It’s a slogan that draws some degree of ire when WWE use it, but Rev Pro looked to provide a welcome distraction and put smiles on people’s faces at the Cockpit this past weekend.
Coming just hours after the London attacks, Rev Pro defiantly continued with their sold-out show, and it started with Andy Quildan providing a rousing speech to start off the show. Andy’s our MC for this show, with Chris Roberts ever-present as referee. We’ve also got the return of Andy Boy Simmonz on commentary too…
As a side note, massive kudos to Rev Pro for getting this out less than 24 hours after the final bell!
David Starr vs. El Phantasmo
This was Phantasmo’s Rev Pro debut – he’s moved to the UK from Canada, where he’d been one of ECCW’s bigger names. God bless these guys flying over here to try and break into the burgeoning scene – it certainly helps to keep things fresh. Phantasmo’s got a sweet hit-up hoodie which is a nice visual in the dark, although his theme music was mighty uncomfortable for Andy Q!
Starr works over Phantasmo’s arms in the early going, before we get a test of strength with both men winding the other up. That just led to some stinging chops for Phantasmo, including a massively wound-up one, before Phantasmo responded by tweaking Starr’s nipples.
We get some retaliation with a nipple-assisted snapmare, before Starr hits an inverted gutwrench suplex for a near-fall, but Phantasmo lands a step-up enziguiri to Starr on the top rope. Some double axehandle blows follow from Phantasmo, before he hits a spin-out torture rack for a near-fall.
Starr turns things around with a DDT onto the apron, then a clothesline after a Blackheart Buster had been avoided. A springboard clothesline knocks Phantasmo to the floor for a baseball slide… which was met with a superkick as Phantasmo tried to take back over, landing a springboard body press. Another inverted gutwrench gets turned into a DDT for a near-fall, before a Coast to Coast dropkick and a double underhook piledriver earned him yet another near-fall…
A senton bomb connects, but he misses a moonsault as Starr hit back with the Blackheart Buster, then a Product Placement gets the Product the win. A mighty impressive debut from Phantasmo, who’s got me wondering how Canada’s kept him a secret for so long! ***½
Josh Wall & Kurtis Chapman vs. London Riots (Rob Lynch & James Davis)
A rematch from February saw the Riots blast into their Contender opponents early on as Lynch chopped away at Chapman by ringside. The Contenders tried to ‘rana out of a Super Collider, which drew a scathing remark from Simmonz on commentary, and that ring is looking mighty lonely!
Wall flies into the Riots with a springboard flip senton, before getting dumped onto the apron with a back senton. The Riots pulled off that Super Collider, powerbombing Chapman into Wall who had been crotched by the ringpost, and finally they enter the ring as the Riots isolate Wall in the ring.
A back senton from Davis came after a blocked sunset flip, but Wall manages to hit back with a tiltawhirl DDT to Lynch… and bring in the underweight warrior Chapman! Who leapt into a big boot from Lynch! Chapman lands a ‘rana as he kept on going, following up with a Code Red for a near-fall, before the Contenders set-up for a double-team DDT.
Some double stomps follow as Chapman comes close, but he’s sent to the outside as Wall takes a St. George’s Cross, before Lynch kills Chapman with a spear as he tried for a leapfrog. Ouch. A brutal murder-job was stopped as Chapman went for a superplex to Davis, before both Contenders took a rope-hung back senton from Davis.
The District Line powerbomb followed for Wall, before Chapman took a slingshot spear – and out comes Chris Brookes! Travis Banks comes in with the ref distracted, and lays out James Davis with a belt shot, allowing Chapman to hit a big splash, and the Contenders get the shock win! A fun squash with the storyline finish furthering the Riots/CCK feud. I heartily approve! ***½
Rev Pro British Cruiserweight Championship: Ashley Dunn vs. Josh Bodom (c)
Josh has a new jacket – and he’s gotten rid of the crushed velvet trunks!
It’s a fairly even start as both men try to kick away at each other, before Bodom flipped Dunn over the top rope and onto the apron for a Bliss Buster… but that was only good for a two-count as Dunn didn’t get squashed.
The result of the match flashed up for a split second on-screen as Dunn went back to the kicks and forearms, but a corkscrew roundhouse takes down Dunn as he went airborne, and both these men remained remarkably similar. Even if the crowd were pretty silent. A flip senton off the ringpost takes down Dunn in the aisle, as Bodom keeps up the pressure, only for Dunn to flip out of a Bodom Breaker and land a dropkick into the corner.
Out of nowhere, Dunn lands an ushigoroshi for a two-count, then a reverse ‘rana, but Bodom popped back up and retaliated with a hiptoss knee and a tornado kick for another near-fall. After removing his knee pads, Bodom charges into Dunn in the corner with some double knees, and that’s enough for the rather deflating win. Another decent match, but this felt pretty flat with a crowd that didn’t seem to be too invested here. ***
Eddie Dennis vs. Donovan Dijak
It’s got to be said here, Donovan Dijak is a hell of a nice guy – donating money from his photo sales at this show to victims of the prior day’s attacks.
They get a chant of “tall lads wrestling” at the bell, and we start with tie-ups taking each other into the ropes before they trade shoulder tackles like any good big lads’ wrestling match! Dijak boots Eddie in the head rather than run into the ropes for another tackle, but the Welshman recovered with some headscissors to take Dijak to the outside… for a dive! They headed outside as Dijak takes a stiff forearm, before they returned to the ring as Dijak countered out of a Next Stop Driver and into a spinebuster.
More double knees rock Eddie in the corner, but Dennis tries to punch his way back in, only to get thrown like he was nothing with a swinging slam. Dijak throws Eddie to the outside as he looks to get a win via count-out, but Eddie beats the count and walks back into a slap… which he declared his love for!
Eddie mounts a comeback with a diving clothesline, before hitting a swinging side slam of his own for a near-fall. Dijak eventually takes a crucifix bucklebomb as Eddie looked to have the upper hand, but Dijak catches him with a chokeslam onto the knee, before a moonsault just about got him a near-fall. All that’s left from there is the Feast Your Eyes, as the inverted Go To Sleep was somehow kicked out of!
The pair rolled onto the apron to continue their hostilities, rocking each other with forearms, ending with a chokeslam onto the apron by the Tall Don, but somehow Eddie recovers and lands a tope con hilo onto Dijak’s head! Dijak returns the favour, before his springboard was caught and turned into a chokeslam as these two continued to impress.
Another Next Stop Driver’s countered as Eddie tried to go for the finish, before Eddie blocked a Feast Your Eyes, as he finally got Donny up for a Next Stop Driver… but Don kicked out just in time! They both go for chokeslams, but Dijak flipped out of it, whilst Eddie rolls him up for a near-fall, but the kick-out leads to another Feast Your Eyes as Dijak won an impressive battle of the big guys. A wonderful war between these two – and one that should get more eyes on it! ***¾
After intermission, Rob Lias heads out with a wonderfully absurd dyed furry jacket. Ricky! He reintroduces himself, with the crowd refusing to accept his name… which leads to him mugging off Sha Samuels as “the Fat Controller”. Ricky says things are going to change, but not his jacket… instead, he wants new music… and has a death wish, as he called Sha “the East End Bitch”. Sha didn’t interrupt him, and so that’s it for this segment.
Zack Gibson vs. Angelico
Gibson’s crusade against flippy guys continued here with Angelico providing the latest test – but we started off with some ground-based offence as Angelico tried to out Gibson Gibson with an attempt at an ankle lock.
Angelico seemed to be a step ahead of the Scouser early on, evading clotheslines and following in with a dropkick for an early two-count, but Gibson hit back with a single-arm DDT as he tried to wear down Angelico’s shoulder, utilising armbars and the like to try and weaken Angelico for the eventual trip to the Shankly Gates.
Gibson was pretty much toying with Angelico after that, wearing him down with a rear chinlock before landing a short-arm clothesline. Angelico somehow counters an arm lift by punching free, then collided with Gibson with a knee to send both men crashing to the mat. Both men traded right hands from there, before Angelico strung together a series of kicks and knees, eventually landing with an up-kick for another near-fall.
Angelico tried to wheelbarrow Gibson to the mat, but it’s turned into a facebuster as the Shankly Gates was teased… and escaped, before blocking a Codebreaker from the middle ropes. Instead Angelico flew off the top into a stomp on Gibson for a near-fall, only got Gibson to wrench away at Angelico’s wrist some more to weaken him some more.
A tombstone gutbuster gets Gibson a near-fall again, but Angelico escaped a Ticket to Ride and almost won with a La Magistral. There’s more fightback as Gibson looks for a superplex, but Angelico flips out and instead goes for the Fall of the Angels… but Gibson slips out and lands a Ticket To Ride as he then went for the Shankly Gates to force a submission. Another good outing with Gibson looking like a star here – as he continued his rampage against flips. Like a younger, British Rip Rogers! ***¾
Jinny vs. Nina Samuels
The conveyor belt of challengers for Jinny continues here with Nina Samuels making her Rev Pro debut.
Samuels starts off well, leapfrogging over Jinny before scoring a dropkick, but her charge into the corner goes awry as the pair ended up swapping pinfall attempts before a respectful applause from the crowd. After being thrown onto the apron, Samuels lands a head kick to Jinny before slingshotting back into the ring for a near-fall… but Jinny rolled to the outside and eventually used her legs to throw Samuels into the apron.
Jinny chokes on Samuels in the ropes as she continued to establish her dominance, only for Nina to sent her into the turnbuckles for a double knee strike… but a Japanese armdrag took Samuels into that corner even harder for a near-fall. A diving dropkick keeps Jinny on top after she laid into Nina verbally, before an over-the-knee Flatliner put her even further on her way to victory.
Jinny mocks the crowd’s clapping as she slapped away at Nina, who finally hit back with some mounted headbutts in the corner that finally knocked down Jinny for a two-count. Samuels keeps up with a big boot and a tiltawhirl backbreaker, before Jinny snuck in a hair-pull en route to a Rainmaker for a near-fall.
Samuels counters a piledriver into a Go To Sleep attempt, before hitting a sit-out powerbomb. In the end though, Jinny catches Nina in the corner, then finished off with the Makeover (middle rope X-Factor). Another decent outing, but this suffered with the usual issues you get when you throw in a new face – the crowd took a while to get behind Nina, and given how this Jinny storyline has progressed, it may be a while before we see Nina again. ***
Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks)
This is a non-title main event, and clearly feeling left out, Davey Boy Smith Jr’s got his Stu Hart Legacy belt with him… and Zack’s opted not to show up his Suzuki-gun partner, just wearing his Rev Pro title as opposed to the PWG and EVOLVE belts he could also have adorned himself with.
Banks and Sabre started off with some brief grappling before we got Brookes and Davey Boy, but it was the Bulldog who sort-of took first blood with an armbar attempt as the pair grappled into the ropes again. The pair go back and forth with hammerlocks, before Banks and Sabre start waffling each other with shots, as we got a taster of their outings in PROGRESS and Fight Club: Pro.
Davey Boy Smith Jr threw in a boot as Suzuki-gun took over, with the Bulldog arching back on Brooke’s leg… but the lanky one was able to graze the ropes with his free foot to force a break. Sabre continues to target that knee, throwing in some rough forearms to the face as the Juniors isolated Brookes from his own corner.
The Bulldog looked for an STF on Brookes, but again that was broken by the ropes as eventually Brookes continued with a knee to Sabre as he finally made the hot tag to the Kiwi Buzzsaw as Banks laid into the Juniors with uppercuts and cannonballs in the corners. Davey Boy eats a Slice of Heaven for a near-fall, then a pair of superkicks before a low-pe takes the Bulldog hard into the stairs in the crowd.
Smith comes back with a press slam off the top to Banks as he then followed up with a cross armbreaker, with Sabre locking in an Octopus on Brookes to prevent any interference. After Banks made the ropes, things continued with Sabre eating the elevated Codebreaker, then a Brookes back senton for a near-fall as the Bulldog broke it up… then carried Travis Banks to the back for some reason.
That left Brookes and Sabre in the ring for the finish, with a corner dropkick and a Michinoku driver getting Brookes a two-count. Sabre looked to end it with a PK, but that too got a near-fall, as did a high German suplex as the two pushed each other closer… only for Brookes to come back with a big boot… but Sabre catches him with a guillotine’d armbar! There’s still no sight of Banks or the Bulldog as Brookes hits a rope-hung swinging neckbreaker before catching Sabre in his own double armbar – forcing the British Heavyweight Champion to submit! This was a weird one to watch – the main story at the end was clearly Brookes getting a clean submission on Sabre, setting up his title shot at Summer Sizzler in August, but a lot of this match just felt “there”. ***½
Rev Pro’s 17th Cockpit show was yet another solid show, but one that felt understandably muted. Coming so soon after the terror attack in London, this was a show that should have gone ahead, if only to show defiance and continue the trend of “we will not be beaten”. As such, what happened in the ring was met – at least by the audio on the VOD – with rather muted responses as the crowd sat and absorbed what was being presented, as opposed to being their usual rowdy self.
In the ring, there wasn’t a bad performance to be seen – El Phantasmo in particular impressed me, whilst Dijak/Dennis was a sleeper match that needs to be seen by as many as possible. Regardless, Rev Pro’s Cockpit series has been good value for money, whether on VOD or if you’re lucky enough to make it to the place that some have coined “The Dream Factory”. Heck, I’d dare say that the Cockpit shows and their variety of performers, matches and atmosphere are up there for some of the best in the UK this year… which is saying a lot!