2nd June, 2018 – Alte Heizhaus, Dresden, Germany

If the infamous IPW: Germany Wrestling Weltmeisterschaft show is anything to go by – the Germans love a show in the outdoors. It’s not something that’s done too often in the UK & Ireland for climate reasons so to see a show in the bright sunshine is a lovely treat. Friend of the site @Alan4L put this phenomenon into context last year when describing his passion for barbecuing by channeling the emotions he felt watching Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit at WCW Hog Wild 1996 for the first time.

Next Step Wrestling are another promotion who have thrown caution to the wind (and potential rain) and put on a show outdoors – this time in the beautiful city of Dresden. We’ve spoken a little bit about Next Step on this site before – but if you’ve not heard of this promotion you’re certainly missing out. Next Step started in 2014 initially as an academy/training post for Berlin’s German Wrestling Federation before splitting off a few years later. Wrestlers such as Ilja Dragunov and Laurance Roman can consider Next Step as their home promotion having spent time under the eyes of Axel Tischer and Rick Baxxter in their formative years. Although Dragunov has seemingly flown the nest, Die Waschbär Laurance Roman has emerged as somewhat of an ace for the company.

The show opens just as a live band has finished a song and the crowd is really energetic – it’s clear that there’s a real party atmosphere from the off and NSW’s master of ceremonies Sven Hellmich keeps this going. CAGEMATCH says that 750 people went to this show but from the wide shots it’s clear they drew more than IPW: Germany did in their weird amphitheater. I can tell this would have been a great time regardless of how well the matches went.

MATCH ONE: Next Step National Title: Fabius Titus (c) vs. Mike Schwarz

First up is National Champion Fabius Titus who comes from the GWF system up in Berlin. He comes out dressed in spangled gold trousers and gets frustrated by taunts from the crowd. His opponent is Mike Schwarz who is a mainstay of wXw and somewhat of a cult icon in Germany. Mikey loves a beer and downs a can before the match even begins – what’s not to like? The pair battle in and out of the ring and Titus begins to focus on Schwarz’s left leg – trapping the Oberhausen man in a figure four which is predictably turned over. Schwarz gets up and prepares for a chokeslam but Titus rakes his eyes and knocks the referee aside – giving him enough time to kick Schwarz in the knackers for a roll up.

Not a bad opener.

MATCH TWO: Heizhaus Cup Battle Royal

Working on the theory that a show is incomplete without a multi-man – next is a rumble for the Heizhaus Cup – currently held by Dynamite Dave. First out is Captain Marcus Monere who has a pirate gimmick and is frequently seen taking huge gulps out of a pouch of rum. The second entrant is Lukas Robinson, whom is probably best known for being on GWF’s Who’s Next programme as well as being the star of the show in the inaugural #WrestlingDeutschland event over 16 Carat Gold 2018. Robinson has an Australian backpacker gimmick and (although you can’t hear it on VOD) comes out to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) which basically makes him the best wrestler ever. Dynamite Dave is third out and doesn’t appear to have any real distinguishable character barring being a heel. The ring begins filling up quickly as Prinz Leopold (a royalty gimmick) and Askeladd (a viking that comes to the ring covered in blood) both make their entrances. Askeladd and Monere begin a partnership (respect amongst fellow seafarers?) and pummel on Dynamite Dave and Leopold.

The entrances come in thick and fast and we’re still yet to get an elimination. Matze (who appears to be a big fan of Dragonball Z?) comes in at #6. #7 is Rockabilly Roy who looks a bit like Dean Ambrose. #8 is Dietrich Jr – the biggest person in the match so far. Martin Guerrero is in at #9 and is a famous German YouTuber who held the GWF Loserweight Title for a while. It’s like if Defiant booked Maffew. Guerrero flattens everyone in the ring with a crossbody and picks up Matze who appears to be his tag team partner. Guerrero actually picks up the first elimination after he dumps out Prinz Leopold. There’s a number of eliminations as #10 Joey Vega makes his way to the ring – with Dietrich, Matze and Guerrero taking the fall. Nickolaus Kluth is #11 and SKULL EVIL (great name!) is #12. Kluth, Robinson, Roy and Askeladd all get eliminated offscreen. Monare and SKULL EVIL clash and Vega tries to take advantage by rushing the pirate but gets thrown out for his efforts. SKULL EVIL gets up but he’s sent to the outside after a big boot from Monare. Monare and Dave are the last two in the match and Dave retains the cup after Monare is distracted by SKULL EVIL.

This wasn’t anything special but at least the vast majority had good, strong, identifiable gimmicks that were easy to understand for a new viewer.

MATCH THREE: Koray vs. Zeritus

We’re back to singles action after the madness of the battle royal – and we’ve got two names familiar to dedicated fans of German ‘undergraps’ in Koray and Zeritus. Koray is another one of Next Step’s homegrown talents and has wrestled extensively for GWF (holding the tag belts with Cem Kaplan) and sporadically with wXw as a job guy on wXw Shotgun. Zeritus is a big guy who looks like he’s just stepped off the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and has performed on several wXw live tour events. Despite his gimmick and move set lending itself to being a monster heel – Zeritus is the clear favourite here despite using Mongolian chops and chokes frequently. Koray emerged with Zeritus’s ‘hockey murderer mask’ and this distracted Zeritus on many occasions during the match. In all honesty, Koray doesn’t get that much offence on the big man who pounds him from the opening bell. However the match finishes when Koray takes Zeritus’s chain and mask and beats him with it – causing referee “Shooter” Schulz to call for the bell.

MATCH FOUR: Next Step Tag Team Titles:
Team Dynamo (Matt Buckna & Sternau) (c) vs. Cartel 901 (Chris Rocke & Christopher Anthony) vs. Catch Connection (Alexander Reich & Ronny Kessler) vs. Schwinger Club (Brent Rogers & Garett Noah)

It’s time for more multi-man madness – this time for the Next Step Tag Titles. wXw Head Official Tasillo Jung is the man in the middle so you can tell straight away that this match is a big deal. First out are the “Kings of Porn Style” Der Schwinger Club complete with their ‘mini Martina’ in Kimbaaali at ringside. Garett Noah takes a bump early on when he tries to take his shirt off from the top turnbuckle and plants himself on the floor. Cartel 901 are next and they’re both big muscular lads. That’s about it. Catch Connection emerge third with an amateur wrestling gimmick and they’re joined by Dietrich Jr, whom you will have seen in the Rumble. The final team – the champions – are Team Dynamo. Team Dynamo are supposed to be ultras from the Dynamo Dresden football team and as such are hugely over with the crowd. There’s a large portion of the crowd wearing Dynamo gear and waving yellow flags and scarfs which is a cool image.

This is your usual four corner tag match with loads of mental spots. Nothing major to write home about. Catch Connection get the pin on one of the Cartel 901 boys after a crossbody doomsday device and are the new tag team champions.

After the match Team Dynamo cut a heartfelt promo apologising to the crowd and embrace before Sternau hits Buckna with a diamond cutter. You could see this coming from a mile off.

MATCH FIVE:

Alpha Lovers (Alpha Kevin & Melanie Gray) vs. Killer Kelly & Laurance Roman

After the intermission we’re back with some mixed tag action. It’s cool to see the Alpha Lovers in action once more because this combination were such a big thing when I started to watch wXw. Gray is still in her evil fairy godmother gimmick here so she’s getting great heat as usual whilst Alpha Kevin continues his happy-go-lucky schtick. It’s a cool dynamic.

Melzi gets the chance to continue her ‘forever feud’ with Killer Kelly as she emerges ahead of shoot raccoon Laurance Roman. Kelly has done a bit of intergender stuff in wXw and Pro Wrestling Holland and she’s shown a real aptitude to it. wXw NOW’s dubbing restrictions mean we miss out on a rousing rendition of Hey, wir wollen die Waschbären sehn! which truly breaks my heart.

If you’ve seen any of Kelly and Melanie’s work together you know how this is going – they’ve got superb chemistry together and this is no different. Roman is insanely over with the Dresden crowd who sing his theme all through the match. Alpha Kevin is in great shape here (he’s not been in wXw since 2017!) but he can’t stop Roman and his frog (raccoon?) splash for the 1-2-3.

MATCH SIX: Next Step National/European Title #1 Contendership:

Franz Engel vs. Ivan Kiev vs. Julian Pace vs. Shadow

Two well-known faces from wXw fans collide with two relative unknowns in the next bout. The first of these; Franz Engel is another GWF product who also wrestled a fair bit in wXw a few years ago alongside Laurance Roman but finds himself mainly in Next Step now. The other new face for many is Shadow – who is one of the forefront wrestlers in Poland and mainly works for Next Step and Maniac Zone Wrestling – the company he operates out of Wrocław in Silesia. Ivan Kiev is here in full RISE gear but sadly sans Pete Bouncer and his abs.

Pace and Kiev battle to the outside at the beginning while Shadow gets some lucha libre style offence onto Engel – who appears to be the heel in this match. This is your traditional four-way spot fest and Pace absolutely thrives in this kind of environment. It’s a testament to his training that every single one of his spots are visually appealing – especially the bits with Shadow where they do a high-speed rendition of the international. The finish is a bit weak though as Pace and Kiev scrap on the outside allowing Engel to hit Shadow with his Santa Maria Driver for the pin to very little reaction.

MATCH SEVEN: Deti Black vs. Matthias Bernstein

Matthias Bernstein is the big draw in the penultimate match of the night – with his OCD-inspired gimmick being a popular act on the German undergraps scene and having a bit of a cult following amongst the travelling fans at the wXw weekenders. Here he’s given a great reception once more but the Dresden faithful give him a shower of rubber gloves rather than streamers. Bernstein begins the match with his usual disinfectant bottle antics but Black has none of it and attacks him from behind.

Black is a very simple, unflashy wrestler who wears a Jon Ryan-esque plain black singlet and he has the upper hand at the start until Bernstein unleashes his house of fire. Black irish whips Bernstein into the corner where referee Jan Dietrich is stood and Bernstein manages to stop a near-inevitable ref bump but he’s distracted by the official’s unkempt collar. Bernstein begins to flatten out his collar and Black rolls him up with a fistful of tights for the 1-2-3.

MATCH EIGHT: Projekt Gold (TinoX & Otto Stahl) vs. Robert Kaiser & Rick Baxxter

Now for the main event – which was originally meant to be a handicap match with Projekt Gold taking on Robert Kaiser alone. After a short promo, Kaiser announces that he wouldn’t be by himself and thus he’d be joined by his best friend Rick Baxxter! All three of the younger boys are from the NextStep/GWF system and Baxxter is somewhat of a veteran on the German scene having made his debut in the late 1990s. The Dresden native is probably best known for his role in Der Schwinger Club – the sex-loving, alcohol-swigging ‘Kings Of Porn Style’ often seen in the mid-level German indies like WrestlingKULT and MWA.

The match begins with Kaiser and Baxxter swiftly dispatching TinoX before they each take turns to bodyslam Stahl in the centre of the ring – with referee Tasillo Jung even getting in on the action with a bodyslam of his own. I’m not usually a fan of referee interference on the whole but Tas is an absolute unit so I’ll let it slide. The Projekt Gold lads are pissed off about this and begin having a go at the ring announcer – but the two faces go to the outside and they begin fighting in the crowd. It should be noted that by now the sun has begun to set and it’s really difficult to make anything out on the roaming camera. The desolate nature of the venue is emphasised as they brawl on the gravel on the fringes of the yard – Baxxter ends up smashing what appears to be a washing basket onto the head of TinoX.

Eventually the action gets back to the ring and predictably this is where the match falls down. None of these are particularly great and they awkwardly fumble for the next five minutes before Projekt Gold set up a table at ringside. As per wrestling lore – TinoX is the one to actually take the bump through the table. After this a big guy in a hoodie (it looks like a fan?) comes into the ring with a chair to help Stahl but he ends up getting the chair in his face after Stahl misses Kaiser. Kaiser then takes that chair and smacks Stahl on the skull for the three count.

Much like how we’ve previously complimented Triple W and BODYSLAM! on The Big European Tour, Next Step seem to have built themselves a nice little promotion featuring a core roster with strong, understandable characters and a lively crowd who want to support everything that goes on. The ‘imports’ from outside the promotion added to the card well and managed to hide some of the shortcomings of their local counterparts. All in all – this event was a great example of what an outside wrestling show should be like. Regardless of the quality of the matches – the party atmosphere definitely aided the show and as such this is worth a watch for the spectacle alone.

This show (and many more from Next Step Wrestling) is available on wXwNOW.

✏️ @MikeKilby