It’s the last stop before Global Wars… but for some it’s about respect as Sha Samuels took on David Francisco.
Quick Results
JJ Gale pinned Charlie Sterling in 10:04 (***)
Luke Jacobs submitted Josh James in 11:26 (***¼)
Millie McKenzie pinned Chantal Jordan in 10:53 (***)
TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo pinned Mark Trew & Kieron Lacey to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championships in 16:07 (***½)
Mercedez Blaze pinned Kanji in 17:48 (**¾)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned James Ellis in 18:38 (**¾)
Respect Match: Sha Samuels defeated David Francisco in 15:26 (***½)
Connor Mills & Jay Joshua pinned Zozaya & Michael Oku in 23:04 (**¾)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com
We’re live via stream from the packed 1865 in Southampton, with Andy Quildan and Gideon Grey on the headsets…
Charlie Sterling vs. JJ Gale
I guess this was Sterling’s first official singles match for Rev Pro since the covid tapings…
Sterling tried a cheapshot at the bell, but eventually took the upper hand with some chops before a flying European uppercut took Sterling into the corner. Gale’s able to add a flying ‘rana to take things outside, but Sterling bails to the bar. Having been dragged back to the ring, Sterling’s able to take control as he roughed up Gale, raking the back before a gutwrench suplex chucked Gale across the ring.
Gale’s pulled up into a Fireman’s carry by Sterling, but avoided whatever it was that was meant to follow… returning with a ‘rana to counter a pop-up powerbomb. A wheelbarrow stomp’s next, as were running uppercuts into the corner as a quick-release German suplex dropped Sterling.
Gale adds a springboard twisting European uppercut out of the corner, then with a rebound German suplex as Sterling charged at him. A split-legged moonsault nearly puts Sterling away, but Charlie’s back to catch Gale up top for a side superplex that nearly won it. That’s added to with a big splash for another near-fall, before a flash victory roll from Gale stole the win. This was aeons better than whatever Sheffield was – with Sterling looking pretty damn good in defeat. ***
Post-match, Sterling superkicked Gale before referees dragged him outside… Gale’s flip senton wiped them all out before the pair were separated.
Josh James vs. Luke Jacobs
It’s a big test for Joshua James, who’s been used as a proxy/warm-up for Tomohiro Ishii here…
There’s no hesitation as we get going with shoulder tackles between the two, but it’s Josh who pulled ahead… before a snapmare and a punt to the back offered an instant reply from the champion. A big German suplex from Jacobs took Josh down, following up with some chops before James found an opening, taking Luke into the corners with Irish whips.
Jacobs fired back out of the corner, only to get caught with a slam… but a boot blocks a splash as Jacobs manages to build momentum, cornering James for a face-washing kick to the face. Problem was, Jacobs was getting a little ahead of himself, leaving himself open for a shotgun dropkick in return, then a POUNCE and a pop-up powerbomb as Jacobs almost took an unexpected loss.
James got caught climbing the ropes as Jacobs as a superplex brought the former contender down with a bump. Returning with forearms as they propelled off the ropes, both men were swinging for the fences until Jacobs shrugged off a double chop and hit a headbutt instead.
Evading a charge into the corner allows Jacobs to hit a death valley driver, then a sliding lariat for a near-fall, before a bearhug from James was escaped. Luke tries lariats, but it’s an enziguiri that staggered him ahead of a brainbuster… before a knee strike and a uranage put Josh back in it. This time he’s able to land a splash off the middle rope, but it’s not enough as Luke replied with a German suplex, a clothesline to the back of the head, then a rear naked choke to finally force the stoppage. ***¼
Post-match, Jacobs took the mic and reminded us that he’s a different wrestler since the one that lost to Tomohiro Ishii last year… and he’s after Ishii, dead or alive.
Chantal Jordan vs. Millie McKenzie
Millie’s got an outstanding offer from the Cut Throat Collective – but she’s not responded to them…
An even start saw McKenzie go for headlocks, only to shove down Jordan after a push-off before Chantal caught out Millie with a forearm in the corner along with some running kicks. Millie’s armdrags turn it around, at least until she got tripped into the corner as Chantal mounted a comeback with a diving boot.
Jordan begins to kick Millie’s leg out of her leg before she began to chop Millie around the ring. Irish whips set up Jordan for a low dropkick in the corner as chatter about Thai restaurants mask a suplex that kept Millie down. Eventually Millie hit back with shotgun dropkicks as the crowd began to wake up… leading to a cutter and some German suplexes as Chantal got ragdolled around the ring.
Shrugging off a Meteora, Millie charges down Jordan with a clothesline, before a knee strike and a Ki Krusher almost spiked Millie for a near-fall. In return, McKenzie’s able to come back with a Jay Driller for a near-fall, then with a Busaiku knee and a Doctor bomb, before a spear finally picked up the win in a really good match, even if the crowd took their time to warm to it. ***
Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship: Mark Trew & Kieron Lacey vs. Sunshine Machine (TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo (c)
Will Kaven accompanied the challengers to ringside for this one… and it the “lose and we’re done” gambit for Sunshine Machine isn’t happening anymore.
Trew’s instantly slammed by Mambo as he ran his mouth… while Kieron Lacey suffered a similar fate, getting chopped as he came in. TK’s in to hit an atomic drop to Lacey as Sunshine Machine began to pull ahead, digging into their bag of double-team moves as a twist on the Romero special into a Flatliner took out the challengers.
Mambo runs wild en route to the Cagna Marta on Lacey, before Will Kaven got involved, pulling down a Mambo springboard attempt. Back inside, the Gravedigger on Mambo drew a two-count for Trew, before Kieron Lacey just launched himself into Mambo as the challengers pushed ahead.
Mambo got caught up trying to do a springboard as Lacey eventually hit almost a Codebreaker into the turnbuckles on Mambo. Finally Sunshine Machine broke free, taking things outside as a leaping flip senton from TK wiped out the pile on the floor, before he returned to hit an Exploder on Lacey. The Omelette du Fromage from TK takes out Trew, before a Bad Burrito and a senton bomb almost put Lacey away.
A charging headbutt from Lacey stems the tide for a spell, but an enziguiri just wakes up TK… Mark Trew does the Ralph Wiggum headbutt to interrupt TK ahead of a spear-assisted suplex that took us ever closer to the unlikely title change. In the end though, Lacey’s wiped out with a pair of headbutts amid a Parade of Moves, while a German Suplex Turbo Charged By the Power of Friendship yielded a near-fall… before an errant boot from TK laid out Mambo in the corner.
Will Kaven gets involved seconds later, cracking TK with the Cruiserweight title after a kick-out… but it’s not enough to get the win. Kaven hands off the belt to Trew as they looked to be a little less subtle, but it falls apart as the referee caught Kaven and Lacey in the act. Kaven’s ejected, but it meant little as a Reef Break to Trew, then a frog splash set up for the Designated Driver as the champions survived the scare with their titles. ***½
Mercedez Blaze vs. Kanji
If you were surprised that Blaze didn’t come out after the Millie McKenzie match earlier… maybe there’ll be something cooking here?
Blaze was more than a little annoyed at the crowd’s chanting for Kanji at the bell. Fortunately it eventually gave way as Kanji immediately went to work on Blaze’s arm… and when Mercedez did try to make some inroads, Kanji was more than wise to things, avoiding the headscissors into the buckles.
Blaze bails outside, eventually catching an apron PK before planting Kanji onto the apron… Things head up onto the apron as we had almost a tribute to the Nigel McGuinness ringpost spot, before Blaze took over back inside with some boot choking. A standing Meteora keeps Blaze ahead, as did a Dragon sleeper, before Kanji broke free, taking Blaze into the ropes for some crossface punches. Kicks to the back, then a clothesline from the ropes kept Kanji on top, before a sleeperhold forced Blaze into the corner… only for Blaze to charge into the corner, lawndarting Kanji to break the hold.
Kanji’s caught with a spear off the middle rope afterwards for a near-fall, before she caught Blaze again with a rear naked choke… a back bump to break the hold didn’t do the trick, as Kanji rained down blows to the back of the head, before rolling back in for the sleeper hold. Another escape from Blaze just led to her getting trapped in a calf slicer, but the ropes save Blaze… only for Kanji to stay on her with an ankle lock.
Making it to the ropes, Blaze avoided a rebound German suplex… but the ref notices her with her feet on the ropes from a roll-up. Out comes Millie McKenzie with a turnbuckle iron in hand… she eventually slid it into the ring for Kanji, but Blaze intervenes and eventually caught Kanji with a hammerlock DDT for a near-fall.
Heading outside, Blaze got into a scuffle with Millie… but it’s a ruse as the referee’s distracted, missing Blaze cracking Kanji with a bum bag for the eventual pin. This did what it needed to do, but it ran a little long at the end with the crowd not reacting much to the Millie stuff. **¾
Post-match, Millie helped up Kanji – but the offer of a handshake’s ignored as we’re still left with questions.
James Ellis vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
It’s a Rev Pro debut for “the Brilliance” – although Southampton is a bit of a graveyard for one-and-done debuts here.
An even start led to Ellis slapping RKJ… then bailing to the outside. Ellis offers a handshake to make peace, but it was just a way to try and poke the eyes… which went nowhere as RKJ instead hit back with a dropkick. A plancha followed to the outside, then a chop, before Ellis hung up Ricky in the ropes for a leaping knee.
Ellis keeps going with a senton atomico, then with a short-arm clothesline and an elbow drop, before RKJ got pulled into a backbreaker as Ellis was pretty much treating RKJ like a tackling dummy. Finally RKJ hit back with a sunset flip… only to get caught with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall.
Catching a crossbody, RKJ’s able to counter back with a death valley driver into the corner… adding some running dropkicks for good measure, ahead of a draping DDT for a near-fall. Ellis escapes a scoop slam and hits a neckbreaker across the ropes, then with a superkick as RKJ went for a Quebrada… complete with an ugly landing on the way down from Ricky.
Back-and-forth forearms between the two ended with RKJ taking an elevated neckbreaker, before Ellis booted RKJ onto the top rope. A follow up belly-to-belly superplex leads to a high knee for another two-count, before a hook kick and a springboard forearm to the back of the head put RKJ back in it. Out of nowhere, Ellis lands an Angle slam that almost caused the upset, only to have to kick out from a piledriver moments later, before Ellis nearly wiped out the referee with his legs on a spinning Fire Thunder Driver from RKJ. An eye rake helped Ellis on his way to a near-fall, as did an F5 and an elbow off the top, before RKJ broke up a rear naked choke attempt by climbing the ropes and elbowing Ellis away.
In response, RKJ went for a Phoenix splash, aborting it before landing a folding powerbomb… then muscled up Ellis into the Fire Thunder Driver for the win. Twitter isn’t indicative of real life, folks… that being said, the atmosphere around the match was just plain weird, with the crowd barely reacting at times in this near-20-minute outing to what may as well have been a sparring session. This’ll mean a lot more in hindsight if Ellis is brought back, but… we’ll see. **¾
Respect Match: David Francisco vs. Sha Samuels
The only way to win is to get your opponent to say “I respect you”… and seeing Southampton rise as one for Francisco was quite something.
Sha took the first shot at Francisco, then landed a Michinoku driver after a flurry in response before things headed outside with Francisco getting whipped into the brick wall. Francisco cleared out some of the seating as he scrapped with Sha… reversing an Irish whip to send Sha into the toilets.
Coming right back, Sha chucks a full bin at Francisco, before a lariat left Francisco laying as we got our first attempt to end the match. Using the suspenders, Sha whips Francisco to the floor, before Francisco climbed a ladder up to the top of a storage area… Sha tried to join, but the ladder’s thrown away as Francisco then leapt off the… whatever the hell that was.
The cameras are having a hell of a time keeping up as they fought onto storage boxes, with Sha getting DDT’d onto one of them. A chair’s brought into play next as he ran Sha throat-and-chair first into the ring post…
Back inside, Kendo sticks from Francisco left Sha writhing on the mat, before the white tetanus chair of doom came out from under the ring. Rather than use it for a conchairto, Francisco sandwiches Sha’s head between two chairs and stomps it… then faked out the double-jump clothesline and instead dropped down for a short-range diving knee.
Finally hitting back, Sha’s able to catch Francisco with a uranage onto the side of the ring… then followed through with a dive to take Francisco up onto the stage. We keep going with Sha throwing Francisco into a chair that’d been wedged in the corner, before he used a chair to jab at the back of Francisco’s knee.
After feigning respect, a low blow from Francisco set up for a Kendo stick-aided crossface, but Sha bites his way free, then hit a low blow of his own. A Kendo stick’s wrecked over Francisco’s back, before a scarf-assisted Butcher’s Hook finally forced the submission. This was a rather unique spectacle, and while the crowd were eventually bullied out of their “bit” by Sha by the end, this’ll be something for the highlight reels. Should have been the main event. ***½
Post-match, Francisco pulled a U-turn and said “I respect you… beautiful people of Southampton,” before Sha assaulted him with the Kendo stick. There was also an assault the swear jar too, as Francisco ended up saving face somewhat… now, was that a double switch, or will only the folks from Southampton care about bad-guy Sha?
Connor Mills & Jay Joshua vs. Michael Oku & Zozaya
A warm-up of sorts for the trios six man tag next week – without Gabe Kidd or Hiroshi Tanahashi for obvious reasons.
Mills bridges up to stop Zozaya spinning on him early on, before tags brought in Jay Joshua and Michael Oku. Joshua blocks a ‘rana from Oku, then caught a leapfrog and slammed Oku to the mat a la Rampage Brown and Buzz Sawyer… but Oku’s able to kick out as a dropkick took Joshua into the corner.
Connor Mills tags back in as we got a rare reunion of Destination Everything, with both men avoiding the other’s signature stuff en route to a stand-off. A blindside shot from Jay Joshua wiped out Oku… as did a nasty-looking Dragon screw off the middle rope that looked ugly for Oku.
Joshua’s back for a slam and a back senton on Oku, while Mills tied-up Oku in the middle of the ring with an Indian deathlock and a double wristlock. Strikes from Joshua overwhelm Oku on the way to a two-count as Zozaya tried to buoy Oku… and it kinda worked too as a sunset flip from Oku nearly shocked Mills.
After Mills and Oku cleared the opposite corners – leading Jay Joshua to choke out Zozaya in the crowd as Mills took the pee out of Oku back inside. Out of nowhere, Oku cracked Mills with a superkick before Zozaya broke free of Joshua and got the tag in… landing a rolling thunder dropkick en route to the delayed back body drop to Mills out of the corner.
Joshua’s back to neutralise Zozaya… before he caught a Fosbury flop from Oku on the floor. Mills tries to capitalise, but Zozaya stops that ahead of a stomp-assisted Unprettier to Joshua back inside for a near-fall. Oku’s knee gives out as he tried to turn Joshua on a half crab, before a misdirection knee was countered into a rear naked choke. Mills launched himself off of Oku to knock Zozaya off the apron, before Oku rolled out of the hold and hit the misdirection knee.
Mills got the blind tag in, capitalising on a rear spin kick from Joshua to land the rebound lariat en route to a delayed Ki Krusher for a near-fall. Zozaya tries to break up a heel hook, eventually doing so by chucking Joshua onto Mills with a de Madrid al Cielo death valley driver. Tags bring us back to Zozaya and Joshua, with the pair trading German suplexes until a clothesline wiped out the Spaniard.
Oku drags Zozaya to the corner to tag in – looking to go up top for a frog splash… which connected, only for a Mills stomp to break up the cover. We’re back to Mills and Oku baiting each other, but Mills keeps going back to the compromised leg of Oku, only to get caught with a sudden brainbuster. Zozaya’s in to get all geed up for a double-team, but Joshua’s headbutt to the back of Zozaya stopped that as Zozaya got battered for a spell, leading to a Gotch piledriver for a one-count. From there, a Burning Cutter onto Joshua’s knees proved to be enough for the win. In hindsight, this perhaps wasn’t the way to go with the main event – as the crowd was audibly muted after Sha/Francisco. We’re also two Southampton shows in a row where an overly-long Zozaya-and-Oku tag headlined (this one being the exact same length as the Young Guns tag)… and since there’s no Great British Tag League this year, unless they’re rushing it, can we switch things up here? **¾
Post-match, Mills and Joshua baited Oku into the ring to save Zozaya… then they went after Amira as she tried to move Zozaya away. Oku’s able to hit a froggy crossbody to chase the bad guys away, with Amira getting her shot in as we ended the night with… polite applause? Oh, and the obligatory Oku promo to hype up Zozaya’s trios tag match with Hiroshi Tanahashi next Saturday… and then Oku’s upcoming match with RKJ. That drew out RKJ, whose offer of a handshake was accepted so we could end with Oku cheapshotting RKJ… then surviving a fightback so he could take RKJ outside with a superkick to close things out for real.
As a go home show, this was fine, but the match order perhaps should have changed as the Southampton crowd felt like they could have done without that main event and finale.