Mercedes Moné made her way to the UK to defend the Undisputed British Women’s Championship as Kanji provided the opposition.
Quick Results
JJ Gale pinned Stephen Wolf, David Francisco, Robbie X, Jay Joshua & Zozaya in 11:29 (***)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned Donovan Dijak in 13:00 (**¾)
Will Kaven pinned Lio Rush to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in 13:46 (**½)
Dani Luna won the Revolution Gauntlet in 31:30 (**)
Leon Cage pinned Nino Bryant in 21:45 (***)
Michael Oku pinned Leon Slater to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in 33:00 (****)
Mercedes Moné submitted Kanji to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Championship in 19:41 (***¾)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com
With what feels like half a hundredweight of shows going on over 5,000 miles away in Las Vegas, Rev Pro’s taken the bold step of running… in Doncaster. At least this show isn’t laden with multi-person matches up and down the card, like some kind of mania!
We’re back at The Dome for Rev Pro’s second show there – and we’re looking at about a half-full Dome. Commentary comes from Dave Bradshaw and Gideon Grey. But Doncaster’s north of the M25…
David Francisco vs. Jay Joshua vs. Robbie X vs. Stephen Wolf vs. JJ Gale vs. Zozaya
One of two multi-person matches here, just in case you’ve not had your fill!
We eventually start things off with Jay Joshua blindsiding Zozaya, but this quickly settled down into two in the ring and four on the floor. Zozaya celebrated way too early after stomping Jay Joshua, but was able to retaliate as we went from Joshua and Zozaya to Gale and Francisco in terms of stories.
Robbie X cleared the ring for a flip senton to a pile on the floor, before Zozaya got flung from the ring to the floor via a Joshua suplex. Not to be outdone, Stephen Wolf joined in with a shooting star press to the floor, before heading back to the apron as he rana’d Joshua into the entrance way as things were getting tricky for the camera crew to stay on top of.
A wacky inverted Spanish Fly sees Wolf counter a Gale Force for a near-fall, before everything piled up into the corner… only for David Francisco to save the turnbuckles from a Tower of Doom. Well, momentarily anyway as the Tower of Doom came off with Zozaya and Robbie X hitting a Spanish Fly to David Francisco… before a Joshua powerbomb broke up the resulting pin.
Francisco sparks a Parade of Moves with a Ruckus to Zozaya, before Gale ate an X-Claimation for a near-fall. A second one to Joshua’s stopped with a headbutt, before Francisco almost stole the pin on Joshua’s powerbomb. Zozaya’s back with de Madrid al Cielo to Francisco, before he changed his mind and leapt onto Joshua on the floor… a headbutt laid them both out, before another Parade of Moves led to JJ Gale winning with a Gale Force to Wolf. This was perfectly fine for an opener – and with David Francisco taking a proverbial bullet towards the end, we’re still getting the story of Francisco trying to pair up with Gale. ***
Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Donovan Dijak
This one’s hardly been built up to, as RKJ/Leyton Buzzard took the bulk of the focus in the prior weeks.
RKJ powerbombed Dijak out of the corner before the bell… and Dijak’s still got his trenchcoat on as the match formally got going. Dijak recovers with some elbows to RKJ in the corner, before a suplex took Ricky outside for a flip senton that almost sent Dijak through the video wall.
The match remained on the outside as RKJ got booted into the crowd, but Ricky’s able to stop the fighting on the stairwells with a back body drop. Back at ringside, RKJ does some slight alterations as he moved the crowd barriers… then trolled the floor seating by throwing Dijak back into the ring.
Back inside, RKJ goes for the Dijaks, then a rear naked choke as he looked to force a stoppage… eventually Dijak fired back with elbows and a swivelling lariat as overhand chops wore down the former champion. From there, a spinning death valley driver almost got Dijak the win, but RKJ’s able to come back with a jackhammer out of nowhere to turn it back in his favour.
A gamengiri in the corner from RKJ keeps things going, but a headbutt denied RKJ’s superplex. Dijak takes too much time to follow up, with RKJ meeting him back in the corner with a muscle buster for a near-fall… a 450 splash lands in the hands of Dijak, who sits up and took RKJ down with a chokeslam for a near-fall… before a discus boot and a Feast Your Eyes got stopped with a spit as RKJ countered back with a Fire Thunder Driver for the win. This was pretty solid, but RKJ’s very much a victim of having been kept in a holding pattern for the last little while. Maybe this is the time they’ll do something meaningful? **¾
Post-match, RKJ offered a handshake… which Dijak accepted before getting low blowed. Someone watched Mania last night…
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Lio Rush vs. Will Kaven (c)
Lio won this title shot last September by winning the British J Cup, but sadly his massive spikey jacket never made it through customs. Oh, and Gideon’s back from finishing his Nando’s, having gone silent in the last match…
Kaven tried to play keepaway from Lio to start, but ends up getting smashed into with a pair of low-pes. A Final Hour frog splash back inside nearly puts this to bed in two minutes, but Kaven kicked out before he rolled outside and grabbed the title belt from the commentary desk. Rush grabbed him, then reset the count-out as he proceeded to chop Kaven around ringside, before Kaven popped him up into the railings.
A lap of honour from Kaven ends with a shotgun dropkick to take Rush back into the railings, but Lio’s able to beat a count-out and find his second wind… only to lose his footing as he was trying to misdirect Kaven in the ropes. Kaven’s able to capitalise eventually with a tiltawhirl backbreaker, only for Rush to hit back with a Blue Thunder bomb into the top turnbuckle as the pair went for each other’s lower backs.
Rush tries to snatch it with a roll-up, then with a Rush Hour stunner off the bottom rope… but it’s not enough as things spilled outside again, this time via a Dragon suplex onto the apron from Kaven, before a frog splash back inside picked up a near-fall. Things escalate as Kaven sets up Rush for an avalanche tombstone, but Lio slips out and after some struggle countered a reversal on the mat into a tombstone.
Another Final Hour follows, but Kaven gets the knees up en route to a tombstone for a near-fall. Kaven goes for the belt again, but after the ref removed it, Lio’s shoved into him… meaning he misses a low blow as Kaven snuck out with the win again. This was a struggle at times, with the crowd not connecting with Kaven… but if there’s no obvious home grown contender for the Cruiserweights, Will Kaven remains your best shot. **½
Revolution Gauntlet: Lizzy Evo vs. Serena Deeb vs. Skye Smitson vs. Safire Reed vs. Charli Evans vs. Mercedez Blaze vs. LA Taylor vs. Dani Luna vs. Emersyn Jayne vs. Anita Vaughan
We’re running under Casino Gauntlet-style rules, with Deeb and Evo starting us off…
Evo and Deeb keep it on the ground, with Serena’s ZSJ-esque twist to the arm, but there’s a lot of stalling as we waited for the first addition to the match – Skye Smitson. Skye made a beeline for Deeb, and not much else happened before Safire Reed joined the fray five minutes in.
Reed provides a distraction as Deeb attacked Smitson – but there was already some confusion between Reed and Lizzy Evo before then. Deeb pushed on, landing a neckbreaker through the ropes to Smitson, before Reed kicked apart a half crab. Charli Evans is in next as Smitson, Reed and Evo had seemingly formed an alliance.
A wild Saito suplex from Evans flings Reed to the mat as Chevs turned the match on its head briefly. The numbers game turned it back around as Evans was triple-teamed, but Evo and Reed stop Smitson as she went for a cover. Alliance, over?
Evans capitalised with a knee strike to Evo ahead of an Indian Deathlock… adding a bridging German suplex to Reed for the hell of it. Safire’s able to hit back with a DDT as we’ve been waiting a while for a new entrant… and right on cue, there’s Mercedez Blaze as we approached the 12-minute mark. Blaze posts Skye Smitson, before Reed bonked herself off the ropes with a chair. Comedy!
Reed recovers to just launch that same said chair at Evans’ face… Deeb’s back, but she’s quickly forced to kick out from Reed’s Rainmaker before LA Taylor joined the fray. Taylor ran wild on the Cut Throat Collective, swinging Evo around in a full nelson before catching Reed off the middle rope with a spinebuster for a near-fall.
Smitson and Taylor go face to face – but they’re allies elsewhere, so that’s carrying over here. Time stands still before everyone faced off, leading to Dani Luna came in, catching a tope from Reed and flinging her into the side of the ring for good measure. Deeb’s able to surprise Luna with an Octopus, but Luna countered into a backbreaker ahead of a sliding clothesline for a near-fall.
Charli Evans and Dani Luna trade blows as we’ve only got one announced name remaining. Luna’s diving kick took care of Evans for a spell… with the Cut Throat Collective then heading out into the crowd with Serena Deeb, taking her up into the bleachers to lock her behind another barricade.
Emersyn Jayne’s an unannounced entrant, making her first appearance since 2019… Jayne runs wild, scoring a diving knee for a near-fall as the Cut Throat Collective returned with Kendo sticks to break everything up. Anita Vaughan’s in at number 10 – and goes after the CTC, regardless of those weapons… but Safire Reed doesn’t get involved as AV cleared out her buddies.
My stream dies just as Reed and Vaughan went face-to-face… but we’re back with Reed having second thoughts on attacking AV, winding down the clock until Amira Blair hit the ring with a finisher meter full of spears. LA Taylor stops all that, only to get caught with a hammerlock DDT by Blaze.
Deeb’s made it back from the bleachers to lay out Blaze with a Deeb-tox, but gets met with chairshots from Reed. Charli’s back too, and hits a diving knee to Reed through a chair, before a Jig ‘n’ Tonic from Jayne kept the Parade of Moves going. A missed missile dropkick from Jayne opened her up for a Luna powerbomb… some back-and-forth looked to lead to Luna’s elevated German suplex, but it’s fought off as a Spanish Fly almost won it for Jayne.
Amira’s back… and out again just as quickly as bodies line up on the apron. It goes poorly for Safire Reed, who’s Electric Chair Dropped into the side of the ring, before Jayne headed up to try and superplex Luna into the convenient congregation on the floor. Instead, Luna drops down as Emersyn moonsaulted into the pile instead… Dani capitalises with the elevated German suplex back into the ring, before a reverse ‘rana and a diving knee from Jayne led to Luna countering another Jig ‘n’ Tonic with a knee strike… then a Luna Landing for the win. This match looked to be a struggle with the live crowd, with the irregular intervals meaning things just felt random and just a bit… off? Booking-wise, Dani gets a title shot out of this, a decision that doesn’t really telegraph the main event result – and perhaps is fitting given how close Luna’s loss to Kanji was a few weeks back. **
Nino Bryant vs. Leon Cage
Finally, one of these lads has to win!
Gideon on commentary was having a (justified) gripe about how endless losses translate into a big match for some, and banishment for others as Nino Bryant got dumped on his arm early on. The pair look for their finishers early on, but they’re evaded as Leon Cage slipped on a backflip. Hey, he’s not got a bloody nose yet… there’s time.
Cage pulls ahead, knocking Nino onto the apron… but Bryan’s gamengiri on the apron evened things up before some headscissors took Cage into the ropes. A dropkick knocks Nino down to the floor after Cage had blocked a monkey flip… and things get worse for Nino as he’s popped up onto the apron from there, with a stomp to the back following that.
Back inside, Bryant fights to avoid a full nelson, but he’s taken down with a suplex… Nino does kick away a cartwheel enziguiri attempt before his moonsault almost went horribly awry. Cage caught Nino, but ends up eating a tornado DDT as Bryant slowly began to work over the Welshman’s knee, yanking him down with a Dragon screw for good measure.
Cage looked to snatch a win with an inside cradle, but Bryant’s back with a small package driver before a dropkick almost put Nino through Leon’s head. Nino goes all Owen Hart too, kicking Leon’s led out of his leg before Cage scored with a nifty pop-up into a brainbuster for a near-fall. That deserved way more of a reaction than it got.
Another cartwheel enziguiri looked to follow, but Cage’s knee gives out before the pair cracked each other in the head with duelling kicks. Leon tries to kip up, but his knee’s gone again… and not helped when he got his knees up to block Nino’s frog splash. Things head up top again, with Nino’s twisting headscissors off the top taking things outside ahead of a flip senton legdrop.
Nino crashes and burns with a body press onto the side of the ring as Leon rolled away… Cage capitalises as Nino stayed on the outside, going up top for a moonsault through Nino on the floor. We’re back inside, with Cage whiffing on a Phoenix Splash, with Bryant’s attempted Lasso from El Passo unable to be applied due to the arm injury.
Instead, Cage goes all Mark Haskins on us with a bridging armbar, before Bryant slipped out for a calf slicer that ended in the ropes. We’re still going as Cage’s reverse ‘rana spiked Bryant, before a superkick swatted Nino’s moonsault away… an Uncaged followed, but it’s countered into back-and-forth pins as Nino pushed on with a Shining Wizard before a torture rack facebuster almost got the win at the 20-minute mark.
Another trip up top sees an avalanche Dragon suplex from Cage land, before the Uncaged – spin-out double underhook Dominator – drew a near-fall as the pace quickened. Hey, we’re going back to the viral move – with the Stomp into the Future finally coming off for the win.
Wouldn’t this have been great as a 10-12 minute, balls to the wall sprint? Instead this is where your Rev Pro Match landed – going way too long, leaving you wondering what could have been. In a “someone’s 0 has to go” match, this felt like a 5-4 relegation battle between two teams that can’t defend. Entertaining, but this template wasn’t the right one to use at this spot in the card. ***
Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Leon Slater vs. Michael Oku (c)
Liam Slater’s back in Leon’s corner, with Leon and Oku fresh off of their flights from Vegas having put in the work over Mania weekend. Tensions have been high between Slater and Oku for a spell – and there felt like there was a real shot at Oku’s second run with the title ending after 120 days.
There was no Amira at ringside with Oku, having been a part of the earlier gauntlet match, as we started with a series of testy lock-ups, sending the other into the ropes. A slap from Oku on the break prompted a response from Leon, whose handspring back elbow sailed through Oku, who spilled outside ahead of a plancha.
A Slingblade from Oku in the ropes almost went sour for Leon as he went upside down on the way to the floor. Back inside, a missile dropkick keeps Oku ahead, who then went Owen Hart on us as we’re getting more legs getting kicked out of legs. Legdrops and knee drops follow from Oku for a two-count, but the half crab doesn’t follow as Slater stubbornly kicked the champion away.
An up-kick from Leon takes Oku into the corner… that’s followed up with a snapping twisting suplex for a near-fall, before Leon tricked Oku into the ropes for a springboard slicing legdrop. That sends Oku to the outside… but he’s back before Leon could dive, landing a tornado DDT to try and shut this one down.
Oku jars his knee after aborting a moonsault attempt, but Leon can’t follow up on it straight away. Instead, a dropkick stops Oku on the top rope as the crowd got into it… Slater drops Oku onto the apron, then slingshotted him back into the ring for a cutter for a near-fall. Shoop.
Some dawdling from Slater almost cost him as he went for the half crab, with Oku rolling through as he looked for one of his own. The shove-off led to a PK and springboard moonsault from the champion for a near-fall… but Oku’s knee is in big trouble as he almost crawled up to the top rope for what came next. A cancelled frog-splash… followed by an overhead kick that finds its mark.
Oku stops himself going for a misdirection knee, with a car crash following seconds later as a Blue Thunder Bomb saw Leon and Oku spill backwards over the top rope to the floor. A teased double count-out is narrowly averted, but Oku perhaps should have stayed on the outside as Leon again goes for the leg.
Slater’s leg kicks eventually got caught as Oku went all John Cena on us with an Attitude Adjustment, before a decided not-Cena-like frog splash finds its mark for a near-fall. Leon goes back to Oku, almost separating the knee from the leg with a Dragon screw, only for Oku to return with Leon’s twisting brainbuster. We’re back up top as Oku goes for… a 450 splash?!
Oku crashes and burns, as did Leon from a frog splash, spilling outside from the recoil. Oh God, Oku’s gonna try the Leon dive isn’t he? Thankfully, not… instead, it’s Fosbury Flop time, but Liam Slater acts like a human shield, providing a distraction before Oku got flipped onto the apron. Leon pounces back inside with a Utopia for a near-fall as the pair seemed to be hell bent on falling into their playbooks.
A swanton 450 looks to be next, but Leon rolls through… only to get caught with a back body drop from Oku. Another one of those took Oku to the outside for the over-the-ringpost dive to wake up the crowd… before the swanton 450 ended with Leon rolling up Oku so tightly, the champion’s foot ended up in the ropes. God damn. This is a hell of a shift, and that’s before you even consider the marathon of indie dates and transatlantic flights these two have had in the last few days.
Leon teases a half crab, but Oku wakes up and reverses it, forcing Slater to crawl towards the ropes… before pulling him away. Leon’s able to grab an ankle to trip up Oku as turnaround became fair play, with the Doncaster crowd roaring as Oku struggled to the ropes. Leon leans back, just as Amira came out to provide moral support half an hour into this… and it worked too as Oku got to the rope.
With a third wind found, Oku’s able to catch Leon up top with a ‘rana… but Leon rolls through and just about clung on, only for Oku to spike him with a ‘rana and a folding pin for good measure to sneak out with the title. This was a touch on the long side, as it’s want to be, but this picked up big time towards the home stretch as Michael Oku came the closest he’s come to defeat. Streets ahead of everything else on this card so far. ****
Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Championship: Kanji vs. Mercedes Moné (c)
As Gideon Grey on commentary in the past has made everyone well aware, this is Moné’s first defence of the Undisputed British Women’s title – a belt she won from Mina Shirakawa back in the Tokyo Dome in January.
Kanji was extremely fired up for this, as you’d damn well expect, and any fears of the crowd being burnt out at the bell were assuaged. Starting out brightly, Kanji refused to let Moné mock her, instead rolling down the champion for the ZSJ-like twist to the arm before Moné rolled Kanji down into a crossface by the ropes.
Retaliating, Kanji chopped Moné into the ropes, before a follow-up was stopped with an overhead kick… headscissors take Kanji outside, where Moné trolls the crowd a little, only to get caught on the apron with an ankle lock. Moné rolls through though, sending Kanji into the railings for a running double knee, while a running Meteora back inside almost ended things.
Moné remained in control from there, catching Kanji’s attempt at a Tiger Feint kick… only for a pair of neck twists to reset things as the challenger got herself free. A quick double knee drop to a draped Kanji in the corner puts the champion back in the driver’s seat though, even more so when she caught a slingshot spear, suplexing Kanji back into the ring en route to the Three Amigos. A Meteora off the middle rope’s next, but Kanji rolls through and snapped back on Moné’s knee, keeping the champion down as a rear naked choke almost ended in disaster as Moné rolled back to force a pin. Somehow, Kanji kicks out but keeps the hold on, before a backpack stunner finally broke the hold.
Moné is quickly back with another Meteora off the middle rope for a two-count, before some near-misses culminated in a tiltawhirl into a manjigatame. Quick back-and-forth pins troll the referee, before Kanji switched things up with an Indian deathlock, bridging back before maneuvering it into a toe hold. Despite having had her knees worked over, Moné fired back with some shots from above, only to get her leg grapevined as we’re back to the mat with duelling leg locks.
Those don’t pay off, so we’re back to the hockey fight before Kanji avoided a Moné Maker and pulled the champion down into a Calf Slicer…Kanji’s inching ever closer to the win, tying up Moné in a double twistlock… only for the champion to come back with the Cipher UTAKI tombstone gutbuster.
From there, Moné piles on the pressure with a back cracker before adding a Statement Maker, but Moné barely has a grip. She stomps on Kanji’s hand before reapplying the hold… and that’s enough to force the submission. A tough loss for Kanji, who pushed Moné a lot closer than neutrals would have expected, but in the end it wasn’t to be as Moné marked her Rev Pro debut with a victory. ***¾
Truth be told, High Stakes was a show that was trending to be middle of the road until the top two title matches – with Michael Oku and Leon Slater’s gut-busting effort leading to a strong main event as the Doncaster crowd got their Moné’s worth in the end. Sorry, not sorry for the pun.