Rev Pro returned to live action with a stacked Cockpit show as two vacant championships found new homes in front of a socially-distanced crowd.
Quick Results
Doug Williams, Kenneth Halfpenny & Shaun Jackson pinned Brendan White, Callum Newman & JJ Gale in 16:25 (***¼)
Chakara pinned Chantal Jordan in 10:25 (**¾)
Lee Hunter pinned Big Guns Joe in 8:03 (***¼)
Great British Tag League Block A: Kid Lykos II & Kid Lykos pinned Connor Mills & Michael Oku in 19:45 (***)
Robbie X pinned Chris Ridgeway in 14:36 (***)
Gisele Shaw submitted Zoe Lucas in 11:21 to win the Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Championship (***)
Ricky Knight Jr. defeated Dan Moloney via knock-out to win the Southside Heavyweight Championship in an Iron Fist Match at 15:06 (***½)
491 days – that’s how long it’d been since Rev Pro had run the London Cockpit theatre, as the pandemic took effect. With the British Government easing off on restrictions, Rev Pro were finally able to run in front of fans – albeit a very reduced crowd.
Dean Ayass is our new ring announcer, while Andy Quildan and James Castle provide commentary. Stephanie Chase is also on hand to keep up the pre-match punditry that she’d been doing during the Epic Encounters shows.
Doug Williams, Kenneth Halfpenny & Shaun Jackson vs. Brendan White, Callum Newman & JJ Gale
Keeping with tradition here, Rev Pro opened their first show back with a sorta-Contenders match – although JJ Gale sporting new gear indicated he’d graduated, while Doug Williams (decidedly NOT a Contender) was making his return to Rev Pro after almost five years away.
Kenneth Halfpenny, who has a record of being sour about people leaving the Contenders division, was instantly enraged at Gale’s new gear. Williams and White started us off with some mat-based action, but Williams manages to counter out of headscissors into a legspreader… which White broke by throwing Williams aside.
The pair continue to trade barbs before tags brought in Callum Newman and Kenneth Halfpenny. Newman hits the ropes for some twisting headscissors and a slingshot corkscrew senton for an early two-count as things became too quick to call for a while. We complete the set with Shaun Jackson and JJ Gale, as Gale took Shaun into the corner for a forearm. Gale picks up the speed with some misdirection in the ropes ahead of a triple-jump rana and a butterfly suplex for a two-count. Williams returns, but ate a pop-up dropkick from Gale and a back senton that squashed him…
Newman’s in to try his trickery on Williams, but a kick from Jackson in the ropes stopped that as Williams took over with uppercuts. Newman’s sent to the outside, but Halfpenny gladly throws him back in before a trip up and a running Blockbuster kept Newman down. Jackson tags in to hit a gutwrench powerbomb into a Halfpenny uppercut for a two-count, while Halfpenny kept the pressure going with a suplex for another two-count.
Halfpenny hung himself by the knee in the ropes as he went for a springboard elbow drop in on Newman… he tagged right back out to Jackson, who took a top rope ‘rana from Newman, while Williams tagged in to take a missile dropkick. Shaking off the injury, Halfpenny’s back in, but so is Gale, who ran wild with forearms before a Gory bomb knee and a superkick led to a Falcon arrow for a near-fall.
Jackson and White are in, with Jackson hitting a swinging uranage for a near-fall as the match continued to wear on. Doug Williams lands a Bomb Scare knee on White for a near-fall, before Halfpenny tagged in and got tossed as he perhaps relished striking White too much. Gale’s back as he and Newman teamed up for a Gory special and a double stomp, before a shooting star press from Newman forced Williams to break up the pin.
Things begin to break down as Newman plancha’d into Jackson on the outside, while Williams and White trade strikes. A backbreaker from White almost gets the upset, as did a Bossman slam, before White blocked a Chaos Theory… only to get rolled up by Williams for the win. Trios matches are rarely bad, and this one absolutely didn’t fall into that category. A little bit of everything for the first match back with fans, with the Contenders perhaps getting a little too excited… but nevertheless, a good showing from all. ***¼
Post-match, Dean Ayass interviewed Doug Williams, acknowledging him as a mentor for the Contenders. Kenneth Halfpenny interrupted so he could mock Brendan White… and got cut off by Williams, who told him to hit the bricks if he couldn’t be respectful. Poor Shaun Jackson tried in vain to calm him down before they exited stage left, as Williams proceeded to offer his help to Brendan White, agreeing to mentor the Welshman. That might tell you something about future expectations…
Chakara vs. Chantal Jordan
It was a Cockpit debut for Jordan, who’d done two Rev Pro shows in Sheffield before the world went into lockdown… while Chakara was returning after missing the Epic Encounters strand of shows.
Commentary noted that this was a warm-up of sorts for the Queen of the Ring tournament at the end of the month in Huntingdon. Opening with a lock-up, Chakara eventually takes it to the corner, before she’s shot into the ropes for a shoulder block. Jordan trips her up ahead of a low dropkick, following with another one in the corner for a two-count.
Chakara takes Jordan into the ropes, but Jordan’s back with some kicks before she got hung in the corner for a neckbreaker. It gets Chakara a two-count, as she proceeded to mock Jordan’s cries, before some hair pulling on the mat had the crowd on Chakara’s back. A camel clutch followed, before Jordan eventually fought back, blocking a suplex to hit one of her own.
A series of kicks and knees from Jordan pull her ahead, as did a Meteora out of the corner, before some more mid kicks rocked Chakara. Those get stopped with a headbutt as the back-and-forth strikes continue, leading to a Northern lights that almost won it for Chakara. We’ve a self-deprecating dig at Rev Pro’s woes with technology there, while Jordan’s knee strike got her slightly closer to the win, before a Widow’s Peak from Chakara got the win. Some good back-and-forth, but with Rev Pro effectively rebuilding their women’s division again, it’s going to take time for characters to stick. **¾
Big Guns Joe vs. Lee Hunter
Another Cockpit debut here, with Big Guns Joe making his Rev Pro bow against the number one contender to Michael Oku’s Cruiserweight title. Shout out to the soundalike of the Kaiser Chiefs’ “Oh My God” that got put together for Joe’s music…
Joe’s all hyped up to start, but he’s restrained with a side headlock early on, then knocked down with a shoulder tackle as we hit an impromptu posedown. This one had the feel of a “holiday camp” match to it, although after so long without wrestling, having any form of crowd participation is welcomed.
Joe’s hiptoss and back body drop had Hunter on the back foot, but a spinning heel kick got Hunter back in for a two-count. An Irish whip’s blocked by Joe, who clung onto Hunter’s wrists before a crossbody was caught and turned into a suplex on Hunter. A Vader Bomb in the corner lands, but Joe pulls up Hunter for a deadlift gutwrench suplex, before the straps come down.
Hunter’s scrambling to spin out of a Boston crab, eventually doing so before a Bossman slam landed for a near-fall. From there, a Blue Thunder Bomb gets Hunter a two-count, before clotheslines looked to wear down Joe. A Capture suplex from Joe gets him free, before he pulled the straps up… then down… only to run into a small package as Hunter nearly snatched the win.
An O’Connor roll out of the corner leads to more near-falls, but in the end Hunter caught Joe with a scooping reverse DDT and that’s the game. A good little match this, and as much as I’ve said how the comedy doesn’t work in the empty arena setting of another promotion, Joe clicked a lot better in front of this crowd. Hopefully he’ll become something of a regular and have that bed in a little. ***¼
Live, Hunter offered to help mentor “Big Joe Guns”… but that got edited off the VOD.
Great British Tag League Block A: Lykos Gym (Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II) vs. Destination Everywhere (Connor Mills & Michael Oku)
Culminating at next month’s anniversary show, Rev Pro’s set up a two-block, eight-team tag league to help fill those yet-again-vacant tag title belts…
Commentary noted how when they last ran at the Cockpit, Oku and Mills were at odds… but that’s been patched up during lockdowns. Oku and Lykos II start on the mat, with Lykos II’s front facelock and armbar wearing down the cruiserweight champion, while Oku’s attempt at a half crab was pushed away quickly.
Tags bring in Mills and Lykos, but Mills pulled ahead as he worked over Lykos’ arm, but things settled down to Oku and Mills working down Lykos II, trading some quick tags. Lykos returns with a spinning toe hold on Oku, while Lykos II’s front facelock and subsequent stretch keeps Oku on the deck.
A standing moonsault gets a two-count for Lykos II, before Oku got tripped into the ropes… but he manages to roll free of the wolves, landing an enziguiri before tagging Mills back in. Chops and kicks and a Quebrada take out the Lykii, before a springboard uppercut had Lykos I down. Mills pulls Lykos up for a F5 (yep), getting a two-count as Oku returned.
Lykos throws Mills into the ring post, forcing Oku to fight by himself for a bit, dropkicking the Lykii. A Quebrada’s kicked away by Lykos II, who then flipped Oku onto Lykos I’s knees as some double-teams drew a two-count. Mills again makes the save after a Lykos PK, before Mills got knocked outside as Lykos II caught Oku with Lo Mein Pain. A running knee from Lykos I nearly ends it, before Oku went back to the half crab… but Lykos breaks it with a leaping knee.
Mills tries to cut off the momentum with a rebound lariat, but ends up taking a slingshot Code Red from Lykos II. Except Mills wasn’t legal, so Oku just ties up the young wolf with a half crab. Lykos distracts the ref with the baking tray, then kicked Oku in the balls for a near-fall. Some strikes from Lykos II knock Oku into the corner for a tag as he spilled through the ropes…
Mills’ strikes have Lykos II out to make a tag, but the wolves quickly overwhelm. A Millshot drops Lykos II, before a spinning head kick took Lykos outside. Oku followed with a Fosbury flop, before a double-team inverted suplex almost got the win over Lykos II. Another dive from Oku crashes and burns as he missed Lykos, and with Mills on his own it’s just a matter of time as a double-team reverse suplex into a cutter gives the Lykos Gym the first league win. This perhaps went a touch too long, but the story at the end was Oku taking one too many chances – which proved to be the team’s downfall. ***
After the match, Oku took the mic and acknowledged that some say he’s taking on too much with the tag league and the Cruiserweight title… but he promised to work through it and ended with three words that hopefully don’t age poorly after Sunday: it’s coming home.
Chris Ridgeway vs. Robbie X
Ridgeway was out with Gideon Grey, who’s trying to give himself an aneurism with the “quadruple hard” part of the ring announcement. Commentary mentioned the painful beatings Ridgeway had given to Callum Newman and JJ Gale on the Epic Encounters shows…
Robbie looked to work Ridgeway’s legs early on, but that perhaps wasn’t the best route to go as Ridgeway was more than happy to ground the high flyer and grab a leg himself. They stay on the mat as Robbie X went for crucifix pins, before Ridgeway stung Robbie X with a kick to the inner thigh. A little high up, too…
Another leg lock from Ridgeway ends in the ropes, before Robbie X came back with a hiptoss and a low dropkick after he bound past Ridgeway. A chinlock keeps Ridgeway down, but he grabs onto the ropes to stop an Irish whip, as kicks and knees then stng Robbie X ahead of him getting dumped into the ropes.
On the outside, Ridgeway catches Robbie X in an ankle lock as he tried to wind down the ten-count. Back inside, Ridgeway stretches Robbie X some more, then caught him with a punch to the midsection that had him retching ahead of a kick to the back for a near-fall. More chinlocks ground Robbie X, as Ridgeway continued to kick away on Robbie, keeping him as far away from his aerial game as possible.
Chops from Robbie X look to give him an opening, but another gutshot brought back the dry heaves before Ridgeway rolled him into a crossface after having initially gone for a knee to the gut. The pair get back to their feet and throw strikes, but it’s Robbie’s backfists that finally forced a way through as Robbie built some momentum.
A floatover out of the corner allowed Robbie to kick Ridgeway’s leg in the ropes ahead of a running shooting star press for a two-count. Robbie kicks Ridgeway onto the apron, but a handspring’s caught as Ridgeway again stretches him, breaking on the ref’s count as a Dragon screw took down Robbie X into another ankle lock. The capture German suplex and a PK keeps Ridgeway ahead for a two-count, with a crossface following again, then an ankle lock as the ropes saved Robbie once more.
Robbie X takes his boot off, but gets dropped again by Ridgeway, who kept homing in with those gut shots before an over-the-knee brainbuster from Robbie X turned it around. There’s a kick to Gideon Grey on the outside from Robbie X, before he returned to hit an X-Clamation on Ridgeway for the win. Ridgeway had a game plan, but was undone by two big moves from Robbie X who escaped with the win here. ***
RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship: Zoe Lucas vs. Gisele Shaw
Rev Pro vacated the title in the run up to the show, after the scheduled no-DQ match between Skye Smitson and Jamie Hayter was cancelled due to both women taking up WWE tryouts that were apparently scheduled for the same day. So we’ve a rematch from last year’s High Stakes as two former champions look to reclaim the title.
Lucas attacks Shaw before the bell, but Gisele’s able to sidestep as she came in with a lariat off the ropes for a one-count. A floatover from Zoe’s caught as Shaw threw her into the corner… then placed her for some knees to the ribs before just stomping her down to the mat for a two-count.
Some ground and pound has Lucas in trouble, but she’s able to come back and trip Shaw, following up with a splits legdrop to the knee. Shaw’s taken into the ropes for some chops as Lucas began to build anew, taking Shaw into the corner for a running high kick that gets a two-count. Shaw turned it around with a head kick, but her eyes get raked as she’s taken into the corner. A suplex lands for a two-count for Lucas, but a spear from Shaw stops Zoe in her tracks. Right hands from Shaw see her wear down Lucas, before a slide under a head kick led to a flip neckbreaker and a spinebuster for a two-count.
Gisele keeps going with a draping DDT, before she rolled over to grab an armbar. Lucas instantly got to the ropes to force the break, and returned with a head kick and a facebuster to keep her in it. A Scorpion kick catches Shaw ahead of a scissor kick for another near-fall, before Lucas went for… something, only to get caught with a spinning enziguiri.
A knee strike from Shaw gets a two-count, with Lucas getting a foot to the rope… so Shaw rolled in with an armbar, which Lucas tried hard to block… only to get pulled back down into the armbar that Shaw levered back on to eventually win back the tile via submission. So we’re back to how things were at the start of the pandemic, with Shaw reclaiming the women’s title – with a hard fought win to boot. ***
Post-match, Dean Ayass interviewed Shaw… who promised to “finish what she started” and put the Rev Pro women’s division on the map. Including, seemingly the debuting Mariah May, who attacked Shaw from behind before she was pulled away by Lucas… who then joined in. Looks like Zoe Lucas has a new best friend in Rev Pro, as they both stood over Shaw, belt in hand.
Iron Fist Match for Southside Heavyweight Championship: Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Dan Moloney
This was the finals of the Southside Championship tournament that had run on the Epic Encounters shows… an Iron Fist match is basically a 30-minute Iron Man match that can also end via a KO. Moloney was meant to have been going in with a one-fall advantage, but that little wrinkle wasn’t announced live in the run-up… except the on-screen scoreboard had Moloney at 1-0 up to start.
Knight had already lost to Moloney in the tournament opener – which forced him into the second bracket of the double-elimination tournament that he eventually won. Meanwhile, Dan Moloney had to defend his spot in this final against Mad Kurt… obliterating him with a beating that commentary noted may have been the last we see of Kurt in Rev Pro. Unless you’re in the queue for one of their shows…
We have a tentative start as RKJ took down Moloney with a side headlock… then with a shoulder tackle after he’d been pushed off. Another side headlock’s clung onto despite Moloney’s side suplex, with some punches to the head following as Moloney eventually pushed off his opponent… and ate a dropkick.
A snap suplex gets Knight a two-count, as he followed up with an enziguiri before running into a back elbow in the corner. Kicks rock Moloney, who caught one and flipped RKJ onto his front before a clothesline drew a two-count. Chops keep it going, as did a crushing back senton which looked to have Moloney ahead.
An irish whip bounces Knight into the corner for a two-count, before a front chancery kept Knight grounded. Knight responds with a death valley driver into the corner, leaving both men down… RKJ’s right back up with a draping DDT off the top rope, before heading up top for a diving European uppercut for a two-count.
Moloney tries a crossbody, but he’s caught as RKJ looked for a Fire Thunder Driver… Moloney escaped, then countered a pin to score the first fall of the match at 10:28 – giving him a 2-0 lead. That firmly put the onus on RKJ to get two falls or a knock-out to win the title then…
Knight charges out of the blocks with a dropkick in the corner, then one through Moloney in the ropes as a moonsault out of the corner gets a two-count. Another dropkick through the ropes takes Moloney to the outside… before a spear from Moloney back inside almost put him 3-0 up.
Moloney heads up top, but he lands awkwardly on his leap… which gave Knight a new opening as he kicked and struck away on Moloney. He’s taken into the corner as RKJ kicked Moloney in the knee, then followed in with a knee breaker, before Moloney tried to lift RKJ onto the apron. A Dragon screw in the ropes keeps RKJ ahead as the referee tried to separate the two – with RKJ clearly wanting the stoppage.
After an inside cradle nearly put Moloney 3-0 up, RKJ came back with a rear spin kick before he landed a springboard cutter… a Hidden Blade followed, leaving Moloney in a heap… and that was enough for the referee to call the knock-out, thus awarding the title to RKJ. I loved the sense of urgency in RKJ after going 2-0 down – while there was time left, it was almost like a switch flicked in him to just go for the KO rather than mess around with pins, which Moloney kept coming close with until the final moment. ***½
After the match, Dean Ayass again interviews RKJ, who put over Moloney as he acknowledged that winning the Southside title meant that he was the only grand slam champion in Southside history, having won their tag, Speed King and European titles. RKJ promised that the Southside title wouldn’t be the “number two belt” before it was merged, while taking a pot shot at Will Ospreay for winning the title and buggering off to Japan, saying “I’m staying in England”.
RKJ’s celebrations were cut short by a returning Shota Umino, whose return single-handledly kills 90% of the questions in Rev Pro’s Twitter Q&As. Sadly the big “look who it is!” moment was kinda hampered by the darkened entrance way, but at least Shota still had Jon Moxley’s ring jacket in hand. Shooter had two messages for us – one, he’s coming for Ricky Knight Jr’s title… and two, Will Ospreay. Yep, that was it. I think it was a challenge for Ospreay’s title too…
RKJ had a response too – he accepted Umino’s title shot (which has been set for the Rev Pro anniversary show in Manchester next month), before leaving the ring as Umino bowed to the crowd to send us all home.
Rev Pro returns on July 18 in Bristol, with Lee Hunter challenging Michael Oku for the Rev Pro British Cruiserweight title… while we’ve a trio of tag league matches, with Dean Allmark & Robbie X versus the Young Guns really jumping off the page.
Rev Pro’s Cockpit shows always had a steady formula – mostly no-frills wrestling, and it’s no shock that that didn’t change after 16 months away. If you’ve been put off by Rev Pro’s penchant for iffy picture quality in the past, then I can gladly tell you that they’ve undergone some serious upgrades in their time off, so if you’re looking to jump back in… it’s promising! It was called out live, that Rev Pro having two unannounced appearances on the show – in the form of Mariah May and Shota Umino – could be seen as unsettling given the general feeling of wrestling fans a year on from Speaking Out, and while trivial, this is absolutely an area where trust needs to be re-earned, regardless of promotion.