Hamilton’s Rev Pro Live in London 67 11.06.2022 Review

Quick Results
Luke Jacobs pinned Will Kaven in 8:44 to retain the Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship (***)
Leon Slater pinned JJ Gale in 13:09 (***½)
Zak Knight defeats Mad Kurt by referee stoppage in 12:45 (NR)
Maya Matthews & Alex Windsor pinned Mercedez Blaze & Kanji in 11:08 (***)
Robbie X pinned Nathan Cruz in 15:51 (***½)
Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper defeated Brendan White & Greedy Souls via count-out in 6:32 (**¾)
Ricky Knight Jr. pinned Yota Tsuji in 20:59 (***½)

— If you’re on Twitter, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling – and check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family.

— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com – they’re currently running a two-week free trial…

It’s another live-streamed show from the 229 as Rev Pro continued their preparations for York Hall in December. Commentary comes from Andy Quildan and a debuting Kelly Marshall…

Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Will Kaven vs. Luke Jacobs (c)
Kaven earned this shot for beating Jacobs in the British J Cup…

We start with charging shoulder tackles and forearms as neither man seemed to want this one to go long. Kaven’s splashed in the corner, before a low dropkick looked to set up for a seated lariat, but Kaven cradles Jacobs for a two-count.

Another shoulder tackle’s added to with a back sentona s Luke pushed on, following with a Shibata-ish dropkick in the corner, then a Northern Lights out of it for a two-count. Chops sting Kaven in the corner, before Kaven swapped places and threw some of his own. Luke encourages him, then swapped around for some chops and forearms as the challenger was very much on the defensive.

Jacobs elbows away a Dragon suplex, but runs into a Saito suplex… before a shotgun dropkick took Jacobs into the corner. A teardrop suplex hauls Jacobs out of the corner for a two-count, while a knee strike looked to keep Kaven ahead… as did a Dragon suplex. A clothesline to the back of the head drops Jacobs for just a one-count, while a clothesline gets a two-count, leading to a piledriver attempt that Jacobs back body drops, then sits down on for a near-fall.

The pair trade blows from there, leading to a headbutt from Jacobs. A PK’s avoided by Kaven, who fired back with a DDT, before a trip up top ended with a superplex from the champion. Jacobs rolls through and nails a sitout powerbomb for a near-fall, before Kaven pulled the referee into the path of an oncoming Jacobs.

That gave Kaven the opportunity to grab Jacobs’ title, cracking him with it ahead of a piledriver… and that’s the win! Except it isn’t, because Robbie X ran out with Chris Hatch to tell on Kaven, and our match is restarted! A wild lariat from Jacobs nearly wins it on the restart, as he then walloped Kaven with elbows… before a back body drop chucks Kaven away.

Another clothesline connects, with a Jay Driller almost getting the win… but Kaven got his shoulder up at 2.99999… Jacobs stops celebrating and nails another lariat, and just a minute after the restart, Luke got the win to retain the title. ***

JJ Gale vs. Leon Slater
Having been the first one eliminated in the British J Cup final, Slater’s looking to get back on the board here – with a tough opponent.

The pair lock up into the corners to start, with Gale breaking clearly before they hit the ropes, with leapfrogs and roll-throughs taking us to a stand-off. The pace remained high as they both went for dropkicks… before Slater faked out a handshake and caught Gale with a dropkick instead. Slater dives through the ropes to the outside… then kicked away Gale’s attempted dive as a slingshot splash brought Leon back inside.

Gale escapes a suplex, then slingshotted back in as a rewind leapfrog and a springboard ‘rana took Slater down. A wheelbarrow roll-up keeps Gale ahead, as did a couple of dropkicks, before a back senton got Gale a two-count. Gale followed that up with a seated surfboard, kicking Slater as he went, leading to a pendulum swing and a stomp that added another near-fall for Gale.

Slater countered a Gory bomb into a Code Red for a two-count, before Gale was taken into the corner for a running dropkick. A handspring back elbow follows for a two-count, as Slater then followed up with a standing frog splash… only for Gale to fire back in with a stomp. An uppercut and an enziguiri from Gale has Slater rocked, while a springboard European uppercut out of the corner adds a near-fall.

Slater blocks a springboard cutter, but couldn’t avoid a front suplex as Gale stayed on track. The backpack knee from Gale’s countered, but he gets it at the next attempt before a standing Blue Thunder bomb, then a twisting suplex turned it around for Slater. Trash talk fires up both men as Slater went for a leg lariat, only to get caught with a Destroyer that sent him to the outside… where Gale followed up with a Whisper in the Wind into the crowd.

Back inside, a moonsault drops Slater for a two-count… before Gale went up top, and got caught with a gamengiri. Gale recovers and teases an avalanche Destroyer, prompting Slater to cling onto the ropes before a back body drop took Gale down, while a swanton 450 splash proved to be enough to get the win. A cracking, even contest that saw Gale come close… but it’s Leon Slater who’s on the hot streak right now. ***½

Post-match, Slater took the mic and talked about his year-so-far… then called his shot as he wanted one of the best at Uprising next month. It’ll be Leon Slater vs. Zack Sabre Jr at York Hall!

Next up, Michael Oku and Amira came to the ring for some reflection on what’d been going on with Connor Mills as of late. Oku mentioned how Mills was the one guy he campaigned to bring into Rev Pro, and how much the pair had been through – which was why he didn’t want to “just fight his friend.” Out comes Mills, as Amira cut off an apology from Oku to rip into an ungrateful Mills… telling him he fell short when he got his AEW debut, losing to a man Oku beat (Pac)…

Amira keeps going, telling Mills he just “doesn’t have it,” before she ripped into him again for trying to make her the bad guy in the match with Will Ospreay when Mills came out with the towel at York Hall. Oku tries to get between Mills and Amira, but Mills spun him round for a head kick… Oku ducked, and it’s Amira who took the brunt of it. Cue a brawl between Mills and Oku, and now Oku wants to fight his former friend. Fire. Ignited.

Mad Kurt vs. Zak Knight
Well, this one was all about “Mad Kurt getting battered,” as his recent fun and games about being part of the Knight family left him with a big receipt coming his way…

Zak’s licking his chops at the bell, but the opening lock-up sees Kurt go for the eyes before he took Zak outside for a dive… which Zak caught, but he couldn’t avoid the momentum as Knight went into the crowd. Back inside, Kurt lands a crossbody for a two-count, before some “strikes” from Mad Kurt wound up Zak, who shoved him away.

Kurt borrows from the EVIL playbook, catching a kick and handing it off to referee Chris Hatch… who got unsighted by Kurt’s pyjama top as Kurt punted Zak low. Unfortunately, Kurt takes his shirt off and you can probably guess what’s next. A pissed off Zak Knight chopping Kurt down as he looked to leave a mark on his chest.

Knee drops and elbow drops targeted Kurt’s head and neck as Zak was looking for a TKO finish from the off. A neck twist leaves Kurt in a heap, as Zak proceeded to throw Kurt’s wrists into the mat, before a trip outside ended with Kurt getting popped onto the side of the ring. More chops follow as Kurt kicks out at two back inside, and there’s more of the same as Mad Kurt continued to antagonise Zak.

Zak punts Kurt in the ribs, but there’s still no stoppage as a stalling suplex followed, dropping Kurt into a neckbreaker on the way down. Mad Kurt tries to make a comeback, but ran into a dropkick for a near-fall, as the hushed crowd just watched on as Zak kept looking for that TKO. A sunset flip attempt’s squashed as Zak sat down on Kurt for another two-count, before Knight began to strangle Kurt with his own arm…

Zak calls for the finish, calling for a Razor’s Edge buckle bomb which landed… but Kurt sidesteps a follow-up kick that saw Zak hang himself up in the ropes. A kick to the back of the leg sees Kurt begin his comeback, featuring a Dragon screw out of the corner, before a clothesline took Knight to the outside.

Mad Kurt heads up top for a cannonball into Knight on the floor, before a blocked Codebreaker from Mad Kurt was turned into a Destroyer. Unfortunately, Kurt heads outside to celebrate, but returned for a springboard Codebreaker that garnered a near-fall… before Mad Kurt called for Ricky Knight Jr’s finish. Yeah…

Zak slips out and countered with a stunner, then a sucker punch, before corner clotheslines led to a second Razor’s Edge… Kurt goes down as the room fell silent. Zak doesn’t go for the cover, and with Mad Kurt in trouble, they wave the match off. Medics tended to Mad Kurt afterwards, with Ricky Knight Jr. coming in to try and calm down Zak… the two went nose to nose as the show went to interval. Live, it must be noted, Mad Kurt was helped out of the ring, but walked back out under his own steam…

Mercedez Blaze & Kanji vs. Alex Windsor & Maya Matthews
We’re building to Kanji vs. Windsor in a title unification match next month – but Mercedez Blaze has designs on championship gold as well, having been not far from Alex Windsor in recent months.

Windsor and Blaze start us off, but it’s Windsor who got the upper hand… at least until Maya Matthews came in and had her eyes raked. Reversed Irish whips allowed Maya back in with a crossbody, before Windsor returned with a snapmare and her part of some sandwich kicks. Blaze rushes out to tag in Kanji so she could have a crack… and Kanji found a way through with a springboard forearm to Windsor, who then got kicked in the ropes by a “stretching” Blaze.

Blaze tagged herself back into the match now Windsor was on the defensive, chucking her back into the corner with a butterfly suplex that almost won the match. A leaping Meteora from Blaze keeps her on top, as did a flip neckbreaker… but Windsor fights back, catching Blaze with a Blue Thunder Driver out of nowhere.

Tags bring us back to Kanji and Matthews, but it’s Kanji who struck first with a superkick, before Matthews avoided a step-up legdrop and returned with a Slingblade. Running forearms keep Maya ahead, as she rolled Kanji out of the corner, then followed with a Gabriel Kidd-esque bull lariat.

Mercedez Blaze is in to break up the cover, then drag Kanji to the corner so she could tag herself in. Windsor’s back too, knocking Blaze down for a two-count with Kanji breaking up the pin as the two title challengers faced off. Blaze nails a DDT to end that, but Matthews spears Blaze away… Kanji tags back in to elbow away Matthews, but it’s Windsor who’s legal as she ended up taking a head kick before a double clothesline left both women laying.

Windsor and Kanji kip up together, but a headbutt takes Kanji back into the corner as Blaze tagged in… then tried to throw Kanji into Windsor. Instead, Blaze knocked Windsor into the corner, then blamed Kanji for it. Windsor bought it as all four women brawled, with Windsor and Kanji heading outside, leading to Windsor getting posted.

In the ring, Blaze ends up catching Matthews with a hip attack in the corner, then a spear out of it for a near-fall, before she bellowed at Kanji to come in. Holding Matthews in a full nelson, Blaze demanded that Kanji take a shot, but instead Kanji lays out Blaze with a superkick to the back of the head, before Matthews put away Blaze with a brainbuster. At times this felt like two separate matches, what with the focus on Kanji/Windsor, as the strage bedfellows of Blaze and Kanji just didn’t work out. ***

Nathan Cruz vs. Robbie X
I think it’s fair to say that the Legion have lost some steam since Gideon Grey was drafted into the United Empire in Japan. The group’s missing a certain something – but it’s not the in-ring stuff…

The crowd looked to be getting in Cruz’s head as we started off, allowing Robbie X to escape a side headlock, only to get charged down. He bounced back to hit a tijeras, then took Cruz outside… but a dive’s punched away before Robbie could leave the ring. Back inside, Robbie’s taken into the corner for some forearms, but Robbie chops back before he flipped out of a Thanks, Tully slingshot back suplex… and returned with a hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick for a two-count.

A suplex from Robbie X dumps Cruz, ahead of a corkscrew back senton for another two-count, before Cruz took Robbie into the corner for some more chops. A short Irish whip bounces Robbie into the corner, then again as he proceeded to wind the British J Cup winner ahead of the Thanks, Tully.

Cruz adds a suplex for a two-count, but Robbie returned the favour from those earlier whips into the corner… only to get popped up into the middle of the ring as he tried to charge in. There’s a very northern insult thrown at the “divvy” ref from that two-count, before Cruz went to work on trying to separate Robbie’s arm from the rest of his body.

Robbie X manages to break free, as he nailed a Molly Go Round for a near-fall before Cruz looked to go back to the arm. Cruz gets sent outside for a heel kick, then a tope as things went into the crowd. Back inside, a powerbomb keeps Robbie ahead, only for Cruz to throw him shoulder-first into the corner ahead of a crossface… which ended instantly in the ropes.

Cruz stays on the arm with stomps, before a hammerlock’d slam focused on the arm more violently. A trip up top for Cruz earns him a backflip kick as Robbie X pulled him down… eventually taking Cruz to the corner for a roundhouse kick, before a running shooting star press out of the corner landed on Cruz’s knees. It’s good for a two-count for Cruz, whose follow-up leapfrog was caught and turned into a Finlay roll… with another standing shooting star nearly winning it for Robbie.

Robbie’s caught up top, but he fights away a superplex… but Cruz rolls outside to avoid anything off the top rope. Cruz baits Robbie outside for an eventual death valley driver onto the edge of the ring, following with a swandive headbutt back inside for a near-fall. Another crossface followed from Cruz, who pushed off the ropes to roll the pair into the middle of the ring and avoid a break… but Robbie X rolled through and nearly snatched a win. A wheelbarrow adds another two-count, before he hit the ropes and caught Cruz with an X-Clamation for the win. ***½

Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship: Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) vs. Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) (c)
It’s an instant rematch for Sunshine Machine, who lost the titles last time out in London…

Sunshine Machine stopped a jump start as Mambo opened the match off with a springboard armdrag – after avoiding a swipe from Brendan White on the top rope. Brendan’s booted off the apron as Mambo then set up Jones for the reverse DDT/elbow drop combo. White’s in, but gets cornered and kicked for fun as Sunshine Machine proceeded to drop Jones onto him with a Gory bomb cutter for a delayed one-count after referee Chris Hatch was caught out of position.

A mule kick from Jones takes down TK Cooper as the ref was still checking on Brendan White… who was miraculously fine to take a tag as the match quickly descended into something akin to a tornado tag. Mambo’s shook off the ropes by Jones as he went for a springboard back elbow, before TK fought off a pop-up slam attempt.

TK couldn’t avoid the hand-off Saito suplex though, and had to kick out at two from it. A slingshot Black Hole Slam has Mambo in trouble, as did some sandwich chops, which Mambo recovered from… only for his Reef Break to get caught. Cooper’s back to stop them turning it into a Magic Killer backbreaker again, as Mambo managed to counter the counter into a Destroyer.

Another Reef Break with a leg sweep takes down Brendan, who’s battered with a scissor kick and a frog splash for a near-fall. A Designated Driver’s next for Brendan, but Danny Jones pulls him outside… where the champions were met with topes into the crowd. The pair fight on the floor as the ref’s count continued… but while Sunshine Machine dove back into the ring at the count of nine, the Greedy Souls took a step back and actively took the count-out loss. Sunshine Machine win… but not the titles, as chants of “bullshit” broke out. Hey, it’s playing within the rules, I guess… **¾

Post-match, Chuck Mambo took the mic and laid into the Greedy Souls for the cheap way they’d defended the belts. They then demanded a rematch next month with no count-outs… and call me cynical, but that’s got DQ written over it leading to an anything goes outing at York Hall?

Yota Tsuji vs. Ricky Knight Jr.
This was a non-title affair… with Tsuji out on his own. Those Legion cutbacks are real…

Like with Minoru Suzuki a free weeks back, Tsuji’s backing into the corner from the off, looking to put some distance between him and his opponent. Someone’s been watching those Larry Zbyszko tapes! When we finally got going, Tsuji backs into the ropes, only to get chopped by a frustrated RKJ.

Standing switches allow Tsuji to take it to the mat, but RKJ rolled out and took it back down to the mat with a headlock takedown… which Tsuji gets out of with some headscissors. RKJ takes Tsuji into the ropes, but Yota scurries outside to avoid the dropkick… so Ricky gives chase, posting Tsuji ahead of a sucker punch. Tsuji’s put in a chair as RKJ went for a lap of honour, but Tsuji puts Joshua James in front of him before Yota used the chair on RKJ. Somehow… not a DQ.

Things head back inside after that, where Tsuji pulled RKJ into a camel clutch for some fanning. RKJ begins to fight back, but an eye rake takes him right back down. Second time’s the charm as RKJ lands a suplex, popping the hips as he gets back up, but a death valley driver’s escaped as Tsuji ends up getting taken down with a flying forearm.

A ripcord clothesline takes Tsuji down again, but Yota looked to claw back in with a Titanic, only for TKJ to roll his way out and land a superkick. A Blue Thunder Driver and a knee strike was Yota’s response, as both men were left laying. Trash talking from Tsuji led to the match descending into strikes, with forearms giving way to chops, which somehow sounded louded in spite of Tsuji having a t-shirt on.

The shirt’s taken off, as Tsuji replied to RKJ’s chops with kicks… before the pair traded German suplexes and clotheslines as they looked to run out of steam. We’re back to the forearms before a headbutt from Tsuji took down the champion. Another go of forearms leads to RKJ taking over with a back suplex, only for a follow-up senton bomb to land in Tsuji’s knees.

Tsuji tries to add an Alabama Slam to the mix, but RKJ blocked it… he blocks a spear too, coming back with an enziguiri and an sunset flip for a two-count. RKJ catches a second Tsuji spear with a cutter. RKJ’s Razor’s Edge gets countered into an Alabama Slam, while a sit-out Titanic keeps Tsuji ahead, only for yet another spear to get countered, this time with a clothesline.

RKJ’s sit-out powerbomb sparks more back-and-forth, leading to a crucifix bomb that almost won it… before a Fire Thunder Driver planted Tsuji for the win. Live, this felt like they were perhaps teasing a time-limit draw, given Tsuji’s early stalling, but in reality the Legion member just proved to be a fairly straightforward roadblock for RKJ ahead of his match with Great O-Khan next month. ***½

Post-match, Nathan Cruz ran out as he and Yota Tsuji put the boots to RKJ. Out comes, err, Mad Kurt to make the save?! He thinks better of it, and goes to get Zak, who did make the save, punching out the Legion before he Razor’s Edged Tsuji into the corner. RKJ and Zak Knight have another staredown, along with an awkward hand-off of the Undisputed British Heavyweight championship, which makes me think we’re really getting Knight vs. Knight in the near future… before Mad Kurt popped out again to sing the live crowd home.

I feel like I need to comment on how these live-streams have gone – I’ve watched one show live (but haven’t reviewed it yet because I’m out of sync again!), and watched back three live-streams on-demand… and it feels like there’s work to be done. Weirdly, the audio disappears when they flash up a graphic – which wasn’t the case when they started these streams in Southampton a few weeks back… while the video, at least for the second half, being restricted to just-above standard definition. Teething problems are a thing, but with any luck they’ll iron them out and reupload the event with the kinks gone.

7.6

The final score: review Good

The 411

The building blocks for Rev Pro continue to remain firmly in place, and with several shows to go before York Hall, there’s still plenty of wrestling to be done!