Marty Scurll’s life as WCPW champion started with an unexpected, yet Prestige-ous, challenger…
We’re down to the last two episodes of Loaded… so why not have them be monstrously big? Yes, this latest episode of Loaded is almost two hours long – after weeks where they’d been hovering around the one hour-mark, this feels bloated from the offset. Let’s see what we have…
We open with the Stu Bennett promo from the iPPV, announcing the launch of Defiant. They have a website now, but still no logo.The music video recaps the rest of the iPPV, and right about now the penny drops: they actually used Saliva for their music?! The last chapters of WCPW come from Manchester, with Dave Bradshaw and James R Kennedy on commentary, as always.
Marty Scurll starts us off, with flame pyro and the WCPW title belt that he’d won the prior night. After telling off the crowd for cheering a bad guy, he then gets the crowd to chant “too sweet”. He calls himself the last ever WCPW and therefore the first ever Defiant champion, which is quite the statement. As is his vow to be champion forever.
Joe Hendry and the Prestige interrupts – with some of the Prestige in the background mocking Hendry. The former champion’s apoplectic, and demands the GM come out… so out comes Stu Bennett to generate some cheap pops, which is odd given he was leaning towards being a bad guy on the iPPV. Instead, he has the crowd fill in the blanks as they play HARD on the “cease and desist” gags, as he announces that it won’t be Hendry getting a title shot… it’ll be Travis Banks.
So that counts as the rematch clause?
“I am defiant”. On loop. On iPPV on December 4…
We get a recap of the injury to Gabriel Kidd from last month – which led to him losing his Internet title and then making a beeline for Bad Bones during the iPPV. Guess that recap is leading to a match?
Bad Bones vs. Gabriel Kidd
Bones leapt into Kidd as he made his entrance, and we’re starting with brawling around ringside as Kidd eventually threw his opponent into the guard railings.
A running boot to a sitting Bones keeps Kidd in front, and then again when they get back in the ring as the pair exchanged blows. Bones flips off the crowd who were sparking a “shit Luke Gallows” chant at his direction… so they switch into “Perry Saturn” chants instead. The more things change, I see…
Kidd hits a release Fisherman’s suplex for a near-fall, but Bones retaliated with a release German suplex and a monstrous suicide dive that nearly wrecked the guard railings. The German keeps up with a slingshot spear after Kidd had thrown him onto the apron, but it’s only good for a two-count, so Bones heads outside for his baseball bat. Ah, that’s what that metallic clinking was earlier.
The groggy Kidd ducks a bat shot and hits his big boot… and that’s enough for the win! Decent enough stuff, although are we really painting this as an “upset” now Kidd’s had a title run? **¾
Another video package follows to build up War Machine, then the tag title shot that Jimmy Havoc and Primate demanded because they held Primate’s Hardcore title belt hostage. I will say this, WCPW’s “minimalist” approach to video packages are weird… they get the story over, but they do precious little to hype up.
WCPW Tag Team Championship: Primate & Jimmy Havoc vs. War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) (c)
Guess what rules this was held under. That’s right: submissions only! Of course not, it’s Havoc Rules, as opposed to War Machine Rules. I’d pop if Havoc rules were “two-count pins” or something wacky.
War Machine invite their challengers to start the match in the crowd, and they duly oblige as Havoc gets Brookes’d into some chairs by Rowe, whilst Hanson drops Primate onto a chair with a Whoopee Cushion-ish splash. Plunder comes into play as Havoc and Primate bite away on the champs, before they eventually fought their way onto the stage.
Primate gets a Hanson slammed onto him up there, before Havoc gets held back for some punches… just as Primate woke up and dove off the stage! Finally in the ring, the champs took over again, with Hanson getting charged into a cornered Havoc, who comes back with a pair of overhead kicks.
War Machine head outside and catch a diving Havoc, and now it’s plunder time! Havoc finds a ladder whilst Primate’s found a wrench… Havoc gets one of his 8x10s to dish out some paper cuts, before those baking trays come into play for a bunch of headshots. Rowe avoids a chairshot as he was laid on the ladder, and War Machine come back with some clubbing shots as their challengers were draped across the guard railings. The ladder comes back in as it’s draped between the ring and the guard railings, but it’s a simple chair that proves to be a death blow as Hanson runs in to cannonball the challengers in the corner. Havoc pleads for more, and indeed it’s delivered, before Hanson got whipped into that precarious ladder.
A pounce from Primate knocked Rowe into the crowd, but Hanson was left standing as he cornered Havoc and Primate for some chair-assisted Forever lariats. Eventually it led to a Bronco buster, but that misses as Rowe returned to drop Primate with a diving knee, sparking a Parade of Moves! Rowe dumps Havoc and Primate with a slam/powerbomb combo, before a clothesline-assisted German gets a near-fall on Havoc.
More near-falls ensue as War Machine looked to need more time, rather than be threatened, although Havoc giving Hanson a ‘rana into Rowe increased the danger, as did Primate’s powerbombing of Havoc onto both of the champs.
A comeback from Hanson ended when Havoc hit him with the Wilko’s Special bin mid handspring, before Jimmy tied him to the guard rails with some duct tape. Someone’s watched those Yano tapes! Rowe’s left two-on-one against him, but his headbutts set him free before he set up some chairs… which ends up being the real death blow as his bid to superplex Havoc through them is turned into a powerbomb by Primate… and that’s enough to dethrone the champions! Hanson’s still tied to the guard railings and can’t express his anger enough… and it seems that WCPW/Defiant will have some hardcore tag team champions going into the new regime. This was pretty fun, but the Havoc/Primate pairing didn’t show much of a threat until the end of the match – but it was perhaps one of the more entertaining War Machine rules matches fromt his run. ***¼
We get a holy promo – and someone’s coming next week!
There’s clips from the Refuse to Lose pre-game show where Jay Lethal and Ava Storie beat Drake and Little Miss Roxxy. Nothing is said apart from that, and this segues into a women’s match…
Little Miss Roxxy vs. Ava Storie
Roxxy’s got Drake’s music now, and as commentary tries to have us believe that Roxxy’s been mistreated, we start with Roxxy hitting a rather unique splits/armdrag combo.
Storie replies with one of her own, then a Curt Hennig-esque neck snap, before trapping Roxxy in a tree of woe for a dropkick. That gets her a near-fall, but Roxxy returns fire with a cheeky back elbow and a high kick to a cornered Storie, but you get the distinct impression this crowd isn’t caring one jot about this.
Roxxy traps Ava in the ropes for a dropkick, before she wrenches back with a Muta lock as Storie was forced into a rope break. Ava returned fire with some clotheslines, then a kick to the leg as Roxxy went outside for cover… and ate a diving dropkick through the ropes. Back inside, a neckbreaker gets a near-fall, as did a spinebuster… and now Drake wanders out to get involved.
Jay Lethal neutralises him quickly, but for some reason Ava’s still distracted, allowing Roxxy to hit a scorpion kick and a back cracker for the win. Decent stuff until the finish, but this crowd did not care one bit. Why would they? This was Roxxy’s first singles win, and she’d been off the radar until that pre-show match last week. **
Time for another replay that counts as hype! It’s Veda Scott debuting at the iPPV to attack Kay Lee Ray and Bea Priestley. They then clip in the Mike Bailey/David Starr match from the same show, and I guess they’re being mashed up?
Veda Scott & Mike Bailey vs. David Starr & Kay Lee Ray
Is it me, or do these teams make no sense in kayfabe land? Respectful Mike Bailey and Cheapshot Veda Scott on one side (yes, I know) against Sore Loser David Starr and women’s champion Kay Lee Ray.
Apparently the mixed tag rules mean intergender, so we start with David Starr no-selling Veda’s attempt to give him a German suplex. Instead, he trips her and goes for a lucha pin before Scott grabs an arm and tries a bridging hammerlock that Starr quickly escaped. Tags take us to Bailey and Ray, who exchange ‘ranas before both get jumped from behind as they went for a handshake.
Bailey gets thrown into a dropkick from Kay Lee, whilst Starr hits an inverted slam to Veda as this match seemingly became no-tags-needed for a spell. Starr and Ray double team for a suplex into a ‘cutter for a near-fall, as the Scott/Bailey team slowly edged into the lead. The chemistry between the goodie-goodie Bailey and the corner-cutting Scott is just so weird to see. It’s so wonky and leads to a lot of weird moments for the crowd…
Which ends when Starr rages into Bailey with a Violence Party and a Cherry Mint DDT onto the apron. An inverted suplex gets Starr a near-fall, before Bailey avoids the JML Driver (the satellite floatover into a Destroyer)m dishing out some moonsault knees for good measure. Scott chains together a leg grapevine and a German suplex before just about getting off a springboard bulldog to Starr for a near-fall…
Starr snaps back with a Blackheart Buster on Scott, before bringing in Kay Lee Ray to get some revenge on Scott. A springboard clothesline from Starr, then a series of topes left Bailey down, and it seems that’s not all they had planned as duelling topes knocked their opponents into those crowd barriers. Veda gets back up and goes Old School-ish… with some rope walking before diving into Starr, and the airborne stuff kept going.
Back inside, Veda catches Kay Lee in an inverted Boston crab, holding on as David Starr’s attempted save is blocked by some kicks from Bailey… eventually she gets to the ropes as a Parade of Moves broke out, leading to a weird stand off as the guys teased death valley drivers on the women. They reach a truce, but that just earns them some Destroyers before Veda tried to fight out of a Gory Bomb. Instead the back and forth led to more no-tags-needed wackiness…
In the midst of that, Kay Lee Ray traps Veda in a Koji clutch as Bailey ate a Product Recall in the ropes. Scott holds on for long enough for Bailey to come back and break it up. He comes in with a shooting star knees to Ray, but Starr breaks up the cover that Scott tried to make, but in the end we have a ref bump as a Gory Bomb/Flatliner combo should have won the match.
Miraculously, the ref recovered in time for Scott to score the win with an inside cradle. Yup. As a match this was fine, but the mis-matched teams took a while for me to get past. If you didn’t know “why”, the repeated kisses between Scott and Bailey would have told you. ***
Commentary announces that next week we’ll have a four-way on the final Loaded: El Ligero vs. Drake vs. Jay Lethal vs. Martin Kirby. Credit for them trying to come full circle on those WCPW original feuds. We’re also getting Bea Priestley vs. Viper, Liam Slater vs. Alex Gracie, plus Will Ospreay and the Young Bucks in action. It’s going to be another two-hour-long show isn’t it?
The Prestige are backstage trying to build up Travis Banks, but BT Gunn’s too busy playing with his fidget spinner. He’s clearly dropping hints about breaking out on his own, and now we get a replay of the end of the iPPV main event, just in case you got this far in the show without knowing Marty Scurll had won the title.
WCPW Championship: Travis Banks vs. Marty Scurll (c)
This Manchester crowd’s been insufferable at points – so you can guess how they’ll be for Marty. “Too sweet”ing, whooping, and all of the good stuff that helps make a stereotype.
Marty frustrates Banks early, keeping him on the mat as commentary suggested that something was amiss since none of the Prestige were at ringside for moral support. In the early going, Banks didn’t seem to need it, as he tripped the Villain into a near-fall, but Scurll hit back with some of his trademark offence. All set to the braying ninnies whooping in the crowd.
Scurll takes a shot at someone in the crowd for filming the show, before he kept on at Banks, knocking him down with a diving enziguiri-ish kick for a near-fall. Banks tries to kick back into things, but he’s instantly trapped in a knuckle lock, which gives him plenty of opportunity to show his expressive-self once again.
An attempt at the finger snap gets booted away, and Travis fires back, kicking Marty into the corner for a cannonball, then a Kiwi Crusher attempt… but instead he goes for a Slice of Heaven that misses as we sprint into some indy’riffic pinning attempts. Chops take us into a Just Kidding superkick, as Banks retaliated with a clothesline, before continuing after the impact of a superplex with a roll-up.
Marty nearly gets the win with his new Bird of Prey finisher, which of course doesn’t even get acknowledged. Good branding, eh? Scurll uppercuts away a Slice of Heaven as he goes for the finger snap, before tapping Banks with a chicken wing not long after. A pretty fun match, but let’s be realistic: no way were they taking the belt off Marty on night one! ***½
After the match commentary noted once again that the Prestige left Travis on his own here. Banks accepts the offer of a fistbump from Scurll, then heads to the back – and I’m guessing the Prestige story is either wrapping up, or is going to become a cliffhanger? Especially when we go backstage and find Banks returning to an empty locker room, with no Prestige there.
There’s one episode left of Loaded’s current run… then it’s six weeks off or so before Defiant emerges from the ashes. It’s been a good run, I guess?