beck after the mischief in Munich.
Quick Results
Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt pinned Lucas di Leo & Peter Fischer to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 13:11 (***)
Robert Dreissker defeated Big Daddy Walter via disqualification in 3:10 (***)
Lucky Kid pinned Miguel Ramirez, Franz Engel, Marius al-Ani & Ivan Kiev in 9:24 (**¾)
Kim Ray pinned Ilja Dragunov to win the wXw Shotgun Championship in 9:47 (***)
Marty Scurll defeated Axel Dieter Jr. via referee stoppage in 12:06 (***½)
Karsten Beck pinned Tommy End to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 20:56 (***¾)
Grado won the Shortcut to the Top match in 44:43 (***¼)
This one’s coming from the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen as we got the first named Shortcut to the Top event here. We’ve got English commentary again, courtesy of Alan Counihan and Jeremy Graves.
There may be names that you may want to skip through. I’ll be mentioning those as little as I can during the review portion.
No Disqualification Match for wXw World Tag Team Championship: French Flavour (Lucas Di Leo & Peter Fischer) (c) vs. Prost (Mike Schwarz & Toby Blunt)
French Flavour had been escaping with their belts with DQ wins throughout the tour – and had even survived a title loss after Vince Russo’d reversed the decision back in May. This time around, there’s no Vince Russo, and no disqualifications…
Schwarz jumps di Leo with a Kendo stick as the champions were on the back foot immediately, while Fischer ate a chair-assisted legdrop seconds later from Blunt. Things spill outside where Blunt pulls out a board and some sawhorses as he puts together a makeshift table by the front row, while di Leo posted Schwarz.
The champions threaten to walk out, but they’re caught on the stage as Fischer ended up getting two beers smashed over his head. How many bons would that have been?!
In among the excitement, the challengers lost sight of Lucas di Leo, who came in with a chair shot for the pair of them, before they took Toby Blunt towards the ring… and knocked him off the walkway to put him through the makeshift table he’d built earlier in the match. That left Mike Schwarz alone for some legal double-teams, as Fischer picked up a two-count from a shoulder charge into the corner.
Fischer’s caught with a fallaway slam as Schwarz turned defence into attack… but di Leo pounced immediately to shut that down as the champions made a game of keeping Toby Blunt out of the ring. Schwarz manages to get hold of a Kendo stick and lays waste to the champions with it… leading to a turnaround in fortunes for the challengers as Schwarz broke the Kendo stick over the back of Fischer.
Things spill outside yet again as Schwarz wore out Fischer on the floor… only to get interrupted as Lucas di Leo caught a charging Blunt and threw him with an overhead suplex into the pair on the floor. That was certainly different. Back inside though, Schwarz took care of di Leo with the Schicht im Schacht chokeslam for a near-fall, before a second one was broken up by a low blow from Fischer.
The French lads hit a double-team powerbomb seconds later, but Schwarz kicks out… Fischer tries to underscore things with a belt shot, but Blunt makes the save, only to get laid out with a belt shot from di Leo for a near-fall. Another board comes into play as the champions look to set up a second makeshift table, but Schwarz is back with the Rhein-Ruhr-Schwinger (Black Hole Slam) to di Leo, before Fischer ran into a 3D. That doesn’t get its own name!
From there, di Leo’s hauled up for another Schicht im Schacht, this time going through the table, and that’s enough for Prost to leave with the titles. ***
Robert Dreissker vs. Big Daddy Walter
This was the first meeting of the former AUTsiders since Dreissker turned on Walter at Carat a few months earlier…
A jump start from Dreissker got us underway, who scored early on with a legdrop before Walter chopped his way into it. These two were throwing bombs at each other in the opening minutes, leading to a lariat from Walter for a two-count, before he bounced Dreissker out of the corner with another clothesline.
The referee tries to separate Walter and Dreissker, with the resulting confrontation giving Dreissker an opening to hit what’d become the Boulder Dash for a near-fall, before a shotgun dropkick sent the Avalanche sailing into the corner. A very un-Walter-like cannonball follows as he continued to to dominate… but referee Rainer Ringer again tries to separate them and gets sent flying… and there’s your disqualification. Well, that’ll tell you why this was second on the card, as we ended up getting a very tasty preview of some future singles matches as this feud would continue. ***
Post-match, we’ve got more cowbell as Dreissker laid out Walter, before members of the ring crew came in to try and separate the pair. Yeah, they didn’t stand a chance. Eventually Da Mack and Axel Dieter Jr. ran out to chase away Dreissker and Adam Polak, but that really felt like too little too late.
Marius al-Ani vs. Miguel Ramirez vs. Lucky Kid vs. Franz Engel vs. Ivan Kiev
What a motley crew this five-way is…
We open with a revolving door of sorts as things kinda settled down with Marius al-Ani going after Lucky Kid in the corner… but it’s Franz Engel and Miguel Ramirez who broke through as they ended up being part of a Tower of Doom to Lucky Kid. Kiev and al-Ani are left standing, with the latter landing a nice dropkick and a Fisherman suplex… but Ramirez breaks up the cover before he got met with a spinning Argentine backbreaker/facebuster for a two-count.
Ramirez has more luck with a shoulder tackle to Engel, only to get met with some headscissors and a knee strike before Lucky Kid came in… and ran into a kick. A handspring double back elbow from Lucky Kid took care of Engel and Kiev, as did a wacky O’Connor roll/German suplex combo – even if there was some dubious calls on that.
A slingshot tope atomico from Ivan Kiev wipes out Lucky Kid on the floor… Ramirez join them with a moonsault off the apron, while Marius’ plancha saw him join the pile ahead of a moonsault off the top from Engel. Back inside, Engel’s with Kiev and Lucky Kid, looking to rise over them… but to no avail as it’s Kiev who scored with a corkscrew crossbody for a two-count.
The revolving door takes effect again as Ramirez eventually lands a satellite DDT to al-Ani, ahead of an ushigoroshi from Lucky Kid that almost won it. Engel breaks out a Destroyer to Lucky Kid for a near-fall – back in the days when that move wasn’t so ubiquitous as commentary called it a sunset flip piledriver. That sparks a Parade of Moves, ending with a modified Falcon Arrow from Lucky Kid to Ramirez for the win – this was fine for what it was, but a lot of bodies all over the place made this tricky to keep up with. **¾
Ilja Dragunov comes out next, and my word he’s popular in Oberhausen these days. He’s racked up ten Shotgun title defences since beating John Klinger here back over Carat weekend. One week earlier in Fulda, Dragunov had beaten Klinger in the main event and won the former champion’s respect…
We’re given a translation of Ilja’s speech, as we’re told that the Shotgun title effectively was the fans’ title… and because Ilja’s a fighting champion, he’s got an open challenge.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Kim Ray
Ah nuts. Kim Ray answers the open challenge, but that fired up Dragunov as he led the crowd in an “alle außer Kim” chant.
Some grappling had Kim Ray ahead in the early stages, forcing Ilja to throw some chops as he tried to switch things up. A snap suplex from Ilja’s good for a two-count, before Ilja flew off the top rope into a kick from Kim. That one kick put the challenger in the driver’s seat, as he was able to maintain control… at least until Ilja found his way through with chops.
A shotgun dropkick from Kim took Ilja into the corner for a two-count, before an arrogant backheel to the head fired up Dragunov as the match descended into an exchange of kicks and chops. A spinning back-chop gets Ilja a near-fall, before Kim Ray blocked a Saito suplex… only to eat a chop to the throat ahead of that suplex moments later.
Out of nowhere, a STO almost gets Kim Ray the win, before a Torpedo Moscau off the middle rope swung things back in Ilja’s direction. In the end though, we’ve a screwy finish as Kim Ray distracted the referee – allowing the “Russian translator” who’d been in the ring before the match to attack Dragunov with the Russian flag, before Kim Ray’s Jet Kick took home the win. That was Ilja’s second singles loss in wXw – the first was in 2013 to Jay Skillet on his debut – as Dragunov’s run with the Shotgun title came to an unceremonious end. ***
Marty Scurll vs. Axel Dieter Jr.
Commentary dubbed Junior the “German wonderkid” before the bell, and that just gave me Alex Wright flashbacks…
We get going in this Carat quarter-final rematch with Junior on the defensive, before he exploded out of the corner after being spat on. Da Mack’s at ringside and argued the spitting with the referee, but that just meant the ref missed an umbrella shot to the knee as we went to the shortcuts early here.
Junior’s knee’s worked over from there, as he ended up getting his leg kicked out of his leg in the meantime. Commentary played up Junior’s recent recovery from a knee injury as a backdrop to all of this, before Junior kicked his way free… only to stop in his tracks as he went for his usual Blockbuster move.
Clotheslines worked instead for Junior, as did a dropkick, before the step-up Blockbuster out of the corner landed. From there, Junior has an umbrella thrown at him, but he doesn’t use it and instead hits back with uppercuts before getting faked out with a superkick. A reverse suplex followed, as did a diving uppercut as Junior remained on the defensive, before he managed to snap back with almost an Emerald Fusion for a near-fall.
Junior tries for the Landungsbrücke, but it’s blocked as he’s then sent outside with a leaping uppercut… another superkick followed out the outside, but a belly-to-belly into the buckles put Junior back in control. That’s followed up with with an overhead double underhook superplex off the top rope, before Junior went back up top… and got caught again.
A superplex off the top’s rolled through into a chicken wing… but Junior pushes out of the corner to try and reverse as some back-and-forth almost ends things, before a diving uppercut into Junior also wiped out the ref. Cue shenanigans, but Junior ducks an umbrella shot before Da Mack talked him out of using it… only for Junior to get caught with a chicken wing that led to the referee stoppage. This was a hell of a babyface showing from Junior, only to be undone by some bad advice from Da Mack at the end. ***½
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Tommy End vs. Karsten Beck (c)
Tommy’s was given a rematch after being robbed in Munich last week, where he’d apparently used his “Carat shot.”
Beck came into this with taped ribs, selling the effects of the Owari death stomp he’d gotten in Munich, and he was understandably gunshy from the off. Beck’s early offence was punctuated with him stopping for breath, before he rolled End down for a chinlock. Breaking free, End tries to force his way back in, but a knee to the midsection stopped him ahead of a deceptive short-arm clothesline. End goes for Beck’s ribs to break up a neck crank as the champion started clubbering his challenger, before a low dropkick from Beck missed… opening himself up for a quick double stomp as End aggravated Beck’s rib injury.
The champion hurriedly rolls outside, but End follows him with kicks to the midsection as the Dutchman smelled some proverbial blood. Back inside, more kicks and shots to the ribs from End have Beck reeling, almost to the point where the crowd were beginning to take pity on Karsten.
Looking to force a referee stoppage, End leaps with another double stomp to the champion – rather than going for pinning attempts – and that threatened to scupper End as Beck managed to fight back with a missile dropkick off the middle rope. That took a lot out of Beck as well though, and when things headed onto the apron he ended up dropping to the floor as he couldn’t muscle up End for a piledriver onto the apron.
Seconds later, Beck had enough in him to hit a gutwrench powerbomb to dump End onto the walkway, but you could tell he was almost running on fumes at this point. So much so, in fact, that the little bit of sympathy Beck had was evaporating as the crowd started pulling for End again. A Flatliner from Beck nearly ends it, but Karsten still couldn’t go for a piledriver as a back body drop freed up End.
Beck’s able to avoid a PK seconds later, but not a flying knee as the challenger found his second wind… landing that PK for a near-fall. More kicks follow as End went back to his earlier game plan, before Kevin Roadster and Marius van Beethoven popped up to try and talk Beck into walking out. Instead, Beck shooed away Reich und Schön, only to get caught with the future Black Mass for a near-fall as End pushed on…
Another Owari death stomp off the top crushes Beck, but it’s still not enough, almost to the confusion of End, who had to figure out what was next with a lifeless Beck. Again, End doesn’t go for the cover, but instead blazes Beck with a series of kicks ahead of a bicycle knee… only to get laid out with a lariat out of nowhere. End’s up at one from that, before his knee strike earned him a snap piledriver… and somehow Karsten escaped with the title! This was a lovely title match that played off of Munich – playing the crowd like a fiddle in the process. While Beck’s still hated, you could see the seedlings of his “better self” for want of a better term underneath as he fought on despite injury, shooing away his minions, before clinching the victory. ***¾
Shortcut To The Top Match
A shot at Karsten Beck’s title is on the line here… but we’ll get to that at the end of the match!
The Rotation and Robert Dreissker start us off. Poor Rotation. He’s treated like a Crash Test Dummy by Dreissker, but mounted some offence before the countdown brought out Axel Dieter Jr., who sprinted like his knee wasn’t worn down an hour or so earlier. Junior dropkicks Dreissker through the ropes to the floor, while Rotation tried to go off the top… and eliminated himself with a 450 splash to the floor. I think the harsh word for that is “dummkopf.”
Lucas di Leo is out next, sans a name graphic as he looked to make up for the earlier disappointment of losing the tag titles. Lucky Kid comes in at number five, but he’s quickly taken out with a di Leo clothesline. Number six is Franz Engel, whose bodyscissors took down Lucky Kid ahead of a DDT, before di Leo cut off Engel with a big boot. Everyone gangs up on di Leo, ahead of Michael Dante making his entrance – so now we’ve got two big lads in this.
Dante instantly turfs out di Leo, then shrugged off a clothesline from Axel Dieter Jr… who returned with a more successful Blockbuster out of the corner. Junior and Lucky Kid try to throw out Dante, before John Klinger entered at number eight… and almost Ultimo Dragon’d himself on the way down the ramp.
Klinger goes right after Dante, but ends up relenting as things broke down ahead of the entry of Marius al-Ani. There’s a sneaky shot of Robert Dreissker being held back by Adam Polak as Klinger was chucked out out al-Ani… but Bad Bones lands on the raised walkway which saves him from being eliminated. The two scrap on the walkway for a while, but Klinger charges back in with a running spear through the ropes to take him back into the ring.
Number 10 is Peter Fischer, who makes a beeline for Junior ahead of the entry of Ivan Kiev… who managed to dispatch Dante in relatively short order. Adam Polak pops up to distract John Klinger… whose running dive got cut off with a cowbell from Robert Dreissker, who then returned to the match to lay waste to as many bodies as he could.
Laurance Roman – spelled Lawrence on the graphics for reasons – runs in at number 12 for what’d be his first in-ring interaction with Dreissker. 2024 looks forward to those two. Roman’s early fire sees him land a high kick to Fischer, before Dreissker threw him through the ropes. Roman and Engel try to clothesline Dreissker out of the match, but a double back body drop got rid of both Waschbäre, before Tarkan Aslan entered the match.
The ring clears up there as Junior clotheslines Fischer, while Lucky Kid’s launched over the top to the floor by Dreissker, who’d also clotheslined al-Ani out of the match as the cameras were watching the entry-way. Ivan Kiev’s eliminated by Dreissker as well, before Aslan took a kicking from the Avalanche.
The countdown for Marty Scurll starts as Tarkan Aslan got thrown onto the entry ramp… but it’s not a safe zone as Aslan’s chucked down to the floor. Junior heads onto the ramp to scrap to the back with Scurll. That left a bloodied Robert Dreissker in the ring by himself, having a breather ahead of the entry of Miguel Ramirez. Oh dear.
It goes as badly as you think, with Ramirez getting thrown around the ring… quite literally, as he almost landed on his feet from a back body drop. A cannonball follows in the corner, as a Fire Thunder Driver planted Ramirez ahead of the entry of Jason Muse, our “who’s he?” entrant in this year’s match. Ramirez gets tossed out of the ring in what’d be his final action in wXw – a neck injury he picked up at some point here was enough to push him into retirement…
Muse tried to jump Dreissker, but the American gets laid out with a clothesline before he got thrown over the top… and charged down to the floor. Next out was Steve Valentino, whose main roster wXw experience at this point was pretty much limited to rumbles and battle royals. He tries to psyche himself up for Dreissker, but a clothesline stops any ideas he had as Valentino’s exit quickly followed after that.
Absolute Andy is next to face Dreissker, as we got a stark change in the level of opponents here… further raised up by the return of John Klinger, who was back after being knocked out with a cowbell earlier. The Champions of Champions team gang up on Dreissker, ahead of the entry of Toby Blunt… who just bounced off of Dreissker with a crossbody.
Things go from bad to worse as Dreissker breaks the ring with an Irish whip to John Klinger, who wrecks the top rope as he took the corner a la Bret Hart. The ring crew scramble to fix things as Dreissker was left standing tall. Da Mack is out next as the match continued in earnest, distracting Dreissker ahead of a spinebuster from Andy.
The ring crew’s removed the top rope, so eliminations are now over what was the middle rope. Mike Schwarz is out at 21 as Dreissker continued to stand tall, but Schwarz’s distraction allowed everyone else time to get back to their feet as everyone ganged up on Dreissker before they eventually threw him out of the match.
Number 22 is Kevin Roadster, who stops to have a swig of his pre-workout before hitting the ring… he’s bounced around the ring as everyone took their shots, ahead of the entry of Jurn Simmons. Now then! Jurn’s got a spray bottle that he’s using to oil himself up for a posedown as Junior and Scurll return from the back and make it into the ring.
A missed Patteuse led to Scurll throwing out Junior and Mack, before an F5 from Andy wiped out Scurll. Aaron Insane stops to hug Jurn on the stage as he made his way to the ring, while Hot & Spicy argued among themselves on their way to the back. Simmons finally makes it into the match, before Marius van Beethoven joined at number 25. He helps Alpha Kevin try to eliminate Toby Blunt as they were trying to lift Blunt over the formerly-middle rope, but Blunt eventually gets thrown out.
Mike Schwarz is tossed by Kevin and Marius as Sasa Keel entered the fray… Aaron Insane tries to celebrate with Keel and Jurn, but Keel Holding isn’t what it was as they just stare in disbelief before Sha Samuels hit the ring. A DDT from Jurn dumps Keel as Simmons looked to side with Karsten Beck’s henchmen… and that’s the cue for the new Shotgun champion Kim Ray to join at number 28, flanked by the Russian translator from earlier.
Kim takes his time to enter the fray as he instead pulled Sasa Keel out of the match a la Hulk and Sid… Aaron Insane’s knocked out as well as Keel Holding fell apart at the seams. Ilja Dragunov is in at number 29, going right after Kim Ray, meanwhile Absolute Andy lifted out Kevin Roadster… then toyed with Marius van Beethoven before the Champions of Champions got rid of both halves of Reich und Schön.
Andy goes after Sha Samuels next before Kim Ray snuck in and threw out Andy… Ilja returns the favour to Kim Ray, before a double clothesline laid out Klinger and Dragunov. That leaves us with the final countdown as… GRADO was the last man out?! 2015 was a weird time.
Grado goes right after Sha with the Dusty punches and some Bionic elbows, which took Sha out of the match. We’re down to our final four with Klinger avoiding a uranage from Dragunov, eventually throwing Dragunov out, before Grado sidestepped a charging Scurll, who eliminated himself.
Sha’s back in and goes after Klinger, despite having already been eliminated… Wrecking Ball Knees take care of Sha, but Klinger lost sight of Grado, who threw him out to take the win in what was a very eventful Shortcut to the Top match. ***¼
Obviously, Grado’s entry was a surprise, with his only prior appearance for wXw having been in a tag team with Eugene earlier in the year… and this would end up being his final appearance, as his scheduled title shot over the World Tag Team Tournament weekender ended up not happening after Grado had travel issues.
Shortcut to the Top was a fitting tour ender, albeit a show that had more teasers than you’d think as wXw prepared to start what’d be an eventful 15th Anniversary tour.