By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
The wXw We Love Wrestling Tour rolled into Hamburg with the promotion having a chance to celebrate an ever more storied history. With this being the twentieth show that the promotion had run in the Markthalle, it was poetic justice that they were able to showcase the same main event as they did in their debut show – WALTER versus Zack Sabre Jr. With both men bigger in stature than before, this not only highlighted the promotion’s success, but that which both wrestlers had achieved as the eighteen other shows came and went. Ably supported by a stacked card, this was another show that helped to showcase the best that wXw has to offer.
In the aforementioned main event, WALTER would initially attempt to outwrestle Sabre Jr., taking the match to the canvas as well as winning a test of strength. When in doubt, WALTER is always able to rely on his strength, which he did after a Sabre Jr. bridge out of the test of strength led to a WALTER slam. The two men are renowned strikers and it was WALTER who threw the first significant chop after Sabre Jr. was stupid enough to pieface the big Austrian. The biggest chops of the contest perhaps occurred at ringside moments later, each one sounding something akin to a shotgun blast and leaving Sabre Jr. in agony on the concrete floor.
This exchange at ringside would hurt WALTER in the long run as his opponent caught him coming back in and landed a dragon screw legwhip whilst in the ropes and injuring WALTER’s leg. This became the target for Sabre Jr. as he used strikes, sweeps and submissions to work the limb whilst WALTER tried to utilise his chops to create distance in an often futile effort. A Sabre Jr. guillotine would be almost turned into a Boston crab, though Sabre Jr. would grab WALTER’s leg to halt the potential submission and forcing WALTER to turn it into an STF instead. With both men too close to the ropes, the hold would be broken and a following chop attempt by WALTER saw his leg give way and Sabre Jr. continue the assault on the injured limb with a kneebar.
A ‘Stand up if you love wrestling’ chant has everyone on their feet as WALTER naively uses a shotgun dropkick to halt Sabre Jr.’s offense but do more damage to his leg in the process. A Sabre Jr. guillotine choke would be turned into a beautiful butterfly suplex by WALTER, only for Sabre Jr. to quickly regain control with a variation on a dragon screw and two big PK-style kicks shortly after almost grabbing the win following a bridging pin after a sequence of reversals. A powerbomb almost folder Sabre Jr. in half and earned WALTER the win, but instead it would be Sabre Jr. who came out on top with an octopus hold that was turned into a kneebar variation. As WALTER reached for the ropes, the pain was too much and he was forced to tap.
Post-match, Sabre Jr. would say he was coming back on the 31st August and wanted a title shot whether it was against ‘Comrade Dragunov’ or ‘Awesome Andrew’. This match wasn’t quite on the level of WALTER’s recent battles with Dragunov, but it was a fitting way to close out this significant show in wXw’s history and sets up a potential Sabre Jr. title challenge in the process.
Another match that played off of the history of wXw was Toni Storm defending her wXw Women’s Title against Kay Lee Ray, the wrestler who had defeated Storm in her wXw debut. After early chain wrestling and pinning exchanges, a second handshake offer by Ray would see her unleash a superkick, only to get blasted with a Storm kick in retaliation. After a Storm snap suplex, Ray executed a successful dropdown, allowing her to drag Storm’s head across the apron and hit a 619 variant from the floor. A guillotine choke continued to target the head and neck area, as did some chops, though Storm blocked a third attempt at one by headbutting the hand in a unique defensive move. Ray would continue to push the pace by hitting a northern lights suplex, only for a roll through to cost her as Storm reversed the next move into a big DDT that planted Ray into the canvas.
Storm landed a snap suplex and her running hip attack in the corner after shrugging off the effects of a superkick, but the focus of the end stretch was whether Ray could land a Gory bomb on the champion. She failed the first try, but landed a sliding STO for a nearfall instead, and would eventually land the move after a sequence of finisher teases. Storm managed to kick out though, much to the surprise of Ray. As Ray looked to take risks in order to put the match to bed, she would be caught on the top turnbuckle. Although Ray escaped this predicament, an attempted second rope springboard saw her caught by Storm in a German suplex and dropped with the Strong Zero. Storm picked up the three count and avenged her earlier loss to Ray. A good match with slick counters that really helped to highlight the improvements Storm has made over the past three years as she imperiously sits atop the Women’s division.
I complained about the opening shots in the last Marius Al-Ani versus Absolute Andy contest, but I had no need this time as a big over the top rope dive began a spirited brawl in and around the ring. Al-Ani would utilise a chair early on to waffle Andy on the stage, before using a different one whilst in the crowd to block a chop and whack his opponent across the back. A superkick by Andy gave him brief respite, as did a rake to the eyes during a strike exchange, but Al-Ani landed his trademark sunset flip into an exploder and the spinning huracanrana to regain control. Trying to mimic the athleticism of his former partner, Andy would nip up to avoid a frog splash, only for Al-Ani to jump over him and hit a DVD for two, followed by an ankle lock as the pin was broken.
Andy’s spinebuster couldn’t halt Al-Ani’s momentum as he manipulated the aftermath into another anklelock, but this time a chairshot was enough to halt Al-Ani in his tracks. From there, Andy destroyed the Ninja, hitting him with a clothesline and a superkick for two, as well as an F5 for a nearfall. As if he was fed up with his ex-partner’s inability to stay down, Andy cracked him with a chairshot before grabbing a table. Though the table would not break as Andy hit the A Klasse on Al-Ani following a nut shot, the stiffness of the move only really added credence to the three count. Andy’s dominant finish really underlines what should be the end of this feud. A spirited brawl with a brutal end.
It was always unlikely that Alexander James was going to dethrone Ilja Draunov following the wXw Unified Champion’s final vanquishing of WALTER, but wXw had at least built up a compelling enough narrative to make it an engaging prospect, what with James taking verbal potshots at Dragunov’s family. Dragunov would get the best of the early exchanges, landing a dropkick and a senton on the challenger, but a huge bump that saw Dragunov slide under the ropes to ringside as the Prince of Pro telegraphed a suicide dive attempt coloured the rest of the contest. From there, James worked the neck voraciously with cranks and neckbreaker variations, whilst Dragunov would hurt himself by hitting the corner hard as a set-up for a charging move and also end up getting caught on the second rope, a leg pull seeing him crash backwards into the turnbuckle.
A flipping blockbuster from the apron would get a nearfall for James, but a Saito suplex looked as if it might turn the tide. However, a Torpedo Moscow saw Dragunov fly into a Dragon sleeper instead, a submission that James would then turn into the Rains of Castamere for another nearfall. Dragunov’s injuries often stopped him from fully capitalising, as a Chernobyl bomb would see no cover from the champion, though he followed up with a crucifix and a suicide bomb, topped off with a coast to coast dropkick after James aimed to avoid the top rope senton by rolling into the corner. James fired back with a head and leg capture back suplex as well as some vicious elbows to the neck, but after a huge lariat by Dragunov, James’ mocking of the Russian would be his undoing – the decision to laugh in his face not a good one – as he would take an open handed slap to the face and the Torpedo Moscow in a losing effort. Still, a very heated contest that effectively worked around the reasonably obvious result.
Having shown us a taste of what they were capable of on Shotgun, Bobby Gunns and Lucky Kid turned it up in Hamburg in the opening match of the show, yet we were left with a finish that definitely left things open for a return. Early on in the contest, Gunns in particular would showcase what he had learnt from the last match, turning the dive feint into a cross armbreaker and also catching a handspring feint whilst at ringside and smashing Kid throat first into the apron. When back in the ring, Gunns sent Kid into the mat with a vicious arm wringer into a faceplant, allowing him to target the arm and hand with stomps and submission holds. A top rope move was somewhat misguided from the champion as he landed straight into a Kid dropkick, which led to a sequence that saw Kid bring out some of his bigger offensive moves. The standing sliced bread followed a missed handspring elbow, whilst a – admittedly poorly executed – double foot stomp caught Gunns as he was hanging across the middle rope.
Kid is often at his best when fighting from underneath though, and the tide would turn as Gunns hit a kick to the face, a German suplex and a suplex into a Northern Lights Bomb for a nearfall. The Kid Liger bomb out of the corner was also blocked, turned into a triangle choke. One of the closest moments for Kid followed as he would land a powerbomb into a pin for a nearfall. Gunns would use his wily nature to avoid a Dragon suplex by ‘breaking’ Kid’s finger, using the distraction to roll Kid into a cross armbreaker. The first time, Tarkan Aslan would throw the Shotgun title into the ring to cause a distraction that allowed him to put Kid’s foot on the rope.
The second time (following a huge missile dropkick for the second incredibly nearfall for Kid) was following a handspring back elbow that was telegraphed by the champ, seemingly leaving Aslan no choice but to break the hold and cause the disqualification. The crowd chanted bullshit – more so at Aslan than the booking, I felt – and Kid himself didn’t look the happiest with what had just happened. Don’t be surprise to see these two men go at it again as each looks to earn a conclusive victory over the other.
With Jay-FK the ‘holders’ of the wXw Tag Team Titles (yet not champions), the number one contendership match between themselves and RISE was a chance to see their new heelish demeanour. Jay-FK had hired someone to look after the belts for them, whilst this new attitude also saw them try their best to avoid engaging in the opening moments of the contest. When they did, they turned a brief Ivan Kiev flurry of a corner splash and big boot around as Francis Kaspin hit an illegal shoulderblock from the apron as he did his best to save Jay Skillet from more offense. Effectively cutting the ring in half, Jay-FK cut back on their flashier moveset to focus on utilising their brawling instead including a ‘Unicorn Stampede’-style multiple corner stomp that pummelled Kiev into the canvas.
A Kiev Pele kick after avoiding a Fisherman suplex allowed the hot tag to Pete Bouncer, but he was quickly subdued after landing clotheslines and a slam on Kaspin, Skillet hitting an illegal knee to the back to allow Kaspin to hit a backcracker for a nearfall. Still, RISE came close to taking the contest as the referee lost control; a hanging spinning neckbreaker by Bouncer and a top rope leg lariat would score a two count, as would a superkick/full nelson slam combination, the latter broken up by Skillet. Skillet would eventually take the belts off of their new associate, use one to distract Kiev and the referee long enough for Kaspin to use the other one on the back of Bouncer’s head for the three count. A solid encounter which worked well in getting over Jay-FK’s new heel personas.
The narrative for the Dirty Dragan versus Veit Muller match felt obvious, though not necessarily in a bad way. Having had it built up on Shotgun that Dragan was lacking confidence, only for him to win two straight, we then get the Serbian being brought back down to earth with a loss as he is too cocky by half. An early bum slap and a singlet twang see Dragan messing around with his more powerful opponent, a differential highlighted by multiple headbutts and a slam moments later. Dragan would take a hard face first bump on a blown attempt at a single arm lift into a slam by Muller, who would also use heel staples such as the nerve hold and the bear hug. An attempted Dragan sunset flip, the move that saw him defeat Joey Mercury, ended up being reversed for a Muller victory. Short and works for the ongoing storyline, yet a pretty average contest with an awkward spot that stood out.
When LuFisto jumped Killer Kelly before the bell had rung, it set the tone for the fast and hard hitting nature of what was to come. Both women had early success with strikes, Kelly managing to fight back from the early assault, yet it was LuFisto who took control with a vertical splash and basement dropkick whilst Kelly ended up draped against the bottom rope. LuFisto smothered Kelly where possible at every attempt with her chokes and strikes, before blocking a running kick on the apron and getting a two count off of it. A step up enziguri gave Kelly a route back into the contest, with her impactful cravat knees leading to Shades of Shibata for two. Initially, Kelly going for a German suplex seemed to backfire, but after LuFisto hit one of her own, Kelly would impress with two herself. After some misses and reversals, Kelly tried to head to the top but would be caught and dumped with a burning hammer for a three count. Short, sweet, to the point and a good showcase for both. A really entertaining sprint.
A step down perhaps in terms of position on the card for David Starr at this show, but his match against Julian Pace was a great example of the ‘relative veteran versus rookie’ contest. After milking the crowd for a while, the early exchanges would primarily be won by Starr, outside of a dropkick by Pace after he increased the tempo. However, a gutwrench facebuster and a back elbow scored Starr an early two count and he would have the bulk of the match going forward, getting nearfalls off of a German suplex and a basement dropkick as well. A neckbreaker from Pace triggered a ‘Safety car’ chant, but an attempted Code Red saw him absolutely smashed by a short clothesline by Starr. Pace would score nearfalls after a spinning DDT and the Code Red, as well as channelling his inner 1-2-3 Kid as he almost won with a moonsault press. Unfortunately for Pace, a Blackheart Buster and a Han Stansen would put him away in a spirited performance.
All in all another resounding wXw success. When five matches at least could be in contention for match of the night, you know you’ve seen a good night of wrestling.
