On the weekend we went to our very first non-WWE wrestling event; NEW Extreme 3!
New European Championship Wrestling is a league or promotion from and by former WCW star Alex "Das Wunderkind" Wright. Thus, and from what we had seen on the NEW Youtube Channel, we had rather high expectations. And they surely didn't get disappointed!
Extreme 3 was, as the name might have already told you, the third "Extreme" show of NEW, featuring only matches with "extreme" gimmicks. Furthermore,only people over the age of 18 were allow to attend the show!
Izzy vs. Sir Eric - No Disqualification Match
One of the "main people" of NEW is Big Brother Steve. He got suspended for attacking a referee and Izzy, who had been part of the crowd that evening. Now, Izzy insulted him for being a pussy and cowardly for not stepping into the ring with him. Of course Big Steve took some precautions, sending his protegee Sir Eric into the ring instead.
Izzy - known from being part of the former boy band US5 - isn't really liked by the crowd
Big Steve explains Izzy why he can't participate
Sir Eric is Big Steve's substitute
Izzy actually managed to deliver some moves against Sir Eric...
...until Big Steve interfered, first beating down Izzy, and then his own protegee, using his metal bar "Chyna"!
This did certainly not help with his suspension!
The match left a clearly visible impression on Izzy
It was rather obvious that Dir Eric was the way more experienced and adept fighter in the ring, but Izzy still managed to counter and apply the one or other move. Relatively early in the match, he busted his head open though as Sir Eric rammed him into an exposed turnbuckle. As Izzy managed to gain some momentum after this again, Big Steve couldn't remain on his seat anymore, attacking both men in the ring with his signature weapon: a metal bar named Chyna. None of the contenders was able to stand up anymore, and so the referee counted them both out.
After this beat down, it is more than questionable what Big Steve's intentions are. Why did he attack Sir Eric as well? Will this earn him something even worse than his suspension? Will Izzy seek revenge?
Kratos & Ursus vs. Mexx - 2-on-1 Handicap Match
A match that sadly never happened. Kratos lead Ursus to the ring, having him on a leash made of chains, announcing that he picks his time to fight, and that he wouldn't participate in a Handicap Match since this would simply be beneath him. Ursus wasn't amused by this at all. All the bear-like man wanted was to fight, and thus this lead to the turn of Kratos' "pet" against his master!
Kratos is up to no good.
Ursus broke free
Ursus broke free
Tommy Blue Eyes vs. The Arabian Star - Armed Lumberjack Match
At Extreme 3, the Lumberjacks around the ring are traditionally armed with different things; billiard cues, metal trays, hockey sticks, carpet beaters... you name it! Furthermore, the Lumberjacks are divided in factions. The heel Lumberjack apparently support the heel wrestler in the ring, lurking on his side of the ring, the face Lumberjacks doing the same on the opposite side of the ring.I personally don't think that The Arabian Star is particularly interesting in the ring, but Tommy Blue Eyes' high flying actions provided quite some exciting moments during the match. Still, the focus constantly got drawn to the Lumberjacks, them mostly being wrestlers that would face each other in matches later this evening, already letting their frustration show.
NEW World Heavyweight Champion V.I.P, Demolishion Davis, and Sir Eric (and Marius Al-Ani; not in the picture) were the Lumberjacks on The Arabian Star's side
On the other hand, Tommy had, among others, Adrian Severe on his side
Even with his strength, The Arabian Star didn't have much to oppose Tommy's high flying maneuvers
Kicked off of the top rope with a Dropkick
Even the hard concrete floor of the arena didn't prevent Tommy to dive out of the ring as The Arabian Star tried to escape
V.I.P rather unimpressed by this match
Adrian Severe, Scotty Saxxon, and Miguel Ramirez help their friend to get out of the ring
After the Lumberjacks engaged in brawl after brawl outside the ring, and the heel faction managed to pull The Arabian Star into safety after Tommy hit him with his "Out of the Blue", a "Sandstorm" sealed the high flyers fate. Winner of this match: The Arabian Star who attacked referee Eric Jaschke after he raised his hand in victory.
T-K-O & Juvenile X vs. Cash Crash & Mexx - Tornado Elimination Tag Team Ladder Match
In July, NEW hosts Deadline, a show that features a ladder match for the Escape to Destiny Briefcase (cf. MITB briefcase). At Extreme 3, in a Tornado Elimination Tag Team Ladder Match should give the two men that manage to grab the two briefcases hanging from the ceiling the opportunity to bypass the tournament that will determine the other contestants for the match at Deadline.Weeks prior, Juvenile X and T-K-O have been granted this opportunity. Their possible opponents? The rookies Cash Crash from Switzerland and DenKo from Greece. Cash Crash actually showed up, while instead of DenKo's tron a video of Mexx was shown backstage. Since Kratos called off their match for later on, the NEW office grants him a spot in the Ladder Match. The fans as well as Cash Crash were rather ecstatic over the quite agile power house getting this opportunity.
Juvenile X and T-K-O
Cash Crash from Switzerland looks rather green
Mexx, on the other hand, is well known and popular among the NEW crowd
Juvenile X is too fast for Mexx
Face off above the ring; Cash Crash is not too happy to see T-K-O there
Mexx clears the ring
Juvenile X and T-K-O contemplate what to do next
Mexx is done with Cash Crash's shit
Cash Crash gets the first briefcase
Juvenile X is too fast for Mexx
Face off above the ring; Cash Crash is not too happy to see T-K-O there
Mexx clears the ring
Juvenile X and T-K-O contemplate what to do next
Mexx is done with Cash Crash's shit
Cash Crash gets the first briefcase
At first, Cash Crash is the chosen victim of Juvenile X and T-K-O. They wear him down until Mexx comes to his forced partner's aid. While Mexx and Juvenile X gave each other a hard time in the ring, T-K-O knocked Cash Crash out of the ring and through the crowd. Eventually, Mexx (with very little help of his partner) knocked the tag team out, helping Cash Crash to climb the ladder and get the first briefcase.
Instead of grabbing the second case as well, the Swiss man jumped off the ladder and fled the ring in high speed, posing on the stage with his briefcase before he disappeared, leaving a shocked and angered Mexx behind. His try to get the second briefcase himself was stopped by Juvenile X and T-K-O who then realized that only one of them would get a chance to get the wildcard for the Ladder Match at Deadline.
T-K-O takes care of Mexx
Double Team move off the ladder
Former partners become opponents
Every man for himself
Juvenile X grabd the second briefcase
A sign of respect; Mexx hugs T-K-O
It was every man for himself, and so Juvenile X and T-K-O gave each other a hard time while still trying to prevent Mexx from getting his hands on the briefcase. In the end, Juvenile X had the upper hand, climbing the ladder, and thus earning his wildcard for Deadline. All three faces showed great sportsmen ship as they celebrated together once the match was over, no sour feelings to be seen either between T-K-O and his partner, or Mexx and the tag team.
V.I.P vs. Miguel Ramirez - Tables Match
In a Tables Match, the Mexican luchador Miguel Ramirez took on NEW World HEaviweight Champion V.I.P, someone who in the run-up to the show stated that he hates Tables Matches like nothing else.
Miguel Ramirez; his mask sports moth-likes antenas and is just as colorful as the rest of his gear
V.I.P shows strong resemblances to Stone Cold Steve Austin, especialyl with his habit of giving people the finger
Ramirez, even though very fast, hardly stood a chance against the champion's strength
"D-Von! Get the tables!"
Ramirez comes flying
A whipping for the luchador
The champ leaves with his title...
...Ramirez with the help of the referee
Ramirez, even though very fast, hardly stood a chance against the champion's strength
"D-Von! Get the tables!"
Ramirez comes flying
A whipping for the luchador
The champ leaves with his title...
...Ramirez with the help of the referee
Despite his high flying expertise and several good opportunities, Miguel Ramirez hardly stood a chance against the powerful and relentless V.I.P. In the end, the NEW World Heavyweight Champion V.I.P rams a flying Ramirez head first through a table with his "VIP Status".
Adrian Severe vs. Marius Al-Ani - Street Fight
The reason for this match was rather quaint. In a backstage segment, Marius Al-Ani attacked the former NEW World Heavyweight Champion Severe with a razor, resulting in Severe having to completely shave his head. For the man from Southern Tirol, this had been enough of a reason to face Al-Ani in a Street Fight at Extreme 3!
Marius Al-Ani carries his weapons to the ring.
Hiding his baldness underneath a beanie still, Adrian Severe attacks with a Clothesline
Everything can be a weapon; here, Al-Ani is using a simple broom
Trash cans are very popular as well
Severe is not happy that Al-Ani kicked out of the pin
Cesaro-ian strength; Severe lifts Al-Ani off the Apron with a Suplex!
Al-Ani is out of the ring...
... but Severe is quick to follow
Ring announcer Stefan Matern gets involved in a way he seemed surprised of.
Severe apparently thinks Al-Ani is "shit"
Suprising victory for Al-Ani, because this move threw Severe through a table
To recap all the actions of the match would deserve another blog post for sure. Marius Al-Ani was a vicious opponent for the likewise strong and agile Adrian Severe. Brooms, trays, trash cans, tables, even a toilet seat have been used by the two opponents, that delivered one of the best matches of the evening; both inside and outside the ring.For the more or less WWE-spoiled viewer, Adrian Severe showed strong resemblances to Cesaro and Sabu in his in ring actions. Impossible? Oh no, Severe did exactly this, combining strength with high flying maneuvers.
Consequently, the fans weren't on Marius Al-Ani's side as the smaller wrestler put Severe through a table and actually got the 3-count.
Ursus vs. Georg „Schorschi“ Gwärch - Berchkerwa Brawl
Prior the event, it still hadn't been quite clear who Schorschi's opponent in this match should be. Or what a Berchkerwa Brawl even is. After his split from Kratos, it was Ursus who took on the wrestler with the clear home advantage. In the end, the Berchkerwa Brawl could be described as a Street Fight that didn't involve the usual tables, but a massive beer table and the according bench, a gingerbread heart, and a typically Bavarian beer mug.Sadly, my camera gave up after the match between Al-Ani and Severe, thus I can't really show picture proof of the match.Ursus and Schorschi didn't go easy on each other, both having to learn that a beer table doesn't break as easily as the usually used tables at all. In the end, it was Ursus who defeated Schorschi with his own demanded weapon: the beer mug, smashing the class mug over Schorschi's head.
Scotty Saxxon vs. Demolishion Davies - Last man Standing Match
In the course of the match, it rather turned into a "The crowd is permanently standing Match" after Demolishion Davies threw his opponent into the rows of chairs.
Demolishion Davies (picture from the earlier Lumberjack Match)
With Scotty Saxxon and Demolishion Davies, we saw a match between two men that know each other like no other; after all they had been appearing as the tag team Amazing Hate in the past. The somewhat experienced wrestling fan knows that such a combination, two friends in the same ring against each other, is almost a guarantee for an amazing match. What Saxxon and Davies delivered surely was no exception to that unwritten rule.Kendo sticks, trays, tables, chairs, thumbtacks... Everything humanly possible that either of the two competitors could find underneath the match was used. Anything goes at it's best. And yet, what we saw wasn't a simple brawl, no feast of brutality, no. Despite the usage of multiple weapons, we got to see a technically superior match.
A few things I want to address here are for once, Scotty Saxxon hitting the Neutralizer on the 182 kg (about 401 lbs) weighing Davies, sending him head first into a chair. And secondly, the Sommersault the "Germany's Heaviest Wrestler" hit on Saxxon outside the ring, crashing him through a table. Seeing such a move does one thing to you: leaving you in complete and utter awe! The crowd was frantic as Davies managed to get back on his feet at the 8-count of the referee while Scotty Saxxon simply didn't manage to find back into the match after this devastating maneuver. Demolishion Davies got his deserved victory over his former partner after over 16 minutes!
For his victory, the big man earned the trophy of "Mr. Extreme 2014"; a baseball bat that had formerly been used as the Hardcore Championship Title in NEW. Not only did Amber Rox come to the ring to celebrate this victory with Davies, but as soon as Scotty Saxxon was back on his feet, the hate between the two men seemed gone as they hugged each other and Saxxon even presented his new trophy to Davies. To show his mutual respect, Davies finally wrapped the heavy chain that he had been wearing before the match around his friend's neck. Amazing Hate reunited? It seems so!
Résumé
Our first NEW event and it couldn't have been more beautiful! With the Street Fight and the Last Man Standing Match we saw two sublime matches, while the Tornado Elimination Tag Team Ladder Match was a feast for the eyes in the sense of technical wrestling as well.With Adrian Severe, Scotty Saxxon, and Mexx the NEW has - in my eyes! - three top wrestlers in their roster that are fun and interesting to watch, and that manage to make the audience bait their breath with their really spectacular moves.
Plus, where else has someone ever chanted consequently and consecutively for one wrestler for over 16 minutes? This is NEW for you! And this was certainly not our last visit of the NEW HotSpot!
