After the third episode of Reloaded proved to be nothing more than a recap of the iPPV, the WCPW’s sister show returned with… a WCPW title match?
The title for this promised Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy for the title, and we were also told that we’ll see El Ligero vs. Drake in a match that I’d assume would otherwise be on the cutting room floor since Saturday’s Loaded is being marketed as the “season finale”.
Ben Potter tells us that Alberto el Patron vs. Johnny Mundo will take place on Loaded this week – after their originally scheduled match for the Delete WCPW iPPV was cancelled due to Berty’s travel issues. That segues to a plug for their February iPPV where el Patron’s facing Kurt Angle…
We get a recap of Primate vs. Rampage from last week’s Loaded, with added emphasis on James Kennedy being disgusted at the level of violence in the no holds barred match. Their next match will be in Liverpool in the new year, but no word on a stipulation or when it’ll air on Loaded. That segues into the Kennedy/Prospect confrontation, and another Loaded plug as Prospect face the Coffeys and Moustache Mountain.
More plugs for upcoming shows, featuring a “tough guy” image that quickly fell apart.
El Ligero vs. Drake
This is Drake’s first singles match here since the summer – except Alex Shane mentions a match against Doug Williams on the Delete WCPW pre-show, which I don’t think was advertised or has aired anywhere yet?
Drake starts by being taken off the apron with a dropkick as Ligero instantly took him to a seat by the guard rail… and dropkicked him off of it. Finally in the ring, Ligero peppered Drake with kicks and forearms, before being caught with a uranage backbreaker, but couldn’t even get a one-count from it.
Ligero fought out of a full nelson, but ran into a big boot as Drake went for – and missed – a tumbleweed out of the corner. Another dropkick on the apron caught Drake’s head in the corner, as Ligero followed up with a double stomp and a tombstone that was turned into a lungblower for a near-fall.
A C4L attempt was caught by Drake who turned it into a German suplex for a near-fall, before both men collided into each other as they went for crossbodies at the same time. As Kirby and Drake went under the ring, Alex Shane and Dave Bradshaw started talking about “our main event, coming up next”… before talking about the Kirby/Hardy vs. Swords/Bully Ray match that’s on Loaded this week. So I guess we know where this was meant to air!
Eventually, Ligero and Drake emerge – except Drake’s wearing Ligero’s mask, and Ligero’s wearing… El Drako’s mask? They go back under the ring to switch masks, whilst the referee just shakes his head and doesn’t count (something that I’m sure Jim Cornette would get wound up about), before Ligero and Drako return in their correct masks.
The match resumes with a Drake suplex, before missing a senton bomb as Ligero went back to the kicks and unmasked El Drako as Drake. Big shock, huh? Once Ace Crusher and a C4L later, and Ligero picked up the win. Decent comedy match, which served well to heat-up the live crowd ahead of the real main event. **¾
PSA: doing live commentary really sucks if you change your plans down the line, doesn’t it?
We flash back to Ben Potter in the studio as he talks up Nixon Newell’s reign as WCPW Women’s champion. They skip over Newell’s month-long feud with Kimber Lee, and instead go back to her “arch nemesis” Bea Priestley, who’ll challenge her for the title on Loaded this week. You’d be forgiven for thinking WCPW only had two women…
A Delete WCPW clip show airs next, complete with that hideous distortion effect that was the theme of the entire show.
They recap Drew Galloway’s title win, and his impromptu defence/rematch from the iPPV. Cue alliteration and highlights, with some hints at a future direction of Joe Hendry’s descent into madness.
We now go into our main event of Reloaded – courtesy of British Championship Wrestling in Kilmarnock, Scotland…
WCPW Championship: Drew Galloway (c) vs. Matt Hardy
Good God, we’re only halfway through the 50-minute show… the match started with a promo from Broken Matt, who sang the Obsolete song at Galloway. Sadly, it seemed like a lot of the act was alien to a good proportion of the crowd here.
The pair started with a tie-up and went into the ropes, before Galloway working the arm made Matt Hardy channel Iron Mike Sharpe’s selling from back in the day. Matt reversed the armbar, before a shoulder tackle drew “this is awesome” chants. They’re easily pleased, huh? Taking inspiration, Hardy and Galloway worked a knuckle-lock, before Hardy bit away at Drew en route to a headlock takedown.
Galloway fought free and landed an overhead belly-to-belly for a near-fall, before Matt went back to biting away at the hand, then rammed Drew’s head into the top turnbuckle numerous times. They went outside where Drew dropped Matt across the guard rails, then went into the crowd, as Drew was whipped into the wall.
Drew took Matt to the merch tables, and swung him into the wall, before smashing a plastic “wet floor” sign over Matt’s back. More bumps with the wall followed, as Drew grabbed a bottle of water from the bar and sprayed Matt with it, and then finally ended up back in the ringside area… albeit after Matt reversed a whip into the guard railings.
They continued outside the ring, with Hardy getting posted before Drew rolled him inside… only to be taken down with a clothesline after he made his way back in too. Hardy picked up a near-fall from a legdrop, only to spend too much time setting up Drew for a Tree of Woe as the champion took down Hardy off the top rope with an overhead belly-to-belly. Galloway finally fired back with a clothesline, before Hardy blocked a Futureshock DDT and ran into a powerslam for another near-fall.
Hardy hit an elbow off the middle rope, then called for the Twist of Fate, which Drew blocked and returned fire with a dropkick for a near-fall. A backslide got Matt a near-fall, before Galloway instantly popped back with a Futureshock for another two-count, which shocked Galloway, as he thought he’d had it won. After taking time to recompose himself, Galloway walked straight into a Twist of Fate before kicking out at two. Another Twist of Fate attempt followed, but Drew countered it into a roll-up, before a crucifix pin secured the win. A messy ending, but this was as good a match as you’d expect in this environment – played largely to the “WWE style”, Galloway and Hardy worked well without taking too many risks. ***¼
After a commercial, we get another plug for WCPW’s debut in Orlando over WrestleMania weekend, which bleeds into a promo for the “end of season” special this weekend where Martin Kirby and Adam Pacitti’s careers are on the line in that 2-on-3- handicap match to bring this week’s Reloaded to an end.
As a “warm up” for Loaded, Reloaded is settling into a fine niche with a recap of stuff you may have missed… and a look ahead to the upcoming show.
For some reason, it doesn’t feel like a “proper” show – for instance, the addition of upcoming show plugs tended to derail segments; whilst the Drake/Ligero match was complete with “as live” commentary that became so jarring when the match was taken away from its intended place on the show. As with everything else, WCPW’s overall package is getting better, but still not quite there yet.