Rev Pro’s weekender at the Cockpit culminated in the crowning of their inaugural Women’s champion – would Jinny continue her unbeaten streak and leave with the gold?
The show opens with Lord Gideon Grey coming out, with someone in the crowd doing a pretty spot-on impression of him. Gideon’s got an offer for Eddie Dennis, seemingly wanting to have him as a part of the Legion of Lords. Especially after being told that he “doesn’t bring a lot to Revolution Pro Wrestling”, especially when it comes to the long losing record, Eddie wants no part of that… turning the welcoming hug into an overhead belly-to-belly… and we have an impromptu opening contest!
Lord Gideon Grey vs. Eddie Dennis
Eddie’s fired up early, clotheslining Gideon to the outside for some chops-around-the-ring… but back inside Grey thought he’d managed to repel the Welshman, only to get met with a forearm. The first of many.
Another go around leads to Grey having this moment of dread, as he found himself resigned to more forearms and chops, before that swinging side slam of Eddie’s collects a solid two-count. An attempt at a superplex comes next, but Gideon escapes with an eye rake as he then countered back with an electric chair stunner… before countering the counter to a counter into a roll-up. I’m confusing myself here!
Eddie keeps the upper hand with a uranage, then a crucifix bomb, but a forearm in retaliation just angers him into a thunderous response. Yep, all the forearms, but Gideon barely breaks the count as he gets a finger to the bottom rope. AH! Conniving even in the face of adversity!
We get a ref bump as Eddie charges into Chris Roberts in the corner… and that gives Gideon the chance to use his cane. Instead though, he Eddie Guerrero’s it, whacking the mat with the cane before tossing it to Eddie. Chris Roberts, as useless as ever, sees Eddie with the cane, and calls the DQ, despite not seeing anything. Ah, useless officiating, never ever go away! A fun match, but an irritating finish to keep the Eddie Dennis loss-train alive. **
Yeah, after the match Gideon mocks Dennis, and ends up taking a cane shot for realsies.
Rev Pro British Women’s Championship Tournament – Semi-Final: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Zoe Lucas
Yeah, there’s still some name butchering going on here, and we’ve got a battle of two friends for a spot in the tournament final.
The opening tie-up sees both women roll into the ropes, avoiding a break as Lucas eventually takes down Deonna… but the favour’s returned as they refuse to let go of that collar-and-elbow. Second time’s the charm for Zoe as she grabs an armbar, before they trade armdrags as we go to another stand-off.
Lucas edges ahead when she traps Purrazzo in the ropes for some kicks to the chest, but that’s only enough for a two-count, and Deonna decides to make a comeback from there, working over Zoe’s arm to force either a submission or a pin. It’s still incredibly even, as a missed PK from Zoe almost led to a roll-up pin, before back-and-forth kicks saw Deonna continue to focus on the arm, softening it up for an eventual Fujiwara armbar.
A side Russian legsweep sees Deonna floatover into that armbar, but it’s quickly countered as Lucas manages to get in a PK and a splits legdrop as the pair still remained even. Just like that though, Lucas goes for another kick, but Purrazzo steps aside and swiftly pulls her down into another Fujiwara armbar for the win in just under seven minutes. Short, but really good stuff here from both women. ***
Rev Pro British Women’s Championship Tournament – Semi-Final: Jinny vs. Millie McKenzie
Just like in the PROGRESS tournament, another round means another new outfit for Jinny, as she faced the hotly-tipped Millie McKenzie for the second time.
Jinny goes straight to the hair as she looked to rile up Millie early on… and it worked as Millie tripped her and went straight for a German suplex, only for Jinny to roll her up for a near-fall. We do get suplexes though, as a belly-to-belly takes Jinny into the ropes, before we have a brief spot of brawling around the ring.
Jinny heads back inside so she can dive back out at Millie… and that favour is also returned as McKenzie showed that she perhaps wasn’t the pushover that Jinny was expecting. They head up into the stands as a stomp left Millie laying, before a hair-pull drags Millie back down the stairs to show another vicious side of Jinny.
Finally back in the ring, Millie ducks a Rainmaker and replies with a spear for a two-count, but Millie takes too long to follow-up in the ropes, and gets caught out of the corner with a hanging neckbreaker. A leg grapevine doesn’t get a submission as McKenzie dragged herself to the ropes, before getting her shot to throw Jinny around with some German suplexes… including one into the turnbuckles!
A Japanese armdrag quickly gets Jinny back in it, but an Acid Rainmaker doesn’t come off, as Millie tries to counter into a cutter… only for Jinny to duck that and snatch the win with a roll-up and a big handful of tights. This only went a shade over five minutes, but this wasn’t a blow-out… for just reason, as we’ll see later. **¾
So, the next match was meant to be a cruiserweight title match, with Rob Lias getting a shot at Kurtis Chapman… but we had a parade of interference as Josh Bodom hit the ring before the bell. After some musical issues, Will Ospreay – who was meant to have fought Bodom later – made the save, only for Bodom’s regular tag partner Zack Gibson to appear to finally take his verbal shots at Will Ospreay, renewing that feud from last year. The sixth spot was eventually taken by Travis Banks as we had a trios match on our hands.
Rob Lias, Josh Bodom & Zack Gibson vs. Kurtis Chapman, Will Ospreay & Travis Banks
This was just madness from the off as everyone started brawling on the outside – with Ospreay in particular looking to be a little heavy-handed with Bodom. Retaliation for last night, perhaps?
Eventually Ospreay and Lias hit the ring as the IWGP junior champion looked to make fairly light work of the former contender, taking Lias down with a big dropkick. After a trip, Lias gets in an elbow to the back of the head as Ospreay found himself isolated in the wrong corner, with all of the bad guys cycling through quick tags as they wore through Ospreay.
Out of nowhere, Ospreay hits a handspring overhead kick to get away from Gibson, and get a tag out to Travis Banks, who kicked away with great ease at Lias and Gibson. A missed punch from Lias catches Gibson, as the Kiwi Buzzsaw continued to tear through the pair of them, before taking Lias outside for a tope into the front row. Josh Bodom finally gets involved, knocking Banks away as he went for a Slice of Heaven, before tagging himself in as Lias had left the Buzzsaw laying with a package over-the-knee brainbuster. Of course, they’re trying to have you see Bodom as someone who doesn’t like a fair fight against folks who are his own size, as he taunts a rather reluctant Kurtis Chapman on the apron.
In among all that, Banks takes down Bodom with a diving knee, before forcing Chapman to come in and get some payback… and yeah, Josh quickly obliterates him. Still, Kurtis rebounds with a suplex for a two-count, as Bodom again hits back hard, lifting him up into a lungblower onto Gibson then a half-nelson suplex into the corner as the Cruiserweight champion was getting brutalised once more.
The Ticket to Ride/diving cannonball series fails in style as Ospreay cuts it off, before Chapman’s attempt at the Sega Mega Driver ended up being turned into a Code Red as superkicks stopped Lias’ attempt at another move. The pace continues to increase as Bodom and Chapman exchange near-falls, eventually culminating when Ospreay suplexes Chapman onto Bodom to spark the Sega Mega Driver for the win! A hell of a chaotic, but fun trios match, with perhaps a few receipts in there too if you believe in that sort of thing! ***½
Chris Brookes vs. Pete Dunne
Well, this was unexpectedly violent.
Pete Dunne bumrushes the ring and goes straight for Brookes, pounding away on him and throwing the former tag champion around ringside, busting him up with punche. Yeah, getting thrown into the seating decks would have done it too! The guard railings get used for further effect, as the bloodied-up Brookes is pulled shoulder-first into them, and Kid Lykos tastes them too as his leg’s used to pull him into there. It’s… rather unsettling stuff considering the non-violent fare we usually get here, although I doubt we’ll be gettin this amped up even more into, say, barbed wire chairs anytime soon.
Brookes eventually makes it back in to beat the count, and there’s more offence from Dunne who starts with some Kawada-style kicks, before taking Brookes into the seating decks so he can throw him off into the ring apron. It’s so one-sided, it’s not even funny, as the few cheers Dunne had on the first show quickly dissipated as Brookes continued to show heart.
Finally Brookes catches a kick and begins the retaliation, landing a trapped-leg German suplex to take Dunne back outside… for another dive, with a somersault plancha taking Dunne into the seating area once again. Back inside, a Michinoku driver nearly secured what would have been an unlikely win, before capitalising on a rare foray to the top rope for Dunne, blasting him with a dropkick.
Brookes tried to follow up, and eventually succeeds with a spider German suplex, but Dunne counters a slingshot cutter and launches a brief comeback, ending with a Kirifuda driver… which Brookes flips out of to almost get the pin whilst being in a submission. A rope-hung twisting neckbreaker follows, before Brookes does the Lykos Memorial Brainbuster, connecting for a two-count, but Dunne is right back in it, shrugging off pump kicks to send Brookes flailing to the outside with a forearm.
Another forearm cuts off the slingshot cutter, but third time’s the charm as Brookes gets another near-fall. Things lead to a ref bump as Dunne bumps into Roberts after taking a shot from Brookes… with the ref again unable to resist any blows, Dunne hits a low blow before Lykos gets in a shot with his baking tray of doom. A little harshly, Lykos is branded a “Make a Wish Kid” by Andy Simmonz on commentary here, as Brookes nails Dunne with the Jay Driller for a close two-count.
After the kick-out, Brookes catches Dunne in an Octopus hold, and Peter nearly taps, but he powers out and spikes him with a Bitter End Tombstone for the win. That’s a nice touch, Dunne adding an extra bit to the Bitter End, given how much that move’s been weakened on the indies with it always being reversed. A hell of a fun match for everyone not named Chris Brookes, and a welcome change of pace from the Rev Pro norm. ***¾
After the match, the “Make a Wish Kid” kicks Lykos in the head, but Dunne heads away… so there’ll be payback a-coming.
Sammii Jayne & Zan Phoenix vs. Nina Samuels & Charli Evans
Andy Simmonz was on rare form on commentary here, lambasting the “wooden spoon” nature of this match and throwing plenty of shade.
Nina Samuels was in here as a good guy, going straight for Sammii Jayne… but it was the Scotswoman who took the early initiative, going for a wristlock as the pair worked over each other’s arms. We quickly gets tags as Zan Phoenix comes in to throw forearms at Charli Evans, but the Aussie’s no shrinking violet, and throws back in kind, before Sammii Jayne gets involved, pulling down Nina Samuels as the evil pair took over.
Phoenix keeps up with a neck-snap and a cartwheel splash – that didn’t go as badly as it did against Zoe last night – as Nina became isolated in the wrong corner. Jayne’s leg lariat puts down Nina for a two-count, before a neckbreaker from Phoenix keeps it going before Samuels finally tags out to Charli.
Evans is a house of fire, battering Sammii with facewashing boots in the corner before crashing into Jayne with a crossbody for a near-fall. A wheelbarrow facebuster from Nina nearly ends it as the good guys chained together plenty of moves, including a high-angle Saito suplex from Evans that dumped Jayne awkwardly… Sammii takes more boots before Phoenix cuts Charli off with a clothesline, which led to the pair of them brawling to the back.
In the ring, Samuels’ attempt at a clothesline sees her caught in the ropes as Sammii countered back with a sliding German suplex, and without the distractions or partners, it’s pretty one-sided… until Nina catches her up top with a belly-to-belly superplex! Samuels’ comeback ends with a release butterfly suplex… and just like that, Nina gets the win! This went a lot longer than I expected, but this was pretty enjoyable stuff, with Nina seemingly getting the nudge to be perhaps one of the first challengers to the new champion. ***
Or perhaps not – after the match, Sammii jumps her and lays in a beatdown with stomps as the EVE champion left her mark.
Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship: Martin Stone vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (c)
So, after taking his time to beat Dan Magee the prior night, how would Martin Stone fare here?
Commentary tried to paint the story that Zack Sabre Jr. had been “brainwashed” by Minoru Suzuki… despite Zack showing these tendencies long before he wore the black of Suzuki-gun or berated Andy’s disappearing “young boys”. It was pretty terse stuff at the start, as Sabre looked to toy around with Stone in the early going, but the veteran “Guvnor” was more than even to it, even if Sabre was able to escape his holds with relative ease. From there, the two traded off with uppercuts, but Sabre’s able to cut off Stone at the drop of a hat, tying him up in headscissors and his usual variety of submission attempts.
Stone’s able to make a fightback, drawing Sabre into a short-arm clothesline for a near-fall, but just like that Sabre goes for an Octopus hold and rolls through to spark an indy’riffic set of near-falls that woke up the crowd… but we’re quickly back to a Zack that’s doggedly going for submissions, eventually rolling Stone to the mat and into the ropes as that search for a tap-out ended in a rope break.
More uppercuts from Sabre nearly cost him as Stone caught him in a backslide… but instant retaliation costs Sabre as the Euro Clutch is countered and eventually switched into a Tower of London rope-hung DDT… but Sabre manages to kick out just in time!
Kicks from Sabre are quickly followed by slaps as he looked to put the finishing touches on the mat with a PK, but he wasn’t able to make a cover, as Sabre was left spent, laying in the corner of the ring. Instead, he barges into Stone with shoulder tackles as they entered one last sprint, with Sabre climbing around Stone for another submission that’s countered in the ropes into another Tower of London! Another kick-out leads to a crossface, which Stone clings onto before a rope break’s enforced. Chris Roberts tries to separate the pair, which led to Stone shoving him back, but there’s no DQ called for as the challenger keeps on coming, pulling Sabre into a headbutt for another near-fall.
Out of nowhere, Sabre manages to grab a triangle armbar, and throws in some elbows as Stone tried to powerbomb out of it, before Zack eventually drags him to the mat for the submission. A technical masterclass, and a heck of a showing from Stone, but there’s a lot to be said for presentation – the Cockpit crowd tends to sit and watch these Sabre matches in silence, and that often comes across as “boredom” to the more casual fan. ***¾
After the match, Sabre gets the mic and vowed that Suzuki-gun was taking over everywhere – but not America because “it’s rubbish”. Sabre turns his sights back to Martin Stone with some backhanded compliments, before finishing off with a punt to the balls. Yeah, at Rev Pro you boo ZSJ…
Rev Pro British Women’s Championship Tournament – Final – Jinny vs. Deonna Purrazzo
This is what this all boils down to – who’s going to leave the Cockpit as the first ever Rev Pro women’s champion?
Jinny slaps away a handshake from Deonna, and when we get going we’ve got an even contest as Jinny and Deonna went hold for hold. A game of cat and mouse lets Jinny get ahead with some headscissors, but Purrazzo tricks her into a roll-up as both women seemed to be wanting to end this early.
An over-the-knee backbreaker nearly gets Jinny the win, before she tries to get that win with a guillotine… only for her to keep on top of an escaping Deonna with the seated surfboard stretch. So many callbacks to earlier rounds, but Deonna was holding firm, able to free a leg as Jinny was powerless to stop her from getting to the ropes. The look on Jinny’s face as she realised Deonna was squirming was priceless…
The match spills outside from there, with Jinny largely taking a beating as she’s whipped into the ringpost, before they start to tee off on each other with forearms back in the ring. There’s an attempt from Deonna to soften up the arm, trapping it in the ropes and doing whatever she could to set her up for that Fujiwara armbar.
Jinny looked to be in serious trouble, but a handful of hair helps to get her free before a pair of clotheslines left both women on the mat in a heap. A slap from Deonna puts Jinny down again after some jawjacking, before Purrazzo went to a side Russian legsweep – this time in search of a pin, rather than the armbar.
Just like that, Jinny hits back with a tiltawhirl DDT, and starts pounding away on Purrazzo on the mat the tournament favourite looked to finish things… but the Acid Rainmaker misses and is turned into some rolling German suplexes! Deonna follows up with a brainbuster, but Jinny gets up at two, before a fireman’s carry leads to a ref bump as Roberts gets knocked down by Jinny’s legs… with no Roberts available to make the count, Purrazzo scores a neckbreaker for a long visual count. Yep, it’s another Roberts Crutch™!
Deonna has a word with Roberts before turning around into a headkick… and then gets caught in the corner as the Makeover spiked Deonna head-first for another near-fall. More slaps almost led to another fireman’s carry, but the counter gets countered into a backslide for Purrazzo, and then a Fujiwara armbar as Jinny easily gets to the ropes. Jinny returns fire with a kick, before finally connecting with the Acid Rainmaker… and just like that, the undefeated Jinny ends the weekend with perhaps her biggest singles title to date! A fine end to a tournament where nobody let themselves down – but there’s instant challengers! ***¼
Bea Priestley appears in the ring as she looked to get in Jinny’s face… but Millie McKenzie follows not long after with a German suplex… Bea and Millie argue it out before Jinny snatches her title and heads for the hills. I’m not so sure about Jinny’s moment being so short… but I guess they needed to do something to set up the first title defence at York Hall. Kudos, by the way, for whomever drew the short straw when it came to editing out the cacophony that was the megamix of Rob Lias and Kurtis Chapman’s themes that played instead of Jinny’s live!
So, the Rev Pro women’s championship tournament did what it needed to – and then some. The biggest issue with this promotion so far is that their women’s division has been built entirely around Jinny, with little room for creating any peripheral figures. Here, they not only did the predictable of crowning Jinny as champion, but we had an instant title defence, and potentially a match down the line with Nina Samuels. The only issue is that pretty much everyone on show here has already lost to Jinny in Rev Pro, so there’s going to be a lot of work needed to build this division up beyond the dreaded “token match”.