Michael Oku continued his ever-extending his title run as he defended against the undefeated-in-Rev Pro Anthony Ogogo.
Quick Results
Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs pinned Robbie X & JJ Gale in 14:21 (***½)
Safire Reed, Nina Samuels & Lizzy Evo pinned Lucia Lee, Kanji & Rhio in 14:56 (***)
Neon pinned Cameron Khai in 7:58 (**¼)
Street Fight: Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima pinned Goldenboy Santos & David Francisco in 9:43 (**¾)
Haley J pinned Nightshade in 9:22 (**¼)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned Zozaya in 16:24 (***½)
TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo pinned Brendan White & Danny Jones in 13:31 (***¼)
Michael Oku pinned Anthony Ogogo to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in 21:54 (***½)
— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com
We’re eight weeks away from Rev Pro’s 12th anniversary at the Copperbox – and things are starting to heat up… we’re back at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage for the second time this year. Commentary comes from Andy Quildan and Leyton Buzzard.
JJ Gale & Robbie X vs. Young Guns (Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs)
There was some aggro between Jacobs and Gale after their skirmish at St. Neots last weekend…
Allen and Robbie X start us off, with Allen’s headlock takedown and shoulder tackles having Robbie on the back foot early on. The trend continued with Luke Jacobs for a spell, who caught, slammed and hit a back senton on his fellow former cruiserweight champ for a two-count, before JJ Gale came in to hit a springboard tijeras and a dropkick.
Robbie’s back to hit a senton atomico on Jacobs for a two-count, before Ethan Allen rushed in and almost sent himself flying through Gale off the apron. The Young Guns retain control from there, lighting up Robbie X with chops and body blows before Robbie rolled past Allan and made a tag to Gale, who charges in with uppercuts.
A blind tag brought Jacobs back in as Gale’s cut off, leading to a flying stomp to Gale in the ropes from Jacobs for a two-count, while another parade of elbow drops laid waste to Gale from there. Jacobs lands a superkick from there for a two-count, before the Young Guns’ attempt to go Doomsday was thwarted by Gale, who added a wheelbarrow stomp to Allen before finally bringing Robbie X back in.
Robbie’s hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick takes out Jacobs before Ethan Allen got caught in the corner with a Beyblade kick. A standing shooting star’s good for a two-count for Robbie X, before Allen’s attempt at an Olympic slam was countered out of. Gale’s back to go for a moonsault… but he misses and ends up trapping himself in the Young Guns’ corner for a dropkick and a Doomsday Device. It’s good for a near-fall on Gale, who manages to avoid a lariat before he nailed Jacobs with a rolling elbow and a Side Effect.
Gale pushes on with a Falcon arrow for a near-fall, before Robbie X’s attempt to get involved was stopped by Allen. Robbie recovers to hit a handspring kick to knock the Young Guns outside ahead of a tope con giro from Gale, while Allen returned to break up a pin from a Spiral Tap. Gale’s sent flying as he went for a springboard, leaving Robbie X alone against the Young Guns… he gave it a shot, but ends up falling to a lariat from Jacobs, a charging knee from Allen, then a kick-assisted piledriver as the Young Guns picked up the W. ***½
Post-match, Allen – who somehow had managed to cut his fingers during the match – dealt with a heckler before underscoring that his challenge for Connor Mills wasn’t for anywhere else but the Copperbox in two months’ time.
Next up was the scheduled streetfight between Sha Samuels and Oskar Leube against David Francisco and Goldenboy Santos. The Portuguese lads jumped their opponents on the stage, with a balaclava’d Santos choking out Oskar with a jump rope. Francisco made a point of targeting Sha Samuels, laying waste to him, repeatedly Pillmanizing him until the match got waved off. “We’re going to try again later,” although as Sha was being carried away, you had to wonder… how long would the resulting handicap match be?
Lizzy Evo, Nina Samuels & Safire Reed vs. Kanji, Lucia Lee & Rhio
Moving on, and Francesca exits stage left, leaving Mercedez Blaze to pull double (triple?) duty as impromptu ring announcer, photographer and manager for the unnamed group.
Samuels and Rhio start us off, with Rhio scoring a leg sweep early on before a suplex and a dropkick took Nina into the corner. A step-up knee and a seated dropkick followed from Rhio, who brought in Kanji, whose low superkick picked up a two-count, before Lucia Lee tagged in… with Nina scrambling out to tag in Safire Reed.
Reed’s quickly taken into the corner with a clothesline as Lee’s neckbreaker gets a quick two-count for her. Mercedez Blaze gets involved, allowing Reed to throw Lee into Lizzy Evo’s boot on the apron as the match turned on its head, with Lucia Lee on the defensive, getting triple-teamed in the corner.
Samuels’ neck flip a la Curt Hennig’s good for a two-count, as was a release suplex from Reed, before Lee got trapped between the ropes for a dropkick from Nina. Tags bring in Evo and Kanji, with Kanji landing a big boot and a Dragon screw before Safire Reed stormed the ring… and got pulled into an arm twist. Nina’s next as shes’ piled onto Reed, before Evo completed the set for a hattrick of arm twists.
Kanji’s corkscrew plancha followed them outside, while a slingshot spear back inside led to a two-count on Evo. Breaking free, Evo’s release German suplex led to one in reply from Kanj. Tags bring us to Rhio and Reed, with the latter getting sunk with a headbutt, then with a spinning heel kick before Kanji’s superkick assisted with an Air Raid Crash for a near-fall.
Reed’s back, but was quickly trapped between the ropes for chops from Kanji, before a kick and a clothesline took Reed down. Palm strikes are stopped by Reed, who added a short-distance clothesline of her own as Kanji ended up getting caught in the corner with a double-team powerbomb being ‘rana’d out of. Samuels tags in and tried her luck with an inside cradle… Rhio’s got the same idea… before Lucia Lee tagged back in and tried to push things over the line.
Samuels grabbed the hair to get free and land an axe kick for a two-count… Lee’s falling Saito suplex takes things to the mat for an armbar, but Evo’s able to kick it apart before Lucia got blindsided with a head kick. Rhio and Kanji get pulled off the apron by Blaze and Reed, allowing the mugging to finish with an Evo spear, a Samuels powerbomb, before Reed’s double stomp finally put away Lee. ***
Cameron Khai vs. Neon
A non-title outing here, and we got going with Neon flipping over Khai, before a leg sweep and a low superkick caught the champion unawares.
Khai’s suplex takes Neon to the outside for respite, but a tope quickly puts paid to that, while a standing moonsault back inside got Khai a two-count. A volley to the back has Neon laying, before he picked up a couple of two-counts from a suplex. Turning it around, Neon’s springboard dropkick gets him a two-count, before a second dropkick took Khai outside for a flip senton that landed with a thud.
Back inside, Khai rolls through a crossbody before hoisting up Neon into a death valley driver for a two-coun… the pace quickens as Neon ran into a clothesline, leading to a snappy Falcon arrow for a two-count. Another turnaround sees Khai hung up in the ropes for a double-jump stomp to the back for a two-count, ahead of a delayed Quebrada for a near-fall.
A missile dropkick from Neon’s countered into a dropkick as Khai tried to turn it around, landing an over-the-knee brainbuster for a two-count of his own, before an armdrag and an imploding senton from Neon ended things. This was fine, but felt a little flat – with Stevenage clearly not having seen Neon beforehand. **¼
Post-match, Will Kaven came out and got into a shoving fight with Khai on the stage… before confronting Neon in the ring ahead of his title match in Sheffield the next day.
Street Fight: David Francisco & Goldenboy Santos vs. Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima)
Our re-arranged street fight took us into the interval, with Oskar coming through the crowd to attack Francisco and Santos in what began as a handicap match.
Francisco quickly uses a chair to Oskar’s knee and back as the Portuguese lads took control… threatening another Pillmanizing until the Young Bloods’ music hit again? It’s the returning Yuto Nakashima, who came armed with a pair of Kendo sticks, leading to Young Blood coming out swinging.
Santos makes the save as Francisco was being teed up from a knee-assisted F5, before things spilled outside with Francisco’s dropkick through the ropes clearing the way. All four brawl around the venue, with Santos using the Kendo stick while Oskar choked out Francisco in the bleachers.
Freeing himself, Francisco chokes out Yuto before taking him into the ring post… then thought more of using a Portuguese flag to choke Yuto with. A DDT onto a chair laid out Nakashima, as Francisco then turned his sights back onto Oskar, whipping him with a belt before using Sha’s scarf to choke out Oskar some more.
Santos came close from a kick-assisted suplex, but Yuto breaks up the pin… a chairshot from Francisco led to him getting DDT’d onto the chair, before kicks from Nakashima left Santos laying in the corner. Running knees through a chair to Santos in the corner had Yuto on the home stretch… but a distraction from Francisco allowed Santos back in with a low blow.
Francisco adds a double-jump flying cliothesline, while a Midas Touch from Santos tested out Yuto’s collarbone… forcing in Oskar to break up the pin. On his own, Oskar tries to fight through, before Nakashima made the save… leading to Francisco eating a Midas Touch, as a high-low pair of kicks and a knee-assisted F5 finally put away Santos. **¾
Post-match, Young Blood made the universal sign of “we want the belts” and hey… the tag champions don’t have a match set for the Copperbox. Yet.
Nightshade vs. Haley J
Francesca again exited stage left as the nameless group was in full force here with Nightshade taking on a debuting Haley J. It’s quite a ways away from OVW’s Davis Arena in Louisville.
Haley was playing keepaway early on, stinging Nightshade’s leg with kicks before an attempted crucifix was caught. An attempted sit-out splash was avoided, before Haley was tripped in the ropes… leading to everyone getting ejected at ringside.
Nightshade’s headbutt took Haley off her feet, as did a clothesline, before Haley again went for a crossbody… and turned it into a fallaway slam. Running knees trap Haley in the corner ahead of a big splash for just a one-count. Eventually returning fire with an enziguiri, Haley went back up for a crossbody… but yet again it’s caught and turned into a swinging slide slam.
A follow-up elbow drop eventually got Nightshade a two-count, before Haley fought out of a chokebomb, following in with a superkick and a splash to the back. A diving knee followed, before she finally scored with the crossbody off the top for a near-fall. Returning fire, Nightshade pulls Haley down with a German suplex, before she grabbed Haley’s sock of rocks…
The referee tries to disarm Nightshade, but Mercedez Blaze slides into the ring and pulls down Haley by the hair. From there, Nightshade drags Haley into the corner, but misses a splash off the middle rope… Haley gets her sock of rocks again, but this time Mercedez’s distraction allowed for Nina Samuels to grab Haley. An errant headbutt took care of Nina, before a shot with the sock rocked Nightshade for the win. **¼
Post-match, the rest of Nightshade’s group hit the ring and put a beating to Haley J… until Alex Windsor’s entrance stopped them in their tracks. Nightshade was waiting for Windsor… but the rest of her group attacks Nightshade, with Windsor joining in, seemingly replacing her as the group’s defacto leader, as the assault ended with Nightshade being put through a table.
So, that’s Nightshade out of the group – less than a month after they first emerged. Storyline-wise, you can make the point that Nightshade’s done nothing but lose this month, but this really does feel like they’ve speed-run a LOT of the storyline inside four weeks.
Zozaya vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
A clash of the titans in Rev Pro – with Zozaya only having had two singles losses in Rev Pro… the first of which came last time in Stevenage against Michael Oku, the other was to Angel de Oro at Fantasticamania. Zozaya’s reaction compared to last time in Stevenage was like night and day.
RKJ slapped Zozaya in the face as the bell went – leading to a feeling-out process that saw Ricky nullify Zozaya’s attempts at grappling, falling into the ropes to force a break before anything could get going. Breaking free of an arm wringer, RKJ chops Zozaya, then caught a leapfrog and launched the Spaniard into the corner with a death valley driver.
A pair of dropkicks follow, as did a draping DDT for a two-count, while a stalling suplex led to some overhand chops in the ropes and a reacharound. Countering with a low bridge, RKJ’s sent flying, before an attempted leg sweep was countered into a kick from Zozaya… whose follow-up plancha was caught and turned into a slam onto the edge of the ring.
Back inside, Zozaya steadied himself enough to take RKJ outside for a springboard dropkick… following out with a springboard bodypress. RKJ’s enziguiri stems the tide, ahead of a suplex. A gamengiri traps Zozaya on the top rope, but he’s able to escape a Muscle Buster and return with a Destroyer, before a superkick almost got the win.,..
Zozaya’s double-jump stomp keeps RKJ very much on the back foot, but a hook kick and a springboard forearm to the back of the head sees Ricky follow-up with a Razor’s Edge for a near-fall. RKJ takes too long to follow-up and gets caught on the top rope for a Spanish Fly… he shrugs it off to lay out Zozaya with a clothesline, before a Fire Thunder Driver’s countered into the de Madrid al cielo death valley driver for a near-fall.
Trying to keep control, Zozaya lifts RKJ up top for an avalanche de Madrid al cielo, but RKJ slips out and hits a Muscle Buster… for a near-fall?! From there, Zozaya slips out of a Fire Thunder driver and tries his luck with a roll-up… before a superkick, a spin kick and the Fire Thunder driver finally got the win, Ricky’s chaining together a lot of wins for someone who doesn’t have a clear direction towards the Copperbox… ***½
Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper)
Sunshine Machine are still fighting to stay alive in Rev Pro – per their self-defined rules…
A jump start sees Mambo lay out Danny Jones with a Reef Break as the Greedy Souls looked to get the hop on things… but it’s Sunshine Machine who almost shut it down within seconds of the bell after a German Suplex Turbo Charged By The Power of Friendship. Double-teaming on Brendan led to a neckbreaker, before a leg lariat from TK drew in Danny Jones… but Mambo’s in to take care of him.
An early attempt at the Designated Driver’s stopped by Danny Jones, before Brendan just threw Mambo at TK on the top rope. Jones stops himself from being thrown into the post, but he’s met with a pump kick instead before the Greedy Souls finally found their groove. A pair of back sentons gets a two-count on Mambo, who remained on the defensive as TK distracted the referee with his arguing.
Mambo’s kept in the corner for more double-teaming, leading to a pair of boots almost putting Mambo down for the count. A double Blockbuster from Mambo clears the way as TK gets the tag in as he went to work on the Souls with clotheslines. An Exploder flings Brendan across the ring, but Jones breaks up a standing shooting star press before the Omelette du Fromage kick took care of Jones.
White’s forced to kick out from a Samoan drop, but Mambo’s springboard splash gets nothing but knees as a roll-up nearly ended things. TK’s tagged back in as a Designated Driver lands… but Jones breaks up the pin, before TK’s met with the Hospital Pass slingshot Bossman Slam for a near-fall.
Mambo’s in, but gets charged into the corner as the ref misses a mule kick low blow that almost ended Sunshine Machine. A Line Out pop-up slam takes care of TK as the Welsh lads doled out another Hospital Pass to Mambo, but it’s still not enough. TK’s spear stops a double-team suplex as an inside cradle nearly nicked it for Mambo, who misses a splash off the top as Danny Jones’ Go 2 Sleep picked up a near-fall.
Mambo kicks away a Soul Destroyer, but there’s some confusion after a blind tag from TK… it led to a Reef Break on Brendan, before a big splash from Mambo and a shooting star press from TK led to the win. Another solid outing, but I fear the “we lose and we’re done” stipulation is going to lead to muted crowd reactions for a lot of these Sunshine Machine matches – although they did have the crowd biting on near-falls late on, it’s going to take a lot to have people really believing the peril. ***¼
Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Anthony Ogogo vs. Michael Oku (c)
Ogogo’s elimination of Michael Oku at the Revolution Rumble booked him this spot – as Oku would surely be hoping that his murderer’s row of challengers ahead of the Copperbox is starting to dry up.
Ogogo blindsides Oku before the bell, stomping a mudhole through him as things spilled outside, with some t-shirt choking and a chokeslam onto the side of the ring having the champion in trouble before things really got going. Something else that was also in trouble… was the Rev Pro title, which Ogogo held up over his head before dropping it to the floor, smashing parts of the belt off.
The bell eventually sounded though, with Ogogo’s clothesline and Olympic Slam almost ending things in seconds. Kicking out just led to Oku taking a series of release German suplexes… he’s able to low bridge Ogogo onto the spring, before a springboard dropkick took the Olympian to the outside for a Fosbury flop.
Back inside, a froggy crossbody drops Ogogo for a two-count, before an attempt at a half crab was pushed away with such force that Oku was sent flying over the top rope to the outside. It’s enough to make Andy Quildan donate to the swear jar…
Ogogo heads outside to have a go at the fans who helped Oku back up, then rolled the champion back inside to stay on him with elbows in the corner. A clothesline off the ropes gets a rather arrogant one-count for Ogogo, who proceeded to keep Oku grounded with a cravat, then with a kick to the back.
An overhead belly-to-belly suplex launched Oku across the ring, leading to another clothesline for a near-fall. A jack-knife cover gives Oku some hope, but another back elbow from Ogogo snuffed out that fight back, only for a dropkick from Oku to buy him some time. From there, a charging dropkick into the corner from Oku’s added to with a satellite DDT as Ogogo threatened to get back in it… eventually doing so with a Tower of London out of the corner.
Oku’s able to get a foot on the rope – but Ogogo celebrates like he won the belt. Despite there being no bell or music playing. Capitalising on Ogogo’s arguing, Oku scores a roll-up before… Ogogo pounced him high into the ropes. Bloody hell, Oku’s living dangerously here.
Ogogo tries to capitalise, lifting Oku up top… a crossbody’s caught by Ogogo, who hits the spin-out standing F5 (“the Platty Jubes”) for a near-fall. A package piledriver’s snuck out of as Oku pulled Ogogo into a half crab… but it’s right by the ropes as the challenger had to pull himself to the outside. Heading outside, Ogogo connected with a punch to the midsection that sent Oku down to the floor… before an errant punch saw Ogogo connect with nothing but the ring post.
Ogogo’s struggling to get back to his feet… and is instantly met with a springboard moonsault as soon as he did. Making it back inside, Ogogo tries to throw punches with his weaker hand, but Oku’s able to avoid them as he instead stomped on the damaged hand. Those led to a cross armbreaker as Oku focused on the hand, but Ogogo powers up and broke the hold with a sit-out powerbomb. A gutwrench into a spin-out slam followed, before another crack at the package piledriver planted Oku for the near-fall.
Almost out of desperation, Ogogo heads up top… only to crash and burn on a senton bomb! Oku pounces on a cross armbreaker from there, before a sunset flip out of the corner took him back into the half crab. Trapping the good arm, Oku forces Ogogo to crawl to the ropes before Oku lost grip of the hold. A PK and a pair of frog splashes follow… but it’s not enough to get the three count as Oku then went back to the half crab. Again Ogogo tries to roll out, cradling Oku, only for the counter to the cradle to snatch the win as the champion racked up a 14th defence – by hook or by crook! ***½
Raw Deal was another strong showing from Rev Pro – quibbles over the speedrunning of the Nightshade/Windsor group notwithstanding. With all roads now leading to the east end of London and the Copperbox, things really should start falling into place for that show.