wXw’s first show since Carat gave 1 Called Manders and Elijah Blum a warm-up against each other ahead of next month’s title match.
Quick Results
Anil Marik pinned M4 in 5:45 (**)
Metehan pinned Dieter Schwartz in 4:48 (**½)
Marc Empire & Robert Dreissker defeated OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima via disqualification in 8:34 (**½)
Ahura pinned Aigle Blanc in 13:42 (***½)
Axel Tischer, Fast Time Moodo & Jane Nero pinned Kubes, Alex Duke & Norman Harras in 17:12 (***½)
Joseph Fenech Jr. pinned Nick Schreier to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship in 11:54 (***¼)
Mike D Vecchio pinned Hektor Invictus to retain the wXw European Championship in 11:20 (***¼)
Laurance Roman & Elijah Blum pinned Thomas Shire & 1 Called Manders in 15:29 (***½)
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We’re coming live via stream from the Stromwerk in Dresden… but first, the only pre-show of the weekend. Hey, the stage in Dresden’s got a ribbon screen as well! English commentary comes from Mett Dimassi, joined by Robin Christopher Fohrwerk for the main show. You really shouldn’t have…
Anil Marik vs. M4
Marik beat M4 in under five minutes a few weeks back at Inner Circle – but first, the obligatory Robin Christopher Fohrwerk speech as he talked about getting rid of the ballast in his group (Icarus).
M4’s taken to the corner early on, but Marik was perhaps a touch too lackadaisical as M4 was able to charge him down out of the corner. A clothesline followed before M4 got low bridged onto the apron… then knocked down to the floor with a dropkick through the ropes. Back inside, a Slingblade’s good for a two-count as Marik continued to slow the pace down.
Marik heads back to the corner for some chops, but M4 fired back, landing clotheslines and a suplex as we crossed the five-minute mark. M4 shoves away a Codebreaker attempt, but can’t avoid a leaping forearm to the back of the neck as Marik’s double-arm DDT caused a futureshock and put away M4. **
Onto the main show…
Metehan vs. Dieter Schwartz
This was Metehan’s in-ring return after his surprise appearance on the final night of Carat… and he’s very Pascal Spalter-like with his happy clapping in time to his music.
Schwartz wasn’t messing around as he threw the first shot after a lock-up into the corner, but Metehan also wasn’t laying back and taking it either. Using the hair, Schwartz escapes a headlock and applies one of his own, before a baseball slide and a dropkick turned it back around in the former Carat winner’s favour.
An overhand chop sent Schwartz to the deck, before Metehan got hung up in the ropes ahead of a collision in the middle of the ring. Staying close to Metehan, Schwartz’s cravat gives commentary time to chat about mustard (hey, no Bautz’ner slander, Fohrwerk), and handed Metehan time to fight back as he looked to build up to an Exploder suplex.
Instead, a swivelling clothesline takes down Schwartz, before a sit-out powerbomb got Metehan the win – they did what they needed to here, and it was a straightforward return win for Metehan here. **½
Post-match, Dan Mallmann interviewed Metehan in the aisle. Very babyface, very “I love this town,” as Metehan continued his aim of showing he’s the best in Europe.
Backstage, Emil Völler is with Big Bucks – they address Bobby Gunns being out, but Alex Duke’s used his connections to get a replacement in the form of a fellow called Kubes. The Buffalo native is a trainee of the JPWA (Dr. Tom Prichard and Kane) trainee, and of the Grapplers Anonymous school (alongside Brandon Thurston) so we’ll see how he goes.
Young Blood (OSKAR & Yuto Nakashima) vs. Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire)
There’s a bit more swagger to the former tag champions here, as the feeling seems to be that we’re on the final days of their excursion here.
Dreissker and Nakashima start us off, trading forearms to start before a clothesline took down Yuto. Marc Empire keeps it going ahead of a double-team Biel out of the corner, before some double-handed chops got Empire a solid two-count. Dreissker’s back, but Yuto’s able to break free and tag in OSKAR, whose shoving match ended with him getting put on his back.
A turnaround sees Young Blood back in control, with Yuto Nakashima trying to gouge out Dreissker’s eye. Dreissker escapes some attempted Blood Rush as he suplexed OSKAR into the corner, then simply ducked Yuto to tag in Empire, who charges corner-to-corner on the former tag champions, leading to a hip attack on Nakashima.
OSKAR charges into a powerslam from Empire for good measure, before a pull-up powerbomb out of the corner from Empire planted Yuto onto his own man. That looked nasty for OSKAR. Nakashima breaks up a double-team as OSKAR then hit a chokebomb to Dreissker… but again OSKAR goes for Empire’s eye, forcing the referee Alex Schneider to separate the pair.
OSKAR tries it again, and then shoved aside the referee for the obvious DQ… post-match, Yuto low blows Empire before Dreissker chased them away with a chair. This was fine for what it was, but we’re clearly setting up for something much bigger here. **½
We’re back with Emil as Laurance Roman and Elijah Blum have mic time. Roman’s looking forward to being back in his hometown, and mix it up with this year’s big Carat winners… but Elijah Blum snatches the mic to address this being preparation for his big challenge in a fortnight’s time.
Aigle Blanc vs. Ahura
These two had a bunch of meetings before Carat – but didn’t end up meeting in the tournament as Aigle Blanc crashed out on night one, while Ahura made it all the way to the finals.
Tempers frayed before the bell as a perhaps jealous Aigle got in Ahura’s face with forearms… but the Frenchman quickly targeted the lower back as he figured two weeks since Carat wasn’t long enough for Ahura to fully heal.
Spilling outside, the pair light each other up some more, but it’s Ahura who pulled ahead, only to wince as he hit the ropes in preparation for a dive. Aigle exacerbates it with a back suplex onto the side of the ring, then again with more shots aimed at the lower back. Ahura’s able to withstand it though, taking Aigle back inside for a springboard missile dropkick that had the crowd actually booing him.
From there, Ahura began to go after Aigle in the ropes, only to springboard into a neckbreaker as Aigle then added a second version of it off the middle rope for a near-fall. We’re back to the backbreakers from Aigle, but he took too long to follow-up as Ahura’s front kick caught him on the top rope.
Ahura again teases going for Aigle’s mask, chopping him in the turnbuckles before Ahura folded himself up while delivering a superplex. Ow. Both men got back up to their feet at the same time, prompting an exchange of strikes that escalated into a snap Dragon suplex from Aigle… and a wacky take on an Electric Chair drop from Ahura in return.
A missed charge sees Ahura hang himself up in the corner, allowing Aigle back in as he just sat down and slapped away at a defenceless Ahura… who defiantly crossed his arms before Aigle went Coast to Coast instead. Another turnaround took Aigle outside as Ahura avoided a tombstone… where Ahura followed with a Divine Sandstorm tornillo to the floor.
Ahura mouths off and ends up getting obliterated into the front row with a chair-destroying tombstone from Aigle… and with both men down we’re in danger of a double count-out, but both men make it back inside, with Ahura narrowly beating the count. Unfortunately for Ahura, he’s swiftly met with a springboard flying knee for a near-fall, before a trip up top ended with an aborted 450 splash that Ahura countered into a Salamandra for the win. Not all of this landed, with the finish perhaps being a little wonky, but this was a good outing from a clearly-not-100% Ahura here. ***½
Post-match, Ahura offered a handshake to Aigle Blanc… who slapped him in response as the pair clearly still had bad blood.
Big Bucks (Norman Harras & Alex Duke) & Kubes vs. KxS (Axel Tischer & Fast Time Moodo) & Jane Nero
We had a show-day change as Bobby Gunns dropped out with illness, with Kubes replacing him… and given he’s on the opposite side of two hometown heroes in Axel Tischer and Jane Nero, something tells me he’ll be inspecting lightbulbs here.
Moodo starts us off by stinging Alex Duke with kicks before a shoulder tackle took Duke down after some hair pulling. Things don’t exactly improve for Duke when Axel Tischer came in, as he caught Duke with a delayed neck twist on the mat. Norman Harras tags in front here, offering a Test of Strength only to get spun down to the mat by the Axeman.
A side headlock on the deck from Harras is escaped as Tischer ended up landing a leg lariat… before bailing into the corner to tag in Kubes. That’s the cue for Jane Nero to come in, and she accepted Kubes’ offer of a free shot… eventually cashing it in with a trip-up. That bloodied up Kubes, who manages to recover by slamming Nero out of the corner.
Harras returns to launch Nero chest-first into the corner, while a stalling suplex ends with Nero slipping out for a schoolboy roll-up. Duke’s in, but also has to fight out of a roll-up pin before Fast Time Moodo got the tag in to lay in with kicks. Harras comes in to distract the ref as Moodo went for a Pedigree… that masks Kubes’ front kick to break up the pin ahead of a charging knee to the ribs from Harras.
Everyone cycles in and out of the match as Moodo’s trapped in the corner, ending with a spear from Harras for a two-count, but a corkscrew kick bought him time as tags got us to Tischer and Kubes, sparking a Parade of Moves. A rebound clothesline from Tischer lays out Kubes, ahead of a powerbomb for a near-fall… with a barrage of double-teaming leading to a stomp-assisted gutbuster, and a Made in Japan for a near-fall as the Big Bucks broke up the pin.
The ring fills and empties from there, with Nero’s crossbody off the apron getting caught before Moodo’s tope knocked them all into the front row. Back inside, Moodo’s got to kick away Alex Duke before eating a Kubes lariat… before the Big Bucks hit the ring for a wheelbarrow DDT to Moodo for a near-fall. From there, Kubes gets back in with a dropkick to Tischer, before Jane Nero unloaded on him with punches.
Nero’s charged into the corner, but manages to catch Kubes with a Blockbuster off the middle rope, before Moodo returned as KxS hit the Dragon Murder for the win. This was a wild one, mostly thanks to Bizarro World in the form of East Germany giving us unexpected reactions for KxS, but his sets up tomorrow’s title match nicely in Leipzig. ***½
wXw Shotgun Championship: Nick Schreier vs. Joseph Fenech Jr. (c)
Kicking off the second half, we’ve got Joseph Fenech Jr. making the second defence of his Shotgun title.
Fenech was all over Schreier to start, dumping him over the top rope to the floor early on… Schreier’s back inside to score with some headscissors, then with a springboard crossbody, before going to the corner for the mounted punches that gave him so much trouble a fortnight ago against Cara Noir.
Heading outside, Fenech yanks down Schreier in the ropes before the fans flipped off the Frenchman. Back inside, Schreier fights back amid a series of chops, but his satellite DDT’s pushed off as Fenech instead hit a low dropkick. Some rights from Schreier start another response, as another dropkick this time trapped Fenech in the corner before Anil Marik was called out to ringside.
Marik’s distracting presence works as Fenech was able to catch Schreier up top with a superplex… rolling it through into a Falcon arrow for a near-fall. Fenech eats a superkick as he went for a handspring cutter as Schreier tries to regain the momentum from earlier, leading to him landing a satellite DDT and the Shining Wizard for a near-fall.
Fenech tries to cut off Schreier up top, only to get shoved down as Nick… leaps into a cutter instead. A brutal ushigoroshi followed from Fenech in return, but he misses a top rope elbow, prompting yet another reset with yay-boo strikes. Another handspring cutter attempt from Fenech’s countered by Nick, who again has to deal with Anil Marik… taking him off the apron with a springboard dropkick… before getting caught with a draping DDT by Fenech on his way back for the win. It’s clear there’s a lot of people here with a lot of stock in Nick Schreier, but today wasn’t his day as the remnants of High Performer Ltd. seem to be in bad shape, with Fenech not too happy with Marik’s involvement. ***¼
Mett Dimassi’s backstage with Thomas Shire and 1 Called Manders… Manders is rubbing his hands at facing Elijah Blum as the Cowboys want to leave Dresden victorious.
wXw European Championship: Hektor Invictus vs. Mike D Vecchio (c)
Hektor’s looking to be the first German to win the European title – and on paper this has got everything going for it to be a showstealer.
Mike D controlled the early going, but Hektor baited him in for an armdrag before coming out worse for wear on an exchange of dropkicks… which took things outside for a surprise tope. Back inside, Hektor took control as he put the boots to the Belgian, leading to a Dragon screw out of the corner and a half crab after Mike missed a charging knee.
Hektor’s kicked away, but he’s able to take things back to the corner as he continued to work over Mike’s knee, before catching the champion with a spinebuster as he went right back to the half crab. The ropes save Mike D, who managed to come back with a chokeslam into a military press slam en route to a two-count – in spite of the bad knee.
A trip up top ends with Hektor landing a Spanish fly, only to get caught seconds later with an over-the-knee brainbuster as the pair were throwing bombs at each other. Shaking off the knee, Mike D’s enziguiri into the corner and a back suplex out of it leads to his take on the Best Moonsault Ever for a near-fall as that knee wasn’t exactly getting protected.
Mike misses a swandive headbutt… and ends up getting pushed into a sit-out powerbomb from Hektor, who quickly followed up on the kick-out with a gogoplata. It’s fought out of as Mike D hits a roundhouse enziguiri, then a Blue Thunder Bomb into the corner, leaving Hektor in place for a shooting star press, which the hesitant Mike D lands for the win. This’ll get picked apart by the selling fetishists, but this was a solid outing with Mike D showing a rare sign of weakness. ***¼
The Cowboy Way (1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire) vs. Elijah Blum & Laurance Roman
Say, Shire and Manders getting a customised entrance video sure points to them being a part of a Grand Prix, right? Meanwhile, Laurance Roman came out with a heavily taped knee…
We start with Roman and Shire, but the cowboys are getting booed here in Dresden against Roman. When things got going, Roman and Shire were pretty even on the mat, but Roman was generally having a little trouble against the much larger Texan… until he hiptossed Shire into the ropes.
Roman demanded to face Manders, so Shire duly tagged him in… only for Elijah Blum to call for a tag. He doesn’t get it, as instead Roman’s taken to the corner for a patronising break and a slap, both of which were returned in kind before the slap exchange ended with a Stampede from Manders.
Quick tags from Manders and Shire trap Roman in their corner, before Elijah Blum finally got the tag in. Of course he and Manders teed off on each other, but it’s a Blum dropkick that cleared the way as Manders ended up having to catch a crossbody… only for Blum to escape and hit one off the ropes anyway.
A turnaround led to Thomas Shire having fun with Blum in the ropes, but neither Manders nor Shire speak enough German to understand what the Dresden crowd were throwing their way. Manders sneaks in some cheapshots to Blum in the corner ahead of a double wristlock from Shire…
Manders is back to nibble at Blum’s hand, before bouncing him off the ropes with a front suplex for a two-count. Finally Blum’s able to mount a comeback with a Terry Funk-ish moonsault out of the corner to the cowboys before finally making the tag out to Roman, who picked up the pace en route to the front slam on Manders for a near-fall.
Roman ducks a lariat as Manders sent himself outside for a low-pe, only for Shire to boot Roman into the corner upon his return to the ring. Shire and Blum trade blows as all four men remained in the ring, ending with a lariat from Manders to Blum before Roman dove in on Manders to prevent a pin. Shire’s back with a UFO to Roman, but Blum chucks him outside before ducking a Manders lariat… the Sliding D finds its mark, but Shire’s still legal… as was Roman, who snatched the win with a Burning Nail piledriver. The right result as all the local lads won their matches tonight – while this gave us a taste of the alternative side of the Cowboys without the crowd’s backing. ***½
Post-match, Shire offers a handshake, but Manders is a little non-plussed… he eventually relents and gets one from Roman, but only got a staredown with Blum ahead of their match in two weeks’ time.
We Love Wrestling 66 was a solid show from Dresden which kept things between Manders and Blum simmering away ahead of Frankfurt – if you’re picky you can probably skip the opening few matches, but pretty much everything on here delivered something of substance either between the bells or in storyline.