We’re not at the Cockpit this time around as Rev Pro moved to 229 The Venue for some more from the Great British Tag League.
Quick Results
Adam Maxted pinned Screwface Ahmed in 11:50 (***)
Dan Moloney pinned Dan Magee in 12:03 (***)
Great British Tag League Block A: Connor Mills & Michael Oku pinned Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs in 21:08 (****½)
Doug Williams pinned Joel Redman in 14:19 (**½)
Great British Tag League Block A: Robbie X & Dean Allmark pinned Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II in 13:16 (***½)
Hyan pinned Mariah May in 7:37 (***)
TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo pinned Ricky Knight Jr. & Shota Umino in 15:00 (***½)
This is one to really confuse SEO, eh? With the London Cockpit wanting to retain social distancing measures in a post-restrictions world, Rev Pro were forced to look for a new venue – finding one not too far in the simply-titled 229 The Venue, in Great Portland Street. So until Rev Pro rename these formally, I’m just going to call these “not the Cockpit” shows, rather than try and shoehorn in “Live at 229 The Venue 52” or some other headache-inducing, lineage-shattering nonsense.
Commentary comes from Andy Quildan, running solo this time out…
Screwface Ahmed vs. Adam Maxted
Painted as a battle of the heavy hitters, we have a jump start that Maxted shrugged off as he took Screwface into the corner with a dropkick.
Screwface dumps Maxted to the outside, then grabbed a chair from the crowd and sat Maxted in it. Nothing leads to it, as Maxted dumps Screwface on the side of the apron, before more dropkicks back inside and a Blockbuster drew a two-count for the newcomer to Rev Pro.
Screwface rolls onto the apron as Maxted climbed the ropes… then dropped him onto the apron with a death valley driver to stem the tide. Back inside, Maxted again pulls ahead with another dropkick, before a missed moonsault allowed Screwface back in as he dumps Maxted in the ropes. That almost led to a count-out, but Maxted popped up and beat the count just in time, but couldn’t avoid a clothesline as Screwface stayed on top of him. Heading up top leads to Screwface getting caught, but Maxted’s thrown down as he went for a superplex as a top rope elbow lands for a near-fall.
Maxted floats over Screwface in the corner, but gets his legs taken out from under him as Screwface proceeded to hit a Tower of London out of the corner for a near-fall. Another dropkick from Maxted sets up for a springboard moonsault out of the corner for a near-fall, before Maxted’s springboard clothesline was sidestepped, with Screwface almost getting the win with a roll-up.
Screwface comes closer with a clothesline, but a Roll the Dice is rolled out of as Maxted hung up Screwface in the ropes, then hit the springboard clothesline for the win. A good opener with Maxted showing some aerial chops, while Screwface came pretty damn close to the win too. ***
Next up, we had an in-ring segment as Kenneth Halfpenny and Shaun Jackson demanded the crowd stand for the crowning of Zoe Lucas. They’d swapped their black shirts and tracksuit buttons for three piece suits, as the crowd pointed out Halfpenny’s likeness to Bill Bailey. He’d get some work on those lookalike sites, that’s for sure.
Lucas gets the mic and berated the London crowd for not celebrating her. That appreciation went the same way as Zoe’s voice, as she told us that the “banishment of Aleah James” would be seen – a reference to some unaired matches that James had for Rev Pro before she got signed. Zoe’s interrupted by Hyan, who noted she beat Gisele Shaw in the tournament, then challenged Mariah May to a match for later on.
Dan Moloney vs. Dan Magee
This one was set up in Bristol a few weeks earlier…
Moloney tries to attack during Magee’s entrance, but the charge is ducked as Magee took the upper hand with some mounted punches. A Slingblade gets Magee an early two-count, but Moloney fought back, dragging Magee outside before a back suplex dropped him on the edge of the ring.
A suplex on the floor leaves Magee laying, before a dropkick back inside caught Magee out for a near-fall. Magee continues to dominate, stomping Magee into the corner before Moloney slipped after landing a short-arm clothesline, dropping on top of Magee for a two-count. It’s the result that matters…
Back on the outside, Moloney stings Magee with chops, then with uppercuts, before a PK to the back earned Moloney a near-fall after things returned to the ring. More chops sink Magee, who tries to fight back with a roll-up for a two-count, only for Moloney to charge him back down.
Magee sinks to his knees to avoid a Drilla, then hit a back body drop to break free as Magee looked to string together some offence. A bulldog out of the corner’s good for a two-count, as was a legdrop, before an enziguiri and a draping DDT almost got Magee the win. Magee throws in a Koji clutch too as he tries for a submission, but Moloney rolled back to go for a pin, before Magee tried for a Drilla.
It went poorly. Moloney escaped and returned with a spear, then SPIKED Magee with a Drilla seconds later for the win. A good slugfest with Magee having some offence, but in the end it was a dominant win for Moloney. ***
Post-match, Francesca asks Dan Moloney about his change in attitude. Dan gets fed up with the crowd, and said that everyone was playing by his rule book as there was nobody in the locker room who could answer him. Adam Maxted interrupts, as both men went for their finishers, and there’s our match for Manchester later in the month…
Great British Tag League Block A: The Young Guns (Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs) vs. Destination Everywhere (Connor Mills & Michael Oku)
Having seen this one live, I wanted to sit back and just re-watch this, without doing the play by play. Did it hold up on tape?
The Young Guns came in needing a win to stay in contention for a spot in the tag title final, and the early going reflected that, with Allen smothering Oku for large spells, When Oku manages to get free, Luke Jacobs was in to rough him up even more, throwing Oku to the mat before a push off sees Oku bounce backwards from a shoulder tackle.
Then we got Luke Jacobs using Oku as a percussive instrument. Bloody hell. Connor Mills needed to save Oku as the Young Guns were finally put on the defensive, before Ethan Allen shoved Oku into the crowd after the Cruiserweight champion had hit a Fosbury flop. That caused a big breakdown as the Young Guns wrestled control back, and then we’re back to Oku being beaten like a drum.
That all leads to Oku making the hot tag, with Mills running wild en route to a Millshot on Allen, but Oku tagged back in and found himself in a Figure Four. Luke Jacobs was going deep into the Ric Flair playbook on this night, with chops, Figure Fours and taking a press slam later in the night.
Eventually Oku found some tit-for-tat aggression from earlier, but again gets left on his own as the Young Guns wreck him with a Hart Attack/Codebreaker variant out of the corner for a near-fall – which got the crowd even more behind Oku, who plays the babyface in peril to an absolute tee. In the end though, a stomp-assisted Burning Hammer from Mills dropped Jacobs onto Allen, and that’s enough for the win as Destination Everywhere took an absolute pounding, but left with the win.
In Rev Pro, the Young Guns have been portrayed as rough-housers who can go – showing an aggressive side to their game, which really fits like a glove. They’re perhaps two of the brightest stars in the rebuilding British scene, which does mean that they’re also appearing everywhere (to the point where they’re in the same meme as Big Guns Joe and the Lykoses). If they’re this good now, and they continue to develop as expected with all these reps, then they’ve got a big chance of being the first huge stars of the scene as some sense of normality resumes. That’s not to say this was the Young Guns against two tackling dummies – far from it – but usually when you’re getting the lion’s share of offence, you’re going to stand out. As for this match? It’s a shallow list, but I don’t think I’ll be in the minority view in saying that this could end up being the British match of the year for 2021. ****½
Post-match, Oku got the mic and told the crowd that he was dreading returning in front of fans as he wasn’t sure how the reactions would go. He then told the crowd about prior shows at Manchester – but instead of picking out the show he wrestled Shingo Takagi on, it was a PROGRESS show where Connor Mills was wrestling Aussie Open… but nearly didn’t because Oku broke his wrist on a show in Italy the two of them were on. Oku made it to the show, and ended up having to go to the hospital because Mills broke his collarbone.
Live, they announced Aussie Open vs. Young Guns for Manchester – which caused quite the buzz…
Joel Redman vs. Doug Williams
Time for a change of pace here…
Redman’s early wristlock is reversed, but Joel rolls free and came back in with a toe hold as the referee kept trying to count Williams’ shoulders down. Doug maneuvers free and grabbed a side headlock, before they went back to the mat for a leg spreader that Redman eventually countered out of.
The pair roll back and forth on a crucifix pin for two-counts, before Williams went back to the headlock takedown, but Redman’s headscissors offered an escape, and a means of attack too. When that came to nought, Redman tries his luck with a monkey flip, but got caught with an uppercut out of the corner, before a dropdown pin rolled up Redman for a two-count.
Williams is quickly back on the defensive though, with Figure Four headscissors from Redman keeping him down, while a suplex and some sit-down splashes to the back kept Doug down. Another uppercut from Doug bought time, as did an overhead belly-to-belly, but Redman escapes a Chaos Theory and returned with a neckbreaker.
Redman tries his luck with a crossface, prompting Williams to crawl towards the rope for a break. Williams throws Redman to the outside, but Joel skins the cat before an uppercut from Williams prompted Redman to accidentally catch Williams low on the way down… Redman doesn’t follow up before an inside cradle snatches Williams the win. This wasn’t a trendy match that you’d be screaming from the rooftops about, but this was an outing that perhaps a touch too slow, but otherwise easy on the eye to get the crowd settled after intermission. **½
Great British Tag League Block A: Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II) vs. The Dream Team (Dean Allmark & Robbie X)
Both teams won their opening block matches as they continued to track a course to Manchester…
Robbie X and Lykos II started us off – with the older Lykos donning shorter tights and a “useless” singlet a la Masato Yoshino, who retired earlier that day. The action was genuinely too quick to call as the Dream Team picked up the early pinning attempts, as Dean Allmark proceeded to tie up the Lykii all by himself.
Lykos II distracts as Allmark went from attack to defence, with Lykos I tying up Allmark on the mat ahead of a triangle choke. More double-teaming in the corner leads to a cover from Lykos II, but Allmark’s back to spin Lykos II to the mat with an uppercut. The tables turned briefly as the match headed outside, with the Lykii looking to take Robbie X into the wall in the search for a count-out…
…but a second go around sees Robbie X returned with a wall-kick moonsault to Lykos I instead. Back in the ring, a missile dropkick takes Lykos down for a two-count, before Lykos kicked his way out of an Allmark suplex, before a high/low from the Lykii led to a near-fall on Allmark.
Lykos II hits a Mistica, then a PK… but Robbie X just flies in to break up the cover as we doe-see-doe into a Casanova knee strike from Lykos. A split-legged moonsault misses as Lykos lands in the path of an X-Clamation as a big ol’ Parade of Moves broke out, leading to Allmark countering a Lo Mein Pain into a Ruby Cutter off the top rope. Bloody hell… However, Robbie X is legal, and capitalises with a Sprial Tap off the top that gets the win. A wild tag match that perhaps threw in a little too much towards the end, but it’s a big win for the Dream Teamas the Lykii now need to rely on a tiebreaker to come up if they were to make the finals. ***½
Mariah May vs. Hyan
This one was set up earlier, and of course Mariah May wasn’t out by herself, with “Queen” Zoe and the knights – dubbed “Two Extremely Athletic Men”, Kenneth Halfpenny and Shaun Jackson – joining her. I’m absolutely using the acronym.
Zoe’s given “British wrestling’s version of a throne” – a padded folding chair – as Hyan blocks an early slap, grabbing the wrist before laying into May ahead of a back elbow in the ropes. Cravat knees wear down the newcomer, who returned with a ‘rana off the ropes. Hyan comes close with a roll-up, then again with a legdrop that drew a solid two-count.
May came back with some boot choking, before the pair traded chops, but May pulls ahead with a low dropkick for another two-count. Mariah’s flurry of chops just angers Hyan, who tripped her into the ropes, then kicked the ropes ahead of more chops… then a leaping forearm to leave May down.
From there, Hyan chains a Wastleland into a legdrop for a two-count, before May elbowed out of a Glam Slam and came back with a springboard dropkick for a two-count of her own. May charges Hyan into the corner, looking for a Trish Stratus-ish ‘rana out of the buckles before she distracted the ref…
…so Zoe Lucas could drill Hyan with her tiara. A crossbody of the top from May nearly wins it, but gets rolled into the corner as Hyan returned with a face-washing knee, then a Falcon arrow for a near-fall as Zoe Lucas pulled out the ref. TEAM run in to interfere, but they Keystone Cops it and hit each other as Hyan proceeds to low blow Halfpenny right in the Bill Baileys, before a leap from May misses… allowing Hyan to hit a spear, then a Glam Slam for the win. A short outing, but pretty good as the Dream Dolls perhaps could have done with some more competent backup on this showing? ***
Post-match, the London crowd recycled the “Primark Princess” chant for Zoe and Mariah. Never accuse wrestling fans of not being environmentally friendly…
Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) vs. Ricky Knight Jr. & Shota Umino
RKJ and Umino face off in Manchester for the not-Southside title, so of course, they’re partners here.
Umino works over TK’s wrist early, but the early back-and-forth led to TK trapping Umino’s leg ahead of a takedown. Shota grabs a side headlock, but it came to nought as tags took us to Knight and Mambo, with RKJ similarly working over the wrist. A stinging chop from Mambo leads to a springboard armdrag, but Knight’s back with an eventual dropdown after a lot of leapfrogs and drop downs.
Mambo’s right back with a drop toe hold, as he proceeded to rake Knight’s back ahead of a Romero special, with TK Cooper tagging in for an assisted Flatliner out of the hold for a two-count. Knight’s kept on the defensive as Mambo hits a chop, but an uppercut out of the corner gets RKJ ahead – and bought enough time to tag in Umino.
Shota quickly has to deal with double-teaming, but overcomes them as a neckbreaker dropped Mambo for a two-count. Mambo tags out as he hung up Umino in the ropes a la Macho Man, as TK and Mambo made use of quick tags to catch Umino off guard ahead of a double-team reverse DDT/elbow drop for another near-fall.
Rolling clotheslines from TK leads to a two-count on Shota, but Umino lands an uppercut and gets free to tag in RKJ, who cleared house with kicks and a bucklebomb to Mambo. TK’s in, but he’s just stacked up in a Samoan drop by Knight, who then Finlay roll’d Mambo into TK in the corner for a near-fall.
Mambo pushes out of a Fire Thunder Driver, sending RKJ outside before he leapt into Umino and the front row. In the melee, RKJ redirects a superkick from TK to Mambo… before a superkick on TK had no effect, with Knight instead eating a pair of superkicks. Back inside, a swinging side slam drops RKJ for a two-count, while a tornado DDT and a hanging brainbuster from Umino saw the near-falls come thick and fast.
A blind tag brings in TK, but he takes a dropkick as a Parade of Moves broke out… springboard splashes and 450s almost get the win, but RKJ’s senton bomb onto the pile keeps the action going. RKJ throws a LOUD chop to TK Cooper in the ropes, then pulled Mambo into the ring for another one, before a superkick-assisted lifting reverse DDT dropped TK.
There’s questions over the legal man as Umino went for a pumphandle on Mambo… but an errant superkick by RKJ drops Shota, while an Air Raid Crash from Mambo and a scissors kick from TK led to the upset win as Cooper got a pin over the not-Southside champion. A wild tag match to close out the show, with the Sunshine Machine keeping their form up going into their final Great British Tag League match in Southampton. ***½
Post-match, TK and Mambo headed to the back as Umino and RKJ got into a shoving match that quickly escalated… blowing up into a brawl that saw some of the locker room empty out… yet they couldn’t keep them apart for long as the fight left the ring, leading to RKJ diving onto Umino and the front row before brawling to the back to close out the show.
Rev Pro’s catching up on their on-demand service – there’s a show from Southampton last week that’s due to go up, along with their “Pop-Up Show” in London this weekend before the 9 Year Anniversary show in Manchester on August 21.
A new venue, but the same formula for Rev Pro, who haven’t seemed to miss a beat since they returned with fans. The Great British Tag League matches on this show absolutely shone here, with one in particular likely to be rated highly by all who see it, as Rev Pro looks to be booking everything right heading into Manchester.