After its debut in Orlando, Rev Pro was less than a week later in London at the Cockpit Theatre for its 'Live at the Cockpit 15' show with a huge main event as RPW British tag team champions #CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks) defended their newly won belts against the 'International King of Swerve' Shane Strickland and the 'All Day Star' Ryan Smile.
It's your usual open but no Steve Lynskey for this show so Andy Quildan will be pulling double duty as ring announcer and commentator. Singles Match: Eddie Dennis Vs Rob Lias I was expecting a rather average match but was surprised by how good it ended up being. My thinking was Eddie Dennis deserved better, but then after his losing streak in RPW I could sort of understand it from a storyline point of view. It was also a big deal for contender Rob Lias who has been getting a push in that division. So I'm sure it meant a lot to him to step up and face Eddie and he more than held his own here against 'The Pride of Wales'. The finish saw Lias fake an injury like he had against Dan Magee then nail Eddie with a low blow and a running knee/foot smash to pick up the win. Obviously I was a bit disappointed in Eddie having to lose again but I still don't think it's damaging his popularity as he was still really over here and he has done a great thing for Rob by giving him the rub. Obviously Quildan has big plans for Lias and I think he'd be right in choosing him as he has future BritWres star written all over him. Winner: Rob Lias Singles Match: Lord Gideon Grey Vs Dan Magee After an embarrassing loss to Swoggle and Colt Cabana in Portsmouth, Grey continues his character transformation as he slips further and further into desperation, even though he beat Swoggle in Orlando but he's really getting over in my opinion. I'm enjoying Grey's character work as of late, even if I'm a bit critical of his comedy matches as of late. It's actually refreshing to see a comedy guy get out of his comfort zone and try something new and go in a new direction with his character. After a few minutes of so-so action, which was solid but nothing special, fellow contender Rob Lias came out and distracted Magee. It lead to Grey nailing Magee with a Styles Clash for a near fall and a version of a running Powerslam for the win. Winner: Lord Gideon Grey Afterwards Lias had a huge smile on his face as Magee looked on none to pleased by Lias' distraction. Women's Match: Jinny Vs Toni Storm They set up the return of Jinny at the last Cockpit show after RPW quietly dropped its women's division last year when Rhia O'Riley confronted the 'Primark Princess'. Unfortunately Rhia broke her leg in a match for XWA back in early March. So she was now off this card and the replacement was Toni Storm. The two are bound to end up battling for the newly created PROGRESS Women's title which is up for grabs in this years Natural Progression Tournament and to be honest, there aren't any two more qualified than these two to build a women's division around. Early on Jinny cut the same promo she did last time out and then proceeded too mock Rhia for her injury and call Toni Storm the second best women's wrestler in the country behind her of course. Both ladies work the top wrist lock early on then counters out of it with a toe hold and pulls at Toni Storm's hair. Toni comes back with arm bar then moves back to the wrist lock. Jinny and Toni traded slaps then Jinny hits Toni with a hurricanrana. Storm strikes Jinny with forearm smashes then nails her with a big boot. Toni chops Jinny in the corner but Jinny fires back with a slap Toni's face. Toni drives her butt into a Jinny's face but Jinny comes back with a Japanese arm drag. Jinny talks down to Toni while slapping her then works Toni over in the corner. Storm battles back with some chops but Jinny cuts her off with a knee to the gut. Jinny scores with a clothesline for a two count. Jinny continues to talk down to Toni which fires up the Australian. Jinny takes down Toni and puts her into a stretch but Toni makes the ropes to break the hold. The crowd chant "Primark Princess" while Jinny continues to talk smack. Jinny rakes Toni's eyes and pulls her hair for the advantage. Jinny continues to kick and stomp on Toni then beats her down with some elbow smashes. Jinny goes to the outside and grabs a black bag and puts it over Toni's face. Jinny continues to talk trash while slapping the shit out of Storm and applies lip stick to Toni's face as the crowd finally start to boo and cheer on Toni. Toni fires up again and takes it too Jinny's chin with elbow smashes and busts out of the black bag like Hulk Hogan and German Suplexes Jinny for a near fall. Toni follows it up with a Muscle Buster into a bridge for a another near fall. Jinny comes back with an Eat Defeat out of nowhere for a near fall and goes for a rainmaker but Toni gets out of it with a vicious headbutt. I would assume Toni and Jinny watched Okada and Shibata earlier that day. Toni goes up top but Jinny gets up and cuts her off. Jinny pulls out a chunky bracelet and clocks Toni in mid air to pick up the win. This was a great match with a finish that has a built in rematch going forward and let's hope Andy only continues to use Jinny and Toni and this time pulls the trigger on the women's division in RPW. Winner: Jinny Tag Team Match: Will Ospreay and Bubblegum Vs Zack Gibson and Josh Bodom Another very good fast paced tag team match to follow up that very good women's match. All four men were over here and all four men worked a fantastic pace to have a chance to follow the previous outing. It's great to see BritWres veteran Bubblegum in RPW again and I can only hope he's earning himself a regular spot in RPW. Gibson was over very much so as per usual and he had a great showing here days before his big match in the York Hall with New Japan's Hirooki Goto. Ospreay as per usual was also solid doing all of his spots and not phoning it in. Something you could never accuse him of but you could argue he didn't need to do as much as he needed to do as he had a number of big matches lined up the following week. Now if you're a regular reader of my reviews you'd expect me to be burying Josh Bodom right about now but don't tell anyone I said this but he put in a really good shift here for someone who i seem to found a problem with every time I watch RPW. After all the big spots which included a crazy looking Tower of Doom German suplex, an Os-cutter into the Shankley Gates, Bubblegum's insane dive from the top rope into the crowd and Will just being on another level with his pace and timing. You could argue this match suffered the legal man syndrome but in this day and age, does it even matter? Everyone breaks the legal man in tag team matches on indies. The finish saw Bubblegum defeat Josh Bodom clean with a Shooting Star Press which sets up a match between the two down the line. But does that mean Josh will beat Ospreay in the York Hall later on in the week. To be honest i don't think Josh should have been doing the job or even Zack and will should be doing the job. In my opinion Bubblegum should have been doing the job. It wouldn't have hurt him but they did a good job as they've now set up the Bubblegum v Bodom down the line I guess. Winners: Bubblegum and Will Ospreay Singles Match: Luke 'Dragon' Phoenix Vs The Guvernor Martin Stone My first thoughts was I'm having flashbacks to 2008 in IPW:UK when these last two met. Anyway it's good to see both of these two back in Rev Pro on more of a regular basis. I my have been critical of Marty Scurll vs Luke last time out but that was down to the lack of psychology in their match and I might have been critical of Stones matches back at York Hall, but then when they have not been built up properly they were going to be lacking crowd support like all of his previous encounters in Rev Pro have been. Here in the Cockpit Theatre Martin and Luke in fact received decent support from this crowd. After 15 minutes of good action, Stone gave Phoenix a big headbutt and picked up the win. Winner: The Governer Martin Stone Afterwards Stone talked about how much RPW had grown and how much BritWres in general had grown. He then thanked Luke for coming out today and run down there history together. Stone then announced he would face with Sami Callihan on Thursday in York Hall. Then he was interrupted by #CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks). Brooke's called Stone a "failure" and said "#CCK were trying to save the revolution from old guys like you (Stone) and added there is no spot for you (Stone) on the card so why don't you just stay in the back or sell your shirts out at the merch table because I don't care what you do because you ain't taking a spot from the RPW British tag team champions!" Stone then attacked Travis but he was out numbered. Stone came back and the champs rushed to the back. Stone then said "Fuck it me and the Death Machine Sami Callihan vs #CCK!" Singles Match: Sha Samuel Vs RJ Singh This was a decent enough effort from these two Rewrites regulars. Both men were solid as you would expect. They did some comedy, took some shortcuts, it had a ref bump and both men worked well off of the crowd who were hot for this one as well. It seemed as if all of this worked to get the crowd invested. Sha's stick will never get old with me as I found him highly entertaining as usual. The finish saw James Castle hit the ring after a referee bump and he attacked Sha with a running drop kick then RJ went up top and nailed Sha with a Swanton Bomb to pick up the win. Winner: RJ Singh Afterwards Sha challenged James to a bout at Thursdays big York Hall show which Andy Quildan confirmed would be taking place on commentary. MAIN EVENT RPW British Tag Team Title Match: #CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks) (Champions) Vs The All Day Star Ryan Smile and The International King of Swerve Shane Strickland Banks and Strickland start out and both men tie up and Travis applies a headlock. Both men go back and forth then Travis nails Shane with a drop toe hold and a roll up for a one count. Brookes is tagged in and Shane and nails Brookes with a European uppercut and a headscissors. Brookes battles back with an attempted octopus stretch but Shane counters out of it and tags in Ryan Smile. Ryan comes in and unloads on Brookes with a number of quick strikes to his gut, then all four men enter and miss a number of big kicks and have a stand off In the middle of the ring. #CCK go to shake Ryan and Shane's hands but of course turn on them and all four all brawl to the outside. Brookes and Ryan disappear to the back while Travis takes the fight to Shane on the outside. Brooke's and Ryan return and go at it in the ring where Brookes clobbers Ryan with a big superkick. Ryan then gets flat jacked onto the mat but Strickland is back and he gives Brookes a Hurrincanran off the top rope. Banks comes in and nails the Shane with a Coast to Coast dropkick. Banks gives both Ryan and Shane kicks then German suplexes Ryan and Shane out of their boots. Cannonball by Banks to both Shane and Ryan and Brookes covers Shane but only gets a two as Ryan breaks it up. Ryan unloads on both Banks and Brookes but they cut him off with a double Superkick for a near fall. Shane comes in a does a roll and pops up with a cutter to both Brookes and Banks and Ryan nails both with a superkick and all four are out now. Banks forearms Shane's over an over as Brookes and Ryan brawl on the outside. Banks gets stunned with a big bicycle kick but comes back with a Michinoku driver for a near fall. Ryan is back and he gives Banks a back cracker. Brookes returns and German's Ryan but then Shane is back up and he gives Brookes a jumping DDT. Shane then dives out onto #CCK before Ryan does his Ricochet dive over the ring post to the outside on top of Banks and Brookes. Back in the ring Shane and Ryan kick Banks in the face over and over again and then Give banks a double superkick. Then Shane and Ryan do the altitude adjustment (a powerbomb/double stomp combo) and cover banks for the 1, 2...no as Brookes just breaks up the pinfall attempt. Banks then throws Ryan into the ring post shoulder first while Shane tries to fight off both #CCK members but falls to kick from Travis to the knee and Brookes blasts Shane with another Michinoku driver for a near fall. #CCK then finish off Strickland with the assisted code breaker and a pair of superkicks to pick up the win and retain their belts. Another quality outing from these four which was spot heavy and like the other tag match suffered from the legal man syndrome but how can I hold it against them when it produces a match of this quality. It was the perfect main event for this show in my opinion. Winners: #CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks) (And Still RPW British Tag Team Champions) Another top notch Cockpit show courtesy of Revolution Pro Wrestling. With three very good matches, three solid passable outings and a match which was good but had some puzzling booking in it. This was a diamond in the rough for me personally as beforehand I didn't think it was a show that would matter but did set up two undercard matches for the York Hall 'Epic Encounter' show. So I was happy it delivered. If you're reading this review and wondering how you can see this show, then go over to Pivotshare and subscribe to RPW on demand or if you're in the area then go to the RPW website and maybe purchase a ticket for one of their upcoming shows. Finally I'll finish with as I always do with "see you at the matches!" @Billy_Jay83
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