Loaded returned with a post-Stacked/World Cup Finals episode that had a lot of talk about the Prestige getting punished.
We open with a music video from last week’s Stacked iPPV, featuring Joe Hendry’s miserable effort to recruit Will Ospreay into the Prestige. From there, it’s the usual deal of the show open… but then we go to Adam Blampied in the WCPW offices. He’s a little morose… and that’s because the Pro Wrestling World Cup trophy that KUSHIDA won now looks like it’s been run over by a car. They thank Will Ospreay and KUSHIDA for their performance, then apologise to them and the fans for what they had to sit through. That’s harsh – it was a good show…
They throw to some off-air footage of KUSHIDA celebrating with the trophy, but he’s interrupted by the Prestige who beat him down before BT Gunn goes to town on the trophy with a baseball bat. Ospreay, Kelly Sixx and Ashley Dunn try to make the save, but they too are beaten down as Gunn ends up breaking the baseball bat over the trophy. That’s… impressive, I guess.
Gunn and Hendry threaten to con-chair-to Ospreay as Dave Bradshaw swears and leaves commentary… Bea Priestley comes out to protect her boyfriend, and once she disarms Hendry… she’s superkicked but doesn’t go down, so Hendry traps her in the double ankle lock whilst Gunn puts a crossface on. Well that went from trophy destruction to incredibly awkward in a hurry.
We return to Adam Blampied, whom I half expected him to do the Krusty the Clown “what the hell was that?” reaction. Instead, he announces that Hendry and Ligero are suspended because of what happened, whilst BT Gunn’s punishment is a Hardcore title rematch against Primate. Until Adam can come up with something suitably horrible – as punishment, that is… not for us – we’re thrown to the live action in… Newcastle?
So the tapings were out of order then! That also means that the glaring plot hole of the Prestige’s suspended Stevie Aaron doing ring announcing returns!
Drake vs. Angelico
On top of this being a rematch from Loaded a few weeks ago, it’s also a sorta-rematch from Stacked last week. Drake tries to charge Angelico in the aisle, but the South African leaps onto him from the stage before following up with a diving knee off the apron.
Commentary only abstractly acknowledges the decision from Adam Blampied earlier… to the point where you’d be forgiven for thinking they didn’t know what was going to happen. It’s quickly getting grating, but I understand why they couldn’t go into details. They break off as Drake hits a single underhook suplex for a near-fall. A running knee gets another two-count as Drake continued his recently-developed trend of starting matches well before falling away… and sure enough, a dropkick from Angelico takes Drake to the outside.
Drake and Angelico exchanged some good back-and-forth, with Drake again edging ahead, handing a bridging German for a near-fall, before a release back suplex followed after he avoided another knee strike.
The Capoeira kick tales Drake to the outside as the tide shifted, before a moonsault off the apron misses and earns Angelico a flapjack onto the apron. Drake grabs a steel from under the ring, but it’s kicked away, as he then tried to tape Angelico to the crowd barriers… and his Toru Yano efforts work as Angelico couldn’t free himself in time, leading to the count-out. This felt a bit wonky; there were some good flashes, but Drake finally getting a win (by any means) makes me happy. **¾
We’re backstage next with Kelly Sixx and Ashley Dunn – the South Coast Connection. They’re rather miffed that WCPW’s not used them since their show-stealing performance… but they’re back tonight in a triple-threat match to get a shot at War Machine’s tag titles.
Young Lions (Lucky Kid & Tarkan Aslan) vs. South Coast Connection (Ashley Dunn & Kelly Sixx) vs. Johnny Moss & Liam Slater
Or “die Jüngen Löwen” as they’re impressively announced as here. Which is weird given that they’re the Young Lions when they’re in Germany. The winners become the number one contenders to the WCPW tag titles… even though the Young Bucks have already been announced for a title shot, so I’m guessing they’ll have to cash it in quick!
Commentary’s still talking about that pre-show announcement, and we stop as Lucky Kid and Kelly Sixx exchange dropkicks… before Tarkan Aslan came in to hit a curb stomp for barely a one-count on Sixx. Some good double teams get the Lions a near-fall, before the South Coasters come back, with a back body drop from Sixx to Dunn leading to a snap ‘rana.
Johnny Moss has had enough of Lucky Kid’s fooling around, and so grabs him for a gutwrench suplex, before Ashley Dunn’s attempt at a double axehandle is caught and turned into an overhead belly-to-belly as the former champs wore down Dunn. A wristlock reversal gets Dunn free to a tag, as Sixx’s double stomp off the top leaves Slater down… but Lucky Kid tags himself into the match as he tried to snatch a win.
Slater recovers as he’s used as a weapon in a front suplex onto Kid for a near-fall, before Lucky Kid runs into a slingshot shoulder tackle from Moss. Kid and Slater swap strikes before a standing Sliced Bread’s blocked, as Kid manages to hit a DDT and tag out to Aslan. It turns into a Parade of Moves for a while, ending with Moss belly-suplexing Dunn to the pile on the floor.
The Young Lions circle Moss in the ring, with Kid hitting the standing Sliced Bread as the Parade resumes, ending with a roundhouse into a Finlay roll from the South Coast Connection for a two-count. Moss then shows his freaky power with a four-way side suplex to the South Coast Connection and the Young Lions! Germans follow as the camera focused on the downed Kid and Dunn for whatever reason, before a release German suplex sent Dunn onto Sixx!
The end came seconds later when Tarkan Aslan shoved Slater off the top rope, and Lucky Kid stole the win with a schoolboy… so next week, they’ve got War Machine. Good luck Lions! As a tag match, this was fine, but given that it was part of the World Cup Finals pre-show, you could sense that the crowd weren’t perhaps as invested as you’d have liked. ***
Other Adam is outside with Angelico… he’s mad that his offer to “give Drake his win back” led to him losing by count-out. Angelico offers a falls count anywhere match to end the series.
A music video follows for the Kirby/Gracie match from Stacked… it was better in clip form! The deal with Alex Gracie paying off Bad Bones to attack Kirby leads us to our next match…
Bad Bones vs. Martin Kirby
Kirby goes straight for Bones at the bell, taking him outside for a round-the-ringpost 619 and a tope as the match started out hot!
Kirby runs into a dropkick, and that’s where the tables turned as Bad Bones used his power advantage… whipping Kirby into the corner with a sunset bomb for a near-fall. The former WCPW champion’s taken outside for a lowpe next, before landing some rolling German suplexes and a half-and-half suplex for another two-count.
Kirby tried to come back with a Sable Bomb, but Bones escapes and hits a superkick to the head, then a double underhook DDT for the win. A really short outing, and one that got Bones over as a killer… even if it means that Kirby seems to be in the familiar position of creative limbo. **¼
Alex Gracie came down afterwards to celebrate with Bones, and then drop Kirby with the Fall from Gracie.
Another Stacked video package recaps how BT Gunn beat Primate for the title. It’s rematch time! But first, other Adam’s got Sarah – a member of the medical staff – who tells us that they’re refusing to clear Primate to wrestle. That’s the cue for him to walk by with a neck brace on as referee John Myers tries to talk him out of it. Hokey? Yes… but it works, I think.
WCPW Hardcore Championship: BT Gunn (c) vs. Primate
Before the match, Gunn feeds a message to Stevie Aaron, who announces that Primate’s not been cleared. They try to announce it as a forfeit, but of course, Primate’s coming out – neck brace and all.
He spears Gunn at the bell, then drops him with a series of German suplexes. Gunn heads outside and uses a chair to bat away an attempted dive from Primate, and then he goes straight to the repeated stomps to the head – in a callback to how Gunn won the title last week.
On the outside again, Gunn makes Primate wear a chair and throws him into the ring posts, because everything is… BT? The referee tries to stop the match as crew members carry Primate away – to a chorus of boos – but Gunn marches down the aisle to stop Primate and keep the match going. Why’s the crowd booing that?
A German suplex dumps Primate onto the stage, before a throw into the crowd rails almost tipped Primate – and those railings – over. Gunn sprays beer at Primate, who’s continues to be thrown around like he’s nothing, as Gunn pulls out some baking trays and steel chairs from under the ring. Aah, the Wilko and Ikea specials!
More head stomps are eventually blocked as Primate powerbombs Gunn onto some chairs, and they’re back outside as Gunn lifts Primate into the crowd… only for the former champ to return with a flying clothesline off the guard rails. Another flying move from Primate off the top rope is caught and turned into an ace crusher for a near-fall, and then it’s time for the baking sheet trays to come into play.
There’s more plunder as a steel bin comes out – and is promptly baseball slid into Gunn – but there’s also a black bag. We know what that means in wrestling… but first, Primate issues a receipt for those baking tray shots, before the Wilko special bin is beaten back into shape so Gunn could be placed into a Tree of Woe into the bin… for another baseball slide dropkick!
The bin’s knocked off of Gunn’s head with a chairshot, but it’s only good for a two-count as a LADDER comes out. Okay? They fight over the ladder, but Primate ends up being charged into the corner for a step-up enziguiri, and now it’s time for the black bag to be emptied… thumbtacks! Gunn gets a handful and tries to pour them in Primate’s mouth, but he’s stopped as Primate tries the same… and is also stopped. Instead, they pour the tacks into each other’s trunks, then kick the other low. Alright, that’s a new one!
Gunn hits back first with a DDT onto the apron, before grabbing a table from under the ring – which draws cheers and chants of “you still suck”. Primate almost spears himself through the table, but at the second go drives Gunn through it … and that’s enough to regain the title! A fun hardcore brawl, but you know my feelings on these. In 2017 they feel really out of place – especially when you’ve got deathmatches on tap elsewhere – but if it floats your boat, then eh, they’re here for you. **¾
Overall, this was a weirdly-flat episode of Loaded. Much like those NXT Takeover pre-show episodes, this distinctly felt like the crowd were waiting for the bigger show – without any sort of show-stealing match to wake them up. Regardless, this was a decent show for keeping things going storyline-wise – and I’m intrigued to see what comes of this “punishment”. It’d better not be “you’re defending all your belts” or something equally flat.