After Katsuyori Shibata’s win over Zack Sabre Jr, the second night of Global Wars featured a rather surprise main event, as Shibata defended his newly-won British Heavyweight title against Chris Hero in Walthamstow.
EVIL & BUSHI vs Joel Redman & Charlie Garrett
This wasn’t for Redman and Garrett’s tag team titles,and we started with BUSHI attacking Garrett from behind as Los Ingobernables de Japon began with some double-teaming. Garrett came back with a shoulder tackle on EVIL, then tagged in Redman, who tried to work over BUSHI on the mat.
Redman and BUSHI exchanged arm wringers, but BUSHI raked Redman’s eyes to take him into the corner… and then followed up with an overhead kick in the ropes. A crossbody from BUSHI was caught and turned into a fallaway slam by Redman, who then found himself dragged to the outside by EVIL as a set-up for a tope from BUSHI.
Redman took EVIL’s chair-into-the-ringpost spot, before he was thrown back into the ring, where he remained the target of offence as Garrett was prevented from tagging in. A back senton from EVIL gets a near-fall, before BUSHI tagged in and took Redman back down with a dropkick. That t-shirt came off as BUSHI choked away on Redman, before he moved into an STF as Garrett yet again tried to come in to try and break things up.
Redman finally hit back with an overhead belly-to-belly on BUSHI, before reversing a suplex on EVIL as Charlie Garrett finally got the hot tag. An enziguiri took down EVIL, before a standing moonsault earned him a near-fall on BUSHI. Another moonsault out of the corner knocked down EVIL, before he flew once more with a tope con hilo into the heels. That’s the sort of display that’s had WWE taking a look at him!
Back in the ring, Garrett stayed on top of BUSHI, whose attempt at a comeback ended when Redman turned a flying ‘rana into a spinebuster as Garrett’s powerslam got him another near-fall. EVIl raked the eyes and hit a release Fisherman’s suplex on Redman, before working over Garrett, who took a lariat in the corner, before a Codebreaker from BUSHI. Another BUSHI dropkick knocked Garrett off the ropes for a near-fall, as we see Joel Redman take out EVIL with a superkick on the floor. BUSHI tried for the MX, but missed and ate a superkick, as Redman rushed in to assist Garrett on their double-team powerslam finisher. That only got the tag champs a near-fall, clearly surprising Garrett.
Garrett then signalled for another double-team move, only for EVIL to restrain Garrett on the top rope as BUSHI delivered a low blow to Redman. What followed next was a blatant disqualification as BUSHI sprayed mist at Garrett, and that’s the match thrown out. An unsatisfying finish, especially as there’s no return match, but it was what it was. A decent opener, and the crowd ended up happy after EVIL sort-of delivered an STO to Chris Roberts afterwards. **¾
Before the next match, we had a promo from Drew Galloway – who was originally scheduled to wrestle tonight, before being forced to pull out as his injury was taking longer to heal than first thought. Rev Pro dug up an alternative version of his old “Broken Dreams” song from his WWE days, which I thoroughly approve of.
Galloway’s promo was largely an apology for not being able to wrestle here, along with some praise for the British guys outshining their Japanese counterparts on these shows. Drew seemed to be dropping some hints towards working in Japan, which I could easily see happening especially as Drew’s TNA status seems to be in question.
At this point, Andy Simmonz joined Oliver Bennett to give us a three-man commentary team.
Josh Bodom vs. Tomoaki Honma
Bodom was a late replacement, after originally being left off of these shows due to disciplinary issues. You could suggest that a match against Honma would be punishment… Of course, Bodom and Galloway came face-to-face in the aisle, which’d suggest they’re going to be matched up down the line. Today, Honma eschewed his glowing ring jacket for a Honmania t-shirt… don’t forget the merch stand folks!
Bodom shoved away Honma at the bell, before the Japanese veteran replied by taking Bodom into the ropes… but he didn’t fire away with any chops. A chop from Bodom misses, as Honma went to work with kicks and axehandle-like blows. Of course, a Kokeshi headbutt failed, and that left Honma open for a dropkick from Bodom, leading to a tope as Bodom followed Honma out of the ring.
Still on the outside, Bodom lights up Honma with chops, before rolling the Japanese star back into the ring. Bodom invited Honma to fight back with chops, before cutting down his opponent and landing a suplex for a near-fall. Some shoulder charges in the corner winded Honma, who then hit back with a back elbow before missing another Kokeshi. A knee-lift from Honma leads to a DDT on Bodom, before a bulldog out of the corner finally meant that Honma connected with a Kokeshi. Honma followed up on that with a Blockbuster neckbreaker off the middle rope, getting a near-fall before the two exchanged chops once more. Bodom’s chops actually took Honma to his knees, as did a rolling roundhouse kick which earned Josh a near-fall.
Honma blocked a piledriver attempt, but ended up getting a boot to the face… and then returned fire with a leaping Kokeshi. An attempt at a swandive Kokeshi off the top rope missed as Bodom rolled out of the way. Nevertheless, Bodom quickly took a clothesline in the corner as Honma recovered to tie him up in an armbar… but Josh made the ropes.
Honma looked to get the Kokeshi Otoshi, but Bodom squirmed out and caught Honma with a hiptoss/knee strike for just a one count! A superkick knocked Tomoaki down for a two-count, before he set up Honma for the Bliss Buster – catching the veteran in the ropes, then hitting the move for the win. This was quite a decent match from Bodom, who quickly exited the ring as he ended up vomiting in the aisle (yep, it made tape) ***¼
Given the comments made by Rev Pro management before these shows, it was extremely interesting to hear the burials given to Bodom by Messrs Bennett, Simmonz and Quildan.
Yuji Nagata vs. Trent Seven
After overcoming Pete Dunne on Thursday night, Nagata was facing one of Pete’s many tag team partners here. The match started with Nagata… leaving the ring, as Seven ended up begging Yuji to return for the match.
Nagata took Seven into the ropes… and tweaked Trent’s moustache ahead of a clean break. From there, Seven escaped an arm wringer with a chop, before nervously expecting to get a receipt. Instead, Yuji drilled him with a forearm, as the striking battle continued in earnest, before Nagata unloaded with a barrage of forearms to “win” that particular tussle.
A kick from Nagata was ducked, as Seven turned it into a back suplex, before his low-tope attempt was cut off by a kick from Nagata on the outside. The action continued around the front row, with serial Moose-count hater Arnold Furious acting as a makeshift seat for Trent. Seven continued to use various people in the front row as seats, before firing back with chops against the ringpost… and yes, Trent slapped the steel post.
Nagata hit an armbreaker to Seven’s stricken arm, then worked a wristlock before stamping away on Trent’s right arm. An attempt at the crossface followed, but Seven easily got the ropes to break the hold. Seven invited some more kicks, and seemingly ate a knee to the face, before they went back and forth with strikes until a clothesline earned Trent a near-fall. Nagata blocked a piledriver, but found himself taking a Samoan Driver for a near-fall, before Seven almost blocked a superplex, but instead ended up flying off the top rope with an overhead belly-to-belly superplex. After getting a two-count, Nagata went after Seven some more and tried for the Backdrop Hold, only for Seven to elbow free from it.
More strikes back and forth gave Seven an opening for a schoolboy roll-up, but after a near-fall, Nagata fought back and landed an Exploder for another two-count. That kick-out left Nagata in perfect place to grab his trademark armbar that eventually forced Trent to tap. A fantastic match – with Nagata on form tonight after his shaky showing on the first day. This is going to be under-rated on the whole, but this match turned out to become something of a sleeper ****
After the match, Nagata raised Seven’s hand in a mutual show of respect, before exiting the ring. That left Trent all alone to take the plaudits in defeat… and an attack from Dave Mastiff, who was making his first appearance in Rev Pro in over two years. “The Bastard” came through the crowd and pulled Seven off the top rope, before cannonballing into him in the corner.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Will Ospreay
At least, that was the advertised match… what we got instead, was two iterations of Liger, as Will Ospreay’s music stopped, as he instead came out in Jushin’s old “Dark Liger” outfit from the CTU faction in the mid 2000s.
Liger started by going for a waistlock, but ended up reversing a reversal as the pair stared each other down. We then went to the seated surfboard, which Ospreay went up for much more easily than Marty Scurll did the prior evening, before reversing the hold. A drop toe hold takes Ospreay down and into position for a Romero special, which sent Will scurrying to the outside after the hold was released.
Ospreay returned to the ring and into a headlock, as the veteran Liger side-stepped a springboard off the ropes before the pair mirror imaged each other’s Shotei attempts. Those of a certain age may remember the reveal of the “second” Doink at WrestleMania 9… it started a little like that, before turning into a weird dance, ending with simultaneous Liger poses. After originally applauding, Ospreay started to attack Liger, sending him into the corner before the match went outside the ring, as Ospreay threw Liger into a wall. Liger returned to the ring and was stomped on by Ospreay, who went for his own Romero special, instead stomping Liger’s knees into the mat a la Pete Dunne.
Liger elbowed Ospreay out of the corner, before landing a tiltawhirl backbreaker and a Shotei. Will was then placed on the top rope for a ‘rana, which Ospreay didn’t counter out of, and forced him to kick out at two. Ospreay hit back with Liger’s rolling kick, before a Shotei was ducked, before a small package earned Will a near-fall.
The pair collided with each other’s clotheslines, before they stood up into a chopping battle. An OsCutter attempt was just about blocked, before Will went for a Shotei – which was ducked and met with a real deal Shotei from Liger. Ospreay set up Liger for a Cheeky Nando’s kick, but instead of following through, he found himself transfixed by the wiggling red-and-white arse of Liger, which meant only one thing… Thumb in a Bum! Straight out of BOLA!
Liger no sold the thumb strike, and clenched tight to almost force a submission… before Chris Roberts found his thumb unwillingly shoved into Ospreay’s bum. Cue a conga line, as Liger broke it up before hitting a Shotei and a Liger Bomb for a near-fall. Ospreay finally hit a Shotei after ducking a brainbuster attempt, before landing an OsCutter out of the corner, and finishing off Liger with the move he innovated: the shooting star press. A good match even with the comedy, and I’d dare say better than their outing during this year’s Best of Super Juniors’ tournament. Can you imagine how well this’d go down in New Japan? ***½
After the match, Dark Liger unlaced the mask and revealed himself, before offering the mask to Liger as a tribute.
Pete Dunne vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Dunne started by charging into Ishii at the bell, to little effect. More shoulder charges had the same result, before Dunne ran into the ropes to avoid a charge from Ishii. After turning around into a successful shoulder block, Ishii took over with a series of chops that decked the Bruiserweight.
Dunne scurried into the ropes to avoid Ishii, before he burst out and hooked away at Ishii’s eyes, and then knocked him down with a couple of running forearms. From there, Dunne worked over Ishii’s arm, before a series of shots in the corner sunk Ishii to the mat. Ishii hit back with some clotheslines of his own, before charging down Dunne. A German suplex from Dunne was quickly shrugged off as Ishii returned with a powerslam for a near-fall, only to fall into some good old-fashioned finger-biting.
Dunne ended up biting the back of Ishii’s head as he went for a sleeperhold, before a release suplex earned Dunne a near-fall. We see an unexpected double stomp off the top rope as Dunne picked up another two-count, but yet again his attempt to keep the momentum failed as Ishii popped up from a superplex and into the path of more forearms, which again were shrugged off. Ishii walks through a series of forearms, and sent Dunne into the corner with a forearm of his own. Dunne then took a superplex as a receipt, before kicking out at two, and blocking an attempted powerbomb. The finger-biting returned as Dunne tried for a powerbomb… but instead Ishii worked free and had a bite himself.
Dunne tried to headbutt Ishii, but of course that didn’t work, so he went for an enziguiri instead. Ishii returned the favour then followed up with a lariat, before a headbutt to the chest knocked down Dunne for a diving lariat. That lariat got Ishii another near-fall, before Dunne countered a brainbuster with a small package for another near-fall.
A resurgent Dunne hit a tombstone piledriver for just a one-count – clearly Dunne hadn’t watched the Hero match to see how those go! – before Dunne pulled the referee in front of a charging Ishii. There was no ref bump, but the ensuing confusion ended with Dunne kicking Ishii low and following with the Drop Dead… only for Will Ospreay to rush out to the ring for another distraction. Ishii got a receipt with another low blow as Ospreay had the referee’s attention, before Ishii landed a brainbuster for the win. Another decent match, but I could have lived without the Will Ospreay interference until after the match. ***½
Leaders of the New School (Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr) vs. Los Ingobernales de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA)
Well, this was an odd pairing. Marty Scurll – the heel – received plenty of cheers from the Walthamstow crowd, whilst the deposed British heavyweight champion Zack Sabre Jr. still got the boos that’ve followed him around Rev Pro as of late.
Naito started off by ducking a tie-up with Scurll, before immediately tagging out to SANADA. Scurll returns the favour, as we end up with SANADA and a reluctant Sabre, leading to Sabre neutralising SANADA in the early going. A cravat saw Sabre take down SANADA, with the hold eventually being reversed as Sabre went into the corner and tagged in an even-more reluctant Scurll.
A flurry of tags between Sabre and Scurll kept SANADA cut-off, as the left arm of the former TNA X-Division champion suddenly became targeted by the LDRS. SANADA was taken to the outside as Scurll followed up with an apron superkick, but the tables finally turned when Sabre was tripped up in the ropes by Naito – to the audible cheers of the crowd. The match spilled out into the crowd as Naito and Scurll paired off, as did Sabre and SANADA, with differing rates of success. We got a ref bump as Naito shoved Chris Roberts into Marty Scurll, creating a distraction that allowed the IWGP Intercontinental champion to choke Sabre in the ropes.
A neckbreaker from Naito got him a delayed near-fall as Scurll had the referee held up once more, before SANADA came in to tie up Sabre with a rear chinlock. Sabre finally fought back into it with an uppercut out of the corner, before making a hot tag to Scurll, who took SANADA into the corner for a series of stomps. The “Just Kidding” superkick and a knee to the head gets Scurll a near-fall, before a chicken wing attempt was blocked. SANADA hit back with a dropkick after a pair of leapfrogs, but Scurll again went for the chicken wing.
SANADA rolled through out of it and caught him in a Skull End, only for Scurll to again roll out. We had another ref bump as SANADA intentionally ran into Chris Roberts and used it to mule kick Scurll, who then took the outside-in dropkick from Naito. Marty elbowed out of an attempt at Gloria from Naito, before an eye poke and some finger snapping. I never expected to see Naito take that spot…
Scurll tagged out to Sabre, who took down Naito with a tornado DDT and rolled through into a Dragon suplex, forcing Naito towards the ropes, only for Zack to switch into a roll-up for a near-fall. A rolling prawn hold got Sabre another two-count, before catching Naito in Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than The Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness (or the Octopus hold, for those who like shorter names!). SANADA broke the hold up, but Scurll prevented any chance of a double team as he dropped Naito with a brainbuster, before a PK from Sabre scored the LDRS another near-fall.
Sabre and Scurll looked to set up Scurll for a finish, but Naito pushed Sabre into his partner, before Sabre caught Naito in a triangle armbar. Scurll grabbed a chicken wing on SANADA as Naito was moved into a grounded Octopus hold, but neither man submitted, with Naito instead getting a rope break. After that, Naito elbowed out of a Dragon suplex, before catching a tornado DDT. The match turned into a brief parade of moves that left all four men down. We resumed with Naito and Sabre trading blows again, before an enziguiri and the Gloria got Naito a near-fall. SANADA dispatches of Scurll as he tried to break things up, before Sabre almost snatched the win with another prawn hold. A spinebuster from Naito dropped Sabre, as did a scoop slam into a reverse DDT, before Naito landed the Destino for the win. I must say, I was not expecting Sabre to go 0-2 this weekend, but this was a fantastic outing for the Ingobernables duo… and the Leaders as well. ****
After the match, Naito dispatched of referee Chris Roberts once again, before we were left with Sabre and Scurll at ringside. Marty took the microphone and told the crowd that it was “tradition for a wrestler to wear blue when they’re leaving the territory”; something that got a shocked reaction as the crowd seemed to think that Marty’s ROH deal meant that this was the end of his time in Rev Pro. Marty told us that Zack was moving to America, then confirmed his “exclusive” contract with Ring of Honor.
Cue “you deserve it” chants, as Scurll declared that this was the end of the road for the Leaders of the New School. Scurll addressed the fans’ wish to see a Scurll/Sabre match, before thanking the crowd for their support. Anyone smell a rat yet? The promo ended with the crowd chanting “thank you Leaders”, as Scurll signed off with “this isn’t goodbye…”. Sabre’s few words were “see you later”, as the Leaders shook hands and hugged.
About that rat… Marty bowed to the crowd, and then grabbed Sabre, before spinning him and kicking Sabre well below the belt. Cue a roar of boos, with some ironic cheers, as Scurll then exited stage left. I’m thinking that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these guys in Rev Pro…
Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship: Chris Hero vs. Katsuyori Shibata (c)
The match started with Shibata on the mat, trying to neutralise any early shorts from Hero, before he leapt onto Hero’s back for an early sleeperhold attempt.
After Hero broke via the ropes, he took an uppercut before charging down Shibata as the pair went for – and missed – key moves in the opening exchanges. Shibata made a point of targetting Hero’s left arm, tying up the challenger with a figure four-like armbar that Hero just stood up from, only for Shibata to roll him back to the mat.
Finally Hero rolled to the ropes for a break, and then he started with his chops, as he and Shibata went back and forth with strikes. They upgraded to slaps, with Hero being sent scurrying into a corner, before switching places and drilling the champion with a pump kick. Shibata rolled to the outside, where he took some more kicks, before some forearms sent Shibata flying towards the lighting scaffold.
Shibata returned to the ring as he was clubbed to the mat by a forearm from Hero for a near-fall, before a back senton saw the champion roll back onto the apron. A series of forearms knocked Shibata down into the corner, but he arose out of the corner and started walking through the chops, before finally launching into a series of uppercuts in the corner. The diving dropkick into the corner followed as Shibata picked up a two-count from a single-underhook suplex.
A PK from Shibata succeeded, before the second one was caught and met with a knee strike from Hero, only for Shibata to catch an STO for a near-fall. Hero and Shibata traded running big boots in the corners, before a suplex from Shibata took both men to the mat. Hero tried to headbutt Shibata, to little effect, as the match again descended into strikes, before a knee to the midsection and a short piledriver took down Shibata… but Hero took too long to make a cover, and instead came away with a near-fall. From the kickout, Shibata grabbed a sleeperhold, and held onto it despite a back suplex.
That sleeper was turned into a German suplex, but Hero popped up with a rolling elbow and went for the Gotch piledriver, planting Shibata square in the middle of the ring. Despite that, Katsuyori kicked out, only to stagger into the path of a brainbuster attempt… but Shibata slipped out and into a sleeperhold, forcing Hero into the ropes. More traded shots led to a ripcord elbow attempt, but Shibata ducked and went back to the sleeperhold, eventually sending Hero to the mat and into the path of a match-winning PK. Shibata retains – and continues his streak of amazing matches under the Rev Pro banner. ****¼
Out of the two shows, the second night in Walthamstow was just about the better night; featuring a memorable match (Liger/Ospreay), a memorable angle (the break-up of the Leaders), and a fantastic main event… you can argue either way, but overall, Global Wars 2016 was a home-run weekend for Rev Pro. In spite of the criticism of the promotion for almost being like a British version of PWG – with more of an emphasis on dream matches than storylines – they sure do deliver on these big shows.