wXw/NOAH "Dead End VIII" & "European Navigation" Reports

-wXw/NOAH "DEAD END VIII" & "EUROPEAN NAVIGATION 2008" REPORTS-
by Gianmarco Caprio





wXw presents “Dead End VIII – Day 1”
June 21, 2008 – Saint, Oberhausen, NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, Germany

1.DWA Cruiserweight Tournament European Semifinals - Three-Way Dance: Bernd Föhr vs. Mot van Kunder vs. Payday Patterson

Fun contest to open the show. Payday got “Welcome Back” chants. Fohr was way over. Lots of comedy spots in this one. Fohr pinned Patterson following the Ranhei.

2.Diego Latino vs. Marc Roudin (w/ Chris Hero)

Diego Latino was…drunk. Roudin came to the ring with Chris Hero. The crowd was solidely behind Marc. Nothing special here, Roudin went over with La Moneyière (Cross-legged Michinoku Driver).
Right after the match, Emil Sitoci came out. He talked trash about Roudin, continuing their heated feud.He also stated that he’s going to participate in a reality show and be a TV star.

3.Absolute Andy & Claudio Castagnoli w/Don Jakobi & Steve Douglas vs. T-Bones (Thumbtack Jack & Bad Bones)

Andy had the microphone and started talking in german. I felt handicapped. Then Stevie got the mic. His target: Chris Hero, and their wXw title match tonight. Despite being the heel, Claudio came out to a big pop. Bones channelled Kobashi with the Machine Gun chops. Big spot of the match was T-Jack tornado DDT’ing Claudio outside of the ring right in front of my eyes. Crowd chanted “KENTA’s gonna kill you” at Claudio. Andy & Claudio won when Claudio pinned T-Jack following the Ricola Bomb. Best match thus far.
15 min. intermission.
Back from intermission. The first name announced for “Broken Rulz VIII” is DRAKE YOUNGER! Big crowd reaction for Drake.

4.Lodz-style KO Catch Match - Big van Walter & Bruisin' Marc Slater vs. Revolution Purple (Lazio Fe & Roberto "The Bull" Lequimez)

Lazio announced Lequimez as the new member of Revolution Purple. Adam Polak is injured. Walter did Kobashi’s trademark neck chop. At one point, someone in wrestling tights appeared the crowd. He then entered the ring and hit Slater with a scary Olympic Slam. Walter & Slater won when Walter pinned Lazio following a Lariat. A bit disappointing, but still acceptable.
HATE hit the ring and had the Deutschland flag. Him and Rico Bushido (the one of the run-in) had an altercation, then Rico came to the ring aswell. A FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE was sanctioned.

5.Falls Count Anywhere – HATE vs. Rico Bushido

Chaos. They immediately moved outside, and started brawling. I followed them for a while, then came back to the ring area and found a place around the ring. I’m happy. The two eventually came back to the ring, where HATE hit the Shining Knee on Bushido to get the three count.

6.wXw World Heavyweight Title – Steve Douglas w/Don Jakobi & Absolute Andy vs. Chris Hero

The first one to enter was Stevie, accompanied as usual by Jakobi and Andy. “Holding Out For A Hero” ?? here in Saint, and we went absolutely nuts for the appearance of Chris Hero. I high-fived Hero during the entrance. This match was really heated and full of drama. At one point, while Hero had Stevie in the Hangman’s Clutch, Andy came to the ring with Stevie’s wXw Title. Roudin came to the ring aswell and was able to save Hero from the attack, hitting Andy with the wXw Tag Title. Hero busted out everything he had in is arsenal, even trying the Rubix Cube two times. Unfortunately, it was the second time that costed Hero the match, since Stevie countered it and pinned Hero with a Victory Roll.
Post-match, Hero thanked the fans and praised the wXw crowd. Hero than said that are already six and a half years since he debuted for wXw, and he’s not the “American guy”, the “foreigner” anymore, but he’s a part of the family. Hero than said that tomorrow’s event is all about Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. westside Xtreme wrestling. He said that he competed for Pro Wrestling NOAH, but tomorrow, he will be proud to represent wXw against TAKASHI SUGIURA. Hero described Sugiura as “one of the baddest motherfuckers in NOAH”. Hero than praised Roudin, describing him as “the best partner a guy can ask”. Hero and Roudin hugged to end the show.



wXw/NOAH Dead End VIII – Day 2: European Navigation
22 June, 2008 – T-Club, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

1.Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. Westside Xtreme wrestling, Young Lions Challenge: Eddie Edwards (NOAH) vs. Bernd Fohr (wXw)

Perfect opener. Fohr was even more over than yesterday. Edwards is good in the ring, but necessarily needs some characterization. Fohr went over with a hurracarana followed by a jackknife cradle.

2.Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. westside Xtreme wrestling: Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) vs. Chris Hero (wXw)

A Japanese guy with a camera came next to me, I suppose he was taping for G+. This match was originally scheduled to be Takashi Sugiura vs. Adam Polak, but Polak was injured. Sugiura got “Welcome Back” chants (he’s been absent In wXw from 2006). Once again I high-fived Hero during the entrance. They stiffed each other hard in this one. Sugiura won the match with the Olympic Slam in an awesome and balanced match.
POST-MATCH: Absolute Andy & Steve Douglas viciously attacked Chris Hero. Marc Roudin came for the save. The match was officialized.

3.wXw Tag Team Championship: $wiss Money Heroes (Chris Hero & Marc Roudin) © vs. AbLas (Absolute Andy & Steve Douglas)

Each and every time Hero tried to return to the ring, he was blocked from doing it. Hero was frustrated.
Hero then came right next to me at ringside, and began to encourage Roudin. Hero and Douglas then brawled outside. At one point, Hero did a Moonsault from the steel structure on Douglas. That was AWESOME. Then they came back in my area. Douglas locked Hero in a leg submission outside, while Andy applied the Sharpshooter on Roudin in the ring. Marc Roudin reached the ropes, but Andy was quick to re-apply the same submission and Roudin tapped. Absolute Andy & Steve Douglas are once again wXw Tag Team Champions.

4.Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. westside Xtreme wrestling: KENTA (NOAH) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (wXw)

KENTA got a big crowd reaction. High support for Claudio aswell. The two didn’t really match up well, but a fun contest nonetheless. Go 2 Sleep and yet another win for Pro Wrestling NOAH.

5.Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. westside Xtreme wrestling – Relaxed Rules: Jay Briscoe (NOAH) vs. Thumbtack Jack (wXw)

The two immediately moved outside, where they threated a stiff strikes exchange. They brawled around the T-Club, but I did not follow them, and instead I went to recuperate my ringside seat. Yeah. They eventually returned here, and Jay searched something under the ring. He found my bag, but he didn’t seem interested. He moved a bit, and found a board. Jay built a table with it. Then they went on tiers of seats, and Jay tried to DVD TJ, failing. TJ tried to Pumphandle Drive Jay, but failed aswell. Jay went for the J-Driller, but TJ countered it and smashed Jay onto the structure with a Cross-legged Michinoku Driver for the three count! The two then came back to the ring, and hugged.

6.wXw World Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness

Danielson is pure gold in the dickhead bastard heel role. He played the crowd really well. Because of this, the match wasn’t fantastic as it could have been, but hey, it was still Nigel vs. Dragon! Dragon won the match after a low-blow not seen by the referee and a small package.
Dragon received the following chants:
“Fuck You Dragon!”
“Same Old Shit!”
“Boooring!”
And:
YOU CAN’T WRESTLE!”

7.Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. westside Xtreme wrestling: Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki (NOAH) vs. Bad Bones & Big van Walter (wXw)

Both Bones and Walter have had though challenges during the course of 2008, but this was, without a shadow of a doubt, the toughest. Go received “Welcome Back” chants (he has been absent from wXw since 2007 16 Carat). Grand Sword played here in T-Club, and the crowd started chanting “Kobashi! Kobashi! Kobashi!”. This match had so much chops. Machine Gun chops from Kobashi, and the crowd went absolutely nuts. At one point, Go tried to execute a German Suplex on Walter, but moments before the release, Walter just collapsed on Shiozaki. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like Go lost the hold, and Walter fell on him. Bad sight. Then Kobashi took care on Walter with an half-nelson suplex, followed by one on Bones aswell. Kobashi & Shiozaki did lots of double-team moves based on chops. Kobashi pinned Walter following the Burning Lariat. Post-match, all 4 men celebrated in the ring. Very touching moment.


by Gianmarco Caprio