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Euro Fury: RPW Global Wars UK 2016 Night 2
Loading...Rev Pro Global Wars UK 2016 Night 2
November 11 2016
We’re in Walthamstow. It’s the first time at this venue for Rev Pro and it’s a lovely old-timey building. It has roman columns on the outside and is adjacent to an actual palace. It has a fountain out front. It might be the nicest building I’ve ever watched wrestling in. Hosts are Andy Quildan and Oliver Bennett. With Andy Boy Simmonz turning up partway through the show because timekeeping isn’t his strong point.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) vs. Joel Redman & Charlie Garrett
The tag titles are not on the line here. The storyline of this match is the champs getting wound up by LIJ’s heel antics and cutting the ring off by nefarious means. When I was watching this show live I was worried at how quiet the crowd was but that would change as the night went on. When the atmosphere is that quiet it tends to slow down the boys. Take EVIL’s chair spot into the ring post here where Redman takes it at quarter speed. Chris Roberts can’t get a handle on the LIJ lads who bully him. It’s borderline crooked officiating. Charlie Garrett looks all fired up and gets into his babyface role, throwing in passionate dives and looking more energised than anyone else. When one guy gets fired up it helps everyone else. This gets him misted in the mush and Roberts calls it a DQ. I’m glad that was a DQ after the bullshit refereeing during BUSHI-Ospreay the night before. This match struggled to get going but the champs looked decent.
Final Rating: **1/2
Promo Time: Drew Galloway
Drew has a back problem, courtesy of Joseph Connors in WCPW, that caused him to miss this show. He cut an absolutely killer promo in WCPW where Connors was on hand to be the target for his wrath and emotional outpouring. The one here is like a watered down version of the same promo, talking about how great the UK scene is, without the focus of an opponent and a match at the end of it.
Josh Bodom vs. Tomoaki Honma
Bodom hasn’t been booked for three months (apart from a recent match with Eddie Dennis) but he’s back here as a replacement for Drew. Bodom’s character has started using the word “bro” at every possible opportunity. He’s also been hitting the gym hard and has gained muscle mass. These two things combined make me hate his heel persona even more. Which is a good thing because you need people to jeer and yell at in wrestling. Josh Bodom has potential, if he carries on like this, to be a leading heel because he’s so hateable. Anyone who walks around doing muscle poses and yelling “brrrroooo” is asking to be punched. Honma lets Bodom run through his spots here and it’s not a particularly good match because of that. Honma is far too giving. Bodom being fearless in the face of Honma is perhaps not the best trait of a heel but it reflects his added confidence due to the weight gain. Bodom goes low to set up the Blissbuster and that’s enough for the win. I can’t help but think that guys Rev Pro have booked in recent times have gone past Bodom in terms of ability, even though Bodom has been steadily improving. He steadily vomits all over the apron on his way out, which is frankly disgusting. The body will inevitably betray you, in all aspects of life.
Final Rating: **
Yuji Nagata vs. Trent Seven
Nagata slightly underperformed on night one against Pete Dunne but the crowd explodes for him here, a big contrast to the opening two matches. He clearly feels the love. Trent is instantly over huge too and we’re in for a good contest. Seven has been having some excellent sprints this year. He seems to know how to get the most out of a ten minute match. Both guys know exactly how to get a crowd fired up without doing anything. Nagata’s first offensive move is twiddling Seven’s moustache and the way Trent marks out is sensational. They swiftly get into the meat of chopping but it’s all in good spirits. Trent’s chops are brilliant. The little kiss on the palm before he delivers them is perfect. If you’re watching the VOD of this show at 46.10 Trent gets dumped onto the lap of someone in the front row who proceeds to tell Yuji Nagata to settle down a bit and Nagata replies with “ok” after having kicked Trent in the face. That’s me. Bantering with Nagata is something you cannot put a price on. Trent throws in his ‘chopping the ring post’ spot and Jesus fucking Christ it’s the most harsh chopping the post spot, ever. Nagata’s laughing reaction is hilarious. Nagata goes on to work the hand and forearm over from there. Trent’s facials as Nagata fires up are wonderful. Seven has made it in 2016. He’s had a blow-away year and I love him for it. Trent hangs in there for a while but Nagata gets the armbar and that’s it. I was disappointed this was so short because I loved every second of it.
Final Rating: ****
Post Match: Trent is basking in the adulation of the fans when Dave Mastiff, the Bastard, jumps him from behind. Mastiff hasn’t been in Rev Pro since late 2014. He spent that year doing high profile jobs for imports (and Doug). Interesting to see him back in action. A match with Trent would definitely be good.
Jushin Liger vs. Dark Liger
Or Will Ospreay if you’d rather. He comes out to Liger’s music and in full black CTU Liger gear. They do some daft stuff in this match including dancing and not being able to hit each other because they’re the same person. It’s really, really silly but in a good way. This is another example of Ospreay working a match where he doesn’t take any unpleasant bumps in order to prolong his career. It’s exactly how Liger toned his own act down to extend his career into his 50s. Back in the day Liger was an innovative flipper himself. Hell, he throws in a super rana here to show he can still hang. He’s 51, lads. Ospreay makes a point of lifting various spots from Liger including the shotei, the koppou kick and the Shooting Star Press. When he does go after his own move, the Cheeky Nando’s kick, he changes his mind and shoves his thumb up Liger’s bum. He should have been paying attention in BOLA because Liger has buns of steel. In an attempt to alleviate the pressure Ospreay shoves Chris Roberts’ thumb up his own bum but Liger just walks it off. Oscutter sets up the SSP and Will beats Liger with his own move. The lads bow to each other afterwards, having had a jolly good lark.
Final Rating: ***
Pete Dunne vs. Tomohiro Ishii
This is the second match in the Trial of Peter Dunne. Can he impress Ishii? Big Tom certainly laces in the strikes to try Pete out. Ishii takes all of Pete’s strikes and completely no sells them. Dunne settles down a lot quicker than against Nagata. They seem to have better chemistry, mainly due to Ishii’s style being in-your-face and more about strikes with the odd throw. It’s a very solid match. Pete’s biting gimmick reaches new highs by chomping on the back of Ishii’s skull. Ishii’s no selling, while selling subtly, is majestic in this. The way he pops up to his feet, although clearly hurt, after a superplex is amazing. It’s so hard to get the balance but Ishii does it perfectly. He even gets in on Pete’s game plan by biting Dunne’s fingers. Ishii’s performances in the UK have improved since his first appearance and he seems to have gained an appreciation of how much he can batter people. Dunne has it won with a low blow and the Drop Dead but Ospreay runs out here to stop the bullshit. Ishii goes low in return and finishes with the brainbuster. This was fantastic but I marked it down a touch because I wasn’t overly keen on the finish. Even if Will has issues with Pete and is teammates with Ishii in Japan.
Final Rating: ***3/4
LDRS of the New School vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA)
Poor Sabre lost his title yesterday but at least he’s still got his old pal Marty Scurll. Speaking of whom, Scurll plays babyface cheerleader throughout this match. It’s the most babyface I’ve seen him work in years. This is a fantastically good combination of wrestlers. Scurll is playful, Sabre is the technician and LIJ bring the charismatic heel work. It all clicks together beautifully. As per usual LIJ control Roberts to the point where the crowd start chanting abuse at the poor guy. The match starts off a little slow, although that helps to build with fast tags between the LDRS demonstrating Scurll’s wish to have a faster pace, but it picks up in a big way. We end up with a belting tag contest pushing twenty minutes and never feeling that long. One of my favourite spots is Naito not realising what Scurll is about to do with the finger snap. He just stares at Scurll looking confused. Mentally asking Marty what the fuck he’s up to. Then the finger snap happens and Naito’s face is a picture. Such a great piece of storytelling from Naito and how he doesn’t give a shit about Scurll so he didn’t bother preparing for him. Sabre gets joy too, tying Naito into knots. Again Naito makes both his opponents look like a million bucks, to the point where I figure NJPW must bring in the LDRS at some point. They’d be great in New Japan. They do a great finishing stretch with everyone getting to look good. The stuff with Naito and Sabre is especially cool as Naito nails all the selling that Shibata couldn’t do the night before. Destino puts Sabre away.
Final Rating: ****1/4
Post Match: Scurll tells us the worst kept secret in BritWres is that Sabre is moving to America next year to get more bookings. Scurll points out he’s wearing blue because it’s traditional for a wrestler to wear blue when he’s leaving the territory, as he’s signed for ROH. Marty cuts a touching promo about how great this LDRS run has been and how much they both love Rev Pro. And then naturally he kicks Zack in the balls, the fucking wanker. Quildan promises to fly Sabre in for Rev Pro even after he moves to the States. Although that’s not mentioned on the VOD.
Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship
Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Chris Hero
I almost don’t want to rewatch this because it was so great live. But then the review would literally be: ‘this match is fucking great *****’. Shibata has success in the early going by controlling Hero and stopping his size from being an issue. It’s technically very sound. They do some really clever stuff like Hero trying to power out of holds and Shibata using his technique to stop that from happening because wrestling is fucking awesome. The match is extremely hard-hitting. It’s wonderful to see Hero try and belittle Shibata, only for Shibata to intimidate the bigger man with an overhand chop. The look on Hero’s face is amazing. He sells so much in one momentary cringing glance at his opponent. These two go to war. It’s exceptional wrestling with both men determined to beat the other into defeat. Hero tells a great story throughout the match of being the bully who can’t intimidate his opponent no matter what he tries or how hard he smashes his body parts into Shibata’s head. Shibata keeps on coming because he’s hungry and determined. They hit each other so, so hard. The sound of Hero’s knee hitting Shibata in the chest for example is absolutely brutal. Shibata survives a couple of piledrivers, one of them Gotch style, and comes up with an incredible counter to stop the Ripcord Elbow. That leads right into the sleeper and the PK finishes. This isn’t quite as good on a second viewing but it’s still a fantastic match. I’m actually left confused because I think this and the Hero-Ishii match might be on an even kiel. Regardless of debate over snowflakes and whatnot these were two tremendous matches. I fucking love wrestling.
Final Rating: ****3/4
