Sunday night saw WhatCulture head to Milton Keynes for their latest iPPV – and it was a memorable night, it had to be said.
First, let’s get the elephant out of the room, for the sake of disclosure. We were at the show live, thanks to Adam Clery and the team at WhatCulture – covering the Pro Wrestling World Cup press conference and the evening’s iPPV. That also (somehow) got us into the arena before the live crowd, and a sneak peek of what would turn out to be preparations for several things that would take place later on.
We received a copy of the running order, with pointing at the “card subject to change” note at the bottom – Tessa Blanchard’s withdrawal had been revealed by the promotion ahead of show time, whilst Penta el Zero M (the former Pentagon Jr, in the name he’s using this week before AAA trademark it) was pulled closer to show time due to a family emergency. That led to some tweaks in the card…
The live crowd were treated to two pre-show matches; the first one – Prince Ameen beating Drake – will likely end up released on YouTube down the line, either on Reloaded or as a standalone match. The show opened with So Cal Val (or should that be Mil Key Val today?), running down the Fite TV app and the coverage of the show on that app. Which was of tremendous use to everyone live in the arena! Val tells the crowd that Pentagon is off the show, and he’s going to be replaced by “Dos Caras”. Eh, close enough!
“Bad Bones” John Klinger vs. Doug Williams
Add WCPW to the list of companies Klinger’s worked for in the UK… he’s here to sort-of play up his appearance in the Pro Wrestling World Cup later in the year, as he’s going to be a part of the German qualifiers in July.
Williams seems to have dropped the Mr Brexit gimmick, and he starts out trading shots with Bad Bones, ending with a dropkick as Bones launches into some mounted punches. A kneelift rocks Bones, but he comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for a near-fall, just as the fans launch into a chant of “Perry Saturn”. As long as they meant Saturn from about twenty years ago, that’s about alright… especially since JR acknowledged the chant and comparison seconds afterwards.
A diving shoulder charge into the corner and a sliding clothesline gets Bones a near-fall, as the German works a rear chinlock that is elbowed out of. Williams gets a diving elbow out of the corner, then an Exploder suplex for a near-fall. Bones retaliates with some thrust kicks for a two-count, before a powerbomb is wriggled out of. So Bones just hits a pump kick and a diving spear off the middle rope, then a diving knee into the corner, and that’s it! The crowd booed this one, but that seemed to be an out-of-nowhere finish. Pretty good for the short amount of time they had to work with… **¾
JR pitches to the video announcing the arrivals of the Bullet Club on March 20 in Manchester, and March 21 in Nottingham: namely, Adam Cole, Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks. What, no Bone Soldier?! Interestingly, they’re on the World Cup Qualifiers, so I’m guessing they’ll be extra padding…
Yes, it’s Jim Ross and Matt Striker on commentary, and we start with our opening match!
Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet
I’m not sure what the deal is, but those video screens weren’t coming up great on TV… and yes, the ring canvas was still eye bleedingly-white on under these lights.
The crowd were chanting for Ospreay – the heel – which he tried to quell by telling the crowd “I know who I am”. They started with a pair of diving boots, knocking the other down. And we’re done!
Seriously, we were done – the crowd started doing the “ten” chant on this, and every other count-out spot on the show – but Ricochet and Ospreay pulled themselves back up to exchange punches and kicks, before they embarked on an insane sequence. Shoulder tackles, flipped out headscissors, blocked OsCutters and Benadryllers gave way to swerved kicks, and then the dualling handspring spot led to… the ropes breaking!
Welcome to 2017 folks!
They repeated the double big boot spot as they hit the mat – and out came some of the ring crew to try and make some running repairs. Fortunately, Will Ospreay didn’t land too badly from that handspring collapsing, and the match continued as Ospreay hit a shotgun dropkick to take Ricochet to the floor… joining him he dived over the middle rope.
The pair trade shots around the ring to give the ring crew a shot at repairing the top rope. Ospreay does a Trent, chopping the ring post, before he’s held in place by the fans as Ricochet runs up to chop the Best of Super Juniors winner. Ospreay replies with a back suplex onto the apron, before he motions to the ring crew “what can I do without a top rope?!”
It seemed that the ring crew were going to use a ratchet strap to put the top rope back up, but instead Ricochet pulls the loose buckle away and hits a standing moonsault off the grounded top turnbuckle. Confusing? Not really… That gets Ricochet a near-fall, but he’s quickly rebounding off the middle rope courtesy of a drop toe hold. Will tries for a springboard elbow off the middle rope, then he grounds Ricochet with a cravat and a rear chinlock.
Ospreay comes off the ropes, but gets dropped with a pop-up tiltawhirl backbreaker as those bloody “ten” chants returned. They both recovered, and decided to F the top rope, unhooking the remaining buckles a la Chris Hero a few weeks back.
A straight kick to the face sets up Ospreay for a springboard elbow from Ricochet,who then misses a roundhouse kick before drilling Will with a Regalplex for a near-fall. Ricochet seems to go for a Finlay roll, but he changes his mind as Ospreay elbows out and kicks him into the corner, finishing off with a Shibata like diving dropkick and a cross-legged Falcon arrow for a near-fall.
Somehow, Ospreay succeeds in attempting the OsCutter off the middle rope, but it’s caught as a series of back and forth kicks leads to a poison rana from Ricochet, who then takes a standing Spanish Fly to leave both men down once more! Some rebounding forearm smashes leave both men groggy, before some chops give way to a roundhouse kick and a floating Northern lights that sees Ospreay counter the follow-up into a Stundog Millionaire!
Ricochet comes back with a spinning suplex and a standing shooting star press for a near-fall, before he goes all the way up to the middle rope as he aborts a shooting star press, then gets a one-count from a Lumbar Check. Nevermind, an axe kick to the top of the head, then an inverted brainbuster is enough, as Ricochet wins the best match you’ll see between two fliers with no top rope! ****¼
We go backstage to James R. Kennedy with a second or so of silence as he bemoans what’s going on with Prospect. He sort-of links Prospect-to-Orlando if they win the tag titles in the ladder match, which he calls their last opportunity to make it to Florida.
The top rope has been fixed!
I-Quit: Primate vs. Rampage
This was a bit of a weird one to watch live, as this was effectively an I Quit match without hardly any submissions.
Rampage launches into Primate at the bell, and it’s Rampage who goes for the plunder first, finding a Kendo stick! Primate attacks him before Rampage can use it, landing an overhead belly-to-belly before Primate spots the stick, but he’s taken down as Rampage launches some clotheslines instead.
Primate comes out of the corner with a spear, and it’s time for more plunder as Rampage grabs a pink steel chair. Ikea’s finest! The chair’s used on Rampage’s ribs, but again the back and forth continues when Rampage hits a big chop, only to get suplexed onto the floor. We then see the ringpost come into play as Primate’s thrown into it, as he’s forced to kick at Rampage to save the ring steps from being thrown into him… the wooden steps break, but Rampage grabs a box marked “white potatoes” and flings it at Primate before he uses a bit of the wood from the broken steps and chokes Primate with it.
Rampage’s momentum is interrupted as he’s thrown into the apron, but he manages to find one of those queue barriers and chokes Primate with the strap from it. Primate comes back with that barrier pole, then he grabs a table from under the ring. Cue cheers. Except Rampage again comes back with mounted punches, only for Primate to catch him and deliver almost a German suplex off the turnbuckles, sending Rampage through the wood.
Primate goes out for some more chairs, and wrestling logic intervenes as Rampage swings the chair at Primate on the apron, as he was distracted by his own manager. A trio of chairs are set up for an elevated landing pad, which is quickly used when Primate takes an enziguiri onto it, before a piledriver onto the chair prompts the referee to ask Primate if he quits. The match continues, so Primate takes a piledriver on the outside as Matt Striker reminds us that the winner of this best-of-seven series gets a WCPW title match. That seems like a stipulation that’s been massively undersold…
Rampage rolls Primate back inside, before he grabs some electrical tape and ties Primate to the ropes, so he’s got no defence for a series of kicks in the corner. Again, Primate doesn’t give up, so Rampage goes out for a steel chain, then chokes Primate with it… and that forces James R. Kennedy to throw the towel in, and that’s the match. This… would have been better off as a last man standing match. Without the referee having a microphone and constantly (audibly) asking for the two words, this just felt massively flat. **½
We get a VT of Drew Galloway “on his way to the arena”. It is literally just video of him walking and not saying anything, clearly taped hours earlier, when it was daylight. Erm, o-kay?!
We’ve got another promo with El Ligero and Gabriel Kidd – they agree to tag up in tonight’s tag team title ladder match. Prince Ameen will be there too, for some reason.
Drago vs. El Hijo de Dos Caras
El Hijo de Dos Caras was a replacement for Pentagon Jr – Matt Striker acted as if this was a mystery opponent, despite So Cal Val (Mil Key Val?) announcing it on the pre-show.
They’ve not cut away the electrical tape that Rampage used in the last match, so that’s hanging on the top rope as JR and Striker pay tribute to Chavo Guerrero Sr, and we’re underway with wristlocks and headlock takedowns. Simple chain-wrestling for the win!
El Hijo de Dos Caras’ outfit seemed to be inspired by Max Moon from back in the day, and he lands an enziguiri to Drago before being sent onto the apron. A slingshot sunset flip follows, but Drago lands an elbow then a rolling big splash for a near-fall. El Hijo de Dos Caras then books himself a spot on Botchamania by picking up Drago from the kick-out, and staggers into the bottom rope, before redeeming himself with a suplex for a near-fall.
Drago counters a shoulder breaker into an armdrag, sending Caras to the outside for a big tope, and seriously, f*** those ten chants. A diving kick knocks down Caras, who’s then caught in some figure-four headscissors, but he works free, before the crowd ironically cheer Caras catching a springboard crossbody attempt.
Drago blocks a fallaway slam, then lands on his feet from a tiltawhirl before he’s mown down with a wild lariat. A swinging neckbreaker gets a near-fall, and Caras follows up with some avalanche clotheslines and a wild knee strike for a near-fall. Some kicks from the corner from Drago end up earning him a scoop slam as Caras nearly gets the win, but he ends up going outside as Drago hits a tope con hilo into the aisle!
Back in the ring, Drago gets a two-count as Caras barely gets his shoulder up, but he comes back with another thrust kick to the head. Drago looks to finish the match with the Dragon’s Tail (a headscissor into a crucifix pin), but Caras’ size means he takes so long to roll over that it just looked wonky. Caras kicked out at two, before he was snapmared for a big splash across the ring as Drago took the win. Well… it was a match. I don’t know how much notice el Hijo de Dos Caras got, but this was ugly at points. When the commentator is pointing out that you’re blown up early in the match, you’ve got problems! *¼
Another promo with a silent start as Johnny Moss talks up the ladder match. Liam Slater didn’t say a word…
Travis Banks vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
This was my pick for match of the night going in, solely going off of their match at Lights Out last month, and their epic at Fight Club: Pro last year. After ring announcer Stevie Aaron keys Banks at “32kg”, Matt Striker wrongly tags Banks as an entrant in the English qualifiers for the WCPW World Cup… which will be hard for a New Zealander to do. Striker corrected himself, but then gave away Banks (expected) placement in the as-yet-unconfirmed Rest of World bracket.
Moving on to the wrestling then!
Banks spins around Sabre to begin with, before the Kiwi’s forced to fight off a heel hook, eventually grabbing the ropes for a clean break. Sabre takes down Banks with a headscissors, before he works into a cravat, only for Banks to spin out and take down Sabre with a single leg. That ended with another armbar attempt as Banks headed for the ropes, before he was again caught in a wristlock that turned into a hammerlock as both men struggled to get a foothold.
Banks trips Sabre in the ropes, then rolls up into a cover, before Sabre reverses… and they’re back at being toe-to-toe! A knuckle lock forces Sabre to his knees, but he gets back up to reverse the hold, then work back into another wristlock, with a Northern Lights getting a pinning attempt. A version of the Tequila Sunrise is quickly flipped into a cover as Sabre gets a near-fall, before he pulls down Banks mid-leapfrog, sending the Kiwi crashing to the mat.
A bow-and-arrow is quickly countered into a pinning attempt, as the pair trade chops back and forth, ending with Sabre taking down Banks as he trapped the arm and spun in a hammerlock. Sabre goes back to an Octopus hold, forcing Travis to stagger to the ropes, before the Kiwi comes back with a reverse leg sweep and a diving knee. Some corner uppercuts and a cannonball drops Sabre, but he comes back with a Pele kick to the arm, before Sabre mounts Banks and crawls across him into a mounted Kimura.
That double wristlock is quickly countered with a suplex by Banks, who rolls up Sabre into a thrust kick, before his springboard roundhouse is missed and turned into a triangle armbar – something that Banks stands up out of and looks to powerbomb free, but they crash into the ropes as they both roll to the floor. Banks rolls back in and looks to go for a tope, but the replay has a jump cut and we’re back as Sabre gets a near-fall after a missing scene.
Sabre Shibata’s it up as he invites some kicks to the chest, before engaging a slap battle, ending with a missed kick that saw Banks taken down with a half nelson suplex. A diving knee gets a near-fall, as Sabre followed up with a double wristlock, but again Banks gets free with a Falcon Arrow-esque brainbuster. That springboard roundhouse works at the second attempt for a near-fall, but Sabre rolls up Banks again, before taking a German suplex… and then catches that roundhouse kick again to catch Banks with the double armbar with the wrenched back leg, and there’s the submission. A technical clinic, perhaps in front of muted crowd, but these two never fail to impress against each other. ****¼
Another video package for the tag team ladder match follows, as Kenny McIntosh has “breaking news”. Paul Robinson isn’t at the building to represent the Swords of Essex in the ladder match. Considering it was an open challenge against un-named teams, I don’t think anyone was expecting him (injury or otherwise). Scott Wainwright comes in to make a comment, and apparently he’s gotten in a fight with a trio of bouncers in Southend. Wainwright’s got a back-up plan for Robinson’s “arrest”… and it’s a good one.
Ladder Match for WCPW Tag Team Championship: Johnny Moss & Liam Slater (c) vs. El Ligero & Gabriel Kidd vs. Prospect (Lucas Archer & Alex Gracie) vs. Swords of Essex (Scott Wainwright & Will Ospreay)
Liam Slater fixed one of the turnbuckles, curing those fans’ OCDs (thanks Liam!), whilst Prospect made a smart move in bringing a ladder down to the ring during their entrance.
All eight men lay into each other from the bell, and this one’s going to be tough to call! Even more so when the cameras move before they’ve been cut away from… Ligero makes Prospect moonsault onto each other, whilst Moss chops away at Wainwright on the outside. Lets just boil it down to the big spots, eh? A tope by Slater, before the Swords cut off a dive by Moss… so Wainwright can hit a tope con hilo himself.
Ospreay flips off the crowd who wanted a dive, so Moss just back body drops him into the pile, before Ligero hits a tope, Kidd a moonsault off the middle turnbuckle, and finally, Moss gets his dive in – a hands free somersault plancha! Prince Ameen climbs the ladder for some reason, then unfurls a scarf that reads “a whole new world”, as he hits a Magic Carpet dive to the pile.
Gabriel Kidd tries to set up the ladder for some climbing, but Prospect cut him off, before he does the Terry Funk memorial spot with the ladder, windmilling it around his head until Wainwright ducks under to punch Kidd in the gut. Kidd comes back with a double clothesline, before using Ligero as a Terry Funk ladder, but he’s complacent as Johnny Moss comes in and gives Kidd a German suplex while Ligero was in the airplane spin.
Wainwright props the ladder in the corner, and looks to powerbomb Ligero onto it, but the masked man reverses out and gives Scotty a back body drop, with Wainwright catching the edge of the ladder. That looked like it sucked. As did Archer’s worm, which he took so long doing that Ligero moved out of the way as Lucas hit the steel. Twice, as Alex Gracie’s attempted save ended with him accidentally powerbombing Archer on the ladder.
Slater and Ligero team up to crotch Gracie in a closed ladder, before dragging the loveable pain in the arse out of the ring. The ladder comes into play again as Gracie’s pinned in the corner with one, as he got a front row seat to Ligero getting a back suplex onto the ladder bridge. Prospect, Ligero and Kidd climb the ladders, but they’re way too far away from the belts, so they all get knocked down, but not before Kidd pulls down Gracie’s trunks to reveal a second pair, with JR’s face and “oh my gawd!” on them. Good one!
Gracie slowly climbs down the ladder when confronted with Moss, but it’s Mossy who knocks down Kidd next, before Ospreay climbs up. He’s caught by Archer underneath… then Moss underneath him, as we have a triple decker Doomsday Device, with Slater flipping Ospreay inside out with that one. That was scary as hell to see… and you know someone’s going to try and top that!
Wainwright comes in to set up another ladder, then hops it across the ring like he’s Kofi Kingston, but he’s pulled down and given an overhead belly to belly into another propped up ladder. Once upon a time, Scotty Wainwright had an intact back… and Johnny Moss had ribs, as he was knocked over the top rope by Ligero and Slater who used a ladder for a Cactus Jack-esque clothesline.
The crowd hushed after Moss’ spill, awakening when Slater helped Moss to the back… Prospect dropped Ligero with a Flatliner/Cutter combo, before they climbed up the pair of ladders, only for Slater to fight off by himself… but Drake comes out and knocks Slater down! He corrals Prospect up to the ladders, but he turns on them, pushing the ladders down while they were on them. A spot that would have gotten more reaction had Prince Ameen not been sliding into the ring as Drake was pushing the ladders.
Drake exits as the ring remained empty, before Kidd came back with a taller ladder. Just because. He climbs it, as Slater sets up a smaller ladder to climb up next to him, whilst Wainwright set up another ladder bridge. Surely he doesn’t hate his spine that much?! Thankfully he just slides down the ladder when Kidd knocks him off, before Kidd gets caught with a flying cutter as Ospreay ran up the ladder…
In the midst of this, the camera barely caught Prince Ameen being caught in a chokehold by Wainwright – presumably in the “you take those belts, we’ll kill him” spot. With everyone else down, Wainwright and Ospreay race up the ladders and grab the belts – to a huge pop since Milton Keynes is somewhat close to Essex. A fun car crash of a ladder match, and finally, a British ladder match with ladders NOT made of paper mache! ***¾
Bea Priestley’s graphic pops up for some reason, as another silent-starting promo package for the New Zealander plays. Priestley comes out next, with Nixon Newell’s WCPW Women’s title belt… of course, Tessa Blanchard isn’t here, so she cuts a promo (eventually with a working mic) to issue an open challenge. Two guesses who answered it:
Bea Priestley vs. Nixon Newell
Nixon lays in Priestley from the bell, going for the Shining Wizard early on as Bea powdered to the outside, where she was met with a tope.
Back inside, Priestley ties up Newell with a Rings of Saturn, then threw in a Zack Sabre Jr- esque twist before Nixon reached the ropes with her free leg. A headbutt knocks Priestley into the corner, as does a series of running forearms, before an enziguiri on the apron hit Bea flush in the face. Newell scored a near-fall from a cross body, but misses a diving knee as they feinted, then connected with a pair of kicks a la Ospreay and Ricochet earlier. Another kick to the chest from Newell gets a near-fall, but her climb into the corner earns her a Cheeky Nandos, then a Dodon slam as Priestley almost won.
Priestley grabs a chair, but the referee quickly removes it… so Bea goes for the title belt and wipes out Joel with it instead. One Shining Wizard later, Nixon gets a visible ten-count, before she wakes up the referee… just as Priestley swings and misses with the chair. Nixon’s belt shot doesn’t miss, and that’s enough for the win. Short, but pretty decent for the time they had – and I guess that ties up the loose end with that story! **¾
WCPW Championship: Joe Hendry vs. Drew Galloway (c)
Martin Kirby was the special guest referee for this, wearing a t-shirt that was the pink equivalent of those tuxedo tees, and a pair of pink trousers that looked so faded, you’d believe they were someone’s real pyjamas.
Galloway starts by taking Hendry to the corner early, and the argie-bargie from the tie-ups continue from there. A headlock from Galloway’s turned into a roll-up, as the two Scotsmen jockey for position, featuring a bunch of headlock takedowns. Hendry used his smaller size to work around Galloway… but then he got taken to the corner for a massive chop, before rebounding out with a clothesline.
Hendry nails a suplex for a two-count, before Galloway rushes in with a clothesline that sent both men flying to the outside. Galloway takes a pop-up flapjack onto the apron, then delivers a death valley driver from the floor onto the apron. Hendry’s sent back outside courtesy of a headbutt from Galloway, and when he returns, Galloway stomps on him for a near-fall.
A sunset flip from Hendry is rolled through, as he keeps trying for pinning combinations, but the much bigger Galloway throws him across the ring with ease with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. The tables turn again when Hendry throws Galloway into the ringpost from the apron, as a plancha follows to the outside, as the Hendry momentum led to a DDT for a near-fall on the champion. Galloway turns things around again with an inverted fly swatter for a near-fall, before a Futureshock DDT is countered as Hendry catches a crossbody, then lands his Freak of Nature fallaway slam for a near-fall. From there, Hendry lifts Drew up to the top rope, but Galloway pushes him down and then misses a strike off the rop.
Hendry hits Drew’s own Futureshock DDT for a near-fall, before another Freak of Nature fallaway slam is turned into a snap piledriver, then the Futureshock for another near-fall. Galloway looks to beg away from Hendry in the ropes, but he just comes back with a double underhook/giant swing before landing the Futureshock again for the win. A decent title match, but whatever heat this had in Edinburgh, it lacked here as I felt the crowd were more waiting for the main event rather than get too invested in this match. ***½
Alberto el Patron vs. Kurt Angle
At the start of the match, Alberto threw his shirt to Paige in the front row… and thankfully (for her employment’s sake, if the rumours are to be believed), only the back of her head was shown.
From the opening lock-up, Angle’s taken to the ropes as the staunchly pro-Angle crowd roared for him. El Patron scores a waistlock takedown, but Angle spins out as he tries for an armbar, but Bertie scoots into the corner to avoid the hold. Another tie-up sees Angle sent into the ropes, and he rebounds with a shoulder tackle that angers El Patron so much that he shoves the referee.
Alberto peppers Angle with kicks as he takes the Olympian into the corner, leading to a snapmare and a dropkick to the back for a near-fall as Angle staggers to the outside. Yeah, it’s not a shock, but Kurt doesn’t move well… he managed to whip El Patron into the guard railings, before he traps Alberto in the ring apron before locking in a rear naked choke, ripping the apron off in the process. A step-up enziguiri knocks Angle back outside as Albert goes back towards Paige to give her a kiss, and now Angle’s thrown into the barriers, then into the commentary table. Back in the ring, Angle’s held in a rear chinlock for a spell, but he elbows free and comes back with a diving clothesline to the Mexican.
Kurt misses a charge into the corner, leaving himself hung up in the middle turnbuckle as el Patron follows him out to wrap the arm around the ringpost. Alberto returns to the ring and goes back to the chinlock, but Angle again powers out and takes Alberto to the top rope… where he grabs the arm for a rope-hung armbar to retain the advantage. Angle makes a comeback with some rolling German suplexes, releasing on the third one, before an Angle Slam is blocked and turned into a back cracker for a near-fall. Angle catches a thrust kick out of the corner, but his ankle lock is rolled out of as el Patron hits the thrust kick anyway for a near-fall.
Alberto continues by setting up Angle in the tree of woe, but Angle sits up for a spider overhead belly-to-belly suplex, avoiding the double stomp, and follows up with an Angle Slam for a near-fall. Kurt’s bleeding from the nose from something earlier, and he goes up top for a superplex… which isn’t what I would do in his state. He’s knocked down to the bottom turnbuckle, as el Patron hits the double stomp off the top for another close one.
As el Patron argues with the referee, Angle sneaks up and grabs an ankle lock which is easily pushed off… and turned into the cross arm-breaker. Kurt doesn’t tap, instead scissoring the leg and rolling through into the ankle lock, but Alberto rolls out and again gets the arm breaker. Angle gets the ropes, then suckers Alberto into a dive off the top rope… he catches his ankle in mid air, then scissors the leg as the ankle lock finally forces Alberto to tap! That was quite something… sure, it may not have been as quick as this match may have been 10-15 years ago, but Kurt had his working boots on, and managed to leave the crowd with something resembling a good memory. ***¼
So, after the match, Angle and el Patron shook hands, before Joe Hendry came to the ring. He reminded Angle of their match last October, and that things “haven’t gone to plan for (Hendry)” since then. Joe put this over as Angle’s last match on UK soil, before inviting a standing ovation for the Olympic Gold Medallist… and then he turned by giving Kurt a Toru Yano-esque low blow. One Angle Slam later, Kurt was left laying as the show faded to black… On TV this was pretty much telegraphed by JR’s over-the-top commentary “I’m very proud of this young man, good job Joe… honour the great Kurt Angle”.
After the show went off the air, Alberto el Patron returned to make the save, as Angle and el Patron celebrated with the fans. So now we have a heel Joe Hendry… but where does he go now, since a title match is out of the question?
WCPW is next on air next week (February 20) with one of their last episodes of Loaded before they go on hiatus for a while – as they retool the promotion and apparently wait for a building to be free so they can run Loaded there weekly, a la Impact. Hopefully what they come back with will be continued improvements as this group seemingly has found their groove.
What Worked: Another good wrestling card here, with WCPW providing something for everyone – an aborted aerial battle, a demolition derby of a ladder match, a technical masterclass. Well worth your money.
What Didn’t: Some of the usual technical issues reared their heads here with regards to the backstage promos and the white balance of the canvas… also, it’s something that is a minor point, but I’m not sold on JR and Matt Striker commentating on a British show. They started off great, wobbled a bit, then recovered when they returned to calling guys they know.
I know, WCPW don’t consider themselves a British wrestling promotion, but constantly changing your commentators kinda harms your identity. Pick a pair of commentators -preferably those who don’t need to be flown in for shows – and stick with them – and watch your identity grow!
Thumbs: Up