Fer Lopez netted inside three minutes to give Wolves the perfect start at St. Andrews, but Jay Stansfield’s half volley levelled terms.
Ladislav Krejci marked his return to the team by heading Wolves back in front, but a bonkers first half of football ended with Jackson Tchatchoua’s calamitous own goal as he watched his back pass roll into the net.
Wolves were poor in a difficult second half and were constantly being bullied at set pieces, but they managed to hang on to take a point back to the Black Country.
Analysis
Cesar Peixoto made two changes to the team that lost 4-2 at West Ham in midweek.
After the club turned down offers for him and decided he would stay, Krejci came straight into the team and replaced Toti Gomes, while Mateus Mane was also dropped in favour of Adam Armstrong.
Toti missing out meant Raul Jimenez was named captain.
On the bench, new signings Ghislain Konan and Sean Neave were involved, while Santi Bueno was left out.
The centre-back is currently the most likely player to depart, with Wolves’ 25-man squad full once Bertrand Traore’s imminent signing is confirmed.
Pyrotechnics and fireworks were set off as the teams walked out at St. Andrews, in what was a loud and intense West Midlands derby atmosphere.
Just three minutes in it was the away end that was celebrating wildly, as Jimenez released Rodrigo Gomes down the right and he attacked the byline before crossing for Lopez to finish from close range.
Birmingham immediately put on some pressure and Wolves had to defend resolutely, before another nice move resulted in Lopez forcing a save from goalkeeper James Beadle.
Moments later, Jimenez danced into the box and went down under a challenge from Bright Osayi-Samuel - a penalty could easily have been given by the referee waved it away.
Wolves had a huge chance for a second when a mistake from Christoph Klarer gave Jimenez the ball and he found R.Gomes, with just the goalkeeper to beat.
His shot was going in, but had little pace, and Klarer was able to recover in time to clear it off the line.
At the other end, Klarer meets a corner with a back post header but nods it wide, after Jose Sa dropped to the floor after contact, but the referee did not award a free-kick.
Birmingham got their goal in the 23rd minute when Patrick Roberts lifted a ball behind the defence, where a huge gap had formed between the centre-backs, and Stansfield ran off Andre and into the space before taking a touch and delivering a fierce half volley into the roof of the net.
But Wolves silenced the home fans once again when a Hugo Bueno corner was flicked on by Andre at the near post and Krejci came flying in to deliver a powerful header that crashed into the back of the net.
However, that lead was short lived again and the equaliser was an absolute calamity from Tchatchoua.
It should have been a routine pass back for the defender, but with Sa already off his line, Tchatchoua lifted a terrible pass beyond his goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
In an entertaining game, Jimenez then went close from a 25-yard free-kick that smashed the crossbar.
A crazy half of football came to an end with the score locked at 2-2.
In the early stages of the second half, Birmingham had more of the ball and looked threatening from several corners, as Wolves hung in there.
The hosts nearly scored when Phil Neumann met a cross and his effort deflected off Tchatchoua before bouncing off the crossbar.
Birmingham were screaming for a penalty following Andre’s challenge on August Priske, but nothing was given.
Moments later, Klarer met a free-kick and someone missed the target when he should have scored with his header.
Despite all of Blues’ dominance, Wolves had a chance to win it in the 87th minute when Lopez did well to win the ball and with the goal at his mercy, he played it to Armstrong for a tap-in from 10 yards, but he managed to fire it over the bar to the amazement of everyone in attendance.
At the other end, Blues messed up a two against one situation in the 90th minute.
Tchatchoua gave away a terrible free-kick on the edge of the box in the very final minute of the game and Marvin Ducksch took aim, but Sa was equal to it.
That was the final action of the match, as Wolves held on for a point on their travels.
Key Moments
GOAL 3 Lopez puts Wolves ahead early on
GOAL 23 Stansfield fires the hosts level
GOAL 31 Krejci heads Wolves back into the lead
GOAL 36 A dreadful Tchatchoua own goal makes it 2-2
Teams
Wolves: Sa, Tchatchoua, Djiga, Krejci, H.Bueno, Andre (Traore, 87), Munetsi (James, 68), Armstrong (Neave, 87), Lopez, R.Gomes (Mane, 68), Jimenez (Doyle, 75).
Subs not used: Virginia, Toti, Konan, Chirewa.
Birmingham: Beadle, Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane, Tomoki, Paik, Roberts (Vicente, 81), Stansfield (Ducksch, 81), Millar (Gray, 69, Laird, 91), Priske (Vasquez, 81).
Subs not used: Allsop, Fry, Lund, Kanya.
Sa, Jackson and Munetsi have to be dropped. Jackson was a genuine 0/10 rating. Horrible in everything he did. We need to find a solution at RB. Maybe Rodrigo Gomes. Anyone but Jackson. No way you keep your place with that performance. Unacceptable.
Tchatchoua had the worst performance of any player I have ever seen. He is useless.