We’ve got a trio of matches from Leipzig to look at, topped off with the latest chapter between Elijah Blum and Peter Tihanyi.
We’re live via on tape from the Hellraiser in Leipzig for this selection of matches – all of which are behind the wXwNOW paywall, with Emil Völler on German commentary.
Ryan Clancy vs. Dieter Schwarz
This was Schwarz’s second outing on the main roster – having lost to Zeritus a year ago in the same building on a We Love Wrestling taping.
Schwarz looks to work the arm of Clancy early on, but the wristlock’s reversed before Schwarz escaped and looked to work an ankle hold as the pair went back-and-forth. Pulling ahead, Clancy’s headlock takedown stopped the tit-for-tat as he finally neutralised Schwarz, before a big back body drop finally had Dieter on the defensive. Cheers Clancy!
An eye rake from Schwarz looked to buy him some time, as he then proceeded to throw Clancy shoulder-first into the turnbuckle. An armdrag and an armbar from Schwarz has Clancy in trouble, but at least he had the crowd on his side as he finally broke free, using a monkey flip to push Schwarz away.
Clancy goes back to the arm, taking down Schwarz with an arm whip before he faked him out ahead of a DDT. Schwarz holds onto the ropes to avoid a dropkick, but Clancy’s able to shake it off, only to get caught with a German suplex as Schwarz’s Olympic Slam almost got the win.
From there, Schwarz went for a trapped-arm wristlock submission, but Clancy’s able to roll through into a pinning attempt, before working through into an airplane spin. That dizzied Schwarz for long enough to Clancy to take him into the ropes for a dropkick, and that’s your lot!
Result: Ryan Clancy pinned Dieter Schwarz in 9:44 (**¾)
Marc Empire vs. Landon Hale
Empire at the time was the wXw Wrestling Academy champion, while Hale was in the midst of his latest tour of Germany.
Hale’s backed into the corner from the opening lock-up, before his attempt at a waistlock was just thrown aside. A knuckle lock’s reverse by Hale as he tried to make his way into the match, but his taped-up shoulder provided an obvious target for Empire. A target that Hale just exacerbated by trying to use his shoulder as a weapon.
Headscissors from Hale provide some success, then a dropkick, before he got caught with a clothesline as Empire looked to overpower the American. A slam gets Empire just a one-count, so he follows up with some chops ahead of a stalling back suplex for a two-count.
Empire keeps going with a splash into the corner, before he just launched Hale across the ring from a flapjack. Hale avoided the follow-up hip attack, and began to mount a comeback with a crossbody, before a springboard stunner and a moonsault out of the corner – the Hale of a Combo – almost got the win.
Empire blocks a powerbomb attempt, but ends up taking a standing Spanish Fly seconds later as Hale tried to push on… but a rebound lariat swings the match the other way before Hale countered out of a powerbomb as he then hit the Adjustment Bomb – a half Styles Clash powerbomb – for the win.
Result: Landon Hale pinned Marc Empire in 10:24 (**½)
High Performer Ltd. (Peter Tihanyi & Anil Marik) vs. Elijah Blum & Hektor Invictus
Elijah Blum hadn’t been given his storyline suspension at the time of this match… and we start with the usual Robin Christopher Fohrwerk intros.
Opening with Hektor and Tihanyi, the Hungarian finds himself on the back foot to start as the former tag champion powered through Tihanyi. It led to him getting caught in the corner as Elijah Blum teased tagging in, but Tihanyi fought free before a springboard crossbody from Hektor nullified things.
Blum gets the tag in, but Tihanyi quickly scurried away to tag in Anil Marik… Elijah started brightly, but he allowed himself to get distracted by Tihanyi, and ended up getting caught from behind by Marik as the High Performer Ltd. tandem took over. Of course, with Blum on the back foot, Tihanyi wanted in, but a quick turnaround sees Marik flung skyward with a back body drop before Hektor continued where he left off.
Hektor and Blum exchange quick tags as they tried to isolate Marik, who got run from corner to corner as Elijah’s uppercut left him laying. Leipzig enjoyed that. Clotheslines from Blum trap Marik in the corner for a spell, ahead of a step-up knee… but Marik feigns an injury to ensure the ref’s attention was diverted, allowing Tihanyi to hit the ring and attack Elijah from behind.
Taking full advantage of that, Marik pushed on as he connected with a bulldog out of the corner for a two-count, before Tihanyi came in to pick at the proverbial bones, landing a suplex on Blum for a two-count. An attempted fightback from Blum’s cut-off quickly as Marik tagged in to neutralise him some more with a chinlock. We’ve more from Tihanyi too as Blum was getting worn through, before he escaped an ankle lock and finally made a tag out to Hektor.
Like a house afire, Hektor charged into Marik in the corner, leading to a powerslam and an Invictus-Knie for a two-count. Tihanyi successfully distracts Blum on the apron – and succeeded in tying up the referee as Robin Christopher Fohrwerk’s cane shot set up for a Codebreaker from Marik… but it’s not enough as High Performer Ltd. remained on the offensive. A swinging DDT from Tihanyi almost puts Hektor away, before a spell of double-teaming ended with Hektor getting free as he made the tag to Blum.
Fighting against both Marik and Tihanyi, Blum’s able to clear house as a cross-legged driver almost put Tihanyi away… but Marik breaks up the cover before the two-on-one disadvantage led to Blum eating a Slingblade and a running Meteora. Hektor’s barely in in time to break up the pin, as Blum then continued to fight on his own.
Fohrwerk pulls Tihanyi out of the ring to stop him taking a Parting Gift, but Marik’s still legal and almost picked up the pieces with a roll-up. Kicking out, Blum’s able to focus on Marik as Hektor’s dive wiped out Tihanyi at ringside, before the Parting Gift finally put Marik away. A win over High Performer Ltd. for Elijah Blum – but not necessarily against the man he wanted to beat!
Result: Elijah Blum & Hektor pinned Anil Marik & Peter Tihanyi in 19:24 (***¼)