On the doorstep of WCPW’s latest iPPV, we get another edition of the re-launched Reloaded show, featuring one new match…
The debut show last week wasn’t too bad, in terms of acting as a recap show. Only problem was (apart from some spotty research), the recap show was almost as long as the show it was covering, which feels a bit redundant… but anyway, at least this iteration isn’t heavy on Ikea furniture!
Ben Potter is the host again, and we start with a heavily distorted advert for the iPPV. It’s by design, but my God it’s irritating.
They start with an edited-down version of last week’s opening segment where Will Ospreay explained his heel turn. The introduction of Bea Priestley into the group gets replayed, along with Martin Kirby’s attack on the Swords… and those weak slaps by Adam Pacitti. I think the fly on Martin Kirby’s cheek survived. Of course, Kirby and Ospreay are facing each other on Wednesday’s iPPV in a best-of-three-falls match, which should be good… unless they go over-the-top on the storyline crap.
Ben Potter tells us that Drake was able to find Primate on last week’s Loaded – something you’d have known if you’d seen Reloaded too, since they played all the skits there! They again show the Coronet Theatre’s WiFi password, before an edited version of the glorified Rampage squash against Drake from last week’s Loaded. During this, they try to play up that Primate killed the two guys he was locked in a room with; an angle I’m sure will be consigned to the same dustbin as the piledriver ban.
The iPPV this week sees Primate take on Rampage in the first of a best-of-seven series, with this one being a lumberjack match. Good luck everyone at ringside! Oh my God, they even did a “In Memory of These Men” graphic for the two captives that Primate apparently killed.
They recap the tag title tournament semi-finals, with Moss and Slater beating Prospect, then the Coffeys beating Pete Dunne and Travis Banks. Next up is that Prince Ameen video from Loaded, where he suddenly became a movie producer, showing us: “Gabe’s Odyssey”. You know, that video ending with “will Gabe’s defeated streak end?”
This leads to an edited replay of the Gabriel Kidd/Joseph Conners main event from last week – a match that, if handled well, could kickstart Kidd’s WCPW career. Problem was, in the recap, most of the focus was put onto the Drew Galloway promo that felt odd at the time, and even a few days later, still feels like that. It’s so very WWE of them to change an advertised match on the go-home show… You’re better off watching the full promo from Galloway, rather than this edited copy.
Potter comes back from a plug for a future show to mention a new match that’s been added to the iPPV – an intergender six-person tag, with Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) tagging with Nixon Newell, against the remainder of the Swords of Essex in Scott Wainwright, Paul Robinson and Bea Priestley. This leads to our “exclusive” match, a left-over taping from the London taping…
Lana Austin vs. Bea Priestley
Will Ospreay came out with his girlfriend – I guess that’s the fourth time he’d have come out on this set of tapings.
Priestley launched into Austin with a forearm in the corner at the bell, before Austin countered with a Northern Lights for an early near-fall. A corner charge and a snapmare led to Lana going up top, but Ospreay causes a distraction that let Priestley swipe Austin down to the outside. Priestley stayed on top of Austin, throwing her into the barricades, before throwing her back into the ring. The crowd tries to chant for Lana, but those chants turn into groans as Priestley removes her chewing gum and shoves it into Lana’s mouth as she was trapped in a camel clutch. Cue “STD” chants…
Austin fires back with a series of clotheslines out of the corner, before sidestepping an onrushing Priestley and landing a knee strike. A kick to the face gets Lana a near-fall, and I’m impressed that this audience hasn’t made the expected comparison yet, since they were all over Paul “Gillberg” Robinson and Pete “Jack Swagger” Dunne earlier in these tapings.
Ospreay gets on the apron again, threatening Austin with that baton that Martin Kirby was attacked with. That allows Priestley the chance to catch Austin as she was on the turnbuckles and give her a Cheeky Nando’s kick. One sit-out powerbomb later, and Bea gets the win. We’re a little way off the flippy stuff her boyfriend usually does, but this was a perfectly acceptable match to re-establish Bea. **¾
The first time I saw Bea Priestley wrestle would have been in something of a squash match against the future Laura Di Matteo on a PROGRESS/ENDVR show back in March. From the Hello Kitty gear in March to this, Priestley has come a long way this year, and I wouldn’t be too shocked if she broke out of the pack in 2017.
After the match, Kenny McIntosh runs down the card for tonight’s iPPV (including storyline explanations for matches that have barely been acknowledged on TV!):
Steel Cage Match for WCPW Championship: Joseph Conners (c) vs. Joe Hendry vs. Drew Galloway
Best-of-Three-Falls: Will Ospreay vs. Martin Kirby
Matt Hardy vs. Bully Ray
WCPW Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: Liam Slater & Johnny Moss vs. The Coffeys (Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey)
Alberto el Patron vs. Johnny Mundo*
Lumberjack Match: Primate vs. Rampage (match 1 of a best-of-7-series)
WCPW Internet Championship: El Ligero (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) & Nixon Newell vs. Swords of Essex (Paul Robinson & Scott Wainwright) & Bea Priestley
No, you’re not misreading: there are two matches there which have barely been acknowledged on TV, as “Broken” Matt Hardy vs. Bully Ray and Alberto el Patron vs. Johnny Mundo have had wafer-thin storylines to build them up. And by wafer-thin, I mean “Alberto wants to prove himself against a former Lucha Underground foe” and “Bully Ray’s going to help Adam Pacitti defend himself against a bully in Matt Hardy”. Although you’d be forgiven for thinking that last one was a rib, since Matt’s name hasn’t been involved in any storylines on Loaded…
Update: just before 2pm GMT, Alberto el Patron tweeted a video saying that he’d be missing tonight’s show due to being stuck in an airport. Unless that’s a work, it looks like Johnny Mundo will need a new opponent(s)…
Since Reloaded didn’t address it, there’ll be two “dark matches” for those who aren’t jumping on the PPV: Prospect vs. Travis Banks and Pete Dunne (which’ll air on YouTube); whilst the Internet title match as El Ligero defends vs. Cody Rhodes will be on the promotion’s Facebook channel. The Internet title match for free continues the gimmick of that title eventually being defended in matches for free online. In a move that WCPW haven’t addressed via any videos yet, it seems that Cody’s Global Force Nex*Gen title will also be on the line. I smell a DQ finish then…
Delete WCPW will be taking place tonight (at time of writing) – due to personal commitments, we’ll have a review up by the end of Friday…