Tag: RevPro

Daily Update: RevPro referee incident, MLW, Junior dos Santos

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

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ROH GLOBAL WARS SUNDAY IN MILWAUKEE AT THE POTAWATOMI CASINO AT 6 P.M. EASTERN ON HONOR CLUB 

  • Caristico & Stuka Jr. & Volador Jr. vs. Okumura & Hechicero & Rey Bucanero
  • Angelina Love & Mandy Leon vs. Kelly Klein & Stacy Shadows
  • Flip Gordon vs. PJ Black vs. Triton
  • Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs Silas Young & Josh Woods
  • Marty Scurll vs. Joe Hendry
  • Brawler Milonas & Beer City Bruiser vs. PCO & Brody King
  • Mark & Jay Briscoe & Cavernario vs. Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams & Bandido
  • Matt Taven & Vincent (Vinny Marseglia ) vs. Rush & Jeff Cobb

F4W NEWSLETTER: Chris Jericho becomes first AEW World Champion Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on AEW choosing Jericho as their inaugural champion. Plus, Vinny’s TV reviews. 

When AEW debuts on TNT on October 2, they’ll be doing so with Chris Jericho as their champion.

Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view ended with Jericho defeating Hangman Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. After Jericho kicked out of the Dead Eye, Page hit a Buckshot Lariat and went for the Dead Eye again. The finish saw Jericho reverse the move and then connect with his Judas Effect elbow strike to win the title.

The match was very good, but it fell short of being the epic main event you’d want to crown your first World Champion with. The dynamic just didn’t work quite as well as AEW wanted. The fans would ideally have been desperate for Page to defeat Jericho and become champion. But people weren’t all that interested in booing Jericho — and Page didn’t have the momentum that he needed going into the match. The way Page won his way into getting the title shot was probably a misstep. It’s understandable that AEW wants to create their own unique match concepts and give them meaning, but Jericho defeating Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing felt like a far bigger deal than Page earning his spot in the title match through winning the Casino Battle Royale. While Page got wins at Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, they weren’t against big enough opponents and they weren’t strong enough victories for people to see him as being one of the top two wrestlers in the company.

Jericho was an obvious choice to become AEW’s first World Champion. He’s an easily recognizable star that lapsed and casual fans will already be familiar with. There will inevitably be criticism over a new company choosing a 48-year-old wrestler as their initial champion, but AEW isn’t at any risk of being seen as a nostalgia promotion. It’s fine to have one wrestler in their late 40s in a top spot. Signing Jericho and pushing him heavily is a no-brainer for any start-up company. Jericho is still wrestling at a high level, helps bring credibility to the promotion for those who aren’t already fans of The Elite, and has protected his image by only working in main event-level matches with great opponents since departing WWE.

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WON NEWSLETTER: AEW All Out review, Chris Jericho title saga, more

A full review of AEW All Out, and the saga of Chris Jericho’s stolen belt are the lead topics of discussion in this week’s double issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

We have complete coverage of All Out from a live perspective, as well as the television version of the show. We talk about what worked, what might not have, and what we can learn about match order when laying out a card. We have the latest on the business of the show, including preliminary pay-per-view numbers. 

We have coverage of AEW and WWE running the same markets, and have notes and numbers on how each promotion is doing in selling tickets there. We also have all the details on the Chris Jericho AEW title story. 

NJPW Royal Quest is covered as well in the new issue. We have star ratings for the matches, as well as business notes for the show. 

The upcoming WWE Clash of Champions show is covered in detail. We have a preliminary card for the show.

We also cover the WWE writing team shake-up that took place this week. 

NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff is covered in detail as well, with everything from match reports and star ratings, to attendance and what we can learn from the show. 

We have a story on Cris Cyborg signing with Bellator, and talk about potential opponents for her. 

The new issue also has a history piece covering Harley Race’s St. Louis wrestling history. A lot can be learned from the piece, thanks to the late Larry Matysik’s Wrestling at the Chase Record book.

We also have Ryan Frederick’s coverage of the 8/31 UFC event in Shenzhen, China. 

The passing of Australian wrestling legend, Norman Frederic Charles Lowndes, known as Sir Norman Frederich Charles III, is covered as well. We have notes on his life and career. 

We look at AEW’s hype show that aired on TNT, and break down the viewership for the show, and what can be learned from it. 

We also have news and notes on all of the top wrestling and MMA promotions in the world. 

We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.

As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.

We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.

Current subscribers click here read.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Our weekend Observer radio show is up on the site covering all the weekend news including all the news from yesterday’s UFC PPV.

There was a big controversy in last week’s RevPro Wrestling show at York Hall.  During Aussie Open vs. Josh Bodom & Sha Samuels, referee Aaren Wilde evidently ended the match early, saying a few days later that a post-match attack on him was a shoot. He said he was slammed by Samuels and the rest was a blur. RevPro released a statement on Sunday that they had not heard from Wilde during the week nor knew any of the allegations before he went on Twitter to discuss it. They did not respond until Sunday because they said they were gathering all the facts. After speaking to everyone, they said Samuels made a horrible error of judgment but did his best to protect the referee.  They said they are confident he knows what he did wrong and under no circumstances is he allowed to touch a non-wrestler without consent. He will be disciplined and they will have a zero tolerance policy regarding any future incidents. “However, we are confident, given his track record, he will respond to this in the most positive manner possible.”

Regarding Bodom, RevPro said his actions did not match his recollection of events and they have no option but to cut ties with him.  They said they hope Bodom will be able to learn and grow from this. The two have been stripped of their British tag team titles immediately. They said that not being aware of this for several days made them realize there is an issue and they have to change that, adding they will be instituting an internal incident report policy specific to performers. A simple form can be filled out and emailed to management if there are any concerns or any official complaints, somehing they feel will be better in dealing with these types of things in a more timely fashion. The company also said they are publicly apologizing to Wilde and said that if he can’t referee going forward, they hope to continue to work with him in other areas of business if he wants to keep working with them.

A correction from last night’s WOR: the reason Shane McMahon wasn’t on television this past week was he was serving jury duty.

MLW announced at its War Chamber show Saturday in suburban Dallas that Jacob Fatu vs. L.A. Park for the MLW title will headline its first PPV show on 11/2 from Chicago. That is not exactly the best night for a promotion that caters to a Latino audience as boxers Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev are in talks to finalize a fight in Las Vegas plus there’s the UFC at MSG show headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal. It really shows how quickly things have changed when Alvarez, the biggest draw in boxing, and UFC PPVs are only available on streaming services while MLW is on traditional television PPV.

WWE

  • Jessamyn Duke returned to action at Saturday’s NXT show in Gainesville, FL, after being out with an injury.
  • Andrade missed WWE’s Friday show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which caused the show to be shuffled around from the night before. We don’t know any more than that.   
  • PW Insider’s Mike Johnson reported WWE has filed trademarks for “Yowie Wowie,” “Firefly Funhouse” “Legit Boss” and “Monster Among Men”.
  • Kofi Kingston, Bayley, and Big E will be at the New York Mets game Monday night at Citi Field as part of a benefit for Connor’s Cure, doing a meet and greet with a portion of each VIP package going to the charity. That means they will likely not be in Syracuse for that night’s house show.

UFC

  • UFC 242 did two million Google searches, meaning it had major interest. However, we actually got very little feedback compared to most shows, perhaps due to it being an early show. Bellator did not crack the top 20, but I wouldn’t expect it to given the NFL season kicking off.
  • Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos vs. former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov will be the main event of the 11/9 UFC Fight Night event in Moscow, Russia.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Ric Flair canceled an appearance scheduled for this weekend at the Little Rock (AR) Comic Con which sounded more like a transportation issue.  It’s definitely not a health issue as he’s fine and scheduled everywhere else including on the 10/4 WWE SmackDown Fox show.
  • Limitless Wrestling’s 4th anniversary show from Friday in Portland, ME:  Ace Romero b Dan Maff, Christian Casanova b Leyla Hirsch, New Hart Foundation b Workhorsemen, Kevin Blackwood b JT Dunn, Maine State Posse b Brandon Kirk & Alexander Lee in a street fight, Butcher & The Blade b Chris Dickinson & Tom Lawlor, DL Hurst won five-way over John Silver, Puf, Harlow O’Hara and Jody Threat, Kris Statlander & Ashley Vox b Skylar & Jeremy Leary in a career vs. hair mach, Anthony Greene b MJF for the Limitless title (thanks to Josh Nason)
  • Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae will be doing meet and greets at both the 9/20 Evolve show in Brooklyn and the 9/21 Evolve show in Queens, NY.  The Brooklyn show has Austin Theory vs. Babatunde, Josh Briggs vs.;JD Drake, AR Fox vs; Joe Gacy, Anthony Gutierrez vs. Karam vs. Sean Maluta vs Stephen Wolf, Antony Greene vs. Brandon Taggart vs. Curt Stallion vs. Daniel Garcia and Arturo Ruas vs. John Silver.  The Queens shoe has Theory vs. Josh Briggs, Drake vs. Anthony Henry and a 2/3 fall 10 man tag match.
  • MPW from Friday night in Chatsworth, GA:  Brandon Devine b Dustin Daniels, Renegade b Master Flame, Great Zumbi & Piranha & Sweet Robin Shaw b Frankie Frank & Bulletproof & Dr. Feelgood, Ray Rosas b Pinky Santino, Luchasaurus b Danny Devine, Diego Valens b Jack Mercer (thanks to Scott Walton)
  • CWE at Rookie’s Sports Bar in Winnipeg on 10/25 featuring Vampiro wrestling on the show in his first match with the promotion.
  • Rise on 11/1 in Berwyn, IL at the Eagles club in a show called La Escalera has Big Swole vs. Delilah Doom for the Phoenix of Rise title, Allysin Kay vs. Taya Valkyrie, Cassandro vs. Saraya Knight with Colt Cabana as referee, Rosemary vs. Shotzi Blackheart and a ladder match with Laynie Luck, Jake Atlas, Priscilla Kelly, Hyan with the winner getting a hot at the Rise Legendary title in 2020.
  • I Believe in Wrestling from Friday night at Team Vision Dojo in Orlando:  Cauis Wolfe & Chris Ramirez b Ricky Anderson & Owen Mitchell, Josh Dawkins won three-way over Djokovic Rabbit and Jarrett Diaz, Mike Reed b Cisco Sucio, Gia Roman NC Christina Mills, Kwame Nas b JD Amazing, Aaron Epic b Remi Danilo, Kaci Lennox retained women’s title in a three-way over Lexi Gomez and Sofia Castillo, Andrew Merlin & Carlos Gabriel b Jake Shadows & Jay Sky, Deon James b Chasyn Race to win Florida title.  Next show is 10/4 (thanks to Al Haft).
  • NHPW from last night in Perth, Western Australia:  Rory Holmes b Kenicki Wheeler, Aaron O’Malley b King Shahil, Salem Sixx b Creek Murdoch, Jebediah b Matthew Pace, Lena Kross b Su Yung to keep Indy Gurlz Australia title, Rory Holmes b Aaron O’Malley in tournament final for NHPW Hybrid title, Homicide & Hernandez won three-way no DQ match over Michael Morleone & Kiel Steria and Julian Ward & Ryan Karguis.  Homicide sang Happy Birthday to Low Ki after his match.  Yung challenged Kross to a rematch. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
  • Stardom Five Star Grand Prix from yesterday in Tokyo at Shinkiba:  Konami won five-way over Saya Iida, Rina, Andras Miyagi and Saya Kamitani, Saki Kashima & Riho & Starlight Kid b Utami Hayashishita & Leo Onozaki & Hina, Hazuki b Natsu Sumire,. Hana Kimura b Avary, Momo Watanabe b AZM (people have been raving about this match to me since it ended), Kagetsu b Jamie Hayter, Jungle Kyona b Natsuko Tora, Mayu Iwatani b Tam Nakano, Arisa Hoshiki b Bea Priestley (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
  • Stardom from today also in Tokyo at Shinkiba:  Utami Hayashishita announced she was dropping out of the tournament due to a hand injury.  Riho b Leo Onozaki, Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Hina b Konami & Rina & Saya Kamitani, Jamie Hayter & Natsuko Tora & Natsu Sumire b Tam Nakano & Starlight Kid & Saya Iida,
  • Saki Kashima b Avary, AZM b Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona b Kagetsu, Hazuki b Mayu Iwatani, Arisa Hoshiki b Andras Miyagi
  • Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling from last night in Cahokia, IL:  Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby b Frankie D & Damion Cortess, Big Texan & Waco b Moondog Rover & Chris Kade, Mac Godeker & Tyler Grey b Big Texan & Waco to win Multi-state tag titles, Ken Kasa b Roy Lewis, King Christopher Hargas b Bobby D, Gary Jackson b Attila Khan-DQ, Ricky Cruz & Billy McNeil b Curtis Wylde & Kowalski in 2/3 falls (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
  • During today’s Redskins-Eagles game, an announcer said one of the assistant coaches looked like Jim Neidhart (thanks to Brian Henke)

Daily Pro Wrestling History: NWA strips Ric Flair of World Title

CONTACT INFORMATION

Okada & Tanahashi facing Suzuki & ZSJ at RevPro Summer Sizzler

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of Royal Quest, Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi will again be teaming against their respective opponents.

Okada & Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. has been announced for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sizzler 2019. The show is taking place at York Hall in London, England on Friday, August 30.

Okada will defend his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Suzuki in the main event of NJPW Royal Quest at the Copper Box Arena in London on Saturday, August 31. Tanahashi is challenging for Sabre’s RevPro British Heavyweight Championship in the semi-main event.

There will also be a tag team match with Royal Quest implications at Summer Sizzler. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) are facing Sha Samuels & Josh Bodom in the finals of a tournament, with the winning team advancing to challenge for Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa’s IWGP Tag Team titles at Royal Quest.

Summer Sizzler will later be uploaded to RevPro’s on-demand service.

RevPro Live in NY results: Tanahashi & Ospreay vs. Suzuki & Sabre Jr.

Posted on by Ethan Renner

On Friday afternoon, Revolution Pro held their Live In NY event at WrestleCon at the Midtown Manhattan Hilton. Here are some results and notes from being there live which is available on Fite.tv.

The show started late after a delay with some of the talent’s scheduled photo ops at the WrestleCon convention. The ring announcer thanked the fans for their patience and overall, this was handled well. 

Chris Brooks & Jonathan Gresham defeated Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

This was a solid opener, but probably worked better as a live match than on the broadcast. Conners and Fredericks are NJPW Los Angeles Dojo guys. Gresham won following a series of strikes. 

Carlos Romo defeated A-Kid, Flamita & Kid Lykos

This was less of a spotfest than you might expect as they did a lot of striking before getting into their dives. 

Brian Cage defeated Michael Oku

Oku is still pretty green, but he has a lot of potential and hit one dive in particular that was spectacular. Cage took most of the match. 

Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay

This was really the main event of the show, but it was put on in the middle of the card for those who wanted to leave for TakeOver. All four men were massively over. Ospreay and Tanahashi did about one third of what they might do in a big show main event, but it all worked. 

Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Rocky Romero

They were in a tough spot being the first match after intermission. They started out with some serious wrestling before getting their comedy spots in.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated David Starr

Ishii sold more than I expected him to as he gave Starr a lot of offense. Ishii won after a sliding lariat and a vertical drop brainbuster.

Aussie Open defeated SHO & YOH

Maybe half of the original crowd remained by the time these teams got in the ring. There was nothing wrong with the match, but all four guys had to bust their humps to get a reaction.

After the last match, they shot an angle where Suzuki and Sabre attacked Aussie Open, setting up a match between the two teams on RevPro’s May 10th show. 

Tanahashi & Ospreay vs. Suzuki & ZSJ set for RevPro WM week show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The day before they face off at G1 Supercard, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr. will be on opposite sides of a tag match for Revolution Pro Wrestling.

RevPro has announced that Tanahashi & Will Ospreay will face British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. in a non-title match at their WrestleMania week show in New York City on Friday, April 5. The event is taking place at the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom and will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

RevPro’s show in NYC is being presented by WrestleCon.

Tanahashi vs. Sabre at ROH-NJPW G1 Supercard will be for Sabre’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Ospreay is NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Champion and will face ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb in a title vs. title match at G1 Supercard.

Ospreay was originally scheduled to team with PAC against CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) at RevPro’s WrestleMania week show, but PAC had to be pulled from WrestleCon due to a visa issue.

Ospreay & PAC teaming together at RevPro WrestleMania week show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Will Ospreay and PAC will be sharing the ring together over WrestleMania week — but they’ll be doing so as teammates.

Revolution Pro Wrestling announced today that Ospreay & PAC will face CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) at their WrestleMania week show in New York City on Friday, April 5. The show is presented by WrestleCon and will take place at the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom. The start time is 3 p.m. Eastern.

Ospreay & PAC vs. CCK stems from the story of Ospreay and PAC’s first-ever match against each other from RevPro’s High Stakes event last week. Brookes and Gresham interfered and attacked Ospreay while the referee was down. Brookes went to hit Ospreay with PAC’s Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate title belt, but PAC stopped him. Ospreay and PAC briefly worked together to take out CCK.

Ospreay and PAC’s match at High Stakes ended in a 30-minute time-limit draw. PAC escaped a Storm Breaker and low blowed Ospreay near the finish. PAC wanted the referee to call for the disqualification, but he let the match continue. PAC then went up to hit the Black Arrow, but he opted to celebrate instead as time expired.

The crowd chanted for five more minutes after Ospreay vs. PAC. Ospreay called for it too, but PAC headed to the back.

RevPro books Will Ospreay vs. PAC for High Stakes 2019

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The long-anticipated Will Ospreay vs. PAC match will become a reality in February.

Revolution Pro Wrestling has announced Ospreay vs. PAC (formerly Neville in WWE) for their High Stakes 2019 event at York Hall in London, England on Friday, February 15. PAC also faced Speedball Mike Bailey for RevPro last month and has a match against Zack Sabre Jr. set for RevPro’s Live at the Cockpit show at The Cockpit Theatre in London on Sunday, January 6.

Sabre will be challenging for Tomohiro Ishii’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4.

Ospreay had been building up a match against PAC prior to today’s announcement, tweeting “Give. Me. PAC.” when it was confirmed in August that PAC was no longer under contract with WWE.

After a year away from the ring, PAC resurfaced for Dragon Gate at a show in early October. He started to make his first post-WWE European independent appearances last month.

RevPro books Zack Sabre Jr. vs. PAC for January

Posted on by Joseph Currier

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.

RevPro Uprising results: Ishii vs. Starr, Suzuki & ZSJ vs. Aussie Open

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Matt Dagnall

York Hall in London wasn’t quite sold out, but it was pretty full and had a great atmosphere for the night.

– Taichi defeated Chris Brookes (15:03)

Taichi kept leaving the ring and avoiding Brookes at the start, and when they eventually came to blows, a crazy brawl erupted all around the arena. The two had good chemistry when back in the ring and had a decent back-and-forth match.

Brookes had Taichi in a submission when El Desperado came out and distracted the official — who then didn’t see Taichi tap out. Will Ospreay came down to even the odds (despite not yet being cleared to wrestle) and went to hit Desperado with Taichi’s mic stand, but Taichi ducked and Ospreay hit Brookes, and then got a superkick from Taichi.

Taichi took advantage and submitted Brookes after a low blow. After the match, Ospreay apologized and raised Brookes’ hand, only for Brookes to turn on him and give the still-injured Ospreay a moderate beatdown. This was expertly booked and the crowd lapped it up.

– The Great-O-Kharn defeated Shane Taylor (7:14)

Lord Gideon Grey came out and said that RevPro had given in to his demands for The Dominator to have a match, but said it would be against a mystery opponent. Shane Taylor came down to little reaction and got an alright match out of the improving O-Kharn

 There were a lot of strikes and suplexes, but O-Kharn won fairly quickly with a chokeslam after interference from Gideon Grey. Taylor got a good ovation at the end. This was a pleasant surprise on the card and O-Kharn remains undefeated.

– Josh Bodom defeated Chris Ridgeway (8:19)

This started off very hot with both wrestlers wanting to get at the other. They fit a lot into a short amount of time here, as the match hit top gear a few minutes in.

Ridgeway went crazy with kicks and nearly won with an ankle lock. Bodom was incredible. He did a picture-perfect moonsault to the outside, followed by a tombstone on the apron and a Bliss Buster for the win. Bodom was busted open halfway through and looked sadistic with blood all over his body — this was a really good showing from him, as per usual.

– El Phantasmo defeated El Desperado (15:58)

As is often the case, the first half main event was stellar. It started off pretty fast paced as both men ran the ropes and got the crowd involved. They slowed down a bit, with Desperado gaining control until Phantasmo started to get the upper hand, leaping all over the place with the crowd firmly in his corner.

The last few minutes were insanity, with all sorts of near falls as the crowd became very invested. Phantasmo won this with his swanton and moonsault combination and received a huge ovation. Phantasmo is a superstar and it is only a matter of time before he is signed up somewhere.

– Satoshi Kojima defeated WALTER (11:40)

Kojima is incredibly over in the United Kingdom and WALTER is a pretty effective heel, so this made for a good dynamic. WALTER chopped the life out of Kojima, who kept on attempting to fire up but being swatted down.

Eventually, Kojima quickly won with a lariat in what was barely a three count — a clearly improvised finish due to WALTER being apparently hurt. WALTER was taken to the back with the medics, but it didn’t seem to be too serious.

Kojima cut a promo and was about to challenge Tomohiro Ishii until Bodom came out announcing he was moving up to heavyweight. He said Kojima was the past and he was the future, while demolishing a loaf of bread, much to the distress of the leader of Bread Club.

The match could have gotten very good had it not ended abruptly — but regardless, you have to again question the booking of WALTER here. It genuinely baffles me why he isn’t treated as a bigger star in RevPro and there was no need for Kojima to win this.

– MK McKinnan defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey (14:37)

This was Bailey’s return to York Hall after an over two-year absence following his incredible run in 2016. It was awesome to finally see him back. McKinnan was clearly not that over at the start of the match and the crowd was pretty worn out too, however this incredible match brought them right back up.

Both men wrestled really well, starting off on the mat before going to the top rope and the ramp. Bailey hit his double-knee moonsault on the apron, there was a massive superplex, and several great near falls. McKinnan got Bailey in a choke and elbowed him till he passed out.

This was really good stuff, and a very strong win for McKinnan, who has looked fantastic since returning. Hopefully Bailey can stick around too as he’s such a valuable asset.

– Undisputed British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain their titles (21:50)

This had a really big-fight feel as both teams have been pretty invincible in RevPro this year. Suzuki dominated both opponents early on, scaring Fletcher, who was worked over for a lot of this. Davis tagged in and ran wild before being worn down by Suzuki’s submission-based offense.

Davis tagged Fletcher back in for an awesome staredown between Fletcher and Suzuki — Fletcher finally facing his fear. However, just as Fletcher was getting the upper hand, Sabre came in and they started applying double submissions. Davis eventually broke it up and Aussie Open hit their double-team finishers, each of them being kicked out of. Then while Sabre had Davis in a submission, Suzuki pinned Fletcher with the Gotch-style piledriver.

This was an odd result, — Aussie Open had been building to this since January and I’m not sure where they go from here.

– Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii defeated Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion David Starr to retain his title (19:07)

The build to this match was great, with Starr claiming he is not just the best cruiserweight but the best wrestler. The match was designed to appeal to the fans who object to NJPW talent holding RevPro titles and would prefer full-time champions like Starr.

Starr mocked Ishii’s walk and stance, while Ishii just stared down his opponent. Starr outwrestled Ishii early on, being too technical, nimble, and agile for the heavyweight and wearing him down. As you’d expect, Ishii came firing back with heavy forearms, but Starr was able to match him and never gave up despite taking a beating.

They exchanged more strikes and chops, with Ishii often no selling Starr’s strikes and even hitting the best superplex I’ve ever seen. Starr hit a combination of lariats and followed with a Han Stansen — but Ishii kicked out at one. Ishii then hit his brainbuster for the win.

A really good main event and the crowd was very into Starr potentially being a double champion. After the match, Suzuki-gun attacked Ishii and Sabre announced that he never got his rematch from when Ishii beat him for the title back in April. Sabre will get his rematch at Wrestle Kingdom 13. The crowd loved this announcement — it almost made up for Starr not winning.

Final thoughts —

This was an excellent show from top to bottom, with every match ranging from good to incredible. RevPro is often criticized for being all in-ring and no story, but they did very well to combat that at this show. The three big angles were really well booked and will lead to other matches down the line, with the Ospreay/Taichi stuff and Sabre/Ishii stuff standing out in terms of story.

The in-ring side was as good as ever, with The McKinnan vs. Bailey match, Phantasmo vs. Desperado, and obviously the main event standing out. The only concern is in the booking decisions. The main criticism of RevPro right now is that the NJPW guys that come over always win, after at Global Wars UK when every New Japan guy won except from against El Phantasmo. This was again the case here.

The WALTER loss hurt, as well as both Starr and Aussie Open losing their title matches. I think most people assumed at least one of Ishii and Suzuki-gun would lose their titles and neither did, which came as a surprise. It does make the RevPro roster look weak if they always lose to NJPW guys and it’s certainly an issue that needs addressing before more of the fan base become angered.

RevPro British Heavyweight title match set for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A rematch from earlier this year has been made official for Wrestle Kingdom 13.

At today’s RevPro Uprising event in London, Tomohiro Ishii defeated David Starr to retain the British Heavyweight title. Following the match, members of Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.) came in and put the boots to him, unable to defend himself. Zack Sabre Jr. then appeared and said he was invoking his contractually obligated rematch, and this time he wanted it at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

Sabre lost the championship to Tomohiro Ishii back on April 6 at RevPro’s WrestleCon show in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ishii then lost the title to Minoru Suzuki during the Strong Style Evolved UK tour in Manchester in July. Ishii regained the championship last month during a RevPro/New Japan Global Wars event back on October 14. Ishii most recently defended the title at Power Struggle, where he defeated Suzuki to retain the championship. 

Wrestle Kingdom 13 will take place at the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

RevPro World of Pro Wrestling premiere results: ZSJ vs. KUSHIDA

Posted on by F4W Editors

We began with commentators Kevin Kelly and Andy Boy Simmonz doing a sports-style introduction from ringside. They talked about the main event and hyped the appearance of “The Dominator” Great O-Kharn with accompanied graphics.

In a move right out of UFC, Kelly talked over a graphic that listed the rules of pro wrestling, going as far as explaining what pinfalls and countouts are. A great opening that established the sports-feel of the program, and made a conscious effort to explain the sport to new fans.

Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Chris Brookes

This was a fun opener with these two working well. While Brookes often works at a sprint, here Liger controlled much of the match with grappling, including an early Gory Special. Brookes would gain the initiative as they brawled outside following Liger hitting a cannonball on the outside.

In a rare instance of heel work from Brookes, he used the ring apron to trap Liger’s head so he could stomp on it. Liger would ultimately win with a brainbuster.

There was a display of sportsmanship between the two before Brookes kicked Liger low. He then tried to take Liger’s mask off, with El Phantasmo running in to scare him off.

Advertising Break 

Lord Gideon Grey came out. Dressed in a sharp three-piece suit, he combines the standard aristocratic gimmick with the sense that there’s something not quite right about him. Think Lord Steven Regal crossed with George “The Animal” Steele. He announced that he has acquired the services of The Great O-Kharn.

The Great O-Kharn defeated Harrison Thompson

This was a complete squash, with The Great O-Kharn just dismantling his opponent. Tomoyuki Oka debuted with this gimmick at Strong Style Evolved UK, and he certainly seems much more comfortable with it now than he did back then. He won with the iron claw slam.

Afterwards, Grey stole the microphone to announce his charge as the victor.

They then aired promo shots of Zack Sabre Jr. and KUSHIDA posing to continue the hype for the main event.  

Kelly explained that O-Kharn’s opponent was part of Revolution Pro Wrestling’s contenders division, and that he was now joined by another example of that division, Dan Magee. They did a deliberately stilted interview before Sha Samuels interrupted. He pushed Magee out of the way, ranting to Kelly about being a former British Heavyweight Champion and having signed a huge contract to return.

Samuels literally shoved the contract at Kelly. Magee was hovering behind Samuels and Kelly, doing a good job of selling his annoyance at the situation, and ultimately interjected to tell Samuels to leave Kelly alone. Samuels then suckerpunched Magee, and they had a short brawl before security broke it up. This was a really good angle in which Samuels came across as a bigger star in three minutes than he did in three months of World of Sport.

They then threw to a pre-recorded interview between Andy Boy Simmonz and Colt Cabana from the balcony of York Hall. In a segment that spliced in archive footage of Cabana’s previous matches in RevPro, they talked about why Cabana is a fan of British pro wrestling, has traveled the world, and how he’s a former British Heavyweight Champion. They then announced that Cabana will be in action next week. Nothing complicated, but an effective tease for a match.

Advertising Break  

Before the match, there was again another nod to UFC, as they brought a “tale of the tape” style graphic. Simmonz predicted that ZSJ will win.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated KUSHIDA

They had a very good match that went almost 20 minutes, with Sabre winning by submitting KUSHIDA with Orienteering With Napalm Death after countering an attempted bridging pin. During the match, it was confirmed that Chris Brookes would face El Phantasmo next week.

This match very much conformed to Sabre’s formula in New Japan, with him dominating on the ground — but ultimately getting goaded into a striking exchange. There were fun grappling exchanges throughout, with KUSHIDA repeatedly trying for the armbar. From early on in the match, Chris Ridgeway came out to watch from the entrance ramp, and while he didn’t interfere, Sabre’s patronizing reaction to him afterwards hinted at a future match to come.

The show ended with Sabre walking to the back.    

Final Thoughts —

The wrestling was good throughout, while the pacing and format made it a very easy show to watch. York Hall looked great, which speaks to the return on investment of bringing in a specialized production company considering that RevPro is often being criticized for RPW On Demand’s production values.

There were a few issues with the sound, with the sound of the entrance music being captured over the live microphones, which made it challenging to mix the sound so you could hear the music and the commentators. This did seem to get better throughout the show, so maybe it can be explained as an example of teething problems.

The commentary team were good throughout, with Simmonz playing the heel well. One note is that the UFC-style presentation would work even better if Simmonz could provide more technical rationales for why he predicts certain outcomes. Likewise, while they did a really good job of setting up things for next week, throwing back to Kelly and Simmonz so they can do a hard sell for next week’s episode would be a good idea.

But these are minor issues. This was not just a great British pro wrestling television show, but a great pro wrestling show full stop.

RevPro British J-Cup day two results: Tournament winner crowned

Posted on by F4W Editors

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.

– Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) defeated LAX (Santana & Ortiz)

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.  

RevPro TV taping results: Tag team tournament matches

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Matt Dagnall

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.

RevPro TV taping results: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. KUSHIDA

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Noel Rattigan

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.

RevPro Summer Sizzler results: Tomohiro Ishii vs. WALTER

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Matt Dagnall

– 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.

NJPW SSE UK night one results: Suzuki & ZSJ vs. Okada & Ishii

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Phil Rusling

Headlined by a British Tag Team title match, the first night of NJPW’s Strong Style Evolved UK weekend kicked off in Milton Keynes on Saturday. Today’s show in Manchester has Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki and Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

– The Great O-Khan defeated Shota Umino

O-Khan was Tomoyuki Oka. He requested a handshake and was rejected by Umino a number of times until Umino finally accepted. O-Khan then attacked him during the handshake for the heat.

Umino made his comeback with a dropkick from the top rope and went for a Boston crab. It seemed like the crowd was fairly savvy regarding the place of the young lions, but they were also determined to enjoy everything on the card, so Umino got a great reaction for this submission, with the fans shouting for O-Khan to tap out. Eventually, O-Khan won with a double Mongolian chop from the second rope.

– Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)

Takahashi brought two women to the ring wearing the same masks as Pieter wears in Japan, although both were British. Ishimori’s height was really noticeable in this match, with Fletcher and Davis looking significantly taller than him.  His speed was also noticeable as he did his in and out of the ring spot.

Aussie Open got a strong reaction from the crowd, but there were dueling chants for them and Bullet Club and Aussie Open/Ishimori. The match was fairly basic, ending with Ishimori winning with the Bloody Cross.

–  El Desperado, Taichi & Takashi Iizuka defeated Jay White, Gedo & Toru Yano

This had the standard open to a Suzuki-gun match where they attacked the Chaos team at the bell and brawled outside. Gedo ended up starting the match and was isolated while Iizuka did his comedy biting spots and chased the referee.

Desperado did next to nothing in the match, while White took a single tag, working with Iizuka and Taichi. Taichi was the only man in the match with any real heat. Yano got a huge reaction when he tagged in but did very little, and eventually Gedo was pinned after Iizuka used the iron fist.

– Tiger Mask IV defeated David Starr

This was announced as a title match for Starr’s British Cruiserweight Championship, but Starr got on the mic before the match and said that a fourth edition of an anime wrestler didn’t deserve a shot at his title. This gave the impression that Tiger Mask would be winning.

Starr managed to get good crowd reactions, including being told to “Shut the f*ck up” in the middle of the match while trying to talk to Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask hit an underhook suplex from the top rope and eventually won with the Tiger Driver.

– WALTER defeated Yuji Nagata

Both guys were super over here. The match was mostly striking, with WALTER’s chops predictably getting a huge response from the crowd. One memorable exchange had WALTER throwing chops while Nagata threw kicks.

WALTER  hit a big lariat after escaping a powerbomb before being put in the cross armbreaker, but he escaped and hit two more lariats to win. Nagata got a standing ovation as he left.

– YOSHI-HASHI defeated Chris Brookes

Brookes played the heel here despite being the clear fan favorite. The reaction to YOSHI-HASHI was so lackluster that I actually missed his entrance entirely, and the crowd was still chanting for Brookes.

The work was good and crisp between the two. They did early mat work that gave way to bigger moves. However, despite not going all that long, it was the first match on the card that felt like it lost the attention of the audience. YOSHI-HASHI won with Karma and got a pop for the finish, although this might have been mostly the excitement of knowing that Will Ospreay was next.

– Will Ospreay defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Ospreay predictably got a huge reaction for his entrance and throughout the match. The crowd even chanted “He’s coming home, he’s coming home, he’s coming, Ospreay’s coming home,” an ode to the soccer chant at English national team games. This match felt short, perhaps because we’ve been conditioned, like with Okada, to expect long wars from Ospreay. It was a showcase for Ospreay with him taking most of the match.

The typical Suzuki-gun start was even quickly turned around as Ospreay took the early advantage. Kanemaru did briefly get some heat on him. He went to use the whiskey, but Ospreay covered his mouth and hit a wrap-around kick, knocking the whiskey from Kanemaru’s mouth.  Ospreay then hit a series of his signature moves: the Robinson Special, OsCutter block, backflip kick into an enzuigiri, Shooting Star Press onto a draping Kanemaru, and finally the Stormbreaker to end it.

This was fast paced and the crowd was super hot throughout. They serenaded Ospreay all the way to the back and beyond — until the main event was announced.

– British Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii to retain their titles

Every entrance was electric here, with ZSJ trying his best to get the crowd to stop chanting for him by acting disdainfully and throwing his title belt. Suzuki amped up the fans, who screamed “Kaze Ni Nare” over the top of the announcers

Ishii received perhaps the smaller of the reactions, but it was still ahead of everyone else on the card aside from Ospreay. Okada got a true superstar reaction with everyone on their feet. He was wearing different gear with new pants and had a slight alteration to his music.

Sabre and Okada opened with some great ground work before Suzuki and Ishii tagged in and had the first of many fantastic strike battles, really firing up the crowd. Ishii was isolated and, while Okada tried to enter the ring and distracted the referee, Suzuki and Sabre did their switching tandem submission spot. Okada had a comeback where he hit his standard series of moves on Sabre before going for the Rainmaker, which was dutifully blocked. The Rainmaker pose seems to have become a tell that the Rainmaker will not connect.

Ishii and Suzuki ended up back in the ring together and had to wait a long time for the crowd to quiet down so they could do their hard elbow strikes spot. Ishii sold like he had been wobbled each time, and each recovery was met with an incredible explosion from the crowd before they got quiet again to hear the impact of Ishii’s next strike.

This led to a brief sequence with Ishii working with Sabre before Suzuki tagged in and faced Okada for the first time in the match, which got the loudest reaction apart from Ishii’s recoveries from Suzuki’s strikes. Ishii eventually gave up to Sabre’s Orienteering With Napalm Death submission while Suzuki held Okada in a sleeper.

Most of the fans stayed around to watch Suzuki give a brief post-match promo, the usual Suzuki-gun Ichiban.