wXw’s got a new home for the VODs, so we’re diving back in with the pre-Christmas show from Borken, featuring Bobby Gunns and the Frenchadors taking on Metehan and Rott und Flott in the main event.
Quick Results
Peter Tihanyi pinned Icarus in 12:55 (***¼)
Heisenberg pinned Rambo in 4:44 (**½)
Ahura & Iva Kolasky submitted Baby Allison & Maggot in 11:12 (***)
Massimo Pesca pinned Zafar Ameen in 6:18 (**½)
Robert Dreissker pinned Orsi 10:39 (***)
Elijah Blum pinned La Estrella in 10:17 (***)
Tristan Archer pinned Danny Fray in 2:55 (NR)
Bobby Gunns, Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto pinned Nikita Charisma, Michael Schenkenberg & Metehan in 23:21 (***½)
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de – it’s now been moved over to YouTube after wXw left Vimeo’s platform, so you’ll need to sign-up…
Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve had a look at wXw, largely because their VOD platform has been in flux. Plans to upgrade the platform on Vimeo went sour over the holidays, and led to wXw completely pulling wXw NOW at the start of January. One week later, wXw’s ported it over to YouTube, which means the anniversary weekend shows are now available for all. We’re coming from the Stadthalle Vennehof in Borken with Dave Bradshaw on commentary, and a lot of Christmas presents on the stage… but first, Norman Harras is telling us that he wants to guarantee clean contests, and no interference will be tolerated. What, just this weekend?!
Peter Tihanyi vs. Icarus
A warm-up for the relaxed rules match the next day, and it started with Robert Dreissker getting ejected from ringside in line with Norman Harras’ decree.
Tihanyi had the upper hand early on, overcoming a cheapshot from Icarus as he had his trainer down in a wristlock. Armdrags eventually see Icarus powder to the outside, but Tihanyi gives chase and threw Icarus into the side of the ring, then back inside, before he kicked Icarus onto his arse. Tihanyi leaps over a charging Icarus, then hit a dropkick for a delayed one-count, but a trip up top’s stopped as Icarus takes things back outside, where he threw Tihanyi’s hand and wrist into the post. The one AMBOSS fan has his sign shoved into Tihanyi’s mouth, as began to dictate affairs back inside, wrapping Tihanyi’s arm around the rope.
Icarus puts the brakes on a flying sunset flip by going back to Tihanyi’s arm, taking him into the corner as he stuffed Tihanyi’s arm into the turnbuckle pad. It’s eventually broken free of, but Tihanyi’s whipped down by the arm ahead of a cross armbreaker from Icarus as he remained steadfast. Tihanyi tries to fight back, eventually hitting a slingshot cutter from the apron back into the ring before the comeback led to a double knee drop on Icarus for a two-count. Another trip up top was aborted, but Tihanyi’s able to hit an enziguiri, then a tornado DDT before the Meteora connected for another near-fall.
A roll-up out of the corner nearly saw Icarus nick the win, while an Emerald Flowsion rolled into the Heart of Europe submission… then a hammerlock… but Tihanyi held on. Icarus tries to put him away with a Meltdown senton bomb, but Tihanyi got the knees up and rushed in with a running knee in response, before he got the win with a 450 splash to end a really good opener that put a slight dent in the AMBOSS armour. ***¼
Rambo vs. Heisenberg
These two met two months earlier as part of the World Tag Team Festival weekend… and it was a quick win for Heisenberg there.
Opening with a lock-up, Rambo’s able to get some shots in on Heisenberg early on, but the big man walks through some clotheslines before he hit one of his own. Some boot choking in the corner has Rambo on the defensive, as did some chops, before a chinlock kept Rambo on the deck. Rambo fights free, but is quickly put back on the mat with a bodyslam for just a one-count, while a headbutt led to a two-count. More clotheslines from Rambo looked to offer a response, but he had more luck booting Heisenberg out of the corner before he surprised the big man with a suplex.
Heisenberg’s measured up for another clothesline, which took him down for a two-count, before Rambo missed a running knee into the corner. A fallaway slam takes Rambo out of the corner, but he’s still able to go for a roll-up for a near-fall… before a big boot and a powerslam earned Heisenberg the clear-cut win. **½
Ahura & Iva Kolasky vs. Baby Allison & Maggot
This was the warm-up for Ahura and Maggot’s ladder match for the Shotgun title the next night…
Ahura wanted to tag out at the bell… and got his wish as he frustrated Maggot from the off. Maggot teases tagging out, but instead suplexed and slammed Iva Kolasky for a two-count, then threw her into the corner for Ahura to tag in… as those two went at it. Ahura got the early advantage there, but tagged back out to Kolasky… who had her thumb bitten as the chicanery between the two escalated. Baby Allison gets the tag in and clotheslined Iva for a two-count… then added a Thesz press to the mix ahead of a Northern Lights suplex for a two-count. Ahura grabbed hold of Allison through the ropes, but gets met with a Scorpion kick… as Kolasky capitalised briefly, adding a short DDT for a near-fall.
Ahura’s back to suplex Allison in front of an enraged Maggot, who could only watch from the apron. Allison slaps her way back into it, but Ahura kicked her in response, ahead of some pull-ups into shoulder tackles, then a backbreaker as Ahura was toying with his prey. Another backbreaker’s countered, but Ahura switches it into an overhead belly-to-belly for a near-fall, before a second counter saw Allison send Ahura into Kolasky on the apron. Maggot finally tags in, running wild on Ahura with a back body drop before a whole lotta evasion led to a crossbody off the top from Maggot. Ahura’s on the back foot as he’s met with an enziguiri, then a crucifix bomb, before Ahura threw away a cutter and booted Maggot away.
Allison tags back in and measures up Ahura… but he rolls outside as Iva Kolasky snuck in from behind… only to get caught with a running cutter from Maggot. We’ve a piledriver from Ahura to Maggot, before he turned around into an Allison spear… then a Saito suplex which earned the former Women’s champion a two-count. In response, a short clothesline dumped Allison ahead of a slam, before a high-angle Boston crab looked to force a stoppage… Maggot gets crotched by Iva Kolasky as he tried to make a save, and with her only out gone, Allison tapped out. Ahura’s going into the ladder match with the upper hand mentally… and perhaps physically too after he stomped Maggot after the match. ***
Post-match, Dan Mallmann gets a word with Allison and Maggot. Allison shoves away the mic, as Maggot promised to pull every tooth out of Ahura’s mouth, then rip his head off.
Zafar Ameen vs. Massimo Pesca
Ameen’s a regular with Hungarian Championship Wrestling, while Pesca’s slowly becoming a regular on wXw’s undercards.
Ameen looked to control the pace early on, but Pesca’s able to turn up the pace to take down Ameen with a ‘rana. A bulldog out of the corner gets a two-count, before Pesca’s sent shoulder-first into the ring post for a delayed two-count. The crowd tries to get behind Pesca, who saw his crossbody caught as he’s charged into the corner for a running knee as he retained control. Right hands keep Pesca down, before a stomp drew a two-count… leading to Pesca mounting a comeback with a clothesline. A Codebreaker’s next, then a shotgun dropkick into the corner, as Pesca added some running double knees and a missile dropkick to the mix.
Pesca gets a two-count out of all that, but his tornado DDT out of the corner’s pushed away as Ameen came back with a scissors kick for a near-fall. A leaping DDT from Pesca turned it back around, as he then set up for a Pegasus Ride – the old Trish Stratus Stratusfaction bulldog – and that’s enough for the win. Borken were won over by Pesca by the end, which is a real good sign given both men came in cold. **½
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Robert Dreissker and Icarus… Icarus claims he only lost to Peter Tihanyi through cheating, while Dreissker’s facing Orsi again tonight. He took offence at how Dan framed the question – was it his job to restore honour for AMBOSS – before saying he’d destroy Orsi in their match.
Robert Dreissker vs. Orsi
It’s the fifth time these two have met in singles matches in wXw, and Orsi’s yet to win a single outing.
After nearly pulling an Ultimo Dragon at WrestleMania, Orsi got going… but had to defend a side headlock early on as Dreissker clung on. Orsi fights back after being taken to the mat, scoring with a back suplex to break the hold, before her attempt at a spear ended with Dreissker flinging her to the outside. Dreissker throws Orsi back in, but took his eye off the ball and got met with a baseball slide to the back as the pair fought some more around ringside. Back inside, the pair jockey over a suplex, which Dreissker lands, with another leading to a near-fall on the Hungarian. The suplex spam continues as Dreissker looked to be having fun, before he slammed away Orsi’s latest comeback attempt.
A splash off the ropes is good for a near-fall as Orsi ended up armdragging her way out of an armbar, before a suplex finally had Dreissker down. Forearms and chops have Dreissker backing into the corner, ahead of a discus elbow before a missed splash from Dreissker allowed her to hit a crossbody off the top. Orsi doesn’t go for a cover, and instead followed up with a spear… but Dreissker rolls to the outside. He’s rolled back in as Orsi’s latest trip up top gets cut off… leading to a superplex for a near-fall for Dreissker. From there, a splash in the corner, then a fallaway slam sets up Dreissker for his own Dreissker bomb to the back of Orsi, and that’s all folks. A decent showing from Orsi, but the gulf in experience was just too much here. ***
Post-match, Elijah Blum and Peter Tihanyi come out to attack Icarus at ringside to prevent any post-match shenanigans.
La Estrella vs. Elijah Blum
Well, Elijah’s just been out, but he’s gone to the back to get a proper entrance against the debuting-from-Dragongate La Estrella.
Blum and Estrella trade wristlocks to start, before a trip from Estrella allowed him to work over Elijah’s left leg. Resetting, Estrella offers a handshake, but trips up Blum again before he hit the ropes… then hand-walked past Blum ahead of a backflip into a headscissors takedown… then a fake-out as Blum thought he was going to be dived onto. Back inside, Blum tries some lucha stuff of his own, then clotheslined Estrella into the corner ahead of a dropkick. A seated clothesline adds a two-count for Blum, who added an abdominal stretch that Estrella broke up in the ropes. In return, a springboard crossbody from Estrella takes Blum to the outside for a tope, before he rolled back in through the ropes for an armdrag on Blum.
Estrella keeps going with a kick to Blum in the ropes, then a baseball slide German suplex, before a slingshot senton back into the ring kept Blum down. A Fujiwara armbar has Blum in trouble, but he escaped and hit a neckbreaker to buy him some time… while a shotgun dropkick nearly knocked Estrella out of the ring. Blum heads up top for a frog splash, which Estrella kicks out of, before a Titanic earned Blum another near-fall. Estrella rolls Blum down into a grounded Octopus stretch as he countered out of a Parting Gift attempt, but Blum grabbed the rope to save himself. Blum tries for the Parting Gift again, then got the spin-out butterfly suplex at the third try to get the win. A good showing from Estrella, who had Blum in trouble… but couldn’t quite get it over the line. ***
Danny Fray vs. Tristan Archer
Archer’s title wasn’t on the line here…
Archer looked to let the crowd distract him early on, but he’s quickly throwing right hands to club down Fray, while a headbutt left Fray on his knees. An Irish whip’s blocked as Fray struck back with elbows, but he telegraphs a back body drop and got kicked in the chest for it. Fray’s forced to wriggle out of a Coup d’Etat, but couldn’t avoid a clothesline in the corner as Archer ended up kneeing him in the midsection. A discus elbow downs Fray, before almost an Olympic Slam led to the Coup d’Etat for what would have been a squashy win… but Archer pulls up Fray at two. Instead, Archer decided to send a message as he instead hit Levaniel’s Galactic Facecrusher – the Sternschnuppe – and that’s what gets the win.
Backstage, Dan’s with the motley crew that is Rott und Flott and Metehan… Dan brings up that Metehan will have to face Bobby Gunns in the main event trios match, but Metehan vowed to settle his scores, no matter what. Rott und Flott take over from there, presenting “the dog” (Dan) with a cone of shame. Poor sod.
Rott Und Flott (Michael Schenkenberg & Nikita Charisma) & Metehan vs. Frenchadors (Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto) & Bobby Gunns
It’s been way too damn long since I’ve heard Rott und Flott’s music on a show… even if they’ve got more of those “collars”/cones of shame with them. That’d be a hell of a gimmick for a feud. Speaking of gimmicks, Nikita Charisma mocks the Borken crowd for being “simple farmers,” as he had Michael Schenkenberg give the crowd those cones of shame because they don’t deserve to see them wrestle. Except everyone ripped them up…
Gunns and Charisma start us off, as a knee to the midsection and a punt to the back briefly had Gunns ahead, before his shotgun dropkick took Charisma down. A rake to the eyes gave Charisma a chance to tag in Schenkenberg, only for Gunns to tie him up in an Octopus hold… which drew in Metehan and Charisma to break it up, as a trio of holds kept the bad guys on the back foot. Schenkenberg uses Gunns like a Terry Funk ladder to break those up, but Gunns’ kicks have the former tag champion on the back foot as the current tag champions tagged into the match. Kicks from Senza and Aigle perhaps weren’t entirely within the spirit of the rules, as Schenkenberg staggered to tag out to Charisma… who met a similar double-teaming fate.
Charisma’s held up in the ropes for a flying back senton for Aigle, which gets a two-count, before a blind-ish tag allowed Schenkenberg back in to hit a dropkick for a two-count for them. Senza Volto’s choked in the ropes, then got grounded with a chinlock before Gunns and Aigle Blanc’s distracting-the-ref led to Senza Volto pretty much having to take on a handicap match here. A jawbreaker from Senza Volto offered him some hope, but he’s pulled into the opposite corner before a tiltawhirl backbreaker landed high for Schenkenberg for a two-count. Finally Senza’s able to roll out to tag in Aigle Blanc, who made a beeline for Rott und Flott, cracking Charisma with an enziguiri to the back of the head before a step-up dropkick crashed into Schenkenberg.
Aigle’s Meteora lands on the back of Charisma for a two-count, before a delayed springboard crossbody from Aigle allowed Charisma to cut him off with a dropkick. Metehan distracted Aigle on that crossbody, but didn’t interfere as this remained virtually a two-on-two tag with the bystanders. A waistlock from Schenkenberg’ led to Aigle getting taken back to the corner as Metehan finally tagged in, putting the boots to the Frenchman in the corner. After slamming Aigle, Metehan charges Bobby Gunns off the apron before resuming focus on Aigle, grounding him with a chinlock… that drew in Gunns to try and kick it apart, but Schenkenberg and Charisma run in to drag Aigle Blanc back to their corner as he was sent back to square one. Rott und Flott got sent outside, but manage to stop Blanc from capitalising, taking things back inside for an armbar before rolling suplexes from Schenkenberg were eventually countered into an inside cradle for a near-fall.
Aigle’s able to hit a twisting brainbuster that bought him enough time to make the tag out, as we got to Senza Volto running wild on Nikita Charisma. A handspring back elbow from Senza wipes out Rott und Flott, as he continued to tear away on Charisma… while a springboard armdrag/headscissors combo kept it going. Charisma looked to jar his knee blocking a suplex, but it was just a ploy to distract the referee as Schenkenberg attacked Senza from behind. Back inside, Charisma tries to deck Gunns on the apron, but his shot was ducked before Senza Volto’s handspring cutter led to tags to bring in Gunns and Metehan.
The pair finally square off, trading right hands before they headed into the corner for more of the same. A kick from Metehan earned him a headbutt, before Gunns escaped an attempted Nazar… only to get caught in the midsection with a gut punch. They continue to go tit-for-tat on right hands as Gunns pulled ahead with some unanswered kicks in the corner… following up with running uppercuts into the corner. Metehan blocks a Saito suplex attempt, but misses a missile dropkick as Gunns hits it anyway. Tags bring us back to Aigle Blanc and Michael Schenkenberg, with Aigle Blanc’s ‘rana driver through the ropes putting his team back in control. Metehan runs in but took a superkick-aided Dragon suplex from Aigle Blanc, before a slam from Schenkenberg nearly closed things out.
Rott und Flott looked for the Snapchat DDT on Senza, but it’s broken up as Aigle Blanc flew into Schenkenberg on the outside… Senza Volto’s Spanish Fly to Charisma’s followed up as Bobby Gunns tagged in to hit an Ehrenmann Driver, then a PK in full view of a backing-away Metehan… and that’s enough to get the win in what was a frenetic main event. wXw tends to be good at these “preview” tags – and this one was no different. ***½
As a warm-up for the anniversary event the next night, this was a pretty good show from wXw – one that didn’t give away too much, but at the same time didn’t at all come across like a run-of-the-mill card. Seeing Borken take to Massimo Pesca out of nowhere is a good sign for his prospects in wXw…