WCPW kickstarted a busy week of shows with their second annual Stacked iPPV… and yes, it was!
Like all shows seem to these days, we had a pre-show, with Joe Hendry teasing a new addition to the Prestige… given that Gabriel Kidd vs. Lucky Kid is our pre-show match, you’d be forgiven for guessing that one of those guys would be “it”.
WCPW Internet Championship: Lucky Kid vs. Gabriel Kidd (c)
A lot of this match was hampered by a lack of sound and flickering screens… we’ll cover this properly if/when a replay goes up. Kidd retains after he sidestepped a handspring from Kid, and hit his diving knee for the win.
The Prestige’s Reveal
Joe Hendry, BT Gunn and Travis Banks came out for a talking segment. He gets “boring” chants, so the Prestige sit in the ring and ride it out. Hendry tries to get heat by saying he’s not defending the title tonight, and then they cut to the chase… they’ve invited Will Ospreay to join the Prestige?!
Ospreay comes out, looking confused. Apparently fighting War Machine 1-on-2 is what got Hendry’s attention… but as soon as Hendry said “you could be the second best wrestler in the world”, you probably could guess where this was going. The “boring” chants return, as Hendry tells Will he’s got until the end of the evening to decide.
James R. Kennedy and Dave Bradshaw are doing commentary tonight, by the way… Steve Lynskey is your ring announcer, and we’ve got a lot of peaking audio here…
Mike Bailey vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Yes, Daryl lives in Leeds! Good God, Daryl even gets his own caption!
Bailey goes after Daryl early, but it’s a very cagey start as Hiromu avoids the kicks. Eventually they connect, as does an inside-out moonsault to the floor from Speedball, before the pair exchange chops to the chest for a while. Takahashi slides to the floor to avoid being whipped into the corner, but his try at a sunset bomb ends up turning into a shoulder barge, sending Bailey into the guard railings.
Takahashi throws Bailey into the ring post, and the Ticking Time Bomb keeps up the pressure back inside, grabbing Daryl for some double-teaming? Yeah, he whacks Bailey in the head with Daryl… and Bailey sells it! A big knee from Bailey turns things around, as does a standing corkscrew press, which gets Bailey a near-fall.
Takahashi catches a handspring off the ropes and dumps Bailey in a German suplex, drawing chants of “both these guys” – which makes me think this crowd’d be wild if they were properly mic’d. More chops and kicks follow, before Hiromu counters a headlock driver… lifting Bailey onto the apron as he went for a Time Bomb, before instead joining the Canadian there for an attempted German suplex.
Bailey sweeps the leg though and misses a moonsault double knee onto the apron, producing a sickening thud, but he’s able to block a sunset bomb from Takahashi, who then avoids a moonsault stomp off the apron. Both men beat the count though, but it just delays the inevitable as the Time Bomb drilled Bailey as Hiromu got the win! A fun match, albeit with a bit of a sudden end, but enjoyable nevertheless. ***¾
Drake vs. Angelico vs. Jay Lethal
We’re under elimination rules here, and Drake jumps Lethal at the bell before Angelico peppered Drake with a series of knees.
A Capoeira kick nearly eliminates Drake, who responds by popping up the South African to dump him to the floor, as we got Drake and Lethal for a spell. Drake gets a near-fall out of a springboard dropkick, before capitalising on an accidental double-team, hitting a neckbreaker to Angelico that caused a DDT to Lethal.
This is all Drake for a while, but he’s quickly taken out with a knee as we’re back to the more established guys after Lethal’s tope took Drake into the barriers. Lethal comes back for a Macho Man elbow to Angelico… but he doesn’t go for the cover? A Lethal Injection’s blocked, but he manages to recover… and we get an elimination when Angelico’s suplex is blocked when Drake plays Bobby Heenan to Angelico’s Warrior… and we’re down to two!
Angelico throws Drake back into the ring to take a superkick, then a Lethal Injection, and there’s the win. Huh. Well, I liked they tried to do something with Drake, but this was a match that seemed to end in a hurry! ***
After the match, Lethal threatens to swear – but he “only” calls Drake a son of a bitch. They then shake hands, but of course it’s a ruse as Drake attacks him from behind, before hitting a brainbuster. This on/off feud will never die!
Penta el Zero M vs. Rampage
Well, the random match generator has thrown this up! I know it’s not random, but the hometown hero in the third match on the card… is odd.
The Pentagon Man snubs Rampage’s offer of a handshake, so they slug it out! Penta kicks Rampage in the chest as he tried to roll backwards after a leapfrog, and that’s not something you see every day as Penta keeps kicking away Rampage… and intimidates the ref a lot to boot. My GOD the cracking noises on those kicks! The pair trade corner lariats for a spell as Rampage tried to fight back, dropkicking away a springboard attack from the luchador. The hard hitting continues with a double stomp from Penta, followed by some brutal chops by the ring post… which of course led to Penta hitting the post as Rampage made a comeback.
Penta rebounds with some Slingblades, but his attempt at a leaping Destroyer’s countered into an Air Raid Crash as Rampage almost got the win. A backcracker out of the corner sees Rampage land awkwardly but still kick out, before swiping Penta as he was on the top rope ahead of a belly-to-back superplex. Rampage snaps in with a piledriver from there, and that’s enough for the win – a surprise loss for Penta, but a good, if short, hard-hitting match. Well worth another watch! ***½
WCPW Hardcore Championship: BT Gunn vs. Primate (c)
A rematch from that impromptu brawl around Manchester from a few weeks back on Loaded, and Gunn heads backstage with a chair for an ambush. He’s attacked with a chairshot to the back… but he misses a second shot, hitting the ringpost instead as we have a brawl around ringside.
Gunn’s thrown head-first into the guard railings, before backdropping Primate into the crowd as the Scotsman keeps up with some chairshots. There’s a lot of dead time as Gunn flips off the crowd as he prepped to whip Primate into a chair he’d wedged in the corner… but of course, Wrestling Logic looks to prevail. The pair no-sell each other’s German suplexes, before Gunn rolls up into a DDT to get a near-fall.
Gunn keeps avoiding those chairs he’d set up, and swipes one away as he heads up top, only to get caught in a slam as Primate came close… but Primate runs into a chair and gets rolled up for a near-fall. From the kick-out, Gunn flips him into a crossface – and since there’s no rope breaks, Primate just drags himself to the outside to free himself. A table’s brought into play, which someone’d written “I AM THE TABLE” on (nice reference), but Primate cuts off Gunn, before the Scotsman lands a spinning suplex as they teased a table spot. Gunn tries a superplex through the table… but instead he’s powerbombed through it! The table barely gives, and the canvas gets ripped badly, but Gunn kicks out.
Some superkicks from Gunn put Primate down, before Gunn stomps his head into the canvas repeatedly… and the referee pushes Gunn away. There’s no stoppage though, and Gunn slaps on the crossface, and finally the ref stops the match. That… was weird. Gunn was put over massively, but the bad crowd mic’ing didn’t help things. **
Travis Banks vs. KUSHIDA
On paper, this should be a sleeper hit! We start with mat wrestling as KUSHIDA schooled Banks, before doing the Rick Rude hip swivel to avoid a sunset flip and turn it into a very early Hoverboard Lock attempt.
Banks cheapshots KUSHIDA from a handshake as he gets some strikes in for a near-fall, before peppering the ROH TV champ with some right hands in the corner. KUSHIDA fires back and drops Banks into the corner with a STO, before hitting a cartwheel dropkick. Banks tries to counter with an elbow out of the corner, but he just lands into an armbar as he’s forced to roll into the ropes, before rebounding with some uppercuts. A trip takes KUSHIDA into the corner for a cannonball, but he’s able to kick out at two, as Banks rolled him up into a superkick.
KUSHIDA avoids a Slice of Heaven and delivers a Pele kick instead as the momentum keeps shifting. A Fisherman’s driver gets the Kiwi a near-fall, before a shotgun dropkick awkwardly takes KUSHIDA down for a springboard double stomp. Another Slice of Heaven’s missed as KUSHIDA tries for Back to the Future, instead whacking Banks with a handstand kick.
Another handstand kick rocks Banks on the top rope as KUSHIDA joins him… and brings him down with a Spanish Fly into a Hoverboard Lock! He rolls into the middle of the ring, and that gives Banks no choice but to tap as a fun match came to an end. This was fine, but perhaps I’d built it up too much in my mind? Again, better mic’ing would have tipped this over for me, but even thinking that this is a disappointment shows you how good 2017 has been in-ring. ***¾
Alex Gracie vs. Martin Kirby
Brought to you by crispy, distorted audio! Kirby comes out with a pink balloon for… reasons. Except Gracie pops it with ease, and gets a dropkick for his troubles.
Kirby gives chase as Gracie tries to run away… but Gracie still seems to be playing a buffoon, missing a legdrop on the apron as Kirby comes back with a Slingblade. A Sable Bombs’s backdropped out of as Kirby pulls down Gracie’s trunks to reveal a second pair – with Gracie’s face on them. Gracie gets the James Drake “arse face” chant, which angers him into missing another legdrop, but he does snap Kirby down with a sidewalk slam. Kirby responds with a hanging suplex into an eye poke, but some Eat Defeat gets Gracie back in it as he finally takes off his t-shirt… so he can mock Kirby’s Zoidberg Elbow.
Yeah, it doesn’t work, but Kirby gets his head rammed into the turnbuckles before he does some mounted punches to Gracie’s face. On his arse. Gracie tries to go all serious again, but Kirby overcomes him again and dropkicks Gracie into the middle turnbuckle. A superman punch draws boos, because Reigns, and Kirby connects with Gracie’s Arse Face… and all of a sudden Bad Bones comes out and attacks Kirby from behind for the cheap DQ. Well, this was going nowhere, and I guess that’s Gracie’s “killer” character snuffed out? *½
Bones dumps Kirby with a half-and-half suplex, before Gracie signals to the German to take out Kirby. They shake hands, and I’m guessing Gracie has gone from being a killer… to hiring one. Hey, if I were Bones, I’d be mad, and not just for those “shit Luke Gallows” chants. The exclamation mark’s left as Gracie somehow messes up the Fall From Gracie, saving things just in time to drop Kirby on his head.
Ahead of the next match, Jay Briscoe tells us that he can’t wrestle tonight because he’s got a back injury. That’s odd, because the Briscoes said nothing in a pre-taped promo that aired earlier. Instead he’s got a replacement: Jay Lethal. Close enough!
WCPW Tag Team Championship: Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal vs. War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) (c)
War Machine aren’t happy that they’re not facing both Briscoes, and yeah, we’ve got War Machine rules. Handshakes get us going as the champs flatten Briscoe and Lethal with shoulder tackles, and it’s all one-way traffic as Hanson gets charged into Briscoe in the corner.
We head outside as War Machine laid waste to Mark and Jay, before Hanson flattened Mark with a whoopee cushion. Lethal’s enziguiri gets rid of the Warbeard, before Rowe leaps over Jay and hits some shotgun knees into the corner.
Mark gets clotheslined to the outside as he went for a dive, but Lethal’s able to get some topes off, sending War Machine into those barriers, and eventually into the front row. Briscoe goes up top as he joins them in the crowd with a moonsault! Back inside, a suplex/elbow combo gets a near-fall for the challengers as Hanson’s big splash breaks it up, and he quickly ends up setting up for those Forever lariats!
Another clothesline sends Lethal flying as Briscoe ducks a spinning heel kick, only to fall to a clothesline too. The challengers hit discus lariats to sandwich Rowe, but Hanson’s handspring back double-elbow takes them down with ease as Rowe then hits the powerbomb/splash combo for a near-fall.
Out of nowhere, Lethal catches Rowe with the Lethal Injection before a Froggy Elbow from Briscoe gets a near-fall – moments after Fallout was countered! Hanson comes back in to get some superkicks, before Rowe headbutts away some punches… before catching a Lethal Injection and turning it into a clothesline-assisted German suplex. One pop-up powerslam later, and Mark Briscoe’s down for the count as War Machine rack up another defence! Impressive stuff, especially given the late change – can anyone stop these big bastards?! ****
Random WCPW guy’s looking for Will Ospreay… and luckily he’s found him. Ospreay doesn’t want to speak to him, but Random Adam doesn’t take the hint. Will tells us he’s the last Sword of Essex remaining, and he walks away as Random Adam keeps up with his one question.
Ricochet vs. Rey Mysterio
We’ve got Ospreay/Ricochet in the World Cup later this week, so this is quite a good warm-up, eh?
Ricochet opts not to sucker-punch Rey early, as they start with a rather grounded match, before Rey’s ‘rana sees Ricochet land on his feet! We get some of Ricochet’s fast-paced flippy stuff, but again he flips out of another ‘rana as he confounds Rey. Finally some lucha headscissors get Ricochet down, but he avoids a 619 by taking down Rey with a tiltawhirl backbreaker, before a bow and arrow hold’s turned into a facebuster for a near-fall.
Some chops from Ricochet keep Mysterio on the back foot, but Rey ends up leaping onto Ricochet’s head and takes him outside for a seated senton. About 20 years ago, that’d have been a reverse ‘rana! A springboard from Rey inside the ring gets met with Ricochet’s knees, but a gutwrench is turned into a seated splash as Rey gets a near-fall from that springboard crossbody eventually.
Rey tries for another ‘rana, but he’s caught as Ricochet tries for a Benadryller, and instead lands a dropkick and a running shooting star press for a near-fall. Mysterio comes back with a satellite headscissors… but his follow-up 619’s caught as they keep going, with Ricochet blasting Rey with a double-knee gutbuster for a near-fall. The Northern Lights rolling into a suplex gets Ricochet another two-count, but a Phoenix Splash has to be aborted as Ricochet instead goes for a Benadryller… which Rey pops out of and takes him into the ropes again. Another 619’s ducked, so Reyends up going for the Halloween Havoc special: a monkey flip, into springboard off the top rope, moonsaulting his way into a DDT!
Rey keeps going for the 619, but ends up wheelbarrow’ing Ricochet into the ropes… finally the 619’s hit, and all that’s left is a frog splash as Rey gets the win! This was really fun and had some good flashes of days of the Mysterio of old, but with both men having a tournament to take part in, you felt that there was a little bit left in the locker. ***½
Joe Hendry comes out before the main event… they still have the Will Ospreay thing to pay off, remember…
Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay
Billed as the second successive year they’ve done this match at Stacked, the long feud between these two continued… in what was Ospreay’s first match back in the UK after his storied trip to New Zealand.
Ospreay boots Scurll to the outside and meets him there with a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Annoyingly commentary has Joe Hendry stealing Dave Bradshaw’s headset to add… nothing. It actively detracts from the match, but hey, if he’s not wrestling, you’ve gotta have your champion on-screen.
In the ring, Scurll boots Ospreay into a Tree of Woe as he was going up top, before tying up Ospreay in what eventually segued into a straitjacket hold. A quick backcracker gets a two-count, and my feed wobbles just as Ospreay nailed the Villain with a handspring overhead kick. The Shibata-esque shotgun dropkick followed, as did a flying elbow off the top as Will looked to set-up for a Rainmaker.
Yeah, it’s blocked and met with a backslide attempt as the pair teased a bunch of near-falls, before Scurll’s attempt at a lawn dart is wriggled free of. He keeps going for chicken wings, before a crucifix pin gets a near-fall for the Villain as the breathless exchanges continued. Duelling forearms give way to an Ishii-esque chop to the throat by Scurll, who then gets caught in the corner for a Cheeky Nando’s as Ospreay heads up… and gets nothing but Scurll’s boots from a shooting star press!
A superkick off the apron rocks Ospreay some more, but he boots Scurll back inside as they trade kicks and slaps until Will nails a Stundog Millionaire! The Revolution kick follows, but Scurll’s able to fight back, going up top for that newly-learned moonsault of his… but Ospreay rolls away! Still, Marty’s able to get in a chicken wing, only for Ospreay to break it via the ropes, before he’s forced to elbow away a back superplex attempt. Marty falls out of the corner and in place for Will’s double moonsault/shooting star press combo, then a corkscrew splash for a near-fall…
A Spanish Fly gets another two-count for Will, but his attempt at an OsCutter’s caught… only for Will to turn it back into a schoolboy for a near-fall. Another Cheeky Nando’s is countered, as Marty finally gets that inverted crucifix into a side slam for a near-fall. An enziguiri counters a chicken wing as Marty nearly decapitates Ospreay with a lariat and a big boot, before a sit-out Dominator gets Ospreay the win. A bloody magnificent main event – but that should not have been a surprise! ****¼
After the match, Joe Hendry, Travis Banks and BT Gunn hit the ring to attack Scurll… They’ve got a t-shirt in hand for Ospreay, who’s helped to his feet by Hendry as the Prestige tried to seal the deal. Instead, Ospreay drops Gunn and Banks with a double OsCutter, before Hendry cowers away… and I guess we’ve got our next WCPW title feud!
As a show, Stacked was really good – yeah, like other it had its major down moments. That stop-start Alex Gracie push continues to frustrate, whilst the Hardcore title match felt rather flat. In truth, this came across rather muted on VOD due to poor crowd mic’ing… but if you can get over what (incorrectly) seemed to be a muted crowd.
Night one of a five-day run is in the books, and thanks to a lot of good wrestling, it’s well worth the watch.