wXw returned to Oberhausen for their ninth Shortcut to the Top – a show that ended with a decision nobody expected.
Quick Results
Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima pinned Alex Duke & Norman Harras in 8:52 (**¼)
Ahura defeated Levaniel via disqualification in 13:36 – Levaniel retains the wXw Shotgun Championship (**¾)
Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig pinned Nick Schreier & Mike D Vecchio to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 12:25 (***¼)
Aigle Blanc pinned Michael Oku to retain the wXw European Championship in 19:06 (***½)
Laurance Roman pinned Trevor Lee to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship in 14:21 (***½)
Peter Tihanyi won Shortcut to the Top in 51:36 (***¼)
— In the next week or so, I’ll be chatting about this show with Mike Kilby on the Auf Die Fresse podcast. Links to stream that episode when it drops, along with our catalogue of back episodes are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
We’re coming live via stream from the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen – and as usual, we’ve a pre-show match…
Big Bucks (Norman Harras & Alex Duke) vs. Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima)
This was the match they tried to do a lot over Carat weekend, but had Anita Vaughan in for the then-injured Yuto.
A decent early start saw Young Blood pull ahead, with Yuto’s running knees into the corner on Duke almost ending things, but that prompted a cheapshot from Norman Harras to turn things around. Big Bucks isolated Yuto from there, only for a running kick from Yuto to stem the tide.
OSKAR got the tag in to start the comeback, bouncing around Harras with a back body drop for a near-fall before more double-teaming carved a fresh opening for Big Bucks. In the end though, Harras got chucked outside as a big boot/kick combo and the flying knee/F5 put away Duke. This was fine, but Young Blood haven’t had a chance to click in wXw due to injuries – and it almost feels like it’s impacting OSKAR here. Time will change things, and maybe a decent run in Tag Festival…. **¼
This show marked the start of a new relationship between wXw and Triller – which saw the English version of the show stream live on the Triller+ platform. Unfortunately there were teething issues with the stream, so I had to drop Mett Dimassi in favour of Emil Völler and Robin Christopher Fohrwerk on commentary.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Ahura vs. Levaniel (c)
Ahura had called his shot on the post-Frankfurt vlog – he wanted to face Matt Cardona at World Tag Team Festival, and defend the Shotgun title in doing so. Problem was, he doesn’t hold it…
Ahura refused to let Levaniel get under his skin, and looked to be a step ahead of Levaniel for the early going, chopping him into the corner ahead of a dropkick that forced Levaniel to bail. It worked in Levaniel’s favour, as he cut off a springboard dive and posted Ahura, allowing the champion to wear down Ahura with a take on the Cobra Twist.
Levaniel can’t quite keep the upper hand though, as a swivelling lariat took him down, as did a springboard missile dropkick… but we crossed the ten minute mark as a lariat from Levaniel forced a new opening… while a second lariat to a flying Ahura almost ended things. A kick-out just got the champion more irked though, as he bailed out to bring in the ring bell.
The ref’s distracted by the bell and missed Levaniel having his belt… a belt shot’s ducked as Ahura almost took the win with Paradise Waterfall. A blocked low blow from Ahura sets up for one of his own, then a Galactic Facecrusher for a near-fall, before Levaniel raked the eyes to escape a Salamandra, then punted Ahura low for the obvious DQ. Not a finish I’m keen on, but they are at least painting a consistent picture of Levaniel as a chickenshit champion who’s squeaking out by the skin of his teeth. **¾
Post-match, Ahura berated Levaniel on the mic, then reminded Levaniel that the Cardona match was his – since wXw had announced Cardona was facing “the winner of Levaniel vs. Ahura.” After baiting Levaniel with the news that he’d be in the main event of night one of World Tag Team Festival, the champion came out and offered a rematch in that spot instead… and something tells me we’re getting a three-way.
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Mike D Vecchio & Nick Schreier vs. Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus (c)
We’ve got new title match graphics here, and we’re told that only the winners would be a part of World Tag Team Festival – the losers won’t be in the tournament.
With all respect, Mike D looked to be the ringer of his team, given Nick Schreier’s size and inexperience – and while the Belgian controlled things early on, it seemed that he needed some convincing to let Nick have a go. A back body drop from Hektor turned it around for the champions, who isolated Schreier for a spell with Hektor directing traffic.
Schreier’s dropkick stemmed the tide as he manages to get through to Mike D… who clears house with a dropkick into the corner and a running back suplex out of it as the challengers almost snatched the win. An impromptu dive saw Nick get press slammed to the outside by his tag partner, who followed up with a plancha into the front row.
As they were repairing chairs, Mike D’s double cutter out of the corner looked to have had it won, before a Doomsday Device was stopped by Hektor, who turned it into a suplex/powerbomb combo as a Parade of Moves eventually broke out, leading to a 3D, a powerbomb and a Hektor-Knie for the win. A solid-enough match, but I do wonder when (or if) wXw will pull the trigger on Mike D as a pushed commodity. That lightning in a bottle won’t last forever… ***¼
“Earlier today” Dan Mallmann’s with KxS as they pick their numbers for Shortcut to the Top. We’re ohne Subtitles on the live feed, but Moodo and Tischer were happy with their numbers.
wXw European Championship: Michael Oku vs. Aigle Blanc (c)
It’s a rematch from Frankfurt last July, which saw Oku get his maiden win in wXw. Oku was introduced as the British Heavyweight Champion here, but was beltless on a weekend that could have seen him crowned as champions of multiple continents: Europe and America.
Aigle almost squashed things in two minutes with a knee strike to Oku, before he capitalised on a missed dropkick into the corner… but Oku avoided a 450 splash and managed to string together some offence, sending Aigle outside with a dropkick. And breathe. A quick turnaround sees Oku score a flip senton into Oku in the front row as those chairs lived a charmed life.
Back inside, things remained even as a fight over a backslide somehow ended with Oku going up top for a missile dropkick, sparking a long spell in control. Aigle was able to get back in with a ripcord enziguiri and a springboard Meteora to the back of the head, only for a DDT to ensure Oku didn’t fall too far behind.
Going for the half crab ended up fruitless as Aigle kicked Oku away and into the ropes for a ‘rana driver, but it was Oku who again stayed in it, landing a Fosbury Flop to the champion. Back inside, Oku’s Froggy crossbody came close to getting the win, before his misdirection knee was countered with some German suplexes.
Eventually the misdirection knee landed as Oku pushed on, cracking into Aigle with another dropkick in the corner, before a top rope ‘rana was blocked and turned into an Alley Oop instead. That looked to be the start of the final sprint, with Aigle spiking Oku with a tombstone, while a 450 splash drew a near-fall…
Another crack at the Meteora’s rolled through into a half crab, but a repeat of Frankfurt’s snuffed out as Aigle countered it into a backslide… we’re upping the ante with Oku’s reverse ‘rana and a frog splash, before another leaning-back half crab allowed Aigle to pull his way out, then polish off Oku with the Desert Eagle. A pretty decent outing, but I don’t think many expected Oku to knock off Aigle Blanc the first title defence… and in the end the reliance on the half crab ended up being Michael’s undoing. ***½
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Trevor Lee vs. Laurance Roman (c)
This was Roman’s first title defence since winning the title in Oberhausen back in June…
Shaking hands before the bell, the pair kept things at close quarters – but it was Roman who drew first blood, taking Lee outside for a plancha, only for the challenger to respond with an apron PK. Back inside, Lee controlled the pace, hurling Roman into the buckles, before he virtually smothered him from there for a spell as the Turbinenhalle looked to be a sweatbox.
Eventually sidestepping a charge into the corner, Roman’s able to mount a comeback, clobbering his challenger with clotheslines and elbows, before he took too long on a hooking, swinging DDT, allowing Lee to push out and hit the Collision Course fallaway moonsault slam out of nowhere.
Lee’s lariat almost wins him the title, before a powerbomb-like move faceplanted Roman… who just shrugged it off and hit that DDT for a two-count of his own. Repeated clotheslines in the corner just piss off Lee, who plants Roman with a snap sit-out powerbomb, before Roman’s facebuster out of nowhere snatched the win. Much like the European title match before it, this kinda suffered from the crowd not really buying Roman losing in his first defence. ***½
A vignette aired… and judging by the imagery and leather jacket, it looks like we’re getting the old Avalanche back. Hey, I thought he only used that name because we were collectively too dumb to spell “Dreissker”?
Shortcut to the Top Match
This is the ninth time we’ve had a Shortcut to the Top show – so who’ll join the motley crew of winners alongside Grado, Karsten Beck, John Klinger, Bobby Gunns, Timothy Thatcher, Mike Schwarz, Jurn Simmons, Levaniel and Maggot?
Rumble-style matches always have threads in them, so let’s focus on those. Norman Harras and Tank started the match, with Harras’ underestimating Tank backfiring as she wore him down in the corner before clotheslining Norman out of the match. Axel Fox was in at three, meeting a similar fate, just without the arrogance, before Alex Duke looked to do better than his tag partner.
Duke stalled as much as he could, but was brought in the hard way by Tank, whose run of quick eliminations stopped here as Duke’d stalled for enough time for Anil Marik to join at number five. Tank’s tried to overpower Duke and Marik, but to no avail as the two ended up throwing her over the top instead.
At six was Dennis Dullnig, but despite the numerical disadvantage he’s not thrown out as we began a “ring fills” portion of the match, with Nick Schreier in next. Icarus added another member of High Performer Ltd. to the fray, while Baby Allison and Maggot kept their recent skirmishes with HPL alive as Dennis Dullnig took the opportunity to hurl out Duke.
Icarus tosses Dullnig after his attempt to high-five Allison went awry, but it’s the tandem of Maggot and Allison that looked to pay dividends, laying waste to Marik and Icarus with spears before Levaniel came out to break up a double submission attempt. Schreier’s tossed by Levaniel ahead of the entrance of Zeritus, which masked Maggot throwing out Icarus.
As Zeritus wandered down to ringside, Icarus returned to the ring to throw out Maggot, while Marik threw out Baby Allison… that first one counted, for reasons. Marik tried his luck with Zeritus, to no avail as Anita Vaughan hit the relatively-empty ring. Vaughan enjoyed a decent start, hitting a fallaway slam to Levaniel…
Up next… Rainer Ringer. Jesus, my drink must have been strong tonight. Clearly inspired by his trip to SummerSlam, Ringer decided to be something more than a referee here, sandbagging Zeritus on a slam before scoring… a Ringer Bomb?! Zeritus is chucked after that, before he fell back on a slam from Marik. Another Rainer Bomb awaited the “Catch Michaelangelo,” but Marik got up and knocked Rainer over the top to the floor. It was a good run.
Jacob Crane is our next at number 15 to go all Psycho Mike with bodyslams, before he teamed up with Anita Vaughan to go slam happy on Levaniel and Marik. Ahura is up next, still smarting from being cheated out of the Shotgun title in the opener. It led to him eliminating Marik, before a brief face-off with Levaniel. The arrival of Mike D Vecchio looked to put a rocket up everyone’s rear end, changing the mood in an instant.
Crane’s forced to hang on for dear life as Mike D chucked him over the top… and was able to save himself. Red Scorpion is in next, but he too can’t throw out Crane, as Axel Tischer came in at 19. The Axeman looked to clear house as that ring had filled up again, powerbombing Ahura onto Mike D before OSKAR made his entrance to slam everyone that moved.
Everyone except Anita Vaughan that is, but it allowed Tischer to low blow OSKAR before he low bridged Anita out of the match by way of a finger snap. Jane Nero joined next to hit a Twist of Fate to Crane. A Stunner surprisingly laid out Tischer, as OSKAR turfs out Levaniel…
Mike D’s clothesline took care of Red Scorpion as we counted in Michael Oku and hello throwback to last year as Oku almost found himself become a missile at the hands of the Belgian. A DDT saved him from a repeat of history, but Oku was clearly the worse for wear after his European title match earlier.
Jacob Crane’s kicked over the top and to the floor by Ahura as Fast Time Moodo came in next, and quickly took out Nero with a head kick as KXS ran wild. Ahura’s out after a double clothesline, while Mike D ate a barrage of strikes en route to his elimination from the former tag title contenders.
Yuto Nakashima is in next as we had KXS and Young Blood facing off… we all fall down as the ticker brings out Sha Samuels for his first Shortcut appearance since 2019. He’s forced to fight off KXS as he laid out Tischer with a spinebuster, then went to work on Oku as Fohrwerk hastily abandoned the German commentary desk.
Hektor Invictus joined the match at 26 as the match was about to hit the home stretch Elijah Blum woke up the sleepy crowd with his entrance, running wild with neckbreakers ahead of a Parting Gift to Sha Samuels, who was then dropkicked out of the match.
Aaron Insane is in next as he went after KXS with atomic drops… a Rough Ryder looked to help take care of Blum, but Elijah clung on as a kick-aided brainbuster from KXS led to Yuto Nakashima’s departure. OSKAR’s waiting for some revenge, but KXS’ superkicks looked set to lead to his exit… but a switcheroo saw OSKAR throw out Tischer and Moodo instead!
A springboard dropkick from Oku took care of Hektor after OSKAR’d helped take him onto the apron, as Aigle Blanc’s entrance at 29 wrapped up our announced cohort of entrants. Aigle’s bodyscissors took Insane out of the match, before Oku and Aigle renewed acquaintances once more. OSKAR pulled an Ogogo, launching Oku out of the ring to counter a half crab, as we counted down to our last entrant.
Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s out on the stage to do the full High Performer Ltd. announcementrance as Elijah Blum, Aigle Blanc and OSKAR scrapped in the ring. We’ve got yet another signing for High Performer Ltd, and it’s… Peter Tihanyi?! All eyes were on the stage as Oberhausen watched on in disbelief, including the trio in the ring… who missed Anil Marik, Joseph Fenech Jr. and Icarus coming from behind to lift them out of the ring. Hang on a second, two were already eliminated and Fenech wasn’t even in the damn match!
What that questionable officiating meant, despite the extreme protestations from Blum, was that Peter Tihanyi had effectively won Shortcut to the Top by default. As Homer Simpson put it, the sweetest two words in the English language. Tihanyi had been bemoaning his recent poor run of form, and it’s a move to Fohrwerk’s ranks that looked to help turn the tide as the only thing he had to… was get in the ring. A hated move in Oberhausen, and a completely unexpected move to boot as Peter Tihanyi immediately booked himself a shot at the Unified World Wrestling Championship. ***¼
Post-match, Fohrwerk and his squad stood in the ring to celebrate Tihanyi and his win… I’ll wait for the translations as the Turbinenhalle drowned out a lot of Fohrwerk’s claims that he and Tihanyi had written history tonight.
Coming into wXw a year ago and having been seen as almost a joke act in recent times, High Performer Ltd. have really stepped up to the plate after the dissolution of AMBOSS – helped by a rash of transfers that would have made Nottingham Forest of last season proud… and that’s really the big talking point coming out of Shortcut to the Top, a show that also saw new champions rack up their first defences as pieces fell into place for the World Tag Team Festival two months’ time.