The go-home show for next week’s Refuse to Lose iPPV, WCPW picked the worst week to have a show that was just… “there”.
#TLDR: An odd show to act as a warm-up for iPPV, as Loaded featured two title matches and a throwback to the badly-produced days of the show.
The Full Review: Loaded started with Drew Galloway outside the O2 Academy in Newcastle. Galloway said that Joseph Conners gave him some “extreme head trauma”, then flipped the bird to the cameraman.
We’re straight into action this week after the opener, and it’s a women’s title match:
WCPW Women’s Championship: Alex Windsor vs. Katarina Leigh vs. Nixon Newell (c)
Katarina’s been on the scene for a while, having been Nikita way back in the FWA, Katie Lea in WWE, and Winter in TNA. I’m guessing TNA’s rescue fund’ll be getting some royalties as it was her TNA song that was used here…
Newell makes a beeline for Windsor at the bell, to the point that the referee has to pull away Newell after a simple takedown. You what? It’s not like she was in the ropes…
After that inanity, we had a series of roll-ups as the three women went after each other, before Leigh and Windsor had a fun exchange. An enziguiri gets Leigh a one-count as Newell ran back in, before an axe kick and a neckbreaker took down the veteran Leigh. A bridging fallaway slam got Newell a near-fall, before Leigh hit a Northern Lights for another two-count on Newell.
With Leigh taken out of the picture by Windsor, Newell and Windsor went at it again with forearms and slaps, until Leigh flew in off the top with a double dropkick. For some reason the referee started a count – in a triple threat match – before Newell got to her feet first and ran into everyone with a load of forearms. Leigh’s attempt to cut her off was curtailed by Windsor’s Shining Wizard, which didn’t get anything as Newell cut-off the pin.
Windsor scored a near-fall with a Blue Thunder Bomb on Newell, but a Tiger Suplex out of nowhere got the win for Newell. Eh, I didn’t like the idea of a random three-way women’s title match on the show before their iPPV. If you’re going to add a name from the past – especially if they’re not going to be around for long – why not have them take the fall and put over your champion, rather than water down a feud? **½
We’re taken backstage with Adam Pacitti and Travis Banks. The Kiwi makes Pacitti hang up his phone call, and gets annoyed at how he’s not booked on the iPPV. Banks is angry that despite beating Ligero, he’s not getting a title match… man, they sure are booking Pacitti to look like he’s out of his depth.
Another backstage segment now with Gabriel Kidd. He reminds us that he’s Prince Ameen’s manservant, but he’s pleading with the fans to not give up on him. Ameen turns up with a load of bags for him to carry, and I’m guessing this is leading up to something something “I have a new contract, so fire me”?
Liam Slater & Johnny Moss vs. Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) vs. Los Perspectiva (El Hijo del Gracie & Lucha Archer)
Hey, Johnny Moss is back! Shame it meant that he and Liam lost their first names again… Hey, it’s Moustache Mountain, with the best knock-off version of Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer this side of TNA! Los Perspectiva are made up of El Drako, Lucha Archer and El Hijo del Gracie… you know the gimmick. The Los Perspectiva act gives Alex Shane another chance to air his tired pseudo-racist jokes, and this week’s Not-Prospect sit-out seems to be Drako.
Slater and Bate start us off, with a grapple-heavy sequence that ends with a backslide for a near-fall, Bate uses his own shoe to boot Slater from a headlock. Interesting! Moss and Seven tag in to give us the two hosses of this match, but with El Hijo del Gracie making a nuisance of himself, he gets a chop before the two big guys trade chops with each other.
Another Gracie interference leads to the pair trading shoulder tackles, before Moss no-sells a German suplex and replies with a Scott Steiner-esque overhead belly to belly. After an unacknowledged blind tag, Lucha Archer runs in and gets a two-count from a small package, before Moss pulls off a hanging vertical suplex, and passes him off… Seven tags in Bate, and they pass off Archer, before Gracie tags in and joins the party. So Bate hands off Archer to his tag partner, and slowly pokes him in the chest with a finger to complete the suplex. Prospect: comedy geeks since day 1!
El Drako tries to run in, but he gets dispatched quickly, before Slater’s crossbody sends him and Bate out of the ring. Everyone’s in a convenient pile on the floor, but Gracie’s attempt to fly was assisted by Johnny Moss off the top rope. He teases a dive, and Johnny Moss actually hits a tope con hilo to everyone else involved at ringside!
Back in the ring, Moss hits a double Saito suplex to Drako and Archer, before Gracie comes in and tries for a Triangle armbar… but Moss picks him up and staggers into the corner as Slater makes the tag in. Slater gets a package powerbomb, and I just noticed, Gracie’s actually taped over the name on his trunks! Given that they didn’t change his surname, that’s an admirable, if not needed attention to detail paid there!
Slater goes up top and hits a massive flying headbutt on Gracie, before Drako flies in with a springboard hilo to break up the pin. So all three members of Perspectiva are involved here? Bate and Seven run in to double-team Drake, with a double team brainbuster sending Drako to the outside as a spare referee wanders to the back. A double dropkick from Slater sends the Mountain down, before Bate crashes and burns with a back bodydrop to the outside.
Seven takes a Finlay roll from Slater, before Perspectiva combine to hit an Ace crusher/Flatliner on Slater for the win. Another throwaway triple-threat, and I guess the “sneaky” heel win gives heat to Perspectiva? That wasn’t the emotion that seemed to originate from the crowd, that’s for sure… ***
We’re backstage now with Alberto el Patron and El Ligero (after an advert for a magazine…). For some reason Stevie Aaron’s apologising for what just happened… I’m guessing Los Perspectiva pretending to be Mexicans is meant to be offensive to Ligero and Patron? They’re facing each other at Refuse to Lose for the Internet title, and somewhere Zack Ryder is weeping. Patron says something, but the mic’s way too quiet to pick him up, but I’m guessing he was offended at Ligero being called a “Mexican Sensation”. Ligero shrugs his shoulders, and in comes Travis Banks, and he reveals it’s going to be a three-way match. Banks and Alberto have a pull-apart, with Gabriel Kidd getting involved pulling guys away. Yep, this was a throwback to the earlier episodes of Loaded where inaudible segments aired and weren’t reshot…
Backstage again and we see Jack The Jobber running from Primate. He stops to have a word with Katarina Leigh to try and hit on her, but Primate catches up and the run keeps on.
We’re ringside now, and Jack’s out to try and escape from Primate. Worst. Idea. Ever. Jack runs, but Primate turns around and finds Simon Miller (the ring announcer and former commentator)… so he spears him! Well, at least Miller’s had some training. Primate catches Miller with the Tazmission, and rather than have people break up the hold, some “security” guards run out with a stretcher.
Ah, that’s because Joe Hendry’s music comes on as the “Local Hero” makes the save. Hendry wasn’t scheduled to compete tonight, and he gets in a sneaky plug for the iPPV where he’s facing Kurt Angle. We see Miller stretechered out, and w ehave a match!
Joe Hendry vs. Primate
Hendry starts by taking down Primate and spins around him until he grabs a front headlock. A wristlock takes the monster Primate down, before a forearm is shrugged off. Hendry’s fallaway slam is countered as Primate goes for some overhead belly-to-bellies instead, and then chokes the Scotsman in the corner.
In the corner, Primate headbutts Hendry and then hooks away at his nose. Hendry fires back, but he’s knocked into the ropes, before a spear knocks down the “Local Hero”. Primate gets the Tazmission, but Hendry gets out of it and grabs an ankle lock on Primate… and Suzy Kennedy (Primate’s manager) gets on the apron to cause a distraction.
They dub in a voice-over to mask something Hendry said, before a DDT sets up Hendry for the fallaway slam that gets him the win. This was a bit odd… Primate’s entire WCPW run has been him being a monster, but invariably losing. Was there nobody else for Hendry to face as a warm-up for Angle?? *½
Stevie Aaron is the new fill-in ring announcer, by the way… and Primate chokes out the referee with the “rear naked choke” we all know as the Tazmission. No security again, and our ever-effective General Manager is MIA. Security comes out, sans stretcher, and they actually try to release the hold. One of the “venue” security members takes a powerbomb, then another Tazmission as Primate gets his heat back… and I’ll just say this. We’ve seen on earlier shows in the O2 that the “arena security” wear yellow shirts, not generic black shirts with SECURITY on the back. Does any venue worth their salt do that?
They replay the segment from last week where Adam Blampied was booked to face Rampage in a streetfight – where if he loses, Adam B’s gone. Cue a music video of Rampage working out, and Blampied struggling to do anything. Funny, but not quite Vince, Shane and a chicken in the snow. Unfortunately, they try to still build this match as being serious…
WCPW Championship: Drew Galloway vs. Joe Conners (c)
There’s a line of security in the ring to keep Conners and Galloway apart, and once the bell goes, Galloway dropkicks Conners in what was a furious start.
Conners fires back with chops in the corner, before an overhead kick from Galloway busted up the champion as he tried to leap over the Scotsman. Galloway bloodies himself as he punched Conners whilst the commentary team run through the iPPV card, and as the two guys end up on the stage, ending up with Conners taking a back body drop onto the stage.
A swinging slam on the outside sees Galloway throw Conners into the ringpost, before he rips up the padding around the ring. Conners finally gets some offence in by throwing Galloway off the middle rope, before sending him back to the floor, where they fight on the exposed area. Conners blocks a Futureshock DDT by hanging onto the ropes, as Galloway ends up swinging backwards, but Conners only ended up getting a one-count after that.
Conners stomps on Galloway in the corner, but the challenger quickly replies by sidestepping a corner charge and giving Conners an overhead belly to belly suplex. The standing ten count lets the crowd do their “count ahead and shout Moose” gimmick, before the pair trade chops back and forth. A scoop slam gets Galloway a near-fall, before Conners gets a push-down stomp for another two-count.
Galloway catches a slingshot DDT through the ropes, before he suplexes Conners into the ropes and lands a twisting Air Raid Crash for a near-fall. Conners went to the top for some mounted punches, but ended up being sent to the mat with a Sky High powerbomb off the middle rope for a near-fall. After aborting a Futureshock DDT attempt, Galloway was dragged to the outside for some clonking lariats and headbutts. Conners gets the win after leaping onto the apron to DDT Galloway onto the exposed floor, before hitting the Righteous Kill DDT in the ring.
That was… a mess. Despite taking two DDTs, Galloway popped up, rolled out of the ring and walked to the back (and was acknowledged on commentary), which thoroughly validated the lack of interest given by the crowd here. Conners just hasn’t worked as a champion for me, it’s almost like his character is a secret, but the in-ring stuff isn’t appealing to me at all. **¼
After the match, Conners took the microphone and declared himself “still champion”. He name-dropped those who were an “Olympic Hero” a “Local Hero” or the “Son of a Plumber”, and said that he was the true superstar. As Conners celebrated, Martin Kirby entered the ring and went toe-to-toe with the champion. Kirby’s name was chanted by the crowd before the pair brawled and had to be separated by security. After security were knocked out, Kirby laid out Conners with the Sable Bomb, and that’s how the show ended.
As a go-home show, this was a bit of a bust. Having two unannounced title matches seemed a little odd, even though the full card hadn’t been announced at this point, when you’ve revealed it to the viewers at home, it’s hard to invest in a title match when you’re already looking forward to a bigger match.
So, this Thursday’s iPPV will feature the following card:
- Kurt Angle vs. Joe Hendry
- WCPW Championship: Joseph Conners (c) vs. Martin Kirby
- WCPW Internet Championship: Alberto el Patron vs. Travis Banks vs. El Ligero
- WCPW Women’s Championship: Nixon Newell’s Open Challenge (cough, versus Kimber Lee)
- Joe Coffey vs. Minoru Suzuki
- Street Fight: Rampage vs. Adam Blampied (who will be fired if he loses)
- Doug Williams vs. Cody R. (so they say “Cody Rhodes” but they can’t spell the name out?)
This show’ll be live on the WhatCulture Extra service or the FITE TV app… we’ll get around to reviewing this in due course!