Rev Pro’s back for another Epic Encounter, this time with Gisele Shaw defending the British Women’s Championship against Bea Priestley.
Quick Results
Will Ospreay submitted JJ Gale in 6:31 (**½)
Kenneth Halfpenny pinned Brendan White in 5:47 (**)
Mark Haskins submitted Joel Redman in 13:00 (***)
Mad Kurt submitted Dan Moloney in 9:28 (*¾)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned Kyle Fletcher in 12:23 (***½)
Gisele Shaw submitted Bea Priestley in 9:16 to retain the Rev Pro British Women’s Championship (***¼)
We’re back at the Portsmouth School of Wrestling… and the show isn’t on FITE, as Rev Pro’s dabbling with a new streaming platform – Twitch. So you can now watch for free with everyone else, or pay to see the show on the promotion’s VOD platform. It’s a bold move, that’s for sure.
We open with a promo from Mad Kurt, taking the piss out of Dan Moloney for winning “against people who aren’t really wrestlers” like Jeff Cobb and Clark Connors, before dancing off. We then get Andy Quildan opening the show, dedicating the show to Ryan Smile… Andy’s on commentary with Rob Lias, as the pair run down the card…
JJ Gale vs. Will Ospreay
Billed as a “Proving Ground” match, we have an inset promo from Ospreay during Gale’s intro, wishing him luck.
Gale charges at Ospreay at the bell, throwing forearms and shoulder tackles before a shoulder tackle from Ospreay took him down. Gale’s back with a springboard ‘rana out of the corner, before he rolled Ospreay into a seated surfboard. Ospreay lifts Gale up top then chops him to the floor… following him out with more chops before throwing the Contender back inside. Gale tries to fight back with forearms, but a knee to the gut from Ospreay takes him back down… before Gale came back with a pop-up dropkick.
A series of running forearms leads to a front suplex and a superkick from Gale, which gets him a near-fall. Ospreay returns with elbows and a rolling elbow, before a reverse Bloody Sunday DDT gets a near-fall. Going for the leg, Ospreay hits a knee breaker, but Gale’s able to retaliate with an enziguiri before he hit the ropes for a springboard cutter… which is caught as Ospreay looks for a Storm Breaker. Gale’s spun away as he tried to counter with a Boston crab, but eventually comes back with a wheelbarrow into the Boston crab, but Ospreay manages to get to the ropes. Ospreay counters a springboard with a forearm, then dumped Gale on the neck and shoulders with a sitout powerbomb, before a Dragon screw to the leg set up for the Figure Four for the submission. Perhaps not as one sided as it should have been, given the disparity in their spots on the card. **½
After the match, Ospreay does a bad Ric Flair impersonation before telling Gale he’s “graduated”.
Kenneth Halfpenny vs. Brendan White
White’s 2-1 up in the current canon “best of five” series, and before the match told Halfpenny he had to change up his game plan, dubbing him the “Lance Armstrong of the Contenders Division.” Oof.
Halfpenny dives outside at the bell as we start with a Benny Hill chase… the attempted sucker punch is avoided as White drags Halfpenny outside as the frame rate drops on the stream. A back suplex drops Halfpenny on the apron, but things turn around as White gets shoved into the ring post. White gets back in the ring, but a pump kick knocks him outside again as Halfpenny was looking for the count-out win. Second time’s the charm as White gets in, with the match degenerating into a brawl before Halfpenny got hurled outside. Halfpenny drops White arm-first across the top rope as he blocks a superplex in… eventually following up with a pump kick to the same bad arm.
Halfpenny keeps going, dropping a knee onto the arm before he went for the Bicep Slicer armbar… White rolls free and counters with a release German suplex, before he went for that superplex again… this time hauling Halfpenny back into the ring. He doesn’t go for the cover as we buffer as poor framerate destroys an over-the-knee brainbuster. White gets a near-fall, then tries for a crossface, but the arm injury means he can’t lock it in as Halfpenny got to the rope. The cameraman misses Halfpenny shoving White into the referee, masking a low blow as Halfpenny went on to get the win with a Destroyer. That ties the series and guarantees a fifth match, probably in two weeks’ time. Too shot to be much, but the story they’re telling is decent. **
They show a replay, including the low blow (from a better angle). Why was that not in the “live” feed?!
Joel Redman vs. Mark Haskins
It’s a battle of former Rev Pro tag team champions as the Thrillers meet in rather different circumstances.
Redman tries to shoot for the leg early on, eventually tripping down Haskins as he looked for a hold. Haskins tries to counter with an armbar, but Redman blocks and took things to the ropes, where Haskins threw in a cheeky kick on the break. A surprise leg lock from Redman has Haskins in trouble briefly, but there’s a quick escape with an armbar… but Redman lifts them both to their feet before a takedown ended with Haskins going back to the arm. Redman looks to pull ahead, going for a Romero special, eventually pulling Haskins up… then propelling him down to the mat as Haskins rolled outside for some respite. Back in the ring, the pair exchange pinning attempts at the rate of a frame a second, before Haskins went for an armbar… but it ends in the ropes, with Redman going outside.
They engage again, this time with Redman working over the leg of Haskins before a side headlock led to Redman being pushed into the corner. Redman headstands on the turnbuckles then floats back down as they go back and forth for more low frame-rate pinning attempts, some of which came from body scissors. Redman looks for a crucifix on Haskins’ back, but ends up rolling up Haskins for a two-count before Haskins avoided a leapfrog and came in with a dropkick of his own. The pair end up outside, where Haskins kicks out Redman’s leg again before they returned to the ring, where Redman won a fist-fight… with Haskins countering by dragging Redman as he wrapped his leg around the post.
Knee drops to Redman’s knee follow back in the ring, as Haskins proceeded to stretch his former tag partner’s knee in the ropes. A Figure Four’s countered with a small package by Redman, who then went for an Octopus hold… but Haskins gets free, only to get his arms snapped between the legs. Redman throws Haskins into the ring post, but Redman’s hobbling now as he went out to throw Haskins’ arm into the post. Redman uses the ropes to help target that arm too as he then went to climb the ropes… but Gideon Grey at ringside grabs onto him as Haskins manages to capitalise with a chop and a superplex.
From there, Haskins looked for a Sharpshooter, but instead rolled Redman in for a death valley driver that almost wins it, but Redman’s back with the Papa Shango shoulder breaker and a Rings of Saturn… before Haskins almost got pinned. A leaping knee from Redman has Haskins down again, but Redman goes back up top… and gets caught by Gideon again as Haskins manages to roll him down into a Sharpshooter for the submission. A pretty good match, absolutely ruined by technology. ***
In the pre-match promo, Mad Kurt mocks Dan Moloney for “being used to wrestling in front of zero fans.” Oh God.
Mad Kurt vs. Dan Moloney
Kurt’s been needling Dan Moloney on social media for months, it feels like, but in Rev Pro story this was brought out via a challenge on the last show. Mad Kurt’s brought an L from his keyboard, as a gift for Moloney… as they then forget to dub in Stephanie Chase’s audio. Oh God. At least Mad Kurt has taken the “impersonate Andy Q” gimmick…
Kurt won’t wrestle Moloney “until he dabs”… Moloney threatens to, but swings for Mad Kurt with a clothesline, before he bulled him down with shoulder tackles. A standing STO keeps Mad Kurt down, as he then got kicked in the back of the head. Moloney goes for a snap suplex, but pulls Kurt up at one, before he chopped Mad Kurt into the ropes. The referee helps ease Kurt to the floor as the frame rate craps out again. Mad Kurt tries to pull himself back into the ring, but gets chopped down again as Moloney put the boots to him again.
Mad Kurt tries to punch his way back in, eventually knocking out Moloney with a jaw breaker that sent Dan into the ropes. Moloney gets back up and flips off Kurt’s chops… then felled him with a single swipe. Kurt’s sent into convulsions as he flopped around like a dead fish, before he tried to “do a Dan”, flipping off chops before he got pulled in for a Rainmaker. Except Mad Kurt floats over and looked for a Gotch piledriver… but Moloney back body drops his way free. Kurt pulls Moloney into a Codebreaker out of the corner for a near-fall, before a satellite DDT almost got the upset as commentary was more or less saying Dan had a glass jaw.
Mad Kurt pulls up Moloney with his boot, showing he’s been watching his puro tapes, before Dan came back with a pop-up spinebuster. From there, Moloney decides against going for the Drilla as he finally does a dab… but Mad Kurt leaps onto him with a rear naked choke, dragging him down as the referee waves it off. Except we get no bell, as Moloney gets his first loss in Rev Pro. Dan comes to right away and charges after Mad Kurt… who runs off for his promo. What the hell was that?! Good idea, but weird execution of the finish… *¾
Dan Moloney bellows “bullshit” over Kurt’s post match promo. I agree. Gideon Grey’s out to chew out Dan for throwing a strop over losing… Moloney goes after Gideon, which drew out Sha Samuels, who looked for a Butcher’s Hook… but Dan fights free, only to get clocked with Gideon’s cane.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
Commentary was being clear that Kyle shouldn’t have accepted this one “so soon after his loss to Ospreay.”
We open with a lock-up as Kyle bulled his one-time former tag team partner into the corner for a clean break. They wash, rinse and repeat as RKJ switches into the corner, before a side headlock from Kyle’s shoved off… but he’s back with a shoulder tackle. RKJ tries the same thing, but his shoulder tackle doesn’t move the Aussie, before we low-frame rate into a baseball slide, a leapfrog and a dropkick. That takes Kyle outside as we miss a tope through skipped frames… but a missile dropkick back into the ring gets RKJ a near-fall. RKJ tries for a Fire Thunder Driver, but Fletcher gets out and comes back with a back elbow off the ropes, eventually getting a two-count, before a brainbuster almost put RKJ away.
RKJ manages to make a comeback, ducking under a clothesline before planting Fletcher with a sidewinder. A running dropkick crashes into Kyle in the corner, then a second, before RKJ sweeps the leg and comes in with a dropkick through the ropes. A leaping uppercut off the top is next as the former Speed King champion continued to work over Fletcher’s lower back. Fletcher escapes another Fire Thunder driver, but couldn’t get him up for an Aussie Arrow… instead, Knight elbows free but runs into a Michinoku driver for a near-fall. RKJ’s quickly back with an Angle slam for a near-fall, before he pulled Fletcher up into a full nelson, eventually landing a release Dragon suplex.
Kyle avoids a stomp to the back, then spun RKJ to the mat with a lariat. He bides his time and cracks Knight with a superkick to the back of the head, before a brainbuster planted Knight for a near-fall. Kyle keeps going, heading to the top rope for a frog splash, but it’s still not enough to get the win as Kyle then pulled RKJ up for the Grimstone. RKJ resists the hammerlock, but ends up taking some kicks before he countered the Grimstone… but Kyle counters back into an Aussie Arrow. From there, a Grimstone is attempted, but RKJ counters out and drops Kyle with a Fire Thunder Driver for the win. Tech issues aside, this was by far and away the match of the night to this point, as they continue to put steam behind Ricky Knight Jr… while Kyle gets another loss. ***½
Post-match, Knight put over Fletcher calling the win “the biggest stepping stone of (his) career” before he called out Will Ospreay, specifically for the Ric Flair aspects that they’d put into the character today. That drew out Ospreay, and the two had a staredown to confirm that title match.
RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship: Bea Priestley vs. Gisele Shaw (c)
Pre-match, Bea seemed really put out that Shaw was invited to the ring by “my boyfriend” Will Ospreay after the last York Hall show… meanwhile, they finally remember to dub in Steph.
Bea charges at Shaw at the bell, coming in with a side headlock before Gisele came out for a ‘rana that took Bea into the corner. Frame rates mean we miss a fair bit of that comeback, before a step-over back kick knocked Priestley down for a two-count. A back cracker in the ropes gets Bea back in it, before she knocked down Shaw for another pinning attempt. Priestley snapmares and punts Shaw in the abc for a two-count, before the pair went back and forth with strikes. A backfist from Shaw gets her back in it ahead of Eat Defeat, and a spinebuster that almost puts Bea away. Shaw calls for a superkick, but Bea ducks before she’s caught with a head kick for a near-fall.
Shaw rolls Priestley over for an armbar, but Bea rolls into the ropes instantly, before she came back with a snap German suplex. A Bea-trigger’s next, with Andy Q avoiding the pun, before Shaw came back with a brainbuster to stop that momentum. Both women get to their knees, trading right hands until Gisele landed a roundhouse enziguiri. A floatover from Priestley lets her hit a knee on Shaw, before a Blade Buster almost led to a title change… before Bea looked for an Ocean Cyclone suplex… but Shaw rolls through into a Victory roll, letting go so she can get an armbar in. Priestley counters with a roll-up for a near-fall, before Shaw hit back with a Destroyer for another near-fall.
It’s back to the armbar for Shaw, as she blocked Bea from the ropes, but Priestley rolled out and into a knee strike… with a DDT following for a near-fall as Shaw went back to the armbar, levering back to force the submission. A bit of a sprint this, which made for a high-intensity main event as Shaw recorded another title defence. ***¼
They announced Epic Encounters 5 on Twitch on November 15… with White vs. Halfpenny 5 in a best two-of-three falls match, Sha Samuels vs. Dan Moloney, and Ricky Knight Jr. challenging Will Ospreay for the Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship.
Whereas the last show felt uninspiring, Epic Encounters Four at points was flat-out unwatchable. For a test stream on Twitch, Rev Pro managed to stay somewhat consistent between 200-250 viewers until the main event, as they were treated to some action that on paper sounded decent, but was genuinely hard to follow at times, what with the dropped frames and whatnot. On top of that, for a taped show, there was still a shocking number of production gaffes, from weird camera angles to flat-out muting audio at the wrong time. At least the top two matches were well worth putting up with technical issues…