By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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WXW “World Tag Team Festival 2024, Night 2”
October 5, 2024 in Oberhausen, Germany at Turbinenhalle 2
Replay available via TrillerTV+
This show features the semi-final matches of the 12-team tag tournament. This promotion features great production values. The brackets were not released in advance; the commentators weren’t sure who would be paired with who.
* Like on Friday, the show opened with a video in English, with German subtitles. Dave Bradshaw and Norman Harras provided English commentary. I really like the smarmy Harras; he’s a great heel color man with a German accent, but not too thick that I can’t understand him, either.
1. “High Performer LTD” Icarus and Joseph Fenech Jr. vs. “Young Blood” Yuto Nakashima and Oscar Leube in a semifinal tournament match. Icarus and Fenech won on Friday but weren’t “on the same page.” Fenech dove onto the Young Blood duo, and they all brawled at ringside; I started my stopwatch at first contact. The ref called for the bell at 0:55 to officially begin, as the muscular, bald Icarus beat up Yuto in the ring. The heels kept beating up Yuto, until Yuto hit a double suplex at 5:30. Icarus hit a discus lariat. They hit a team spinebuster, then a team double kneestrike on Yuto for a believable nearfall.
Oskar finally got a hot tag at 9:00 and he hit some shoulder blocks; he was selling a lower back injury from that initial dive to the floor. Fenech went for a cannonball on Oskar, but Oskar caught him and hit a powerbomb. Oskar hit his F5, and Yuto made the cover on Icarus for the pin. The crowd was pleased that Young Blood are headed to the finals.
Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima defeated Icarus and Joseph Fenech Jr. to advance to the finals at 11:18/official time of 10:23.
2. Bobby Gunns vs. Hideki Suzuki. Both men lost in the first round on Friday. They shook hands at the bell and traded standing switches. Suzuki applied a leglock around the neck and he kept Gunns grounded. They got up and traded forearm strikes and European Uppercuts. Gunns hit some running forearms at 11:00, then a running penalty kick for a nearfall. Suzuki hit a backbreaker over his knee for the pin. Slower-paced with mat reversals but it was fine.
Hideki Suzuki defeated Bobby Gunns at 12:06.
3. Axel Tischer and Fast Time Moodo vs. “Los Desperados” Arez and Gringo Loco in a semifinal tournament match. The champs attacked to open. Arez hit an Asai Moonsault at 1:00, and Gringo hit a flip dive to the floor on the champs. In the ring, Los Desperados hit some quick offense on Tischer (f/k/a Alexander Wolfe). Gringo hit a moonsault on Moodo. Moodo hit a guillotine legdrop for a nearfall at 4:00. The champs hit front-and-back kicks on Loco, and they kept him in their corner. Arez got a hot tag at 6:00 and he nailed a Pele Kick on Tischer, then a Lungblower move on Moodo’s chin. Loco nailed a top-rope guillotine legdop on Moodo. Tischer clotheslined Arez to the floor. Arez hit a sunset flip powerbomb on Tischer for a nearfall at 8:00. The champs hit a Chasing The Dragon (spin kick-and-brainbuster combo) and pinned Arez. Good energy; lots of action in a match this short.
Axel Tischer and Fast Time Moodo defeated “Los Desperados” Arez and Gringo Loco to retain the wXw Tag Team Titles AND to advance to the finals at 9:19.
4. Robin Christopher Fohrwerk vs. Maggot. Fohrwerk wore a full-body outfit. Maggot has Ozzy-style face paint under his eyes and long black hair., and more chest hair than most wrestlers keep. This should be a squash. Fohrwerk rolled to the floor and refused to tie up. He tried to head to the back, but Maggot’s female manager Baby Allison cut him off and walked him back to the ring. However, Baby Allison got in the ring and hit a low blow on Maggot to turn heel! That caused the DQ. Harras howled with laughter at this development.
Maggot defeated Robin Christopher Fohrwerk via DQ at 2:26.
5. Fuminori Abe and Shigehiro Irie vs. 1 Called Manders and Thomas Shire in a semifinal tournament match. Abe and Shire opened and traded mat reversals to open. Manders and Irie entered at 1:30, and Manders dropped him with a shoulder tackle. They went to the floor and traded forearm strikes; they charged at each other and hit stereo clotheslines and were down on the floor. Irie rolled back in at 4:00; Manders also rolled in to avoid a countout. Shire applied a claw on Abe on the mat, and he stomped on Abe. Irie hit a slingshot buttsplash on Shire’s chest for a nearfall at 8:00.
Abe hit a dropkick on Shire. Manders hit a DDT on Irie for a nearfall. Irie hit a cannonball in the corner on Manders. Shire hit a German Suplex. Manders hit a shoulder block and suddenly everyone was down at 10:30. They all got up and traded punches. They traded opponents and kept punching. Irie and Manders again hit double clotheslines and were both down. They got up and traded clotheslines. Manders hit a decapitating clothesline for a nearfall at 13:00. He hit a short-arm clothesline and scored the pin. That was really, really good and got a standing ovation.
1 Called Manders and Thomas Shire defeated Fuminori Abe and Shigehiro Irie to advance at 13:10.
* Intermission. They showed a four-way scramble from October 2019 that featured European star The Rotation, a young Kyle Fletcher, former NXT wrestler Tyler Rust and former ROH luchador Flamita. Flamita hit a corkscrew 450 Splash move for the pin in 10:50. I’ll reiterate I’ll take this over a blank screen any day!
6. Timothy Thatcher vs. Ahura. Ahura lost the three-way main event a night ago; I really think his face does look like a young Damien Sandow. (Once you see it, you can’t unsee it!) Thatcher tied him up on the mat and applied a Bow-and-Arrow at 1:30. As expected, this was largely fought on the mat. Thatcher laid in a stiff European Uppercut at 5:30. Ahura hit a springboard dropkick at 7:30 but sold pain in his left arm. Thatcher applied a hammerlock on the mat and kept Ahura grounded. They got up and Thatcher unloaded more European Uppercuts. Ahura caught him with a stiff spinning back fist out of nowhere for the pin. Even the crowd was shocked that it was the finish.
Ahura defeated Timothy Thatcher at 12:16.
7. Aigle Blanc vs. Mike D Vecchio for the wXw European Title. D Vecchio and Blanc are both top-tier stars here and were definitely missed on night 1. Blanc wears a mask; the French man has long blond hair and I’ve said he could easily be Matt Riddle under that mask. (It’s not! But the body size and blond curls are right!) D Vecchio immediately hit a kick and he stomped on Blanc and kept him grounded. Blanc hit a dive through the ropes, then a top-rope flip dive to the floor at 2:00. Back in the ring, D Vecchio hit a dropkick for a nearfall and he regained control of the offense. Blanc hit a twisting suplex, then a top-rope Meteora to the back of the head for a nearfall at 6:30. D Vecchio hit a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall. Blanc hit a jumping knee to the chin.
D Vecchio leapt onto the top rope and hit a superplex at 9:30, then a stiff clothesline, and they were both down, and we got a “This is awesome!” chant. D Vecchio went for a missile dropkick but Blanc caught his legs and hit a powerbomb, and they were both down at 11:30. Blanc caught him and hit a Dragon Suplex. Blanc nailed a top-rope Dragon Suplex, then a top-rope 450 Splash for a believable nearfall at 13:30. Blanc hit a huracanrana for a nearfall. D Vecchio hit a Poison Rana and a stiff clothesline or a nearfall at 15:30. He nailed a top-rope Shooting Star Press for the pin! New champion! (I can’t stress enough that you don’t see men with that muscle mass able to hit a SSP like that.) The crowd chanted, “You deserve it!”
Mike D Vecchio defeated Aigle Blanc to win the wXw European Title at 15:52.
* A nice video package aired to set up the main event! Tihanyi shocked the crowd recently by turning heel and joining a faction led by Robin Christopher Fohrwerk.
8. Laurance Roman vs. Robert Dreissker vs. Peter Tihanyi (w/Robin Chistopher Fohrwerk) for the wXw Heavyweight Title. Dreissker is a thick Scott Norton-style bull. Roman hit a discus clothesline that sent Dreissker to the floor at 1:00. Tihanyi collapsed to the mat and sold an ankle injury. The other two fought in the background as the ref and others checked on Tihanyi. Of course, Tihanyi stood up, kicked Roman to the floor, and did some jumping jacks to show he was okay. Robert hit a spinebuster on Tihanyi at 3:30. Some of Tihanyi’s faction partners tried to interfere but they were dispatched. Dreissker hit a fallaway slam on Tihanyi at 5:00. Dreissker went to the floor and tossed a henchman onto rows of empty chairs.
All three got back into the ring and traded blows. Roman hit an enzuigiri, then a snap suplex on Tihanyi for a nearfall at 8:00. Tihanyi hit a tornado DDT on Roman for a nearfall. Dreissker hit a crossbody block on both opponents at 10:00. Roman hit a DDT on Peter for a nearfall. He applied a crossface- on Dreissker on the mat; Tihanyi also applied an ankle lock on Dreissker. Robert wanted to hit a superplex on Tihanyi, but Peter’s teammates blocked it. Roman hit a standing powerbomb on Dreissker; Tihanyi hit a 450 Splash to break it up. Tihanyi then climbed on Dreissker and pinned him, as Peter’s faction partners held Roman back so he couldn’t break up the pin! New champion! Roman lost the title without factoring in the decision.
Peter Tihanyi defeated Robert Dreissker and Laurance Roman to win the wXw Heavyweight Title at 13:43.
Final Thoughts: In my review of night 1, I noted that it felt like all the better teams advanced to the second round. Thus, as expected, the second-round tournament matches were all really good. I’ll go with that excellent D Vecchio-Aigle Blanc bout for best match. The Manders/Shire tag was really good for second. Tischer/Moodo vs. Gringo Loco/Arez takes third. Nothing wrong with the main event, but I JUST started watching this promotion and it felt pretty obvious that Dreissker was in this match to take the pin and allow Tihanyi to win the belt without beating the champion.
I want to reiterate how much the quality of the production, the lighting, the commentary, helps in my enjoyment of the show. These guys are doing the little things right that sets them apart.
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