Rev Pro returned to Stevenage as Michael Oku continued to prepare for York Hall as he took on Trent Seven in the main event.
Quick Results
Leyton Buzzard pinned Cameron Khai in 11:35 (***¼)
Luke Jacobs pinned Levi Muir in 12:18 (***¼)
Hyan pinned Maya Matthews in 12:45 (***)
Lance Archer pinned Connor Mills in 13:22 (***½)
Robbie X pinned Gideon Grey to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in 13:00 (***)
Jordon Breaks submitted JJ Gale in 10:45 (***¼)
Trent Seven pinned Michael Oku in 17:24 (***¼)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com – they’re currently running a free trial…
We’re live via stream from the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage – Andy Quildan and Gio Nolastname are on commentary as we’re just three weeks away from Epic Encounter…
Cameron Khai vs. Leyton Buzzard
This one has some history, with Khai and Buzzard going at it at the 229 in London a fortnight earlier…and after some carry on without a bell, we got going with lock-ups as Buzzard took Khai into the corner for a slap.
That winds up Khai, who took Buzzard into the ropes ahead of a leaping forearm, sending Buzzard outside for a breather. Khai remains ahead with a neckbreaker, but Buzzard knocks Khai into the ropes as he followed up with a backbreaker, then a back elbow and then a suplex coming out of the corner before Khai began to fight back, sweeping Buzzard’s legs before clotheslining him out of the ring. A tope followed, ahead of an ushigoroshi back inside for a near-fall, before Buzzard hiptossed Khai from the apron in to avoid a slingshot cutter.
Buzzard’s flurry keeps him ahead as a froggy crossbody led to a near-fall, while another flurry ended with a standing moonsault for a similar result. A belly-to-bellly superplex keeps Leyton ahead, before the Buzzkill uranage led to a missed moonsault off the top.
Khai capitalised with an over-the-knee brainbuster, but another crack at the slingshot cutter misses as Buzzard returns with a pop-up powerbomb to get his first win in Rev Pro. ***¼
Post-match, Buzzard exited stage left… then ran back out to attack Khai. Michael Oku runs out to make the save, as Buzzard scurried away…
Levi Muir vs. Luke Jacobs
Luke’s not looking to make many friends it seems, donning a Manchester City shirt…
The endless distractions led allowed Luke to blindside Muir with a running dropkick at the bell, but Levi’s able to fight back with a lovely back body drop and a suplex. Things spill outside, with Jacobs chopping the ring post for good measure, as Muir remained ahead… until Jacobs ducked a crossbody, and now the former cruiserweight champion begins to find a way through. A superkick on the outside stings Muir as the turnaround continued with Luke getting covers out of bodyslams. Muir returns the favour, before he scored a near-fall after Jacobs got into a shoving match with the ref… not exactly what you want to be doing three weeks before taking on Gabe Kidd, huh?
Jacobs chops the back of Muir, but ends up taking another suplex… then an Exploder for a near-fall. That crossbody from Muir connects as he continued to push ahead… but Luke hangs up Muir in the ropes, then dragged him outside for a back suplex onto the edge of the ring. Muir’s taken down with a suplex on the floor for good measure, before a powerbomb back inside almost earned the win… a series of Superman forearms from Jacobs earned a similar strike in return, before a wild lariat out of nowhere proved to be enough to slam the door shut on the newcomer. ***¼
Maya Matthews vs. Hyan
Matthews looked to force her way into the big title match at York Hall here…
Maya looked good early on, avoiding a Stinger splash in the corner before a spot of misdirection led to a crossbody for a two-count. Hyan fought back with an Exploder suplex and a chop, before she chopped Maya off the top rope and down to the floor.
Back inside, a Michinoku driver planted Maya for a near-fall, before she just KICKED Maya’s crossbody out of mid-air. A back suplex followed as Hyan looked to be in control, holding Matthews in a wacky lucha submission that Maya eventually kneed her way out of. Undeterred, Hyan tries to get back in control, only to be stopped with a sleeperhold, then a shotgun dropkick, before a Slingblade picked up a near-fall for Maya. Hyan has to kick out from a wheelbarrow, before she got caught with a spear… but Hyan’s able to push back in with a spinning rack bomb for a near-fall. A knee strike softens up Maya, but she comes back with a discus clothesline and a wacky Destroyer, before a Liger-esque cannonball off the apron almost led to the win for Matthews.
Hyan nearly snatched the win with an inside cradle, before she took Matthews into the corner for a running knee strike… a Falcon Arrow’s next to nearly do the deal, before Hyan’s attempt at the Beauty Treatment (the Dodon/Glam Slam) was countered with a wheelbarrow. Hyan sits down on it though, and that’s enough to get the win in a scrappy contest that almost had an upset. ***
Connor Mills vs. Lance Archer
This was originally scheduled for Rev Pro’s trip here back in March – but flight issues meant that Archer couldn’t make it.
Mills tries his luck with a side headlock to start, but gets thrown aside… then again from a waistlock. Try the kicks, Connor. Archer did, sending Mills into the corner for overhand chops, before a suplex throw had Mills almost land in a seated position… and broke the chain to boot. More chops followed at ringside, but Archer ends up running into the ring post… and that opens the door for Mills, who used the ring against Archer, wrapping the leg around the post before a standing toe hold saw him continue to wear down the big man. Back inside, Archer’s leg is wrapped around the middle rope, before he downed Archer into an Indian deathlock in the middle of the ring.
Archer throws Mills’ head into the mat to force a break in the hold… Mills gets back in with a missile dropkick, only to get caught with some strikes from Archer. A Dragon screw takes Archer back down though, before he went back to work on the toe and ankle. Mills stops to mock the Robbie X pose, as an attempt at the X-Claimation ended with Archer lariating him… while a Derailer-like body attack just splatted through Mills. Mills kicks out Archer’s leg as he finally uncorked a series of unanswered kicks… then a rebound lariat after he’d been shoved aside. It’s good for a near-fall, but Mills gets too carried away and got caught with a clothesline after he got mouthy…
Archer kicks out from an inside cradle as he then prepared to lift up Mills for a Blackout, but Mills slips out. We’ve a ref bump as Mills eventually hits a low blow, before he grabbed a chair from outside and prepared to Pillmanise Archer… but Robbie X comes out to make the save with the X-Claimation. Archer gets up and lays out Mills with the chair, before a lariat ended up getting the win. Considering the difference in weight classes alone, this had to be the expected result, but Mills took Archer to the limit as the shenanigans with Robbie X continues to point us towards Mills’ foe for York Hall. ***½
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Gideon Grey vs. Robbie X (c)
This one originally wasn’t for the Cruiserweight title…Gideon’s forced to give up a tonne of contraband before the match, and claimed he was only going to throw powder at Robbie X because he wasn’t given a title shot. So he goes for a lie down, only to get caught with a running shooting star press for a two-count as Robbie made this a title match at bell time.
Gideon powders outside (AHA) but gets caught with a delayed senton back in as Robbie X dominated the early proceedings. That prompted Gideon to head outside again as he took the crowd’s mocking of him before returning to the ring to deck Robbie X. A slingshot from Gideon’s somersaulted out of as Robbie’s tijeras took the challenger outside for an eventual plancha. We’ve stream issues as Robbie X was stretching Gideon… things recover as Gideon rolled away from Robbie X’s splash zone as the champion was perched up top. It allowed him to bait Robbie into the corner, ahead of a cheating abdominal stretch that the referee eventually kicks apart.
Clotheslines and elbows from Robbie X lead to the hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick for a near-fall. Gideon countered into a Zack Sabre Jr-like armbar out of a suplex, but Robbie manages to get free and land a missile dropkick off the top for a near-fall. Gideon shoves referee Chris Hatch into the path of an X-Claimation, before landing a suplex/stunner on Robbie X… then the one-winged stunner… and finally a Snow Plow for a near-fall. Gideon calls for a Hidden Blade, but it’s kicked away by Robbie X, who goes all “shades of Gisele Shaw” as Gideon used to say in the corner… the Spiral Tap follows, but it’s still not enough, as Gideon then telegraphed a low blow, before he raked Robbie’s eyes. The ref’s distracted with a belt shot and missed a teased cane shot… before Gideon crawled under the ring for another bag of powder.
Spotting that, Robbie kicks the powder into Gideon’s eyes… then hit the ropes for an X-Clamation for the win as commentary claimed this was Robbie’s 13th title defence. Cagematch is missing one somewhere, as they’re teasing him at least matching Michael Oku’s record of 16 defences… ***
Jordon Breaks vs. JJ Gale
This was Breaks’ first match back in two months – and with him having ZSJ in a few weeks, it’s time to warm up against the man who eliminated Sabre from the Revolution Rumble back in March.
Breaks and Gale trade wristlocks early on, as Gale took things to the mat with a knuckle lock… before the pair bridged up and slapped each other back to their feet. It’s uppercuts ahoy from there, before a monkey flip from Breaks took Gale into the corner… JJ hits the ropes for a rewind leapfrog, then a springboard ‘rana out of the corner and a dropkick. Gale follows Breaks outside for a tope con giro, but back inside Breaks grabs an armbar before a Codebreaker to the arm continued the focus. As did an arm whip, as Breaks worked his way up to a very ZSJ-like Young Boy Killer double armbar stretch. Gale counters out as he hiptosses away a Cobra Twist, then scored with a wheelbarrow stomp.
A running forearm and an uppercut dumps Breaks, before a backpack looked to lead to the Gale Force… but Breaks counters it into a Fujiwara armbar. Gale held on and fought back , going for the backpack knee again… then a Gordbuster and a superkick for another near-fall. Heading up top, Gale aborts a moonsault before he landed on his feet from a moonsault… but Breaks is able to find another opening with an armbar, before a mounted wristlock a la ZSJ eventually forced the submission, catching everyone off guard. ***¼
Michael Oku vs. Trent Seven
Oku’s got the Great O-Khan in three weeks time – but there’s the unresolved issues lingering around with Leyton Buzzard. The man, not the place.
Seven and Oku trade wristlocks early on, as Trent took things to the mat… where Oku managed to escape and grab a side headlock. It’s pushed off as shoulder tackles ensued, allowing Trent to ground things once more. Picking up the pace, Oku’s headscissors and dropkick have Trent down, before he’s monkey flipped out of a half crab attempt. Lord, that hang time… Things spill outside as Trent chopped Oku around the crowd… only to have the favour returned. Things head up towards the bar as Oku grabbed an ice cream to cool down. It ends up in the ring as Trent ends up getting thrown into the ring post… before he found his way back out to chop Oku at ringside.
More chops follow back inside, as Oku eventually began to push ahead with forearms in the corner… which led to a missile dropkick off the middle rope. Trent’s spiked with a DDT from Oku for a two-count, but he recovers with chops as an Emerald Flowsion almost put away Oku. A Seven Star lariat’s kicked away by Oku, who then ran into the lariat as Trent looked to go back to the Emerald Flowsion… he’s met with a misdirection knee and a springboard moonsault in return for a near-fall. Trent dips into his former tag partner’s arsenal with bop and bang, then a Tyler Driver for a near-fall, before he picked up Oku for a Birming-Hammer… but Oku slipped out and into a half crab.
That’s the cue for Leyton Buzzard to run out and distract Oku, who swung for him… Trent capitalises with a chop and a Seven Star lariat for a near-fall. Superkicks from Oku finally have Trent down in a heap, but Leyton continues to antagonise Amira at ringside, knocking her down as Oku was prepping for a frog splash. Instead, Oku leaps down on Buzzard on the floor, then posted him… returning to the ring, Oku heads up for a superplex to Seven, but Trent countered with an avalanche Emerald Flowsion for a near-fall, before the Birming-Hammer put Oku away. There was enough of a gap between Buzzard’s interference and the finish for this to be your typical pro wrestling trope – but I guess this result creates a future challenger should Oku leave York Hall with the gold next month. ***¼
A rather different sort of crowd in Stevenage made for a different kind of show from Rev Pro – Stevenage has always been a more family-friendly venue thanks to its past as a regular haunt for Southside. Nothing on this show was bad (apart from the internet connection at the start), although Michael Oku and Connor Mills suffering speedbumps this close to York Hall is certainly a curious story to be told…