The final pieces for the Pro Wrestling Grand Prix weekend fell into place as this week’s Shotgun gave away the full cards for the trio of tournaments.
Quick Result
Ricky Sosa pinned Matt Gatlin in 5:39 (**¾)
— Check out the Auf Die Fresse podcast for further wXw coverage… Links to stream are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
We open inside the Turbinenhalle as Mett’s interrupting setup – before he quickly pitches to “Double Joey Action.”
First up, a pretape from Joey Janela, who puts over Ahura’s year – then put over wXw as everything he loves about independent wrestling. Janela’s going to be Ahura’s first title defence, and he’s threatening to add Ahura’s name next to Sabu as those whose legacy he ended. I’d hope not!
We flip backstage to Joey Sensation, who fills us in on some matches for Pro Wrestling Grand Prix. Let’s go!
Show 1 – Friday – World Tag Team Tournament: Hyperactive vs. Best Bros
Show 1 – Friday – World Tag Team Tournament: Greedy Souls vs. Quick & Dirty
Show 2 – Saturday Matinee – World Tag Team Tournament: Planet Gojirah vs. Better Together
Show 2 – Saturday Matinee – World Tag Team Tournament: 10/10 Next Level vs. The Grind
Suzu arrives to introduce the matches for Femmes Fatales’ first round – with the revived wXw Women’s World Championship on the line for the winner…
Show 1 – Friday – Femmes Fatales: Mercedes Martinez vs. Stephanie Maze
Show 1 – Friday – Femmes Fatales: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Manami
Show 2 – Saturday Matinee – Femmes Fatales: Kanji vs. Madison Marley
Show 2 – Saturday Matinee – Femmes Fatales: Killer Kelly vs. Jane Nero
Then we’re back to Mett Dimassi, alongside Ben Thamer, with the matches for König der Catcher… but first, they’re interrupted by CSI being all Italian. There’s a screenshot in there as Luca de Leone bemoans Nordino for forgetting to do the admin, while Nordino complained about bureaucracy in Germany.
Thamer interrupts to tell us that CSI do have a match – at Extreme Wrestling Party, taking on Sinner & Saint. It’s then back to König der Catcher talk:
Group A: 1 Called Manders, Thomas Shire, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Dennis Dullnig
Group B: Elijah Blum, Peter Tihanyi, Axel Tischer, Dieter Schwartz
On paper Nakajima vs. Manders leaps off the page, and we’ll be careering towards a Manders vs. Shire showdown in group A. As for block B, the obvious Tischer/Schwartz and Blum/Tihanyi matches stand out for reasons I shouldn’t need to state!
Matt Gatlin vs. Ricky Sosa
This was Gatlin’s debut in wXw, having backseated a marathon car ride from Wales through to mainland Europe for this. That’s not a dig – watch Danny Jones’ vlog for the proof!
Norman Harras and Mett Dimassi are on commentary for this one, which got going with Sosa aiming for Gatlin’s arm in tune to the “bang bang” part of Sosa’s theme. Gatlin escaped the arm wringer, then fired off an uppercut that briefly stunned Sosa… who replied with a bodyslam.
Gatlin escapes a second one, then targeted that left arm, only for Sosa to bang back with another slam. Despite slipping, Sosa’s able to hit a flip out of the corner as Gatlin retaliated with a sugar throw and a double stomp for a solid two-count. Slowing it down with an armbar, Gatlin looked to retain control, only for Sosa to strike back with a suplex as pace looked to be Gatlin’s undoing.
A springboard moonsault off the top from Sosa nearly wins it moments later, before Gatlin escaped a Blue Thunder Bang and hit an over-the-knee brainbuster for a two-count. In the end though, Gatlin got caught out with the Blue Thunder Bang as he celebrated too early, before a diving European uppercut put the Welshman away. **¾
We then wrap up with the schedule for the König der Catcher round robins, so for those who want the Pro Wrestling Grand Prix cards so far summarised (as of this Shotgun), here we go:
Pro Wrestling Grand Prix – Friday
König der Catcher: Group A – Dennis Dullnig vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
König der Catcher: Group A – 1 Called Manders vs. Thomas Shire
König der Catcher: Group B – Elijah Blum vs. Axel Tischer
König der Catcher: Group B – Dieter Schwartz vs. Peter Tihanyi
Femmes Fatales First Round: Mercedes Martinez vs. Stephanie Maze
Femmes Fatales First Round: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Manami
World Tag Team Tournament First Round: Hyperactive vs. Best Bros
World Tag Team Tournament First Round: Greedy Souls vs. Quick & Dirty
Extreme Wrestling Party
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Joey Janela vs. Ahura (c)
Sinner & Saint (Judas Icarus & Travis Williams) vs. CSI (Nordino & Luca de Leone)
Killer Kelly vs. Steph de Lander
Zoltan vs. Myron Reed
Pro Wrestling Grand Prix – Saturday Matinee
König der Catcher: Group A – Dennis Dullnig vs. Thomas Shire
König der Catcher: Group B – Axel Tischer vs. Peter Tihanyi
Femmes Fatales First Round: Kanji vs. Madison Marley
Femmes Fatales First Round: Killer Kelly vs. Jane Nero
World Tag Team Tournament First Round: Planet Gojirah vs. Better Together
World Tag Team Tournament First Round: 10/10 Next Level vs. The Grind
Pro Wrestling Grand Prix – Saturday Evening
König der Catcher: Group A – Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. 1 Called Manders
König der Catcher: Group B – Dieter Schwartz vs. Elijah Blum
Femmes Fatales Semi-Finals
World Tag Team Tournament Semi-Finals
Pro Wrestling Grand Prix – Sunday
König der Catcher: Group A – Thomas Shire vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
König der Catcher: Group A – Dennis Dullnig vs. 1 Called Manders
König der Catcher: Group B – Peter Tihanyi vs. Elijah Blum
König der Catcher: Group B – Dieter Schwartz vs. Axel Tischer
König der Catcher Final – Group A winner vs. Group B winner
Femmes Fatales Finals (for the vacant wXw Women’s World Championship)
World Tag Team Tournament Finals