A year to the day after their initial Built To Destroy, WCPW ended up retooling a Loaded taping into an iPPV special, headlining with Rampage challenging Joe Hendry for the title.
Ironically, Rampage was also challenging for the WCPW title last year, coming up short against Big Damo, whilst we also have an accidental rematch from 12 months ago, as El Ligero and Martin Kirby reprise their feud, this time with Ligero wrestling as part of the Prestige. Elsewhere, we had Prospect going for the tag titles in what looked like their last match together as Lucas Archer was entering a medically-enforced hiatus.
WCPW Internet Championship: Sha Samuels vs. Gabriel Kidd (c)
Oh my God, we HAVE gone retro here – Ryan Devlin is back as WCPW’s ring announcer. Built To Destroy this year has a “caution tape” motif, which is nice, if a little US indy-riffic. Anyway, this opener’s all about Gabriel Kidd defending the honor of his mentor Prince Ameen… whose music he is STILL using.
Sha spat on the Internet title at the bell, which made Kidd snap and mock Sha’s “East!” bellowings. Kidd grabs someone’s drink and spits it at Sha, who came straight back into it by choking Kidd with his scarf. Dave Bradshaw on commentary notes how Kidd’s wins have all been through flukey roll-ups, and given how much offence Sha was getting in, it’s likely we’ll have the same again as a big clothesline got the East End Butcher a near-fall.
The comeback starts as Kidd laid into Sha with forearms and clotheslines, before a missile dropkick got him a two-count, only for a spinebuster to quickly turn the tide once more. Sha stumbled into a small package for another two-count, and just like that, a diving kick a la Roderick Strong gets Gabriel Kidd his win! Basic enough, but way too short. **½
After the match, Prince Ameen hits the ring and goads the crowd into “Cockney wanker” chants for Sha. He’s then got some business for Kidd… I hope it’s new ring music. Instead, he goes back to the servitude match from last year, and admits that it was all silly… before taking credit for helping to build Kidd into an international star. The blurry camera hits as Ameen has the contract from last year, and grabs the Internet title saying that he owns it as well as Kidd. He then rips up the contract and finally buries that manservant story… so does that mean he gets his own theme? Even if it was that techno crap he originally had…
YES! THEY DID IT! It’s a rock track, which at least gives him some identity away from that storyline they just wrapped up.
We then see Primate wandering backstage in search of weapons. He finds cheese graters, baking trays and a screwdriver. Maybe he’s looking to bust himself up yet again? Ohmygod he pulls out a barbed wire board… that’ll do it!
Second Chance at World Cup Qualification: BT Gunn vs. Kenny Williams
The winner of this the spot that Drew Galloway originally won before he went back to WWE. Williams neutralised Gunn early on, only for BT to just drop him with a forearm smash.
The pair ended up outside as Gunn laid into Kenny with a chop that echoed around the venue, before shoving Williams into the crowd as he’d tried to leap off of it. Gunn kicks Williams in the ropes and keeps up the offence with a knee lift as the pace kinda meandered. Williams suckered Gunn to the outside several times as he tried to get some distance, eventually leaving BT looking under the ring as he crawled through… and eventually returned with a tope.
A couple of head kicks inconvenienced Williams, as did another knee lift that led to a rebound lariat for Kenny… who then slingshotted himself in the ring and into a superkick as Gunn finished him off with a brainbuster… for another near-fall! Williams blocked a flying Codebreaker and turned it into a jack-knife cover, before a tiltawhirl DDT did the job. Another decent outing, if a little slow-paced to begin with. ***
The camera goes back to the commentary position and the barely-lit tandem of Dave Bradshaw and James R. Kennedy as they lead into clips from the tag team gauntlet a few weeks back, which set-up a rematch of one of that gauntlet’s pairings…
Polo Promotions (Mark Coffey & Jackie Polo) vs. Johnny Moss & Liam Slater
Polo starts off by trying to ground Moss with a headlock… only for the giant Cumbrian to reverse and start throwing Jackie around he were nothing. Slater and Moss exchange frequent tags and isolate Polo for a spell, before Mark Coffey came in for more of the same: chops and suplexes!
Slater cartwheels away from Coffey and quickly climbed the turnbuckles for a crossbody, before sending Mark across the ring with a monkey flip. The high camera angle gives us a glimpse of Jackie Polo trying to cheap-shot Slater on the outside as the Scotsmen took over, this time keeping Slater as far away from his corner as possible.
It’s the same story as a lot of these Slater and Moss tag matches: Slater takes a beating, and Johnny Moss makes the big comeback to get the win. A double dropkick saw Slater get to the corner to spark that comeback, with Moss using an Exploder on Coffey before giving Polo a German suplex as the Scots found themselves on the defensive end of things. Slater’s top rope crossbody keeps them in it as Coffey and Polo tried to elbow free of a double back suplex, but a second crossbody’s turned into an old school shoulder-breaker by Polo. Moss and Slater again try for a top rope Hart Attack, but Coffey hands up Slater in the ropes before cheapshotting Moss, as Polo Promotions hit a double uranage to Moss.
Slater gets elevated up for a German suplex… and despite Slater clearly not being the legal man, the referee counts the pin, and Polo Promotions claim the win. A so-so match, with an awkward finish… bad officiating should never overshadow any finish unless it’s part of a story. **½
After beating Viper at Fight Back, Kay Lee Ray’s earned this title shot… but Bea Priestley comes out with a new entrance video and some crutches. Viper’s out too, also not dressed to wrestle, but Bea takes the microphone and begs off – claiming she’s injured. Adam Blampied heads out immediately to put a stop to that, ordering Viper to wrestle in Bea’s stead.
WCPW Women’s Championship: Kay Lee Ray vs. Viper (subbing for Bea Priestley (c))
Kay Lee Ray launches into Viper with a tope, but of course Bea’s not really hurt as she tries to distract Ray on the top rope… which allowed Viper to knock her down.
A scoop slam onto the narrow ramp looked to set up Viper for an easy win, but Ray kicked out at two, before getting squished with a back senton. Instantly though, Ray slid in with a flatliner then a Koji Clutch, but Viper rolls up and powerbombed her way free of the clutch for another near-fall.
Of course, Bea gets involved with her crutch to set-up a Viper cannonball, sparking the crowd to get behind Kay Lee, who came back with an attempt at the Gory Bomb, only for a Michinoku driver to get a near-fall after Bea’d distracted her own friend. Inadvertently? You decide… After that, Kay Lee managed to get the Gory Bomb, but Viper kicked out at two. Bea tried to cheat again, but she mistakenly hits Viper with the crutch, allowing Kay Lee to score a roll-up and win the title under the Goldust rule! Way too short, and more like a WWE TV women’s match, but they told a story – and now we’ll likely get Bea mad at Viper before going after her title again. **½
Indeed, Viper shoved a mouthy Bea after the match before pulling her back to her feet as the crowd booed the baddies’ sportsmanship.
It should be noted, the WCPW set today’s covered in “caution” tape. I’m half expecting to see Orlando Jordan and some milk… anyway, we’re now up to Joe Coffey versus a mystery man… Joe doesn’t care about whomever he’s facing, nor the company or the city he’s in now. His opponent turned out to be… Moose?! Dear Lord.
Joe Coffey vs. Moose
Moose is out with the Impact Grand Championship, which wasn’t initially acknowledged, and they started with a fairly typical big lads’ match, trading shoulder tackles as Coffey mocked those “Moose” chants.
After Coffey threw in a headlock takedown, he’s sent to the outside by way of a dropkick where Moose followed him outside with some chops against the guard rails. Coffey powerbombs Moose into the crowd before diving over the guard rail with a clothesline – an impressive move, and if you’re wondering why a bad guy’s doing that… it’s to try and force a count-out. There’s more of the same back in the ring as the pair traded chops in the corner, which Moose won out on, only for Coffey to come back with a knee to the gut. Coffey went for the hotel room card spot, teasing shoving it into Moose’s mouth, before rolling him over for a Boston crab. Yes, I’m tuning out the “Moose” chants, and will need to for the next month.
Coffey paid tribute to Roman Reigns with a Superman punch for a near-fall, before chopping away on a kneeling Moose. Finally Moose comes back with a series of Moose punches, before the pair clonked heads, with Coffey coming off the worst as he eventually had to kick out of a diving dropkick in the corner.
A flying Iron Man took down Moose with a ‘rana, before resorting to some avalanches and his trademark springboard crossbody for a near-fall, only to fall into a Spear and a Black Coffey as Moose almost beat Joe with his own finisher. Moose came even closer with a chokebomb out of the corner, but Coffey again came back, catching Moose with a superplex before rolling through into another suplex.
A Black Coffey connects for a near-fall as Joe almost won it, before the pair decided to trade chops some more, as a dualling pair of Black Coffeys left both men laying. Must have been decaffeinated (hey, if Dave Bradshaw can do bad jokes on this show, I can too!)! Moose comes back with a “Moose-sault” for just a count of one, but Coffey rebounds with an enziguiri and a German for another one, only to get caught with the Game Changer (ripcord lariat) as Moose picked up the win. Another decent outing, and perhaps the best thing so far on a card that’s been solid, but hasn’t had any shining moments. Yet. ***¼
Davey Richards vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal was touted as the first import of WCPW – and he started here by having to reverse a wristlock from the “American Wolf” before running into a dropkick that I guess he wasn’t expecting?
Richards followed Lethal to the outside, but he countered an attempted leg sweep by rotating into the ring as the two took a bit of a breather. They neutralise each other with some grappling, but it just feels like they’re either not on the same page, or perhaps didn’t read all of it. So Lethal just waffles Richards with a superkick, then a tope as we had our obligatory stuff outside the ring, with Lethal trying to part the crowds.
That ended up being so he could blast Richards with a Yakuza kick into the guard railings, before coming back inside for a hiptoss into a cartwheeled dropkick for a near-fall. Richards crotches Lethal on the top rope, and that lets him turn things around, chopping down Lethal with kicks to the chest before missing with a double stomp off the top.
The pair traded right hands for a spell, before he runs into Richards with an Ace crusher for a near-fall. A Lethal Combination followed, as did a top rope elbow for a near-fall, before his attempt at the Lethal Injection missed and was turned into an ankle lock. Richards followed that up with a PK before howling his way into a big double stomp, but Lethal kicked out at two and hit back with a figure four!
A release German suplex flattened Lethal, who then took a sheer drop brainbuster that Richards collected another near-fall on… but he turned the kick-out into another ankle lock that Lethal rolled out of before finally hitting the Lethal Injection again for the win. Once they got past the awkward stuff at the start, this turned into a really good match – definitely the best thing so far… even if the ring announcer got confused as to who won! ***¾
Drake – of all people – hit the ring after the match and attacked Lethal. He did this a year ago, and this time he missed a leaping lungblower before Drake took a Lethal Injection. A nice way to tie up a loose end that I think everyone’d forgotten from last year!
WCPW Tag Team Championships: Prospect (Lucas Archer & Alex Gracie) vs. Swords of Essex (Will Ospreay & Scott Wainwright) (c)
This is Lucas Archer’s final match “for a year” as he’s having to take time off to heal a knee injury… and the Swords jumped Prospect as they posed at the bell. Rookie mistakes there, lads.
A double superkick knocks down Archer, who the Swords clearly target… but Wainwright accidentally shoved Ospreay off the top rope. The cameras show that rather than what happened as Prospect got the win… but Wainwright had a foot under the ropes! How do you miss that on a taped show?!
After the restart, the Swords take Prospect outside the ring and throw them into the barriers for a double diving dropkick – again, the prep for that missed as the camera focused on Prospect sitting down. Back in the ring, the Swords kept up on Archer, with a piggy-backed back senton getting a near-fall as this restart was looking like a squash, especially when Wainwright locked in a modified figure four on Archer.
Ospreay busts out his cross-legged almost-a-Sharpshooter on Archer, who broke free but couldn’t make the tag out. A half-crab from Ospreay further wrenches on Lucas’ leg, and despite him crawling to the corner Wainwright pulled Gracie off the apron to prevent another tag out. Finally Archer flipped over and tagged in Gracie to clean house on Wainwright, flying off the top with a leg lariat for a near-fall, before countering a double suplex into a neckbreaker. Gracie dumps Wainwright with a belly-to-back piledriver for a near-fall as the pendulum swung back and forth – making it look uncertain that Prospect’d go out on a high. A combo Back Cracker/Meteora on Gracie is only good for a near-fall as Ospreay looked exacerbated, so he kicks away at Gracie before poking his eye.
Things degenerate a bit as Wainwright hits a Michinoku driver on Archer, before Gracie ate a standing Spanish Fly from Ospreay. Wainwright comes back and targets Archer some more, but that just fired up the outgoing one some more, with a back suplex taking down Scotty before setting off for a Worm.
That seemed to hurt his knee, but he was able to finish it off for another near-fall, only for Ospreay to try a slam off the top rope… which Archer countered into a tornado DDT as he came agonisingly close once again. Ospreay tried to land an OsCutter, but Gracie got in the way and turned it into a full nelson slam as Archer took a near-fall, before Ospreay was left alone to take the Prospect finish… but he fought free!
A handspring overhead kick takes down Prospect, before Ospreay grabbed the tag title belt and did an Eddie Guerrero with it. Steve Lynskey caught Ospreay celebrating, so he didn’t DQ them… Prospect hit their finish for another agonising near-fall as Wainwright broke it up and took Gracie back to the outside.
The camera missed a chair shot to Archer’s knee from Wainright, as a foot stomp/death valley driver… didn’t put Prospect away! Ospreay did the Sharpshooter variant again, with Gracie stopping Archer from tapping. That didn’t work, as Ospreay let go and went straight back in with a deep single-leg crab as Archer had no choice but to tap. This felt like it went a little long, and had the camera crew miss TWO big spots (big thumbs down there production crew…), but this told a pretty good story, even if it wasn’t the feel good story. ***¾
After the match the crowd chanted “Thank You Prospect”, and after teasing the #DIY job, with Gracie swivelling Archer around to throw him into the video screen, before hugging it out… only for Gracie to head to the back and return to lay out Archer with an Unprettier! Gracie made a beeline for the ringside attendant to grab a Prospect jacket… only to rip tape off of the Prospect name and reveal “GRACIE” underneath. A little drawn out, but a nice swerve nevertheless – one that wasn’t by the numbers!
WCPW Hardcore Championship: Primate vs. Jimmy Havoc
The winner of this becomes the first ever Hardcore champion – with a belt that looks mightily like the old WCW Hardcore strap. The amount of push put on the Hardcore title even existing makes me think we’re still in the late 90s.
Jimmy Havoc won CZW’s Tournament of Death last weekend – and they even announce him as such… so he’d have to be set on fire or perhaps killed to lose here. You’d think. They start by slapping each other, before Primate booted away an Acid Rainmaker, only to be sent outside for a tope.
My God, the scars on Jimmy Havoc from his adventures in Delaware! It’s quickly plunder time as baking sheets come into play, as do a wrench as Havoc’s having some slightly more sedate fun. Out comes a staple gun before Primate grabs a frying pan and uses it on Havoc… for some reason James Kennedy leaves the commentary table, and interferes as he tried to stop Primate from using a steel chair on Havoc.
Primate chases Kennedy back to commentary, and throws a birthday cake at him – giving Havoc enough time to recover and have a play with a cheese grater! Primate’s busted open, keeping his streak of bleeding on WCPW shows alive. Havoc goes out under the ring for one of his promo pics, and it’s papercut time! Next up is a table, but Havoc quickly gets speared through it after propping it in a corner. Havoc kicks out at two as the punishment kept coming, at least until he landed an Acid Rainmaker for a near-fall. He sets up a chair bridge that Primate tried to superplex him through, but instead we get a uranage by Primate through a chair for a one-count.
A second spear through a table follows, before Primate grabs a bag from under the ring – containing a barbed wire ironing board?! Havoc takes a powerbomb onto it, and that’s enough to get the win as Primate becomes the inaugural Hardcore champion. Well, it was plunderiffic, but Primate beating a Tournament of Death winner is probably a good way to push a guy who’s a regular. Havoc put over Primate after the match, but wished him good luck as a rematch looks to be on the cards. **
Next up: Martin Kirby walks in on Adam Blampied staring at a picture of Prince Ameen. Apparently Martin Kirby still has a title shot to claim after winning the Magnificent 7 match earlier in the year, and he’s given a pink briefcase to “keep the contract in”. At least they’re open about where they got that idea from!
Martin Kirby vs. El Ligero
Ligero, with his dark-as-night mask, looked to be crying away from his match… but he only retreated to the stage so Joe Hendry – who’s had a run-in with a razor – appeared to provide the voice for the voiceless. Hendry noted that Kirby has never beaten Ligero, and he wants to put Kirby’s suddenly-materialised Magnificent 7 briefcase on the line.
Kirby apparently agrees and we get going with the pair trading forearms before the headed outside, where Kirby rebounded off a guard rail and clotheslined Ligero on the floor. Back inside the pair trade chops in the corner until Ligero finally missed one and was taken down to the mat.
After escaping a delayed suplex, Ligero takes Kirby into the corner with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex as they called back to Kirby’s recent concussion. Ligero sprays water at Kirby from the top rope, which inspires the former champ into a comeback, with a top rope ‘rana then a Slingblade as he then teased a Sable Bomb… but Ligero escapes and armdrags free. Kirby still comes back with a roll-through into a neckbreaker for a near-fall, but the tide keeps switching as Ligero catches him with an Ace crusher through the ropes, then a Mexican wave off the top for a near-fall – as Ligero pulled up Kirby at two, so he could mock Kirby’s Zoidberg Elbow.
Kirby escapes and dumps Ligero on his head with a half-and-half suplex, but again a Sable Bomb is avoided. Ligero tries a low blow but Kirby crosses his legs to avoid it and hits a spinebuster as a set-up for that Zoidberg Elbow. All of a sudden, a photographer enters the ring, and I’m expecting an exploding flashgun… instead, the camera misses Ligero kicking Kirby low before landing a C4L for the win! We’re getting pretty hot on missing moves here production crew – did you hire Kevin Dunn or is this just a homage?! The result means, I guess, Kirby loses the pink briefcase he just got, and had he been carrying that around for more than five minutes, I guess this might have resonated. In the end, it was another match that followed Built to Destroy’s motif – decent, but didn’t pop. ***
The weirdness continues as the ring announcer entered the ring to do the post-match announcement. Something that’s never done, so I’m smelling an angle here. Sure enough, the masked cameraman returns, with a mic in hand, and beats down Ryan Devlin… and it’s Stevie Aaron. Oh God, 1PW teased this with the Damned Nation back in the day, and despite being a WCPW guy from day one, Stevie Aaron is part of the Prestige. I guess the bad guys need their ring announcer?
You know, that could actually have legs, as Aaron at his worst can be rather hateable as a bombastic ring announcer.
We get a video package of what’s happened to the WCPW title in its first year of existence, and then we’re back to ringside. Ligero’s still there cheerleading Stevie who’s doing the obnoxious ring-announcer act, mocking the fans for “one fall”. Damnit, we’re meant to hate you Stevie!
WCPW World Championship: Rampage vs. Joe Hendry (c)
Joe Coffey and BT Gunn (wearing a tea cosy) attacked Rampage on his way to the ring as Ligero joined in the mugging, despite the entire WCPW roster being banned from ringside. So, are they painting the Prestige as an outside group, like a faction we mentioned earlier?
The beard-less Hendry emerges to presumably finish the job, and I’m now waiting for the Prestige to get their own heel ref. They need that more than a ring announcer! Despite the jump start, Rampage is able to get back into it, taking Hendry to the outside to whip him into the guard railings. Well, this is the last match, I guess Rampage wanted to help the ring crew take down the venue quicker afterwards?
Hendry eventually turns things around, throwing Rampage into the ring post, before they returned to the ring to start the match proper, I guess. Rampage escapes a Freak of Nature fallaway slam and delivers a Samoan drop before a series of chops forced Hendry to poke Rampage in the eye. That didn’t work as he threw some more clotheslines to a cornered Hendry, before BT Gunn headed out to distract Rampage during a piledriver attempt.
Rampage gets the piledriver anyway, but Gunn pulls out the referee at two… then keeps him distracted as Joe Coffey appears to hit a Black Coffey. The Freak of Nature follows for a near-fall, and with Hendry cornering the ref, we get an obvious bump as Rampage went to charge at Hendry in the corner. So… Rampage was charging at Hendry and was going to take out the referee anyway? Ligero returns with the pink briefcase, but he gets piledriven… only for Hendry to smash the briefcase into Rampage’s head. Rampage is down and unconscious, so Hendry puts on the Hendry Lock, and that’s enough for the ref to do the arm drop gimmick and award the match to Hendry. Well, once we took away the pre-match beating and the outside brawling, this was insanely short for a main event. The Prestige continue their run of interference-riddled main events, which if you’re looking long term, also sees the “undercard Prestige” picking up losses whilst still being worthy of helping Joe Hendry to retain his title. On paper it kinda makes sense, but it made for an other unedifying main event. **¾
Once the decision was rendered, the crowd chanted “bullshit”, as they should… but what followed next was not on as fans started throwing their drinks into the ring, with Hendry having to avoid one that was aimed at him. Another actually hit a kneeling Ligero, and they quickly fade to black.
As a show, Built To Destroy wasn’t bad, but precious little jumped off the page. The crowd seemed to be largely muted throughout, save for a couple of high spots and the turn of Alex Gracie… which makes sense since wrestling history shows that teams that split up don’t tend to do well if the guy sticking around just drifts. Elsewhere on the card, it’s business as usual: the production crew missing spots, whilst in-the-ring Rampage got picked off as a contender, and Martin Kirby has lost his last remaining chance to get a title shot, so we’re in the same territory of the Prestige (sans Travis Banks for these last few shows) dominating without anything close to a challenger being prepared.
Let’s address the elephant in the room here… crowd behaviour. Some of it did make it to tape, with the crowd throwing their drinks into the ring like it were WCW in 1997… but the reports of other, less savoury behaviour, in the crowd is clearly a disturbing trend. With WCPW in the familiar area of only having World Cup shows on the books for now, with no Newcastle return due for a month (for the Rest of World qualifiers), I’d hope that some sort of action is taken at that show, away from the tweets of the higher-profile Adams.
Yes, it’s not nice to have to tell and remind live crowds not to behave like buffoons, but if that and the threats of bans/ejections are what it’s going to take to stop a vocal minority from crossing the boundaries of abusing wrestlers and other comments, then so be it. This isn’t “SJWs” having a go or people getting offended at everything. It’s people who buy tickets to a wrestling show, wanting to watch wrestlers perform… not to have to see fans throwing stuff or overstepping their roles. Simply buying a ticket doesn’t give you carte blanche to say or do whatever you want whilst you’re behind a guard rail.
A light has been shone on an unsavoury section of support. Hopefully things won’t get swept under the carpet.