It’s the series finale of #wXwShotgun as we’ve a monster of a show with three title defences while Norman Harras and Avalanche lock horns in the wXw Academy.
Quick Results
Bobby Gunns pinned Emil Sitoci in 15:09 to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship (***¾)
Levaniel pinned Tristan Archer in 8:15 (***)
Jurn Simmons pinned Dennis Zinner in 1:25 (NR)
Metehan submitted Killer Kelly in 2:06 to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship (NR)
Marius al-Ani pinned Hektor Invictus in 9:48 (***)
Stephanie Maze & Fast Time Moodo pin Prince Ahura & Maggot in 17:24 to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship (***½)
Avalanche submitted Norman Harras in the wXw Academy Match in 23:12 (***½)
We’ve a recap from across the series of how Emil Sitoci and Dirty Dragan won a tag title shot… only for the match to be cancelled as Dragan got attacked. There’s snippets of Bobby Gunns wanting more favours from Metehan and his goons, which backfired in last week’s main event.
“Last week” Abdul and Aytac are commiserating after letting Metehan down again… Norman Harras arrives to quiz them on their failure, but EZEL are fed up of being spoken to like that. Norman calms them down, but the uneasiness is more than clear.
Cue titles, and for the final time this series, we’re inside the Steffy in Oberhausen, with Sebastian Hollmichel on commentary… and yes, that run time is two and a half hours. It’s the biggest Shotgun of all-time. Even bigger than Shotgun XXL two years ago when they first wound-up the show!
Emil Sitoci is walking… as are the Pretty Bastards… and then we get a video package on Emil Sitoci and his 19 years in wXw, featuring a curiously-blurred face. He’s won everything but the Unified World Wrestling Championship, and that’s what keeps bringing him back. Emil’s done with playing nice, and it’s now time to play…
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Emil Sitoci vs. Bobby Gunns (c)
Sitoci charged at Gunns at the bell, tripping him up, but it came to nought.
Gunns returns the favour, going from a wristlock into a trip as he worked over Sitoci’s leg and ankle. The Dutchman tries to kick Gunns away, but to little avail as Gunns rolled into a half crab… but loses grip as Sitoci manages to get free. A snapmare took Gunns down, but the champion quickly counters in an armbar, before taking things to the corner for a clean break… only for Bobby to come back in with some cheap shots. Sitoci boots his way out of the corner before unleashing on Gunns… catching him with a split-legged moonsault after Gunns dropped down to avoid a crossbody. An armbar slows down the pace, with Sitoci going for a crucifix pin that rolled into an armbar. Another Irish whip takes Gunns to the corner, but he bounces back as he wrapped Sitoci into an Octopus hold, but Sitoci got to the ropes quick… and had his arm kicked away.
Gunns misses a PK as he then went for some headscissors, but Sitoci caught him with a spinning tombstone… although Gunns rolls outside to avoid being pinned straight away. When Sitoci managed to get him back inside, he gets a two-count, before Gunns went back outside… suckering in Sitoci for a beating by the side of the ring. Back inside again, Gunns works over Sitoci’s arm, jarring it over his shoulder before kicking it away on the mat. An arm wringer takes Sitoci back down as Gunns proceeded to stomp on the elbow, as that focus remained on the arm. Sitoci goes to the ropes as Bobby went in for an armbar, but referee Tassilo Jung’s needed to force the break.
Gunns whips Sitoci into the corner for a running uppercut, but Emil fought back with a back elbow and a Whisper in the Wind off the top rope. Things descend into a battle of elbows and uppercuts as the pair went at it, before Sitoci landed a wheelbarrow armdrag and a regular armdrag… leading to some tijeras that took Gunns down for a near-fall. Sitoci keeps going with a gutbuster, and then went up top… only for Gunns to throw Tassilo Jung into the ropes to crotch Emil. Gunns comes back with a superplex as the referee wouldn’t DQ him, and after a tease of the Snapmare Driver, Gunns leaps in with an armbar, rolling into a Swish Armbar… but Sitoci hangs on and got a foot to the rope!
After getting back to his feet, Sitoci finds his arm is still being targeted by Gunns, but he armdrags his way free and surprises the champion with a Snapmare Driver for a near-fall! Sitoci keeps going, lifting Gunns up top for a Spanish fly, but instead lands a ‘rana before Emil went back up for a double sledge… he’s caught, as Gunns quickly lands an Emerald Fusion, and that’s barely enough for the win! I absolutely loved this match – they gave it time, and had Emil come achingly close to the win. If only they were able to give this the same sorta build as the Mike Schwarz match, it may have ranked even higher, but still damn good for a “TV” match. ***¾
We get recaps of Levaniel getting a little highly-strung about wXw having French wrestlers not named Amale as his lovelorn ways got slightly off-course. Now we get Levaniel breaking some big news to Amale, who’s rolling her eyes before she’s even told how Levaniel wants to beat Tristan Archer. Amale gives Botchamania a new piece of audio for a segment, and straight up tells Levaniel she wants to be with a winner – especially if they’re defending her honour. She has a point.
Tristan Archer vs. Levaniel
Levaniel wants to prove himself as the best Frenchman in wXw… which has its obvious issue.
We got going with Levaniel ranting at Archer, before he went for a flash roll-up. Archer’s up at two, so Levaniel tries again and gets a one-count… a third roll-up gets another two as Archer thought he’d lost. Levaniel catches a boot and comes in with a side headlock on Archer, then gets shoved off for a shoulder tackle. Levaniel’s smart and avoids a trip attempt, walking over Archer… only to get punched out as he ran his mouth. He’s back though with a spinning heel kick for just a one-count, as Archer came back in with a gamengiri. A running uppercut dumps Levaniel in the corner ahead of a backpack stunner, but Levaniel kicks out at two.
An elbow from Archer drops Levaniel again, as a backbreaker gets a two-count, but Levaniel’s back with clotheslines ahead of a Randy Orton-esque backbreaker. A spinebuster’s next for a near-fall, before Levaniel looked to go for Amale’s Champion’s Maker… and got rolled up for a near-fall. Archer throws in another uppercut and a back suplex, as the Steffy crowd got behind Levaniel… who countered out of a suplex and landed a Fisherman suplex to nearly win the match. From there, Levaniel pops up Archer, only to run into a Decapitator kick. A clothesline follows to complete it, but it’s still not enough to put away a hardy Levaniel.
Archer again signals for a decapitation, picking up Levaniel for a tombstone it looked like, but Levaniel uses headscissors to take the Frenchman outside. Of course, Archer gets back into the ring, but he’s caught with a roll-up from the ropes for a near-fall, before the Champion’s Maker got Levaniel the upset win! The power of love gave him extra strength, it seemed, and it’s enough to get him his first ever win in wXw! ***
Backstage, Nico Schmidt’s got a sit-down interview with Jurn Simmons, who held good on his promise from last week. Jurn reckoned he needed time to put his thoughts into words… he tells us he’d lost his motivation, as he was comparing 2020 Jurn to the Jurn of the past, particularly when he focused on his run in 16 Carat Gold.
He brings up how he’s lost and ruined friends along the way, and that led him to wonder what’s next. With that win over Hektor, and having made amends with Dirty Dragan, Jurn wants to look to the future… and they bring up Marius al-Ani. It seems that Marius pushing his buttons has worked, as Jurn wants to wipe him out, and we’re building to that at some point. It won’t be tonight though, because we’ve got a bonus match…
Dennis Zinner vs. Jurn Simmons
From the bell, Jurn shoves Zinner away into the corner, then into the ropes as Zinner came back with a surprise leg lariat for a two-count.
Zinner slaps Jurn before a springboard crossbody off the top was caught and turned into a spinebuster. From there, Jurn monsters up for a Massive piledriver, and that’s all folks. Thanks for coming, Dennis!
We’ve a new ad for SL-Wrestling – they’ve slowly been sneaking in ads for wXw merch in this series…
Backstage, Nico’s with Dennis Zinner, who’s licking his wounds after that quick loss to Jurn. Dennis tries to take the positives from it, and that he’s taking it as a sign to work and train harder. He tells us he’s “Dan Main” because he wants to be in the main event, and he’ll work to get there.
Also backstage, Killer Kelly, Stephanie Maze and Fast Time Moodo are preparing for their title matches… but Kelly seems a little distracted as she gave them a pep talk. We then get a recap of how Kelly got Andy to overturn the intergender ban in wXw, and the events that led to the title shots being won by Kelly, Maze and Moodo. At the end, we’re reminded that Metehan was refusing the match because he doesn’t want to hit a woman…
Metehan is out in street clothes, keeping that up, then grabbed the mic. He tells us he’s not here for a match, since he’ll never raise a hand against a woman. He asks everyone if they’d hit a woman… and if they won’t, why should he? The crowd call Metehan a coward for that… and out comes Killer Kelly to stop his ranting. She’s dressed to wrestle, and demands that Thommy Giesen do the introductions.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Metehan (c) vs. Killer Kelly
Kelly attacks Metehan as he tried to walk away, landing a German suplex before she chopped down Abdul and Aytac. Metehan stops them from fighting back, and we finally get going.
Kelly dares Metehan to fight, and tries to incite him with a series of short-arm clotheslines. Again, Metehan tries to walk away, but just sidesteps as Kelly charged into the ropes. She grabs him by the foot as Metehan again tried leaving, but Kelly presses the button marked “your mother”, which sets him off. Cooler heads prevailed, but Metehan gets cross chopped in the throat, before Metehan was dragged down in a Dragon sleeper… but Metehan gets free and locks in a crossface for the quick tap. Kelly came up short, but managed to get Metehan to engage – by finding that talking about Metehan’s mother sets him off.
Marius al-Ani vs. Hektor Invictus
We got a recap of the situation between these two before the match, and we start with Hektor and al-Ani rolling on the mat, looking for a body part. An armbar from Hektor is rolled out of, but Marius is back with a shoulder tackle before they went back-and-forth on sunset flips for a bunch of two-counts.
Marius goes for a toe hold, but Hektor uses headscissors to free himself as the pair went for a knuckle lock. A leg sweep takes down Hektor for some two-counts, but a neck bridge saves Hektor on some pins, before al-Ani looked for an omoplata. Hektor manages to delay it, then roll away as they go back to back-and-forth pins that nearly ended things. Hektor goes for a head kick, but gets caught with a Blue Thunder bomb, as Marius then went for a leg lock on impact, but Hektor replies with one of his own. Marius lets go of his first as he went to punch out Hektor, before spinning him into a STF that ended in the ropes. Marius swings and misses at Hektor in the corner, but has more luck with a spinning heel kick as al-Ani began to gloat.
Some punches take Hektor into the corners, where a clothesline and a suplex out of it gets Marius a near-fall, before he went back to a Fujiwara armbar. Marius keeps going with kicks as Hektor got back to his feet, eventually landing an overhead kick before Marius caught him off the ropes with a dropkick. More strikes from Marius get blocked as Hektor runs in with a Yakuza kick in the corner, then a second one, only for Marius to respond with a Superman punch for a near-fall. Marius looked to go for a Diamond Driver, but Hektor escaped, flipping Marius over for a knee strike before hauling him up for a front suplex. A German suplex looked to follow, but Marius rolls through and applies an ankle lock, only for Hektor to roll free. A rear spin kick and a stomp flips Marius down for a powerbomb for another nea-fall, before Hektor caught Marius in a submission. After getting free, Marius fought back with a nip-up kick, a Superman punch and a Diamond Driver – and that’s all folks. A valiant effort from Hektor, who pushed Marius to the limit, but the rapid-fire combination was too much in the end. ***
After the match, Marius called for his personal interviewer Nico Schmidt, but instead out comes… Jurn in a baseball cap? He plays Nico, and has some questions for a change. He asks Marius what’s happened to his physical condition, which sets him off, before asking Marius why nobody cares about the win streak. Oh boy.
Marius wants his “real interviewer”, but Jurn decides to ask another question: he trashes Marius’ tattoo work. They go nose-to-nose, as Marius just storms off, decrying this as “bullshit.” I think I need a SPORTS cap next time I’m in Oberhausen…
Backstage, Killer Kelly’s on the phone to Alexander James, disappointed in her loss to Metehan. He takes it very well, and tells Kelly to learn from it. A long distance relationship on this show that’s actually working?!
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Stephanie Maze & Fast Time Moodo vs. Pretty Bastards (Maggot & Prince Ahura) (c)
Hopefully Maze and Moodo can go one step further than Killer Kelly did earlier, as we start with Maggot making fun of Moodo’s martial arts background.
Moodo just slaps him, then swept the leg ahead of a triangle armbar attempt that quickly ended in the ropes. A suplex from Maggot gets a two-count, before Moodo came back with some kicks, including a spinning roundhouse that took down Maggot for a two-count of his own. Maze tags in to land a spinning heel kick for a two-count, before Maggot caught a kick and looked to counter back… but instead he tweaks her fingers and came back with a clothesline. Prince Ahura’s in to joke around, poking Maze with some kicks before some body blows and knees took her into the ropes. He charges her into the corner for some more punches, with elbows to the back of the head forcing the referee to separate them, before Ahura missed a knee into the corner as Maze came back with a flurry of shots.
Once Tassilo Jung separated them again, Maze goes back in with kicks to the chest before a bunch of ducked kicks led to a dropkick from Ahura for a two-count. Maze knocks Maggot off the apron as she went for a tornado DDT to Ahura… but it’s blocked as Ahura came back with a spinning brainbuster for a two-count. Ahura throws Maze shoulder-first into the ring post, as the champions looked to take control. Maggot’s whipped into Maze in the corner, then propelled into her with a wheelbarrow for a near-fall, before some ground and pound punches from Maggot forced Maze to cover up. She’s back to her feet though, but Ahura just stomps off the top rope, going through her arm, before a head kick took Maze back down.
She kicks out at two though, then stomped away on Ahura’s feet to get herself free. Kicks knock Maggot off the apron before Ahura threw his bandana at her, providing a distraction before she got swept to the mat. Moodo gets mad and storms the ring as the Bastards double-team in their corner… but a missed spear from Maggot opens the door as Moodo got the hot tag. Moodo knocks Ahura off the apron as he lit up Maggot with knees and backfists. Ahura comes in and takes some of the same as Moodo was clearing house on his own. A thrust kick and a suplex dumps Maggot into Ahura, ahead of a Coast to Coast dropkick, which gets a near-fall. From there, Moodo pulls Maggot into a triangle choke, while Stephanie Maze had Ahura in a half crab… but Ahura rakes Maze’s face to get free before saving his own tag partner.
Maze shoves Maggot’s snapmare away – making him accidentally spear Moodo – before he took out Maze with a spear. Ahura’s in to land a Red Light Driver, but Moodo dives in to make the save, only to get taken outside and posted by Maggot. He’s back again to save Maze from a double superplex, turning it into a Tower of Doom attempt… but Ahura hooks his mouth before the pair ran into each other’s kicks. From there, Maze shoves down Maggot… only to leap into a cutter that almost ends things. She’s up at two, but can’t make the tag out to Moodo, as Ahura pulls him off the apron. The Bastards try to Alley-Oop Maze into a knee strike, but in a repeat of their last encounter, Maze rolls up Ahura, this time for a near-fall, before Moodo came in to crack Ahura with a spinning roundhouse.
Duelling head kicks knock Ahura down, and that’s enough for Stephanie to make the cover to win the tag team titles! That’s a massive upset as the newly-put together team wrap up their debut season of Shotgun with the gold – and that’s a heck of a reaction considering the crowd size. The rookies leave Oberhausen with the tag titles, and there’s your proof that the intergender ban being reversed wasn’t for nought afterall! ***½
They announce the Catch Grand Prix release schedule, with some jaunty music. There’s fourteen names in the field, and we’ll find out those on October 18 on the wXw YouTube channel.
We then get a video package on the Avalanche/Norman Harras feud, which lead through the Dog Food match, to the Dog Collar match, to tonight’s main event – a no holds barred match at the wXw Wrestling Academy in Essen.
We start with Norman Harras driving around Essen with his theme music playing. I can relate. He parks illegally outside the venue, and… holy crap, he’s using his 16 Carat Bowled winners bag for his gear. Approaching the wXw Academy, he knocks, and is eventually answered by referee Markus Weiss.
Norman wants to change, but he’s no time as he walks through the door to this smiling face…
wXw Academy Match: Norman Harras vs. Avalanche
Avalanche charges Norman as he tries to get his suit jacket off, and we are underway. Norman turns off the light, but thankfully there’s another switch as they brawl around all of the paperwork, as Norman tries to leave.
Our tour of the Academy flat continues as they head upstairs, with Harras throwing a chair into Avalanche, before he tried to throw him back downstairs. Harras wheels away on punches before throwing Avalanche into some cans, as another chair was used to choke the Academy head coach with. Norman finds a roll of duct tape and tries to wrap it around Avalanche’s mouth, but Avalanche fought back, throwing Harras into a wall before he was caught with a low blow. Avalanche pushes him away and knocks a picture off the wall, as they then appear in the Crow’s Nest inside the Academy – where the German commentary team usually do commentary for Inner Circle shows. I always wondered what was on the other side…
Avalanche tries to hang Harras by his tie on the fire escape ladder, then lets go as Norman lands in a dog’s water bowl. Joining him on the ground floor, Avalanche is thrown into the wrestling ring, as Harras joined him and proceeded to stomp a mudhole in the Austrian in the corner. A diving European uppercut gets Harras a two-count, before Avalanche tossed Harras out onto the training mats. Harras grabs a broom handle to swipe Avalanche with, before using it for some choking. Avalanche tries to grab it, but his hands get stomped on as Harras had his way with him. A pin gets Norman a two-count as Norman then pulled up the training mats… then went to call the Pretty Bastards to gloat. A slam stops him as Avalanche could only get a one-count, before a drop toe hold smashed Avalanche’s face into the concrete floor.
Norman goes under the ring for something, but can’t find the chain he’d apparently planted. Avalanche unlocks a door and throws Harras back into the office, as they brawled into the studio room. He’s clearly salty about not being invited onto the Conversations series as he choked Avalanche with microphone cabling, but then got pulled back in for some more shots. I pity the poor sod who had to clean all this up…
Norman reaches into his bowling bag of tricks and finds the chain, but Avalanche stops him and commandeers the chain, wrapping it around his wrist as Norman begged off. He’s punched in the head with it though as the blood begins to trickle from his head. Avalanche tears off Norman’s shirt as they head back into the main room, but Norman hits Avalanche with a weight before he got thrown into some weight benches. Avalanche followed that up by THROWING A FRIDGE AT NORMAN, who thankfully got out of the way as the fridge hit the ring post. The door flies off, so Norman just hits Avalanche with it, while Avalanche looked for something in a cabinet… but ended up having the door slammed onto his leg. They brawl past my spot for Inner Circle shows, and hey, there’s some ladders there.
Avalanche gets thrown into a ladder as Norman goes to climb up to the mezzanine. Avalanche scales the other one, but gets knocked down as Norman then flung the ladder onto him. Thankfully he doesn’t jump off the mezzanine, and instead climbs down to go for a pin, before he opened the shutters. Ah, just like at interval. Harras traps Avalanche under the shutters, and forces the referee to count… except there’s a little step between the Academy floor and outside, so Avalanche’s shoulders weren’t down. MY GOD. That little detail! So Harras decides to trap Avalanche in a Figure Four while he was in the shutters, but Avalanche overpowers those things and frees himself.
Norman’s tossed into a wall and then taken outside as he’s told to stay optimistic. Hah! They stagger downstairs towards the basement, where Norman locked up Mila earlier in the series… and throws some more plunder at Avalanche. HOLY CRAP, Avalanche grabs a light tube from the fixtures and just smashes it over Norman’s back, barely getting a two-count as Norman came up with a bloody back. He grabs a fire extinguisher and drills it into Avalanche, then sprays the Austrian to fill the basement with the smoke. A sorta-spinebuster throws Avalanche through a table for a two-count before the pair head back outside, coughing and spluttering. Harras tries to escape, and eventually finds the open door as he then got in his car to drive away… but Avalanche drags him back out to keep the fight going. They’re back inside the Academy, where Harras dropped Avalanche with a back body drop onto the floor for a near-fall.
Back in the office, Harras grabs the chain as he looked to make Avalanche cough up blood once more. They head back into the ring, but Harras gets caught with a fallaway slam for a near-fall on his bloodied back, before a Dreissker Bomb misses. A dropkick has Avalanche back down, ahead of a diving kick for another two-count, before Harras hit a low blow as Harras talked trash. From there, Avalanche grabs in the same modified camel clutch that won him the Käfigschlacht in years past, adding a chain to the mix… and that’s enough to make Norman tap! The Academy match will have popped the few fans who have been to the Academy, what with all the Easter eggs they threw in. Cinematic matches can be tough to rate, but I massively enjoyed this on several fronts – and left with more respect for Norman, who’s damn sure been put through the wringer on this season of Shotgun. ***½
We’re not done yet though – Norman’s phone is ringing, and of course, his ring tone is his ring music. I love that trope. Avalanche answers as Bobby’s calling, and tells Norman to phone his friends back. Oh, and to clean up the mess they made. And yes, there was a LOT of it… as we fade to black with Avalanche’s music playing us out.
This jumbo-sized season finale of Shotgun was the best one yet – opening with a fantastic title match, then going on to deliver a heart-warming pay-off and finally, a different twist on the cinematic style of matches we’ve grown accustomed to in 2020. With Shotgun now appearing on the WWE Network, new eyes are now on a show that a lot of fans held close to their hearts – and the rebooted series have made sure that that hasn’t changed one bit.