Elijah Blum continued his hunt of Peter Tihanyi as wXw rolled into the town of Mendig.
Quick Results
Mike Schwarz pinned Red Scorpion in 10:13 (***¼)
Baby Allison pinned Stephanie Maze in 6:40 (**¾)
Alex Duke & Norman Harras pinned Yuto Nakashima & OSKAR in 11:34 (***)
Ahura pinned Bobby Gunns in 14:43 (***½)
Levaniel pinned Aeron in 7:07 (***)
1 Called Manders pinned Yuya Aoki in 9:47 (****)
Elijah Blum & Robert Dreissker pinned Anil Marik & Peter Tihanyi in 15:57 (***½)
We’re at the Laacher-See-Halle for this grab bag of matches – and since everything’s out in one drop, this isn’t a “random reviews.” There’s fans seated at tables on the stage, and part of me really wants to see them rate the matches, like it’s Strictly Come Dancing or something.
German commentary comes from Mett Dimassi, and some of these matches are behind the wXwNOW paywall.
Mike Schwarz vs. Red Scorpion
It’s been a while since we’ve seen the former Shortcut to the Top winner in wXw – in fact, not since 2022’s Shortcut… and speaking of “it’s been a while,” holy cow, that’s Ruhrgebiet!
Red Scorpion took offence to Thommy Giesen’s introduction for him, and ranted at the crowd in response. The match started with Scorpion walking out, prompting Thommy to scald the Italian with a threat of a count-out. When we did get going, Scorpion found out the hard way that you can’t easily shoulder-tackle Schwarz, but he was able to thwart an early crack at the Schick im Schacht chokeslam before Schwarz just charged him down anyways.
Scorpion again teases walking out, eventually returning to a Test of Strength that Mikey easily won out on ahead of a sidewalk slam for a two-count as things were threatening to be rather one-sided.
Schwarz takes things to the corner for a spot of rope-walking, but Scorpion did just enough to distract him as Schwarz crotched himself in the ropes, before a dropkick brought him back in from the apron. A running flip senton gets Scorpion a two-count – before Scorpion got too lackadaisical and blatantly used the ropes to try and cover Schwarz. It was so blatant, he got fined €20 for it, which I got a kick out of.
Scorpion hits the running flip senton again before some back-and-forth chops led to a simple clothesline or two from Schwarz. A back suplex follows for a two-count, before Scorpion ran into a Black Hole Slam as he tried to get back in it. A randomer’s at ringside with some pizza, but it’s not for Mikey – and with Tassilo Jung leaving the ring to get mad at the hyper-personal delivery, Scorpion grabs the takeaway and smashes it over Mikey’s head. Cultural appropriation!
The pizza shot’s not enough to get the win, nor was a big splash off the top, before Schwarz finally scrapped his way back into things, catching Scorpion’s leap off the top and countering it into the Schick im Schacht chokeslam for the win. I had so much fun with this – a match that could have been as disposable as that pizza box ended up being a real riot. ***¼
Baby Allison vs. Stephanie Maze
These two are 2-2 in prior singles meetings – but Allison’s only wins were outside of the wXw main roster (Catch Factory in December 2024, and a wXw academy show back in December 2019… I remember that one well…)
Of course, we’ve got to have our Fohrwerk here, who must have been a little chilly judging by his mob boss overcoat. Allison went for Maze’s hair early on as she looked for the advantage, only for Maze to fire back with kicks and a running knee to the side of the head in return.
Maze keeps going with a trapped-arm clothesline for a two-count, before Allison’s cross-chop to the throat carved out an opening for a hanging choke in the ropes. Another suplex, this time from Allison, takes Maze into the corner ahead of a seated dropkick as Allison built her way up into a manjigatame.
Maze escapes as the pair began to trade elbows… but Allison’s get blocked as Maze again pulled ahead with body blows and kicks. A diving knee puts Allison down, as did a diving kick off the top, before Anil Marik popped up on the apron for a distraction. It backfires as Allison knocked him down, before Maze’s back suplex almost won it… in return, a Northern Lights suplex nearly wins it for Allison, who then followed up with a Baby Exorcism.
Maze escapes and hits Allison with the knee… it looked to lead to the stoppage, but Anil Marik attacks with a clothesline as the referee checked on Allison, who miraculously recovered to hit a bridging German suplex from her knees for the win. Not a fan of the finish, but a decent outing for the time they had. **¾
Big Bucks (Alex Duke & Norman Harras) vs. Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima)
A non-title outing here outside of the paywall, with Norman Harras having already wrestled that weekend, with an appearance for New Wave over in Cardiff.
Duke and OSKAR start us off, with Duke taking OSKAR to the ropes before he found out the hard way that you can’t just shoulder tackle OSKAR. A cheapshot had more effect, before a rebounding OSKAR took down Duke anyway. Chops from OSKAR have Duke reeling before Yuto Nakashima tagged in to help with a kick-assisted slam.
Harras tags in and takes his shot at Yuto, only to get stopped with some knees and kicks as Nakashima took it into the corner. A charging knee’s good for a two-count on Harras, who almost managed to steal a win after Alex Duke hung up Yuto in the ropes behind everyone’s back.
Duke tags in and winds up OSKAR – which distracted the referee – as the Big Bucks isolated Yuto in their corner. A cross-chop from Harras, then an elbow drop keeps him on top as the Bucks were having it all their own way as they kept OSKAR at bay. Harras’ diving European uppercut almost wins it, before Yuto finally fought back, culminating in a suplex reversal on Harras.
Tags us back to Duke and OSKAR, with OSKAR clearing house… at least until Harras snuck back in. A double clothesline cleared the way though, ahead of a ripcord powerslam from OSKAR to Duke for a near-fall, before a powerbomb/neckbreaker double-team forced Harras in to break it up. Harras manages to take OSKAR outside, with Yuto making sure Norman made the same trip.
Duke finds himself on the back foot against Nakashima, as a knee strike would have gotten the win… but Harras pulls out the referee to save the match. OSKAR tries to intervene, but got thrown into the ring post as the referee then missed Alex Duke stealing Yuto’s neck chain… which was then used to clock Yuto with ahead of the pin. That’s a hell of an upset, even if the means were questionable, and it’s leading to a rematch for the titles in the main event of Dead End in Hamburg next month. ***
Bobby Gunns vs. Ahura
These two have one prior singles meeting, going back to Shotgun in June 2018… those were the days. Gunns has picked up the habit again, but he’s told that smoking’s forbidden in the hall, so out it goes.
Ahura’s somewhat reluctant to come out of his corner as we had a somewhat tentative beginning to proceedings with both men almost melting into the ropes during lock-up attempts. Things boiled over with the pair trading uppercuts and forearms, before Gunns kicked Ahura in the midsection to stop all that.
Recovering, Ahura runs Gunns into the corners for some chops, before a tijeras and a dropkick left Gunns in the middle of the ring. Bobby kicked out at one though, then bailed to the outside, where Ahura joined him as the pair fought into the front row… with Gunns eventually taking a running boot to knock him out of a chair.
Gunns accidentally chopped the ring post as the pair continued to scrap, but back inside Gunns was able to hang up Ahura in the ropes before landing a lariat for a two-count. Frustrated, Gunns stalks Ahura into the corner for some boot choking, before a Boston crab was powered out of by Ahura, who mounted a comeback with chops and a springboard forearm.
Ahura’s folding powerbomb led to a Boston crab in return, but Gunns gets to the ropes to force a break. Sensing the upper hand, Ahura teed up the crowd for the follow-up, only to get thrown into the corner by Gunns, who stayed on him with uppercuts until Ahura beat him to it with a front kick in the corner.
Gunns got his feet up to stop Ahura coming off the top, but the double-fake out’s stopped as Gunns went for Ahura’s recently-injured nose, leading to a Saito suplex for a near-fall. Ahura avoids a PK before he swiped at Gunns with a lariat, only for Gunns to stop Ahura in his tracks as he worked the wrist, then blasted back with a shotgun dropkick.
Another Boston crab almost forces Ahura to tap, but Ahura manages to counter out with an inside cradle, before he countered yet another Boston crab with a piledriver… then followed up with the Salamandra for the win. This was another under-the-radar win for Ahura, who’s kept that run of form going as he looks to peak in time for Carat. ***½
Levaniel’s introduced next – he’s still got his EU flag t-shirt and Mike D’s stolen European title. Of course, Thommy Giesen refused to acknowledge him as the European champion, but Levaniel refuses to listen and asked for a match so he could “defend” the title. I’m getting a kick out of this deluded Levaniel, as he insisted on doing the ring announcing for his “title match” since nobody else would. Someone send for the man, as Tassilo Jung corpsed during Levaniel’s introduction for “Aeroman.”
Levaniel vs. Aeron
I don’t fancy Aeron’s chances here. We’ve one prior singles meeting here, on a wXw academy show last February, with Levaniel taking home the win then…
Aeron managed to get the first shots in, knocking Levaniel into the ropes with forearms ahead of a crucifix for a two-count. A dropkick keeps Levaniel down, as did a suplex, before Levaniel bailed to test the range of the hard camera, which just about panned down enough to track them fighting in the crowd.
Levaniel hit back, charging Aeron into the ring apron ahead of an Irish whip that saw Aeron bounce into the buckles. It’s all Levaniel from here, but Aeron wasn’t staying down despite the crowd chanting his “new” name… and that kinda worked as he reversed an Irish whip, with Levaniel taking the corner a la Bret Hart en route to almost getting upset.
A chop takes Levaniel down in the corner ahead of a hesitation dropkick for another near-fall, before Levaniel caught Aeron in the corner to thwart a Phoenix splash attempt. Instead, Levaniel hits back with a discus clothesline, before a German suplex and a buzzsaw kick from Aeron put him back in place to go for the Phoenix splash again.
This time though, Levaniel rolls away as Aeron crashed and burned… and Levaniel just needed to drop on top of Aeron to get the pin from that. ***
Yuya Aoki vs. 1 Called Manders
This was Aoki’s wXw debut, as he’s over on a mini tour from Big Japan… and this one’s away from the paywall!
Manders looked impressed with Aoki’s optimism at the bell as we started with the pair at close quarters with a headlock takedown and an escape. Aoki tried his luck with shoulder tackles, but you know how those go, as did Manders, whose patronising pat on the head earned him a front kick before he just charged through Aoki anyways.
Chops from Manders keep things high-impact, but Aoki just low bridges him to the outside as a heel kick knocked Manders to the floor for a flip senton. Hey, that worked!
A headbutt from Aoki rocks Manders on the floor as the pair traded shots – and almost got themselves counted out. Manders took them right back outside as he lit up Aoki with some rapid-fire chops, before he hung up Aoki in the ropes after they finally made it back inside. Yeah, it’s all gas no breaks here with Manders!
That’s good for a two-count as Aoki tried to carve an opening, but Manders just punches him in the quad before a second attempt at dumping him in the ropes was escaped. Aoki stops a chop and hits an enziguiri instead before he finally dumped Manders with a suplex. Chops in the corner keep Aoki on top, as did a handspring back elbow, before Manders countered a Kesagiri chop into a Stampede for a near-fall.
Manders telegraphs a lariat as Aoki tried to hit a bridging backslide – the backslide comes off for a near-fall, as did Manders’ head (almost) with a follow-up lariat. Manders returns the favour with a lariat of his own seconds later, before one final lariato got the win. This was absolutely my kind of wrestling – shy of ten minutes, these two packed a load into their time, and didn’t waste a single second. Watch. This. Match. ****
High Performer Ltd. (Peter Tihanyi & Anil Marik) vs. Elijah Blum & Robert Dreissker
We now know we’re getting Elijah Blum against Peter Tihanyi over 16 Carat Gold weekend… but here, Blum had Robert Dreissker on his side.
We start with the former tag team champions Dreissker and Marik – and with Marik doing push-ups to fake out his attempt at a cheapshot. When that charade stopped, Dreissker shoves off the opening lock-up, before Marik swung for Blum on the apron. Luckily for Elijah’s already-battered bank account, he didn’t react at first, as he let Dreissker charge his way through Marik before he finally got in some shots as Dreissker knocked Marik into the corner.
A back body drop sends Marik flying after he’d been bounced between the pair, before tags brought in Blum and Tihanyi. A sudden crossbody from Blum finds a way through before Tihanyi forced his way in, whipping Blum into the turnbuckle. Robert Dreissker gets up in the corner to stop that tactic, allowing Blum to hit back… and fake out his opponents as Anil Marik tried to repeat the trick from his trainer.
Things break down with the High Performer lads taking mounted punches in the corner, before a doe-see-doe led to them back on the defensive as dropkicks took Tihanyi and Marik to the outside. Blum joined them with a plancha, before Dreissker’s double sledge off the apron proved equally effective.
Back inside, Tihanyi turned the tables with a tornado DDT, while a Marik bulldog almost put Blum away as Elijah found himself unable to get out of the corner. A second bulldog’s pushed away as Blum finally made the tag out, bringing Dreissker in to bump Marik around ahead of a snap suplex to Marik… who then got knocked back into the corner. Not even Tihanyi could stop that, as Dreissker hit a pair of avalanches in the corner, before Tihanyi prevented a third.
Dreissker shrugs it off as a squatting fallaway slam effortlessly chucked Marik across the ring. That looked to be the set-up for a Dreissker bomb, but referee Rainer Ringer got himself distracted by Elijah Blum as Fohrwerk attacked… allowing Marik to almost steal a win moments later. An argumentative Blum has the referee’s attention s Dreissker’s double-teamed in the corner – almost leading to the win.
Tihanyi keeps Dreissker grounded with a chinlock from there, but it’s fought out of as a superkick sent the champion flying… Anil Marik makes the tag in, but once he knocks Blum off the apron he’s caught with a spinebuster. Tags bring us back to Blum and Tihanyi, with Elijah catching both Tihanyi and Marik with neckbreakers as he became a High Performer Ltd. wrecking crew.
A springboard moonsault out of the corner wiped out both Marik and Tihanyi for a near-fall, but Blum lost track of who was legal and ended up eating a superkick as he tried to take out Marik with a Parting Gift. Marik gets the tag in as his Slingblade and Tihanyi’s Meteora almost won it, but after Dreissker made the save Marik ended up getting caught with a shotgun dropkick and a Parting Gift as Blum took home the win in an action-packed finale. ***½
All in all, wXw’s town show stop in Mendig was a lovely little show – seven matches, with only the main event going north of 15-minutes, while everything up and down the card had value. Well worth a couple of hours of your time if you have wXw NOW (and the two free matches from the bunch are worth it on their own!)