Rev Pro have finally released last summer’s Southampton show – and filled us in on one of last summer’s more intense rivalries.
Setting the scene here, at this point in 2019 the Aussie Open vs. Bodom/Samuels feud was one of hottest battles in Rev Pro. Of course, the circumstances around the end of that feud perhaps weren’t the greatest, and there was a lot of speculation over just why this show took so long to make it to VOD… so lets find out.
Quick Results:
Shaun Jackson pinned JJ Gale at 6:30 (**¾)
Carlos Romo pinned Gabriel Kidd at 11:15 (***¼)
(non-title) Gisele Shaw b. Zoe Lucas at 10:00 (***)
Mark Haskins submitted Rickey Shane Page at 14:30 (***¼)
Rob Lias pinned Dan Magee at 13:00 (**¾)
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo defended by pinning A-Kid at 18:00 (***½)
Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) went to a no-contest with Sha Samuels & Josh Bodom at 6:30 (***)
We’re at the 1865 in Southampton… Andy Quildan and Frasier Thomas are on commentary. Heck, this show is so old, Chris Roberts is still around reffing!
Shaun Jackson vs. JJ Gale
This was Gale’s debut as a Contender – and we started with Gale stuffing a takedown attempt as Jackson came at him at the bell.
After being shoved into the corner, Gale came back with a roll-up for nary a one-count, before Jackson’s attempt at a knuckle lock was turned into a straitjacket submission. Jackson backs up into the corner to free himself, reversing the hold to boot, before Gale managed to fight his way free. A grounded side headlock’s next from the debutant, as were some shoulder tackles, but Jackson found a way through with a double leapfrog/dropkick combo. Gale tries to repeat the trick, but Jackson caught the leapfrog as the pair continued to go back-and-forth, with a neat O’Connor roll from Gale almost getting the win.
From the kick-out, Jackson locks in a Dragon sleeper, but Gale slips free and grabs another pinning attempt before springboarding out of the corner with a European uppercut for a near-fall. A bodyslam followed from Jackson for a near-fall, before a pumphandle slam from Jackson was countered out of. Another leapfrog from Gale had to be turned into a bulldog as the debutant followed through with a superkick for a near-fall, only for Jackson to return with an ushogoroshi. Jackson keeps going with a roll-through into a Fisherman suplex, and that’s enough for the win. An impressive debut for Gale, but Jackson’s strength was too much in the end. **¾
Gabriel Kidd vs. Carlos Romo
This was before Romo’s big losing run, so let’s see if the future Young Lion Gabriel Kidd gets an upset here.
Romo’s all over Kidd early on, tripping him up en route to a toe hold, but Kidd manages to get free and roll down Romo with a headlock, trapping him in some headscissors on the mat to boot. There’s a cheeky toe hold from Kidd too, but Romo rolls free and returned with a bow and arrow hold that’s barely kept on ahead of the resulting stand-off. Some struggles in the corner lead to Kidd going back to work over Romo’s leg, torquing the knee over his own… before another takedown from Romo saw him grapevine the leg.
Back to his feet, Romo traps Kidd in a cravat, but it’s escaped as Kidd just smashes him with some uppercuts and chops, before a back elbow dropped the Spaniard for barely a two-count. A punt to the back’s next from Kidd, getting a more solid two-count, but Romo fought back in kind, punting Kidd in the back before he went to work on Kidd’s left arm and wrist, applying a top wristlock to wear him down. A stomp to the elbow followed from Romo, as did an armbar as commentary began to tag him as the “forgotten member of Team Whitewolf.” That stings. Kidd makes it to the ropes to force a break, but Romo reapplies it as he looked to be having fun. Fun that ended with him getting smashed with some forearms to the head.
More chops follow to keep Romo in the corner, with a missile dropkick out of it taking Romo down ahead of a bodyslam that Romo tried to fight out of. Pinning attempts follow, with Romo coming close on a Code Red, before Kidd pushed away Cutter Without the E… only for Romo to find some luck with a guillotine. Which Kidd quickly turned into a suplex. Kidd teases a lariat, but Romo rolls away, only to get caught with a swivelling lariat that almost got the win… a Boston crab follows from Kidd, but Romo manages to escape and quickly puts Kidd away with Cutter Without the E. Fun stuff, with Kidd getting a lot of offence in, but Romo left with the win having worked on Kidd’s arm throughout the match. ***¼
Gisele Shaw vs. Zoe Lucas
This wasn’t for Lucas’ Rev Pro Women’s title, as this was Gisele’s debut in the promotion as Rev Pro were about to enter a spell where the entire women’s division went on the back burner.
Shaw had her dukes up to start, as she instead looked to work over Lucas’ wrist in the early going. A side headlock traps Zoe, who pushed her way free, only for Gisele to cartwheel over an attempted trip, before she went back to the wristlock. Zoe tries to replicate the feat, but ends up back in a wristlock before freeing herself to take down Shaw in an armbar. Shaw’s back with a kick to the ribs before a lucha-style springboard armdrag had Lucas into the corner. Zoe responds by trapping Shaw in the corner ahead of a Codebreaker out of it… but it barely gets a one-count for the champion, who proceeded to trap Shaw’s arm in the ropes. Putting the boots to Shaw just sparks some back-and-forth strikes, but Lucas pushed on, taking Shaw into the corner for a leg lariat that gets a two-count.
Back-and-forth chops lit up both women, as Lucas proceeded to pull Shaw down into a double wristlock while using some bodyscissors… but Shaw rolls her up and gets a two-count to break it up. A leg stretcher follows on the mat, with Lucas pulling Shaw forward, only for Gisele to reverse the hold… which Zoe rolled out of to get another pinning attempt in. Some boot chokes follow in the corner, but Shaw uses her foot to block Lucas ahead of a flying back elbow out of the corner. Both women beat the standing ten count and resume strikes, before Shaw slipped under a kick and hit a flipping neckbreaker.
A springboard cutter off the middle rope just about hits Lucas for a near-fall, but a Scorpion kick from Lucas turned it around ahead of a Finlay roll and another front kick that almost won it. Some swinging and missing led to Shaw finally finding a way through, knocking down Lucas ahead of the Air Canada spinning tornillo for the win! A solid debut for Shaw, who really won the crowd over here – and getting the win over the champion set her up for a strong remainder of 2019. ***
Post-match, Lucas took the mic and told Shaw she earned a title shot… but she’d have to wait because she was off to Japan (and didn’t appear on Rev Pro cards until the end of the year).
Rickey Shane Page vs. Mark Haskins
RSP’s seemingly-annual tour of the UK took him to Southampton, just days after losing to David Starr at the Cockpit.
We’ve a tentative start as Haskins and Page looked to grab a hold early on, but it’s Haskins who got ahead early with an armbar, keeping RSP down before he rolled his way free. Haskins goes for the leg next, but Page gets to the rope as the crowd poked fun at Haskins for not having a belly. Anti-body shaming? Haskins goes back to the leg, tripping Page, but the advantage doesn’t last for long as Page got free and tried to nick it with a crucifix pin. Kicks from Haskins sting, but Page pushes him away before catching Haskins in the ropes with a forearm. A low dropkick from Haskins takes him down, as the former PROGRESS champ went to work on the leg of Page, tying him up in a Trailer Hitch.
After getting free, Page gets taken into the corner with chops, which he literally invited, before kicking Page’s leg out of his leg en route to an Indian deathlock. Page chops his way free of the hold, but gets taken back into the ropes for more chops and kicks as Haskins wore him down with strikes before tying up the leg for a dropkick. Wash, rinse and repeat, before Page managed to fight back as he took down Haskins, only to crash and burn as a senton off the top was blocked by Haskins’ knees. Both men needed to use a lot of the standing ten count, but Page is right back with a no-bump suplex, throwing away haskins before he faked him out with a roundhouse enziguiri.
A back body drop with a kick on the way down meets Haskins next, before Page went up top… walking the rope before missing a splash as Haskins rolled away. Haskins is quickly back with a diving knee before a misdirection tope caught out Page on the outside, before kicks got Haskins ever nearer back inside. Haskins keeps kicking away at Page, who pulls his straps down again, before he ate a bunch of uppercuts en route to hitting a cutter out of nowhere. Page heads up top again, and this time lands the senton for a near-fall, before catching Haskins with a running boot and a sit-out side slam. It nearly gets the job done, as Page looks for a chokeslam, before he rolled into a kick from Haskins, who pushed ahead with a roll through death valley driver for a near-fall. A Sharpshooter attempt is initially blocked, but Page can’t avoid it at the second go, and after getting trapped in the middle of the ring, Page had no choice but to tap out. Pretty decent stuff, with Haskins showing off his usual viciousness throughout as he showed no mercy towards Page. ***¼
Rob Lias vs. Dan Magee
Contenders past open up the second half of the show, with Lias hardly endearing himself to the Southampton crowd.
Lias wants a handshake to start, but it wasn’t forthcoming as Magee instead shook off a backcracker attempt, before he avoided a dropkick and came back in with a Slingblade as it was just poor Fraser on his own on commentary. A thumb to the eye gets Lias in it, but a big back body drop puts Magee back on top before he came back out of the corner with a Whisper in the Wind for a near-fall.
Lias trips Magee on the top rope, then proceeded to take some cheap shots as he began to put the boots to Magee. A cartwheel from Lias trips Magee ahead of an elbow drop to the back, with further elbows following as Lias began to let himself get distracted by the crowd. A second Slingblade from Magee’s countered with a kick as Lias keeps going, but he gets shoved down from a superplex attempt and instead hits a Twister suplex on Magee for a near-fall. Rather than capitalise, Lias stops to pose for the crowd, putting on his sunglasses… which Magee quickly slaps off him. A takedown from Lias keeps this brawl going, but Magee’s able to slug his way through, landing a number of forearms before landing a back suplex. He followed that up with a legdrop for a two-count, but elbows from Lias get him back in as a superkick to the already bruised-eye of Magee followed.
Magee bounces back with a German suplex and a powerbomb for a near-fall, before he caught Lias in the ropes and teased the Jado-ish draping DDT. Lias sneaks outside, where he’s met with a cannonball off the apron, following back in with a crossbody off the top for a near-fall. Shots to the midsection from Lias follow, as does a back cracker as he countered out of the Morning Glory, before he followed up with an elbow off the top for a near-fall. Heading up again, Lias leaps into a leaping Flatliner before Magee followed in with a Koji clutch… but he manages to reposition himself, and rolls up Magee for the pin – despite having both feet on the ropes for leverage. A Chris Roberts special, with the selective vision and all! ***
Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: A-Kid vs. El Phantasmo (c)
This dates this show, eh? A-Kid was in his final few months with Rev Pro, but was still teaming with Carlos Romo at the time of this non-title outing, with ELP barely a month into his reign as Cruiserweight champion.
Before the match, Phantasmo took digs at the Southampton crowd, and then turned this match into a title defence – since he’d not managed to get one in during his maiden tour of Japan. We get going with ELP loudly telling the hecklers he can’t wait to get back to Canada, before he powdered outside to wind up the Spaniard… and also wind down the clock by ripping up a promo photo he’d sold a fan. Returning to the ring, A-Kid grappled with ELP, who rolled outside to kill more time. This time around, Phantasmo had some luck with a waistlock takedown, before he cartwheeled out of some headscissors… with his usual arrogance.
Going back to the mat, ELP trapped A-Kid with headscissors, rolling him up for extra torque while doing push-ups… but A-Kid flips out, then flips him off. A monkey flip from A-Kid forces a double-pin attempt, but they kick-out as ELP keeps the knuckle lock on, only for A-Kid to free himself with a ‘rana. A-Kid keeps going with a dropkick, taking ELP outside for a plancha, but Phantasmo hit back, shoving A-Kid into the ring post before chopping him around ringside. There’s payback as A-Kid chops back with the pair heading towards the bar, until an eye rake from ELP stopped things as he took A-Kid back into the ring.
Elbows to the back of the head wear down A-Kid, as did him taking the Bret Hart bump into the turnbuckles. The Gas Pedal followed after A-Kid was hung up in the corner, with the dirty tactics keeping up until A-Kid caught Phantasmo with a dropkick… then with a leaping knee out of the corner. That’s followed up with a Northern lights suplex and a standing moonsault, which gets A-Kid a near-fall, but he gets caught on the top rope moments later as ELP hits a ‘rana to bring him down.
A big splash off the top followed from ELP as he gets another near-fall, before needing the ropes to save himself from a triangle choke. Spitting at A-Kid just riled up the Spaniard, as the pair looked to push on, but A-Kid’s German suplex and superkick combo left Phantasmo loopy, with another dropkick almost securing the unlikeliest of title changes. A-Kid keeps going, rolling through ELP into a trapped-arm armbar, then into a triangle armbar, but ELP breaks it up by powerbombing A-Kid into the ref.
With Chris Roberts down, ELP hits a superkick before Carlos Romo came out to distract the champion. A Spanish Fly follows from A-Kid, but ELP kicks out… then countered another armbar… only to eat a Destroyer for a near-fall! ELP spills outside for a breather, but eats a tope before he caught a flying ‘rana back inside, countering into a Styles Clash for another near-fall!
ELP followed up with a V-Trigger and a Sister Abigail… but we still keep going! Phantasmo’s caught up top with a kick, but he then shoves A-Kid off the top into Chris Roberts as the official’s bad night kept going. From there, ELP heads outisde for his title belt, but Carlos Romo snatches it to save him, only for a debuting Hikuleo to come out and lay out Romo, before A-Kid took a chokeslam for the pin. A little too riddled with shenanigans, but this was a good way to bring Hikuleo into the fold – while continuing to sew the seeds for the eventual Whitewolf split. ***½
RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship: Josh Bodom & Sha Samuels vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c)
A week earlier in the Cockpit, these two teams had a goddamn scrap after Aussie Open were goaded into defending their new-look tag titles.
This one started hot with Bodom leaping on Fletcher before the bell, while Samuels and Davis brawled outside the ring. Those two headed up towards the bar, and get joined by Bodom, who had a few choice words for Davis until Fletcher ran in for a save, buying Dunkzilla time as he proceeded to throw Sha across the bar.
Davis keeps going on Bodom, throwing him into a wall off camera before the Aussies double-teamed Sha with chops and kicks. They keep going on Sha with the double-team Go to Sleep off the steps by the bar, while Bodom returned by flinging himself off the top of the stairs into Davis with a cannonball. The scrapping continues as Sha overturned a table, before getting hiptossed into the merch stands. I’m wondering if we’ll ever get a bell here… but Davis and Bodom knocking lumps out of each other in the crowd was perversely entertaining. Davis goes after Samuels with forearms by the ring apron, but went for a run-up and got thrown into the side of the ring with a spinebuster.
Rolling Davis into the ring, and after four minutes of scrapping on the outside, the bell finally rings with Sha looking to get a technically-quick win, but Davis kicked out at two. Sha keeps on Davis, before Bodom came in and took threw some kicks to rock Davis, along with some slaps and a knee as Bodom looked to be showing no quarter. Bodom looked to slip on the ropes as David was sitting on the top turnbuckle, before he returned to hit a cutter off the middle rope for a near-fall. More forearms from Bodom follow, as did some choice words which prompted Dunkzilla to literally slap the soul out of him. Things very quickly breakdown into a fight, with Bodom kicking Davis’ leg out of his leg before Kyle Fletcher ran in to hit a backbreaker, then his part in the double team Go To Sleep. An Aussie Arrow gets Davis a near-fall too, but Sha Samuels grabs Davis in the corner as things began to fray some more.
Bodom’s missile dropkick has Fletcher down, before the Winning Combination (dropkick-assisted F5) got a near-fall on Fletcher. A running knee keeps Davis on the outside as Bodom was swinging for the fences, allowing Sha to hit a spinebuster on Fletcher before Bodom returned with a Destroyer of the middle rope for a near-fall. Samuels keeps Davis restrained with a Butcher’s Hook, while Bodom clubbed Fletcher on the mat… but Davis broke free and charged Bodom out of the ring as they continued their scrap. All semblance of tags had long since been thrown out when the referee got knocked down twice, and that gets the match thrown out as a double DQ. The “official” part was way too brief, but it did a bang up job of keeping the intensity going throughout the summer. ***
Whatever happened, the scrap continues as the Contenders tried to separate the two teams but took a pounding for it. Davis and Fletcher joined Bodom and Samuels in the crowd again, with Bodom hitting a dive off of a conveniently-placed ladder, and no, ringing the bell repeatedly wasn’t going to stop it. The locker room empties to try and break it up, but Sha just does a moonsault onto the pile for the hell of it before he and Bodom posed in the ring with the tag titles… which drew the Aussies back into the ring for another pull-apart as Samuels and a wild-eyed Bodom eventually went to the back.
Well, it took them the best part of a year to release the show on VOD – with speculation being that it’d been as a result of “something in the show”… of course, Bodom and Samuels would go on to win the tag titles three weeks later on Rev Pro’s “Ungovernable” show in Manchester, before coming up short in the Road to Royal Quest tournament, with the surrounding scenes leading to Josh Bodom’s departure.
So, “was it worth the wait?” Well, there’s no relevance to ongoing storylines thanks to the 11 month turnaround… but the entire show wasn’t a complete write-off. The in-ring, as is usually the case for Rev Pro, was solid, and offered a time capsule of sorts for Rev Pro’s future plans.