The final day of the Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix kicked off with a lot of tag matches – as Sinner and Saint provided a tough test for Quick and Dirty in the main event.
Quick Results
Manami pinned Stephanie Maze in 6:10 (**¾)
M4 & Tim Koslowski pinned Ori Gold & Hadar Horvitz in 7:10 (**½)
Aleksander Bellamy pinned Elliot Tyler in 4:32 (***)
Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki pinned Aeron & Conn Kelly in 9:16 (**¾)
Luca de Leone & Nordino pinned Sam Della Valle & Francisco Damiao in 8:43 (***¼)
Madison Marley defeated Killer Kelly via disqualification in 1:02
Myron Reed & Killer Kelly pinned Madison Marley & Katsuya Murashima in 7:32 (**½)
Judas Icarus & Travis Williams pinned Hugo Brand & Niklas Bock in 10:37 (**½)
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It’s an early start on the final day of the Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix weekend as we’re inside the Turbinenhalle for the traditional We Love Wrestling outing. English commentary comes from Dave Bradshaw and Norman Harras by default…
Manami vs. Stephanie Maze
These two have met once before – albeit in a tag match – as part of Maze’s tour of Sendai Girls earlier this year.
Manami started this one on offence, tripping up Maze for a side headlock, only for Maze to get free and roll together a suplex with a Fisherman’s suplex for a two-count. Basement dropkicks from Manami got her back in it, which was becoming a bit of a trend here.
A Northern Lights suplex almost got Manami the win three minutes in, but Maze was able to forge an opening, connecting with kicks to the chest and a hammerlock’d clothesline for a near-fall. Undeterred, Manami’s able to come back in with a leaping knee, then a running Meteora, before a body press off the top proved to be too much for Maze to kick out of. **¾
Backstage, Jane Nero’s bemoaning her and Next Level’s lot this weekend… and wasn’t best pleased when Duke and Bellamy tried to console her. Nero snapped at them, calling them “0 out of 10” and told them to hit the bricks.
Swole Patrol (M4 & Tim Koslowski) vs. Better Together (Hadar Horvitz & Ori Gold)
Swole Patrol’s been getting slightly more aggressive in the past couple of matches…
Koslowski and Horvitz start us off while Norman’s got his burying shovel out for Better Together… Gold’s in to help with his half of a double side Russian legsweep, before M4 and Gold traded overhand chops for a spell. It didn’t end well for M4, as he was left laying with Horvitz laying in with kicks and chops for a spell.
A turnaround sees Swole Patrol take over, having cornered Horvitz. It leads to M4 scoring a near-fall off of a sidewalk slam, before Horvitz finally broke free and got the tag for Gold to try and clear house. Gold’s swinging Fisherman suplex is quickly broken up, before a pair of superkicks looked to take care of M4.
Koslowski’s on his own… but with M4 having gotten rid of Horvitz, we’re down to Gold and Koslowski for a spell, ending with with a Samoan driver from Tim for the win. This was fine, but I’d like to see more out of Koslowski, perhaps as a singles down the line. **½
Backstage, Nick Schreier’s nursing a leg injury when CSI rock up and try to kiss it better. Nick seems to think some ice cream would sort it, but catering’s all out. In come a pair of faces we’ve not seen before – Sam Della Valle and Damiao. Della Valle took offence to being called Portuguese, insisting he was Italian… as Italian arguing broke out to end the skit.
Aleksander Bellamy vs. Elliot Tyler
Tyler’s been going for almost a decade, wrestling out of Canada for the likes of 365 and C4.
Tyler went for a trip up early on, forcing Bellamy into the ropes for a quick break, before a STF took the recently-deposed Academy champion back to the strands. Unable to get going, Bellamy found himself cornered as Tyler hung him up for a dropkick to the knee, before things spilled outside for a tope con giro from the Canadian.
Alex Duke provided a distraction as Bellamy ended up blindsiding Tyler to finally get in control. Some choking in the ropes follow, as did a Randy Orton-esque backbreaker, before Tyler looked to find a way back in… but his whip into the corner gets reversed… and when Tyler’s attempt to lift a charging Bellamy onto the apron got countered with Bellamy’s leaping knees, the game was over. A quick pin gets the win for Bellamy as Tyler was left bloodied and bruised from this one. Shame about the finish, because this was pretty solid for the time they did have. ***
Roadkill (Aeron & Conn Kelly) vs. BestBros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga)
We keep going as Mei Suruga covered Conn Kelly’s mouth to stop him barking… and almost got rabies from it.
She returns the favour seconds later, before some Mongolian chops and jump scares had Roadkill on the back foot. The referee’s just watching as the Best Bros double-team with a Dirty Dancing-ish double stomp to Kelly, before Roadkill returned to slice them all down with clotheslines.
Kelly tries to wear down Akki with elbows, but Akki’s spinning backbreaker slammed the brakes on Roadkill as both men tagged out. Suruga flew in off the top with a crossbody, before Aeron blocked some headscissors… only to get taken on a walk by Mei. Conn stopped her in her tracks, but couldn’t prevent a lucha armdrag.
Aeron’s quickly back, but Suruga countered him into a Victory roll as Akki took advantage with a springboard senton. The ring stays full as the referee was just watching the double-teaming, leading to another crack at the elevated chokeslam… but Kelly’s Steiner-esque bulldog breaks it up… but on a delayed count, the ref counts three despite Akki getting his shoulder up. Oh boy.
We keep going with an elbow drop from Kelly before… a Phoenix splash from Aeron almost got the win. Where the hell did he pull that out of?! I’m pretty much checked out as the double-teams continue, with the Best Bro’s piggyback clothesline almost going awry, followed up by a Suruga moonsault for a near-fall, before Akki made an Undertaker-like cover for the three-count. Suruga tried to break up her own team’s pin, but it’s too late… although they got to do the Dolphin splash afterwards, so all’s well I guess for a match that was perhaps starting to go off the rails. **¾
Sam Della Valle & Damiao vs. CSI (Luca de Leone & Nordino)
It’s a main roster debut for both Delle Valle and Damiao, the latter of whom you may remember as a part of Rev Pro’s initial trios grand prix.
When we got going, it was Nordino and Della Valle starting us off, but the lighting didn’t do any favours for Della Valle, with a section of the crowd commenting that his heavy tan made him look like a lobster. Nordino confuses Della Valle with some power walking before Della Valle busted out the French tickler. Close enough.
I’ve got to send the man for myself as Norman Harras poked fun at how Dave Bradshaw pronounced Damiao… meanwhile a CSI double-team wheelbarrow German suplex gets a two-count. A low bridge from Della Valle sends Luca de Leone crashing to the floor, which allowed Damiao to take control for a spell.
Della Valle goes all Rene Dupree on us again, but this time he’s able to add an elbow drop for a two-count, before de Leone countered back in with a snap suplex. Nordino’s back with a Codebreaker to the arm, but a kick from Damiao stops all that ahead of a fallaway slam from Della Valle to spark a brief Parade of Stuff.
Luca’s able to take down Della Valle for a crack at the Figaro elbow, but Damiao trips up Luca in the ropes before Nordino went under the ring to avoid being cornered by his opponents. It led to Nordino outsmarting them as he attacked Della Valle from behind, before the Arrivederci slam put paid to the lobster. For a thrown-together tag, this was pretty good, with Della Valle and Damiao working well together – hopefully we’re able to see more of those two in the near future. ***¼
Madison Marley vs. Killer Kelly
This one barely got going, as Kelly feigned surprise at the crowd booing her for her actions last night.
Marley’s springboard armdrag and a shotgun dropkick had the Dane ahead from the off, while a facebuster earned a quick kick-out as Kelly powdered to the outside. Marley gave chase, only to get attacked by Myron Reed, who propelled her onto the side of the ring for the obvious DQ.
The attack continued after the bell, but Katsuya Murashima of all people made the save as this turned into a tag match.
Killer GOAT (Killer Kelly & Myron Reed) vs. Katsuya Murashima & Madison Marley
Murashima shot out of the blocks here, and seemed to be wise to Reed’s counters in the early going.
Madison Marley wasn’t quite as lucky, as she got caught with the rebound powerbomb for a near-fall, before Reed propelled Kelly off the ropes as they hit a pair of legdrops for another two-count on the Dane. Some cravat knees from Kelly looked to keep her ahead, but Marley breaks free and got the tag out as we’re back to Reed and Murashima.
Counters and blocks between the two end with Murashima slamming Reed to the mat, before a lariat dumped Myron for a near-fall. Kelly again makes the save, pulling out the ref to avoid a Chasing the Dragon ending things as the match began to fray at the edges.
Marley looked to pull ahead, wiping out Reed and Kelly with a dive on the floor, before Reed countered a leap off the top into a cutter. There’s not much longer to go as a No Cap (450) splash puts away Marley – a short outing that just became a bunch of stuff that was thrown out there. **½
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s just woken up and rushed to the studio to continue his quest to interview Peter Tihanyi and/or Elijah Blum. Except neither of them were booked, so they’re not in the building yet. Dan’s a little upset he lost out some extra sleep, but he’s going to hype up the match anyway before heading off to grab whatever for breakfast.
Back in the arena, Ahura’s out – but not to wrestle. He’s here to show off his newly-designed belt, and underscore his new nickname of the “God King.” He poked fun at how neither Elijah Blum nor Peter Tihanyi were showing their faces on this event, before sending his best wishes to the finalists of the World Tag Team Tournament and Femmes Fatales, since he’ll not be there to do it in person. There’s no wishes for those remaining in König der Catcher – because wXw already has one (him) and there’s no need for a new one.
Quick And Dirty (Hugo Brand & Niklas Bock) vs. Sinner And Saint (Judas Icarus & Travis Williams)
Niklas Bock started out on the defensive as Norman Harras was dreaming of a chippy…
Brand’s able to charge down Icarus, before Hugo helped Brand into an Asai DDT from the apron to the ring on Icarus. A turnaround saw Quick and Dirty spill outside, only to eat a pair of dropkicks from the Canadians, before Bock found himself cornered back in the ring.
Bock took a suplex as he tried to fight back, while Icarus grounded Niklas until the inevitable fight back, which saw Bock hit enziguiris before tags brought in Icarus and Brand. Hugo looked good on offence here, which saw him haul up Williams into a death valley driver. A crossbody from Brand nearly gets the win, before Icarus grabbed the rope to save himself from being pinned on a Brand spinebuster.
Niklas Bock looked to keep the pressure up, but Sinner and Saint snuck back in and began to pepper Bock with double-teams until a brainbuster from Williams got the win. This followed the pattern of the rest of Sinner and Saint’s weekend here – outside of those double-teams, there’s a lot of dead air that left the crowd wanting, it seemed. **½
With over half of the card being tag matches, this was a very tag-heavy edition of We Love Wrestling that did its job of warming the crowd up for the evening’s finale.