Two days removed from High Stakes, Rev Pro were back on the road for a rather understated event in Southampton.
Kudos to Rev Pro for having this show up barely 12 hours after the final bell. Madness. The two Andys are on commentary for this one…
Ash Draven vs. El Phantasmo
For some reason Draven’s using his entrance video from Frontline – Will Ospreay’s promotion – proclaiming the entrance of the Residents. I think it may be a while before we see Elijah and LK Mezinger on these shows. There’s a nice save by Andy Simmonz, who missed Draven’s appearance in Bristol a few weeks back…
There’s a lot of playing to the crowd from ELP, which seemingly got into the head of Ash Draven, as we get going with the customary lock-up before Draven grabbed at the wrist of ELP. They go back and forth on the wristlock, before ELP’s tomfoolery drew in Draven, who comes in with a drop toe hold before a dropkick from ELP got him a near-fall.
From there, there’s some rope walking from Phantasmo, who booted a protesting Draven in the head before step-up ‘rana took Draven to the outside. ELP follows outside with a tope, then back inside with a delayed hand-walk senton for another two-count. The crowd falls rather silent for this as Draven tried to fight back in, using a neck crank… but ELP just stands up out of it as a side Russian legsweep took him back down to the mat for a near-fall.
Some chops from Draven took ELP into the corner, only for an inverted atomic drop from ELP, and a double leg drop saw the Canadian took over. Mounted punches in the corner are next, before a whirlibird neckbreaker’s countered with a neckbreaker from Draven. A small package from ELP nearly led to the win, as Draven keeps up with the neckbreakers, only for ELP to hit that whirlibird at the third attempt, before he went up top for a a big splash for the win. By the numbers stuff, but I do like how ELP’s continually selling the neck and shoulder, meaning that his latest challenge for the Cruiserweight title may not be as one-way as you’d hope. ***
If you’re wondering, yes, they’re still keeping up with the time limits and time cues…
Kurtis Chapman vs. Mark Davis
Something tells me Chapman may be in for a hometown hammering…
Yep, from the off, Davis hurls Chapman into the corner, prompting Kurtis to try and kick away the legs. It sorta works, but Chapman’s offence of uppercuts into the corner just angers Davis, who flattened him with a sit-down splash out of the corner, sending Chapman to the outside. Chapman’s down for a while on the floor, which almost led to him getting counted out… but of course, Chapman beats the count, and gets slammed as the crowd begged for chops. Yeah, Kurtis throws the first one, then instantly is made to pay as Davis hit back in kind, crushing him with chop/clothesline combos in the corner.
Chapman’s able to roll away from a back senton as he took to the skies to bounce off of Davis with a senton, ahead of a Codebreaker out of the corner for a near-fall. A running enziguiri into the corner keeps Davis on the back foot, before the crowd laughed off the idea of a piledriver… An attempted Code Red and double armbar from Chapman eventually connects for a near-fall, with a diving kick gettin Kurtis closer before Chapman tried for the leg grapevine/stretch submission he put Michael Oku away with… but Davis just stands up out of it, as Chapman followed in with an Octopus hold.
Again, Davis stands up out of it and comes back with a Gold Coast Waterslide for a near-fall, before Chapman threw one more chop… only for Davis to throw a clothesline for the win. A rather muted outing, but in the end the heavyweight Davis eased past Chapman without having to go too deep into his playbook. **¾
Sha Samuels & Josh Bodom vs. Team White Wolf (A-Kid & Carlos Romo)
This match was given a little extra spice after Samuels and Bodom attacked Team White Wolf after their win at High Stakes.
Samuels and Bodom attack White Wolf as soon as they hit the ring, but the former Revolutionists were sent packing as duelling topes wiped them out on the floor. A kick from A-Kid sets up Bodom for a rewind sunset flip for a near-fall, only for Josh to come right back with a hard kick to turn things around. A snap suplex follows for a two-count, as the focus was placed on Carlos Romo, with Sha landing another suplex as the they weakened Romo – all while keeping him away from a tag out. There’s a spinebuster from Sha for a near-fall, before Romo finally got free and tagged in A-Kid, who launched into Bodom with a crossbody.
Bodom holds onto the ropes to avoid an O’Connor roll, but he just turns into a superkick as the Spaniards had a brief advantage… but Bodom’s right back on him as Sha tagged in and began to rough up A-Kid with a slam. An elbow drop’s next as Sha targeted A-Kid’s neck, aggravating things with a choke as the crowd began to get on Sha’s back. Bodom’s back in with a Bodom Breaker for a two-count, as Samuels again tried to antagonise Romo on the apron, making him watch A-Kid take some crossface punches. A chinlock from Sha keeps the pressure on as Bodom pulls Romo off the apron… but eventually A-Kid gets free and makes the tag out, as Romo made a beeline for Bodom… except it backfires as Bodom lifted him up top for a superplex.
Romo tries to fight back against Sha and Bodom with chops, before some headscissors took Sha into Bodom, before a neckbreaker led to an accidental DDT. After pushing Bodom away, Romo lands a diving knee for a two-count, before a lungblower/German suplex combo and a pair of superkicks almost put away Bodom. The tables turn again as Sha lifts up Romo for a roundhouse kick-assisted F5 for a near-fall. Sha and A-Kid brawl outside while Bodom looked for another Bodom Breaker… it breaks down a little into a Parade of Strikes, ending with a Spanish Fly and a moonsault as Bodom almost took the fall. From there, a nice series sees Bodom throw Romo into the corner, sending A-Kid sailing into the clutches of Samuels , who slammed him hard into the side of the ring as Bodom gets the win with a roll-up. A typically aggressive outing, as some steam’s being put behind Sha and Bodom… but this isn’t the end of it, as Carlos Romo saved his team mate from a whipping afterwards. ***
Chris Brookes vs. Angelico
Brookes was on his own here, with Jonathan Gresham having left after High Stakes… so we’ve got a match between two lanky sods.
Commentary drops in that whomever wins between Aussie Open and Suzuki-gun will have to defend the tag titles first against CCK as the feeling-out process began in earnest here, with Brookes taking down Angelico with a wristlock. The South African responds by countering with a drop toe hold and into a side headlock, clinging on as Brookes eventually escaped, with the match going to the mat.
After heading outside, Brookes returned to try and regain the momentum, going for a wristlock before Angelico held him in a suspended version of a Boston crab. Angelico’s got to let go though, and then takes Brookes to the mat for another single leg crab, ending when Brookes grabbed the bottom rope with some ease. When the technical stuff didn’t work for Brookes, he turned his hands to striking, as a chop connected flush… but he’s quickly back with a headlock, which backfired as Angelico escaped and landed a dropkick.
Brookes heads outside, but he’s right back on the offense with a Dragon screw in the ropes before he jammed Angelico’s knee onto the ring apron. A ringpost figure four’s next, but by the time Brookes took it back inside he could only get a token one count out of Angelico, before he went back to work over the legs of the South African with a deathlock. Apt. This time, it’s Angelico who gets to the ropes, so Brookes stomps and boots him to the floor, following with him as he then dropped Angelico knee-first onto a table – just as the South African thought he was going to be headbutting the ceiling instead. The offence continued in Brookes’ favour from there, at least until Angelico rolled away from a back senton as Brookes crashed and burned.
Angelico uses some kicks and a leaping knee to weaken Brookes for a leaping Flatliner for a near-fall, before a cartwheel led Angelico into a Capoeira style kick for a near-fall. From there, Angelico gets caught on the top rope… but Brookes telegraphs a brainbuster and instead has to block a sunset bomb as Angelico lands a gamengiri. The Fall of the Angels was teased, but Brookes slips out and gets his legs taken out, allowing Angelico to snap into a deathlock of his own.
Back-and-forth knees and superkicks take Brookes outside, but he’s right back in with a slingshot cutter for a two-count as he almost ended it right there. We enter the final five minutes of the match with Brookes nailing a rope-hung neckbreaker, then a brainbuster for another two-count, before Angelico countered a Praying Mantis Bomb by lifting Brookes onto the apron. Chris is back… but leaps into a bicycle knee, sending Brookes into the corner… where he removes a turnbuckle pad. Another escape from the Fall of the Angels led to a backslide, with Brookes rolling through into the path of another knee from Angelico, who then looked for the move again… this time into the exposed corner.
However, Chris Roberts stopped him in his tracks to re-attach the turnbuckle padding, and with the referee distracted, Brookes removes another pad, drawing Angelico in as he ran into the exposed buckles with a knee, before an inverted figure four forced the submission. Your winner by tap-out, the tribute to Toru Yano as Chris Roberts really needs to figure out the turnbuckle padding! A hell of a ground-based match, with Brookes winning by any means necessary. ***½
They play the TK Cooper promo video that he posted last week, about how his career hit the skids in the last 18 months… and how he was going to rebuild and get back to where he once was.
TK Cooper vs. Michael Oku
TK’s finally ditched the dungarees, as he’s got himself some new trunks! It’s not a Malibu Stacy job though, as Cooper started out the aggressor here as a small pocket of the crowd tried to chant about his dungarees.
Andy Quildan rips on Other Andy for not watching the product, as Oku and Cooper traded wristlocks and escapes, with Oku edging ahead with an armdrag that he held on to turn into an armbar. Cooper escapes and strikes Oku in the back as commentary notes that the Contender’s division will relaunch in March. I’ll try not to hold my breath for that… Oku comes back off the ropes with a ‘rana, but then runs into a punch as TK nearly ended it right there. A clothesline gets another two-count, as Oku rolled outside to collect himself… only to come back into the path of a camel clutch as Cooper tried to force a submission, before a leg lariat dumped Oku for a near-fall. The wannabe Contender Oku fights back with body blows, then a clothesline as Cooper was finding himself in unwanted territory, with Oku landing a splash in the corner before TK began to cut him off.
Lifting Oku up top, TK’s blocked as Oku flies in with a neckbreaker off the middle rope for a near-fall. An attempted single-leg crab from Oku’s easily pushed away as TK responds with a Samoan drop, before a kick from Oku traps TK in the ropes for a nice satellite rope-hanging DDT that took Cooper to the floor. That was a nice move there, even if Andy Simmonz bemoaned it “only being good for a count-out”. Oku followed that up with a Sasuke special, only to get caught on the way back into the ring with a springboard corkscrew senton… but still Oku kicked out as he flopped on the mat like a dying fish. He’s not got long left though, despite kicking out of an axe kick and a springboard moonsault… but Oku does manage to go for the single leg crab again, which ends with TK getting to the ropes.
Back-and-forth strikes ensue, as Oku tries to snatch a win as we entered the final five minutes of the match… only for Oku to moonsault into TK’s knees, with Cooper responding with a German suplex and a running shooting star press, before a headbutt left Oku prone for the Rihanna (Snow Plow). Well, TK Cooper’s “reboot” wasn’t quite as straightforward as he expected, but he already knew it’d be a hard path back… but something tells me that the “new TK” is a work in progress. ***¼
MK McKinnan vs. Kyle Fletcher
Fresh off of his reshuffled win over Kip Sabian at High Stakes, MK McKinnan’s main eventing as he still has to wait for his chance to defeat the Great O-Kharn.
We start with MK perhaps looking a little annoyed with Kyle Fletcher being the crowd favourite, as the rather tentative opening saw neither man able to even lock up. When they do get into the corner, MK cheapshots during a break as he turned up the aggression, throwing kicks to Fletcher before he found himself lifted onto the apron and dropkicked to the floor.
A tope from Kyle keeps MK on the outside, before the roles get reversed as McKinnan nails a tope con giro through the ropes. They stay outside, trading chops before MK rolled Kyle back inside for a missile dropkick for a near-fall as McKinnan retained the upper hand… until he ran into a tiltawhirl backbreaker, that was. Kyle keeps up with some chops and kicks, as MK was taking a taste of his own medicine here. MK’s back with a superkick though, then a tornado DDT as Kyle seemingly looked for another tiltawhirl backbreaker. McKinnan’s roll through neckbreaker and a German suplex follow, before Kyle ends up flipped into a facebuster for a near-fall. A diving knee gets a similar result, as Kyle then looked to hit back with a lawn dart.
MK slips out and retaliates with a hook kick for a two-count, only to take too long to follow up as a diving knee and a lawn dart gets Fletcher ahead again. An attempted powerbomb from Fletcher’s countered into a guillotine though, only for Kyle to get free and land a pair of powerbombs for a near-fall, as the pair go back to strikes. Kicks and chops keep the match even, until MK nailed a forearm and a reverse ‘rana… only for Fletcher to lunge back in with a clothesline as both men hit the mat.
With both men back to their feet, Fletcher slapped MK and lifted him up top for an avalanche lawn dart, but MK elbows free, only to get dragged down with a superplex. MK tries to nick it with a roll-up on landing, before another crack at the lawn dart saw Fletcher trapped in a katahajime… Fletcher rolls back to try and pin MK, before he got tripped into another katahajime for the submission. Well then, that loss just continues the suddenly stuttering form that Aussie Open’s gotten – which isn’t the best timing considering they’re meant to be warming up for their tag title shot down the line. It’s a big win for MK though, as he continued to wait for his rematch with Great O-Kharn. ***½
On the back of the mixed reception that High Stakes got, this was a somewhat safe show from Rev Pro – and one that kept things ticking along without necessarily spoiling High Stakes for those who didn’t get to see it. Is it a show you perhaps need to go out of your way to see? Maybe not, but like with most Rev Pro shows, it’s at least an easy watch.