It’s another bank holiday weekend in the UK – but Rev Pro looked to crown it off at the 229 with a hoss fight between Luke Jacobs and Gabriel Kidd.
Quick Results
Levi Muir pinned Brendan White in 14:25 (***¼)
Michael Oku submitted Zak Knight in 10:20 (***¾)
Leon Slater pinned Dan Moloney in 15:00 (***¼)
Harrison Bennett & Connor Mills pinned Robbie X & Cameron Khai in 17:00 (***)
Dani Luna pinned Rayne Leverkusen in 16:24 (***¼)
Luke Jacobs pinned Gabriel Kidd in 20:34 (****½)
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We’re running with just a six-match card at the 229 in London as Rev Pro’s only show of the month took them to the nation’s capital amid a royal weekend. Andy Quildan and Gio Still-Without-A-Last-Name are on commentary…
Brendan White vs. Levi Muir
It’s a debut for Muir, who had a brief run in a certain warehouse in Enfield… while Brendan was flying solo this month as Danny Jones was over in Canada.
Brendan made a point of getting in the faces of the Contenders, and perhaps had his eye off the ball early on as Muir caught Brendan off-guard with a crossbody and some shoulder barges into the corner. Muir showed off strength as well as speed, chucking White with a fallaway slam for a two-count, before White rolled outside and decided to shove some of the Contenders again.
Muir eventually gives chase, but got baited by White back inside, eventually getting hing up in the ropes as White again lost focus. A back suplex saw Brendan’s eye get back on the prize, as he then cut-off Muir’s speed with a big shoulder tackle. A shotgun dropkick sent Muir sailing into the buckles, as did a diving kick amid a fightback from the debutant… only for Muir to snatch victory with a TKO! This was nice and even, thanks to White’s own distractions, as Muir got a definitive win here on night one. ***¼
Post-match, White kicks the rope into Levi’s nether regions before David Francisco stopped him from using the tag title belt as a weapon. A shoving match ends with Francisco knocking White into a Joshua James German suplex… and with the Great British Tag League imminent, you’re nailed on for a Contenders vs. Greedy Souls match. Assuming the rest of the Contenders actually put Brendan down backstage…
Zak Knight vs. Michael Oku
Michael Oku’s looking to steel himself against of his match with Great O-Khan… and almost lost this one in short order when Zak speared Oku out of his boots at the bell.
A blistering chop kept Oku rocked as Knight looked to stop him from getting out of the blocks, doing so once again as he blocked a ‘rana, only to get caught with a Code Red, then to smash Oku with a lariat seconds later. It’s all Knight here, as he even had Oku’s comebacks scouted, catching him out of the corner and countering into a suplex as Oku just couldn’t get going.
Superkicks carve an opening for Oku, as did a ‘rana on the outside, before a diving kick from Knight flipped Oku inside out. The crowd scatters as a Fosbury flop wipes out Knight on the outside, but Knight’s able to recover and went in search of a crucifix powerbomb. A springboard forearm nearly gets Zak the win, before Oku shrugged off a buckle bomb and rolled up Knight for a half crab for the eventual tap. This was a fantastic sprint that had Oku in big trouble throughout, only to snatch victory from deep inside the throat of defeat. ***¾
After the match, Oku took the mic and talked about how Epic Encounters would be full circle for him in Rev Pro – having debuted for the company at York Hall against Great O-Khan. Oku’s interrupted by unfamiliar music, which turned out to be a returning Leyton Buzzard. The wrestler, not the town in Bedfordshire.
Buzzard took the mic and reminded the crowd about his debut against Will Ospreay, and since “Andy didn’t have anything” for him, Leyton decided to crash the party here and make his own opportunities… which included going through Michael Oku. In response, Oku mocked Buzzard’s speech, and things quickly implode as the pair come to blows, ending with a sit-out powerbomb from Buzzard.
Dan Moloney vs. Leon Slater
This was Moloney’s final match before he headed over to Japan for his maiden Best of the Super Junior tournament.
Things started off evenly, with Slater sending Moloney outside on an early shoulder tackle before gunshot-like chops dropped Slater to the mat. A handspring kick takes Moloney outside, but a quick switcheroo sees Moloney hit a baseball slide dropkick to knock Slater deep into the crowd.
A stomp and back senton combo keeps Moloney ahead, prompting Slater to play Moloney’s game with a series of chops ahead of a running front kick for a near-fall. Moloney traps Slater with elbows to the back of the neck, but a Destroyer cut those off… only for Moloney to snap back with a spear for a near-fall. Slater counters a ripcord into a nasty Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall, before a top rope ‘rana and a pair of leg lariats put Leon on his way…
Moloney pulls out a Styles Clash out of nowhere, before Slater’s scored the win with a Sabre clutch after evading a Drilla. Incredibly even, as Moloney’s preparation for Japan didn’t go as planned – and that’s back-to-back wins for Slater in Rev Pro. ***¼
Connor Mills & Harrison Bennett vs. Robbie X & Cameron Khai
This marked the Rev Pro return of Harrison Bennett, whose shot at Robbie X earlier in the year ended in unfortunate fashion after he injured his shoulder.
Mills looked to bully Khai early on, but the 17-year-old hit back and brought in Robbie X… which prompted Mills to run out and tag in Harrison Bennett. The former Man Like Beano’s isolated for a while by Robbie and Khai, before his crack at an elevated uranage was escaped by Robbie X.
Tags bring us back to Mills and Khai, with Khai’s rolling Northern Lights suplexes looking to keep his team ahead… but duelling topes turned things around. Mills mocks Khai after he’d sent him into the buckles, as Mills and Bennett looked to antagonise Robbie X at every turn. Eventually that culminated in Robbie X getting the hot tag in as he single-handedly cleared house, before handing Bennett off to Khai to pick up a near-fall.
An Orange Crush bomb from Mills leads another turnaround, but a Molly Go Round breaks up the cover as the match began to fall into the territory of being a little “tornadoey.” Amid a series of back-and-forth pinning attempts, Bennett slides in Robbie X’s title belt, which Mills uses on Khai before a Burning Cutter drew a near-fall…
Khai makes the tag out to Robbie X, who went toe-to-toe with Bennett before he wiped out Mills – and the front row – with an Orihara moonsault. That diversion ends up costing Robbie in the end though, as Bennett brought the champion back in with a hanging uranage… and that’s enough for Bennett to mark his Rev Pro London bow with a win. A little surprising, as it looked like Connor Mills was in line for that title match… but Bennett just staked a big claim after a match that felt like it may as well have drifted into a four-way. ***
Dani Luna vs. Rayne Leverkusen
Dani Luna’s looking to string together some wins after losing the Southside women’s title back in March. Meanwhile, this marked the end of a busy week for Leverkusen, who went from working for DDT in Yokohama on Wednesday, to having matches for EVE and Rev Pro in London that weekend. Air miles.
Luna looked to capitalise on any perceived jet lag, grounding Leverkusen ahead of a tijeras from Rayne… whose follow-up crossbody gets caught. Inexperience saw Leverkusen blocked on her first attempt at the “make it Rayne” chops in the corner – but the second go around is more fruitful, at least until Luna took Rayne onto the apron and suplexed her onto the edge of the ring.
Leverkusen remained on the back foot for a while after that, at least until she scored with a headbutt… but Rayne couldn’t capitalise as Luna swarmed her once more. A German suplex from Leverkusen sparked some sustained offence, including some pumphandle suplexes and a spinebuster, before she springboarded into a rebound Blue Thunder Bomb that almost won it for Luna.
From there, a big lariat from Luna restored the advantage, only to eat a headbutt and a Matrix’d cutter as Rayne finally put in a Storm’s End – a Lion Tamer. Luna breaks free though, and after absorbing a wild German suplex on the floor, Luna’s able to avoid a moonsault back in the ring… then hit back with an elevated German suplex from the apron into the ring. It’s elementary after that, as a Luna Landing finally put away Rayne – whose debut ended in defeat, but my word Luna had to dig super deep in order to do that. ***¼
Gabriel Kidd vs. Luke Jacobs
These two first met a year ago in Stevenage, with Kidd getting the win as Jacobs was en route to winning the Cruiserweight title. Part deux threatened to be just as intense…
It’s not long before the pair began to lay into each other, with Jacobs responding to a cheeky headbutt with a chop, and it escalated from there. Kidd’s almost taken to his knees with a couple of chops, but a dropkick put Luke down, only for Luke to hit back with a slam and a back senton for a two-count.
Kidd’s taken to the ropes as Jacobs asserted dominance here, but Kidd’s able to find a way back in with a back senton of his own. A headbutt from Kidd affected both men equally, before Jacobs got thrown into the wall at the 229… and came up bloodied from it. Luke narrowly beats the count-out as he rolled back into the path of a lariat from Kidd… while a palm strike almost put Luke away.
Kidd goes for the cut, but ends up getting suplexed in the middle of the ring, then had a Shibata-esque dropkick crash into him in the corner as Jacobs was surging ahead. An Exploder turns it around though, only for Jacobs to damn near pop Kidd’s eardrum with a palm strike.
Jacobs has to withstand a hangman’s choke in the corner, before a Kidd brainbuster almost won it. We’re back to the gunshot-like chops from a frustrated Kidd, who ends up having his Bull lariat headbutted away. Finally Kidd lands the lariat though, as we’re back to the strikes… then the suplexes as Luke planted Kidd with a sit-out powerbomb for a near-fall. The intensity rises once more as Kidd’s Bull lariat only gets a one-count, as did Luke’s reply, before a short piledriver and a wicked Jacobs lariat finally got the win. Two big lads knocking seven shades of you-know-what out of each other is always glorious, even more so in a small room… and yes, we were spoiled rotten with this one. ****½
After composing himself, Jacobs got the mic and suggested a rubber match against Kidd at Epic Encounter in July… and if it’s anything like what happened here, they’re going to tear down York Hall.
With this being Rev Pro’s only show of the month, it’d have been easy to have kept things in a holding pattern ahead of a busy June. That being said, a pair of cracking matches and some seeds sewn for the near future makes this more than worth your while – but if you’ve only got time for one, then carve out 20 minutes-or-so for the main event.