Euro Fury: RPW Live At The Cockpit #10

RPW Live At The Cockpit 10

 

July 3 2016

 

We’re in London at the Cockpit Theatre. A common complaint about the Cockpit shows is that they’re basically RAW to the York Hall shows’ “PPV” status but Rev Pro are so slow at putting these shows out that they almost always appear after the major show has already taken place. So this was taped before Uprising 2016 (the Ospreay-Vader show) but not only that it was also taped before Summer Sizzler. So there have been two major Rev Pro shows since this taped. It’s a ridiculous state of affairs that it takes two months for a ‘preview’ show (of sorts) to make VOD. Major issue for Rev Pro going forward. Get those shows out quicker. Hosts are Andy Quildan and a jovial Marty Scurll.

 

Josh Wall vs. Kurtis Chapman

The Cockpit shows always start with a trainee match and the trainees are wearing black trunks and boots like New Japan dojo guys. Chapman is a streak of piss. He may weigh under 100lbs, he’s that small. You can see all his bones through his skin. Wall looks like a proper grown up by comparison. I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of trainee matches and this is at the top end. The counters are smooth and Chapman’s work is a lot better than his skin and bones appearance. The switches are clean, the strikes look good. Now Kurtis needs to eat some chicken and hit the gym. This man needs protein, stat. Wall ends up taking the pin with a full nelson slam as Chapman is too small to realistically beat anyone. Both guys have bags of potential and we’ll be seeing them in years to come.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Undisputed British Tag Team Championship

Josh Bodom & Charlie Garrett (c) vs. Legion of Lords (Lord Gideon Grey & Rishi Ghosh)

Some smart fans have noticed Legion of Lords shortens to “LOL” and chant it. Redman & Garrett have been the saviours of a weak Rev Pro tag team division and it suddenly burst into life when they won the straps. Redman is billed as a tag team specialist, as he frequently forms new teams and has rapid success (this is third tag title with a different partner after Haskins and Martin Stone).  He’s a powerhouse while Garrett flies around. It’s a good combination. LOL are pure comedy and run heat with an array of lame moves. They’re a throwback. They’ll be able to work this style at this pace into pension age though so there’s always that. Garrett does a lot of flips and Redman hits a lot of power moves. After the match breaks down it becomes “non-stop frantic action”. Gideon blasts Garrett with his cane for the pin but Chris Roberts sees it and reverses the decision. This would lead to Gideon making Rishi run his cane to the back at Summer Sizzler but Garrett kicking out. Of course it would have worked better if they’d got this out before that show happened so I would get the reference.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Jinny vs. Zoe Lucas

Zoe has been working on the Rev Pro TV shows doing presenting and comes out doing a ballerina/cheerleader gimmick to Katy Perry’s “Roar”. If only both girls were as good in the ring as their entrances. Jinny has her entrance down and can banter with the fans beautifully but the in-ring alludes her thus far. The match isn’t a disaster but it shows the level of inexperience that the opener should have. There’s too much telegraphing of moves and too many dangerous bumps. I love them for attempting some of these spots but let’s learn to walk before we try to run. The match is aided by Zoe being so nice that it’s impossible not to cheer her on and Jinny being a despicable bitch. Jinny is worth having in a promotion for her heat alone. Jinny gets the X-Factor out of the corner for the win in a heated contest. It was definitely on the sloppy side though and both of them were lucky to escape injury.

Final Rating: **

 

“Even I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for Zoe now” says Scurll as Lucas gets a pasting post match and she’s crying. Scurll has been impressive on commentary on this show. Is there anything he can’t do?

 

Trent Seven vs. Mark Haskins

“A man with a beard in black trunks. I can’t see that working” says Scurll. “But a man with a beard in white trunks. Oh-ho-ho”. These two have instant chemistry thanks to technical excellence and similar styles. The camera work is solid enough here that I can reveal Haskins’ pre-match water of choice is Glaceau smart water. Trent beats the holy hell out of Haskins, including his delightful bowling overhand chop. Bringing cricket to the dirty unwashed masses. If it wasn’t for Seven injuring his own arm on strikes he might pummel Haskins into rapid-fire defeat. Haskins gets all fired up and they beat the piss out of each other. British Strongstyle in front of a hundred people and millions on the internet (possibly). The match is just a tiny bit sloppy, thanks to the heat in the Cockpit, but it’s mostly on Seven. Haskins is virtually flawless. As if to fix this situation they go into a back suplex rampage, which is absolutely brutal. They collapse into the middle of the ring and the crowd chant “both these guys”. They start teeing off on each other with such viciousness Quildan expresses a need to swear but he’s not allowed. I fucking am. This is the fucking business! They just wear each other out with the abuse. Strikes and big spots. It’s murder. Both guys end up exhausted. Seven is still selling the arm too, which makes me think either he’s hurt or he’s a Don of selling. Seven finishes with a massive lariat and a piledriver for the upset win. This was fucking great and you can tell because it gets an instant standing ovation. The crowd knew how special this was.

Final Rating: ****1/4

 

Unfortunately that match marks the end of Scurll’s run as guest commentator and he’s replaced by the Legion of Lords.

 

Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar

This was taped so long ago Dunne is still the cruiserweight champion. “He is an absolute idiot for pandering to these morons” says Grey of Dar doing fun stuff. The crowd are more interested in Pete’s new haircut (he’s abandoned the top knot) than the match to begin with. It’s also pretty tough to follow that last match. In a rebuilding process they do some excellent near misses, with Dar slipping away from Dunne’s heavy hits. Both guys take a solid beating with Dunne making Dar look of comparable strength, which is quite impressive as Noam is a smaller guy with less convincing strikes. Dunne is able to sell those strikes effectively. Meanwhile Dunne doesn’t need Dar to sell his strikes because he just waffles the poor kid with them. They go nuts on the striking and no sells and it begins to threaten Seven-Haskins for MOTN. The finish takes it back down a notch where Dar gets into it with Chris Roberts giving Dunne the opening to bash Noam with the Cruiserweight strap for the pin.

Final Rating: ***3/4

 

Josh Bodom vs. Jody Fleisch

This is a slight clash of styles as Jody brings the flippity business and Bodom takes a few squiffy bumps in the process. Despite his size Bodom’s style isn’t the flipz. He’s more into bashing people with Strongstyle. Maybe he shouldn’t be booked as a firm heel. Quildan gives us a history lesson with Jody and Johnny breaking the States fifteen years ago and that being the birth of modern BritWres. Which is a fair point but why did it take so damn long to come to fruition? The Cockpit decide to heel on Bodom by chanting “Boredom” at him. Which is reflected by Bodom’s control periods in this match, which are very deliberate. After the last two matches it’s an attempt to draw heat instead of busting a gut, which is understandable. Sometimes you have to change gears when you’re put in a tough spot. It’s a smart veteran performance from Bodom, even if it doesn’t make for a good contest. James Castle comes out for the distraction and Bodom rolls Jody up with a handful of tights for the win.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

James Castle vs. Jonny Storm

Castle has been much improved since losing the tag titles but doesn’t demonstrate that consistently during this. There are moments where he’s exposed. He’s learning all the time though and having switched his hair from spiked to flat seems to have helped. Sometimes you make a minor change to yourself and it makes all the difference. Whether that’s music, gear or hairstyle. Sometimes it gives you a boost. Jonny isn’t in the best of condition, unlike Jody, although he can do most of his spots fluidly. Like with the last match it feels like a lull in the show after two blinding matches in the middle of the card. They certainly don’t rest like Bodom did in the previous match and motor through the contest. Maybe that’s Castle’s inexperience in singles showing and the crowd chant “that was sloppy” at him for a botched neckbreaker. Jody and Bodom run out for a weird non-interference spot and Jonny gets the win with the Wonderwhirl. This was hard-worked but oddly flat.

Final Rating: **1/4

 

The Leaders of the New School (Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll) vs. The British Young Bloods (Jake McCluskey & Kieran Bruce)

Nice to see the LDRS back on the same page, even if it’s not the page most people were expecting thanks to Sabre’s lean towards heeldom. Oddly enough they’ve selected a heel team for the LDRS’ to work against and they’re cheered in this contest. The last time they tagged Scurll worked fully heel and Sabre chastised him for it. They don’t need to cheat against The Bruce and Sabre stretches him extensively. Interesting to note Scurll being an asshole to McCluskey and Sabre looking unphased. As if he’s now less concerned about Scurll’s tactical choices because the crowd are supporting them. McCluskey actually looks, dare I say it, ‘good’ here even if he’s been helped to that point by Scurll, the most charismatic man in the match. The LDRS are so good they barely need opponents and as the babyfaces work heat on Jake McCluskey and it works. I don’t see it as believable that the match rumbles on for as long as it does, even if with every passing minute it makes the British Young Bloods look more and more competent. The match is at its worst when BYB’s run heat on Scurll, which doesn’t feel right at all. They do some fun stuff, even if it feels totally unrealistic as the contest grinds towards twenty minutes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good match I just don’t buy BYB’s being able to hang with the LDRS for twenty minutes. We also grind to a halt with Scurll going after the umbrella and Sabre disagreeing with that tactic. The LDRS both end up stretching BYB’s into submission defeat but it takes too long to get there. Solid match but would have been more competitive and realistic had they not let it go so long.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

 

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Having a blow-away match bang in the middle of the card made it tough for the second half to live up to that standard. We’ve seen this happen on cards all over the place, from WWE to Japan to Rev Pro in the past. That first half main event can sometimes wreck a second half of a show. Not that I’m too bothered about the quality of the second half because the Seven-Haskins match ruled. The main event was too long but it kept the storylines ticking over and helped to make the British Young Bloods relevant.