OSKAR looked to leave Hamburg with the Shotgun title as he took on Levaniel in both their hometowns.
Quick Results
Pahlevan Nima and Yokai went to a no-contest in 4:00 (**)
Aaron Insane pinned Tristan Archer in 9:41 (**)
Icarus pinned Elijah Blum in 12:04 (**¾)
Mike D Vecchio, Nick Schreier & Aigle Blanc pinned Mochizuki Jr., Bobby Gunns & Stephanie Maze in 13:49 (***½)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Robert Dreissker in 13:48 (***¼)
Nikita Charisma pinned Anil Marik in 10:31 (**¼)
Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus pinned Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championships in 14:22 (***½)
OSKAR defeated Levaniel via count-out in 13:45 – Levaniel retains the wXw Shotgun Championship (***)
— In the next week or so, I’ll be chatting about this show with Mike Kilby on the Auf Die Fresse podcast. Links to stream that episode when it drops, as well as back episodes are available at AufDieFresse.co.uk
We’re at the Markthalle in Hamburg for the 33rd time – live on stream as we’ve got a pair of title matches for das Powercrowd and a lot of fight…
Pahlevan Nima vs. Yokai
The Fight Forever match gives us a first look on the main roster of Yokai and Pahlevan Nima – both of these names you’ll have seen in Berlin from Project Nova, and in Nima’s case, GWF.
Yokai enjoyed the better of the early going with some flying forearms, before he pancaked Nima into the mat. That was followed up with a back senton before Yokai countered a Shining Wizard with some uppercuts. Nima’s springboard enziguiri just about lands, but his rebound clothesline a la Tyler’s caught a we hit a stand-off.
From the reset, the pair trade shots, at least until Yokai hit a throat thrust and a big boot. A uranage follows for a near-fall for Yokai, while the rebound clothesline swung it in Nima’s direction… before a Test of Strength was broken up with Levaniel running in to attack both men for the no-contest. This wasn’t really much of a match, but with Nima and Yokai billed as being from Hamburg, the story here was Levaniel ruining the night of every Hamburgjung except his. **
Post-match, Levaniel took the mic and bragged that he now lived in Düsseldorf… before he was chased away by OSKAR, as we’re told that OSKAR/Levaniel is going to be today’s main event. I liked how they built up something for the main show here, but not that they basically frittered away the pre-show match to do it.
Onto the main show, with German commentary from Mett Dimassi…
Tristan Archer vs. Aaron Insane
Last time we saw Archer on tape, he and Joseph Fenech Jr. lost to Ahura and Aaron Insane… with Fenech on the shelf, Archer’s going to have to try and get some revenge on his own. Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s got the mic, blaming his crew’s recent woes on Aaron Insane…
Insane got “welcome back” chants – it’s the thick end of a decade since he was last at the Markthalle for wXw. They’ve got long memories!
The pair dick around in the ropes to start, as Archer then took the upper hand, knocking Insane into the corner before Insane got his own back. A whip and a clothesline traps Archer into the corner, ahead of a lofty Manhattan drop, an atomic drop and a bodyslam for barely a two-count.
A big back body drop flings Archer to the mat as Insane pushed on, leading to a three point stance as Archer bailed to the outside. Insane meets Archer back inside with a boot to the face, before a face-washing boot in the corner kept the Frenchman ahead. Archer’s suplex and legdrop gets him another two-count, before Insane’s springboard headbutt out of the corner… was quickly wiped out with a Kitchen sink knee. Short-lived comebacks are short.
Archer looks for a Coup d’Etat, but Insane slips out of it as he began to make another comeback, landing several clotheslines en route to a shoulder tackle. A powerslam’s next for a near-fall for Insane, before Archer hit back with a Coup d’Etat. He breaks his own pin at one, looking to make a statement, adding a discus clothesline before a knee strike.
Fohrwerk again orders Archer to not go for the pin, which led to dissension between the two… and wouldn’t you know it, another crack at the Coup d’Etat led to Insane slipping out and snatching the win with the roll-up to end a story-heavy match. **
Post-match, Archer took the mic and declared he was done with Fohrwerk… who told him that his contact had a non-compete clause, so I guess Archer’s on ice for a while, perhaps with Japan on the cards?
Fohrwerk joined German commentary after this, where he clarified Archer’s no-compete clause was “long enough.”
Icarus vs. Elijah Blum
These two have met one-on-one once before, during the days of the Fight Forever academy tapings…
Icarus schooled Blum early on, taking him down in a wristlock, which Blum escaped with an armdrag and a dropkick. A crossbody off the ropes gets Blum a two-count, before some rope running ended with Icarus throwing him into the ropes, perhaps causing a whiplash-like effect. They don’t stop the match, so Icarus stays on Blum, taking him down for an armbar and a neck twist.
Blum’s neck’s targeted as Icarus worked his way up the arm on the armbar, before a right hand knocked Elijah down for a two-count. The pair head out onto the apron as Icarus teased a suplex from the ring into the front row, instead opting to hang up Blum in the ropes before Blum fought back with a superplex after catching the Hungarian up top.
Clotheslines from Blum continue the turnaround, as did an enziguiri, before Blum headed up top and connected with a crossbody. A Parting Gift looks to follow, but Icarus escaped and went for a piledriver… yay/boo punched follow between the two, leading to a shotgun dropkick out of Blum. Elijah took an age to climb up top, allowing Icarus to catch him up top, only to get headbutted down to the mat.
Blum aborts a corkscrew splash, and ends up getting thrown back into the ropes as Icarus pounced with almost a Cobra clutch. That took Blum down to a knee, as Icarus let go before he put Elijah away with a discus forearm to the back of the head. **¾
“Earlier today,” Dennis Dullnig was looking nervous as hell before his title match as Hektor looked to give him a pep talk while the peeping tom cameraman was shooting them unawares.
Bobby Gunns, Stephanie Maze & Mochizuki Jr. vs. Aigle Blanc, Mike D Vecchio & Nick Schreier
This was Mochizuki’s first match in wXw since Carat – he’s mostly been working on the British indies since as his excursion from Dragongate continued.
Mochizuki and Schreier get us going as someone tried to shoehorn Bobby Gunns’ name into the Monkees’ Daydream Believer. Cheer up. Nick’s got Da Mack’s old chant as Mochizuki scored with a low dropkick, before tags brought in Gunns and Aigle.
The pair trade kicks off the ropes, then lucha roll throughs before a kick from Gunns stunned Aigle… along with a Kitchen Sink knee before we reached another impasse. Tags bring us to Stephanie and Mike D, which was perhaps the biggest mismatch of the night, which quickly was highlighted as Miek swatted down Stephanie with a single forearm.
Schreier’s in as Maze found her way back in with kicks and a suplex, before Gunns came in to help with double back elbows and a PK for a two-count. A cravat from Gunns allows him to tag in Mochizuki as Schreier continued to be worn down… Schreier manages to clear the opposition corner, before getting through Gunns as Mike D got the tag in to clean house.
Mike popped up Aigle for a double dropkick as the tables turned, while a back suplex took down Gunns ahead of dualling Coast to Coasts from Aigle and Mike into Gunns and Mochizuki in the corner ahead of an Aigle Blanc Blockbuster for a near-fall. Aigle tries to add a 450 splash to the mix, but Mochizuki returns with a knee strike before the pair exchanged German suplexes.
Gunns returns after Aigle was shaken up from that German suplex, leaving the Frenchman isolated for a spell. Maze’s bridging German suplex almost wins it, before Mike D tagged in and stared down the former tag champion. Gunns comes in to help out, lifting up Stephanie… so Schreier came in to play his part on the chicken fight… lifting up Mike D?
It doesn’t quite work, so Mike lifts up Nick as Schreier and Maze trade blows until Mochizuki Jr’s missile dropkick took Schreier into almost a Doomsday device. A pile-up pin on Nick’s broken up by a flying eagle, as Mike D returned to try and pick up the pieces, going after Mochizuki with a sandwich of forearms.
Mike D stopped himself laying out Aigle with a superkick, but they take too long to collect their thoughts as a Parade of Moves broke out, ending with a Meteora to the back of Mochizuki from Aigle for a near-fall. Schreier adds a satellite DDT to Mochizuki from there, before Mike D tagged in to hit a shooting star press for the win. Hey, the Hamburg crowd finally got the dive they wanted to end what was effectively a touring version of the lucha tag we typically get on Carat weekenders. ***½
Peter Tihanyi vs. Robert Dreissker
A non-title outing after Tihanyi and Dreissker’s brawl in Leipzig… the first time these two had met one-on-one in wXw, although there’s a LOT of tags between them.
Dreissker backs away from Tihanyi at the bell, before he made a point of targeting Tihanyi’s lower back – which had been troubling the Hungarian all year. Fighting back with right hands, Tihanyi took Dreissker into the ropes, but a reversed Irish whip stung Tihanyi’s back as those ropes suddenly seem to be made of strong stuff tonight.
Dusty punches from Tihanyi are cut-off, but he finishes the set and lands an enziguiri, before a back body drop took Dreissker into the corner. A knee strike follows, as did a swinging DDT, before a superkick almost led to the flash win. Dreissker bails outside for a breather, but the messing around ends with him eating a pair of dives on the outside.
Tihanyi tries for a crossbody off the top back inside, but he just bounces off of Dreissker, before the not-defending champion ripped off the KT tape from Tihanyi’s back. A knee strike from Tihanyi’s blocked as Dreissker spun him into a back suplex for a two-count. A fight-back from Tihanyi led to him feinting a superkick as he came close with a roll-up, but Dreissker’s right back on the injured back.
The other bit of KT tape’s ripped off as Dreissker briefly chokes Tihanyi with it, before a lifting bearhug looked to force a stoppage. Countering out with a sunset flip, Tihanyi’s fought off as a back senton squishes him for a two-count, before a waistlock on Tihanyi ended with him raking the eyes to get free.
Tihanyi tries to build momentum with a neckbreaker, before he clubbed away on Dreissker’s back in the corner. He’s able to duck a springboard crossbody from Dreissker before he hit springboard moonsault for a two-count. A slow climb up top from Tihanyi’s stopped as he’s distracted by Icarus who’d done something on the stage… Dreissker’s superplex and death valley driver capitalises on it for a near-fall.
Icarus looked to head towards the ring, but he’s stopped by Laurance Roman, who’s turned up in a neck brace. That semi distraction allows Tihanyi to hit a back suplex, before Tihanyi crashed and burned on a 450 splash, landing on his knees as Dreissker had rolled away… but Dreissker can’t follow-up as he charges into Tihanyi’s knee, and that’s the clean-as-a-sheet win! WELL THEN! That was Dreissker’s first singles loss in over 800 days (since the 2022 16 Carat Gold final), and this felt like a huge deal for Peter Tihanyi as it feels like we’re back to warming up Tihanyi and Roman as legitimate challenges for Dreissker. ***¼
Post-match, Roman and Icarus tended to Dreissker, who made a point of shoving Roman aside. The AMBOSS lads argue as Roman slapped Dreissker… who took it as well as you’d expect. Dreissker goes to do the AMBOSS pose, but instead cheapshot Roman down to the mat so he could stretch him in a camel clutch while Icarus cut off an attempted save from Elijah Blum. AMBOSS looks to be down to two now, as Dreissker and Icarus leave through the crowd as Stephanie Maze, Nick Schreier, Bobby Gunns and Jane Nero helped Roman to the back.
Nikita Charisma vs. Anil Marik
Charisma was a late replacement for Ahura as this “Trigger’s Broom” of a match had already seen Marik come in for the injured Joseph Fenech Jr. Nikita had a doorstop of a law textbook with him, complete with highlighters from his study…
Marik looked to control the pace early on, but Charisma was able to frustrate him with waistlock takedowns. A sunset flip from Charisma’s blocked, but Marik ends up punching the mat as Charisma struck back with dropkicks. An enziguiri knocks Marik into the ropes, prompting Fohrwerk to pop up on the apron and rip pages out of Charisma’s textbook.
The distraction creates an opening for Marik, whose suplex drew a two-count… only for Charisma to eventually take him into the corner. Clotheslines eventually bounce Marik down, ahead of a slingshot spear. Some Wrecking Ball Knees follow from Charisma, who then went up top, only to leap down and get caught with a single-leg Codebreaker from Marik for a two-count.
Fohrwerk looks to hit Charisma with his cane, but Tristan Archer comes back through the crowd to chase him away… allowing Nikita to take Marik into the ropes for a Tiger feint kick, before a big splash got the win in a match that was pretty much the backdrop for more of the Archer/Fohrwerk story. **¼
wXw World Tag Team Championship: KxS (Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo) vs. Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus (c)
Since they debuted as a tandem at 16 Carat Gold, KxS have yet to lose in wXw – and with Axel Tischer having won tag gold in PROGRESS and GWF, he’s tries to hoover up European tag titles.
Hektor and Moodo get us underway, trading flash pin attempts before Moodo’s short arm scissors were almost powered out of by Hektor. Keeping things on the mat, Moodo looked for a submission, only for Hektor to power up and take him into the corner to force a rope break. Armdrags from Hektor see him mount some offence, leading to a crossbody out of the corner, before Dennis Dullnig came in… and got levelled with a Moodo knee.
Tischer’s in to work over Dullnig’s arm, before Dullnig managed to get free and tag in Hektor, whose slingshot spear in almost won the match. Dullnig’s quickly brought back in as he’s slammed onto Tischer. A cheapshot kick from Moodo helps turn it back around in the challengers’ favour, as he then proceeded to ground Dullnig with a manjigatame… before a kick snuffed out any chance of a comeback after Dullnig had hiptossed his way free.
Tischer’s back as a pop-up kick took out Dullnig for a two-count. Moodo’s grinding his boot on Dullnig’s ankle as the referee was otherwise engaged, before a neck twist helped Tischer pick up a two-count as the challengers looked to be in control. At least until Dullnig reversed a suplex out of nowhere, but he had to sneak past Tischer before making a hot tag to Hektor.
A scoop powerslam and a spinebuster helps Hektor clear house, ahead of a Hektor-Knie on Moodo for a near-fall as Tischer broke up the pin. Hektor’s springboard dropkick takes Tischer off the apron as Dullnig came in to try and put away Moodo… but Tischer intervenes as Moodo laid into Dullnig with a spinning heel kick.
Moodo’s Pedigree almost wins it from there, but Dullnig seemed to be not long for this one as a stomp-assisted gutbuster, then a Made in Japan almost led to the title change. Dullnig has to cover up as Moodo and Tischer laid into him, but Dullnig made a good go of fighting back against the odds, only to run into a pair of kicks as Hektor ended up making the save ahead of a roll-up from Dullnig.
Dullnig pushes on with a spinebuster to Tischer as a Parade of Moves included a 3D to Moodo, before a Cactus Clothesline took Hektor and Moodo to the outside. Meanwhile, Dullnig’s able to land a piledriver… and that’s enough to retain the titles. That result surprised me as I thought the title change was almost nailed on, but the champions scraped the win out and live to fight another day! ***½
wXw Shotgun Championship: OSKAR vs. Levaniel (c)
Although Levaniel’s now billed from Düsseldorf, it’s a home match for both men… but OSKAR was by far the most popular here.
Levaniel’s forced to bail in the opening seconds as his attempts to go after OSKAR just angered the challenger. That led to the pair scrapping on the outside, where Levaniel repeatedly charged OSKAR into the apron, then the ring post, before OSKAR took over, throwing Levaniel into the corner for chops.
A bodyslam drops Levaniel in the middle of the ring as OSKAR then missed a charge into the corner, allowing Levaniel back in with the Randy Orton-ish backbreaker as he gained himself a new target. Stomps target that lower back, as did shoulder charges into the corner, before OSKAR got caught with a DDT in the middle of the ring.
OSKAR’s able to kick out at two, but Levaniel stays on him with a Boston crab, forcing the former Young Lion to crawl to the ropes for a break, just like olden days. The Markthalle began to rise as one in support of OSKAR, just as he came back with a thunderous dropkick to spark his turnaround.
A charging elbow into the corner, then a back suplex out of it gets OSKAR a two-count, prompting Levaniel to try and leave the Markthalle, looking to take the long way out through the bar. OSKAR drags Levaniel back to the ring, but the champion targets the lower back again as we hit the final five minutes of the time limit.
Levaniel’s discus clothesline sees him get a near-fall, before some kicks to the back softened up OSKAR for a half crab. Again, the ropes save the day for OSKAR, who dug deep and began to club away on Levaniel with lariats for a near-fall, before OSKAR avoided a Facecrusher… and suplexed Levaniel.
Rolling outside to try and wind the clock down, Levaniel again put distance between he and OSKAR… Levaniel clings onto some steps, forcing OSKAR to just drag the steps towards the ring, before OSKAR rolled back into the ring just in time to get the win via count-out. ***
That was certainly a choice of a main event finish… but OSKAR isn’t done. He stops Levaniel from leaving as he threw the champion back into the ring to land a big boot and a Michinoku driver for a visual pin. Hey, Hamburg counted it, and they rang the bell as well, but while OSKAR celebrated with the belt, Levaniel remains the champion as the show went off the air.
This show could be best summed up in three words: Höhen und Tiefen. They finally pulled the trigger on Roman and AMBOSS, while simultaneously having Peter Tihanyi rattle Robert Dreissker with his biggest loss in over two years. Things are moving at the top, but on the undercards things might not be quite as rosey…