Hamilton’s Rev Pro Live in London 77 09.03.2023 Review

Quick Results
Sha Samuels pinned Connor Mills in 11:40 (***½)
JJ Gale pinned Robbie X in 5:51 (***)
Brendan White & Danny Jones pinned Paris de Silva & Jude London in 14:24 (***¼)
Luke Jacobs pinned Wild Boar in 14:48 (***½)
Zak Knight & Ricky Knight Jr. pinned Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper in 13:55 (***¾)
Alex Windsor submitted Maya Matthews in 11:18 (***¼)
Michael Oku pinned Cameron Khai in 12:09 (***½)
Gabe Kidd pinned Leon Slater in 11:08 (***½)

— If you’re on Twitter/X/the bird app, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling. I’m also over on BlueSky, Instagram and Threads by that same name, and if you’ve put your chips in on Mastodon, catch me here. One of those has to be the winner, right? And I’ll be hopping around those until they fall off… In the meantime, check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family…

— To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com

Barely a week after Rev Pro smashed their attendance records with 4,072 at the Copperbox Arena… we’re back to the coal face as the 229 had their regular monthly show. As always, Andy Quildan and Gio Nolastname are on the headsets…

Rev Pro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship: Sha Samuels vs. Connor Mills (c)
This was announced as being for Mills’ Cruiserweight title… and things got tasty very early on when Mills and Samuels traded eardrum-testing slaps.

Mills avoids some volleys to the back, before he peppered Sha with a trio of those as he proceeded to knock Sha around the ropes with chops and kicks. Sha turns it around with a splash into the corner, before Sha went up top for a moonsault… Mills avoids it, then threw Sha into the post… following up with a lovely elbow suicida as Sha was getting to his feet. Sorting out the chanting section, Mills took Sha around ringside before he bowled him into the seats as Mills looked to take the count-out win.

Sha beats the count, but Mills stayed on him with a big boot for a two-count, before a cobra clutch kept Sha on the deck. A jawbreaker stops Sha after he’d broken free, but Sha’s able to connect with a back elbow that sent the spittle flying from the champion.

Heading outside again, Mills’ kicks ended up connecting with the ring post, before a charge saw him become acquainted with the ring post. The comeback continues as Sha built up to a Michinoku Driver for a near-fall, before Mills rolled his way out of a spinebuster for a near-fall. A uranage backbreaker’s next from Sha for a near-fall, before an East End Destroyer was countered with a back body drop.

Mill tries to go for an Orange Crush, eventually scoring it after a spinning forearm for a near-fall, before a rebound lariat similarly got the champion closer to the win. A double stomp off the top misses as Mills instead took Sha up top and jacked the knee… leading to Sha spilling to the floor. Recovering, Sha’s able to surprise Mills with an East End Destroyer… before he headed up top for a moonsault… and that was enough to lead to the win, with the sound guy almost giving it away! Sha becomes only the fourth person to win the triple crown of every men’s title in Rev Pro… at least for now. ***½

Post-match, Mills protested his defeat and left ringside incensed…

JJ Gale vs. Robbie X
This week, I learned JJ Gale’s music was on Spotify… complete with clips of him beating Will Kaven in Southampton. Someone on that end of things isn’t a big fan of Will!

Gale and Robbie X charged at each other at the bell, but an early springboard from Gale’s pushed away as he’s sent to the outside with a heel kick. Returning to the ring, Gale can’t avoid a Molly Go Round as this one almost ended in a minute… but Gale has his shot as a rewind leapfrog and a springboard ‘rana helped take Robbie X outside for a flip senton.

Back inside, Robbie X’s chop tried to stem the tide, while a hiptoss and cartwheel dropkick drew a near-fall. A Finlay roll sets up for a Spiral Tap… but Gale moves away before he tripped Robbie into a Boston crab attempt. Instead, Robbie rolls out and hits a Pele kick… only for an X-Clamation to get caught and turned into the backpack knee.

The Gale Force springboard cutter gets dropkicked away by Robbie, who adds the spinning roundhouse into the corner… before a Spiral Tap crushed Gale for another two-count. Another X-Clamation’s countered with a roll-up as Gale found a second wind, trading superkicks ahead of a double clothesline. They don’t even tease a double knock-out, kipping up at one before Gale caught Robbie X with the Gale Force out of nowhere for the win. A helluva sprint with Gale picking up the upset in just short of six minutes as JJ’s getting quite the momentum under his sails… ***

Greedy Souls (Brendan White & Danny Jones) vs. VeloCities (Jude London & Paris De Silva)
It’s a rematch from last month after the former tag champions made their mark at the Copperbox – despite not being on the card.

The Velocities jumped the Greedy Souls before the bell, taking them outside for dives as the pair scrapped outside. The match starts proper with the Velocities going for dropkicks, then some ‘ranas as we boiled down to Jude London and Danny Jones in the ring. Kicks from London take Jones into the ropes ahead of a rewind leapfrog, a splits dropdown and a monkey flip that propelled Jones down to the mat.

Brendan White pulls Paris de Silva off the apron to prevent a tag as the Greedy Souls turned it around, with London getting thrown throat-first into the ropes as Jones began to wear down the Aussie. Cheapshots from Jones followed after Brendan tagged in – and it’s the usual isolation game from the Greedy Souls as they kept London in there on his own.

Jones comes back in to pick up a two-count from White’s backbreaker, while some throttling from White kept London down. Jude tries to fight back, but gets sent into the ropes for a powerslam before Paris de Silva got thrown into the ring post as he tried to make a save. Meanwhile, a back suplex and a pair of back sentons get Brendan White a two-count over Jude… who manages to trip Jones into White on the apron… but that opening is slammed shut as Paris was again pulled off the apron by White.

Clubbering blows from Brendan keep London down for another two-count, while a Soul Destroyer’s escaped as London finally rolled away and tagged in de Silva. Paris unloads with chops and kicks on White, before a dive took out Jones on the outside. A crossbody’s caught by White, but de Silva counters back with a DDT, then a tornado DDT and a satellite DDT as Brendan was having trouble avoiding those head drops.

De Silva adds elbows, chops and uppercuts, but Brendan’s equal to them as he proceeded to catch Paris’ spinning heel kick and drop him down in a backbreaker. A second one saw Brendan try to pass off Paris, but it’s rana’d out of on the way into an accidental DDT, as London gets the tag back in for a handspring stunner. A Tiger feint kick in the ropes and a running PK sets up for a double stomp from London for a near-fall, before a leg sweep and a flying clothesline combo almost put away Danny Jones.

A missed frog splash from de Silva spells the beginning of the end though, as he’s met with a pop-up uppercut before the Greedy Souls began their blitz with knee strikes… following with the Line-Out pop-up slam… before the Hospital Pass slingshot Bossman slam and a modified Soul Destroyer finally put away de Silva. A dominant win for the Greedy Souls, who blitzed through the most recent tag title challengers in the end. ***¼

Ahead of the next match, Connor Mills stormed out to ringside to continue his protestations from earlier… grabbing hold of Andy Quildan as he remembered he had an out, as long as Sha Samuels hadn’t made weight. Demanding Andy dig out the scales, Mills wanted to confirm Sha’s eligibility.

Out come the scales, out comes Sha… who unfortunately weighed in at 207.5lbs, over that 205lb limit. Therefore, Sha’s win still stands, but the match retroactively became non-title as Connor Mills somehow left with the title by the skin of his teeth… and then put a beating to Sha, cracking him with the belt before slamming the scales against him in the ring.

Maybe it’s me, but I liked this direction – underscoring Mills somehow being ruthless and cowardly at the same time, looking for any and every out he could get. Now, does this mean Sha goes full Christian and gets skits in a sauna trying to make weight before his matches?

Wild Boar vs. Luke Jacobs
Some call Wild Boar the Welsh Ishii…

Jacobs took Boar into the corner to start, but things quickly went to the mat as Jacobs seemingly looked to strangle him out in the early going. Boar rolls to the outside for a breather, but returned in with some shoulder tackles as Jacobs charged through Boar. Chops and forearms in the corner show off a trick Luke picked up a week ago, before a slam and a back senton picked up a two-count.

Boar finds a way in with a release German suplex as things spilled outside… but Boar’s attempt to take Jacobs into the crowd led to him eating a sandwich of forearms either side of a back suplex onto the side of the apron. Back inside, Boar snuck in a back senton as he tried to force his way in, biting Jacobs in the corner before a clothesline left Luke laying.

Another slam and back senton from Boar gets him a two-count, as Luke openly invited Boar to throw more shots in the corner. Jacobs’ elbow issues a big retaliation, as did a shoulder tackle out of the corner, before a deadlift suplex dumped Boar in the middle of the ring. Boar heads up top, but is met with a leaping headbutt to the jaw as Jacobs instead brings him down with a superplex.

A teased double knock-out’s averted as the pair get back up to trade elbows, then German suplexes, before a rolling elbow decked Boar… who returned with a clothesline as the pair continued throwing bombs at each other. Jacobs chains together a powerbomb and another elbow strike as the near-falls began to stack up… while a Torpedo Moscau-style charging headbutt almost put Boar away.

From there, Luke’s sheer-drop brainbuster dumps Boar on his dome for a near-fall. Boar’s back to duck a lariat, turning it into a Blue Thunder Bomb… then a cannonball into the corner, before a back body drop countered the Trapper Keeper. More elbows ensue, but Boar’s lariat lands for a one-count, before Jacobs finally decked Boar with the lariat for the win. A different spin on the much lauded Ishii match, as Luke Jacobs is really coming into his own these days. ***½

Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) vs. Knights (Ricky Knight Jr. & Zak Knight)
Everyone’s gunning for places in the still-as-yet unannounced Great British Tag League… and unfortunately for TK Cooper, the Knights definitely saw his tweet taking a dig at them for being “valets at Wembley.”

See-saw shoulder tackles early on end with TK and Zak cracking each other with elbows, before a springboard from Zak landed into a headbutt from TK. Ricky Knight Jr. and Chuck Mambo come in next to change up the tone, leading to a springboard armdrag and some regular ones from Mambo ahead of a big dropkick from RKJ.

Heading outside, RKJ’s flip senton wiped out TK, while Zak got cut-off in the ropes by Mambo as Sunshine Machine’s double-teams almost put Zak away. Things built up to the Combo Meal – reverse DDT/elbow drop combo – for a near-fall on Zak, while TK’s low dropkick led to a similar result as TK and Mambo proceeded to work over Zak’s arms.

Zak kicks away a Gutterball attempt before he rolled Mambo into a knee strike… the springboard punch takes care of TK briefly as RKJ came in to hit a flying stomp to the back. A short-armed clothesline spun TK down for another two-count, before Zak tagged in and put the boots to TK some more. Cravat knees follow as RKJ returned to hit a stalling brainbuster… and it’s pretty much one-sided as TK ends up eating a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo as Zak loomed over TK.

Out of nowhere, TK hits a superkick, then an Exploder to buy himself time… with which he was able to make the tag out as Chuck Mambo quickly wandered into some RKJ chops. A springboard clothesline has RKJ down ahead of a Reef Break after Mambo chased Zak on the outside.

Ricky lands on his feet from a top rope ‘rana, only to get caught with a reverse ‘rana from TK as we head outside for a Mambo cannonball and a TK shooting star press. Back inside, RKJ’s moonsault press and double reverse DDT finds its mark, before Zak tagged himself in as RKJ looked to be going for the finish. Sparks flew there, particularly as TK tripped Zak into his take on the Edgucation (pending new move name here!)

Mambo’s in to stomp apart the Scorpion Crosslock for some extra emphasis, but RKJ’s up top to senton bomb into the pin to break it up. RKJ and Zak come to blows, but Zak changes tactic as he dives to the outside… then squashed TK with a sit-out splash ahead of a moonsault. Mambo gets similar treatment, albeit with TK in a torture rack at the same time for his splash.

Mambo tries a Blockbuster, but he’s caught and suplexed by Zak amid a Parade of Moves… TK’s shooting star press to break up a pin lands only on Mambo. From there, Zak nails a Heatseeker piledriver on the apron, while a draping DDT off the apron on TK almost puts a hole in the floor… before RKJ came in to help with a nasty Doomsday Device on Mambo to get the Knights the win. This was an absolute riot, with Zak getting his first win since January… even if it led to the Knights almost coming to blows! ***¾

Alex Windsor vs. Maya Matthews
Windsor’s title wasn’t on the line here, as Maya Matthews finally went up against her one-time mentor.

Windsor looked to bully Maya early on, but a Thesz press out of the corner showed Maya’s intentions… as did some clotheslines before a crossbody took Windsor back down. A clothesline in the ropes looked to shut down Maya, ahead of a series of bodyslams, before a trip outside led to Maya getting thrown into the side of the ring.

Windsor trolls the crowd, but ends up getting caught with a dropkick and a cannonball from Matthews, before she returned by dropping Maya onto the side of the ring again. Back inside, Windsor retains control by throwing Matthews into the buckles… but a shotgun dropkick gives Maya hope.

Matthews stays on Windsor with a cravat, rolling her into the corner for some more strikes before a suplex drew a two-count. Matthews jumps and gets Windsor’s back for a sleeperhold… but Windsor threw her way free, only for Maya to reapply the hold. The corner saves Windsor, but Maya again gets the hold on once more, at least until Windsor threw her way free, coming back with a clothesline for a two-count.

A headbutt/forearm combo left both women down, but Maya’s back up with a Slingblade and a spear… only for a Shining Wizard from Windsor to force a near-fall in return. Windsor keeps going with a Blue Thunder Bomb, albeit just for a one-count, before another spear from Matthews almost won the match. From there though, Matthews gets caught with a pop-up powerbomb and a second jack-knife for a near-fall, before Windsor finally put her away with the Sharpshooter. ***¼

Post-match, we’ve got shenanigans… Windsor refuses to let go of the hold… then after getting her hand raised, attacked once more until Dani Luna made the save. Those two slug it out until present-and-maybe-future Contenders pulled them apart… and then, the Greedy Souls? They chuck David Francisco into a wall, then went after Dani Luna, who put up a fight… but ended up being overwhelmed until the Knights made the save. Whether that’s for Tag League or wherever, that’ll be a spicy match…

Cameron Khai vs. Michael Oku
This one was non-title – but gave Oku a chance to parade his title at the 229 for the first time…

Oku redirected the crowd’s chants towards Khai to start, as Khai looked to enjoy the best of the early going, evading Oku before scoring with a hanging neckbreaker in the opening stages. Oku returned with a ‘rana and a dropkick, before a shinbreaker and release back suplex chucked Khai across the ring.

Khai fought back with a crossbody, then with a thrust kick for a two-count, before rolling Northern Lights suplexes ended with Oku landing an uppercut. The misdirection knee from Oku’s caught and turned into a nice back body drop from Khai, before a dropkick took Khai outside for the eventual Fosbury flop.

Back inside, a froggy crossbody’s caught by Khai, who rolls through into a rolling death valley driver… the pair trade strikes once more, but it’s Oku who invites further shots, and got them. A ripcorded forearm helps take Oku down, but he’s right back up to take an over-the-knee brainbuster from Khai, who then added… Croyt’s Wrath?! That nearly puts Oku away, as Khai then rolled up Oku out of a misdirection knee attempt.

A cutter spikes Oku after that, while a Pingshot cutter got Khai achingly close to the upset. See-saw pins lead to Oku going for a half crab, but Khai’s able to fight free… only to run into the misdirection knee. A second one followed for a near-fall, before a frog splash ended up putting Khai away – someone on the wrong end of the result tonight, but mark my words, this’ll be replayed in the years ahead as he looks to be destined for big things. ***½

Post-match, Amira rolled Khai back into the ring as Oku had a pep talk for him… calling out Khai as the future of the promotion, but also warned him not to rest on his laurels. Noting that Leon Slater not only was in the main event next, but Slater had also been jetsetting to the States – things that Khai hadn’t yet accomplished. Oku told Khai to keep on working hard – because hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard – before telling him he wanted to meet Khai again, but this time for the title.

Exit Cameron Khai… as there’s just one thing left to cover – and that’s Spike Trivet, as Oku again underlined his statement that Spike needed to start at the bottom and work his way up.

Leon Slater vs. Gabe Kidd
Leon’s been watching his Gabe-at-the-G1 tapes, as he laid in wait for the expected attack from behind. There’s a superkick for Gabe as they scrapped around ringside.

Making it to the ring, the match gets going with Kidd and Slater trading blows… but a shoulder tackle from Kidd earns him a dropkick in return. A leaping forearm into the corner’s caught as Kidd chucks Slater across the ring with a release belly-to-belly suplex, adding a couple more as Leon was left nursing his shoulder by the end of it.

There’s more overhead suplexes in Leon’s future as Kidd was finding this a walk in the park, but Slater begins to fire back as Kidd’s covering up in the corner. Kidd took over with biting and headbutts, only to run into a superkick as Slater caught him coming into the corner. A running dropkick trapped Kidd in the corner, before his attempt at a back suplex was blocked… with Slater then adding a running big boot to the mix.

Kidd rolls outside and gets caught with a dropkick through the ropes… back inside, Kidd chops his way back into it, but Slater gives as good as he gets, only to get decked as Gabe pulled him into a double-handed chop. Kidd’s not exactly a fan of the crowd’s chants as he continued to wear down Slater, who found a way through with a rewind enziguiri before Kidd’s Bull lariat spun Leon to the mat for a near-fall.

A Saito suplex bounced Leon on his head for a near-fall, while a sheer drop brainbuster forces Slater to grab the rope to keep the match alive. Slater gets a second wind, catching Kidd with a cutter and a Twister suplex, only to have to abort his follow-up 450 Swanton. A Blue Thunder Bomb put Slater back on track, but that 450 Swanton lands in Kidd’s knees for a near-fall…

The end was nigh for Leon though as a sucker punch from Kidd catches Slater ahead of a Ganso bomb… before a piledriver finally put him away. A relatively short main event, but one that underscored the theme of the evening – the young talent is on their way up, but it’s super competitive at the top of the card. ***½

Post-match, Kidd crowed about his win, then called Leon Slater “the best in the country… in the little man division.” That led to Gabe calling out a “very very little man” with the title… that led to Michael Oku coming out as we had a staredown to close out the show… and if you remember their match in Birmingham earlier this year, there’s scores left to settle!

7.9

The final score: review Good

The 411

It would have been easy to play it safe, but Rev Pro’s first show after the Copperbox stuck to its tried and trusted formula. Much has rightly been said of Rev Pro’s embarrassment of riches in their roster, particularly at the younger end of the scale, and going by their current form, Rev Pro’s immediate future is in safe hands.