Coming up with witty sayings...Sending good vibes...Thinking about it...Loaded. It's time for Loaded!
It's the go home show for Stacked and we only have three matches to cover! Joining us on commentary we have everybody's two best boys, it's Dave Bradshaw and James R Kennedy. The show opened with a great video of Joe Hendry sat in a suit at a cafe, letting us all know that he doesn't need to wrestle tonight. What a prize dick! He also weirdly ripped off the Miz (which is either incredibly lazy or very meta heel work) by getting annoyed at his drink being Pepsi, not Coke. What could be better than one promo to open the show? Two promos! Enter Martin Kirby, who demands to be included in the Magnificent 7 ladder match. He would have been a great fit, but Alex Gracie continues to ruin everything I enjoy. He attacked the Kirb Krawler and signed himself into the match instead, all the while my face looked like it had witnessed a war crime. Marty Scurll vs. Ricochet (16:26) So I'm pretty sure that Scurll (prepare for "woop woop" x 100) is the most over man on the WCPW roster. I didn't really expect such a quick rise for The Villain, and to be honest I'm pretty sure most of this is due to The Bullet Club and the smarkiest of crowds. This match was a great "super indie style" match, by which I mean there was a lot of ridiculously impressive moves, 2 counts, and maybe not enough selling. You probably now know if you'll enjoy this match or not. There were some fantastic exchanges - and the first Release Piledriver I've ever seen! Scurll continued his big push, scoring the big win with his finger snap roll-up. This was my match of the night. War Machine Rules Match (No DQ) - Moose & Slater vs. War Machine (11:22) Ok, I'll admit it, I popped for the replacement of Moss for Moose due to naming reasons! I miss the Cumbrian Man Mountain deeply, but Moose is fantastic and his presence makes Liam Slater seem like a big deal. This battle probably would've been my favourite of the night, but it was marred with camera/lighting issues for a few minutes on the outside (which really took me out of the match). There were still some great moments though, including a particularly hefty tower of doom! Hanson proved why he is an official Chips' favourite (all rights reserved) throughout this contest; partaking in a cartwheel contest with little Liam and taking a particularly scary bump to the outside from the top turnbuckle. Despite the fact this match was non-title, War Machine refused to lose and hit the two man Pop up Powerslam (with Hanson blocking the break up again!) for the victory! Can War Machine be our champions forever, please? Magnificent 7 Ladder Match - Gabriel Kidd vs. Drake vs. Primate vs. Alex Gracie vs. Rampage vs. Jay Lethal vs. El Ligero (20:32) So this type of match feels like it should belong on an iPPV to me (with its build and talent included) but I guess we need extra import matches instead! I really appreciated that everybody in the contest has been involved in WCPW since the very beginning; it gave the match a very homegrown quality. We got to witness so many fantastic and brutal moments, but unfortunately, the in ring action felt a bit stilted and didn't really click for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the spots! There was so much to pick from; two tack bumps, a table breakage, and at least 6 moves onto/into ladders that looked especially painful. The finish came thanks to Martin Kirby, seeking revenge on Gracie and preventing his victory. This gave the Prestigious Sensation El Ligero a chance to get his briefcase back. I'm really glad Ligero got the win, I feel like the briefcase is best suited to a Prestige member currently, both to sell the power of the faction and to crush our dreams in the future. Although I enjoyed this crazy spot fest, it was, unfortunately, my worst match of the night. Overall Thoughts Yet another solid episode of Loaded! It didn't really build up to Stacked next week, which is a problem, but the matches were all good. Also, have we just entirely given up on Women's wrestling at this point, AGAIN?! Sometimes I just want to slap the piss out of WCPW (although I don't really know how that would work...would I just slap the logo?). Rating: 6/10 So Stacked looks to live up to its name with talent but not so much with story. I understand it's entirely due to having so much worldwide talent around ready for the World Cup Finals, but the tournament has already damaged the main roster enough. We will also find out about a new Prestige member on the pre-show, which is interesting (please be a female performer!). I'm very torn about Stacked, but I think it will be an enjoyable show, even if it comes at the expense of the long term booking.
0 Comments
You see that sandwich over there? It's LOADED with flavour...it's time for loaded.
We have a packed show this week, clocking in at an hour and a half with 5 matches total. Stories are progressing and we are starting to see the card for Stacked come together. The soothing tones of Dave Bradshaw and James R Kennedy accompanied the action, and we're off to the races. Drake vs. Angelico (9:00) I wasn't expecting this peculiar mix of serial loser and World Cup contender to begin Loaded. Drake has been almost entirely without purpose on the WCPW roster for so long if this was WWE we'd be worrying about his "future endeavours"! The match was a fairly unremarkable way to start off this episode, although Drake got more offence in than I could ever have anticipated! Angelico spent the match failing to hit the Fall of the Angels until he eventually scored the win with it. Although the match was perfectly serviceable, it didn't really hold my attention and was my worst match of the night. Throughout the night we had multiple segments (starting here) with Plumpy in an office, being convinced by multiple wrestlers to be added into a ladder match for El Ligero's Magnificent 7 briefcase next week. The segments were pretty entertaining, and really showcased a lot of the talent's charisma and character (Gabriel Kidd's transformation into a champion, Rampage's intimidating presence etc...). My only complaint was that no explanation was given as to why Ligero had to defend his title opportunity. The only implied reasoning was that it's because he's a bit of a dick...harsh! I'm excited next week to see the match though. The selection of guys (Ligero, Lethal, Kidd, Drake, Rampage & Primate) is interesting, and I could see half of them in with a shot at getting the case. WCPW Internet Title Match - Travis Banks vs. Gabriel Kidd (c) (7:03) Despite the bizarre ending to last week's Loaded, I was intrigued to see the continuation of Kidd and Banks' new rivalry. The added potential of The Prestige going on a title collection spree only helped matters! The match was enjoyable, Travis was his usually tenacious dickhead self (hiding behind the ref and generally being cheap). Gabriel Kidd has taken to pumping up and taking punishment until he's able to begin a big comeback, I like it...he's basically a pint sized Hulk Hogan (without the racism I assume). The running knee meant that Kidd retained his title in this nice little match. A quick break came next to announce some matches for Stacked in a couple of weeks. The card seems to be predominantly exhibition matches for the world cup finals, which probably means that the show ends up feeling pretty low stakes. We have Kushida vs. Travis Banks (incredible), Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Takahashi (interesting) and the Briscoes vs. The current tag champs (War Machine or riot). Exciting matchups regardless! Backstage Brawl - BT Gunn vs. Primate (N/A) Now, this is what I call a new hardcore title feud! BT Gunn is a great pick to cause Primate and himself stupid amounts of pain for our enjoyment! Also, welcome to the first backstage fight in WCPW with good camera placement, I've moaned about this so much in the past!! This was a very fun segment. Primate played up the dumb monster character; while Gunn was more devious in hiding from Primate and getting in cheap shots against our furry friend. The brawl spanned multiple floors and rooms for added entertainment - the standard chairs, tables and baking trays were liberally spread throughout. I didn't think the "match" would have a definitive ending, but BT found a ref to make a count before an immediate Spear ended his hopes of dominance. I can't wait to see more of these two, and it's another belt for The Prestige to go after! WCPW Tag Team Championship Match - The Kings of the North vs. War Machine (c) (14:03) It's nice to see The Kings of the North back in WCPW for their first singles match here. From my limited exposure to them, they seem to be a great heel team...I only wish they'd had any chance of winning any of their matches so far! The in ring action was great, with War Machine (as ever) executing moves that men half their size could only dream of pulling off! Despite having entirely no chance of winning the titles, the Kings never looked weak. They isolated Hanson for a good chunk of the match and kept up the heel tactics to press the advantage. In the end, though, War machine out powered them and got the win with the two man Pop up Powerslam (with Hanson guarding the pin with a weighty Tope). Another Loaded, another great tag title match. This week's bout still wasn't as good as the Swords match, and I feel the obvious outcome was a big part of that. I am (passionately) in love with our new champions, and this was my match of the night. WCPW World Championship Match - Joe Hendry (c) vs. Marty Scurll (17:23) I was not excited going into this match, and this is the unfortunate side effect of having a champion who is a bland in ring performer. Joe can definitely pull off some great promos (including the one pre match here) and has a lot of legitimate heat with the crowd, but I don't think I've ever felt excited about a Hendry match. This contest exceeded my expectations. Marty was incredibly fired up and made this feud feel more intense than it has any right to be! The action spilt to the outside a couple of times and Joe was liberal with the heel spots, much to the ire of the ref. Speaking of our stripey friend, he spent a lot of this match lying down on the job and not counting Scurll's pin attempts! The match ended in utter chaos, as both men hit each other with umbrellas and a double DQ was called as the internet broadcast show "had to go off the air". Besides the goofy reasoning, I really liked the abrupt finish. Overall Thoughts This week's Loaded was much more consistent than I've come to expect from WCPW - we had a show with no bad matches! I also enjoyed getting the Plumpy segments throughout the night, building to next week's ladder match (which I'm really looking forward to). Rating: 7/10 Next time I'll be covering the go home show for Stacked, we'll hopefully get to see the card take shape and maybe get to watch some wrestling! Now excuse me while I go watch some WCPW because the World Cup finals are coming to eat up my free time! This review has Loaded, it's time for Loaded! The weekly show is back after a long (and almost permanent) hiatus. I'm excited to start covering some wrestling that isn't just a long form tournament! As usual we have our two best friends on commentary, Dave Bradshaw and James R Kennedy. The show opened with Plumpy (who seems to have entirely given up on the new name) pumping up the crowd and being quickly interrupted by the Prestige. Hendry's promo was actually very good, he did a nice job selling his Faction as incredibly dominant and announced more gold incoming with Travis Banks getting an Internet Title shot next week (which could be pretty great). Plumpy (who I will not ever be calling Adam here) got his own back by announcing the main event, a match between Marty Scurll and Kyle O'Reilly with the winner getting a title shot against Joe next week (more on that later). He also said that 4 men backstage wanted a chance to beat up the Prestige...and transition to match! No Disqualification Match - The Prestige (Joe Hendry, Joe Coffey, BT Gunn & El Ligero) vs. The Kirb Krawlers (Martin Kirby, Primate, Rampage & Gabriel Kidd w/ Prince Ameen) (9:36) I really liked the idea of a potentially hardcore 4 on 4 battle to open the show. Everybody in the match was also a pretty big name in WCPW, but unfortunately the majority of the in ring action was just uneventful brawling. Almost every member of the Kirb Krawlers (yuck) had a spot where they dominated all/almost all of The Prestige, and it just meant the legitimate faction looked weaker than the thrown together team. This wasn't helped by Coffey taking the loss to Kirby's Sable Bomb, and the heels being pretty easily thwarted. Despite my complaints about the booking, the match was serviceable and I'm at least intrigued as to where the members of the Kirb Krawlers go from here. Alex Gracie vs. Matt Riddle (13:46) Why oh why would anyone book one of the hottest US wrestlers to lose to a jobber who just turned heel and lost all his personality? I love Matt Riddle, he's by far my favourite mixed martial artist turned wrestler, and would be a great star to put someone over - provided that person was believable and could put on a good match with him. The match went on for so long! Riddle put in some great offense and looked like a megastar, but he wasn't the only person in the match. The match threatened to become interesting when Alex got his combat sticks out to continue his weapon rivalry with Matt. Unfortunately Blandy Mcblandface decided that would be too exciting and denied the crowd their shred of fun. The most unbelievable part of the match was Gracie kicking out of a jumping tombstone. He was a jobber!!! I'm getting Jinder Mahal vibes here! Gracie got the win with a "Fall from Gracie" and an extra long (due to ref bump) pin fall. My body recoiled and (surprising nobody) this was my worst match of the night. --- Before the next match we had a quick Plumpy video advertising the next big PPV style show "Stacked" and one match for it: Ricochet vs. Rey Mysterio. WCPW seem determined to put on some dream matchups with Rey (this and Ospreay in the World Cup) and although I'm a little worried they won't live up to the hype, it's still exciting to have such a high profile exhibition match soon. WCPW Tag Team Championship Match - War Machine vs. The Swords of Essex (c) (13:43) If there's ever been two matches with more varying quality back to back, please let me know. This, for me, was probably the best possible tag team dream match. I've gushed over the Swords (not like that you filthy sod!) before, but War Machine are a team I adore just as much. There are too many incredible spots in this match to cover all of them, just take my advice this time and go watch it! Scotty Wainwright unfortunately got injured fairly early on in the match, it's incredibly lucky that his partner has the stamina and ability of two wrestlers! If I had to pick any problem with this match it would be that Ospreay came across as the underdog babyface a little too much, although obviously that couldn't be helped. The contest ended the only way it could in a handicap situation against War Machine, and after a devastating two man Pop up Powerslam we have new tag team champions! I've watched so much wrestling this year, but I may have a new match of the year ( I know I say this a lot!). This was (also surprising nobody) my match of the night. WCPW Championship No 1 Contenders Match - Kyle O'Reilly vs. Marty Scurll (17:52) We had Scurll's first appearance since he joined the Bullet Club up next. For anybody who owns a Bullet club umbrella; I both respect and hate you in equal measures. This was a pretty good match, that I think suffered having to follow an incredible one. The story mainly revolved around Marty trying to perform his finger breaking spot. I usually enjoy matches that revolve around trying to hit a finisher; but as the finger break is generally more of a transitional move, it took some of the drama away from the narrative. When Scurll finally hit the break only to roll up Kyle, it wasn't as exciting a finish as I'd hoped for. After the match Hendry came out to attack the new number one contender with his title belt, only to be scared off by Marty's umbrella. The in ring action closed with Scurll holding up the title, which if I know wrestling logic, means he isn't winning it next week. I hope Joe and Marty have a long title feud, they are a fresh matchup and Scurll deserves a place in the title picture. Just before the end of the show, we got to see a backstage attack on Gabriel Kidd by Travis Banks. I suppose this was supposed to build heat for next week, but it only served to show how little time WCPW prepared to build this feud. And why was this what closed the show?! It wasn't shocking or exciting, just an incredibly standard backstage attack. Overall Thoughts The first episode of the reboot, as with everything WCPW puts out, was incredibly hit and miss. Hopefully this episode was just the reset we needed before WCPW starts to invest in some long term booking, as too many matches on this show (and coming next week) were thrown together with no explanation. If you are yet to watch this episode, for your own sanity do not watch Gracie vs Riddle...just watch the tag title match twice! Rating: 6/10 Next week we have three title matches on one show! That sounds a bit overkill but we'll roll with it. I'm especially excited to see Kidd vs Banks, that matchup has sleeper hit written all the way through it like a stick of Blackpool rock! We'll see if I'm right about that next time. Worldwide greetings to all, it's time to wrap up the qualifiers and fill out those brackets once and for all. It's a weird way to end the proceedings, with the entire rest of the world battling for a spot, but we'll roll with it.
The shortest qualifier so far, clocking in at an hour and a half (which I'll admit had me a little worried for the match length going in). Shocking nobody we have Dave Bradshaw and James R Kennedy on commentary again. Let's enjoy them calling the World Cup while we can, because good ol' JR will be unseating them soon! ROTW World Cup 1st Round Match - Travis Banks vs. Mark Davis (5:34) Starting the proceedings with a well known face in WCPW, and since Travis doesn't really have bad matches this was a fine pick. Backstage Davis mentioned that he trained under Banks, setting him up nicely as the underdog despite his size. The two Oceanians put on a fun and fast paced opening bout. Travis wasted no time showing off his heelish antics and making me grin, slapping the referee with his Prestige shirt and hitting Mark with a Tope before he'd even entered the ring. The little I saw of Davis I really liked, he just hit a lot of huge power moves (my personal favourite was when he threw a prone Banks up by the legs and caught him round the chest for a Piledriver). The match was incredibly even but in the end Travis managed to get the win with a Lion Clutch. I was so scared that Travis Banks wasn't going to make it far in the tournament (as in the past I feel WCPW haven't seen him as a main event star) so I was so happy with this result....the match was great too! ROTW World Cup 1st Round Match - Tom Laruffa vs. Jurn Simmons (8:53) We have the battle of the pretty robes up next, which will win? Glittery french robe takes on furry viking robe for the Fashion World Championship. Stopping daydreaming for a moment, I really enjoyed Jurn's promo prematch. He said he wasn't a patriot and that all he knows about Tom is that he's French and smaller than him. What a delightful dickhead! The match didn't really click for me though, the crowd (because Laruffa is french and English people are weird) made it heel vs heel which really didn't help. Everything about this round was just really slow. Simmons dominated the majority of the contest, powering out of moves and getting the win with a nasty sit down Piledriver. At least the more interesting man won I suppose. This was my worst match of the night. ROTW World Cup 1st Round Match - RJ Singh vs. 'Flash' Morgan Webster (8:55) Next we had a matchup straight out of my podcast feed, Wrestling Friends turned rivals! RJ Singh made sure to point out backstage that India is the coolest thing in wrestling at the moment (which only proves how different our definitions of cool are...). This match was just really fun. Very fast paced with some stiff strikes (RJ) and some aerial delights (Flash). Webster's podcast got to play a part in the proceedings, with Singh telling him to "Facilitate this" before he kicked him ridiculously hard in the chest. For a decisive victory Flash hit the Brit Pop drop then locked in The Strangler. I'd love to watch these two wrestle again, great chemistry and a lot of fun. ROTW World Cup 1st Round Match - Icarus vs. Angelico (10:01) I have to reveal how much of a grumpy old man I am now, as I talk in a confused haze about Angelico's entrance. To start, the music was quite possibly Dubstep...but I lack the youth to confirm this. Then he did a sort of swaying dance on the way to the ring, whilst wearing a cap and an open hooded long waistcoat. I think all of this is a cool entrance... Having never seen either man wrestle before I was unsure what to expect, but this match was incredible. The match started off hot with some high flying exchanges; cartwheels out of Hurricanranas and generally dodging all offense. Icarus, despite being the less flashy of the two, was probably my favourite of the two men. He was generally more aggressive and his aerial offense was much more impactful, using more straight forward Moonsaults and Senton Bombs. Angelico finished the job, putting his knees up to counter Icarus' attack, kicking him in the head and hitting the Fall of the Angels for the three count. I loved this match, despite the fact I pretty much knew the outcome as an advert for Loaded mentioned Angelico would be at some tapings near the World Cup...thanks guys! This was my match of the night. ROTW World Cup 2nd Round Match - Travis Banks vs. Jurn Simmons (9:02) I discovered something fantastic and important during this match that I feel I should share with you, the dear reader. Jurn Simmons looks like a sexier Kevin Nash. Seriously, go watch a Jurn match now and see if you agree. Just make sure you come back and read the rest of the review when you're done! Another great match with the Kiwi Buzzsaw, shocking! Travis tried his strategy of a Tope before the bell again, but Jurn was too clever for that (which I loved) and swatted him out of the sky. This was a contest of Simmons' strength taking on Banks' tenacity and overall viciousness. In the end, Travis dodged a few Spear attempts and hit the Slice of Heaven to bring down the big man. This was really well paced, and I think we can agree that Banks is a great pick to go forward into the finals. ROTW World Cup 2nd Round Match - 'Flash' Morgan Webster vs. Angelico (8:18) I was expecting a lot from this match, with both guys putting on great 1st round performances. I was unfortunately let down, and I really don't think it helped that I knew the result. The in ring contest just felt stilted, despite the usual high flying style of the pair. The crowd were dead and restless (which sounds much more apocalyptic than intended) and a few moves whiffed. The end came when the Fall of the Angels missed, but a few pinning reversals later Angelico scored the victory. A lackluster end to the show. Overall Thoughts This qualifier was fine. The majority of the matches were good, but a couple of duds really slowed the show down and made 90 minutes seem much longer. Despite my complaints, I do think that Travis and Angelico are very good choices for the finals (however I would like to find out who qualifies for myself next time WCPW!) Rating: 6/10 Well after 4 months of a varying quality of qualifiers we are finally ready for the three final shows later this month. I'm actually really looking forward to the last stretch of the tournament. There is an incredible variety of talent and a lot of dream matchups waiting for us. Until then, Loaded has returned, and we get to see if WCPW can actually tell stories with their wrestling again. Unplug the life support machine, let's see if this promotion's heart is still beating somewhere in there! Howdy y'all, it's time for the penultimate qualifier for the World Cup. This is probably the most star studded of the shows so far, with a selection of the biggest names in Indy wrestling and GFW/Impact Wrestling/TNA/Obvious joke about that owl.
Thankfully the Japanese qualifiers were not a one off, and we have another 2 hour show with no filler! There's hope for this promotion yet. Joining us on commentary once again are little Davey Bradshaw and James R Kennedy. USA World Cup 1st Round Match - David Starr vs. Bobby Fish (9:51) After only seeing David Starr in a few short WCPW matches I was unprepared for how charismatic he was, both in and out of the ring. He manages to balance being arrogant and likable very impressively. The match was a nice opener. Both men were pretty evenly matched until David Starr got his leg injured, which then became the focus of the contest. Despite this Starr managed to get the better of Fish, with a sneaky Product Placement advancing him to the next round. I enjoyed this match well enough, but it mainly served as a catalyst to sell David Starr's leg injury into round two (which is tournament storytelling I can really get behind). USA World Cup 1st Round Match - Moose vs. Jay Lethal (17:14) This felt like such a dream match up, and WCPW have used both talents multiple times which gave the match an almost natural build. Moose (MOOSE MOOSE MOOSE) mentioned that Lethal had helped train him, adding even more layers to the story. These two put on an incredible match, with Moose constantly overpowering Jay and playing the heel, mocking his size. Lethal came across as the underdog and was constantly countered by Moose's sheer power (including an incredible Tope catch into a Powerbomb on the apron). The finish of the match was just perfect; with Moose kicking out of the Lethal Injection on a 1 count - Jay was very aware keeping the big guy down wouldn't be easy. His solution to this was to just go all in on Moose, he hit 4 Superkicks, 3 Enzuigiris and another Lethal Injection for the win. If you don't get chance to watch the full show I'd urge you to at least watch this match. USA World Cup 1st Round Match - Keith Lee vs. James Storm (9:50) I'd never been given chance to bask in Keith Lee's glory before, so this was a fun experience for me. Both men gave me a lot to like in the prematch promos, with Keith in his Dragonball Tee and James with his beer. Who am I supposed to cheer for?! The match itself was fine, but I quickly discovered that I have zero interest in James Storm's in ring ability. This was unfortunate because I loved everything about Keith Lee. He was so incredibly agile for such a huge man, he even hit a standing Hurricanrana! Lucky for me Keith scored the win with a Ground Zero and I get to see him again. This was (unfortunately) my worst match of the night. USA World Cup 1st Round Match - Matt Sydal vs. Ricochet (9:50) Next up we had the obvious high flyer match up, which happens in every World Cup qualifier, and I never complain about. Prematch Matt went on a weird rambling promo about getting rid of the world's borders and not feeling like he represents America because he's a man of the world. It was odd, out of place, and a load of bollocks. He sounded more like a drunken philosophy student than a wrestler. In ring everything made a lot more sense, we started with some high speed aerial sequences (with Ricochet cartwheeling out of Hurricanranas and other feats of acrobatics). The match slowed much quicker than I expected though, and the focus turned to Ricochet's leg being injured and targeted (this sounds familiar). The WCPW regular managed to turn the tables on Sydal, and hit a load of his ridiculous kicks into a Benadryller to advance. To be honest I expected more from this contest. It wasn't bad...just underwhelming, especially for what I thought would be a high flying showcase. USA World Cup 2nd Round Match - David Starr vs. Jay Lethal (12:16) I really didn't expect David Starr to get two matches on this show, and I especially didn't expect to hear all his nicknames both times. I really love his stupid nickname gimmick, even if it does make me feel inadequate with my singular nickname...greedy bastard! The first match leg injury was the entire story of this match, and it was executed perfectly. Not only is David Starr fantastic at selling, but Lethal did a great job of using some unique and brutal offense on the limb (including a particularly nasty spot where he bent Starr's leg around the top rope). Although he managed to hold his own, this match was only ever going to end one way for Starr. After a kick out of a Lethal Injection, Jay grabbed Starr's leg and locked in the Figure Four. After a long drawn out screaming session, David managed to start reversing the pressure but Lethal rolled through and continued the torture whilst also kicking the injured leg repeatedly. Cue Jay Lethal advancing to the finals, this was brilliant! USA World Cup 2nd Round Match - Keith Lee vs. Ricochet (18:44) So it turns out that selling an injury from the previous match isn't always necessary. I guess Matt Sydal just isn't as good at hurting legs as Bobby Fish. At first I thought this match was a weird choice for the main event slot but...I am convinced! This was incredible!!! The tale of the contest was simple but effective, Keith Lee is too big to take down! In the early minutes Ricochet tried and failed to lift Lee multiple times, and Keith just laughed! The big man launched Ricochet from corner to corner like a ragdoll, and seeing him Corner splash Ricochet was hard to watch. I thought the match would end when Ricochet was able to lift Lee and then hit a bunch of acrobatic offense, but then Keith just launched Richochet off him after a one count! The story then became Ricochet struggling to hit a Benadryller, and once again when he did it, it wasn't enough (he didn't even get the pin, Keith just grabbed him by the throat whilst supine). This seemed to imply the big man was going to qualify, but after rolling through a big slam Ricochet managed to score a sneaky pin. This was probably the best David and Goliath match I've ever watched. This was my match of the night. Overall Thoughts This was a really great show! The vast majority of the contests were fantastic and I'd say two of them were (for me) 'match of the year' candidates. The card was slightly let down in the middle of the show, by two matches in a row being a bit average. Lethal and Ricochet are great picks to go through to the finals, and there were enough big names on the card that it wasn't too obvious who was qualifying. Rating: 9/10 After a phenomenal show of talent in the US leg, the last qualifying show has a lot to live up to. The finals are looming and I can't wait. Next stop...the rest of the world! |
Lyle 'Chips' CarrGraps fan for 18 years |