wrestling / Video Reviews

Euro Fury: RPW Live At The Cockpit 11

September 25, 2016 | Posted by Arnold Furious
Zack Sabre Jr NJPW PWG EVOLVE PROGRESS ROH Image Credit: NJPW
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Euro Fury: RPW Live At The Cockpit 11  

RPW Live at the Cockpit 11

 

August 7 2016

 

After complaining that the Rev Pro Cockpit shows were coming up months behind time they managed to bang this one out just a few days later. I suspect Andy Quildan listens to the Twitter whining. We only complain to make things better. Complacency is the devil.

 

We’re at the Cockpit Theatre in London for the 11th Cockpit tapings. It promises to be another solid two hours of professional wrestling headlined by an RPW British title match pitting champion Zack Sabre Jr. against my boy, local moustache fan, Trent Seven. Also we have showcase matches for Jay White and Ryan Smile. Exciting times to be a Brit Wres fan.

 

Rob Lias vs. Josh Wall

This is one of the trainees, or “contenders” matches. Josh is relatively new to these but beat Kurtis Chapman last time. Lias is unbeaten. These matches generally feature solid but unspectacular action on purpose. They maximise the impact of moves like standard suplexes and it’s a lot like watching the young boys in NJPW. Learn to walk before you can run. I appreciate it. Lias looks rock solid while throwing elbows to the mid-section. He hits the Backstabber (he’s the only young boy with a finisher) and finishes with the Last Chancery. This was so solid. Andy Boy Simmonz churns out these boys who know their basics like nobody’s business. Respect.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

The British Young Bloods (Jake McCluskey & Kieran Bruce) vs. Dan Magee & Kurtis Chapman

Young boys Magee and Chapman move up to a higher rank to do battle with the last Cockpit shows main eventers. Unfortunately the crowd are their obnoxious worst here, yelling “Moose” randomly and then yelling “Bruce” instead. Just stop being a shower of shit, lads. You’re embarrassing yourselves. It’s distracting to the point where it hurts the match. Kurtis has a lot of sympathy in the bout because he’s so skinny and the BYB isolate him for heat. It’s fine. It works. It’s nothing special. It’s better when the more competitive Dan Magee gets in there and the faces make a comeback. Both young guys are solid, as all the ‘contenders’ seem to be, but eventually they’re undone with a double team German suplex that little Kurtis is thrown into.

Final Rating: **

 

Jinny vs. Xia Brookside

Jinny hates the “Moose” shit too. She actually gets popped for shushing the “Moose” yelling nerds. Xia is Robbie Brookside’s daughter so even if she’s a bit green you know she’s going to get great advice. Jinny looks annoyed at having to play second fiddle and gets some tidy counters to show her grappling superiority. It’s as if Jinny feels she needs to be better and she is. Xia looks technically sound considering her inexperience. They blow one leapfrog spot, which is perhaps beyond them at this juncture. Jinny puts a beating on Xia and even has time to critique Xia’s fashion sense and inexperience. The match is a touch inconsistent, in that it sometimes flows nicely and sometimes is clunky. Xia is clearly thinking about moves while they’re taking place. She’ll get better. She’s not what you’d call a ‘natural’ but she’s only had a handful of matches and she’s already appearing in one of the UK’s premier promotions. Jinny dresses Xia in a bin bag, which gets the teenager all fired up. There’s a flying rana which is awkward, Jinny almost landed on her head, and Xia follows with a very low dropkick (like knee level). Jinny plants her with the X-Factor for the pin. Xia looked ok here, albeit with a lot of rookie errors, but it was Jinny who impressed me. She looked technically better than usual and did a decent job of leading the match. Looking forward to the progression of Xia as a worker. I’ll be onboard from day one-ish. She is only 17 at this point. If she stays healthy she’ll be a star.

Final Rating: **1/4

 

Post Match: Zoe Lucas comes out here and suplexes Jinny on her head. “You want this ring, you can fight me for it” she yells as Jinny slinks off. Bit of a heel move to lay out someone after they just wrestled.

 

Big Damo vs. Jeff Cobb

This is a Big Lad’s division match. Rev Pro don’t have a Big Lads title but Quildan puts this down to their heavyweight division being the one Zack is champion of. This was just before Sabre-Cobb and after Zack has beaten Damo. The Irishman doesn’t have long left in the UK so he’s here to make Jeff look strong. Like a lot of recent Damo matches this is decidedly sluggish. Cobb will not settle for that and forces the pace with his determination, standing flips and deadlift suplexes. He is a freak of nature. Damo starts no selling and he runs clean through Jeff. It is big lads wrestling at its best. The finish is Cobb at his most impressive. He catches Damo on a crossbody and then jacks him up for a powerslam (the Tour of the Islands/Wrath of the Gods). Jeff Cobb is not human. He is a machine made of muscle and graps.

Final Rating: ***

 

Post Match: Damo warns Cobb that Sabre Jr. has been teaming up with Marty Scurll and in collusion with him all along so Jeff should watch his back at Uprising. An interesting train of thought that ended up paying off.

 

Josh Bodom vs. Ryan Smile

Ryan is making his Rev Pro debut, which is odd because I’ve already seen him wrestle for Rev Pro but at a bigger show that RPW got up on Demand quicker. Bodom is in danger of being cheered for his aggression so he banters with the crowd and Smile to make sure that doesn’t happen. Smile is out to showcase himself with ridiculous cardio, tasty flips and silly bumps. Bodom lays into him, channelling the level of abuse he had to produce when opposite Tomohiro Ishii. It’s a stiff contest with heavy hits and fighting spirit galore. Smile is just a wee bit sloppy around the edges, when trying stuff around the ropes, but he compensates by being ridiculous and hitting a dive over the ring post. It’s a Ricochet spot. Bodom just murders Smile at the finish, catching the poor kid coming backwards off the top rope with a Lungblower. Really strong match with firm connections on the strikes. Keeping it snug always wins me over.

Final Rating: ***3/4

 

Marty Scurll vs. Jay White

Nice to see Jay getting a brief tour of the UK during his excursion from New Japan. He doesn’t really need re-tuning or tweaking. He was ready to progress up the card in NJPW but they don’t do that. So he’s over here trying to expand his horizons a touch rather than getting totally overhauled in Mexico. Scurll dominates the match, allowing Jay moments where he can fire back before he’s shut down. It’s more of a class in heel vs. face mentality than an exciting contest. I’m sure that’s very deliberate from Marty, attempting to teach young Jay about structure ahead of flashy moves. He’ll save those flashy moves for when he’s wrestling one of his friends who he wants to get over and benefit from them. It doesn’t hurt the match any but it’s very deliberately paced to highlight Jay’s babyface comebacks and help his reactions. Someone like Scurll can easily win a crowd over through his work. He’s doing Jay a solid. The match picks up towards the finish with Scurll landing some bigger shots and Jay getting exotic submissions. Scurll’s transition into the Chickenwing during this is exceptional. Some of the best technical wrestling you’ll see all year long. They start into no-selling and Jay lands a couple of huge slaps before getting caught in the Chickenwing for the tap out. This was solid until the last few minutes when it got really good. Like with Jay’s match against Josh Bodom, I fully expect this contest to be even better a year from now. Jay is improving at a staggering rate. I love that he’s still selling the finger snap after the match too. He knows how to make the impact of spots mean something.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Post Match: Marty puts Jay over and suggests he should come back here more often. White’s response is to hope that Marty wins the British title so he can get a shot at that in a re-match. Jay needs to spend some of his ROH time working on promos.

 

RPW British Heavyweight Championship

Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Trent Seven

I’m a big fan of babyface Trent shaking hands, like a man, with everyone in the front row. Trent has been wrestling on Cockpit shows but not being included on York Hall shows, which will change in November for the New Japan crossover shows, where he’s tagging with Tyler Bate. Last time out Seven beat Mark Haskins in the Cockpit. So he’s due a big match and he’s got this title shot out of it. The set up is straightforward. Sabre is the technician while Trent will bring heavy hands and competency in the grappling department. The opening exchanges are largely on the mat where Seven is strong and then into stand up where Sabre won’t back down. Seven’s chops are hardcore. That’s British Strongstyle. Seven’s selling while he’s in charge in this match is clever stuff. He’s wary of Zack’s escapology and does fine work in controlling the technical wizard. Zack shows touches of that heel attitude he demonstrated just after this against Jeff Cobb, by continuing to beat on Seven after Trent has taken a beating. The strikes at this point in the match are vicious and exemplary. It’s so stiff. Chops, slaps and lifters. All just viciously executed. Seven is so shrewd during these sequences by finding the perfect moment to switch it up and go after the leg. Every now and again Sabre takes a bump right on top of his head, including a spiral Piledriver that gets the crowd believing there might actually be a title change. Seven then decides to no fucking sell some PK’s, including flipping Sabre off and kicking out at one in subsequent kicks. Zack responds by tackling Seven to the mat, hooking both arms and stepping on the back of Seven’s head, thus tying into the neck work he’d done all match. Just wonderful professional wrestling.

Final Rating: ****1/2

 

Post Match: Sabre calls out his challenger at York Hall, Mr Jeffrey Cobb. He officially offers to defend his British Heavyweight title at York Hall in that match. Cobb accepts via the medium of handshake and Wrath of the Gods. Bit of a dick move. No wonder Zack heeled all over him on at Uprising.

 

 

7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
The first three matches on this show are ok for what they are but from match four onwards the show kicks into a higher gear. It’s really strong from then on out and the main event is excellent. There are some out there who have criticised Sabre Jr.’s run as Rev Pro champion but when he’s performing at this level it’s hard to knock him. Also Seven is an excellent wrestler and even better human being. He’s been busting his ass in the Midlands for years and years and is finally getting national recognition in his mid 30s. He’s having the best matches of his career right now and deserves to be featured.
legend