wrestling / TV Reports
Hamilton’s wXw 22nd Anniversary 12.17.2022 Review
Image Credit: wXw
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Quick Results
Rambo pinned La Estrella in 7:09 (**¾)
Massimo Pesca pinned Anil Marik in 8:08 (**¾)
Metehan pinned Bobby Gunns in 13:27 (***½)
Heisenberg pinned Kevin Lazar in 0:39 (NR)
Senza Volto & Aigle Blanc pinned Nikita Charisma & Michael Schenkenberg in 12:42 to retain the wXw World Tag Team Championships (***½)
Axel Tischer pinned Cara Noir in 14:37 (***½)
Ladder Match – Maggot defeated Ahura in 19:52 to retain the wXw Shotgun Championship (***½)
Orsi, Elijah Blum & Peter Tihanyi pinned Robert Dreissker, Icarus & Laurance Roman in 15:19 (***½)
Iva Kolasky pinned Baby Allison in 6:55 (**½)
Levaniel pinned Tristan Archer in 19:21 to win the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship (***¾)
— If you’re on Twitter, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling. I’m also over on Mastodon, for those of you preparing for a post-Twitter world… catch me here… and check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family.
— If you want to catch this before it’s uploaded to Peacock/WWE Network, head over to wXwNOW.de – as this was one of the shows uploaded to YouTube on day one of the relaunched wXw NOW…
We’re at a sold-out Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen for this one… which was the show that garnered some controversy when wXw signed an agreement with the German newspaper Bild to stream this on a near-live basis on Bild’s premium subscription platform.
German commentary for the pre-show matches comes from Mett Dimassi and Christian Bischof…
Rambo vs. La Estrella
Dragon Gate’s La Estrella was wrapping up his mini tour of Europe here, having worked for wXw in Borken the night before.
Rambo starts by throwing La Estrella aside, before he countered a hammerlock by slamming the masked man. Estrella’s thrown into the ropes, but switches onto the apron, then rolled back in for an armdrag. Handsprings take Estrella away from Rambo, as a tijeras took Rambo to the outside ahead of a plancha that’s caught and countered into a powerbomb on the side of the ring.
Back inside, Rambo targets the lower back with forearms, as a suplex picks up just a one-count. A camel clutch follows, but Estrella got a foot to the rope quickly for a break, as Rambo then added a backbreaker for a two-count. La Estrella finds a way back in with a springboard headbutt, as an armdrag took Rambo outside for a wacky dive that I can only describe as a sorta Space Flying Tiger Drop but through the middle rope.
After the Spaceman Plancha (easier to say, cheers Mett!), we’re back inside with a missile dropkick from Estrella, then a Tiger Feint kick and a running knee to the lower back for a two-count. Rambo turns it around with an overhead belly-to-belly out of the corner, then a cannonball in the opposite corner.
Estrella’s popped up into the corner, from where he returned with a tornado DDT, before Rambo struck back with a pop-up powerbomb backbreaker… then a package powerbomb for the win. **¾
Massimo Pesca vs. Anil Marik
It’s a welcome return to wXw for Marik, who’d been on the shelf since just before 16 Carat Gold weekend with a shoulder injury. By the way, Pesca’s got a delightfully Europop theme song…
So, some three years on from his debut match, Marik looks to hit the ground running again. He starts with a lock-up as Pesca looked to go for the bad shoulder to start with… a headlock takedown has Pesca on the mat, but headscissors freed the Italian as the pair reached a stand-off.
Marik’s on the mat as Pesca’s crucifix picked up a two-count, while Marik looked to make his way back in by working over Pesca’s wrist. A side headlock from Pesca breaks it up, as did a shoulder tackle following a shove-off, before Marik returned fire with a dropkick. We’ve a leaping forearm into the corner from Marik, then a Slingblade for a two-count, before Marik missed a forearm into the corner.
Headscissors from Pesca have Marik on the back foot, as did a running clothesline and a wacky double-leg delayed takedown. Pesca’s diving kick gets him a two-count, as the Italian then set up for a Romero special, pulling Marik back into a Dragon sleeper for some extra torque.
Pesca loses his grip, but is able to get a two-count on Marik, before a roundhouse kick landed. A Pegasus Ride – the old Stratusfaction bulldog – was pushed away by Marik, who threw in a diving clothesline for a two-count, before Pesca went back to the armdrags. A fallaway pumphandle slam takes Marik to the corner, before Marik pushed away another Pegasus Ride.
Marik can’t follow-up from that though as he ate a missile dropkick seconds later. A side suplex finally bought Marik some time, but Pesca rolled him up out of a side headlock, then finally hit the Pegasus Ride for the win. An unexpected defeat on his return for Marik, as Pesca ruined the party here. **¾
English commentary for the main show comes from Dave Bradshaw…
Metehan vs. Bobby Gunns
Starting off strong here, with Metehan vowing to “settle a debt”… and we’ve got a late amendment to the match, with Norman Harras wandering out to give us an early Christmas present, as the winner of this match qualifies for 16 Carat Gold.
Gunns launched into Metehan with clotheslines to start, then sent Metehan outside with a threatened PK. They trade blows at ringside, but Metehan heads back in… and runs into a Kitchen Sink knee from Gunns, before a clothesline took Metehan back outside. A running PK from the apron from Gunns kept him ahead, before Metehan hung up Gunns in the ropes… then slapped him.
A front kick from Gunns knocked Metehan off the apron… but Metehan measured up Gunns for a double axehandle to the back, having hung him up in the ropes as the former Carat winner made a beeline for the corner, removing a turnbuckle cover in the process. Metehan downs Gunns with a bodyslam, before more front kicks from Gunns led to a manic Metehan pulling him down into a crossface attempt.
Metehan instead lands a stomp, then a camel clutch, before Gunns escape and hit back with a German suplex. With both men back on their feet, they resume trading strikes, with Gunns pulling ahead with some running uppercuts in the corner before Metehan elbowed out of a Saito suplex attempt… only to miss a follow-up dropkick as Gunns hit the suplex anyway for a near-fall.
Gunns teases an Ehrenmann Driver, but Metehan escaped… then kicked out the knee before he had to escape a running death valley driver into the corner. A neckbreaker has Gunns on all fours, but a sliding elbow missed as Gunns’ headbutt and lariat nearly won it. Metehan’s begging off as Gunns was looking for a PK, and that delay allowed Metehan to hit an enziguiri then a sit-out side slam for a near-fall.
A package shoulderbreaker from Metehan got him a little closer to the win, before Gunns was pulled into a Tree of Woe… then stretched from the floor. Gunns avoids a running punch into the corner, but couldn’t follow up immediately as he eventually came back in with a leaping enziguiri and a lariat, before another crack at the Ehrenmann Driver was stopped when the lights went out.
The cameras cut to Norman Harras on the technical desk, heavily suggesting he’d done it… and when the lights came back up, Metehan raked the eyes of Gunns as the referee was distracted. From there, Gunns gets whipped into the exposed corner from earlier, before the Nazar flip stunner got the win – and booked Metehan his spot in 16 Carat Gold. A bit of a screwy finish, but a really strong opening match that I’m sure isn’t going to be a one-and-done between these two… ***½
Heisenberg vs. Kevin Lazar
This was Lazar’s second match in wXw, having lost to Ender Kara a month earlier in a Niedersachsen cup match in Wolfenbüttel… and as he got the rare-to-wXw already-in-the-ring treatment, I think you can see where this is heading.
Lazar tried to get first blood, but he’s booted away and squashed in the corner. A Robert Dreissker-esque fallaway slam followed, before a powerslam and a Fire Thunder Driver got the win. SPLAT.
wXw World Tag Team Championship: Rott Und Flott (Michael Schenkenberg & Nikita Charisma) vs. Frenchadors (Aigle Blanc & Senza Volto) (c)
This was Rott und Flott’s final shot at the title – at least while the Frenchadors held the gold, after Rott und Flott continued to complain that they’d never been beaten for the titles.
Aigle Blanc’s dropkick starts the match as we began with Nikita Charisma having to fend off both champions until Schenkenberg came in… and got sent to the outside. Charisma gets the knees up to stop a senton atomico from Senza, but he’s quickly back on the defensive as he’s hiptossed into the ring, then held by the ropes as the champions’ usual playbook became undone.
Things settled down somewhat with Aigle getting crotched into the corner ahead of a backbreaker, but Schenkenberg’s thrown aside with an armdrag before Charisma took a barrage of kicks from both Aigle and Senza. There’s more for Schenkenberg too, before an elevated assisted DDT took Schenkenberg outside as the champions threatened to tee up for a pair of topes.
Those were swatted away at first, but second time was the charm for the French lads, who continued on offence for a moment. A chinlock from Schenkenberg slows it down a little, while a clothesline earned a two-count as Aigle ended up getting taken to the Rott und Flott corner. Senza Volto storms the ring, but that just tied up the referee as Aigle got double-teamed and attacked in the corner by the Rott-ers…
Charisma telegraphs a dropkick and got sent to the outside by Aigle, but Charisma recovers to prevent a tag… only to eat a twister suplex as Aigle made the hot tag out to a resurgent Senza. Clotheslines lead to a handspring back elbow to Schenkenberg, before Charisma took too long to make a move and got caught with a ‘rana driver from Aigle. There’s a neat pop-up leapfrog as Aigle’s sent backwards over Charisma ahead of a superkick-assisted Dragon suplex, while Schenkenberg nearly got put away with a Code Red.
Charisma’s dropkick swats away a springboard from Aigle, but he couldn’t avoid Senza’s Spanish Fly. Schenkenberg’s met with a tombstone from Aigle Blanc, then a springboard moonsault from Senza as Charisma dived in to literally stop the referee counting the pin. A double enziguiri takes care of Nikita after that, but Schenkenberg nearly scored the win with a roll-up to Senza.
A blind tag from Aigle Blanc means that a TKO from Schenkenberg to Senza was for nought… but Schenkenberg’s able to roll away from a 450 splash as Aigle hit his own man. Cue a quick turnaround as the Snapchat DDT almost put Aigle away, which prompted disbelief front he challengers, who then went for it on the apron…
Senza Volto’s handspring kick stops it as Aigle spikes Charisma on the apron with a tombstone… Senza adds a springboard moonsault, and that’s enough for the pin, albeit with another out as both Senza and Aigle made the cover. This was a frenetic 13 minutes of a match, as the Frenchadors now look to find new challengers in 2023… ***½
They air a trailer for wXw NOW 2.0 – although what happened since this was shown meant that it’ll take a little while for all 1600-plus hours of content to be available after they switched to YouTube.
Cara Noir vs. Axel Tischer
The rubber match between these two, after Cara won back at Broken Rules in June, while Tischer “levelled it up” at Drive of Champions in November… and I was surprised to hear a smattering of dissent against Cara during his entrance.
Tischer got in Cara’s face to start, but got taken down with armdrags, then to the outside with a tijeras as Cara threatened to dive. Back inside, Tischer finds form with a leg lariat to take Cara outside, but a switcheroo ends with a staredown, before a dropkick from Cara Noir and a Cactus clothesline took us back outside.
After some swinging and missing, the pair jockeyed for an abdominal stretch… but to no avail as Cara offered… then landed a cheapshot from a handshake as he began to target the arm and shoulder of Tischer. We’ve a back suplex for a one-count, then an arm whip on the mat, before he grounded Tischer with a hammerlock.
Cara Noir tried to use the ropes to wear the arm down some more, then opted to just punch it, before a crossface attempt ended in the ropes. Right hands from Tischer tried to get him free, before an uppercut finally worked as Cara ended up taking a lariat off the ropes. A superplex is stopped as Cara Noir headbutted Tischer away, only for Tischer to hit the ropes and knock Cara down to the mat.
Even with a bad arm, Tischer’s able to hit a half-hatch suplex… but Cara’s back up to throw Tischer into the corner as he then went for a superplex, which Tischer bit away. A flying clothesline has Tischer ahead, but his Horrible Slam’s escaped as Cara ended up crashing and burning with a charge intro the corner.
A second charge from Cara sees him land a shotgun dropkick, while a Black Swan sleeper was throw away by Tischer. Only for Cara to reapply it seconds later, forcing Tischer to dive through the ropes to break the hold. The pair resume on the apron, trading strikes as Tischer teases a German suplex onto the edge of the ring… but Cara grabbed the rope to block it, feigning an injury in the process so he could mule kick Tischer and piledrive him on the apron.
Cara rushes it back inside to collect a two-count, then trapped Tischer in a rear naked choke… only for Tischer to roll into the ropes to break the hold. Staying on the arm, Cara Noir stomped the limb down, before a death valley driver broke up another armbar attempt. A powerbomb from Tischer keeps it close, before he surprised Cara with a Horrible Slam… and that’s enough for the win. In terms of crowd response, this perhaps got the best reactions of their trilogy, but I absolutely didn’t like how “cute” and choreographed the first five minutes felt – it’s a part of Cara’s playbook, but a part that I can never get on with. A statement win for Tischer, which may well set him up for bigger things… ***½
Ladder Match for wXw Shotgun Championship: Ahura vs. Maggot (c)
We’re doing it like it’s WrestleMania 10 – with Ahura’s “fake” Shotgun title being unified with Maggot’s real one in this ladder match…
Ahura scarpered onto the stage during Maggot’s entrance, but didn’t bring a ladder back with his as we got going with the pair going nose-to-nose before they exploded into a hockey fight. The pair look for cutters, but they’re pushed away as Ahura ended up getting booted ahead of the cutter from Maggot… which bought him time to go up on stage and bring back a big ladder.
Maggot’s cut off as he slid the ladder into the ring, as Ahura posted him… then kicked at a fan’s sign before bringing the other ladder into the ring. It’s swung at Maggot, who’s trapped into the corner, then thrown into the ladder as it was propped by the ropes. A double sledge off the ladder took down Maggot, who gets thrown back into the ladder once again before a back body drop cut off Ahura… who got propelled into the rungs.
BLOODY HELL HOW BIG IS THAT LADDER?! Maggot sets up the second one, but Ahura cuts him off and threw him outside before sliding it outside. No monster ladder for now, it seems. At least, not the way you’d want to use it, as Maggot’s thrown into the ladder that was sloped against the side of the ring, then trapped by it as Ahura squashed Maggot’s arm under it.
Ahura dumps the second ladder onto the first, aggravating Maggot’s arm some more, before a springboard attempt was stopped when Maggot popped up a ladder into his former tag partner’s face. Back inside, a spear stopped Ahura, who then had the ladder jabbed into him ahead of a crossbody off the top and a crucifix bomb… which bought Maggot enough time to bring in the monster ladder again.
Maggot’s halfway up the ladder when Ahura pushed it down, sending Maggot into the corner as Ahura proceeded to set up a ladder bridge between the ropes and the big ladder. That never ends well. Maggot’s sent into it, then powerbombed onto the bridged ladder… but Maggot rushes back in as Ahura scaled the big one, only to get knocked off. Recovering, Maggot grabs a leg and sweeps it into a cutter onto the bridge… and holy crap, that BOUNCE was disgusting.
Another trip up the rungs from Maggot drew Ahura’s attention… as he pulled Maggot into an Electric Chair… then scored a leaping Flatliner of sorts. Ahura shoves the smaller ladder back onto the stage, as he didn’t probably didn’t want to land on it anymore… before Maggot speared Ahura into a crowd barrier as Ahura got himself distracted again.
The pair head up onto the stage from there, where Maggot went to use the ladder… only to get caught with a low blow after he’d hesitated. Ahura bounced the ladder off Maggot’s head from there, then shoved Maggot’s head between the rungs and bounced the ladder off the stage as he went after the head and neck some more. Maggot comes up bleeding, so Ahura wanders back to the ring to presumably climb for the belts, only for Baby Allison to head out.
After checking on Maggot, Allison hits the ring… but got slapped and piledriven as Ahura then grabbed Maggot’s crown of thorns. He wore them mockingly as he proceeded to try and bust open Allison with punches, eventually kicking her out of the ring before he climbed the ladder to pose. Just as Maggot got back to his feet…
Maggot charges the ring to fight with Ahura atop the ladder, slapping him down and knocking the crown off… Ahura’s trapped in the rings and shoved backwards, leaving him helpless as Maggot took the two Shotgun belts to take the win. This one was really intense, but on tape at least, it felt like it was missing something – not that the live crowd seemed to care. ***½
Backstage, Dan Mallmann’s with AMBOSS ahead of the relaxed rules match that’s about to happen. Robert Dreissker said what’ll happen tonight will be a treat, as AMBOSS will destroy their opponents… before Anil Marik interrupted things. Dreissker pointed out how Marik lost on his comeback, then shoved him out of frame as he suggested Marik had “trained with Rotation too much.”
Relaxed Rules: AMBOSS (Icarus, Laurance Roman & Robert Dreissker) vs. Elijah Blum, Orsi & Peter Tihanyi
As you’d expect, this one started off hot as the relaxed rules meant no tags and a lot of action.
Tihanyi’s slingshot cutter and swinging DDT looked to have AMBOSS on the back foot, as did a double Asai DDT to Icarus and Roman, before he just bounced off of Dreissker with a crossbody. Dreissker mocks Tihanyi with a cartwheel a la Bam Bam Bigelow, before his springboard crossbody out of the corner missed, allowing Tihanyi to hit a moonsault instead for a two-count.
Things spill outside as Orsi dove off the top rope into Dreissker and Icarus, then hit a back suplex to Roman, who also ate Tihanyi’s Meteora and a Falcon arrow from Blum as Icarus broke things up. Icarus gets pinged around the place next, leading to a 450 splash from Tihanyi for a near-fall, before Dreissker picked up a tool box and threw it into Tihanyi on the apron.
Blum’s met with a back suplex/neckbreaker next, before the Ten Ton Hammer – the pop-up full nelson into a spear – almost put Blum away. Orsi broke it up, then took Icarus to the corner with chops and forearms, before a back body drop sent Icarus skyward. An attempted comeback from Icarus led to him taking a German suplex, before Dreissker hit the ring with several chairs, all seemingly earmarked for Elijah Blum.
One of them’s whacked against Blum’s back, before he got Biel’d into an open chair… Peter Tihanyi’s next, with Dreissker choking him before another Biel into a chair was blocked, with Tihanyi countering with an abdominal stretch instead. Dreissker breaks it up, hiptossing Tihanyi onto referee Rainer Ringer, who then had his belt stolen as Dreissker proceeded to whip the Hungarian.
Tihanyi uses the ear to break up a belt choke, then hit an Asai DDT before turning the belt on Dreissker… whipping his conveniently-singlet-less back as they spilled to the outside. Back inside, Tihanyi punched the belt into Dreissker’s head, as they again spilled outside with all six wrestlers brawling.
Elijah Blum’s up next, DDT’ing Roman onto the ramp before Tihanyi and Icarus brawled up to the stage… Icarus shoos away a part of the crowd so he could throw Tihanyi off the stage, but a teased suplex is blocked as Tihanyi escaped and instead tried a German suplex… only to get run into a steel support as Icarus grabbed some bolt cutters and clocked Tihanyi with them. Absolute Andy was about to file for trademark infringement, given how close that was to being a pipe wrench…
Regaining the upper hand, Icarus suplexes Tihanyi onto the stage as Blum was getting double-teamed by Icarus and Roman… until Tihanyi flung himself off the stage with a senton into AMBOSS to break it up. That celebration’s short-lived as Dreissker wrecks a chair over Tihanyi’s back, before Blum’s attempt to make a save ended with him getting flung into the evacuated seating.
Back in the ring, Orsi headed up top, only for Dreissker to cut her off with a superplex… but Orsi’s right back on her feet, trying to shrug it off. She stops Dreissker’s springboard crossbody and powerbombed him out of the corner, before a pair of spears proved to be enough for her to finally upset Dreissker! AMBOSS go down in Oberhausen, after a wild quarter of an hour that literally went all over the building. ***½
Orsi’s not able to celebrate for long though, as Dreissker attacks from behind… then threw her into the chair that’d been wedged in the corner earlier. More chairs are brought into play as Dreissker Pillman-izes Orsi’s arm, before the Frenchadors made a belated save… and we have our tandem for the Käfigschlacht in January! The injury also writes off Orsi for the time being, with that and other factors ruling her out until the summer…
Iva Kolasky vs. Baby Allison
Originally slated as Kolasky vs. Aliss Ink, an injury switched this up so Iva was facing Baby Allison, who was out with a taped-up head after her involvement in the earlier ladder match.
Kolasky went for the bandage early on, as she looked to take the upper hand… but Allison’s able to charge out of the corner with a Thesz press before Iva kicked away a splits. A suplex from Allison gets her a two-count, but she gets dragged onto the apron… and shoved into the ring post as a cutter from Kolasky helped remove the bandage.
Allison kicked out at two from that, then fired back with a Northern Lights suplex before an inside cradle almost got Allison the win. A head kick from Kolasky, then a DDT spikes Allison for a near-fall in return, while a moonsault-kneedrop from Kolasky kept her in control. A splits kick followed for another near-fall, frustrating Kolasky some more as she went up top… for a moonsault that misses.
In response, Allison hauls Kolasky with a German suplex, before elbows and forearms had the number one contender rattled… but Kolasky took Allison down with a boot in the corner. A moonsault from Kolasky’s thwarted by Allison, who charges in for a Scorpion kick before a superplex took them both down for a near-fall.
A missed charge from Allison sees her collide with the ring post, and from there it’s elementary as Kolasky scored with a moonsault for the win. Not exactly an even match, with Allison far from 100% – but Kolasky had her work cut out for her despite all that. **½
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Levaniel vs. Tristan Archer (c)
These two have been in each others, ahem, galaxies for most of the last year. Most recently, Levaniel won Shortcut to the Top, but was forced to cash in his title shot while injured… only for that whole Norman Harras-induced farce to be reversed as Levaniel finally got the shot he called in the first place.
Levaniel shoots out of the gates as he double-legged Archer, before things headed outside as Archer cleared a section of the crowd… only to get chucked into the emptied seats. Those poor buggers only just got settled down after the relaxed rules match! Levaniel breaks the count so he can bring Archer back in, but instead Levaniel’s pulled into a torture rack, then thrown into the ring post.
Archer drags Levaniel’s neck around the ring post, before a neckbreaker back inside earned the Frenchman a one-count – and threatened to take us back to the stoppage in Frankfurt. An elbow drop from Archer leads to another neckbreaker, with Levaniel this time kicking out at two, only for Archer to grind his elbow on the neck as the target was clear here.
A camel clutch sees Archer stretch Levaniel some more, before he rolled the hold into a Gedo clutch for a two-count. Levaniel stops himself in the ropes as he mounted a comeback with some right hands, following with an overhead kick and a Randy Orton-esque backbreaker. A diving kick knocks Archer down for a two-count, while a Fisherman suplex yielded a similar result before a Sternschnuppe was blocked by Archer.
Archer’s discus elbow leads to an Olympic slam for a two-count as he turned the match around, leading to La Terreur and a clothesline for barely a one-count. Keeping Levaniel down, Archer followed in with swiping elbows, then a STF that forced Levaniel to drag his way to the ropes to force the break. Kicks target the neck again, but Levaniel’s able to avoid a Coup d’Etat before more elbows decked him.
A Coup d’Etat lays out Levaniel, but he gets a shoulder up at two as Archer then dragged him into the corner for another hanging sleeper… but Levaniel shoved him down to the outside. Archer rolls back into the path of a discus clothesline, before the Sternschnuppe looked to have won it… but Norman Harras pulled out the referee, then knocked down Tassilo Jung.
Harras enters the ring and removes his shirt to reveal a referee’s shirt… and someone spent money on personalising that for him. Rainer Ringer and Alex Schneider come out to protest, but the other wXw referees are overruled by management, as Archer then went for a Coup d’Etat… but Levaniel rolls through. Another one’s also escaped, with Levaniel hitting the Sternschnuppe again, but Harras decides to scratch his neck and rub his eyes rather than count the pin. There’s treatments for that, you know…
Levaniel’s irate, but Harras threatens to disqualify him… then kneed Levaniel right in the liebes. A second low blow from Archer has Levaniel on his knees, as Archer hits the Sternschnuppe himself, but even a fast count doesn’t get the win as Levaniel got up at two. Archer takes things into the corner for a superplex, but Levaniel fought it off and powerbombed Archer out of the corner instead.
Levaniel hits the ropes for a Decapite lariat to the back of the head, before one more Sternschnuppe left Archer laying… to the point that Harras was forced to count the pin, agonising when it was obvious Archer wasn’t kicking out, as Levaniel finally won the title. Cue delirious, people hugging and heart balloons all over the Turbinenhalle… and the silencing of the noticeably vocal part of the crowd that wasn’t on Levaniel’s side throughout the match. ***¾
After the match, Harras handed Levaniel the title through gritted teeth… then accepted Levaniel’s offer of a handshake, only to get spiked with one more Sternschnuppe as celebrated in front of the sold-out Oberhausen crowd. This felt like a big moment, and while I’ve got doubts over the reign, there’s no doubting how special the title change came across for those who’d invested in the storyline.
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