Zack Sabre Jr. and PAC (formerly known as Neville in WWE) are set to face off at the beginning of 2019.
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced today that Sabre vs. PAC will take place at their Live at the Cockpit show at The Cockpit Theatre in London on Sunday, January 6. PAC also made an appearance at RevPro’s event at the Portsmouth Guildhall this Thursday, facing Speedball Mike Bailey.
After a year away from the ring, PAC returned to Dragon Gate this October. He’s now started to make his first in-ring appearances in Europe since it was confirmed in August that he was no longer under contract with WWE.
Before facing PAC, Sabre will be challenging for RevPro’s Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tokyo Dome show. Tomohiro Ishii defending his British Heavyweight title against Sabre at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4 was set up at RevPro’s Uprising event earlier this month.
With a format similar to PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles where the opening rounds narrowed the field to a multi-person final, Revolution Pro Wrestling’s British J-Cup continued in Manchester, England yesterday.
In this case, the field of 16 was reduced to a four-way final. Day one saw the opening round matches, and yesterday’s event began with the first match of the second round.
– El Phantasmo defeated Jushin Thunder Liger in a British J-Cup second round match
Liger is the defending tournament champion, while El Phantasmo recently had an excellent match for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship.
They began with comedy, as Liger borrowed Phantasmo’s sunglasses to mimic his pose, and then made Phantasmo promise not to double-cross him before shaking his hand. There was then an extended sequence of the larger Liger using mat-wrestling to wear down Phantasmo, with Liger busting out the Gory Special, Camel Clutch, and abdominal stretch.
They exchanged high spots, with Liger doing a nice cannonball off the ring apron onto Phantasmo. The finish came with Liger struggling to get ELP back to his feet after hitting him with the brainbuster. A frustrated Liger asked to be declared the victor by knockout, only for Phantasmo to roll him up for the win.
A slightly silly finish but this was a fun opener. And as somebody who has bought tickets to see Liger in Revolution Pro Wrestling three times only for real life to intervene each time, it was cool to finally see him.
– KUSHIDA defeated David Starr in a British J-Cup second round match
Starr is the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion, and unlike elsewhere, works as a heel in RevPro. Before the match, Starr cut his standard heel promo, complaining about how the promotion’s management is conspiring against him. As ever, he was joined by his preferred official Shay Purser.
This was a really good match as the two combined technical wrestling with stiff striking exchanges. The finish centered on Purser. Starr used him as a human shield, forcing KUSHIDA to move the referee out of the way. This created the distraction for Starr to land a low blow. However, the following pinfall only got a two. Starr went for his championship belt, only for Purser to argue with him, ultimately grabbing the belt from him. This allowed KUSHIDA to hit the small package driver for the victory.
Nice touch in the post-match, with Starr staring at the British J-Cup before going to the back.
– CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) & Chris Ridgeway defeated Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dean Allmark
This was the first of many consolation matches for defeated British J-Cup participants. They began with an awesome chain wrestling sequence between Gresham and Allmark. Eventually, they tagged out to Brookes and Tiger Mask. Ridgeway and then Taguchi tagged in, with Taguchi hitting all three men with the hip attack. Indeed he ran wild, hitting it on them multiple times. He went for one off the top rope, but Ridgeway countered into a dragon screw.
Brookes tagged back in, with the heels rotating the tag as they worked over Taguchi, with a particular emphasis on his hip and backside. Taguchi’s selling of this destruction was something to behold. At the third attempt, he hit the hip attack on Ridgeway and tagged in Tiger Mask. The heels rallied and almost secured the pin on Tiger Mask, but he managed to kick out and then tag in Allmark.
Allmark teared into the opposition by hitting several big high-flying moves, including a moonsault from the top rope to the outside. However, Ridgeway was able to trap him in the rear naked choke. With some added manipulation of the fingers, Ridgeway secured the submission victory.
– Rich Swann defeated Yoh in a British J-Cup second round match
Yoh’s full entrance routine is really something to see in person. They had a great match, which had plenty of action and shifts in momentum.
Swann dominated the early stages, landing some hard chops to the chest of Yoh. The Chaos member made a comeback, working the leg of Swann for an extended period of time. They traded big moves until Swann re-injured his leg. Yoh trapped him in a figure four, managing to move Swann into the center of the ring. Swann was able to escape after reversing the hold. The finish came when Swann hit the 450 splash for the victory.
– Rocky Romero defeated Sho in a British J-Cup second round match
What began as a good-natured babyface match between the two Roppongi 3K members gained some extra spice added to it when Sho accused Rocky Romero of poking him in the eye. He proceeded to lay in heavy strikes, demanding his trainer do the same. Romero regained the advantage after stretching Sho with an abdominal stretch. Sho made a comeback, getting a two count following a flurry of kicks.
A fun sequence left both men on the floor after they both kept trying to go for clotheslines and V-Triggers. Romero escaped and secured a bridging pin on Sho for the victory after evading a slam. They embraced afterwards.
– Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Flamita & Bandido
They opened with some comedy about the size difference between Davis and the other competitors. Not only did we have the usual big man vs. little man spots (i.e. test of strength and shoulder charges), but we had fun moments like where the other three kipped up while Davis needed time to psych himself to jump to his feet. At one point, he even used the second rope to do a lucha escape.
The match was more than comedy with there being some spectacular moments as all four let loose in an all-action match. Aussie Open secured the win with the fidget spinner. I hope that we get to see these two teams face each other again when they have more time and a livelier crowd.
This was a fairly basic big-man match, although both sides worked well together. LAX spent much of the match trying to isolate Thatcher from WALTER, in particular winding up the big Austrian so that he would make mistakes to the detriment of his tag team partner.
Ringkampf would however rally, ultimately securing the double submission victory.
– El Phantasmo defeated Rich Swann, Rocky Romero, and KUSHIDA in a four-way elimination match to win the British J-Cup
They had a really fun match that was only slightly marred by the odd brainfart of having several pinfalls interrupted by other wrestlers in what was an elimination match.
This was a showcase for the eventual winner El Phantasmo, who started the match by doing his always impressive trademark spots of evading opponents attacks while walking the ropes. KUSHIDA and Romero were eliminated in quick succession, with Romero pinning KUSHIDA after he was hit by David Starr with the British Cruiserweight title belt, only to then fall victim to a superkick from El Phantasmo.
There was then a prolonged battle between Phantasmo and Swann, with the crowd firmly behind Phantasmo. Phantasmo secured the victory by following up a super hurricanrana with a frog splash and then a moonsault from opposite corners of the ring.
The show ended with El Phantasmo being presented the British J-Cup and being congratulated by the other babyfaces.
Final thoughts —
A fun show, and the eclectic mix of performers led to a variety of matches throughout. The big story was El Phantasmo’s victory, which surely will set up a rematch with Starr for the British Cruiserweight title. There is also the question of whether KUSHIDA’s interactions with the champion will lead to him challenging Starr sometime soon.
Both nights of the British Super J Cup 2018 will soon be available on Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Video On Demand Service, which you can subscribe to at https://rpwondemand.pivotshare.com for $8.49 per month.
Revolution Pro Wrestling was back at York Hall in London yesterday for their second of two straight nights of tapings for FreeSports.
– From the LED ring apron, it seems that the name of the show is “World of Pro Wrestling,” seemingly a dig/play on ITV’s “World of Sport.”
– Kip Sabian defeated Kurtis Chapman and A-Kid in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to David Starr’s Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship
Starr came out and was annoyed that there was a whole tournament to decide the Tag Team title number one contenders but a random triple threat to determine his challenger. He commentated the match.
All four worked face and it was a decent opener for the show. A-Kid continues to impress.
– The Great O-Kharn (w/ Lord Gideon Grey) defeated Darrell Allen
Lord Gideon Grey is excellent as O-Kharn’s manager and is now calling him the undefeated Great O-Kharn. Another simple squash.
– Jonny Storm & Jody Fleish defeated Chuck Mambo & Cassius in a tag team tournament quarterfinal match
This was the final quarterfinal in the tag team tournament to decide the number one contenders to Suzuki-gun (already in the semis are Aussie Open, Sho & Yoh, and the Hunter Bros). This was a strong match and both teams were fairly over. Mambo looked excellent, but the veterans won.
– Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & El Phantasmo
This match was set up the night before. The heels bent the rules and injured Liger’s right leg early on, which he sold incredibly well and was unable to tag in Phantasmo. When he finally did, Phantasmo leapt around the ring and took CCK to their limits.
CCK cheated to win and were heavily booed.
– KUSHIDA defeated Josh Bodom
MK McKinnan was KUSHIDA’s original opponent but was legitimately injured. Bodom took a lot of the match, beating down KUSHIDA. After a few comebacks were thwarted, KUSHIDA tapped out Bodom.
KUSHIDA’s RevPro matches have been very repetitive as of late (see vs. Adam Brooks at Summer Sizzler).
– Dan Magee defeated Sha Samuels by DQ
Their heated rivalry continued as Samuels hit Magee with a chair during a suicide dive. Magee was taken away by medics.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Rocky Romero
Great match that lasted around 20 minutes. Romero attempted to match Sabre’s technical ability but resorted to strikes and Sabre started bleeding from the nose before he inevitably tapped out Romero for the win.
– The Hunter Bros defeated Jonny Storm & Jody Fleish in a tag team tournament semifinal match
Another great match, with the Hunters really coming into their own as a team. Storm and Fleish have been excellent in making others look good as of late in RevPro. It was up in the air who would win and the crowd was into the near falls.
The Hunter Bros are now in the tournament final.
– The Great O-Kharn defeated Carlos Romo
Another simple squash.
– Colt Cabana defeated James Mason
This was really fun to watch and had the right balance of comedy and wrestling. Both tried roll-ups and cradles until Cabana won with a superman folding press.
Samuels came out and attacked Cabana but was stopped by Magee, who cut an impassioned promo.
– Kip Sabian defeated Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion David Starr by countout
Sabian had earned his shot earlier in the night. Starr was annoyed that Sabian was getting the better of him so he left the match. Sabian got an ovation, but Starr kept the title with the countout finish.
– HxC (James Castle & Dan Head) defeated The Arrows of Hungary (Aaron Icarus & Dover)
This was a rematch from the Cockpit show from four days ago, but the crowd were worn out. Dover took a double suplex on the ramp and was out for much of the match. Castle and Head cheated to win.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Ridgeway via KO
Another rematch from the Cockpit show. They exchanged strikes early on with both of their chests being visibly scarred. Sabre grounded Ridgeway, who would fire back up with stiff kicks and would get the better of the striking battles.
Sabre eventually knocked out Ridgeway and cut a promo about how he’s not the best technical wrestler in the world — he’s the best wrestler.
– Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) in a tag team tournament semifinal match
This match determined who will face the Hunter Bros in the tournament final. Great stuff from both teams as you’d expect. When things were getting good, Aussie Open’s entrance video and music were accidentally played. That was a pretty bad mistake that can hopefully be edited out.
Aussie Open eventually got the expected win. They would be really good in NJPW’s World Tag League this year and have already had great matches in RevPro against EVIL & SANADA, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson, Jay White, Jeff Cobb, and now Roppongi 3K.
After the match, Brookes & Gresham attacked them and stood tall despite the Hunter Bros coming down to help Aussie Open.
Revolution Pro Wrestling’s television tapings for FreeSports began at York Hall in London yesterday. They’ll continue today before starting to air later this month.
– The set up was a lot better than a normal RevPro show at York Hall. Whenever i glanced at the monitors, the camera work seemed much improved also. Andy Quildan (the promoter) has noted previously that FreeSports is handling the production for this project.
– The tapings started with Kevin Kelly addressing the camera.
– Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Chris Brookes
The crowd was hot for this, doing loud dueling chants throughout. Liger won with a brainbuster in about 8-9 minutes. Brookes attacked him after the match and went for his mask, but El Phantasmo came out for the save.
– The Great O-Kharn (w/ Lord Gideon Grey) defeated Harrison Thompson
This was a squash match, with O-Kharn winning in about 3-4 minutes. Thompson didn’t get an entrance but got some offense in.
– Sha Samuels interrupted an interview Kelly was doing with Dan Magee. A brawl broke out before it was broken up.
– Zack Sabre Jr. defeated KUSHIDA
Chris Ridgeway walked out to observe the action. Sabre won with a kneebar-type submission. They had a really good back-and-forth match, with it probably being the main event of the first episode. There was a slight botch from KUSHIDA where he caught the ropes jumping to the apron, but that should be easily edited out.
– Colt Cabana defeated Greg Burridge
Cabana won with a bridging pin in about 10 minutes. Fun match with some humor in it.
Cabana did a post-match interview and stated his case for the Undisputed British Heavyweight title.
– Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) defeated James Castle & Dan Head
Sho & Yoh won in 10 minutes with a double-team move.
– Chris Brookes defeated El Phantasmo
This was probably the main event for episode two. Brookes was booed here. Gresham came down the aisle way for the distraction, which led to Brookes winning in about 12-15 minutes.
– Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Team White Wolf (A-Kid & Carlos Romo)
Excellent match — Aussie Open are ridiculously good.
– Rocky Romero went to a no contest with Chris Ridgeway
Sabre was watching in the aisle way, and it ended in a disqualification as Sabre ran in and attacked both. He laid out Romero first and it was declared a no contest. Sabre will face Romero on night two.
– Sha Samuels vs. Dan Magee ended in a DQ
The disqualification came when both shoved the referee. A fight between Samuels and Magee was broken up.
– Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion David Starr defeated Kurtis Chapman to retain his title
Starr retained in about 10 minutes. This was likely the episode three main event.
– The Hunter Brothers (Lee & Jim) defeated Arrows of Hungary (Aaron Icarus & Dover)
Good match, but the crowd was getting tired.
– Samuels was supposed to be on commentary for a match involving Magee, but Samuels attacked him before the bell. Lord Gideon Grey came out to introduce The Great O-Kharn as Magee’s replacement.
– The Great O-Kharn (w/ Lord Gideon Grey) defeated The O.J.M.O
O-Kharn won in a squash.
– Josh Bodom defeated MK McKinnan
Bodom won in about 10 minutes.
– James Mason defeated Darrell Allen
Mason won with a roll-up. People didn’t care about this with it being this late.
– El Phantasmo defeated Jonathan Gresham by DQ
Gresham low blowed Phantasmo for the DQ. Brookes and Gresham beat down Phantasmo after until Liger made the save.
Liger & Phantasmo challenged them to a tag match, but Brookes & Gresham left. Brookes & Gresham tried a sneak attack after, but Liger & Phantasmo made a comeback to end the tapings.
– Promoter Andy Quildan opened the show at a nearly sold out York Hall to advertise the upcoming Revolution Pro Wrestling television tapings in September at the venue, announcing KUSHIDA and Jushin Thunder Liger in addition to the already advertised Zack Sabre Jr. and Roppongi 3K.
– Josh Bodom defeated Dan Magee
This grudge match was a very hot opener with the crowd clearly invested in their ongoing and well-crafted blood feud. Magee, a RevPro trainee, was making his York Hall debut and got over very well with the crowd as an excellent babyface in peril.
The match was hard hitting from start to finish. There were numerous near falls, and both men played their respective roles to perfection, ensuring the crowd was very engaged. Bodom won with a penalty kick before the two bitter rivals shook hands after.
– The Great-O-Kharn defeated Shane Strickland
Great-O-Kharn (Tomoyuki Oka) has a Mongolian gimmick that struggled to get over in his United Kingdom debut at Strong Style Evolved UK, and it only fared a bit better here. He is clearly improving, but the match was incredibly slow.
O-Kharn took 80 percent of the match, with Strickland barely getting anything in early on. It got better later when Strickland finally came into his own, but he was often cut off immediately by O-Kharn when making a comeback. O-Kharn won with an impressive reserve exploder suplex.
This was a criminal misuse of Strickland, with the EVOLVE Champion getting essentially jobbed out to a trainee. It would have been fine had O-Kharn not taken almost all the match.
– KUSHIDA defeated Adam Brooks
KUSHIDA was massively over with the crowd, and Brooks was playing a jerk as per usual and working the audience. The story was that Brooks wants to face Will Ospreay, so he was fighting one of Ospreay’s greatest foes.
As with the previous match, the heel took around 80 percent of the offense — with any comeback from KUSHIDA being scouted by Brooks. Finally, the match picked up the pace as KUSHIDA got in some offense and won very quickly with Back to the Future in about 12 minutes.
This was disappointing as this match definitely had the potential to be as good as Brooks’ classics with Strickland and Ryan Smile at previous York Hall shows.
– Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated CCK (Jonathan Gresham & Chris Brookes)
This started comedically, with Gresham being noticeably smaller than all of the other competitors in the match. He chopped away at Fletcher, who didn’t even flinch. And whenever the bigger Davis came near, he fled up the ramp. This was perfect comedy wrestling and the crowd was in fits — Gresham played his role perfectly.
Then Brookes came in and the match got serious. Brookes and Aussie Open know each other so well that this was bound to be a clinic — and it was. When Gresham finally got back in, it was even better. The match built to an effective crescendo at around the 15-minute mark with everyone going 100 percent. They continued in top gear for another 10 minutes with an insane amount of near falls over that time. This was incredible stuff and the crowd lapped it up willingly, cheering all involved.
After another crazy series of near falls, Aussie Open finally won with Close Your Eyes, and this 25-minute match was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Gresham was the real star of the show, blurring the lines between comedy and incredible talent perfectly. Despite being a change to the card due to Davey Boy Smith Jr. not being able to come, this was easily the match of the night. The teams got a standing ovation and hugged it out.
– Titan defeated El Soberano Jr.
They had a very different style of match to what York Hall is used to, but it worked very well. Early on, both wrestlers showed off their high-flying ability and were seemingly equal to each other. To heavy boos from the crowd, Titan tried to get the better of Soberano by taking off his mask — and Soberano attempted the same in response. There was no clear face/heel dynamic here — it was just two wrestlers seeing who was better. The crowd was loud and enjoyed the change in style to the rest of the show and cheered for both guys.
After some effective near falls, Titan won with a roll-up. Both embraced after. I’d expect to see them back.
– Lance Archer defeated Jurn Simmons
This match suffered from its placement on the card. And with both guys making their York Hall debut, it was never going to steal the show. The two big men worked a slow but stiff match that was fine. Archer did all he could to be hated by the crowd, while Simmons was the hero, getting a strong reaction by the end of the match.
Archer won this, but Simmons was the star, with the crowd chanting “please come back” as he left. With a different opponent and a different placement on the card, Simmons could be a key player at RevPro.
– Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion David Starr defeated El Phantasmo to retain his title
Starr cut his standard promo at the start about the conspiracy against him in RevPro, and he had his standard independent official to officiate the match. There were loud dueling chants for both wrestlers throughout. Starr tried to walk out with the title, but Phantasmo stopped the official counting to 10. And for some reason, Starr came back down.
They brawled on the ramp and stage (with no count from the official). El Phantasmo was thrown off the stage but made it back in for the eventual count. What followed was a solid match, but it was way too long given that the shtick before it was long as well. Starr was aggressive as ever, with Phantasmo using his aerial ability to equal him.
The official was knocked down. Phantasmo got the visual pin, but Starr was able to give him a low blow and a shot with the title to retain the belt.
The match was impressive as both men were clearly giving their all, but it would have been better kept to 15 minutes instead of 20. It felt very WWE-esque with all the shenanigans, ref bumps, and over-dramaticism. Keeping the belt on Starr was the right call.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated WALTER to become the number one contender to Minoru Suzuki’s Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship
The crowd was mostly behind Ishii. WALTER even got a handful of boos, which surprised me. This started slow, but Ishii soon woke up and started fighting WALTER back despite being constantly knocked down. They had the hard-hitting heavyweight bout one would expect, with them exchanging chops, suplexes, and shoulder tackles.
Ishii finally gained the upper hand after no-selling WALTER’s offense and won with a single brainbuster.
This was very good but not at all on the level of the series of matches Ishii had with Keith Lee. For all of WALTER’S strengths, he doesn’t have the same charisma as Lee, has a more limited move set, and the match was only 15 minutes as opposed to the usual 25-minute York Hall main event.
This started slow, but both men worked hard to get the crowd really into it after 10 minutes. Brooks took the majority of the match and Strickland made sporadic comebacks but was always on the back foot. The match changed when Strickland reversed a fireman’s carry into a double stomp and unleashed a flurry of offense.
Strickland hit a double stomp to the face to the floor and then to Brooks’ back while he was draped across the barrier. Brooks came back with a Canadian Destroyer on the apron to win. Brooks’ heel work was excellent and he has an extremely bright future. This was the perfect opener and a really great match.
– Fred Yehi defeated Josh Bodom
Yehi got little reaction and didn’t seem to be known by large sections of the crowd. He worked at an intense pace and came at Bodom from all angles, lighting up his chest with some fierce chops and leaving Bodom visibly scarred.
Bodom got the better of Yehi towards the end before abruptly losing via submission, although he wasn’t seen to visibly tap and claimed after the match that he hadn’t tapped at all. Not the perfect debut for Yehi in RevPro.
Bodom attacked Yehi after the match but was held back by security, with one of them being RevPro novice Dan Magee. Bodom beat down Magee as Yehi left, but Magee got fired up and attacked back before they were separated.
– David Starr defeated Kurtis Chapman to win the British Cruiserweight Championship
Starr came out and spoke at length about how there is a conspiracy in RevPro against him, and for that reason he hired an independent referee for the bout. The match was a bit sloppy, never really getting out of first gear and having the occasional botch, but the crowd was into it due to the title being on the line.
Starr is so charismatic that it’s impossible to boo him, so he was the crowd favorite here. Chapman was booed heavily — he is very inexperienced and, through no fault of his own, wasn’t a convincing champion. The crowd had seemingly given up on him since High Stakes back in January.
Starr mocked Chapman throughout and Chapman had uninspiring comeback sequences. Starr got the win after a brutal clothesline. He got a massive pop and, despite being a heel, Starr is adored at RevPro.
– Aussie Open defeated (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated The Chosen Bros (Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb)
Both teams were massively over, getting dueling chants throughout. It started at a steady pace with both teams feeling each other out, then the tempo steadily increased to full-out craziness. The crowd was into every single move — from Cobb suplexing both of Aussie Open to Davis going wild with chops and slaps.
Riddle was outstanding here, being the epitome of enthusiasm and energy as he was itching to get into the match. When tagged in, he went wild with kicks and stiff knees. The crowd bought into two near falls: Riddle’s Bro to Sleep and an agonizing piledriver from Davis. Fletcher then reversed the Tour of the Islands into a roll-up and got the win to the shock of everyone in the building.
This was an outstanding match that the crowd loved. It was a huge win for Aussie Open, and the teams fist-bumped after the match.
– Will Ospreay defeated El Phantasmo
Ospreay came into this at a fast pace but slowed down early, perhaps saving himself for the Best of the Super Juniors. Phantasmo angered Ospreay by mocking his pose. Ospreay seemed to be working heel, which was an odd call. Phantasmo hit a lot of high-flying moves to little reaction, while Ospreay focused on rest holds. Ospreay kicked out of a stolen OsCutter from Phantasmo before hitting a top rope OsCutter and a Storm Breaker for the win.
The match was subpar and, while the action was okay, they had poor chemistry. You would expect a high-flying and fast-paced match given their reputations, but that’s not what this was. It was fine but could have been much more, and it faded into a stacked card.
– British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) to retain their titles
Suzuki was a crowd favorite and got an ovation during his entrance. CCK attacked both of their opponents as soon as the bell rang and they brawled for a bit on the outside. Back in the ring, both members of CCK attempted to out-chop Suzuki, both comedically failing as expected.
Suzuki had to resist the urge to chop the referee, chasing him around the ring after Sabre was getting frustrated at the ref. With Sabre back in, CCK gained the upper hand until Suzuki tagged back in and dominated. With the referee’s back turned, Sabre and Suzuki both applied a submission on the legal man.
I don’t think anyone bought into CCK winning here, so the near falls weren’t convincing. But the in-ring action was still solid and kept the match from going too far into comedy. Suzuki won with a Gotch-style piledriver.
– British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii defeated Keith Lee to retain his title
This was everything it was hyped up to be and more. It was an expertly told story and was just as good as their previous match in RevPro, if not better. Lee was too powerful for Ishii at the start, with Ishii becoming more and more determined as the match went on and Lee becoming more arrogant.
Lee’s athleticism was on display, hitting a slingshot crossbody over the top rope and a hurricanrana. Ishii tried to suplex Lee to no avail, and Lee just kept on hitting him right in the face. As the match went on, Ishii started to wear down Lee and was able to suplex him and take him down with massive lariats. Lee became frantic and frustrated that Ishii was matching him, and he took it to the top rope, hitting a superplex. But not even a Spirit Bomb and jackhammer could put Ishii away.
They kicked out of each other’s finishers at one to the delight of the crowd, leading to “fight forever” chants. After a long sequence of headbutts, chops, and clotheslines, Ishii finally won with a brainbuster.
This was incredibly action filled and the crowd lapped it up with dueling chants. It wasn’t just a spot fest — the storytelling was masterful and this was the perfect end to Lee’s RevPro journey. He was the most popular man on the show and took in a farewell standing ovation following the match.
Ibushi will be teaming with Flip Gordon & Shane Strickland against Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor on Friday, April 6th. This will be the second time Ibushi and Ospreay have been in the ring together — and the first time was also during a WrestleMania week six-man tag. Ibushi, Johnny Gargano & TJP defeated Ospreay, Marty Scurll & Tommy End for WWN in 2016.
In addition to RevPro, Ibushi will be in action at ROH’s Supercard of Honor XII and WrestleCon’s Supershow in New Orleans. He’s facing Hangman Page for ROH and teaming with Kenny Omega against Taylor & a partner (after Trent Barreta was removed from the match due to injury) at the Supershow.
RevPro’s event is in conjunction with WrestleCon and will take place at The Sugar Mill at 4 p.m. Central time. The other matches that have been announced are: Zack Sabre Jr. defending his Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii, Minoru Suzuki vs. Jeff Cobb, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson vs. Aussie Open, and Martin Stone vs. David Starr.
Yesterday was a big day for match announcements from the non-WWE shows that will be taking place during WrestleMania week in New Orleans.
Joey Janela’s Spring Break II, Revolution Pro Wrestling, and Impact vs. Lucha Underground were among the events that made announcements for Friday, April 6th. James Ellsworth vs. Matt Riddle became the last match to be confirmed for Spring Break, joining Janela vs. The Great Sasuke, David Starr vs. Mike Quackenbush, WALTER vs. Pierre Carl Ouellet, Penta El Zero M vs. Nick Gage, and the second-annual Clusterf*ck match.
The Pontchartrain Center will host Spring Break at 11:55 p.m. Central time.
Minoru Suzuki’s match for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s show was also revealed. It will be Suzuki facing Jeff Cobb at The Sugar Mill, with the card set to start at 4 p.m. Central.
RevPro is part of WrestleCon’s weekend of events, which also includes Impact vs. Lucha Underground. An Impact Tag Team title match has been announced for that show, with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defending against Killshot (Shane Strickland) & The Mack (Willie Mack). Impact vs. LU will be held at The Sugar Mill at 9 p.m. Central.
– British Cruiserweight Champion Kurtis Chapman defeated Rob Lias to retain his title
Eddie Dennis came out and distracted Lias. This was somewhat sloppy and the crowd found it hard to get into it.
– CCK (Travis Banks & Chris Brookes) defeated Zack Gibson & Josh Bodom
Before the match, Dennis stayed at the ramp and had a pull-apart brawl with Gibson and Bodom before CCK came out. Gibson cut a promo about how the fans only care about New Japan talent and should really care about him and Bodom.
The match was fast paced and had some hard-hitting elements. Banks was the most over guy in it. After some cheating from Gibson, Kid Lykos evened the odds by hitting Bodom with a tray. CCK got the win and Bodom and Gibson argued afterwards, with the latter walking out furious.
– Adam Brooks defeated Ryan Smile
This was a terrific match that went for over 20 minutes. It started quickly with a brawl all over the arena. Both men were equally over and got dueling chants from the crowd throughout.
Things got really good in the latter stages with a series of very convincing near falls for Smile. Brooks came back with a flurry of offense and several big moves to put Smile away. This match had everything and the crowd was super into it. Smile was left in the ring to soak up the applause as he waved goodbye.
– SANADA & EVIL defeated Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
There was a huge reaction for SANADA and EVIL, but Aussie Open were almost as popular. There were again dueling chants throughout. It looked early on like SANADA may have gotten hurt but he continued the match.
Fletcher eventually found himself caught in a submission and was forced to tap. SANADA and EVIL got a standing ovation afterwards and both teams were more over following the match.
– British Women’s Champion Jinny defeated Bea Priestley and Millie McKenzie to retain her title
Priestley had an elaborate entrance, very similar to Finn Balor’s demon one. McKenzie was extremely over and was the highlight of the match. She went wild with some German suplexes, even suplexing both women at the same time.
There was a crazy dive from Priestley from the ring post onto McKenzie, who was draped across the barrier. McKenzie also botched a dive badly to the outside but was okay. She then hit a move from the top rope on Priestley, which looked incredibly dangerous, but Jinny stole the pin to retain.
– Will Ospreay defeated Mark Andrews
Ospreay came out to a superstar reaction and the crowd was incredibly hot for him. The match started at a quick pace, with both doing dives right away. This was everything you would expect from Ospreay and Andrews, with moonsaults, shooting star presses, and plenty of Frankensteiners. It was a real spectacle to watch with reversal after reversal.
Ospreay eventually won with the OsCutter. This felt like a premature ending and the match could have gone on longer. Andrews endorsed Ospreay afterwards, but Adam Brooks came out and laid out both. He cut the Australian flag off Ospreay’s ring gear.
– Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) to win the British Tag Team Championship
This was the match of the night by a large margin. Everyone involved performed excellently, especially Suzuki. The match was a total war. Everyone got huge reactions, but it was clear that Suzuki was the main attraction. Bate and Seven wore towels around their heads to mock him.
Suzuki traded chops with Seven early on, with Suzuki laughing at Seven’s efforts before striking him down with just one chop. Bate tagged in and got in some signature offense before he was worn down by Suzuki’s power. Sabre Jr. tried multiple submissions on Bate, then Suzuki did too before Seven made the hot tag. He lit up Sabre Jr. with some fierce strikes in the ring while Suzuki and Bate brawled on the outside.
Suzuki laughed at Bate’s strikes before firing back himself much harder. After some nice sequences from both teams in the ring, Bate hit the Tyler Driver — only for Suzuki to kick out. Things really got good from here, with some more crazy sequences before Suzuki and Sabre got the win to a huge reaction.
The new champions beat down Moustache Mountain, who were sent packing. CCK came out to face off with Suzuki and Sabre but were too scared to get in the ring and left the champs to soak up the applause.
Revolution Pro Wrestling presented their Summer Sizzler 2017 event at York Hall in London on Thursday night. It was a fun and enjoyable evening despite an odd looking card on the surface for a York Hall show, although there were no classic matches.
– Martin Stone defeated Eddie Dennis
This was two unrelated storylines coming together. Stone has a feud going with Sami Callihan, who was recently injured, while Dennis is looking for his first win in RevPro and has recently gone full-time as a wrestler.
The match was a fun opener. Stone won in a somewhat underhanded manner but cut a promo after putting over Dennis and how that first big win will be worth it.
– Bully Ray defeated Sha Samuels
This was a no DQ, falls count anywhere match, but it ended in the ring after a top rope splash from Bully Ray. There was a nice moment after as RevPro trainee Rob Lias jumped both and ended up being hit with the “Wassup” by both Bully Ray and Samuels (playing D-Von) and put through a table.
Bully Ray then invited a kid into the ring and gave him a big piece of the broken table in a cool moment.
– Zack Gibson defeated Dalton Castle
As usual, Gibson got a lot of heat. He worked the arm in a fun match. After Castle went into the ring post, Gibson locked on the Shankly Gates for the surprisingly clean submission win.
– The Briscoes defeated Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland
This was the final match before intermission. I think the crowd was ready for a break as they were definitely quieter for this.
– Jay White defeated Travis Banks
Banks is a tag champ in RevPro and White has done a number of shows as part of his excursion. They had a good technical match with hard chops, though it suffered by being the first match after intermission. White won with the Liontamer.
– RPW Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion Josh Bodom defeated Jushin Thunder Liger to retain his title
Good match that played off of their earlier bout at the British J-Cup, with Bodom winning this time. Liger was incredibly over and got a standing ovation after the match despite Bodom winning clean.
– RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Brookes to retain his title
They had the best match of the night in my view. It was a good technical bout. Brookes is a tag champ with Travis Banks and this was probably his highest profile singles match to date. He did very well, but Sabre won with a gnarly submission with elbows and kicks thrown into the mix.
– Marty Scurll defeated Rey Mysterio
Mysterio absolutely still has it, though he’s obviously older and works smarter. It was a fun match with Scurll winning clean with a finisher I hadn’t seen before, not the chicken wing.
Scurll has always been too over to be a heel, but since joining the Bullet Club he was on another level at this show. He was more over than Mysterio and was probably the most over guy on the show.
Scurll and Mysterio cut promos after putting each other over as an inspiration and hero (Mysterio) and part of the future (Scurll) for a nice feel good ending to the show.
Image: @RevProUK. Report submitted by reader Nick Wright.
– Marty Scurll defeated Tiger Mask IV in a British J-Cup tournament match
This was a fun match. Scurll had the crowd in the palm of his hand, with them loving and hating him whenever he wanted them to. There were lots of good comedy spots and they both got their big moves in before Scurll won.
– Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Josh Bodom in a British J-Cup tournament match
Liger was really over, though everyone expected Bodom to move on given that he’s RevPro’s British Cruiserweight Champion. But to the delight of the crowd, Liger shocked Bodom within three minutes and won with a brainbuster.
– KUSHIDA defeated Kyle O’Reilly in a British J-Cup tournament match
You could tell that this was going to go long after the last match, and it ended up being 20 minutes of intense action. KUSHIDA is just so awesome and O’Reilly played a subtle heel in this one. It had lots of chain wrestling and back-and-forth action. KUSHIDA hit the Back to the Future to win a high-quality contest.
– Will Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in a British J-Cup tournament match
This was another fun match that had a lot of comedy, especially around Taguchi’s posterior-based offense. There was a great bit where Taguchi was running the ropes for a lariat and Ospreay kept ducking. Taguchi eventually got tired and Ospreay gave him a Red Bull, then he ran the ropes again and Ospreay ducked again.
Ospreay ended up advancing after hitting the OsCutter.
– The Tempura Boyz (Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka) defeated Kurtis Champion & Josh Wall
The match had decent action, with Champion playing a good face in peril. But there was a big gulf in class and the Tempura Boyz picked up the win with a combo piledriver.
– CCK (Travis Banks & Chris Brookes) defeated Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI by DQ
Another decent bout here. Takahashi is great and so charismatic. It ended when Banks got misted by BUSHI and the ref called for the bell.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Matt Riddle
There was brutal, brutal action in this one. It had one of the most electric starts that I’ve ever seen. There was a chop fest and Ishii followed with an awesome German suplex, then Riddle popped up and Ishii gave him a German suplex of his own. Ishii popped up right after and the place became unglued.
There were so many chops, forearms, big suplexes, and it was utter carnage. Ishii eventually won with a brainbuster. They have to have a rematch because everyone loved it.
– Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay, and KUSHIDA in a fatal four-way elimination match to win the British J-Cup
You could have expected this to have a hard time following the last match (and there were a few technical issues with the introductions), but it was a great contest. There were lots of clever spots.
Scurll superkicked Liger about five times to leave him out of the action for the majority of it. Scurll first eliminated KUSHIDA to the disappointment of the crowd, but they were picked up by a few fantastic sequences between Ospreay and Scurll. Eventually, Scurll pinned Ospreay to leave him with a wounded Liger.
Just when you thought Liger was done, he found something extra and emerged as the first winner of the British J-Cup after a Liger Bomb and a brainbuster.
Bodom attacked Liger after and then had a pull-apart with the legendary Marty Jones (who was giving Liger the trophy and had given a great speech earlier in the night). Half of the roster for the show came out to get Bodom out of the ring. It will be Bodom vs. Liger at RevPro’s Summer Sizzler in August.
Ring of Honor announced today a second War of the Worlds tour, this time in the U.K., which they stated would be a joint effort between ROH, New Japan, CMLL, and Revolution Pro Wrestling.
The tour will have shows on August 17th at York Hall in London, which is Revolution Pro’s Summer Sizzler 2017 event. It will follow with a War of the Worlds branded show on August 18th in London at York Hall, an August 19th show in Liverpool at the Olympia, and an August 20th show in Edinburgh, Scotland at the Corn Exchange.
The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega recently headlined a series of small building sellout shows in the U.K. and Ireland in April and set personal merchandise selling records.
The shows will take place a few days after the completion of NJPW’s G-1 Climax tournament. The final day of that tournament is scheduled for August 13th at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
Image: @RevProUK. Report submitted by reader Noel Rattigan.
– Undisputed British Tag Team Champions CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) defeated Sami Callihan & Martin Stone to retain their titles
This was a fun opener. There were a few comedy spots outside the ring, one involving Callihan taking a chair from the front row. CCK won in about 10-11 minutes.
Stone cut a passionate promo afterwards talking his career and subtly mentioning WWE. Callihan then turned on him and cut a promo directed at him. Stone was laying on the mat for a period of time.
– Jay White defeated Angelico
They had another good match. The finish came when White teased going for a Razor’s Edge style buckle bomb, then Angelico tried to counter into a hurricanrana but White locked him in a Boston crab and eventually a Liontamer for the submission win.
– Hirooki Goto (w/ Will Ospreay) defeated Zack Gibson
Gibson had nuclear heat with the crowd before the match started, partly because he’s from Liverpool. He cut a pre-match promo and you couldn’t hear it over the negative reaction. Goto was over huge as well.
There were loud chop spots. Gibson grabbed a foreign object from the outside (which looked to be a car radio) and Ospreay tried to take it from him but failed. Gibson missed Goto with it and Goto got the win.
– Hiromu Takahashi defeated Marty Scurll
Scurll was a god to this crowd. The vast majority got out of their seat and started taking pictures/videos when he entered. Takahashi was popular as well.
They ended up on the stage at about the 10 minute mark. When they got back into the ring, Scurll did the finger break spot and transitioned into the chicken wing. Takahashi got out and hit his finisher for the win.
– Interim British Cruiserweight Champion Josh Bodom defeated Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion Will Ospreay to become the new Undisputed Champion
Ospreay had his back taped and looked to be in real pain. He was selling his back a lot. At one point he was getting attention on the outside and Bodom went on the ring post and did a senton to him on the outside. Bodom won with a draping Pedigree type move.
This was a good match and Gibson interfered to help Bodom win. Ospreay looked like he really struggled through it.
– James Castle defeated Sha Samuels in a no DQ match
Samuels hit a moonsault to Castle on the outside for a large pop. He began slapping the ref as it was no DQ. The finish came when Castle kneed a chair into Samuels’ face. Samuels cut Castle’s spiked green hair after the match.
– Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defeated KUSHIDA to retain his title
The majority of this match was grappling, with some impressive submission spots. KUSHIDA went for a moonsault and Sabre caught him in an armbar. The crowd got into it towards the end, but the pace was pretty slow. Sabre won with a bridging pin.
– The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) defeated Ryan Smile, Shane Strickland & Lio Rush
The Elite were mega over. Their appearance pretty much made it worth the admission fee. The match was mainly just fun with no psychology at all and there were some comedy spots that didn’t connect with me. The Elite hit a dual Meltzer Driver for the win.
Image: Revolution Pro Wrestling. Results submitted by reader Jan Buxton from Walthamstow, London, England.
– Charlie Garrett & Joel Redman defeated EVIL & BUSHI by DQ
Decent match with Garrett as a standout. Obviously not wanting either team to do the job so LIJ were DQed when BUSHI used the mist.
– Drew Galloway came out to cut a promo. He put over the UK scene and he was clearly upset to be missing this show, he had hoped this would be his first match back. He explained that Japan had always been a goal as yet unrealized and he had asked to be on this show. He had a confrontation with Josh Bodom as he left, presumably setting something up down the line.
– Josh Bodom defeated Tomoaki Honma
This was a good match. One thing Bodom brings is some genuine heel heat to his matches. Bodom was physically sick just after getting the win.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Trent Seven
This was really good. Nagata had better chemistry with Seven than with Dunne last night. Seven is a big crowd favorite. Dave Mastiff came out after the match and attacked Seven.
– Will Ospreay defeated Jushin Liger
Ospreay dressed as “Dark Liger” in a black Liger costume. This was really fun, it had some good comedy and Ospreay dressing up gave the proceedings a new twist.
– Tomohiro Ishii defeated Pete Dunne
A lot of people liked this match but it was underwhelming for me for quite a while. It did however pick up towards the end. Dunne hit a low blow but was foiled by Will Ospreay coming out to distract both him and the referee allowing Ishii to hit a low blow of his own and get the win.
– Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll
Like the first LIJ tag match, this had too much referee Chris Roberts being really bad at his job narrative but that gripe aside it was very good. Both Naito and Scurll come across as such stars. Naito pinned ZSJ after hitting a Destino.
Scurll cut a promo saying that he was leaving the territory and had signed for ROH and Sabre Jr. was moving to the states. He said we should say our goodbyes and that the LDRS were forever. He got a standing ovation but…swerve! Scurll gave ZSJ a low blow from behind and it looks like we will get that match at some point. Interesting dynamic as heel Scurll is pretty beloved at this point, and some of the crowd had turned on Sabre.
– British Heavyweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Chris Hero to retain his title
This was perhaps a bit shorter than ideal at 13 minutes but was still a great match. Both guys were over with the crowd and there were some incredible strikes. Shibata kicked out of a piledriver and the elbow/Gotch piledriver combination. Shibata won with the PK. I really hope Hero gets a run in NJPW in 2017.
Image: Revolution Pro Wrestling. Results submitted by reader Jan Buxton from York Hall in London, England.
– Marty Scurll defeated Jushin Liger
This was really enjoyable, both guys are so at ease in the ring and worked in their trademark stuff.
– Tomoaki Honma defeated Sha Samuels
This was solid enough without hitting any heights. Interference from James Castle on Samuels’ behalf backfired and Honma got the win.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Pete Dunne
Another solid rather than spectacular affair.
– Chris Hero defeated Tomohiro Ishii
This was great. It always surprises me every time I see Ishii live how small he is and Hero was noticeably bigger and took the dominant role. But Ishii kept firing back. Eventually a piledriver, elbow, and Gotch piledriver in succession got the win for Hero. He put over Ishii on the mic after the match.
– Will Ospreay defeated BUSHI
This was a good match; Ospreay never seems to have a bad one.
– Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA) defeated David Starr, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate
Fun six-man. Naito didn’t do much but he is so cool. There was some comedy which was a nice change of pace before things got more serious. EVIL got the win for his team by pinning Starr.
– Katsuyori Shibata defeated British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. to win the title
This was very good. It started with some mat wrestling before really kicking into gear when they started kicking the hell out of each other. ZSJ removed the tape from Shibata’s injured shoulder and targeted that. There were lots of kicks and strikes back and forth. Shibata hit the penalty kick and got the pin to win the title.
Shibata offered a handshake after the match but Scurll dragged Sabre away. Chris Hero came out to stare down Shibata. Hero vs. Shibata is on night two, presumably now for the title.
