Zack Sabre Jr. and Trent Seven tore the house down in the main event of Revolution Pro Wrestling’s latest Cockpit show, on a card that did not disappoint.
#TLDR: A home run of a show, Rev Pro’s 11th “Live at the Cockpit” event featured what would have been a show-stealing performance from Jeff Cobb… except Trent Seven and Zack Sabre Jr. put on one of the best main events of the year.
The Full Review: Rev Pro are on good form here, releasing their 11th Cockpit show barely a month after it was taped! We’ve already covered this with our live thoughts, but here’s our take on tape…
Rob Lias vs. Josh Wall
Someone shouts “Moose” at the start, and you know what kind of night we’re in for.
They start with a tie-up, as Wall takes down Lias and forces a stand-off. Wall works an armbar, but Lias reverses it and throws in a couple of armbreakers as well, before a monkey flip takes Wall down again. Wall tries to break out of a cravat, but Lias keeps hold, before it’s reversed.
Lias breaks free, but falls to a shoulder tackle and a hurricanrana, before he rolls up Wall after a full nelson attempt. Wall gets a near-fall with a bridging suplex, before he switches between rear chinlocks and roll-ups for a couple of two-counts. Lias makes a comeback by elbowing a trapped Wall in the ribs, but Wall hits a modified Falcon arrow for a near-fall.
Lias connects with a leg lariat to take down Wall, before they trade forearms back and forth. Wall misses some roundhouse kicks, before he shoves off a back cracker attempt out of the corner. A missed moonsault follows from Wall, who this time gets the back cracker before bridging back into the Last Chancery to force a submission. Decent, but basic match, which is what you get in this division. I’ve not yet seen a horrific match involving these trainees, which says a lot about the quality control here. **½
They didn’t do a match graphic for this, so we just cut to the next match:
British Young Bloods (Jake McCluskey & Kieran Bruce) vs. Dan Magee & Kurtis Chapman
Well, this is a massive step down from main eventing last time out. These guys weren’t even on the advertised card for the show! Magee and Chapman are trainees, with Chapman being “that kid who badly needs a sandwich”.
To their credit, the BYB capitalise on the massive negative of those bloody Moose chants, by having them merge into chants of “Bruce!” – which sort of worked. Bruce takes Magee into the corner from an early tie-up, but Magee comes back with a series of hiptosses, then a roll-up for a near-fall as the extra squeaky spring underneath the ring in the Cockpit makes its presence felt.
Chapman tags in and hits a double-stomp over the arm of McCluskey, who weathers a storm and grounds Chapman with a headlock. Jake blocks a hiptoss from the smaller Chapman, but falls to a double-team hiptoss as Magee runs in for the hell of it. McCluskey charges Chapman into the corner, which gives Magee the chance to tag in and score a one-count courtesy of a sunset flip.
Jake cartwheels away from Chapman and levels him with a dropkick for a near-fall, as the Young Bloods worked over him. Apparently that wasn’t enough for some fans as “Glorious!” and “Moose” could be heard on the video. Maybe I just tuned out the annoying stuff from when I was there?
Some typical heel tag work from the Young Bloods sees them incite Magee into the ring, before their double team results in that stupid series of leapfrogs then a kick in the corner. Jake knocks Magee off the apron, and hooks away at Chapman’s mouth as the referee was again distracted.
Bruce comes in and taunts Magee with a tag, as he holds Chapman in a wristlock tantalisingly close to the corner. Instead, it’s the Young Bloods who cycle through tags, with Jake hitting a moonsault off the back of Bruce as Magee runs in to break up the cover. A series of shoves to the face from Jake knock down Chapman, but he finally fires back with a Code Red of all things, before finally tagging out to Magee.
Magee clears house with clotheslines and dropkicks, before he catches Bruce in a half crab. He backdrops McCluskey as he tried to break it up, and still keeps the hold in place, but Bruce pushes free. A Slingblade from Magee gets him a near-fall, before a cross-body off the top is caught by both of the Young Bloods, only for a cannonball from Chapman knocks down the pile to get a near-fall.
Magee lights up McCluskey with forearms, then Bruce, before the pair land a 3D on Magee. Chapman takes a clothesline-assisted German suplex, and that’s the match mercifully over. I liked how they had the youngsters more than hold their own against Bruce and McCluskey, but there’s something about Chapman that just doesn’t work. I’m not normally a “size-ist”, but his current look doesn’t make him credible against the majority of the roster. **½
I’m now starting to see the reason why early viewers of this show were reaching for the mute button. As long as this is happening on shows you’re not on, all I can say is “Thanks for ruining wrestling, Moose.”
Jinny vs. Xia Brookside
Xia was introduced as the daughter of British legend (and current WWE coach) Robbie Brookside, which got her a decent reception.
Brookside starts with a headlock, but Jinny pushes her down out of it, and grabs a wristlock on the 17 year-old. They go back and forth, before Jinny rolls out of a heel hold in the early going. Another wristlock from Xia heads to a headlock takedown, but Jinny gets some headscissors and rolls up, only for Xia to headstand her way free and into another headlock.
From another wristlock, Jinny reverses with a takedown into a front facelock, before Xia gets a roll-up for a one-count. Jinny locks in a standing surfboard, but Xia works free into a full nelson, and takes her down into a near-fall attempt. They go back to the headlock/headscissors combo, but Jinny rolls free and uses a hair-pull to wrench Xia back.
Xia shoves Jinny into the ropes and tries for the SANADA pair of leapfrogs, and whilst she just about gets over Jinny the first time, the second one nearly turned into an Electric Chair drop… so they go to a headlock. Then forearms, and a wheelbarrow takedown for a near-fall from the youngster.
A second wheelbarrow attempt is turned into a facebuster from Jinny for a two-count. Xia’s taken into a corner for some kicks, before she counters a sunset flip with a knee to the face. Jinny whips Brookside into the corner for a knee to the face, before she literally walks over the back of Xia. A superkick to the side of the head gets Jinny a near-fall, but that seems to lead to a comeback, as Brookside lands a back elbow from a corner charge, then a big boot.
Brookside lifts herself up in the corner and takes down Jinny with a hurricanrana. Jinny takes her back into the corner though, then gets a snapmare and a kick to the back for a near-fall. Xia sweeps back Jiinny’s legs from a kick, but she catches her in a seated surfboard a la Jushin Liger, and then rolls her up for a near-fall, but just way too close to the ropes.
Jinny drops to the outside and grabs a black bin bag from under the ring, then uses it as a makeshift dress for Xia. Ah, pre-cut holes saved her from suffocation!
Xia fires back up and lands a series of forearms before Hulking off the bin bag. A series of clotheslines follow, before she looked to land on her head from a tiltawhirl headscissors. Brookside dropkicks Jinny’s thigh in the corner, then lands a high knee, before she pulls off a bulldog off the middle rope for a near-fall.
A Japanese armdrag sends Xia into the turnbuckles, before she’s set up in the middle ropes for the Facelift (middle rope X-Factor), and that’s all for the youngster. This wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered – Brookside’s basics are pretty good, but like the previous match we reviewed, it was the “advanced” stuff that caught her out. She’s definitely one to keep an eye out for in the future. **¾
Zoe Lucas makes her way into the ring, and gets a slap from Jinny for her troubles. Lucas replies with a Dragon suplex, and I guess that rematch is going to be on the next Cockpit show?
The blurry camera gets worse somehow, as Andy Quildan’s face is barely distinguishable for his intro for the next match… C’mon guys, fix your damn cameras!
Big Damo vs. Jeff Cobb
Cobb may or may not know who Lucha Underground’s Matanza is. I’d only heard of Matanza, since I’m patiently waiting for that show to be legally available in the UK. The New York Jets may win a Superbowl before then…
We start with arm-wringers, as Cobb takes down Damo, who replies by trying to kick Cobb down from the mat, but Jeff – a former Olympian for Guam – outwrestles Damo with a waistlock as they stand-off. Another waistlock from Cobb ends up leading to him being taken down into a headlock, before Damo takes him into a corner and lands some shots to the ribs. An European uppercut nearly knocks Cobb out to the floor, as Damo chokes him against the bottom rope, again nearly sending him out of the ring. An Irish whip into the corner legitimately moves the ring, so Damo whips him into the opposite corner to undo the move. That gets Damo a near-fall, before he launches into Cobb with an avalanche in another corner.
Damo grinds his elbow into Cobb’s forehead in the middle of the ring, before another European uppercut sparks a comeback of sorts, as Cobb returns those uppercuts, and flies in with some forearms. A drop toe-hold and a pair of standing moonsaults gets Cobb back into things for a near-fall, before the-man-who-may-be-Matanza hurls Damo across the ring with a pumphandle fallaway slam. Nice!
Cobb headbutts the downed Damo, but he runs into a Fireman’s carry slam and a back senton as Damo gets a near-fall. Damo tries for a powerbomb, but Cobb switches out into a deadlift German suplex… Damo pops straight back up, and levels Cobb with a low diving crossbody. Another two-count, and Damo follows up by setting up Cobb for the Ulster Plantation, but Jeff slips out and follows up for a bodyslam.
Damo fights out as this degenerates into an all-out slugfest, with a bicycle kick from Damo leading to a swinging powerslam as Cobb lands the Wrath of the Gods for the win. That was incredible stuff – a match that ought to be seen by more eyeballs than it probably would. ***¾
After the match, a few people in the crowd chant for one more match, whilst a shocked Damo puts over Cobb (in a different sense, this time) on the mic. Damo accepts defeat, and calls ahead to Cobb’s match with Zack Sabre Jr. at the Uprising event the following week. Damo hints that Sabre will screw Cobb, and taunts him into making it a title match.
Josh Bodom vs. Ryan Smile
This was Ryan Smile’s debut for Rev Pro. Just don’t Google him. Or at the very least, stick “wrestler” at the end of your search.
The pair shove each other at the start, with Smile taking Bodom into the corner. Another lock-up on the blurry camera sees Bodom return the favour as he roughs up the debutant. Ryan gets a PROGRESS-inspired chant from the crowd that spreads somewhat, only for Bodom to reply “Screw PROGRESS”. Fair enough.
Smile misses a couple of stomps, before ducking some punches from Bodom, as they run the ropes and go to another stand-off. More leapfrogs from Smile, who takes down Bodom to the outside with a dropkick. Bodom rushes in and connects with a pump kick as Smile went for a dive, and they switch up into slapping each other.
Bodom lights up Smile with several chops to the chest, but that only gets him a one-count as Bodom went to a more grounded game with a reverse chinlock. Smile works back to his feet, and gets taken straight back down with a dropkick, as Bodom went on to get a near fall from a standing moonsault and a suplex.
Smile takes a Ric Flair bump into the turnbuckles from an Irish whip, and once he’s back to his feet, Smile levels Bodom with a forearm. Bodom gives as good as he gets, knocking Smile into the corner, before he connects with a pop-up into a knee strike. That one angers Smile, who rushes towards Bodom as both men clothesline each other.
Here we get the “count ahead of the referee and shout ‘MOOSE!’” gimmick, which quickly not only jumps the shark, but gets devoured by it. Smile hits a back elbow, then a crossbody off the middle rope for a near-fall, before he low bridges Bodom to the outside. Smile follows with a baseball slide dropkick through the ropes, and then… and then… he dives.
In my live report, I noted how ill-suited the Cockpit Theatre is for this kind of high flying. Smile’s dive across the turnbuckles and into the aisle – right by where I was sitting – saw Smile’s leg crash into the hand railings. Somehow, Smile didn’t break any bones and kept on top by climbing to the top rope, but he misses a double stomp and turns around into a roundhouse kick for a near-fall from Bodom.
Smile counters a suplex into a small package, before a superkick rocks Bodom. He tries to follow up with an Ace Crusher out of the corner, but he falls into a back cracker as Bodom gets the Lumbar Check (powerbomb into a back cracker) for the win. Add this to the folder of “underrated matches that’ll not get the eyeballs it deserves”; really impressive from start to finish, with the only downside for me being that dive which didn’t come across badly because of the camera angle used. ***¾
Marty Scurll vs. Jay White
On paper, this perhaps could have been a simple squash, given that Scurll is the number one contender for Zack Sabre Jr’s title… but then again, in the semi-final slot, that was never going to happen – and that’s not including any bias towards New Japan guys!
Scurll kicks away a handshake from White, and they start with a waistlock takedown with neither man being able to get an advantage early on. White takes down Scurll and works a wristlock, then an armbar, before Scurll reverses and gets a crucifix-style pin for a near-fall.
After another series of rope running and armdrags, White slingshots Scurll to the outside, then lands a dropkick and a plancha to the outside, ensuring Scurll stayed down. Back in the ring, White ties up Scurll for another wristlock, before he rolls him into a pin for a two-count. An arm whip out of nowhere drops White, who takes a superkick off the apron as he rolled to the floor, where he some chops, then a back suplex onto the apron. Back inside, Scurll stomped on the arm of White, before cutting off a comeback from the Kiwi with a rake to the eyes.
Scurll holds White down with a surfboard stretch, before a reversal to the move is quickly undone. White finally makes a comeback with a DDT after ducking a clothesline, and then nails a back elbow to the former Rev Pro champion. A running suplex drops Scurll, which sets up White to go up top and connect with a missile dropkick for a near-fall.
The pair trade forearms briefly, before Scurll suckers White into the “Just Kidding” superkick. White quickly responds with a dropkick, before a suplex attempt is rolled into a small package for a near-fall by the Villain, who delivers a knee to the head and a superkick for a near-fall. White sits down from a back body drop for a two-count, before a Gotch piledriver from the Villain gets another near-fall.
A pair of wind-up clotheslines from Scurll drops White to a knee, before a third wind-up ends in White landing a clothesline of his own. From their knees, both men lay into each other with forearm smashes, but Scurll pops up to his feet and lands a superkick, only for White to reply by catching him in a crossface seconds later. Scurll’s forced to use his feet to get a rope break after the crossface is turned into a double armbar.
White goes to the outside to uppercut Scurll repeatedly in the ropes, then follows up with a suplex onto the apron. Another clothesline attempt sees Scurll roll through and impressively transition into a chicken wing. White escapes and lands a brainbuster for a two-count, then switches it into the STF (which seemed to have a “U” dubbed in afterwards). Scurll escapes by grabbing White’s fingers and snapping them, but the Kiwi slaps back and fires home with a German suplex and a forearm smash. From there, White’s offence quickly went sour as Scurll ducks a slap and grabs a chickenwing, forcing the submission.
A really solid match, with an “out of nowhere” finish – suitable for the chicken wing, as long as he’s not trying and getting it on to varying degrees during the match – and a fine outing for the relative newcomer White. ***¾
A parched Scurll grabs the microphone after the match and immediately remarks at how hot it was inside the Cockpit. Amen, brother Marty. Scurll recalls that he met White many years ago, and puts over the Kiwi, saying he’d love to see him as part of Rev Pro’s full-time roster. Scurll suggests a rematch, which White accepts – throwing a hint of it being a title match if Scurll wins it.
Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship: Trent Seven vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (c)
A week earlier, Trent had turned heel in PROGRESS. It seemed that a few people who were at that show three miles away had thought that turn applied everywhere…
Sabre starts with a headlock takedown, but Seven slips out and they end up going for a knuckle-lock, which Sabre works into a wristlock after a roll-through. Seven reverses, and keeps Sabre grounded, but a lot of the early match was based on Sabre escaping those holds.
Sabre stands on the hand of Seven, then pulls back into a double arm-bar – the same move that popped out Morgan Webster’s shoulders earlier this year – and then went to a modified Dragon Sleeper. A modified cravat is turned into a roll-up for a near-fall as Seven re-adjusts his neck, and takes Sabre into the corner for a clean break.
Sabre again takes Seven down with an armbar, but Seven counters into a toe-hold after Sabre apparently said “I’m not even trying”. Sabre nonchalantly escapes, and if your main criticism of Zack is “he makes it look too easy”, then this is giving you more ammunition. The pair trade chops and uppercuts, before he gets caught with a Dragon screw and a half crab… but Sabre immediately made the ropes.
Seven grabs a leg and takes down Sabre, going back to the toe-hold, as Sabre teases kicking from the ground up. So Seven just uses his shin to keep the free leg on the ground, before slowly releasing the hold. Back to the chops and uppercuts, with Seven taking Sabre into the corner for some Kenta Kobashi-like chops. Trent misses a Yakuza kick, and Sabre sweeps the leg, knocking Seven to the mat.
Zack nonchalantly kicks away at Seven, then hits a snapmare and dropkick to the neck of Seven. Sabre traps Seven’s neck between his legs and spins to “snap” the neck… a move that Sabre has done in just about every match I’ve seen, but apparently our colour commentator (Sam, Stan, Josh, Tom, Todd, whatever his name was – I’ll talk about him more at the end) had never seen before. Whoops!
Sabre stomps away some more on Seven, who’s reduced to using the ropes to keep him up, but more uppercuts from Zack drop Trent to his chest. A Liontamer-esque hold bends Seven in half, before he goes back to European uppercuts and forearms in the corner, with a pump kick knocking Seven to the mat.
Trent invites yet more punishment, so he gets more European uppercuts, and once more, Seven drops to the mat as Sabre seems to be intent on getting the ref stoppage. Seven gets up and throws a chop… and gets a slap in return. Rinse, wash, repeat, and this enrages Trent, at least until Sabre switches the striking into a cravat. Trent frees himself by simply picking up Zack and dumps him into the turnbuckles with a bodyslam.
Seven runs into the corner with a pair of overhand cricket-style chops, before a snap Saito suplex dumps Sabre into the loose bottom rope. A third cricket chop is cut off, but Seven hits a short-arm clothesline as he yanked Sabre off the middle rope, getting a two-count in the process. Sabre blocks a piledriver, and follows up with a single-underhook brainbuster, before going back to the neck twist.
Yet again, the pair trade forearms, this time from their knees, before they get to their feet, as Seven kicks at Sabre’s knees and follows with a DDT for a near-fall. Seven sets up for a Rainmaker, but Sabre ducks and gets a Dragon suplex for a two-count. Sensing blood, Sabre goes for a PK, but Seven catches it and rolls through into a single-leg crab, but Sabre escapes and catches him in a triangle armbar… and somehow, Seven frees himself back into a single-leg crab.
Sabre turned that single-leg crab into a small package, then squared off after the kick-out. More European uppercuts and chops are eventually upgraded to bicycle kicks and lariats, before a series of dualling clotheslines ends with a couple of kicks to the head, then some slaps from Sabre. Seven stuns Sabre with a snap Dragon suplex, and a spinning piledriver… but Sabre barely kicks out before three!
Seven tries for a PK of his own, but Sabre catches it and follows up with some headbutts, before he sweeps the leg and connects with a PK. Despite that, Trent flips off Sabre, so he gets another PK… for a count of one! That kick-out gets the colour commentator to go “fuck me!”, which seemed very out of place for this group. Trent hits back with a clothesline, before Sabre turns a piledriver into a guillotine, only for Seven to turn that back into a suplex.
Trent runs the ropes, but gets caught by Sabre’s misdirection which leads into a mixture of an Octopus hold and a grounded surfboard, which ultimately forces Seven to verbally submit. That. Was. Incredible! Whether you’re a massive fan of ZSJ or not, that was a technical masterclass, and firmly goes into that folder of “matches that really, really need to be seen by more eyeballs” ****½
After the match, Zack Sabre Jr. grabs the mic and sits in the ring with his not-too-shiny belt. Sabre plugs the then-upcoming match with Jeff Cobb, who he invites to the ring. He makes his way to the ring, and agrees to make their Uprising match for the Rev Pro British heavyweight championship. They shake hands, but Cobb surprises Sabre with a Wrath of the Gods slam, as he poses with the belt to end the show.
Just saying, that would have been way more effective to a wider audience had this show been released on-demand before Uprising!
Let’s see… positives on this show: Zack Sabre Jr vs. Trent Seven. Jeff Cobb vs. Big Damo. How can you not like those two matches? Heck the last four matches are all matches you should go out of your way to see – as fun to watch on tape as they were live. The RPWonDemand.com streaming service is US$8.49 a month – those two matches alone make it worth that price!
The Neutrals: The commentary this time around was provided by Andy Quildan (who’s pretty decent at doing play-by-play in a Vince McMahon kinda role), whilst colour commentary was provided by a Stan/Sam Connors (I’m unsure since his name seemed to keep changing throughout, with one reference to “Josh” for some reason).
Whilst Connors was inoffensively coming across like a clone of Dean Ayass (just without a character), the big negative there was that he seemed to be unaware at a few key spots. You could get away with that if, say, Dan Magee was using a spot that wasn’t established beyond training school matches. When you’re whiffing on one of the top star’s routines though… there’s problems.
And no, I’m not going to go into “bring back Andy Simmonz” for these shows – having fill-in wrestlers do commentary is alright, as long as they don’t rigidly stick to characters and kayfabe like we saw the Legion of Lords do at Live At The Cockpit 10.
Finally, the negatives? “MOOSE!” (yes, I’m talking about that one guy who turned into the kind of person you mute on Twitter because they’re one-dimensional). And yes, the cameras. I’m going keep beating that dead horse until they’re sorted, but it severely ruins the quality of these shows. Yet again, I had to watch this Cockpit show in segments because the camera work was giving me headaches. As I said earlier, I’m not an audio/visual expert, but you’d at least expect the guys recording this to know how to adjust focus.