We’ve the start of a new set of tapings from wXw, with new faces and new directions after Drive of Champions.
Quick Results
Fast Time Moodo pinned Ender Kara in 6:13 (***¼)
Nicky Foxley pinned Delia in 7:10 (**¼)
Leon van Gasteren & Tim Stübing pinned Senza Volto & Aigle Blanc in 11:31 (***¼)
Bobby Gunns pinned Gulyas Jr. in 3:38 (**)
Prince Ahura pinned Dennis Dullnig in 13:55 to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship (**½)
Marius al-Ani submitted Robert Dreissker in 10:03 (***¼)
After Zugaben yesterday, and last week’s Drive of Champions, wXw’s back with the first show from a new set of tapings that were held in April. Which means some new faces are being added to the mix… but unfortunately, not the return of fans, as the plan to have some fans in as extras had to be nixed at the last moment. Remember, wear your masks, keep your distance, get your shots and all that good stuff!
We’re still coming from the Steffy in Oberhausen, with Dave Bradshaw remaining on the English commentary. He runs down some of the happenings from Drive of Champions, before hyping up today’s card…
We then get an interview with the new Shotgun champion Ahura, with Daniel Mallmann on interview duties. Ahura revels in being the champion, and felt no guilt in what happened with Norman Harras, claiming Norman would have done the same thing. Ahura tells us he’ll study wrestling, even if he’s not got much idea about his opponent today. Apparently Norman Harras has “been dressing like a homeless person,” which I think may just be his burnout…
…we then get an interruption from Bobby Gunns, who was annoyed that Ahura took over his Smoking Break. Bobby tells Ahura to prove himself and “become a proper wrestler,” before telling Dan that he too didn’t answer his phone for a while after losing the title. Bobby’s back on his own terms… and he’s a little annoyed that he’s been given Gulyas today.
Backstage, Ender Kara’s with Dan for his first match back from injury… he tells us he wants to get a win and be accepted on the roster.
Fast Time Moodo vs. Ender Kara
After not having a match at Drive of Champions, Moodo’s back to try and build on his win over Dennis Dullnig last time out.
The pair bow at the bell, but Kara suckers Moodo in with some shotgun dropkicks before running into a chop. An armdrag from Moodo has Kara in trouble, but Kara escapes and begins to throw kicks as he managed to knock Moodo onto all fours. Some headscissors take Moodo down, as does another dropkick… but Moodo backs off from another one before he just nonchalantly booted Kara in the back. Kara tries for a springboard dropkick, but misses as Moodo nails another kick, before a butterfly suplex took Kara across the ring. More kicks keep Kara down, as did a German suplex, before Moodo pulled him into a triangle armbar that quickly ended in the ropes.
An O’Connor roll gets Kara a two-count as he looked to return with some more kicks of his own… but Moodo gets back up before he was taken down with an enziguiri for a near-fall. From there, Kara goes up for a frog splash, but Moodo kicks him down in mid-air, with more kicks and a sliding punch into the corner following ahead of a flying stomp to the back… before the Black Belt Kick gets the win. Action packed, but very even until that final flurry as Moodo builds up a head of steam. ***¼
Post-match, Andy Jackson congratulated Moodo, who put over Kara’s improvement since their last meeting. Andy brings up Stephanie Maze, whose recovery is apparently going well, but they don’t give a return date…
Backstage, Andy Jackson’s with Delia ahead of her debut today. She feels ready for the challenge, but didn’t want to pre-judge her opponent. Speaking of, Nicky Foxley says she’s seen a little of Delia in the past, before filling us in on her past.
Delia vs. Nicky Foxley
We’ve a pair of wXw debutants here, with the promotion having announced the arrival of four new additions to a women’s division that had largely been on ice this year. Delia’s spent most of her career in her native France, working for the likes of APC, while the German Foxley has wrestled all over Europe for companies like the GWF, Rings of Europe and GHW.
From the opening tie-up, Delia’s taken into the corner before Foxley grabbed a side headlock… she holds on until Delia countered out in a wristlock… but Foxley flips free in the ropes to return with a wristlock of her own. Delia rolls free, but couldn’t whip Foxley into the ropes… so she tripped her ahead of a low dropkick. A springboard double kneedrop had Foxley down for a two-count, who then returned with a roll-up out of the corner for a two-count, before a waistlock takedown led to Foxley torquing away on Delia’s arm. A knee’s dropped on the arm for good measure, before a facebuster gets Foxley a near-fall.
Foxley’s clotheslines keeps Delia down as she looked to get a TKO stoppage… but Delia gets back up, only to run into another facebuster for a near-fall. A snapmare driver from Foxley’s pushed away, before Delia gets a sunset flip out of the corner for a two-count… following up with strikes and a take on the Rocker Dropper for a near-fall. Delia looks to push ahead, but had to kick out of a slingshot sunset flip from Foxley, then an inside cradle, before a facebuster gets Foxley the win. A decent first outing as both Foxley and Delia look to establish themselves in the rebooted women’s division. **¼
Daniel Mallmann’s in the ring as he introduced Robert Dreissker and Anil Marik to the ring for an interview. Dreissker tells us that he needed to discuss a few things, in the form of what looked like a performance review for young Anil. Commenting on unnamed, former trainees, Dreissker tells us that a lot of youngsters coming up “disappear like snowflakes,” before talking about how he took on Anil in the latter’s debut match some 18 months ago.
Dreissker tells us how he swept Marik aside while he was in a mood over losing the Shotgun title… but he had a feeling Anil might be “the next big thing.” Something that he reckoned was firmed up a little after Marik’s draw with him in the Catch Grand Prix. He compared Marik’s career to his after the same number of matches… and mentioned how he was wrestling for Big Japan after 25 matches… even though he wasn’t ready. Dreissker tells us he’s proud of his tag partner… and there’s the cue for Marius al-Ani to interrupt.
He’s a little annoyed that he’s not gotten this air time, and gets into it with Dreissker, who says that al-Ani’s attitude is “from the discount aisle.” al-Ani notes that Dreissker got the office to ban al-Ani from having Academy trainee Feyyaz Aguila carry his trophy out anymore, as the argument escalated into a challenge for a match tonight.
After a break, we’ve got more promos. Senza Volto and Aigle Blanc are with Dan backstage, as we swing from German, to French, then into English. They bring up Maggot’s “injury,” and say they’re happy to wait for their match to happen when Maggot’s “healed.”
Leon van Gasteren & Tim Stübing vs. Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto
Both teams won at Drive of Champions last week… but do either have designs on pushing on for a tag title shot?
Blanc and Stübing start off, with Stübing’s armbar getting countered into a wristlock before Stübing’s roll-up drew a quick one-count. Stübing comes back with a full nelson, but Blanc breaks it and goes for a kick, only for Stübing to return with an uppercut and a diving shoulder block for good measure. A tag brings in Senza Volto, who helps armdrag Stübing into the corner for van Gasteren to come in. Leon’s headscissors surprise Senza, as does a missile dropkick, before Stübing returned for a double dropkick that gets another two-count. A double-team suplex gets van Gasteren a two-count as they focused on Senza… but Volto avoids a crane kick from Stübing and fought back with chops.
Volto’s springboard armdrag had Stübing down, before Aigle Blanc came in for a springboard armdrag on Stübing. A grounded abdominal stretch followed on Stübing, as did a low dropkick, before Blanc tried to kick van Gasteren off the apron. Leon caught the kick as Blanc turned around into a crane kick, before van Gasteren flew back in. Senza’s quickly back in too, but he eats an Exploder, then a German suplex, before a Northern Lights almost got the win. Stübing heads up for a Doomsday Device, but Senza fought out and took Stübing down, using a 619 in the corner to knock him off the ropes before finally making the tag out to Aigle Blanc.
Blanc leaps in with a springboard crossbody to Stübing, then a ripcord enziguiri, before a twister suplex got a two-count. We’ve a turnaround as a dropkick-assisted facebuster gets van Gasteren a two-count on Blanc, but things pivot again as van Gasteren eats an assisted standing moonsault that nearly got Blanc the win.
From there, Volto and Blanc combine as Blanc goes the long way around for a tombstone on van Gasteren, before a top rope moonsault gets Senza a near-fall. In doing a wild flip senton to the outside on Stübing, Blanc looked to have tweaked his knee and gets checked on on the floor. Meanwhile, a handspring cutter from Blanc lands, but there’s no ref… so out comes Maggot on a crutch, along with Vincent Heisenberg and Baby Allison, with the latter throwing powder into Volto’s eyes, allowing van Gasteren to get the win with a pumphandle’d brainbuster. I guess the injury to Blanc will give them a way to play out the mask vs. hair match a little longer if Maggot “miraculously” heals. ***¼
Gulyas Junior vs. Bobby Gunns
This was Gunns’ first match since losing the world title rematch to Marius al-Ani…
Gunns, who’d said before that he didn’t rate Gulyas, took down the Hungarian with a headlock early on, before elbows and uppercuts knocked him into the corner. A big boot takes down Gulyas for a two-count, before Gunns rolled in for a Fujiwara armbar… but Gulyas rolls free.
Some shots from Gulyas end with an armbar as they head back to the ropes, before a front facelock suplex landed. Gulyas got some hopeful shots in, catching Gunns with an uppercut in the corner, but a flurry of strikes from Gunns turned it back around before a sleeperhold led to Gulyas reaching for the ropes. Gunns breaks the grip, hits a German suplex and reapplied the rear naked choke, taking Gulyas down for a PK, and that’s all folks. As close to a squash as you’ll get in wXw, as Gunns wasn’t in the mood for any airs or graces here. **
Post-match, Gunns told us he couldn’t take Gulyas seriously, before telling Andy Jackson that “Daddy’s back.”
Backstage, Andy Jackson’s with Dennis Dullnig, who’s holding Hektor Invictus’ jacket… and a lot of emotional baggage by the look of it. Dullnig is hopeful his team with Hektor will still work, but Hektor walked out on a birthday party he was thrown, and all Dullnig has left is a flag and a jacket. Take the hint!
wXw Shotgun Championship: Dennis Dullnig vs. Prince Ahura (c)
Yep, Dullnig’s doing cosplay Hektor. This will surely end badly for him in the end. Just don’t go filming anything in abandoned train stations, is all I’m saying Dennis. Unless you kidnapped Hektor, in which case…
Eventually Dullnig gives up Hektor’s ring gear as the match starts. He starts by blocking a kick from Ahura, who heads into the corner before rolling Dullnig to the mat. The challenger gets free and works Ahura’s wrist, taking him down for a hammerlock… but Ahura escaped and ties up Dullnig in a chinlock for good measure. Dullnig manages to escape, bailing outside for a breather, before he returned to work a nerve hold on Ahura. That’s not held for long, so Dullnig drags Ahura to the outside, where he’s thrown into the Shotgun title belt. He drags Ahura towards the ring bell, and rings it next to Ahura’s head to try and deafen him.
Ahura force-feeds the microphone to Dullnig, before the pair went back towards the ring… Dullnig tees up for a dive, but Ahura cuts him off with a forearm before lifting Dullnig onto the apron. Ahura’s charged into the ring post, before he raked Dullnig’s eyes in the ropes… that took Dullnig into an impromptu Tree of Woe on the apron, which Ahura capitalised with with a stomp, before he took Dullnig under the ring, stretching the knee around the ring structure for good measure. Back inside, a backbreaker, then a chop block takes Dullnig down again. Ahura takes it to the corner as we hit the final five minutes of the time limit, fighting to get a roll-up for a near-fall, before a missed kick allowed Dullnig in with a cross-chop to the throat. Dullnig tries to pull Ahura down for a suplex, but again Ahura goes back to the knee… only for Dullnig to go all Owen Hart on us by kicking Ahura’s leg out of its leg!
Dullnig clubs away on Ahura’s knee, but Ahura’s got the same idea as the pair cling on while getting back to their feet. A bodyslam from Dullnig followed as they both had compromised legs, but he can’t get the three-count… so he goes for a discus enziguiri, only for Ahura to catch it and turn it into a Liontamer. Ahura lets go of the hold and dumps Dullnig with a quick powerbomb, before a head kick finally gets the win as Ahura perhaps came a lot closer to the time limit than he expected. **½
Post-match, Ahura learns his next challenger – after getting his fat pay packet. Hey, they have a gimmick for the lottery draw too! Ahura shakes the balls before Andy picks the next challenger… it’ll be the Rotation.
Backstage, Andy Jackson’s with Tristan Archer as they reveal that Tristan’ll get his title shot at Marius al-Ani in three weeks’ time at FAN night two. They talk about how Archer’s had to work his way up in wXw after losing to Bobby Gunns in a title match last summer… through to Archer almost winning last year’s Catch Grand Prix, eventually falling to Marius al-Ani in a winner-take-all match. They touch on Archer’s rivalry with Emil Sitoci, before circling back to the title match at the end of the month.
Robert Dreissker vs. Marius al-Ani
This champion vs. champion outing is a non-title affair as al-Ani looks to extend his streak to 25-0.
We get going with Dreissker grabbing a side headlock on al-Ani, only for the unified champion al-Ani to counter out with a wristlock as he showed off his new back tattoo. The pair go between holds as a hammerlock grounded al-Ani, but Marius goes back to a side headlock, taking Dreissker down to the mat. A double wristlock from al-Ani’s held despite Dreissker’s attempt to slam free, before he pushed off… and ran into an al-Ani dropkick. That took Dreissker to the outside, before he returned to throw aside a waistlock attempt, with a standing uranage quickly following. The follow-up elbow drop misses as Dreissker couldn’t build momentum.
Going into the corner, al-Ani kicks away on Dreissker, following up with a slam for a two-count. Dreissker punches his way out of a cravat, then caught al-Ani with a splash for a two-count, only for al-Ani to get back on the offensive with a hammerlock. Another slam from Dreissker has al-Ani bailing to the outside, where Dreissker followed as the pair traded blows, before al-Ani snuck back in to throw a dropkick that kept Dreissker on the outside. Dreissker returns the favour, sort of, hiptossing al-Ani back into the ring and following up with an elbow drop. A neckbreaker lands for a two-count for Dreissker, who’s then caught with an ankle lock as al-Ani tried to shut the door on the match. Marius clings on as Dreissker tries to push away the hold, but eventually there’s a rope break… only for Marius to pull Dreissker away from the ropes.
Anil Marik hops up onto the apron to berate the referee for missing the rope break, but to no avail as al-Ani stomped away on Dreissker, while keeping the hold on to force the submission. Commentary surmised that Dreissker’s “tap” was him shooing Marik away, but nevertheless, the result was rendered after a nice competitive main event – which perhaps solidified al-Ani’s earlier brags? ***¼
Post-match, al-Ani joked that perhaps he should take over the Academy – a direction he’d teased last year when these two feuded on Shotgun – before talk turned to the upcoming title match with Tristan Archer. Marius mentions he’s already beaten Archer, and reckoned he’d had no problem doing so again.
The first show of a new set of tapings saw wXw come out strong with an impromptu main event and a quick focus as the promotion heads into the Fan Appreciation Night double-header at the end of the month – looking to get back into the swing of regular shows leading up to a big event. Kind of like Shotgun used to be, just without the skits.