Hamilton’s wXw Shotgun 2020 Review 09.11.20 (S02 E02)

For the time being, Shotgun looks to be a wXw NOW-exclusive – as more and more recent content from wXw is making its way onto the WWE Network. As always, you can catch this show over on wXwNOW.de – the subscription is $11 a month, and includes a lot of the wXw back catalog, along with shows from other promotions.

Quick Results

Senza Volto pinned Tristan Archer in 9:55 (***)
Bobby Gunns submitted Alpha Kevin in 2:34 (**)
Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze pinned Rambo & Goldenboy Santos in 10:17 (**¾)
Dog Food Match: Avalanche pinned Norman Harras in 4:33 (**½)

We open with a recap from last time, with Norman Harras being sent on presumably wild goose chase by Absolute Andy… then we see Anil Marik apologising to Avalanche for how he acted earlier. They’re interrupted by someone at the door: it’s Norman Harras who’s’ looking for Andy’s documents.

Avalanche hands them over… and Norman finds out his “big opponent”. Vincent Heisenberg. I mean, he is tall… extra marks for the good boy in the corner!

We’re inside the Steffy as Sebastian Hollmichel runs down the card for tonight… then we’re backstage with Tristan Archer who’s with Andy Jackson. He talks about the difficult match with Bobby Gunns at Shortcut to the Top, and accepts the loss he had last time out. Tonight, he’s facing Senza Volto.

Outside, Alpha Kevin’s got a hankering for chicken. The Pretty Bastards rock up, telling Kevin that this “isn’t a place for alcoholics or clowns,” along with a friendly warning to not “mess with Bobby Gunns.” Kevin’s not too worried because he’s got Billy and Gunn to beat down Bobby with, before the Bastards are told to get lost. Kevin settles for the McDonalds that’s literally next door. I’m not alone in missing that place…

Abdul and Aytac are somewhere, fretting about letting down Metehan. Norman Harras arrives as the two mobs’ underlings have business to do. Harras wants to find a solution to their Dragan and Sitoci problem, but he’s assured that it’s all in hand.

Backstage, Goldenboy Santos introduces himself to Rambo. He’s all nice and polite, and suggests they form a tag team, but Rambo’s dubious at first. Santos being the wXw Academy Cup holder swings it for him, as Santos is told to talk it out with Andy…

We’re back with Andy, this time with Senza Volto. He’s not overawed with fighting Tristan Archer, “the number one in France,” because Germany’s a different scene.

Tristan Archer vs. Senza Volto

It’s an all-French affair to start us off, as Volto starts with a waistlock, only for Archer to counter with a takedown as he kept taking the masked man to the mat.

Senza tries for an O’Connor roll, but Archer held the ropes before Senza hit back with a springboard ‘rana, taking Archer outside for a faked-out dive. Except Tristan dives back in to knock Volto down. A gutwrench suplex follows for a one-count, before Senza ate a back elbow and a Pele kick, then a back senton as Tristan got a two-count.

Shoulder charges keep Volto in the corner, before a clothesline kept him there… but Senza charges in for a mounted sleeperhold that Archer countered into a backpack stunner for a two-count. A series of clotheslines sees Senza fight back, as a handspring back elbow finally took Archer down. A gamengiri and a 619 knocked Archer into and out of the corner… but a Code Red’s blocked as Archer instead eats a pop-up knee as the Code Red came off for a near-fall. Another shoulder charge knocks Senza back into the corner, but a rebound armdrag and a low superkick has Volto back in, only for him to get caught with a Falcon Arrow, which didn’t quite do the deal!

On their knees, the pair trade chops, but more knees from Volto and a superkick just earn him a lariat that spun him down for a near-fall. From the bridge-up, Senza’s caught in a modified Anaconda Vise, but they’re right by the ropes and it’s quickly broken up. Archer keeps going with clotheslines, but he takes too long to follow up and gets kneed by Volto.

Senza goes for another handspring, and eventually lands a handspring cutter that took Archer outside. A springboard dropkick keeps Archer outside ahead of a Golden Triangle moonsault, before another thrust kick back inside led to the Eiffel Tower – a suplex into a cutter – and that’s the win for Senza! A pretty good match to get Shotgun going, with the clash of styles making for an intriguing match which Senza edged out in. ***

We’re back at the Academy as Avalanche is cleaning his hands… and Mila (the dog) is gone?! The back Academy door’s open, and Avalanche thinks she’s gone walkies… you get a brief tour of the outside of the Academy, but Avalanche finds her in the basement. Having been down there myself, no doggo’s done that on their own…

Backstage, Goldenboy Santos is showing off his chops to Anil Marik. The Rotation interrupts, as the lads talk about Metehan and EZEL… Rotation reckons Metehan has changed, and that his parents can’t be proud of what Metehan’s doing. Remember what happened last time someone brought Metehan’s family into things? They got a title shot…

Nico Schmidt’s with Emil Sitoci and Dirty Dragan… Emil’s happy to be able to reform his team with Dragan. They keep the cameras rolling after their interview, as Dragan hangs back, then gets attacked by Abdul and Aytac. Will be make it for their match later?

Alpha Kevin vs. Bobby Gunns

There’s a cheeky sidebar for wXw merch during Kevin’s intro… and judging by the crowd’s “ooh”, they perhaps weren’t expecting this match.

Kevin comes out swinging for this one, but Bobby’s mocking him by offering a free shot… which doesn’t land. The duelling chants sure sound refreshing after what feels like an age of silent wrestling… Shoulder tackles don’t budge Kevin, so Bobby snaps and kicks away his legs before dragging him down into a guillotine. Kevin gets to the rope to force a break, but can’t avoid having his elbow stomped on. Nor his head.

Bobby keeps going with some kicks, which wound up Kevin into retaliating with palm strikes, he hooked the ropes to stop an Irish whip. Nevermind – Gunns just elbowed him before landing a German suplex. Kevin pops up though and dumps Gunns with a clothesline for a one-count, before some Dusty punches from Billy and Gunn ended with Bobby grabbing his arm, rolling him into a Swish armbar for the quick submission. Good while it lasted, but this was short work for the champion. **

Backstage, Santos is back with Rambo, saying that Andy was happy with the idea and he’s booked them against Stephanie Maze and Fast Time Moodo. They find a shared language – they speak Portuguese, which could give them an edge. Santos then starts spreading the rumour about Metehan that Rotation started… and now the game of Chinese whispers gets going!

Das Himmelsschloß

We’re back in the Heavenly Castle, as Levaniel’s cleared the crowd away. He’s not heard from Amale for a while, so he’s assuming that she – and their relationship – is okay.

This week, he’s got an international superstar on his show. It’s Norman Harras, out in his mob business suit. He’s feeling sour about not being held in high regard by wXw, which he puts down to not being on the same page as Absolute Andy. Levaniel takes a dig at how serious Norman usually is, and tells him to relax a little… as he veers into what seemed like advice for dating Absolute Andy. Norman demonstrates “let down your guard and strike” by throttling Levaniel.

This drew out Absolute Andy, who’s complained at since Norman’s upset about not getting “big money matches.” Andy tries to deflect with Dad jokes, before Avalanche hit the ring to try and defuse things. He’s seething…

…because he’s gotten a signed 8×10 of Norman Harras. I’d be mad too. The real reason he’s mad is a gift wrapped tin of Pedigree Chum as he blamed Norman for kidnapping his dog in the Academy. He demands to face Norman tonight, but Andy says there’s no room on the card. Avalanche doesn’t care, and he reckons he can beat Norman in five minutes. WAITAMINUTE…

After some consulting, that’s popped the longer term fans, and Avalanche sweetens the deal – because if he beats Norman in five minutes, he’ll feed him the tin of dog food. Andy’s happy with that, and that’s on the bill for later tonight.

Cue the titles again, as we enter the second half of Shotgun, featuring the five minute time limit match just announced.

They recap EZEL’s attack on Dirty Dragan earlier in the show, as Emil Sitoci’s with Absolute Andy telling us that Dragan’s in hospital. Andy needs time to think of a plan B. A secret plan B? Andy refuses to postpone the title match though, and Emil doesn’t want to wrestle with a substitute. So… the match is off?

We’ve a vignette from Killer Kelly, who tells us she’s always gone against what she’s been told to do – from moving to Germany to be a wXw wrestler, which led to her becoming the first ever wXw women’s champion. That turns to the “bullshit” of Absolute Andy’s secret plan, which turned into Kelly “bringing intergender wrestling” to wXw since Amale’s MIA. She promises to bring change to wXw…

Backstage, the Pretty Bastards aren’t feeling their upcoming title defence. Norman Harras turns up with the news that “he’s taken care” of their challengers, and for once the Bastards are grateful.

They recap the Marius al-Ani/Jurn Simmons stuff from Kutenholz, where they worked real well as a team until it all fell apart. Then, we see them backstage as Jurn mocks Marius. al-Ani reckons Jurn hasn’t accomplished a “6-0 streak”. Simmons doesn’t touch his past as multi-time world champion, as al-Ani walks off with something in mind.

Rambo & Goldenboy Santos vs. Fast Time Moodo & Stephanie Maze

We’ve a pair of debuting tag teams here, and we start with Rambo and Moodo locking horns. A hair-pull from Rambo sees him take Moodo into the corner before throwing him across the ring.

Moodo responds with some kicks, but he falls into the path of an attempted powerbomb as the pair reach a standoff. Tags bring in Maze and Santos, with Stephanie throwing some kicks to the inner thigh before Santos used a knuckle lock to power her down to the mat. He gets some two-counts there, before Maze’s neck bridge begrudgingly impressed Santos.

Of course, it was a con, but he’s made to back off as Maze went for a spin kick. A right hand from Maze puts Santos in the corner before some double-team kicks led to a high/low for a near-fall. Santos gets across to tag in Rambo, who caught a kick and dumped Moodo with an overhead suplex for a near-fall, before a back elbow knocked down an incoming Maze. Rambo throws Maze into Santos’ boot, as Stephanie looked to be on the defensive, with a slam putting her down again. Rambo’s back to throw Maze back into the buckles, as Rambo and Santos continued to isolate her with some simple strikes. Shoulder charges keep Maze in another corner, as she gets rolled down for a two-count. Santos goes all Timothy Thatcher with a switching gutwrench suplex for yet another two-count, before something rather un-Thatcher-like led to Santos slapping Maze.

That irks her, and she’s back up with some elbows and body blows, before she ducked a short clothesline to hit a back suplex. Moodo’s ready to go as he tags in… Rambo’s in too, but Moodo’s all about those kicks, dropping Santos with aa scissor kick before a knee strike left Rambo down. Corner-to-corner chops wait for Rambo and Santos, before Santos got suplexed into his own partner, leading to a two-count in the corner. Moodo goes for a spin kick, but Rambo caught him. A spinning heel kick dumps Rambo, but Santos is the legal man… Moodo argues, and gets caught with a chop before Santos hits the Midas Touch (Chase Owens’ Jewel Heist clothesline) for a near-fall, with Maze breaking it up. Rambo’s back in to take another kick, as Maze tags in to throw in another head kick.

She knocks Santos off the apron before Rambo threw her across the ring with a belly-to-belly. Maze tags out, with Moodo coming right in with a spinning rear kick that takes down Rambo for the win. They got some decent time here, and while they’re still getting used to intergender matches, this was a pretty good little match as they’re finding their feet. **¾

They replay Senza Volto beating Tristan Archer earlier, as Senza’s back with Andy Jackson. Andy brings up Senza’s comment on Tristan, calling him the “best in France,” and apparently that moniker now goes to Volto. Andy wants to see Senza back, but he doesn’t have any future plans in wXw… unless the fans campaign. A nice way to tie in the social media plugs…

Backstage, Marius al-Ani is bending Hektor’s ear. There’s some backhanded compliments as he tries to talk Hektor into a match with Jurn Simmons, thinking a win for Hektor will boost his name value. It works…

Tristan Archer’s now with Andy Jackson, still sore from his loss. Andy’s all about the earlier comments as he asked if Tristan really treats his family like he treated Senza… before he dropped in the awkward interview question. Where do you see yourself in the future? Tristan’s here to get wins, and he promises next time he’ll get one.

In the office, Killer Kelly’s interrupted by Levaniel. I like how he’s always walking around in his robe and his gear. He tries to sweet talk Kelly into how he “was there for her, during her problems with Alexander James”… and of course, he has some requests. Of course, he’s got no idea why Amale’s ghosting him, but maybe it’s to do with the almost-stalking that’s going on here. Kelly’s listening to music instead of Levaniel… he begs for advice, but she’s not interested in any drama.

We continue the Mike Schwarz documentary, as he’s at the Stadion Niederrhein – the home of Rot-Weiss Oberhausen. He recalls the feeling of solidarity with his matches on match days and the time when Oberhausen beat Cologne 6-1. The Rot-Weiss Oberhausen press officer’s up to give him the club’s backing, as Mike says that wrestling is like football (soccer for Americans). His cup final’s coming up, and everyone loves an underdog story.

They’re doing some fantastic stuff with this Mike Schwarz build – and next week, we get the title match! Also next week: Hektor vs. Jurn Simmons…

Dog Food Match: Norman Harras vs. Avalanche

Hey, Thommi Giesen announces it as a Dog Food match, so I’m calling it that. Referee Tassilo Jung checks the can of dog food before to make sure it’s still sealed…

Of course, we’ve a five minute timer on-screen, as we start with a lock-up that ends up in the corner. Avalanche shoves Harras away, sending Harras into the ropes as he’s doing his damndest to while away the time.

Harras comes back in and goes for a waistlock, but Avalanche counters with a side headlock to take him down to the mat as we get the time checks. A shoulder tackle knocks Harras down, before Avalanche rolled past him ahead of a big shoulder block, sending Norman outside to kill some more time.

Harras is intentionally winding the clock down, so Avalanche pulls him back inside before he clubbed away at him with some elbow shots. Body blows follow in the corner, but Avalanche’s met with a big boot before Harras went up top for a flying clothesline that gets him a two-count. Some knees to the ribs from Harras keep the pressure up as we head into the final minute, but he’s caught off guard as a piledriver’s countered with a back body drop.

Avalanche is right back up with a splash into the corner, a fallaway slam out of it… then a Dreissker bomb to win with 27 seconds on the clock! Short, but you knew what you were getting with this short a time limit. And now, Norman tastes… Pedigree Chum! **½

We get close-ups of Tassilo Jung opening up the dog food – something he’s very used to. Norman tries to escape, but Avalanche keeps his word… and throws Norman face-first into the dog food! The dog food! The dog food! All’s well that ends well, unless you’re Norman, as an attempted dog-napping ends with him taking some of Mila’s food.

We then go backstage as Rambo’s with Metehan… he’s not exactly dressed to impress, but he’s here to tell Metehan what Rotation has been saying. Of course that pisses off Metehan… who’s shaking, and I’m pretty sure Rotation is in trouble.

7.1

The final score: review Good

The 411

Another double-header for Shotgun 2020, and it was a real blend of the sublime and the ridiculous. While the Dog Food Match itself was short, it capped off a fun story that continues to portray Norman Harras Bobby Gunns’ downtrodden hanger on. Some may be annoyed at how the advertised tag title match was postponed, but longer-term fans of wXw will know that especially in an episodic format, the promotion pays off.