Unlucky for some? The thirteenth edition of wXw’s We Love Wrestling sees Norman Harras defend the Shotgun title against Aytac, as all roads lead to next week’s Drive of Champions.
Quick Results
Dennis Zinner pinned Peter Tihanyi in 7:03 (***)
Hektor Invictus pinned Michael Knight in 4:40 (**¼)
Vincent Heisenberg pinned Gulyas Junior in 2:34 (**)
Fast Time Moodo pinned Dennis Dullnig in 14:26 (***½)
Rambo pinned Johnny Evers in 4:33 (**)
Norman Harras pinned Aytac in 6:20 to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship (**¼)
We’re back at the Steffy in Oberhausen, with Dave Bradshaw on English commentary… and after running through the card, we’re taken to an interview with Dennis Zinner.
Andy Jackson notes that we’re seeing progression with Zinner, even if that hasn’t resulted in a win yet. Zinner says he’s wrestled his opponent, Peter Tihanyi, before, but he doesn’t want to underestimate him as he knows Tihanyi’s also not won yet.
Dennis Zinner vs. Peter Tihanyi
Someone’s 0 is about to go, as another promotion put it…
Zinner takes Tihanyi into the corner from the opening lock-up, but the Hungarian escapes by climbing the ropes and heading onto the apron as he then offered the Austrian a path to join him there. They resume the lock-up there, heading down to the floor, still in a collar-and-elbow tie-up, stopping to break and return to the ring as they almost cost each other the match. Zinner pulls ahead, splashing Tihanyi into the corner ahead of a dropkick for just a one-count. Tihanyi returns with a ‘rana and a running Meteora for another one-count, before he worked over Zinner’s arm, keeping him on the mat. Zinner tries to break it in the corner, eventually throwing his way free as Tihanyi misses a charge back into the corner.
Tihanyi runs into a leg lariat, then a facebuster from Zinner that almost wins the match. Zinner’s caught with a roll-up and an Asai DDT from Tihanyi as the pair turn up the heat, with a moonsault keeping Tihanyi slightly ahead. The Hungarian heads back up top, but gets caught as Zinner tries for a superplex… Tihanyi shoves him down, but the resulting crossbody is caught as Zinner rolls through back to his feet, and put him away with the Main Syndrome – a fireman’s carry into a faceplant. A good, competitive match between two guys who’d been eating Ls throughout these shows, and hopefully a platform for Zinner to build on. ***
There’s recaps of Hektor Invictus and Dennis Dullnig’s odd-couple pairing, along with the adventures of Hektor’s flagpole. That segues into an interview with Dään Jokisch and the pair, with Hektor clearly trying to get away from Dullnig. He’s frustrated at how he feels like he’s “running away from his own shadow”, referring to the clingy Dullnig, then vowed to beat Knight.
Hektor Invictus vs. Michael Knight
Of course, Dullnig is shadowing Hektor again… but his makeshift flagpole’s broken again.
Dullnig’s making a nuisance of himself from the off, prompting Hektor to chase him to the back as Dullnig tripped on his way. We get going as they go back-and-forth on wristlocks, before a side headlock from Hektor was pushed off. He charges down Knight and takes him back down to the mat, as headlock takedowns looked to be the order of the day. Knight comes back with a monkey flip and a leaping kick, before a wheelbarrow bulldog drew out Dullnig to try and cheerlead. It kinda works for a bit, with Hektor tying up Knight in the ropes for a front kick, before he shooed away Dullnig again. That’s the cue for Knight to fire back, only to get pancaked and stomped… but Knight ‘rana’s out of a powerbomb attempt and began a comeback.
A clothesline to the back of Hektor in the ropes staggers him, as did a flying clothesline, before Hektor responded with a back suplex. Dullnig’s peeping from the aisle as Hektor nails the powerbomb… and gets the win. Decent enough, but this was totally a backdrop for the odd couple stuff… **¼
Dullnig dives into the ring to celebrate the win – as Hektor continued to seethe as they argued to the back.
They summarise Emil Sitoci’s statement from last week, where he said he was as good as done with wrestling for the time being… and that segued to Andy Jackson recapping the whole deal as we’ve got Emil Sitoci and Tristan Archer via video link. Sitoci tells us he doesn’t “have” to face Archer, who tried to poke the bear by saying that Sitoci only beat him once. Archer tells us he’s about to be the number one contender, which winds up Emil “one win” Sitoci who invented some ranking in his head… so much so that Archer told him to get back to Germany to take the title shot from him.
It worked – because Sitoci agreed to come back and face Archer for that curiously-timed title shot – I guess Tristan got it for finishing second in the battle royal? Andy Jackson clarifies that the winner of Archer vs. Sitoci will get the title shot, whereas the loser is out of title contention for the rest of the year… and that match is set for next week at Drive of Champions.
Backstage, Gulyas Junior is interviewed ahead of his match… he taunts Vincent Heisenberg for being a “big slave” for Baby Allison, before flicking his armpit sweat at us.
Gulyas Junior vs. Vincent Heisenberg
It’s a battle of the bigger lads here…
Gulyas reaches for Heisenberg’s t-shirt so he could stink it up a little. It annoys Heisenberg, who’s clotheslined with the stinky shirt, which is then thrown at Baby Allison. Heisenberg clatters Gulyas with a clothesline, then with forearms and chops as the Hungarian was left in the corner. Heisenberg’s caught into the corner for a cannonball, but it’s only enough for a one-count as Baby Allison intervenes. She distracts Gulyas, who armpits her… only for Heisenberg to boot and slam Gulyas for the win. Basic but it did what it needed to, as Heisenberg slammed the Hungarian afterwards. **
Promo time with Anil Marik & Robert Dreissker ahead of their title defence next week… Robert Dreissker says that his view of the Arrows of Hungary is a little soured given what happened in the Icarus/Marik match last week – but as ever, the champions have prepared and are ready. Marik tells us he’s thankful that Dreissker broke things up last week as it saved him from injury.
We get a retort from the Arrows of Hungary, as Icarus tells us he held the hold on to make sure he won – rather than risk some screwy finish with the ref. Dover makes a dig at “Papa Bear” Dreissker, saying that the champions are just “Robert Dreissker and a guy”, whereas the Arrows are a team.
They recap the happenings that’s leading us to the mask vs. hair handicap match next week… then take us to a promo with Senza Volto and Aigle Blanc. Dään asks if they’re risking too much, but Aigle Blanc seems really unsure as he speaks French, telling us that next week is worth more than a title or a trophy as a big part of their identity is on the line.
Dennis Dullnig has a promo, but he’s mega distracted because he’s looking for Hektor. Dennis then realises it’s Hektor’s birthday soon, and he’s got a present. Oh God.
Dennis Dullnig vs. Fast Time Moodo
Moodo’s got a real claim to be the MVP of this particular set of tapings, taking his chance as a singles wrestler by the scruff of the neck. Dullnig’s out on his own, because Hektor hates him, clearly.
Moodo bows to Dullnig to start, and gets a handshake in return. A wristlock from Moodo’s countered as Dullnig yanks the arm, before he scurried away as Moodo swung for a kick. Dullnig stands on Moodo’s foot as he worked his way into an overhead wristlock, but again, Moodo escapes. Dullnig goes back to the wristlock, which gets countered out of as Moodo pivots to a side headlock. It’s escaped, but Dullnig seems to tweak his ankle from a kip-up… except it’s a ruse as he paintbrushed Moodo ahead of a clothesline. A snap legdrop gets a one-count as some mudhole stomping followed in the corner – with the “bad” leg…
A snapmare and a kick to the back gets Dullnig a two-count, as Dullnig proceeded to follow with more stomps. They get him another one-count as Moodo stayed grounded… when he gets back up, there’s a leg sweep into a triangle choke on Dullnig, who’s met with some elbows as he eventually fought out of the hold. A suplex gets Dullnig another two-count as he proceeded to ground Moodo with a chinlock, before a clothesline snuffed out Moodo’s brief fightback. Knees from Dullnig took Moodo into the ropes, but Moodo hits a spinning back elbow and some kicks for a two-count, before Moodo looked to set up for a face-washing boot… except he remembered what happened vs. Norman Harras, and instead goes up top for a Coast to Coast. Dullnig gets up to crotch him in the ropes, before an arm whip took Moodo off the top rope, with Dullnig’s powerbomb almost getting him the win.
Moodo responds with some more kicks after floating over Dullnig in the corner. That leads to a sliding punch, then the Coast to Coast, which still isn’t enough… and somehow Dullnig’s able to return fire with a uranage for a near-fall, then a sit-out spinebuster as Dullnig began to get unsettled again. Moodo unloads with more kicks as he trips Dullnig… leading to a kick to the back of the head, before we got a load of swinging and missing. Dullnig SLAPS Moodo down, but that proved to be a bad move as Dullnig’s caught with the Black Belt Kick out of nowhere for the win. Some good intensity here as Dullnig looked to impress the absent Hektor, but in the end it’s another win for the buoyant Moodo. ***½
We’ve a promo from Baby Allison, Maggot & Vincent Heisenberg… Maggot tells us he can’t understand why the likes of Senza Volto and Aigle Blanc get celebrated because they “look like they’re from some carnival.” They want to see an end to the masquerade in wXw, while Heisenberg said that while one mask may be on the line, they’ll just take both of them.
Rambo vs. Johnny Evers
This was Johnny Evers continuing his fight with EZEL after their mugging of the Rotation…
Rambo misses a charge to start as Evers went on at him in the corner. Clotheslines keep Rambo down, as did an Exploder, before Rambo raked the eyes to escape a suplex. Kicks from Rambo knock Evers to the outside as Abdul took his shots at the Dutchman, who was kept on the defensive back in the ring as Rambo ran him into the corner. Evers tries to fight back, but he’s swatted down for a near-fall before a pop-up powerbomb was blocked by Evers… who goes for a back suplex in return. Instead, he throws Rambo into Abdul, knocking him off the apron before another clothesline landed for a near-fall. Evers call for the finish, but Abdul grabs his ankle… providing a distraction as Rambo nicked the win with a pop-up powerbomb. Pretty short as they continue to establish that EZEL will continue to use the numbers game to their advantage. **
They recap the finish of last week’s battle royal, which saw Levaniel win a shot at Marius al-Ani next week… which leads to…
Das Himmelsschloß
Levaniel’s still basking in his win from last week, calling it a high point as he “found himself” again. Levaniel reminds us of the tag team he never had with Marius al-Ani, but thanks Marius for showing him that he had to “find his own way.” He’s interrupted by al-Ani, doing his best Levaniel impression.
al-Ani asks if he’s meant to take Levaniel seriously, but Levaniel just remarks that the pressure’s on al-Ani next week. Marius tries to jump him, but a discus clothesline sends the champion packing as Levaniel ended up posing with the title as Levaniel demanded someone from backstage come to get the title back for him. Tassilo Jung comes out to do the legwork…
EZEL and Rambo are backstage ahead of Aytac’s title shot… Abdul tells us that their relationship with Norman Harras doesn’t exist with Metehan not around, while Rambo notes that the extra money on the table that comes with being the Shotgun champion is the prime motivation.
wXw Shotgun Championship: Aytac vs. Norman Harras (c)
There’s some history here – the back end of 2020 saw Harras act as a go-between as EZEL and Bobby Gunns tried to scheme their way into the Catch Grand Prix final. Of course, a lack of trust saw things blow up, as the year ended with Harras shocking Metehan for the Shotgun title…
Aytac had Rambo and Abdul by his side, while Harras looked nervous on his entrance. Even more so when Aytac snatched the Shotgun title belt and gave it to Abdul “to look after.” When we get going, Harras and Aytac locked up into the ropes, before Norman threatened to bail as Abdul and Rambo popped up on the apron. Harras works a wristlock on Aytac, taking him down, before Aytac nibbled on Harras’ arm to force a break. Harras tries to return, but misses a knee drop as Aytac dropped him by the arm, following up with some more work on the limb as he wrapped it around the ring post. An elbow out of the corner gives Harras some time, as he sidesteps an armbreaker… then flew in with a boot to Aytac in the corner.
Abdul trips Harras in the ropes as he went for another boot, before Rambo low bridges Harras to the outside as the mugging continued. Rambo posts Harras by the arm, while Aytac’s lungblower-to-the-arm got him a two-count back inside. Harras blocks an O’Connor roll and hits a German suplex on Aytac, who then ducked a diving European uppercut. Harras goes up top, this time landing a diving uppercut before another distraction allows Aytac to hang up Norman’s arm in the ropes. A clothesline out of nowhere gives Harras a two-count, before Harras again got distracted, swinging for Abdul, before a jawbreaker from Aytac takes Harras into a hotshot by Rambo… with Aytac’s death valley driver almost giving him the win.
EZEL are beside themselves as Aytac came close to the win, before Harras snatched the win with a roll-up. Good for what it was, as Harras overcame EZEL’s tactics to escape with his title. **¼
We rush backstage as Andy Jackson’s trying to tell Norman about his next opponent… but Norman leaves us as we’re left wondering who he’ll face next week.
Your Drive of Champions card, then:
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Levaniel vs. Marius al-Ani (c)
wXw Shotgun Championship: ? vs. Norman Harras (c)
wXw World Tag Team Championships: Arrows of Hungary (Icarus & Dover) vs. Robert Dreissker & Anil Marik (c)
Number One Contender’s: Tristan Archer vs. Emil Sitoci
Mask vs. Hair: Senza Volto & Aigle Blanc vs. Maggot, Vincent Heisenberg & Baby Allison
This was a solid episode of the We Love Wrestling series as we head into Drive of Champions next week – with Fast Time Moodo and Dennis Dullnig being a particular standout.