wrestling / TV Reports
Hamilton’s wXw Catch Grand Prix 2020 Week Four Review
Loading...Night One
The fourth week of the Catch Grand Prix kicks off with Bobby Gunns up against the man with the quickest tournament win so far – Fast Time Moodo.
For the first part of the week, Nico Schmidt and Dään Jokisch are joined inside Oberhausen’s Steffy by Hektor Invictus. They run down the standings, and note how a win for Bobby Gunns here would put him top. However, Fast Time Moodo needs the points to not drift too far away from the leaders – but Hektor doesn’t feel that Gunns will lose. A man of few words, is our Hektor.
Unlike Dään, who’s with Fast Time Moodo backstage. They bring up his 17-second win last week, and Moodo promises to use that momentum going forward. He knows he needs to deliver though…
We then jump to Dään with Bobby Gunns, and asks him how he plans to overcome Avalanche’s points total. Simple. Just win! They bring up Moodo’s quick win, but Gunns says that he’ll be able to grab any limb and make him submit.
Sebastian Hollmichel, as usual, is on commentary for the entire week.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block A: Fast Time Moodo vs. Bobby Gunns
Given how long’s left on the VOD, something tells me this is going much longer than seventeen seconds…
Round 1: We’ve a tentative start as Gunns grabbed a front facelock as he tries to take Moodo down, but the 23-year-old delays things as he backed into the ropes. Gunns tries to dive in with a kick, but instead went back on Moodo’s wrist, only for Moodo to flip free and land an elbow strike to the arm. A drop toe hold from Gunns takes Moodo down, with a stomp to the elbow following, then an arm wringer before Moodo managed to escape with a headlock takedown. Some mat-based stuff sees Moodo try and sneak a pin, before he avoids Gunns’ dropkick… coming back in with a Black Belt Kick, but Gunns rolls to the outside to avoid being pinned, and stayed out there as the time ran out.
Round 2: Moodo tries to feint some kicks to start the second round, taking Gunns into the ropes for a break. He returns with an uppercut, then a front kick off the ropes as Moodo responds with some kicks to the legs. Back elbows and chops rock Gunns, who gets his legs swept… but Moodo’s kick is caught as he’s dragged down into a heel hook that ends in the ropes. Gunns stomps the arm in the ropes, but doesn’t get any fine or warning… so Gunns uppercuts the arm some more before he tries to kick away at Moodo in the corner. Moodo kicks and punches his way back, but gets caught in a chinlock before an arm breaker and another kick left Moodo in the corner, wondering if he’d had his mouth busted open. More kicks just fire up Moodo, who launches into Gunns with a forearm and a knee in the corner as the second round comes to an end.
Round 3: Gunns is on the defensive from the off, with Moodo leaping into him in the corner with kicks and a sliding punch. Moodo heads up and lands a double stomp to the back for a near-fall, before a triangle armbar on Gunns was broken up as he stomped Moodo’s head. Kicks in the ropes keep Gunns on the back foot, and eventually earn him a yellow card for repeated foul play. Gunns tries to take advantage of the distraction, but gets dumped high on his back with a release German suplex… then returned with a clothesline as both men were left laying. Another kick from Moodo’s caught, as Gunns runs right back with a lariat, spinning him to the mat… then followed up in the corner for a superplex that lands for a near-fall. A leg lock follows as the clock ticked away, with Moodo clinging on to take it to a fourth round.
Round 4: We start with a striking battle as Gunns’ European uppercuts earned him knees and kicks from Moodo. Gunns ducks down and applies a rear naked choke, but he’s thrown off as Moodo returned to the kicks, including a rear spin kick to the arm, and a head kick before another rear naked choke caught him out. Gunns lets go and hits a PK out of the corner, before he was caught with a suplex from Moodo! A second Black Belt Kick misses, with Gunns coming right back with an Octopus stretch for the submission. I dug every second of this, with Moodo clearly taking advantage of Gunns seemingly underestimating him – having the champion on the ropes several times (literally!), but Gunns’ long-term game plan paid off in the end. My match of the tournament so far!
Result: Bobby Gunns submitted Fast Time Moodo at 1:22 of Round 4 (***¾)
Post-match, Gunns is told that if Metehan beats Avalanche on Wednesday, then Gunns will end the week on top of block A. Gunns didn’t care, saying that he’s not dependent on Metehan – and that he’ll win the tournament on his own… before predicting Metehan will beat Avalanche for a third time this year. Meanwhile, Moodo is backstage with Dään, unhappy with the loss. Moodo knew what to expect, and got it… but was disappointed that he didn’t take the chances that were there to win.
Night Two
Anil Marik’s search for his first win continues, but it’s going to be a tough ask against 16 Carat Gold winner Cara Noir. Once more, Dään and Nico are joined by Hektor Invictus for the expert’s panel. They run down how both men are coming into today’s match on the back of a loss, but Hektor picks Cara Noir to win. “Anil won’t stand a chance,” was the call…
Andy Jackson’s with Anil Marik trying to find positives before the match… and asked Marik whether Avalanche had passed any tips on how to beat Cara Noir. In fact, he did! Avoid the rear naked choke!
Then we see Norman Harras meeting Metehan, and he’s not exactly chipper. The Metehan/Gunns match is drawing closer, and Norman wants some kind of promise that Metehan won’t challenge Bobby for the title if he wins the Catch Grand Prix. Metehan gives Norman his word… but I have a feeling someone might have just planted a seed where one wasn’t there before.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block A: Cara Noir vs. Anil Marik
Round 1: Marik ducks as Cara Noir tried to charge for a dropkick at the bell, and ends up landing the first few shots… before a diving crossbody missed. Not to worry, Marik’s right back with a bulldog out of the corner as he surpassed his time from last week. Noir hooks onto the ropes to avoid an Irish whip, and ends up taking an uppercut to the arm – which earned Anil a €20 fine… Noir comes back with leapfrogs and baseball slides in for a dropkick, then with chops as he forced down Marik for a two-count. An armbar attempt followed, but Noir holds on before pulling him back down to the mat. Noir torques the wrist some more as Marik ends up reversing the hold… and finds himself right back in it as he’s grounded with a hammerlock. Marik counters that, but can’t do much more as time runs out.
Round 2: Marik teases charging at Cara, but instead he goes for a lock-up… and has his hand stood on as Cara worked his way into a standing surfboard stretch. An attempt to escape goes nowhere, before Marik slipped under and went for a waistlock. Noir escapes that and switches around, before Marik elbows and kicked his way free. His momentum’s quickly snuffed out with a rebound German suplex and a thrust kick, but it sent the rookie into the ropes to avoid being pinned. Cara bowed to him for that, but came back with a rear spin kick… then a PK to the back for a two-count, before Anil escaped a neckbreaker and came back with a Slingblade. A lungblower flips Noir over, but he too rolls away, and to the outside, to delay a pin… then dead weights himself to make sure time ran out.
Round 3: Cara Noir expects Marik to come out all guns blazing… and used that against the rookie, catching him with a clothesline, a neckbreaker and a package piledriver in quick succession to get the win. It took a little longer than you’d expect, but when Noir got into a groove, he was able to swiftly put away his opponent.
Result: Cara Noir pinned Anil Marik at 0:23 of Round 3 (**½)
After the match, Noir raised Marik’s hand… of course, there’s no ringside promo, as we instead get a despondent Anil Marik backstage, who revealed he was hoping to at least get a draw. Andy Jackson tries to talk Anil into keeping on, but it seems like Anil’s maybe thinking of those short-cuts he was looking at earlier in the year?
Night Three
We’ve got two familiar faces in the final block A match of the week as Avalanche and Metehan lock horns. Nico, Dään and Hektor Invictus are on the panel once more… but Hektor isn’t gloating about his correct prediction yesterday, particularly since it meant Cara Noir leapfrogs him in the standings. Hektor’s hopeful of beating Cara Noir when they meet, as it’ll boost his spot…
They move onto today’s match, mentioning Metehan’s wins in Kutenholz and in the Shotgun title tournament. Of course, Hektor lost to Metehan in the finals of that tournament – and suggests that Avalanche won’t lose three in a row.
Backstage, Andy Jackson’s with Metehan… and is already on the defensive when he brought up how Metehan had “help” to beat Avalanche in the past. Meanwhile, Avalanche is much more mild-mannered, even when they brought up that recent past. Avalanche notes that Metehan’s “foot boys” aren’t allowed at ringside, so it’ll finally be a fair fight.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block A: Metehan vs. Avalanche
Metehan gets “Eeyore” chants because of the Ezel/esel/donkey thing…
Round 1: It’s far from a measured start here, with Avalanche and Metehan raking each other’s eyes to start with. That’s a pair of €20 fines right there. Avalanche goes back with a waistlock, then a full nelson that Metehan tries to break out of… and when he does, Avalanche just switches the hold to a side headlock. That turns into a takedown, but Metehan fights up and throws Avalanche shoulder-first into the corner, before landing some leaping forearms… but a nice back body drop propels Metehan skyward, before a Beele hurls Metehan into the corner. There’s a shoulder-tackle after the bell, but that doesn’t get a warning because the move was in progress…
Round 2: Metehan starts by trying for a low dropkick, but he misses as Avalanche splashed him for a two-count. Elbows and forearms keep the Shotgun champion down, before Avalanche chokes Metehan in the corner… which led to a yellow card as Metehan was baiting Avalanche into fines and bookings. Some shots from Metehan just earned him an elbow strike, before a chinlock keeps him down, at least until there was a rope break, which Avalanche adhered to. Still, he comes back with some kicks and an Irish whip, but Metehan avoids a splash into the corner, only for his slingshot DDT to get caught and turned into a fallaway slam. A corner splash follows, but Metehan lands a low dropkick from there, before some Danielson elbows looked to force a KO… only for Metehan to rake the eyes once more as time runs out. That gets him a yellow card as well…
Round 3: Avalanche elbows and clotheslines Metehan to start, but can’t get a Samoan drop going as Metehan threw him outside. Rolling back in, Avalanche eats a springboard dropkick, then a springboard DDT for a near-fall. Metehan keeps on top of him with slaps, before an overhead chop to the chest and more trash talking wound up Avalanche into throttling him… with Metehan smiling as he “directed” the choke and watched as a second yellow card was issued. There’s another €50 fine as Avalanche argues, which meant the ref misses a low blow from Metehan, with the Evil Eye landing… but Avalanche rolled a shoulder up at two… so Metehan chokes Avalanche before getting the three-count. A rather unsatisfying end to a match that saw Metehan bait his opponent – and Avalanche fall for all the dirty tricks en route to an expensive loss.
Result: Metehan pinned Avalanche at 2:23 of Round 3 (***¼)
Post-match, Nico Schmidt interviews Metehan, who’s up to joint third place with that win… but of course, the talk of the future match with Bobby Gunns is top of the agenda. Metehan threatens Nico for that, then demanded that he repeat that he’d beaten Avalanche three times in a year.
Meanwhile, Avalanche was angry at how all of those losses to Metehan this year were far from clean, and also felt aggrieved by the dodgy officiating. I’ll say! Of course, all this means that Avalanche’s lost his top spot in the group, but with a week off, Avalanche has plenty of time to stew before his final two matches: against Bobby Gunns, then Anil Marik.
Before we wrap up, we’ve got referee Tassilo Jung addressing Avalanche’s complaints. Tass mentioned how Avalanche was prone to losing his temper in matches, and that all of the yellow cards going both ways were justified. Andy Jackson brought up the low blow that Tass missed though, which caught the referee by surprise… so Tass took responsibility and offers an apology for missing that shot right to the ding-ding. I wouldn’t want this after every match with dodgy calls, but having the officials explaining their decisions was a nice touch given the sports-like presentation wXw’s gunning for here.
Night Four
Block B gets going for the week as Senza Volto looks to maintain his lead with a win over Prince Ahura. We’re back at the Steffy in Oberhausen again, with Nico Schmidt and Dään Jokisch being joined here by Tristan Archer. They run down block B’s table, before discussing today’s match, with Tristan picking his compatriot Senza Volto here.
Prince Ahura’s interview has him wanting his nicknames again, before Andy Jackson quizzed him about his chances. He’s still getting used to “solo wrestling,” and reckons he has nothing to lose, while teasing “one or two new things.” Ahura also throws a few playful jabs at Senza’s tattoos…
As for Senza, he’s a little banged up from having had three matches so far – but he’s promising victory, and learns a bit of German too. Ausgezeichnet!
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Prince Ahura vs. Senza Volto
Ahura gets into it with a fan on the way to the ring, which is impressive given social distancing and all that. The crowd don’t want Ahura shaking hands with people, nor does the referee, who rings the bell instead!
Round 1: Senza goes to kick Ahura as he was stretching, so Ahura trash-talks Senza for wearing a “Mexican mask” rather than embracing his French culture. Ahura takes exception to some chants too, as the crowd wanted Maggot instead of him… before Ahura kneed Senza as they gawped at the trophy. Senza responds with a leapfrog before he kicked out Ahura’s knee, following up with a springboard ‘rana and a faked out dive to the outside. Ahura runs in, and gets thrown right back out… so he winds down the clock, only for Volto to chase after him as time ran out. Apparently a loss here eliminates Ahura… which means I better start figuring out eliminations on those standings!
During the break, the referee threatened to show a yellow card for time wasting to Ahura…
Round 2: Ahura gets caught with chops from the off, before he kicked Senza as he played to the crowd. Volto recovers with more chops, playing up to the crowd’s ask for “one more time,” before Ahura again powdered to the outside… which led to a €50 fine for Ahura. Senza drags him back in for more chops, but Ahura comes back with some rope walking… only to get the rope superkicked from under him, as he crashes to the mat. Senza then picked up the pieces for a double-jump springboard armdrag… and yeah, Ahura rolls outside. He walks away from a dive attempt, so Senza chases him, only to get thrown into the ring steps, which led to a count-out tease, but the ref’s count was way slower than one-per-second, as time runs out.
In the interval, Ahura’s given another fine… he mockingly suggests “make it €200”… so they do. They’re piling up.
Round 3: Ahura catches Volto with a kick at the bell, and instantly began to wear him down with shots to the gut. Elbows take the Frenchman to the corner, but Volto recovers with chops, before he got thrown back. Senza’s back with a bicycle kick, but he’s chopped in return as the pair went back-and-forth. Ahura throws his bandana at Senza, but the distraction doesn’t materialise as Senza superkicks the knee then went for an Eiffel Tower… but Ahura pushes off and comes back with a roundhouse kick for a near-fall. Ahura locks in a camel clutch, then a Boston crab, dragging Volto away from the ropes, but Senza gets to the ropes as the round closed out.
Round 4: Senza’s still getting to his feet when the bell sounds, and he’s knocked into the corner with a shotgun dropkick by Ahura. A front-facelock choke followed as we all thought Ahura was going for a suplex, but he lets go to club down Senza before a standing Spanish Fly surprised the Frankfurt native for a two-count. Senza keeps going with a double-jump moonsault, sailing more than halfway across the ring for another two-count, before Ahura threw a hair tie across the ring to distract the referee… and mask a poke to the eye. From there, Ahura tries a Gedo clutch, but Volto kicks out, before he caught Ahura with the Eiffel Tower for the win! The opening tactics from Ahura may get a little tiresome given how many are doing them, but this was a solid outing from Volto who remains unbeaten – and it’s that match with Marius al-Ani in two weeks which seems to be the proverbial cup final.
Result: Senza Volto pinned Prince Ahura at 1:44 of Round 4 (***)
That win for Senza’s wiped out half the block effectively, as his wins so far over Norman Harras, Emil Sitoci, Vincent Heisenberg and now Prince Ahura mean that the best some of them can do is tie his score… and then lose on tie-breakers.
Post-match, Senza is knackered and thrilled… as Nico translates the crowd’s chants for him. It left him speechless. There’s something about Volto’s puppy dog-like energy in these promos that’s really charming.
Meanwhile, the eliminated Prince Ahura can’t believe what happened. He reckons not being oiled up was the difference, as was his own jewelry. He’s fed up of “disgracing himself” in front of fans that he hates, while Andy noted how he’s probably going to go broke with all the fines.
Night Five
Marius al-Ani looks to keep in touch with the top of the block, as he faces Vincent Heisenberg in the latest Catch Grand Prix outing. We’re back at the Steffy with Nico Schmidt, Dään Jokisch and Tristan Archer… who is hoping that Senza Volto tops out at eight points. I’d hope so too, because Senza’s almost got the block sewn up! They talk about today’s match, bringing up Heisenberg’s upset of Archer at the start of the tournament. Tristan kinda hopes Marius makes the same mistake as he did…
Andy Jackson, in interviewing Heisenberg, brings up the quick loss he had to al-Ani earlier in the year. Vincent’s learned from that, and knows to keep his distance… and avoid those punches. As for Marius, he shrugs off Heisenberg’s upset in week one, and turns it into some shade at Tristan Archer. That’s clearly a plan for the future, no? I swear I heard Marius describe Heisenberg as “ganz green” – you might be able to guess what that knock is all about…
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Vincent Heisenberg vs. Marius al-Ani
Round 1: We start with a lock-up, with Heisenberg taking al-Ani into the corner… but it’s quickly broken. Wash, rinse, repeat, then al-Ani’s attempt at a takedown’s countered into a powerbomb. Heisenberg can’t get the move off though, and comes back with a shoulder tackle that angers Marius. Another shoulder tackle from Heisenberg knocks al-Ani down… but Marius comes back with a kick to the gut, then worked over the arm, only to get elbowed away. He gets his boots up to stop Heisenberg, but a crossbody gets caught and turned into a slam attempt… which Marius escapes, then followed up with a ‘rana. Strikes keep Heisenberg on his knees, trapping him with an armbar until time ran out.
Round 2: The second round opens with Marius kicking Heisenberg, but al-Ani’s knocked into the corner before Heisenberg rolled him down for a legdrop. That gets a two-count, before he caught Marius’ floatover… but the slam attempt is escaped as Marius burst back in with a nip-up kick and a Superman punch. al-Ani went for a Diamond Driver, but Heisenberg counters with a slam, only to get rolled to the mat for an ankle lock. He pushes Marius away, but staggers into a Superman punch before al-Ani reapplied the ankle lock for the submission. Solid effort, as Marius didn’t have it all his own way, but it’s a swift win for the former Shotgun champ.
Result: Marius al-Ani submitted Vincent Heisenberg at 1:51 of Round 2 (**½)
Post-match, Marius gets his interviewer back! Nico congratulates him, as Marius brags about doing something Tristan Archer couldn’t… meanwhile, Heisenberg is backstage as he’s told that he’s eliminated. All he can do is give his all and rack up as many points as possible by the end of the tournament…
Night Six
The fourth week of the Catch Grand Prix wraps up with Norman Harras and Emil Sitoci looking to get their first points of the tournament. Of course, both men are already eliminated before they start, so they’re playing for pride. Schmidt, Dään Jokisch and Tristan Archer are back at the Steffy once again for this. Tristan’s busy comparing biceps before he’s asked about Marius al-Ani – they face in the final match in week seven, and that may be a make-or-break outing for al-Ani.
As for today, Archer was surprised that Emil Sitoci was coming into this with zero points… and so picks the Dutchman to win here, while making a sly dig at Norman Harras. Andy Jackson’s interview has Norman not wanting any frills – no stats, no nicknames… as he’s still dealing with the recent past, but he has some tricks up his sleeve. Well, I mean, the saying is only that you can’t teach *old* dogs new tricks…
Emil’s response was more out of frustration given how close his losses have been. He had a week off, and he promises to put down Norman Harras.
Catch Grand Prix 2020 – Block B: Norman Harras vs. Emil Sitoci
Round 1: The crowd gets under Norman’s skin before he even makes a move… we start with a lock-up that goes nowhere… then another one, before Sitoci double legs him to the mat. Harras gets back to his feet, but can’t avoid a hattrick of armdrags as Sitoci took control, following up with a stomp to the bicep. The focus on the arm continues, with a Codebreaker to the arm and a clothesline to the outside taking Harras outside. A superkick keeps him there, but Sitoci gives chase, only to get hotshotted into the top rope, with an uppercut getting Harras a two-count as the round closed out.
Round 2: Norman’s too busy chatting to the crowd and gets charged at the bell, with Sitoci putting the boots to him. He avoids a charge back from Harras, and followed up with a crossbody off the top for a two-count, only for Harras to retaliate with a knee to the gut. Some stomps and knees to the ribs knock Sitoci down for a two-count, before Harras went for a wristlock, keeping Sitoci down as another charging knee to the ribs gets a two-count. Harras keeps going with a sleeperhold, but Sitoci gets out, flips out of a back suplex and hits a side-Russian legsweep, then took to the corner for a split-legged moonsault that gets a near-fall… with Norman rolling into the corner to ride out the remaining seconds.
During the round, Harras pours water on himself, then flings the bottle into the crowd… oh Christian. Norman harrassing the fans gets him a €50 fine, by the way…
Round 3: Sitoci avoids a charge at the bell, but he gets met with an elbow and a dropkick as Norman shows off a kip-up. That annoyed him, but he’s able to cut-off Sitoci with a cross-chop to the throat, following up with a clothesline in the corner… only for Sitoci to block a second one as he came back in with a moonsault. That’s followed up with more clotheslines and elbows, before lifting up Sitoci for a gutbuster. Sitoci goes for a snapmare driver, but Harras shoves him towards the ref, who misses an eye poke as Norman… and my friends, hell has frozen over! Norman cuts a corner but gets his first points of the tournament, and that’s him finally off the bottom spot!
Result: Norman Harras pinned Emil Sitoci at 1:43 of Round 3 (**¾)
Post-match, Nico interviews Norman… he’s still getting the dog-calls, as he flipped out at the crowd again. Crowds can be so mean…
Meanwhile, you can hear said crowd as Emil’s still dealing with the eye poke. There’s another one unhappy with the officiating in this tournament… and that’s it for the week!
Standings, with eliminations (including those who’d be eliminated on tie-breakers)
Block A
Bobby Gunns (3-0; 6pts)
Avalanche (2-1-1; 5pts)
Cara Noir, Metehan (2-1; 4pts)
Hektor Invictus (1-1-1; 3pts)
Fast Time Moodo (1-3; 2pts) * eliminated
Anil Marik (0-4; 0pts) * eliminated
Block B
Senza Volto (4-0; 8pts)
Marius al-Ani (3-0; 6pts)
Tristan Archer (2-1; 4pts)
Vincent Heisenberg (1-3; 2pts) * eliminated
Prince Ahura, Norman Harras (1-3; 2pts) * eliminated
Emil Sitoci (0-3; 0pts) * eliminated
Disciplinary: €2565 of fines; sixteen yellow cards and one red card.
Next week, we’ve got some pretty choice matches as Cara Noir (on Wednesday) takes on Bobby Gunns for the first time since Cara won 16 Carat Gold back in March – a potential preview of their title fight, whenever that may be – while Saturday sees an all-France affair as Senza Volto takes on Tristan Archer.
