There was no messing about for this week’s episode of FCW Empire with the second part of ‘No Sleep ‘Til Ardler’ featured.

FCW Women’s Championship – Moxie Malone defeated Kidd Bandit by pinfall to retain.

Kidd Bandit opened things by rattling Moxie verbally, with Malone looking unsure on what to make of Bandit but soon found herself trapped in a hammerlock that Bandit was kind enough to release, only to take The Misfit down with a side headlock.

An extended talking portion had Kidd Bandit admitting that Moxie was cool that was responded by the crowd in the Tulloch Institute with a chant of “she’s not cool”. A refused handshake by Malone got things ramped up with a flurry from Bandit.

Moxie threw Kidd Bandit for a German Suplex to shake the challenger as the fight spilled to the ringside area.

Despite being flung into the ring post face first, Bandit got the upper hand back in the ring to unleash a barrage of strikes to send Moxie wobbly legged.

Malone found an opening to catch Bandit, an Unprettier nicely countered into an armbar gave the champion a scare with Moxie slamming Bandit with a spinebuster to escape.

Another loud kick put Kidd Bandit back in control, a 619, a never ending collision of kicks, a sling blade, Kidd Bandit was throwing it all at the FCW Women’s Champion.

A GTS from Bandit was rolled through for Moxie Malone to once again try and start building momentum. Bandit was once again on hand to overwhelm Malone, landing the GTS, ramming her knee into the face of Moxie, with a basement flatliner to complete the combo to score a near fall.

The back and forth continued, Moxie locked in the Dragon Sleeper but Bandit rolled out. Malone finally grabbed Bandit for the Unprettier to drive her towards the canvas and retain.

Once Moxie got her title back in hand, she rained punches down onto the skull of Bandit until Eden and Brodie Adler had the FCW Women’s Champion making a hasty exit.

Brodie put out the challenge to Moxie to defend at ‘ArdlerMania’ in a triple threat. Malone marched to the curtain into the path of a rested Kidd Bandit who landed a roundhouse kick to close the post-match segment.

The match was a grower, and with a good chunk of time dedicated to it, it settled well and escalated into the final stretch. Kidd Bandit got a strong reaction, which is testament to how deplorable Moxie Malone has been in her time in Fair City Wrestling that the fans just wanted her get some sort of comeuppance.

Junior Heavyweight Invitational Final – Four Way Scramble Match – Botchico defeated Sami Sparx, Valek, and Oliver Green.

With the shenanigans after the opening bell the meat and potatoes got going as Sami Sparx tried to get the better of Valek who was able to turn the tables, they continued to fight on the outside to leave Oliver Green and Botchico to trade punches between the ropes.

Oli took a detour to fire through the ropes to take down Sparx and Valek, with Botchico following with a crossbody off the apron.

All four made their way back to the ring where the action was constant, Sami near open palmed chopped the nipples off the chest of Oliver Green to leave The Sky Ripper weakened. Sparx fought off the challenge from Valek and Botchico from the top turnbuckle but Green returned with a shotgun dropkick, with all three meeting a Cannonball Senton from Green.

Valek got a burst of offense but Tommy Cross slid in with a Cribbie Cruncher. SAMUEL rushed out to chase away Cross while Sparx and Green covered Valek for the first elimination.

Attention was turned to getting rid of Botchico, but a bit of miscommunication lead to Green and Sparx trading forearms. Sparx rolled through a stereo clothesline to land in perfect position for a Pedigree delivery to Oli which looked outstanding.

A fired up Sparx ended up snuffed out with a kick between the legs from Oliver Green, the Chaotic Luchadore stumbling into a roll up by Botchico to leave it down to two.

The support for Botchico grew as the masked man connected with an Impaler DDT that had Green wisely roll to the outside to evade a pin. Oli rammed Botchico against the apron to roll him into the ring to set up a double foot stomp. Botchico managed to move enough for the stomp to miss. Both men rushed towards each other inti the centre of the ring as Botchico got in first to grab Green for a Flatliner to give Botchico the win.

An impassioned Botchico got on the microphone to make his intentions clear and that he would go to ‘ArdlerMania’ and defeat the FCW Junior Heavyweight Champion Spike Tierney.

The last time I watched Botchico I mentioned that he looked a step behind his opponents, this was a lot tighter and it helped that the crowd were wholeheartedly behind Botchico which in turn made him drop any previous tension shown and relax into the job at hand to make everything feel more natural.

In-ring, Oliver Green and Sami Sparx had a great clash that would be absolutely worth a revisit. The Red Gate interference added intrigue for the future, and the fan favourite was victorious. Mission accomplished all round.

Two good matches on this week’s episode, an invested crowd made for an easy watch.

The show is available on YouTube: