Rev Pro debuted in Wolverhampton with 1 Called Manders looking to ruin Michael Oku’s weekend – and title reign – in the main event.
Quick Results
Joe Lando, Danny Black & Maverick Mayhew pinned Leon Cage, Cameron Khai & Chris Ridgeway in 12:13 (***¼)
Mercedez Blaze pinned Millie McKenzie in 9:12 (**¾)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned JJ Gale in 16:28 (***¼)
Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs pinned Connor Mills & Jay Joshua to win the Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship in 15:03 (***¾)
Will Kaven pinned Stephen Wolf & Robbie X to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in 13:08 (**½)
Kanji submitted Deonna Purrazzo in 11:45 (***½)
Zozaya pinned Hechicero in 16:54 (***½)
Michael Oku submitted 1 Called Manders to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in 24:59 (****¼)
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We’re live from the Hangar in Wolverhampton – a part of the country that used to be a staple of the British scene, but in recent years has been quite barren.
We’ve got Dave Bradshaw, Leyton Buzzard and holy crap the flashing lights. We’ve also got no sound, at least until the entrances, so I can only assume Dave made no mention of Spurs’ latest loss.
CPF (Joe Lando, Danny Black & Maverick Mayhew) vs. Chris Ridgeway, Leon Cage & Cameron Khai
This was a late addition to the card, and twenty minutes after the advertised bell time, we finally got going.
Ridgeway worked over Danny Black’s arm in the early stages, but Black’s able to break free as CPF looked to control proceedings. An arm whip from Ridgeway dumps Lando as Leon Cage leapt in to take over, with us getting leap frogs and roll throughs before Lando slid outside… and I guess we’re under lucha rules as we’re getting rapid replacements.
Cameron Khai’s able to lift up Mayhew for a brainbuster that gets a two-count, before Lando returned into the path of Khai’s rolling brainbusters. Chris Ridgeway comes in, but kicks his partner Leon Cage off the apron as he seemed to be hell-bent on winning things solo…
Ridgeway’s STF ends with Lando in the ropes… Cameron Khai’s back in to hit a high-speed clothesline through Danny Black, who tries to return with a tijeras, but Khai turns it into a powerbomb for a near-fall by the ropes. Leon Cage finally comes in to clear house, almost winning with a 450 splash to Mayhew, before CPF triple-teamed Cage with a stomp-assisted DDT that drew a near-fall for Lando.
Cage’s reverse ‘rana got rid of Black and Lando, allowing Khai to cut off Mayhew with an avalanche Falcon arrow… the pin’s broken, as Chris Ridgeway then got taken outside for an Out of the Black low-pe stunner amid a Parade of Moves. Up top, Cage avoids a superplex, throwing down Mayhew… but then moonsaulted into the pile on the floor rather than fo after Mayhew.
Instead, a Pingshot cutter from Khai lays out Mayhew… but Cage misses a Phoenix splash as Khai had to push on on his own, resuming the Parade of Moves… with a shooting star elbow drop from Lando landing into a cross armbreaker from Ridgeway. That’s broken up as a Pedigree Destroyer (dubbed the Tiger Driver 2K7) from Cage ended with him eating Mayhew’s Awful Waffle for a near-fall. From there, Cage is spiked with the FIJ triple-team… and that’s your lot – an action packed opener as CPF continues to get ring time ahead of whatever the hell it is their trophies will be turned into. ***¼
Post-match, CPF put over Leon Cage… who’s left behind as Chris Ridgeway hit a diving knee from behind, busting open Leon’s nose for the umpteenth time this year. Leon will learn.
Mercedez Blaze vs. Millie McKenzie
I’m starting to notice a pattern in what these second matches on Rev Pro shows are… anyway, this is the eventual pay-off to Blaze getting duped by Millie after McKenzie was courted by the Cut Throat Collective.
McKenzie looked to make light work of things, attacking Blaze at the bell, but Mercedez was more than up for the challenge, catching Millie through the ropes with a neckbreaker. Spilling outside, Blaze got posted… but she’s able to take over, throwing Millie back inside before hiding something under her ring jacket.
Back in the ring, a shotgun dropkick took Blaze into the corner ahead of a swinging neckbreaker, before Blaze hit back with a hip attack in the corner and a spear off the middle rope. Some choking from Blaze followed in the corner, but Millie breaks free to land a series of suplexes. A cutter nearly does the job as Blaze threatened to fight back…
German suplexes from Mille are rolled out of as Blaze instead hit a butterfly suplex into the corner, only for McKenzie to respond by finally landing a series of German suplexes, before a spear almost sent the pair out of the ring. Blaze manages to roll outside as she dived towards her ring jacket…
We find she’s smuggled a turnbuckle iron… but Millie captures it and hands it off to the referee, who missed Millie getting wiped out by Blaze’s spikey jacket as that proved to be enough for the win. The story doesn’t feel over, but it’s a small amount of revenge for Blaze here as the Cut Throat Collective get a win under their belts. **¾
Ricky Knight Jr. vs. JJ Gale
RKJ attacked Lee Dawson during his entrance – and there was a bit of a tense atmosphere to this one.
We quickly got going as Gale hit a back body drop en route to clotheslining RKJ to the floor, where a flip dive caught Ricky on the top of the head. The crowd railings collapse as Gale sent RKJ into them, as it’s all Gale in the opening minutes… until he ran into a snap powerslam back inside.
RKJ’s chops rock Gale by the ropes, and earn him some boos, as did the Vinny Jones deal. Returning, Gale elbows RKJ into the corner before things headed outside… where a plancha was caught and turned into a suplex on the concrete floor. That’s added to with a draping DDT off the apron as the crowd stayed on RKJ’s back, showering him with chants of “please retire” amid a stalling suplex as Gale continued to take a beating.
The crowd did rally behind Gale, especially after Ricky spat on him, before both men laid each other out with strikes. From the restart, Gale’s the brighter of the two, landing a rebound German suplex and a Slingblade, before kicks to the chest out on the apron led to Gale following out with a Whisper in the Wind to the floor.
A 450 splash back inside’s aborted as Gale instead made do with a Destroyer… before his Gale Force was swatted down with a superkick. RKJ looks for a Fire Thunder Driver, then a Styles Clash as Gale fought his way free… only to get that Styles Clash seconds later as RKJ caught him out of the corner. From there, RKJ gets a near-fall out of a 450 splash, before a faked out ref bump ended with RKJ hitting a low blow and a piledriver for a one-count. Alright…
Both men start looking for finishers from there, with RKJ laying out Gale with a lariat, only for Gale to return with a reverse ‘rana and the Gale Force for a near-fall. Another trip up top sees Gale abort a 450 splash as RKJ returned with a spiking Fire Thunder Driver for the win. They brought all the big moves here, but for a match third from the bottom this felt like it was lacking something – a win for RKJ here probably puts him closer to the title picture, while JJ Gale remains slotted. ***¼
Post-match, RKJ offered a handshake… and Gale’s just punted in the balls. Cameron Khai runs out to make the save, only to get punted low as well. David Francisco of all people stops the assault, before Leyton Buzzard abandoned commentary to hobble down on his crutches to make sure nothing more happened. That’s quite an effort of mimicking late 90s/DX Triple H with that get-up…
RKJ baited Buzzard into the ring, kicking the crutches away as he berated Buzzard, stopping only to superkick Cameron Khai before… he kicked Leyton’s leg out of his leg. Except it’s a con, because Buzzard’s knees are alright, kipping up to fight back with a leaping knee and a pop-up powerbomb. That’s the return of Leyton Buzzard then, who heads to the back… which means we’ve got David Francisco out on commentary. Cheers for that, lads.
Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship: Young Guns (Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen) vs. Connor Mills & Jay Joshua (c)
Bloody hell, Wolverhampton got LOUD for this.
We’ve a jump start after the introductions as the match spilled outside before the bell… an errant chop from Ethan Allen hits the ring post as the challengers were very much on the back foot, even more so when Luke Jacobs got thrown over the railings and into the second row by Jay Joshua.
We’re still waiting for the ring bell as Joshua took Allen up to the stage, but Luke Jacobs comes through the crowd with a chair as they instead went for Joshua’s throat, then smashed him over the head with the chair. That left Connor Mills on his own, but he fights off the Young Guns until he got held in the ropes for Luke’s flying clothesline.
Finally the bell goes as Jacobs put a beating to Mills… Ethan’s in for more of the same, absorbing shots from Mills but the two-on-one advantage surprisingly led to the crowd treating Mills as a sympathetic underdog. Jacobs’ crossface attempt gets countered into an ankle lock, but he’s able to charge Mills back down as Jay Joshua was slowly making his way back to the ring.
A kick-assisted slam dumped Mills onto his own chain, but Mills is able to make his own luck, leaping off of Ethan’s back to take Jacobs off the apron before tagging in Jay Joshua, whose Buzz Sawyer-ish powerslam saw him carve through the challengers. There’s a lovely clothesline-and-suplex combo from Jay, then a double back suplex before a folding powerbomb almost put Luke away.
Mills tries to return with a step-up kick to Jacobs in the corner, but it’s caught and turned into a uranage as an Allen Slam followed not long after… only for a Ki Krusher from Mills to keep the big hits going. Jacobs and Joshua trade strikes before a lariat took down Jay… who quickly hit back with a German suplex and a Gotch-style piledriver for a near-fall.
Allen tags in after making that save, targeting Joshua with kicks… but he’s eventually caught as Mills came in to set off the torture rack/spinebuster combo. That’s blocked as the Young Guns instead went for submissions, ending with Joshua dropping Allen onto the back of Luke Jacobs to break up two submissions for the price of one.
All four men stay in the ring as this turned into a tornado match it seemed, leading to Mills blocking a double-team, eventually returning with a rebound lariat to Allen. Jacobs’ lariat stuffed an attempted second one, before Mills countered a Doomsday Device into a Spanish Fly, chaining that into an ankle lock on Ethan on the landing, only for Luke Jacobs to pull out the referee to avoid him seeing Allen tapping out.
Kicking the rope into Mills, the Young Guns turn it around, leading to a high/low for a near-fall, before the challengers finally hit the Doomsday Device… this time with Joshua pulling out the referee. Ethan Allen tries to intervene, but he’s met with a Scooby Doo suplex on the apron before a clubbering lariat from Luke earned him a rebound from Mills. The champions add the torture rack/spinebuster double-team, but it’s still not enough as they were forced to up the ante with an avalanche torture rack/spinebuster combo… it’s fought out of though as Luke’s lariats left Mills hunched over ahead of the kick-assisted piledriver for the win.
I’m not a fan of when tag matches break down into tornado styles outings, but this was a cracking outing that the live crowd audibly loved. The win marks the first time that the Young Guns have won tag team gold in Rev Pro, and completes his personal Grand Slam here. ***¾
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Robbie X vs. Stephen Wolf vs. Will Kaven (c)
Wolf’s got two pinfall wins over the champion Kaven in recent weeks – and he looked to have the brighter start of the trio here, with Kaven having to break up a pin attempt in the first 100 seconds.
Wolf’s sent to the outside as Kaven countered an X-Claimation into a German suplex, before a snap suplex to Wolf drew Robbie X back in to break up the pin. A gamengiri from Wolf rocks Kaven as the revolving door pattern took hold.
Robbie X pulled ahead with hesitation dropkicks to Kaven, then Wolf in the corners before Wolf found his way back in, splatting Robbie X with a running shooting star press out of the corner for a two-count. Wolf assists with Kaven’s tombstone to Robbie X before the champion turned on him to get a couple of two-counts… prompting the champion to head up top, only to get caught with a one-man Spanish Fly.
Robbie X pushes on from there, but got caught out with a 6-1-Line from Wolf… before Kaven snuck in a short piledriver. We keep going with Robbie X’s Beyblade kick in the corner to Kaven, ahead of an overhead suplex that flung Wolf into the champion before the X-Claimation wiped out Wolf for a near-fall.
Kaven tries to hit Wolf with a tombstone for the finish, but instead Wolf escaped to hit the Vertigo… with Robbie X diving in to grab the ref’s hand to stop the count From there, Robbie X’s gamenigiri stopped Wolf as he went for a dive… back inside, the Spiral Tap from Robbie X nearly puts Kaven away, before a diving kick into the corner brought Wolf in to make a save. I think we may have relocated to Coventry for this match, given how much the crowd aren’t reacting… and when see-sawing small packages barely elicited a murmur, Kaven stole the win when he punted Wolf in the balls as Wolf dropped Robbie X with the Vertigo… and that’s enough to win a match that just didn’t have the crowd caring. **½
Kanji vs. Deonna Purrazzo
It’s another big test for Kanji, who looks to be nailed on to get that Moné match next month…
Purrazzo’s aggression early on saw her shove Kanji into the ropes for a point-blank rebound clothesline before she looked to work over Kanji’s historically-injured arm. Kanji began to respond with an arm whip, before elbow strikes looked to break Deonna’s attempts to stay on her.
A merry go round led to Kanji taking down Deonna for a grounded hammerlock, bridging over it like old school Axel Dieter Jr., but Deonna’s able to get free and connect with a clothesline… only for Kanji to hold her ground as a double clothesline left both laying. Kanji takes the long way round to a ZSJ-like neck twist as she started going for holds… but almost a Tequila Sunrise was thwarted as Kanji couldn’t maintain the grip with her left arm.
Kanji evades Purrazzo with a Tiger Feint in the ropes, but a big boot in return almost puts Kanji away, as did a kneeling powerbomb as Deonna then went back to the arm, trapping one before pulling the other in an armbar… but it’s right by the ropes as Kanji quickly forced the break.
A slingshot spear from Kanji was caught and turned into an armbreaker as Deonna right with back to the Fujiwara armbar, but an attempt to switch the hold almost backfired as Kanji snapped right back in with a bridging Kimura that forced an instant flash submission. This was simmering away nicely until the sudden finish – and this was exactly the finish you needed as well. It can’t be anyone but Kanji facing Moné, right? ***½
Post-match, Purrazzo shoved off Kanji… and then we cut to video of Mercedes Moné who challenged Kanji for her inaugural title defence at High Stakes next month. That got a hell of a reaction, as did Kanji’s acceptance… and that’s now set for April 20th in Doncaster.
Zozaya vs. Hechicero
This was Zozaya’s first match in Rev Pro since the Iron Man win over Leon Slater at the end of 2024…
Some trash-talking between Hechicero and Zozaya gets us underway, before some grappling on the mat ended with Hechicero grabbing the ropes. Hechicero returns the favour as he tried to pop Zozaya’s arms out, before the pair rolled into the ropes once again. Back-and-forth pinning attempts continued the war of attrition, before Zozaya looked to switch things up with headbutts and a leaping shoulder tackle.
Pulling down Zozaya, Hechicero looks for an armbar, but Zozaya’s escape attempt only saw him get caught in the cross armbreaker as the ropes saved the Spaniard. A missed dropkick looked to keep Zozaya in trouble, but he’s able to break free of Hechicero, booting him to the floor for a rebound apron PK ahead of a plancha.
Zozaya returns to the ring, but a second dive’s stopped as Hechicero hit a Dragon screw between the ropes as he looked to do damage to the knee. A clothesline off the top keeps Hechicero ahead, but a trip up top goes awry for Hechicero as a Spanish fly brings him down for a near-fall. That’s added to with a stomp, but Zozaya’s knee gives him trouble as he delayed a trip up top and moonsaulted into the feet of Hechicero en route to another wacky submission… albeit ending in the ropes as Hechicero’s rolling for position backfired.
Hechicero stays on Zozaya, popping him up into an armbar, stopping to roll Zozaya around the ring as a pinning attempt almost finished things, before Zozaya fought out of another set-up and found his way in for an abdominal stretch. He loses grip pretty quickly though, as he instead came back with the Hechicero spinning double underhook… only for the master of it to break free ahead of a return dropkick from Zozaya.
My stream dropped out a little, returning as Zozaya caught Hechicero with de Madrid al cielo off the top rope… but a delayed cover gave Hechicero time to kick out, only for Zozaya to sneak right in with a Euro clutch to get the win. There was something about this that didn’t fully click with me, with Zozaya’s slight slips and knee problems causing issues, but this was still a really strong match that I’d love to see run back on a grander stage. ***½
Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: 1 Called Manders vs. Michael Oku (c)
One week on from winning 16 Carat Gold in Germany, Manders is looking to unseat a rather buoyant Michael Oku. Or at least he damn well should be after what happened at Wembley earlier…
Manders swung with a lariat at the bell, but Oku rolled under it as he eventually found a way in for a half crab… but Manders grabbed the rope, and snuck in a cheapshot on the break. My feed drops, returning with Manders avoiding a Fosbury flop as he instead lariat’d Oku between the ropes as the early stages of the match seemed to be mostly based around Oku avoiding Manders’ big shots.
A whip takes Oku into the corner, but he’s able to avoid Manders’ charge… only to leap into a suplex that ended with Oku getting bounced off the ropes. Manders’ slingshot introduced Oku’s throat to the bottom rope for a two-count, before things went back outside, with Oku getting charged into the rails then chopped into the crowd.
Back inside, Manders bites away on Oku, then charged him into the ropes with a clothesline as the challenger remained in the driver’s seat. A second crack at a Stampede’s caught by Oku, who countered out into a half crab, but Manders wasn’t rolled all the way over, and was able to make it to the ropes for a break. Oku’s missile dropkick takes Manders off the apron ahead of a Fosbury flop, wiping out Manders, before a missile dropkick back in the ring almost won it.
Another half crab’s pushed off, but Manders has to avoid a moonsault before he countered a tornado DDT with an overhand chop. Oku ducks another lariat as Manders sends himself sailing to the floor, joined by Oku’s springboard moonsault as the champion then looked to rough up Manders. That backfires as pulling Manders’ ear just woke up the challenger into a series of chops, before he threw Oku almost through the medic and into the guard rails.
Manders’ offence has the brakes slammed on it as he charged towards Oku, but ended up lariating the ring post… Oku used the same guard rail to drop Manders’ arm onto before they headed onto the apron with Oku dropping the arm over the turnbuckle iron. Staying on the arm, Oku tries an elevated armbar, but Manders used his left arm to lariat Oku down to the mat, before Manders went up top and missed a moonsault.
Oku capitalises with a froggy crossbody, then with a regular frog splash… but Manders gets a shoulder up before three. A half crab follows, with Manders biting his finger to withstand it all before he grabbed hold of Oku and just yanked him into the mat to break the grip. Simple, but effective. A kneeling lariat’s next as Manders bought himself more time, before Manders shrugged off a superkick to land a lariat for a near-fall.
Heading up top, Manders looks for an avalanche slam, but Oku’s able to work a ZSJ-esque wristlock, torquing the arm to avoid the move, before he maneuvered himself around to hit an avalanche top rope ‘rana. Oku thought he’d won it, but he charges into a lariat from a rising Manders that comes oh so close to winning it. From thee, Manders tees up again, spinning Oku inside out before one final lariat was countered into a headscissors takedown, moving into a Fujiwara armbar… adding the half crab as the Tequila Sunrise was busted out for the win! This was the kind of match that Oku has repeatedly excelled in over the years – take a beating, give some back and end up winning through sheer resourcefulness, this time in the form of a combination I don’t think he’s had to bust out here before. Manders was more than value in his role as the big nasty challenger that had was more than a throwaway challenger of the month – but on this night it wasn’t to be. ****¼
Post-match, Oku put over Manders as someone who’d personally won him over – before wishing he’d stay forever. There’s a lot of people who wished Manders wouldn’t go, and I’m one of them. Anyway, Oku said he’s now ticked Manders off his list of challengers, then revealed his next choice: Leon Slater!
Epic Encounter was a strong first show in Wolverhampton, buoyed by that main event and more storyline beats that will tide us over to the next big show in Doncaster in a little over a month’s time.