We’re picking up a thread from five years ago – going back to Rev Pro’s short-lived TV show with the last of the tag team tournament quarter-finals!
A quick note before we jump into this – the matches for this show were taped in September 2018. There are names on these shows which came up during Speaking Out – mentions of those names will be kept to a minimum.
So… nearly four years after we stopped covering the short-run show (since Freesports messed around with its timeslot), we’ve managed to get the “missing” shows, and we’re going to complete the set. Anyway, we’re live on not-quite-tape from York Hall for this show that aired November 16, 2018.
Kevin Kelly and Andy Simmons are your hosts as we open with a recap of what happened last week – with Chris Brookes and Jonathan Gresham attacking El Phantasmo, who was then saved by Jushin Thunder Liger. That’ll be our main event this week, as commentary also runs down the rules of wrestling for any newbies.
Before we get going, David Starr interrupts. He’s unhappy that there’s a tournament to crown number one contenders for the tag titles, while his next challenger is going to be determined among “three idiots.”
A-Kid vs. Kurtis Chapman vs. Kip Sabian
This was before Kurtis became mad…
Sabian turns a pair of handshakes into an offensive move, as A-Kid and Chapman work wristlocks… which Kip countered out of with a springboard double armdrag. Chapman stays in the ring with Sabian, landing a dropkick and an enziguiri to take care of Kip, but its only enough for a one-count as Sabian was right back up.
A low dropkick from Chapman takes Kip outside, but A-Kid’s in to stop Chapman from following up, landing a PK before Sabian’s springboard crossbody took both men down. Step-up knees from Sabian keep him ahead, before a wheelbarrow roll through and Northern Lights suplex led to a double pin attempt.
A-Kid scores with a springboard armdrag/headscissor takedown, before a springboard moonsault met them on the floor. Back inside, a Molly Go Round from Chapman crashed into Sabian for a near-fall, before a baseball slide German caught Chapman in the ropes, as A-Kid added a crossbody for a near-fall.
Chapman countered a tombstone into a Sega Mega Driver, but Sabian breaks up the pin so he could hit the Deathly Hollows (a sit-out Burning Hammer on Chapman) to snatch the pin. ***
Starr and Sabian have a staredown afterwards, with a teased belt shot…
After the break, Gideon Grey’s in the ring to remind us who he is. He’s “recently” acquired the services of an undefeated Great-O-Kharn (who since dropped an R back in New Japan), and it’s been a while since I’ve seen him threaten a coronary doing an introduction.
Great-O-Kharn vs. Darrell Allen
O-Kharn had already squashed Harrison Thompson and Michael Oku so far in this series, and was 11-0 at this point…
It’s an “already in the ring” opponent, as we start with a tie-up into the ropes. O-Kharn hits a knee on the break, then went for the ear. A fightback sees O-Kharn take a missile dropkick, then a roundhouse enziguiri, before Gideon Grey tripped O-Kharn’s opponent in the ropes. O-Kharn strikes from behind, before he scored with a Gourdbuster and an inverted suplex for the win. Splat.
Tag Team Contenders Tournament – First Round: Gnarly Neon Explosion (Cassius & Chuck Mambo) vs. Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm
Roppongi 3K and Aussie Open are already in the semis – the winners here will take on the Hunter Brothers in the other semi-final. Questions over how Cassius and Mambo qualified for this were somewhat justified, given this was Cassius’ debut for Rev Pro!
Mambo and Fleisch start us off, hitting the ropes for cartwheels, roll throughs and backflips as Mambo eventually took down Jody with a drop toe hold. That leads to a surfboard, with Fleisch face-planting out of it, before Cassius got the tag in. Fleisch tags out too, but there’s double-teaming as Mambo and Cassius hit a double-team elbow drop for a two-count.
Slaps knock away Mambo and Cassius… Fleisch too, before Cassius got smacked on the arse. That sent him outside as Mambo came back in with a Reef Break, before he held the ropes open for Cassius’ dive as he sent both opponents into the York Hall steps. Back inside, a reverse ‘rana plants Mambo ahead of a sandwich of low dropkicks for a two-count,.
Fleisch is back for a springboard dropkick to Mambo, but Cassius is able to get back in with headscissors… then a swinging DDT. Mambo tags back in but his frog splash whiffs as Fleisch took advantage with a back senton off the top, with an added powerbomb on the way down from his partner, to get the win. This was fine, but something about this set-up just didn’t click with me on this much-later rewatch. **¾
Back from break, they recap how we got to today’s main event, with Chris Brookes’ attempted unmasking of Jushin Thunder Liger… the save from El Phantasmo, and then Jonathan Gresham’s distraction in that singles match the following week.
CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) vs. El Phantasmo & Jushin Thunder Liger
Oh my God, I’d forgotten Rev Pro’s CCK theme. Time to wreck some steel tonight…
CCK attack Liger and ELP from behind, as we got going with CCK isolating Liger in their corner. Liger laughs off some chops from Gresham before a single palm strike in return took Gresham down. A side headlock from Liger ends in the ropes, but he’s able to take things down to the mat as he tied Gresham up in knots, forcing Brookes in to stomp the hold apart.
Gresham jacks out the knee of Liger amid a drop toe hold attempt, then took El Phantasmo off the apron. Liger hobbles outside as we’re told we’re getting Dan Magee vs. Sha Samuels again next week. Back in the ring, Liger’s kept on the deck as Brookes tagged in and stomped on the leg, following up with a leg lock as that left knee had the bullseye on it.
Liger gets to the rope to force a break, but Brookes doesn’t break cleanly. Gresham’s back and hits Liger in the groin for a two-count, having distracted the referee… Liger kicks Gresham, then Brookes out of the ring, before Gresham forced Liger to fake-out a leapfrog. It jars the knee, but Liger’s able to hit a tiltawhirl backbreaker, which hurt both men equally ahead of tags to ELP and Brookes.
Phantasmo runs wild here, scoring a springboard crossbody and quebrada to Brookes, before diving on Gresham. There’s an Arabian press to Gresham too, while a springboard splash to Brookes back inside almost won it. Phantasmo stays on Brookes with some ropewalking… Gresham tries to intervene, but he runs into a Shotei from Liger, while Brookes’ Magic Screw took Phantasmo down seconds later.
Recovering, ELP hits the UFO/whirlibird neckbreaker, before Liger tagged back in and went after Brookes with Shoteis. A Ligerbomb’s blocked by Brookes, who rakes the eyes through that mask, before tagging Gresham in. Standing switches confuse as Gresham went back to the knee, allowing him to hit a moonsault press as he then rolled in for an ankle lock on Liger.
Gresham ends up deadlifting Liger into a German suplex for a near-fall, before Brookes and ELP spilled outside… another moonsault press from Gresham takes Liger down ahead of a tope to ELP on the floor. Brookes joins in with a knee off the apron to Liger, before the slingshot cutter from Brookes led to a shooting star press from Gresham for a near-fall.
CCK keep going, but Liger charges Brookes into the corner as ELP snuck in a superplex to Gresham… Liger’s back with a Koppo kick to Brookes, then a tag out to ELP, whose senton bomb found its mark. A splash off the top from Liger hurts him as much as it did Gresham, distracting the referee as Brookes undoes a corner pad and swats away a moonsault from ELP with it… allowing Gresham to snatch the win with a cheeky roll-up. ***¼
They replay the finish after Brookes had reattached the corner pad… and that’d be the end of the CCK vs. ELP/Liger feud on this show as we wind down the remaining weeks of World of Pro Wrestling.