Minoru Suzuki and Lio Rush were the star attractions of Rev Pro’s October trip to the 229 in London.
Quick Results
Joshua James pinned Shaun Jackson in 8:49 (***)
Mercedez Blaze pinned Lucia Lee in 10:15 (***)
Lio Rush pinned Robbie X in 16:39 (***¾)
Mad Kurt, Ricky Knight Jr. & Zak Knight pinned Will Kaven, Charlie Sterling * Nick Riley in 20:17 (***½)
Brendan White & Danny Jones pinned Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper in 8:17 to win the Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship (***¼)
Minoru Suzuki pinned Yota Tsuji in 18:27 (***½)
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We’re at a jam-packed 229 in London for the delayed-by-Royal-Quest edition of Rev Pro’s monthly outing here. Minoru Suzuki and Lio Rush are in town, having worked the prior night’s British J Cup, and that’ll explain why it’s a lot more huddled-up than usual. Commentary for this comes from Andy Quildan and Gio…
Joshua James vs. Shaun Jackson
This was Jackson’s first match at the 229 since September 2021… and he’s proudly proclaiming himself as an international wrestling superstar, having worked in Italy for the fantastically-named Squash A Jobber promotion the day before.
James slaps Jackson at the bell… then got charged through the ropes to the outside as Jackson proceeded to take the contender into the ring post. The count-out tease ends with James rolling into an elbow drop, before a back elbow from Jackson earned him a two-count. Jackson elbows out of a slam attempt, but couldn’t avoid the second attempt, nor a big splash for a two-count as Jackson was suddenly on the back foot. A German suplex ragdolls Jackson next, but he avoids a clothesline off the apron, then hung up James on the ropes. A springboard forearm takes James down, while a knee to the ribs earned a two-count as the crowd harangued Jackson’s for his loose laces.
A suplex throw chucks James across the ring for a two-count, as a stomp to the elbow looked to keep Jackson ahead… but there’s a turnaround as James splashes him into the corners before a spinebuster planted Jackson for a two-count. The pair trade forearms from there, with James then taking Jackson into the ropes for a pounce… but Jackson avoids it, only to get sent into the corner seconds later. James takes Jackson into the corner as he looked to superplex him back into the ring… Jackson fights out, only to springboard into a powerslam for a near-fall. From there, James hits the ropes for a lariat, but ends up taking a crossbody from Jackson before a pumphandle powerslam led to another near-fall. Jackson thought he’d inched closer to a win with a front kick, but a sudden lariat out of nowhere gets Joshua James his first win against a non-contender! ***
Lucia Lee vs. Mercedez Blaze
It’s a Rev Pro debut for Lucia here, and we’ve a mix-up when it comes to entrance music by the looks of it…
Blaze backs away from Lee at the bell, then decided to punch away Lee’s attempt at a lock-up. In the corner, we’ve got chops, only for Lee to charge out of the corner with a shotgun dropkick. Forearms and elbows into the corner follow, before Lee’s snapmare and seated dropkick earned her just a one-count. Lee avoids a clothesline then wrapped up Blaze into a wacky Mouse Trap variation for a two-count, while an armbar ends quickly in the ropes. An arm whip on the apron sees Blaze snap back into the match, as she used the side of the ring to her advantage, before a DDT helped Blaze on her way to another two-count.
A sunset flip from Lee gets her back in it, as she then charged Blaze into the corner… but Blaze turned it into a positive as she used some headscissors to take Lee into the buckles. We’ve a wacky neckbreaker for a near-fall after that, before a snapmare and a leaping Meteora kept Blaze ahead. Another slap in the corner adds insult, but Lee sidesteps Blaze’s charge and added some Saito suplexes into the mix. A Rude Awakening neckbreaker’s next for a near-fall, before a hip attack out of the corner allowed Blaze back in, as a spear nearly wins it. Lee comes back with a double-arm DDT, but Blaze just about gets up from it… then charged back with a shotgun dropkick into the corner.
Blaze’s butterfly suplex chucks Lee into the corner for a near-fall, before some ground and pound softened up Lee… a Tower of Blaze is escaped as Lee made it onto the apron, where she scored with a high kick, only to get lifted back into the ropes for the Tower of Blaze for the win. An impressive debut for Lee, but in the end it’s Mercedez Blaze who keeps rolling on here. ***
Lio Rush vs. Robbie X
Having won the British J-Cup last night, Robbie X is going from the frying pan into the fire…
Lio didn’t take too kindly to the London crowd’s chanting, as we get started with misdirections in the ropes, leapfrogs and sunset flips as Robbie X nearly snatched the W in the first minute. Lio rolls outside for a breather… then again after he returned and took a hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick. Another try at a handshake sees Rush punch away Robbie X, before a trip outside from Robbie saw Lio crash into him with a high-speed low-pe. A springboard moonsault into the crowd followed, as the pair then returned to the ring with Rush pushing ahead. Robbie’s thrown into the corner, but he vaults out… and gets caught with a clothesline coming into the opposite corner.
Rush dumps Robbie X to the outside, then snuck up on him from behind as he then cleared out the crowd away and put Robbie in the front row. Lio takes too long though as Robbie X gets back inside and clocked Rush with an overhead kick. Rush shoves Robbie X off the top rope though, then came back for a frog splash… it’s aborted as Robbie then met him in the opposite corner with a gamengiri. A snap dropkick from Robbie X stunned Rush after that, as he proceeded to pepper Lio with strikes, leading to a running shooting star press for a near-fall. Rush misses a clothesline as Robbie X went for the X-Clamation, only for Rush to avoid that and score with a roundhouse kick instead.
Rush continues to push on, but ends up snapping the bottom rope as he went for a springboard stunner… recovering to hit a snap DDT as the ring crew looked to put the rope out of harm’s way. Heading up top, Rush finds himself in the wrong place as Robbie X rolled under the middle rope to safety… that quickly led to a turnaround as Rush was knocked outside for a tope, before a missile dropkick back inside earned a near-fall. A sitout powerbomb’s next for a near-fall on Rush, before Robbie got caught on the top rope. He fights out as Rush looked to tweak his knee on the landing, but that’s the cue for Will Kaven to come out and interfere. Robbie X punched him away, but misses a frog splash as Rush’s rear spin kick left Robbie down… while a frog splash crushed the British J Cup winner as Lio left with the win. In spite of the rope going, this was a cracker of a match, but it’s a familiar win-loss pattern for Robbie X… ***¾
After the match, Lio Rush noted that his win over Robbie X put him in line for something… and that he wanted to get his shot at the Cruiserweight title after Robbie X wins it at York Hall.
They fix the bottom rope during the interval… so we plough on!
Smoking Aces (Charlie Sterling & Nick Riley) & Will Kaven vs. Mad Kurt, Ricky Knight Jr. & Zak Knight
Mad Kurt’s taken to calling himself part of the Knight family… and wearing a 5* Wrestling tag team title belt. Ah, remember the days of Max Money? I’m just concerned that I didn’t need to look that up on Cagematch…
Zak Knight’s already looking unimpressed before Mad Kurt began his karaoke to Ricky Knight Jr.’s music, and that set the tone for a lot of the match. We eventually get going with Kurt and the “Wendy’s mascot” (as dubbed by Lio Rush) Will Kaven. There’s an early roll-up from Kurt for a two-count, before Kaven was taken to the corner as RKJ tagged in… and wiped him out with a dropkick. A stalling suplex has Kaven upside down for a count of 50, before Zak Knight came in to blister everyone with chops. Mad Kurt tags himself in for… something vaguely similar, before he helped dump the Smoking Aces to the outside. Kaven’s taken into the ropes for a chop, which Kaven laughed off… so Kurt gets Kaven to close his eyes, as RKJ tagged in to sting him with the chop in the end.
The Knights (and Kurt) wrench Kaven’s arm… but the fun and games starts to go awry as Mad Kurt came in to headbutt Kaven in the groin… before he caught Zak Knight on the rebound. Knight stays in, chucking Sterling with a back body drop before both of the Aces took a headlock/headscissor takedown combo. A clothesline from Zak takes down Sterling, while Riley ate a dive on the outside as Zak was running wild… a flying uppercut keeps Sterling down too, ahead of an eventual bucklebomb into Sterling’s own corner. Mad Kurt tagged himself back in to capitalise, but he just gets pulled into a double-team backbreaker from the Aces. Kaven’s back for his Dragon suplex, while a back elbow from Riley kept Kurt down for a near-fall.
Kurt tries to fight back, but just gets chopped down by Sterling, as things were going the way of the Aces. At least until Mad Kurt hit a dropkick off the middle rope… he crawls over to the opposite corner for a tag, but only wanted to tag in RKJ, and instead ended up taking a powerbomb from Sterling. Zak was right there… A double Codebreaker from Kurt clears away the Aces as he finally got the tag out to RKJ, who runs wild on the Aces as he took Riley Kaven down with a stacked up Samoan drop. The ring clears as RKJ went for a dive… but Mad Kurt stopped him… and ended up getting press slammed onto the Aces. The Knights take over on Nick Riley, but Mad Kurt tagged himself in after a Doomsday Device on Riley… which just pissed off Zak after he found out he wasn’t legal.
RKJ throws Mad Kurt off the middle rope for a Destroyer… prompting Kurt into a lap of honour, which just had Zak bellowing at Kurt to go for the pin. He did, eventually, but Riley kicks out at one. D’oh! Zak blows his stack, as RKJ tagged in… but the Smoking Aces clear the apron and isolate RKJ… leading to the Smoking Ace Crusher, before a Riley Tiger Driver and a splash from Sterling almost put the champion away. Kaven tags back in, but Zak Knight pulls Riley to the outside – distracting the referee as Robbie X came out to distract Kaven as he was on the top rope. Ricky Knight Jr. makes the most of it after Kaven got crotched… pulling him down for a Fire Thunder Driver for the win. With Mad Kurt tagging in to get thrown onto Kaven for the three-count. You know how I usually feel about trios matches – and this was another entertaining one of those, aided by the interplay between Mad Kurt and the rest of the Knights. ***½
Post-match, Zak Knight went to throttle Mad Kurt, then berated RKJ for not “acting like a champ.” Ricky gets the mic and acted like he was going to sort the “family problem.” Then swerved us all by booking a family vs. family match… Zak Knight versus Mad Kurtis Knight. Oh boy.
Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship: Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) (c)
The Greedy Souls earned this shot after a string of wins, starting with that one over Destination Everywhere at York Hall… and with Sunshine Machine having not been around lately, the Welsh lads feel they’ve been ducked.
We’ve a jump start to this match as the challengers hit a Super Collider on TK and Mambo, before throwing TK into the ropes. Mambo’s thrown into the post as the bell sounded, with TK eating a piledriver onto the side of the ring. That leaves Mambo alone for a slingshot Bossman slam, but Chuck kicks out at two… An assisted back senton keeps the challengers on the back foot, as did an assisted Saito suplex… which got Danny Jones a near-fall. Mambo’s kept on the back foot as Brendan tagged back in and targeted Mambo’s lower back, only for Mambo to score a flash pin with a backslide. TK Cooper’s still on the floor, as Mambo was swarmed once more… but he avoids the Magic Killer backbreaker… and managed to tag out to a suddenly-there TK Cooper.
TK ran wild with clotheslines, elbows and superkicks, before he hit an Exploder to throw Brendan onto his own man. A running front kick from Cooper keeps Brendan in the corner ahead of a tornado DDT on Jones, as a boot from the ropes set TK up for the springboard quebrada for a near-fall. Jones breaks up the cover, then put the boots to TK… an errant diving kick from White wipes out Jones as Sunshine Machine almost snatched victory. Danny Jones runs into a headbutt, as TK then set up the Greedy Souls for an inadvertent Designated Driver with Brendan playing the role of Chuck Mambo. Chuck’s back for a missile dropkick to Jones, while TK’s tope took out White… a frog splash from Mambo should have gotten the win, but the ref’s checking on TK on the outside, and returned to count just a near-fall.
Brendan White pulls TK Cooper off the apron again as Mambo’s left on his own… he tries for a Reef Break, but it’s blocked and turned into that Magic Killer Backbreaker, which was enough for the Greedy Souls to get the pin and win the tag team titles. A short match, but a rather dominant one as White and Jones became the first Welsh team to win the titles – and also crown White’s ascent from contender to champion. ***¼
Yota Tsuji vs. Minoru Suzuki
It’s an extremely rare appearance from a “main roster” New Japan name outside of York Hall shows…
Lucian Phillips was alongside Tsuji for the Legion, who’d brought a chair with him. He might need more than that. Tsuji looked to frustrate from the off, putting himself between the ropes as Suzuki tried to go for the lock-up. Suzuki gives chase as Tsuji bailed… but back inside, Suzuki finally got his hands on Tsuji, wringing the arm and neck in the early going. Tsuji breaks in the ropes, as Suzuki then went after referee Chris Hatch for daring to try and enforce the rope break. The ref’s used as a shield as Tsuji pulled him in front of Suzuki, before Tsuji hit the ropes for a shoulder tackle. Suzuki retaliated with a hanging armbar after he baited Tsuji into the ropes… and you know what’s next!
Suzuki followed Tsuji outside, but spotted the chair at ringside. Of course, the referee stops Suzuki as Phillips distracts the official, allowing Tsuji to use it on Suzuki. Something about good idea, bad idea, I guess? Suzuki fights back, only to get swarmed by the Legion… Suzuki makes the cameraman scramble as Tsuji took Suzuki around ringside for chops, and we’ve seen this before. Suzuki laughs off the chops, then made Tsuji backtrack a little as the inevitable responses began to blister Tsuji’s chest. Back inside, snapmares and kicks from Tsuji left Suzuki prone for a camel clutch, and boy, you should have seen the look on Suzuki’s face when that happened.
Tsuji continues to prod Suzuki with kicks, then an eye rake, before Suzuki just booted him down. An armbar ends in the ropes, so Suzuki continues to kick away on Tsuji’s back, as the match descended back into strikes, with Tsuji and Suzuki trading chops. It was a real grit-your-teeth moment for Tsuji as Suzuki made the sweat fly with his chops, before Suzuki politely asked for one more chop… which of course, was laughed off again. Tsuji fires back with elbows, but Suzuki’s built up to his trademark CLONKING elbow, which sank Tsuji to the mat. We’ve more of those as Tsuji got back to his feet, before Lucian Phillips tripped Suzuki in the ropes. The distraction led to almost a Lethal Combination from Tsuji for a near-fall, while a clothesline off the ropes added another near-fall. We’ve a ref bump after Suzuki shoves Tsuji into the official… which was the cue for Lucian Phillips to come in with the chair.
You know the score, Phillips eats the chair, before Suzuki got past Tsuji for a rear naked choke… before a Gotch-style piledriver dropped Tsuji into the chair for the win. A fair amount of “greatest hits” here, but it was a super easy crowd that loved every second of this… with Minoru Suzuki then threatening the referee after the match. Phillips makes the save, only to get run off by Mad Kurt. Yes, that is a thing that happened to close out the show… ***½
A return to form somewhat for Rev Pro at the 229 – with a compact six-match card delivering exactly what you expect from the promotion as they continued to build to December’s Uprising at York Hall.