wXw’s latest weekender in East Germany wrapped up with the explosion of the Grind.
Quick Results
Zoltan pinned Dieter Schwartz to retain the wXw European Championship in 10:39 (***)
Nordino & Luca de Leone defeated Aleksander Bellamy & Alex Duke via disqualification in 7:12 (**½)
Katsuya Murashima pinned Fast Time Moodo in 7:34 (***)
Ahura pinned Ricky Sosa in 20:00 (**¾)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Thomas Shire in 8:48 (***¼)
Jane Nero submitted Lil Marz in 4:29 (**¾)
Rambo, Metehan & Axel Tischer pinned Robert Dreissker, Marc Empire & Dennis Dullnig in 12:10 (***)
Laurance Roman pinned Nick Schreier in 20:43 (***½)
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We’re coming live via stream from the Hellraiser in Leipzig. Yep, that truss is still there… and only live in German since the internet in the building isn’t up to scratch.
wXw European Championship: Dieter Schwartz vs. Zoltan (c)
It’s a quick turnaround for the new champion Zoltan, who was quickly put on the defensive by Schwartz, who looked to work the Hungarian’s arm.
Zoltan’s able to break the wristlock and take the fight to Schwartz, only for an arm wringer from Schwartz to take the focus right back onto that limb. Schwartz’s diving European uppercut’s good for a two-count, before Zoltan struck back with back elbows and a roundhouse kick for good measure.
A huge running dropkick into the corner gets followed with a handspring enziguiri for a near-fall, before Schwartz’s butterfly suplex almost threatened to end Zoltan’s title reign in under a day. Some more back-and-forth ends with a diving knee from Zoltan, before a cutter out of the corner almost ended it… but Schwartz kicked out with plenty of time to spare.
Schwartz’s jack-knife cover sparks some more back-and-forth on the mat, only for another Zoltan knee strike to send both men crashing to the mat. Zoltan’s the first one back on offence though, spiking Schwartz with an impaler DDT before the Mamba splash got the win – a good first defence for Zoltan, who looked pretty good despite the threatened styles clash. ***
We’ve got footage of Laurance Roman congratulating Zoltan on his European title win. Nick Schreier’s there, but he’s not happy with how his tag partner’s diverted his interest – and he’s clearly had his head turned by those Metehan comments from Shotgun. That leads to Schreier and Roman in our main event tonight…
10/10 Next Level (Alex Duke & Aleksander Bellamy) vs. CSI (Nordino & Luca de Leone)
Surprise Disko King Frankie during the entrances there…
Luca seemed somewhat surprised that he got a wristlock on Duke, but he’s taken into the corner as Bellamy went to choke him with a tag rope instead. Nordino’s distraction gave Luca an opening as Bellamy was stomped into the CSI corner… then suplexed out of it as Leipzig was loving the Italian lads.
Double eye pokes see Nordino and Bellamy blind each other, which leads to some comedy and a double clothesline after Bellamy and Nordino realised who they were fondling. Luca’s back to fire up briefly, but again it’s Nordino who’s taking the fall as Duke snapped and throttled him into the Next Level corner.
Bellamy’s Michinoku Driver nearly wins it, before a boot-assisted side Russian legsweep got Duke a two-count. Luca’s able to get the tag in as he found his way in with uppercuts, before a neckbreaker left Duke on the deck. A turnaround from Duke sees him send Nordino into the path of a de Leone uppercut, but Next Level weren’t home dry just yet… especially when Nordino flung the CSI flag at Aleksander Bellamy and pulled the Eddie Guerrero… with Felix Schulz falling for it. This was a ridiculous match, but the crowd loved it… and… are CSI becoming fan favourites? **½
Katsuya Murashima vs. Fast Time Moodo
We’re in Leipzig, so of course Moodo’s getting the Jesus pop. I hope Pascal Spalter’s charging him royalties…
Kicks and chops start us off, before Moodo ran his mouth a little… and earned himself a shoulder block in return. Moodo leaps up to the top rope to avoid a shoulder charge in the corner, then waited for a bit before his crossbody got caught and turned into a slam from Murashima… albeit after he’d picked himself up.
Murashima adds the Giant Swing from there, before chops trapped Moodo in the corners for a spell. Moodo returns with a springboard spinning heel kick off the middle rope, while a regular spinning heel kick kept Murashima down ahead of a Coast to Coast dropkick. From there, a Made in Japan almost put away the lad from Japan, before Murashima hit back with a powerslam into the corner for a near-fall.
The Leipzig crowd being so pro-Moodo kinda hurt the response on Murashima’s comeback… but at least there were some cheers when he blocked a top rope ‘rana and squashed Moodo with a flip senton for the win. Given Moodo’s not being focused on right now, this was a solid result – but another defeat does start to widen the gap between the (former?) KxS lads this weekend. ***
Backstage, Ben Thamer’s waiting to interview The Grind, but instead we get a video package highlighting Roman’s recent uptick in aggression since they lost the tag titles. It led to the finish from Dresden yesterday, where Roman getting distracted by Nick Schreier led to him getting rolled up and beaten by Metehan…
Ricky Sosa vs. Ahura
This was Sosa’s first appearance since he’d dropped the European title – and was left looking somewhat bare compared to Ahura.
A battle of waistlock takedowns started this one off, with Sosa enjoying the best of the early going, even though we quickly hit a stalemate. Some headscissors from Ahura take Sosa into the corner, before Ahura faked out a springboard en route to actually hitting the missile dropkick.
A front kick sends Sosa outside for a Divine Sandstorm into the front row, but Ahura decides to Trent Seven himself and chop the ring post as the pair brawled around ringside. Ahura recovered and took Sosa into the front row for a running kick. Back inside, Sosa’s able to somewhat nonchalantly bust out a wheelbarrow neckbreaker for a two-count, before Ahura tried to fire things up… and got ripcorded into a powerslam for a near-fall.
Ahura’s caught up top with a leaping ‘rana from Sosa, whose moonsault press followed for a two-count… but by this point in the match it was pretty clear that this was a match-up that was sorely lacking much of a spark. Sosa telegraphs a charge into the corner, allowing Ahura’s spinning forearm to cut him off.
Almost a Whirling Candy from Ahura lands ahead of a powerbomb for a near-fall, before a clobbering lariat from Ahura almost ended things. Ahura tries for Salamandra, but instead dropped Sosa in the search of a Boston crab. The ropes save Sosa, who then kicked off Ahura and caused a ref bump… one that allowed him to hit an eye poke undetected before Sosa just leapt into a punt to the groin. From there, a Salamandra’s countered into a sunset flip, while a pull-up Northern Lights suplex rolled into a suplex for a near-fall for Sosa.
Ahura’s able to escape a Blue Thunder Bang, but an overhead kick connects ahead of a German suplex, before Ahura countered a springboard into a German suplex. Once both men got back to their feet, we’re trading blows before a battle over each other’s finishers ended with Ahura eating another overhead kick. Sosa tries for a moonsault, but it’s kicked away as Ahura busted out a Destino… only for him to have to ‘rana out of a Blue Thunder Bang to snatch the win. This match just felt weird – with the pacing just feeling extremely drawn out with the crowd somewhat struggling to buy into it for large swathes. There was a good 10-minute match in this, but the atmosphere around Sosa this weekend has been extremely off. **¾
Thomas Shire vs. Peter Tihanyi
After coming up short against Elijah Blum last night, Thomas Shire’s got a big challenge in front of him to prevent racking up back-to-back losses.
A jump start from Shire had Tihanyi on the back foot from the off, taking things to the outside, where Shire got into it with a fan… then offered to swap places. Back inside, Shire hooked and stretched Tihanyi, before clotheslines squashed the Hungarian into the corner.
A quick turnaround saw Tihanyi send Shire outside for a dive, only to see his slingshot cutter get caught and turned into the UFO instead. A back body drop helps Tihanyi free himself, before he flipped out of a German suplex and added an Asai DDT for a near-fall.
Shire’s able to snap back with a brainbuster for a near-fall of his own, before Tihanyi flipped out of a powerbomb and hit back with the running double knees. It’s not enough for a flash win though, and things almost went south for Tihanyi as he had to fight out of a stalling suplex before taking Shire down with a swinging DDT. From there, a Meteora off the top lands… before the slingshot cutter got the win as Tihanyi was starting to get more of the crowd back onside. ***¼
Lil Marz vs. Jane Nero
This is a rematch from 16 Carat Gold Revenge in Frankfurt, where Nero picked up the win – and she’s got 10/10 Next Level out here again to support. Aleksander Bellamy again played ring announcer, only to get glitter blown into his mouth as he was mid-elongation. It’s been a while since we had a choking angle around here…
Anyway, 10/10 got chucked out before the bell, but Nero jumped Marz at the bell… Marz was able to overcome and take Nero into the corner for some face-washing boots. That advantage didn’t last too long though, with Nero throwing some right hands to get back into it.
Marz got trapped in the ropes for some right hands, before a sidestep allowed her to score with a roll-up… only for Nero to come right back with a full nelson slam for a two-count. Another response from Marz ends with her taking a DDT, before she tripped Nero into the middle rope for a Tiger Feint kick.
That almost puts Nero away, but a missed senton bomb allowed Nero to pick at the proverbial bones, scoring with a Twist of Fate before some Figure Four headscissors forced the instant submission. This was good for the time it got – and I like how Nero’s now establishing a different finish as well. We’re still waiting for that belt to become official again, mind you… **¾
Dennis Dullnig & Planet Gojirah (Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire) vs. Los Compadres (Metehan & Rambo) & Axel Tischer
Dullnig looks somewhat naked without the Shotgun title, eh? Tischer’s wearing a Fast Time Moodo shirt, which makes me rethink everything I thought about where KxS was going.
Dreissker and Tischer start us off, with Tischer working the arm early on before he surveyed the crowd over who to tag in. Of course the crowd wanted Rambo, but Metehan forced the tag… and got blasted by Dreissker almost immediately. Dennis Dullnig did the same trick and tagged himself in as we got a bit of a mirror match with Dullnig and Metehan avoiding a lock-up.
Lucky Zbyszko helps stall things as the pair catch each other’s kicks, before they stomped on each other’s toes like this was a bit out of the Three Stooges. Lucky and Curly tag out to Rambo and Empire as Robert Dreissker looked rather heated at the shenanigans he’d just seen from his tag partner. Shoulder tackles from Rambo and Empire went nowhere until Rambo busted out some headscissors, following up with a stalling suplex for a two-count.
Dreissker’s back to stop Rambo climbing the ropes as Empire instead brought him down with a powerslam for a two-count, before Rambo got taken into the Gojirah corner for a spot of mudhole stomping. Metehan’s blowing a fuse arguing with the referee, but gets brought in for a double gutbuster before he was Bushwhacked out of the ring… just in time for Rambo to return with a double clothesline out of the corner.
A hot tag brings in Tischer, who deals with Dullnig with a clothesline, then with a double underhook suplex, before a flying European uppercut off the top almost ended things. Planet Gojirah’s back to double-team Tischer, but Dennis Dullnig comes in and accidentally cracks Empire with the Shotgun title belt.
It’s not a DQ for… reasons… but Robert Dreissker lays out Dullnig with an avalanche splash in the corner. Metehan’s in with the Shotgun title belt, but Tischer stops him from cheating before Metehan just choked out Dreissker with his belt as the referee was otherwise distracted. One frog splash later from Rambo, and that’s the win as we’re sleepwalking into Los Compadres vs. Planet Gojirah for the tag titles – but Axel Tischer was far from happy at the shortcut that Metehan took here. ***
Nick Schreier vs. Laurance Roman
Shreddy vs. Elijah Blum must have been kicked to Shotgun, so we’re getting a double dose of Grind entrances for our main event here.
This one started off with Roman working over Schreier’s arm and shoulder as this looked to be all about the spirit of competition and friendly rivalry – in spite of whatever niggles the Grind have gone through in recent weeks. A headlock takedown has Schreier fighting to escape, but a whiffed dropkick lets Roman back in as we’re still on a somewhat even keel.
Schreier’s misdirection allows him to take Roman outside with a dropkick, while a follow-up plancha found its mark… before we headed back inside for an armbar from Nick. A legdrop to the arm just riles Roman, who begins to turn up the aggression with kicks to the back, then with hard whips into the turnbuckles.
A flash roll-up from Schreier just irritates Roman some more, as a back elbow puts the former Carat winner back on top as this one was starting to head down the path many expected. Complete with the crowd willing on Nick. Schreier begins to fight back with a clothesline, then with a pop-up dropkick, before a diving knee forced a kick-out out of Roman.
A sunset flip powerbomb off the top keeps Schreier ahead, before the pair began to trade shots in the form of headbutts. Nick’s backslide almost steals the win, before his dropkick took Roman into the ropes for our second Tiger Feint kick of the day. Nick’s splash off the top seconds later nearly won it… but Roman’s again able to find a way back in, clubbing at Schreier’s back in the search for a Burning Nail piledriver.
Roman’s thrown away with a back body drop, before Schreier completed the mounted punches in the corner. Teeing up for a superkick, Schreier finds his mark… but Roman’s right back with an overhead kick before the swinging facebuster almost won it. That facebuster proved to be rather literal, as Schreier’s forehead was busted open, but Roman didn’t show any quarter, instead pulling Schreier in for some short-arm clotheslines… which led to Nick just spitting in his tag partner’s face.
Schreier’s satellite DDT surprises Roman, before a superkick and a fortuitous landing almost won it for Nick. The fight heads out onto the apron, where Schreier caught Roman with a Slingblade onto the edge of the ring, only for Roman to catch Schreier between the ropes with a draping version of his literal facebuster. It’s still not enough though, but a Burning Nail seconds later got the job done. Given this had less than a day’s build, this was a pretty tidy outing that played off of the grievances we’d seen between the Grind in the recent past. ***½
Post-match, Roman tended to the bloodied Schreier, but Nick wanted little part of it – only for Roman to lift him up as the pair seemed to make up somewhat to close out the show.
We’ve got a month before the next live wXw show – True Colors in Hamburg – and while we’ve got some taped stuff from upcoming live shows, the next few Shotguns will undoubtedly shape the big stuff for Hamburg while the rest of the wrestling world’s eyes are diverted onto Vegas.