Night two of the World Tag Team Festival sees our finalists decided, while Peter Tihanyi and Axel Tischer wrapped up their best-of-five series.
Quick Results
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final: Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase pinned Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura in 16:28 (***¾)
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final: Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus pinned Jurn Simmons & Levaniel in 9:50 (***¼)
1 Called Manders pinned Tristan Archer in 9:21 (***¼)
Arez, Latigo & Mike D Vecchio pinned Senza Volto, Aigle Blanc & Gringo Loco in 18:53 (****¼)
Maggot & Psycho Mike pinned Aaron Rourke & Jacob Crane, Nikita Charisma & Michael Schenkenberg and Elijah Blum & LSG in 10:37 (***)
Norman Harras pinned Mance Warner in a Country Whipping Match in 10:14 (***)
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final: Laurance Roman & Robert Dreissker pinned Michael Knight & Bobby Gunns to win the wXw World Tag Team Championship in 11:20 (***¼)
Peter Tihanyi pinned Axel Tischer in 27:29 (****¼)
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de
We’re back inside the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for the second night of the World Tag Team Festival… Dave Prazak and Robin Christopher Fohrwerk are back on the English-language call.
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final: Astronauts (Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura) vs. RENEGADES (Mizuki Watase & Shigehiro Irie)
Abe and Irie were partners last year, narrowly missing out on the finals – now they find themselves in the spot where only one of them can go at least one step further.
Watase and Nomura start us off, with Nomura scoring with a slap to the face before we reached a stalemate. Tags bring in Irie and Abe, who try to skin the cat on the bottom rope, with Irie having quite the struggle. Abe breaks that up, but it’s the RENEGADES who took over as a senton atomico and slingshot splash put them ahead. A tag brings back Watase for a low dropkick, but he gets baited to the outside by Abe… where Nomura’s waiting for him with a snapmare and a kick to the back. There’s a lot more of those waiting back inside as the Astronauts ran the train on Watase with kicks to the back as the Astronauts tried to take over.
A leaping elbow from Watase stops all that though as Irie tagged back in and squashed Abe in the corner… then again with the leaping back senton off the middle rope. It’s good for a near-fall, before Nomura came in to help… only to get himself piledriven onto Abe. Recovering, Abe boots Watase off the apron after taking Irie into the corner for the spin kick… while another kick to the back stunned Irie for a near-fall. Irie switches around as he took Abe to the apron and torpedoed through him with a crossbody through the ropes… Watase threatened to add a dive, eventually doing so after he took Nomura outside… stripped… then landed that flip senton. Back inside, Irie crushes Abe with a cannonball, while Watase’s double stomp and Irie’s sliding forearm almost led to the win.
A series of blows cuts off Abe’s Irabu punch as Irie cannonballed into the ropes… only for Abe to land that punch following some misdirection. Watase’s back to score a facebuster off of the top rope for a two-count, before he traded stiff shots with Nomura in the corner. Nomura gets a two-count off of a suplex before he peppered Watase with kicks to the chest… Watase rises up and lands a forearm smash before a Parade of Moves broke out with the aid of Irie and Abe. Nomura lands a suplex, but Irie’s quickly in with a splash after the landing… Abe heads up top, but just leaps down and hits another Irabu punch to Shiggy. We’re back to Nomura and Watase trading blows, before a big headbutt from Watase stunned the crowd. A quick turnaround sees the Astronauts double-team Watase into an armbar, but Irie breaks free of Abe and squashes Nomura as he hit a death valley driver into the pile.
Abe lands another Irabu punch as he looked to put Irie away with a manjigatame, but Watase breaks that up before a stomp-assisted spike Fire Thunder Driver led to a near-fall. Abe’s back up to catch Irie with a dropkick, but a short-range Beast Bomber connects to turn it around, before the death blow rolling elbow got Irie the win in a cracker of an opener. ***¾
“Earlier today,” Elijah Blum’s with Danny Fray… Elijah’s had trouble getting hold of Anil Marik. They’re apparently booked for a match, but Marik’s been MIA since Shortcut to the Top.
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final: Dennis Dullnig & Hektor Invictus vs. Jurn Simmons & Levaniel
Hektor’s really loving the star wipes. He’s doing a good job of hiding it, but we know the truth…
Hektor and Levaniel start us off, with Hektor dominating in the opening minute as he bounced around the former champion Levaniel. Jurn tags in, but faced the same predicament before Dullnig slapped Hektor’s back to tag himself in… then ducked Hektor’s bid to swing for him. Jurn’s back up to go for a slam on Dullnig, but Cash hits a dropkick instead… before he turned around into a diving boot after he’d celebrated too much. Levaniel’s back to help on a double-team suplex as Cash found himself in the wrong corner. A pop-up spinebuster from Jurn drops Cash ahead of a Levaniel elbow drop for a two-count, before Cash wriggled out of a Galactic Facecrusher attempt.
Jurn’s tagged back in and gets caught by Cash… then returned with a lariat before a sit-out powerbomb almost got the win. An inverted slam from Jurn dumps Dullnig ahead of a boot from Levaniel, who added an Attitude Adjustment for a near-fall thanks to Hektor breaking up the cover. Dullnig breaks free of Levaniel, but Jurn’s in to stop a tag out… only for Cash to hit a back body drop before he finally made the tag out to Hektor. Against both opponents, Hektor cleaned house, scoring with a slam and a moonsault to Simmons, while a dropkick took care of Levaniel.
Levaniel’s legal and ends up eating a diving knee from Hektor, who then took to the air with a tope to Jurn. It’s caught as Hektor’s charged into the side of the ring, then bowled into the fifth row. Simmons takes Levaniel back inside so Levaniel can get the win… scoring with a spike piledriver, only for Cash to break up the cover. Dullnig low bridges Levaniel to the outside, then hit a German suplex to Simmons as the comeback was on… Cash tags back in, but got speared out of his boots by Simmons. Jurn calls for a piledriver as the crowd booed, but Cash jack-knifes his way free and snatched the upset as Massive Love crashed out. ***¼
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with Robert Dreissker and Laurance Roman… he asks about Icarus’ win yesterday, but Dreissker’s annoyed at how he’s asking them about something that isn’t their upcoming match. Dreissker said that history would repeat itself, and AMBOSS will be leaving tonight with all the gold…
Tristan Archer vs. 1 Called Manders
Archer’s not been in the best form in wXw lately…
Opening with a tie-up, Manders gets taken to the corner by Archer early on, before an exchange of shoulder tackles led to the pair trading forearms before Archer went to the throat. Manders’ headbutt stops Archer before he took him outside… but Archer pulls him through the ropes, and ended up getting met with chops as Manders took him around ringside. Archer switches it up though, throwing Manders into the side of the ring ahead of a Tiger feint kick on the apron. Back inside, elbows target Manders neck and head, before the pair traded suplexes, while a pair of shoulder tackles saw them crash into each other. Recovering, the pair trade chops and forearms before Manders found a way through with an elbow drop.
Manders cues up the three point stance as he chopped Archer into the corner from there, but a second one misses as Manders instead lands a lariat for a near-fall. A second lariat’s swatted away as Archer lands a forearm to the side of the head, before a push-down stomp caught Manders through the ropes. Archer looks for a finish, but instead lands a butterfly DDT for a near-fall, before a Coup d’Etat attempt was escaped. Manders lands a headbutt instead, then clotheslined away Archer off the middle rope… before a big lariat finally put Archer away. ***¼
Mike D Vecchio & Frenchadors (Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto) vs. Gringo Loco & Los Vipers (Arez & Latigo)
On festival weekends, whenever you hear something like “festival weekends give our matchmakers the chance to make some unusual combinations,” you know by now you’re in for something special. This was no different, starting with the gasps when Mike D first came out.
We get going with Gringo Loco and Aigle Blanc locking up, leading to back-and-forth armdrags and a stand-off. Lucha leapfrogs and roll-throughs follow, before Aigle flipped off of Gringo’s shoulders ahead of a rebound tijeras off the ropes. Tags bring in Arez and Senza Volto, who pause to absorb the crowd chants before things broke down into chops. Senza mixes it up, but Arez floats up after a springboard armdrag as the pair traded those and some dropkicks. Tags take us to Latigo and Mike D, as they try their luck with shoulder tackles… Mike avoids some headscissors, then went for the duelling dropkicks as we hit another stalemate. A tijeras takes Mike D outside, as we began to see the pace quicken thanks to the lucha rules, with lots of headscissors… including one off the top rope from Mike D. What the?!
Gringo Loco tries to get a moratorium on headscissors, as his team looked to isolate Mike D with a trio of low dropkicks. Arez stings Aigle Blanc in the corner with overhand chops, before Gringo Loco threw in more of the same. Eventually Aigle gets some help as Senza Volto came in, taking Gringo Loco up top… only to get caught with a wacky triple powerbomb out of the corner. Mike D gets involved with a staggering leap up ‘rana to Gringo in the corner, following up with a back suplex as the revolving door effect took us to the Frenchadors planting Latigo. The Vipers and Gringo Loco are outside, eating a trio of dives as things spill to the floor briefly. Back inside, a missile dropkick from Mike took care of Arez, who returned with a nice double-team assisted DDT as you saw the front row deal with the aftermath of those dives.
A superplex from Arez is countered into an avalanche Twister from Aigle… but we’re back to the busy ring as Latigo found his way in with a Destroyer. We keep going as a senton bomb from Gringo Loco crushes Senza for a near-fall, with Mike D’s Doctor Bomb breaking that up in the nick of time. We resume with exchanges of kicks and clotheslines, then a lead of kip ups… except from Gringo. Latigo’s caught on the top rope by Aigle Blanc, with Senza joining him for an OG Spanish Fly. Arez is back, but runs into a one-man Spanish Fly, while a 450 from Aigle and a Senza moonsault led to a near-fall, once Mike D had added a splash off the top.
Back outside, Gringo’s springboard moonsault takes care of the Frenchadors, while Arez’s step-up moonsault from the ring to the floor found its mark. Latigo joins in with a twisting moonsault of his own, before Mike D capped it off with a tope over the ring post. Gringo looks to put Aigle Blanc away back inside with an inverted Olympic slam off the top… but there’s no cover. Mike D’s caught up top by Arez as the Vipers double-team in the corner… Arez dropkicks away a handspring from Senza, before Gringo hit a moonsault to an elevated Senza Volto. Arez adds a double stomp, before a stacked-up pin finally led to the end of Senza Volto in a batshit example of some Partycatch – and a match that once again saw the ring get showered with money. ****¼
We’re not done though – after the match, Senza Volto again refuses handshakes… then slunk out of the ring… returning to blindside Aigle Blanc, attacking his tag partner before ripping off the mask. Gringo Loco, Latigo and Mike D made the save as we headed to interval…
Y2Kuties (Aaron Rourke & Jacob Crane) vs. Elijah Blum & LSG vs. Rott Und Flott (Michael Schenkenberg & Nikita Charisma) vs. Maggot & Psycho Mike
Blum thought he was going to be working solo – but a returning LSG filled in just before bell time as the whereabouts of Anil Marik were unknown…
We open with Psycho Mike and Jacob Crane… but Crane instantly tags in Aaron Rourke as those two argued over who’d take the bodyslams. Rourke turns around into one, before Nikita Charisma tagged himself in to try and steal a pin. Psycho Mike ended up in the wrong corner, next to Michael Schenkenberg as Maggot then wanted to tag in to try and correct things… he gets it, then tagged in Schenkenberg, and our corners change up. Maggot and Mike deliberate in the corner over just how tag wrestling works – that’d have been useful before night one – as Blum and Schenkenberg had a go. Crane and Rourke sneak in though, double-teaming Blum for a spell, only for Elijah to turn it back around before Maggot came in and ate a high-angle ushigoroshi from Rourke. LSG’s in to keep things going, but he’s squashed with a crossbody off the top from Mike.
Things settle down with Charisma taking Blum down with a dropkick, with Schenkenberg coming in to get a two-count as Rott und Flott looked to control things. A snap suplex gets Schenkenberg a two-count, before he cleared the Mike and Maggot corner so Rott und Flott could continue in the ring… as Charisma looked to wear down Blum’s leg. LSG finally makes a tag in, sidestepping Schenkenberg into Charisma as he pushed on with some Dusty punches to Schenkenberg. A springboard forearm takes Schenkenberg down, but Aaron Rourke blind-tags in as LSG has to fend off more double-teaming, before LSG made the tag out to Maggot… who back body dropped Crane into Rourke.
That sparks a Parade of Moves, ending with LSG eating a knee to the midsection from Mike as a precursor to “a really dangerous maneuver”… which turned into a four-on-four suplex that petered out as everyone hurt their lower backs. Maggot steals Mike’s bit, as does LSG, then Blum, before Mike finally did his bit, slamming Schenkenberg onto his piled-up team mates. Cutters from Maggot clear the ring from there, before Ava Everett popped up to try and stop things… Baby Allison throws her into the ring to eat a cutter, before Rourke leapt off the top and into a cutter for the win. ***
Michael Knight and Bobby Gunns are interviewed ahead of their tag title defence/tournament match with AMBOSS – Knight calls their match a “revenge safari” while Gunns called on the Oberhausen crowd to rally behind them.
Country Whipping Match: Norman Harras vs. Norman Harras
This was set up earlier on the pre-show when Norman Harras ran his mouth – and talked his way into a Country Whipping match against Mance Warner. Sadly for Norman, the sound system from Bremen made its way to Oberhausen, forcing some of the crowd to sing his song for him.
This wasn’t a “touch the corners” strap match, thankfully, as both men had belts that were legal to use. Warner starts by using his hands for chops and punches, before that belt was put to use on Norman’s back. I swear that’s only just healed from his last strap match… Heading outside, Norman’s beaten into the front row, then sent down with a couple of headbutts. Warner grabs someone’s chairs, throwing them into the ring so they could have a sit down fight, as the pair traded strap shots, with Harras getting laid out after a series of swipes.
The referee gets rid of the chairs as Harras took over, stomping on Warner before he used the strap, then choked on Mancer in the ropes. Overhand chops from Harras target the chest ahead of a Finlay roll into the corner… then a charging knee to the ribs out of it. A backfist keeps Warner down for an elbow drop, but Mance makes a comeback with Dusty punches and a Bionic elbow. Warner’s pop-up spinebuster drives Harras to the mat, but he doesn’t go for a cover… he does eventually try to follow-up with a knee strike, but Norman drops down. The referee gets shoved into Warner, and in the melee Harras is able to hit a low blow before rolling up Warner for the win. ***
World Tag Team Festival 2023 Semi-Final for wXw World Tag Team Championships: AMBOSS (Laurance Roman & Robert Dreissker) vs. Only Friends (Bobby Gunns & Michael Knight) (c)
AMBOSS attacked Only Friends before the bell, knocking Gunns and Knight off the apron… but didn’t mess around with brawling on the outside as Roman threw Gunns in for Dreissker to hit a death valley driver for a very early near-fall.
Gunns tries to make a comeback with an uppercut, but has to duck a crossbody out of the corner from Dreissker as Michael Knight tagged in to try some double-teams. A Codebreaker and an enziguiri gets Knight a two-count on Dreissker, before a springboard dropkick took Roman outside as Gunns came in to hit a couple of apron PKs. Knight flies with a tope con giro into AMBOSS on the outside, before Roman looked to take control back inside. It backfires as Roman ate a pop-up kick from the Only Friends, before an overhead kick in the corner looked to lead to an assisted German suplex… but Dreissker makes the save as Roman powerbombed his way free.
A back suplex/neckbreaker combo gets Dreissker a near-fall, before Roman’s shoulder charges kept Knight on the back foot. Dreissker keeps it going, then knocked Gunns off the apron before Knight hit a springboard sunset flip for nought as Roman had blind-tagged himself in. A slam and a splash gets Dreissker a two-count, with Gunns breaking up the cover, before Knight had to fight out of a chinlock. Dreissker again knocks Gunns off the apron, only to walk into a back body drop as Knight was finally able to make the tag out to Gunns. Roman’s back too, but Gunns is clearing house with clotheslines and uppercuts, while a lariat dumped Laurance in the middle of the ring.
Roman’s ragdolled with a bridging German suplex for a near-fall, but a turnaround from Dreissker sees him land some lariats, before a swinging DDT almost got Dreissker the win. Michael Knight pulls Laurance Roman out of the ring, then popped him up onto the side of the ring as Dreissker then missed a back senton on Gunns. Gunns makes a tag out to Knight, as a double-team Go 2 Sleep led to a Gunns lariat for a near-fall. Gunns and Roman fight outside, with Gunns getting posted as Knight tried to push on… but Dreissker broke free to splash Knight in the corner as Roman tagged in to hit a Burning Nail facebuster… then take the win after a Dreissker bomb as AMBOSS left with the gold. ***¼
Unlike Bremen, there was no shenanigans as Only Friends exit the tournament – and lose their titles to boot. Live, Michael Knight took off his zebra puppet knee pad and left it in the ring… but that seeming farewell didn’t make the VOD.
Peter Tihanyi vs. Axel Tischer
Tihanyi’s fought back from 2-0 down in this injury-delayed series, with Tischer hell bent on showing that Tihanyi has no future in wrestling. He’s been a little grumpy towards opponents lately, eh?
The pair started off at pace, trading wristlocks, chinlocks and escapes ahead of a stand-off, as the pair wrestled for the early advantage. Shoulder tackles offered little advantage, so Tihanyi moved to armdrags and chops as the pair then switched to exchanging forearms. Heading up top, Tihanyi’s able to land a crossbody for a two-count, before he took Tischer into the corner with chops. Mounted punches in the corner turn into a sunset flip for Tihanyi, whose tornado DDT’s turned into an X-Plex out of nowhere. Tischer pushes on with a big bodyslam, while a chinlock grounded Tihanyi for a spell. A back elbow keeps Tihanyi down, while a folding powerbomb was good for a two-count… that led to a diving knee as Tischer was in firm control.
Tischer adds some fish-hooking to the nose of Tihanyi, then an elbow to the nose as he looked to do some more damage. Firing back, Tihany rattles Tischer into the corner with forearms, forcing the referee to separate them… but Tihanyi shakes off Tischer’s response, landing dropkicks and an enziguiri before an O’Connor roll drew a near-fall. Tischer’s caught with a running Meteora from there, then a gamengiri as Tihanyi lands the tornado DDT out of the corner for a near-fall. Boots from Tischer looked to get him back in the game, but Tihanyi caught him with a Magic Screw for a near-fall, before a moonsault press out of the corner kept the Hungarian on the right track… until Tischer caught an Asai DDT and turned it into a tombstone. Fortunately for Tihanyi, Tischer couldn’t make the cover, as the German had to build again with a leg lariat, then a short-range clothesline and a butterfly suplex into and out of the corner.
Heading up top, Tischer’s flying clothesline lands, as did a German suplex for a near-fall, before the pair went back to trading blows. Elbows help Tihanyi escape a Fireman’s carry, as he then added a superkick… only to springboard into the path of an uppercut. Tischer adds a death valley driver into the corner, then a Ligerbomb for a near-fall, before Tischer dug up the hammer elbows as he tried to put away Tihanyi the same way Tischer lost the 16 Carat Gold finals. Tihanyi broke free and fired up with the Carat elbows of his own, following with a slingshot cutter for a near-fall – which was virtually in the ropes from the off. Recomposing himself, Tihanyi heads up top, but a 450 splash lands in Tischer’s knees for a near-fall, while a follow-up jack-knife cover see-sawed as both men sought a flash finish.
Tischer lands a Horrible Slam, but Tihanyi just about kicks out in time as it was Tischer who was now beside himself, wondering how he’d find a path to victory. Pulling up Tihanyi, Tischer looked to take the Hungarian up top for a superplex… but Tihanyi fought it off, along with a super powerbomb attempt, before he took Tischer down with a one-man Spanish Fly off the top. Tischer’s able to get up at two as we inched closer to the half-hour mark… we’re back to the strikes, with Tihanyi’s pump kick sending Tischer into the ropes for a lariat, before the Asai DDT found its mark. From there, a slingshot cutter took Tischer down, but Tihanyi opts to go back up top… to land a 450 splash to complete the comeback win as he took the series 3-2. This win – and the way the series was won – should be the start of a boost up the card for Peter Tihanyi, with this statement win making him an even bigger deal in wXw. ****¼
While not quite at the same general heights as night one, the middle night of World Tag Team Festival was kept the standards high as an unexpected title change set the stage for a tantalisting tournament final.