Their big meeting at the Copperbox is less than a month away… so let’s take a look at the last time a match between Michael Oku and Luke Jacobs ended in a title change.
Summer Sizzler 2022 is one of the rare Rev Pro shows we never got around to reviewing. We’re running with Andy Quildan and Gideon Grey on post-produced commentary as the show emanated from the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester.
This one’s available to watch as part of a subscription to RevProOnDemand.com…
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Luke Jacobs vs. Michael Oku (c)
Going in, Oku had held the Undisputed British Cruiserweight title for almost 900 days – having won it just before the pandemic. That made Oku’s run by far and away the longest single reign, eclipsing the 540 reign of Prince Devitt almost a decade earlier, but this wasn’t one of those “ah, they had the belt during the pandemic so it’s an inflated reign” run… with sixteen successful defences, Oku’d also snared up the most of those too.
Jacobs earned this title shot by winning a four-way over Connor Mills, JJ Gale and Robbie X about a month prior – and this was during the time where Luke was the reigning PROGRESS Atlas champion. As the chant went, he weighs what he wants…
Ahead of the show, some had thought that Oku would be doing double duty, what with Destination Everywhere being a part of the Great British Tag League… but they ultimately missed out on the finals of those. Instead, it was Connor Mills who had double duty – he came out on the stage but didn’t accompany Michael Oku to ringside, opting to go backstage and prepare for his match with PAC for what was AEW’s All-Atlantic title (what’s now the International/American title) by way of a win earlier in the night.
Luke obvious came in with the home field advantage, and was toeing up to that Cruiserweight limit. An attempted jump start from Jacobs was thwarted, as he ended up having to launch Oku to the outside to avoid a half crab instead… with a slap on the apron from the challenger nullifying the champion’s attempt at a pacey start.
The aggressive start from Jacobs was more than matched though, to the point that Oku managed some offence… but once Luke found an opening, it was business as usual. Chops left Oku laying on the mat as Manchester got behind their own. It wasn’t an unanimous backing from the crowd though, which meant that both men had the crowd on their side in waves, as Andy Quildan on commentary brought up Oku’s prior match against Shingo Takagi – in the same building, no less.
A confident Oku toying with Jacobs threatened to be his undoing. A burst of offence from the challenger started with almost a beheading lariat from Luke, but it wasn’t long before Oku got back into his playbook, dropkicking Jacobs off the apron ahead of a Fosbury flop that almost went awry. An apron tombstone from Jacobs looked to be the first major shot fired here, ahead of a moonsault to the face of Oku… it’s not enough to get the win though, and it’s not long before the match was back in Luke’s hands amid an exchange of chops.
Oku tried a misdirection knee, but it’s swiftly countered into a German suplex as Jacobs’ brainbuster lands… a Zig Zag and a springboard moonsault starts a turnaround for Oku, who manages to lock in a half crab, but it’s too close to the ropes as we get an easy break. Another attempt led to a ref bump as Oku was knocked into the official… before a frustrated Jacobs lariated Oku to death. Except there’s no ref, so it’s for nought.
Amira and Ethan Allen look to get involved as Oku teased using the belt, but a tug of war with Allen ends up with Oku accidentally laying out – and busting open – Jacobs. The ref comes to as Oku hits a pair of frog splashes a la Tanahashi, but the bloodied Jacobs kicks out before a trio of lariats and a screwdriver put an end to a record-shattering reign.
This was lacking something – as much as the home advantage helped Luke, it never really felt like either Jacobs nor Oku leaned into it fully. Had we had Oku – even for one match only – get overly surly with Manchester (thus making Luke like Bret in Canada in mid 90s), I feel the crowd would have been hotter and provided a real statement of intent for how both’s futures panned out afterwards.
Result: Luke Jacobs pinned Michael Oku to win the Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in 23:11 (***¾)
Looking back on this match some two years later, this was every bit the momentous event that it seemed at the time. The end of a reign for Oku sparked the start of a run to the Heavyweight title – that would see him win the big one a year later. Luke’s run with the Cruiserweight belt was over by the end of the year, dropping the title to Robbie X in controversial circumstances, before stepping up to the heavyweights. A pair of losses in 2023 to Tomohiro Ishii was a signpost for growth for Luke, while tentpole wins over the likes of Tom Lawlor and Ricky Knight Jr. kept Luke’s name in the mix for the big one… with this year’s Revolution Rumble win setting up another Oku/Jacobs title match… two years after the last title change.