We’re back with the second leg of wXw’s weekender in Saxony, featuring Axel Tischer in his hometown, taking on Maggot in the main event.
Quick Results
Robert Dreissker & Icarus pinned Fast Time Moodo & Peter Tihanyi in 16:54 (***¼)
Joseph Fenech Jr. pinned Clemo in 5:28 (**¼)
Nick Schreier pinned Jacob Crane in 7:39 (***¼)
Tristan Archer & Anil Marik pinned Aigle Blanc & Shigehiro Irie in 12:38 (***¼)
Elijah Blum pinned Laurance Roman to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 14:04 (***¼)
Ava Everett pinned Akane Fujita to retain the wXw Women’s World Championship in 9:00 (**¾)
Hektor Invictus & Dennis Dullnig pinned Gulyas Vilmos & Gulyas Jr. to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 11:18 (***)
Maggot pinned Axel Tischer in 18:05 (***½)
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de
We’re back at the Stromwerk in Dresden for what is effectively a “road to” Broken Rules show. Dave Bradshaw once more is your voice on English commentary.
AMBOSS (Icarus & Robert Dreissker) vs. Fast Time Moodo & Peter Tihanyi
Moodo and Tihanyi picked up a win in their (wXw) debut as a team 24 hours earlier… and so up increases the difficulty level today!
Moodo and Dreissker start us off, with Dreissker’s headlock takedown having Moodo on the deck early on. Fighting free, Moodo tries for a hiptoss, but has more luck with a kick to the chest, before Tihanyi tagged in. Dreissker wanted no part of him, as he nonchalantly walked away and tagged in Icarus – with Bradshaw on commentary bringing up how the last time Dreissker and Tihanyi were in the same ring, Dreissker left with a broken face… A wristlock from Icarus has Tihanyi down briefly, before an escape led to armdrags and a dropkick to Icarus. Moodo’s back to help with double back elbows, then a double elbow drop as Moodo’s kicks kept Icarus down for a two-count. Tihanyi’s back to work over Icarus’ arm, at least until a hair pull allowed Icarus to free himself… Robert Dreissker tries a sneak attack on the apron, but Tihanyi’s smart and went to throw a kick as Dreissker backed down.
Back inside, a DDT from Icarus drew a two-count before Dreissker came in to try and keep Tihanyi downed. Icarus is quickly back for a deadlift Fisherman buster for a near-fall, while a back suplex and a big splash out of Dreissker forced a kick-out from Tihanyi. A missed back senton allowed Tihanyi to bring Moodo in, as he ran wild with kicks to Icarus… but Dreissker’s still legal and ended up taking a running knee to the head. Running knees by the ropes rock AMBOSS, before a turnaround allowed Icarus to stretch Moodo in the corner. Dreissker’s back with a headbutt and a snap suplex, while an ankle lock and leg lock from Icarus forced Moodo to try and fight free. It’s all one-way traffic here, exacerbated as Dreissker came back with a chinlock… but a return for Icarus allows Moodo to fight back once more, scoring a springboard spinning heel kick before beating Dreissker to the punch to tag in Tihanyi.
Tihanyi and Dreissker exchange blows, leading to a slingshot cutter from the Hungarian for a near-fall. An enziguiri follows, before Moodo tagged in to help out as a stomp and a tornado DDT almost put away the champion. Icarus gets involved, dragging Tihanyi onto the apron for a piledriver… before a low bridge sent Moodo outside for a quick turnaround. Moodo’s battered on the floor by AMBOSS, before he found a way through with more kicks… it led to Moodo accidentally kicking the ring post, and AMBOSS quickly pounce back inside as Icarus’ Figure Four left Moodo helpless as a Dreissker bomb led to the win. ***¼
Clemo vs. Joseph Fenech Jr.
This was a wXw debut for Clemo, who’s from Coswig – just between Berlin and Leipzig, if you’re looking on a map. He’s not had that many matches, so this was a case of the lamb being sent to slaughter…
The Dresden crowd tried to get behind Clemo at the bell, who was offered a free hit… but Fenech just overwhelmed him after a chop. A clothesline dumps Clemo as he tried to mount a comeback, and it’s all Fenech once more as a snapmare and a kick to the back kept the rookie on his knees. Clemo’s hand is stuffed into the turnbuckle pad as Fenech peppers him with kicks, before a leg lariat got Clemo back into it after the pair hit the ropes. Fenech gets the knees up to block a follow-up splash, before a corner cannonball and a handspring cutter led to a leaping forearm to the back of the head for the win. Very squashy, but exactly the sort of thing you want when establishing a new character. **¼
Jacob Crane vs. Nick Schreier
Of course, Schreier’s Academy belt wasn’t on the line here – but he started out somewhat on the defensive as Crane tried to get the upper hand.
A side headlock from Crane’s pushed away, but the Pole’s back with a shoulder tackle before Schreier caught him with an armdrag, then with a forearm and a 619-esque armdrag to boot. Schreier’s springboard crossbody gets a two-count as Crane rolls outside… Schreier follows out, but gets his eyes raked as Crane looked for some chops… one hits the ring post though, before Crane countered a Spirit Shock back inside, and found a way back in with a half crab. Of course, Schreier powers free, only to get booted and suplexed by Crane for a near-fall.
Crane’s caught with a roll-up and an enziguiri out of nowhere as the match turned on its head… but an uppercut to the back, then almost an Emerald Flowsion picked up another near-fall for the Pole. Chops keep Schreier in the corner, before the Academy champion found an opening with a pop-up dropkick. Crane heads outside, and into the path of a dive from Schreier, who took things back inside for an elevated DDT for a near-fall. Another crack at the Spirit Shock’s blocked, as a springboard crossbody ends up missing… that allowed Crane to hit back with a lariat and a bridging German suplex. Schreier’s able to kick out, before he hit back with a superkick and the Spirit Shock to snatch the win. This was a good little match with Crane and Schreier looking good on offence – but it was the Academy champion who left with the W… ***¼
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Hektor Invictus and Dennis Dullnig… Hektor’s still questioning his life choices as the pair argue over what happened in Limbach-Oberfrohna the previous night. Hektor’s promo on the Gulyas Brothers is interrupted by Dullnig pulling out a bag of cookies to munch on, with Cash saying he had a title belt to hide his abs these days. It then turned into Dullnig taking jabs at Hektor not posting about their title win on social media, as the two then stormed off. Solid team!
Aigle Blanc & Shigehiro Irie vs. High Performer Ltd. (Anil Marik & Tristan Archer)
Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s still trying to woo Joseph Fenech Jr. to his group… and before the match, announced the former Senza Volto as the latest addition to High Performer Ltd. The distraction allowed Tristan Archer and Anil Marik to jump Aigle and Irie to get us going…
We start with Irie and Archer, but a short-range crossbody crushes Archer as Aigle tagged in, with double-teaming leading to a senton atomico from Aigle, and a rebound splash from Irie for a one-count by the ropes. Aigle hits the ropes for a back senton to the back of Anil Marik, before a pair of Teddy Bear splashes from Aigle, then Irie drew a two-count. Aigle keeps Marik grounded with an armbar… he flights out as a blind tag brings in Archer to catch a springboard, countering it with an ugly slam into the ropes on his compatriot. Archer and Marik double-team Aigle from there, with a returning Fohrwerk back to help out from ringside. Archer’s able to control Aigle for a near-fall, before Aigle slipped out of another double-team… low bridging his opponents to the outside, only for Marik to yank Irie off the apron to prevent a tag out.
A pendulum backbreaker gets Archer a two-count, before a back cracker and flying Codebreaker combo drew another near-fall. Marik’s suplex keeps Aigle down for another two-count… but the double-teaming backfires as Aigle hits a step-up ‘rana to Marik off of Archer’s back to buy himself some time. Irie finally gets the tag in, headbutting away on Marik en route to a Boss Man slam… there’s another headbutt, this time for Archer, before he found his way in to piledrive Marik onto Archer. Responding, Marik tries for a Codebreaker, finding it at the second attempt before a Beast Bomber out of nowhere wiped out the former tag champion.
Aigle’s back, but so was Archer as the two Frenchmen trade blows… a back elbow from Archer rocks Aigle ahead of a German suplex, which Aigle escaped, only to run into a Decapite discus lariat. A Michinoku driver from Archer left him open for a splash off the top from Irie to spark a Parade of Moves, leading to Irie and Marik being taken outside as Aigle’s Meteora wiped out Archer. In the end, a missed 450 splash from Aigle led to the finish as a Coup d’Etat got Archer the win for High Performer Ltd. ***¼
wXw Shotgun Championship: Laurance Roman vs. Elijah Blum (c)
Roman was looking to win back the title he’d lost just a week earlier…
We get going with a lock-up as Roman went straight for a cravat, which Blum tried to escape, before he had to evade a stomp from the former champion. Blum came in with a side headlock, springboarding off the ropes for a takedown before a shoulder tackle knocked Roman into the corner. Roman returned the favour, but Blum’s quickly back with an armdrag and a dropkick to take him outside… where the pair exchanged strikes as they went around ringside. Blum rolls him back inside and headed up top… but again Roman rolls outside, where this time he was caught by a plancha.
Back inside, a crossbody gets Blum a near-fall, while Roman escaped a suplex and proceeded to throw the champion through the corner and into the ring post. Blum fights back, but his neckbreaker’s countered into a back suplex, with Roman adding a Northern Lights suplex moments after for a two-count. Blum gets knocked onto the apron, then dropkicked off of it by Roman – almost like Irie and his crossbody – before we got into the seesaw sunset flips as they teased a repeat of last week’s finish. Roman kicks out and came back on top, following up with a double stomp to Blum, before he took Blum into the corner for shoulder charges. “Just one more” ends up backfiring as Blum sidesteps with Roman hitting the post himself…
Clotheslines from Blum led to a neckbreaker as he found his second wind, leading to a suplex for a delayed two-count. Blum’s able to roll his way out of a swinging DDT attempt, but Roman finds it at the second attempt for a near-fall before an attempt at the facebuster was countered with a headlock takedown. Blum’s back with a dropkick into the corner, then the 2K driver for a near-fall, before a trip up top was stopped by Roman. A superplex brings Blum down for a near-fall, but Blum’s able to hit back with a Parting Gift… then head back up top for a twisting splash to score the win. ***¼
wXw Women’s World Championship: Akane Fujita vs. Ava Everett (c)
Fujita pinned Everett in Limbach-Oberfrohna the previous night – which led to this quick turnaround for a title shot…
A series of lock-ups to start us off has Ava ahead – albeit with a handful of hair – before Ava headed outside to mouth off to the crowd… which allowed Fujita to follow her and take some control. There’s a shot to Jacob Crane too for the hell of it, before things returned to the ring as Fujita ended up getting distracted by Crane again, allowing Everett to shove Fujita down to the floor. Everett quickly takes Fujita back inside and stayed on her… a cheapshot from Crane behind the ref’s back helps Ava to a near-fall. Ava’s pratfall opens the door for Fujita to mount a comeback, tying up Ava in the ropes for chops, before shoulder tackles left the champion on the mat. A powerslam’s next for a near-fall, before Everett hit back with a reverse DDT for just a one-count.
Dropkicks from Everett keep her ahead, before Fujita caught a kick and worked her way back in for a Samoan drop. Fujita adds an electric chair into a powerbomb as we almost had a new champion… but Everett kicked out before Crane distracted Fujita as she was going for the P-Soul. Crane’s eventually knocked off the apron, but he’s able to crack Fujita with a belt shot through the ropes as Everett snatched the win with a superkick. **¾
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Gulyas Brothers (Gulyas Jr. & Gulyas Vilmos) vs. Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus (c)
The Gulyas’ have new music – and we’ve a rewriting of history on commentary, acting like this title shot wasn’t announced long before the Limbach match!
Hektor and Junior start us off, but Dullnig slapping Hektor’s back at the bell to gee him up is counted as a tag. Alrighty then! Hektor wants to tag back in, and gets it as we open with a lock-up going into the ropes. A front facelock from Gulyas sees him try to keep Hektor away from the corner… but Dullnig’s undone the tag rope and slid it into the other corner, as we were dealing with technicalities. Except Hektor got free for a tag, and ended up in an empty corner because of that tomfoolery… which earned Dullnig a few €20 fines for unsporting conduct. Dullnig finally tags in and tries his luck with a hammerlock and side headlock on Junior, but to little effect before Dullnig headed onto the apron and made a tag out. Except it’s ruled not legal, as Dullnig’s forgotten how to tag team. A slap to Junior earns Dullnig one in return, ahead of a double-team hiptoss powerbomb, a flapjack and some more squashing as the challengers tried to obliterate the champion.
Vilmos comes in as he wore down Dullnig in the corner with chops… Junior returns as Dullnig tried to crawl through for a tag, but to no avail as he got double-teamed with strikes on the way to a kick-assisted slam for a near-fall. A bodyslam’s next from Junior for another two-count, before Dullnig came back with some Kawada kicks… then an enziguiri to Vilmos. Junior’s back, but quickly takes a spinning uranage as Dullnig finally made the tag out to Hektor. Clotheslines and boots see Hektor clear house, ahead of a slam to Junior… then a spinebuster to Vilmos for a two-count. Vilmos knocks Dullnig off the apron as the challengers turned it around, double-teaming Hektor with an assisted cannonball for a two-count, before Hektor slipped out of another double-team… and had his back slapped as Dullnig had gotten back up to tag himself in.
Dullnig flies off the top with a cannonball to Junior, before Vilmos ate a 3D… a double Hektor-Knie follows, and that’s enough to put away the Hungarians. ***
Backstage, Laurance Roman’s fuming over losing his Shotgun title rematch… he wants a rematch, but Robert Dreissker’s still pissed at how he lost it in Bielefeld in the first place, saying he should have done whatever it took to take the match to a time limit draw. There’s dissension in the ranks of AMBOSS, with this all ending with Roman storming away.
Maggot vs. Axel Tischer
These were the final two at Shortcut to the Top – but this is a first-time singles meeting as Maggot continued to prepare for his title shot…
Tischer shoves away Maggot before the bell as we got going with a lock-up… with Tischer just marching Maggot into the corner with ease. Maggot barges past “Axel the Great”, only to get taken down with a wristlock as Tischer was rather nonchalantly retaining control. An uppercut sent Maggot sailing into the corner, but he tries to bit his way free before he avoided a Tischer elbow drop. Mounted punches in the corner from Maggot ended with Tischer going for the fingers of Maggot, who eventually found his way back in with a Thesz press and some punches. A leg sweep led to a clothesline to the outside as Maggot quickly joins Tischer with a plancha… then took things back inside as a crossbody off the top drew a near-fall.
Tischer seems to jar his knee on a floatover out of the corner… medics come to check on Tischer as Maggot was getting annoyed that the match wasn’t being called off. Of course, it’s a ruse, which everyone saw coming, as Tischer quickly went back at Maggot, slamming him to the mat. An elbow to the face gets Tischer a two-count before he chucked Maggot outside. Back inside, a single leg dropkick puts Maggot down again, as Tischer continued to wind up Baby Allison at ringside… focusing on her as he put the boots to Maggot. Allison gets up onto the apron to yell at Tischer, but gets booted down instead as the Dresden crowd really started to turn on Tischer.
Firing up, Maggot hits a crossbody off the ropes as he began to bounce Tischer around with clotheslines and dropkicks… following up with a back body drop out of the corner and a satellite DDT. That’s good for a near-fall, before Tischer shoved away a cutter attempt, only to get caught up top as a superplex put Maggot firmly back in control. A spear follows for a near-fall, but Tischer snapped back with a thunderous tombstone piledriver that bounced Maggot off the mat. Sadly for Tischer, he couldn’t make a cover immediately, and by the time he got to Maggot, was only able to get a two-count out of all of that.
Maggot and Tischer trade strikes as they get back to their feet, leading to an enziguiri from Maggot and a lariat from Tischer… who then added a folding powerbomb for a near-fall. A knee trembler misses before Maggot leapt into a death valley driver… with a German suplex following in short order. That knee trembler’s next, then a Ligerbomb as Tischer almost took the win. From there, Tischer pulled up Maggot, but a Horrible Slam’s countered with a small package. Tischer kicks out, but his rear naked choke leads to Maggot pushing out of the corner a la Bret Hart for a near-fall, before Tischer’s rebound from the ropes saw him walk into a cutter from Maggot for the win. This was something of a come-from-behind win – and while I really could have done without the fake-out on the injury, this was a solid result as Maggot prepared for his big match in Frankfurt. ***½
A slight step up on the last few so-so shows – with Axel Tischer in particular being a beacon throughout these shows as the post-Tag Festival lull was beginning to bite.