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On the edge of the inner city of Germany’s “Gateway To The World” stands a building constructed in 1913, and operating as a concert venue since 1977 – Markthalle Hamburg. The first Ramones concert on German soil in 1978, Iggy Pop in ‘79, The Clash, The Cure, Metallica, and REM throughout the ’80s, the original “Definitely Maybe” tour by Oasis in 1994 – this room and it’s incredible acoustics has seen and heard history.
On May 16, 2026, in Hamburg, Hugo Brand, and Niklas Bock had the biggest night of their young careers. As the tag team “Quick & Dirty,” these two local kids would get their first shot at the wXw World Tag Team Titles. They would do so in front of their friends and family, in their hometown. In Der Markthalle. The future story of Brand and Bock is a long way from being written, but whatever their careers become, nobody can take from them the special night they had two weeks ago.
It was a match soaked in the partisan atmosphere that one would hope for with hometown babyfaces going against imposing veteran heels Robert Dreissker & Marc Empire. It wasn’t the smoothest, or the fanciest, but it was dramatic, well structured, and memorable for the heart and fire shown by the two youngsters. So much so, that it drew comparisons to a match which now has an almost mythical legacy in wXw’s history.
Lofty praise to compare anything to Nov. 16, 2013. On that night, Dreissker was one half of the “AUTsiders,” a dominant heel tag team from Austria with the monster Big Van Walter (who you may know as Gunther), and for 31 minutes they basked in the hatred of a Markthalle crowd which earned the name “Das Powercrowd.” It was oh so fitting, as this crowd powered a team of young babyfaces from Hamburg to victory, and one young man to the top of wXw. On that night it was “Hot & Spicy” – Da Mack & Axel Dieter Jr.
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Junior, in front of his late father (legendary Catch wrestler Axel Dieter), took an all time beating. His blood, sweat, and tears soaked the historic floors and his fire and heart surged him forward to a performance that defied his experience and athleticism. In 2013, ADJ was green, skinny, and not the most dynamic of athletes to say the least, but on that night it didn’t matter one iota. Walter delivered what remains one of his greatest performances, and it helped give Junior the platform to leave the 450 fans in attendance with a memory to cherish. It was a babyface performance to die for.
It shouldn’t have taken this long, but 13 years later, the same man was able to give 12,000 fans in Monterrey a memory to cherish. And it was the same fire, heart, passion, and pure pro wrestling instincts that allowed him to do so.
I thought WWE was too far gone in its journey down the road of becoming a plastic, soulless content factory for it to ever be able to generate something that I would describe as truly great, authentic pro wrestling ever again. But it took a lad who has the heart of a wrestler, the genes of a wrestler, and the love of pro wrestling to connect with fans who were willing to completely engage and throw themselves into what they were watching to make that happen. These fans were not vapidly filming themselves reacting, but genuinely getting emotionally invested and reacting naturally.
What we saw unfold at AAA’s Noche De Los Grandes was pro wrestling triumphing over the soulless content era, and breathing life to a storyline which on paper would have sounded like all the worst instincts of modern WWE. When Axel/Marcel/Ludwig donned the mask of El Grande Americano in 2025, you will never convince me that anyone in that company foresaw this outcome as the end goal.
I can’t claim to have seen every step of this journey, but I saw enough to know that this was a case of an extremely passionate, motivated, and frustrated pro wrestler forcing the hand of a company that for once was willing to go with the direction of the tide. He put forth the same passion he showed as a young wrestler who connected with crowds across Germany and the UK, and he connected with the crowds of Mexico at a level which amplified that to the point that it couldn’t be ignored.
On a personal note, I should disclose that I knew him well in his wXw days and I sat in the back of cars with him, both of us white as ghosts, car sick, as we flew down the Autobahn at 200km/hr. I’ve seen him excited, I’ve seen him frustrated, and I’ve seen him focused. He loves pro wrestling and I promise you it was breaking his heart that he wasn’t getting the chance to connect like a true pro wrestler.
As soon as he got a sniff of that possibility, he wasn’t going to stop until he got the most from it and what you’ve seen with him learning the language, embracing lucha libre culture, and working so hard in everything that’s been asked of him is no shock to me. When I saw the angle with his girlfriend Andrea Bazarte and Chad Gable (OG Grande) a few weeks back where he exploded into one of the wildest brawls I’ve seen in years, I was like “oh my God, it’s babyface Junior!!” When I saw that crowd coming alive for him, and his incredible promo, I knew that something special was on the horizon.
His recent outside-the-ring incident I’m sure was something he regrets happening, but it would be ludicrous to suggest it didn’t help make him an even bigger babyface to his new adoring fanbase, and it’s highly unlikely he got anything other than an “atta boy” from his employers.
Everything leading up to Noche De Los Grandes meant anticipation and expectations were high. Everyone involved met the moment, and the result is a match with credible Match Of The Year hype. The list of ingredients that went into this presentation is as long as the time it takes to travel from Hamburg to Monterrey by boat. AUTsiders vs. Hot & Spicy, the Gran Apache vs. Billy Boy feud during Antonio Pena’s last year of booking AAA before his death, WrestleMania main events, peak NXT, and of course bigtime Apuestas matches – there were elements of all these things that I saw in this. Was it my idealized form of pro wrestling? No, but it was absolutely pure unadulterated pro wrestling to its core.
I can completely understand why anyone would be slow to embrace anything produced by the modern WWE/TKO machine – believe me, I’m right there with you. However, this is one where I promise you they were just along for the ride. Because pro wrestling, pro wrestling fans, and two great pro wrestlers drove this boat.
When it comes to Marcel Barthel/Axel Dieter Jr/El Grande Americano, the port of Hamburg really was the gateway to the world.
(Ever since getting the life scared out of him on TV by Earthquake in 1991, Alan has been a passionate wrestling fan, expanding his interests into the independent and international scenes during the early 2000s. Whether you want to know about the rising stars in Japan, or get nostalgic and talk ROH vs. CZW, Alan is your man, and he’s been podcasting and writing about wrestling for over ten years as well as working as a commentator for wXw in Germany on their big events. Check out Alan4L’s ProWres Paradise!, a PWTorch VIP-exclusive podcast. Listen with a PWTorch VIP membership.)
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