Rev Pro returned for another show during WrestleMania week with its debut in Orlando and America on March 31st apart of Wrestle Con. It wasn't the only BritWres group who decided to do Orlando during Wrestlemania as Progress also ran two shows with the WWN the first was simply called Progress Orlando and the second was WWN vs Progress show which was held on April 1st. Also WCPW got in on the Orlando shows buzz and ran a BritWres...well their version of a BritWres show that week as well which aired on their on demand service but I ain't here to talk about them. I'm here to talk about Rev Pro's show. In the build Rev Pro promised its American fans they would run a York Hall style show that afternoon at Wrestle Con and announced a pretty solid card for the show. So let's get into the show shall we?
It's your usual open with the Rev Pro theme playing in the background as the crowd cheers. Andy Quinlan comes out to crickets along with British referee Chris Roberts. Quinlan thanks the audience for coming out and seeing his show and dedicates the show to the fallen Kris Travis who when this show run was exactly a year ago. Quinlan said Kris wouldn't have wanted a one minute silence so we're Just going to honour him with some great wrestling. Singles Match: Sami Callihan Vs Jay White This wasn't Callihan first outing that week as he was quite a busy chap that week working for progress, WWN, Pro Wrestling Revolver and CZW among others. Callihan didn't hold back as he went all out here to have a good outing with the ever improving NJPW Young Lion Jay White. Early on the two brawled on the outside. Let's be honest I haven't seen a Callihan match from that week where Sami didn't take it too the outside and brawl. There was a nasty looking spot where Jay gave Sami a brain buster onto the ring apron. Callihan nearly got counted out but got back in the ring barley at nine. The two traded stiff strikes in the middle of the ring and then Callihan drilled Jay with three face washes. Jay was in all kinds of trouble when Sami gave him a DVD into the corner but was able to capitalise with a pinning attempt. Jay came back with knee strike and a float over suplex. Jay then applied a crossface but Sami refused to tap in fact he countered it into a stretch muffler but then Jay recountered it back into the crossface but Sami made it too the ropes. Both men traded then Sami nailed Jay with a lariat, a sit down powerbomb and then the stretch muffler but this time Jay reached the ropes. Sami went for a inside cradle but Jay countered it into a Boston crab and Sami was forced to tap out. It was a solid opener but I have to wonder why Quinlan chose not to put a British guy in the opener but then RPW does like to use imports so I guess it made sense and Jay white has worked a number of York Hall shows since last summer as well. Winner: Jay White Singles Match: 'The Governor' Martin Stone Vs 'Mr Athletic' Jeff Cobb This was an OK match which featured two big lads knocking the crap out of one another, but nothing really memorable happened and nothing really stood out for me with this match. Cobb did his suplex's and, yeah they looked great but something was missing. Martin played his "hard man" role well and took everything Cobb threw at him but it seemed as if something was missing. Maybe it was the fact the crowd audio was poor because it seemed as if the crowd was quieter than usual. Anyway after ten minutes of so-so action, Stone drilled Cobb with a London Bridge draping DDT to pick up the win. Winner: 'The Governor' Martin Stone Andy Quinlan tried his best to fire up a subdued crowd and was about to introduce the next match but out came Lord Gideon Grey. So the Lord did it! He got on a WrestleMania week card and this crowd didn't seem to even know who the great princess unicorn was. What a shame anyway. Grey cut a promo at the start of match running down Swoggle and how he had embarrassed him in Portsmouth and called out Swoggle for a match. Singles Match: Lord Gideon Gray Vs Swoggle Thankfully this was over quickly because as soon as the bell rang Swoggle hit Grey with a stunner for a near fall. There was some crap comedy involving Chris Roberts and then a genuinely funny spot where Swoggle gave Grey a number of German suplex's as the crowd chanted "suplex village". Anyway the finish happened moments later when Grey nailed Swoggle with a side suplex to pick up the win. Winner: Lord Gideon Grey Singles Match: 'The Villain' Marty Scurll Vs Ricochet The crowd came to its feet when the ROH World Television Champion made his way to the ring. This was what they came to see: 'The Villain'! Not comedy invoking a former WWE superstar, not two out of place single matches they came to see the Rev Pro BritWres regulars and big indy names clashing in indy dream matches (sorry Sami and Jay). Early on both men traded headlocks then come face to face to let the crowd chant there respective names. Marty shoulder blocks Ricochet, but Ricochet pops back up and poses. Marty then does a handstand to a massive reaction. Marty asks Ricochet to shake his hand but Ricochet is smart to 'The Villain' and pokes him in the eye. Handspring headscissors by Ricochet to Marty which sends 'The Villain' to the outside. Ricochet does a fake dive then back in the ring gives Marty a Gory Guerrero special. Ricochet chops Marty then gives him a snapmare and a soccer kick. Ricochet gives Marty a back drop and the people's Moonsault for a two count. Ricochet takes time to chat shit with a punter who screams something that made the rest of the crowd chant fuck that guy. The fight spills to the outside and Scurll does his superkick from the ring apron spot. Scurll signals to the crowd to move out of the way and ends up tossing Ricochet back into the ring. Back in the ring Marty gives Ricochet a scoop slam and then does the people's stomp. Marty begins to chop away at Ricochet and then 'The Villain' does a back rake. Marty works over Ricochet with the Japanese strangle hold. Ricochet fights out and nails Scurll with a back elbow and a springboard uppercut. It's time to fly as Ricochet dives out onto Marty. Back in the ring Ricochet gets a near fall with a standing shooting star press. Ricochet goes for the bendriller but Marty ducks the knee smash from Ricochet and does his 'Superkick...just kidding!" to take Ricochet down. Marty drops Ricochet with a brain buster for a two count. Marty then signals for the chicken wing but he took too long and Ricochet cuts him off with a chop. 'The Villian' follows up with a knee strike and cutter. Ricochet goes for another standing shooting star press but Marty gets his knees up. Both men get up and Ricochet does a pop up German suplex and both men are down. Both men trade elbow smashes while their on there knees. Both men are up now and trade chops and then forearm smashes. Marty grabs the fingers but Ricochet nails him with a knee strike and a swinging neckbreaker. Ricochet goes up top and comes off with a shooting star press but Marty moves. Marty then grabs ricochet and hoists him up into a Piledriver position. Marty let's the blood rush to Ricochet's head and drops him hard into the mat but only gets a two count. Marty finally snaps the fingers and then applies the chicken wing. Eventually ricochet gets out of the hold and nails Marty with a benadriller. 'The Villain' is still standing, so Ricochet does a handspring off the ropes but Marty catches him in the chicken wing and this time Ricochet can't escape and is forced to tap out. Thankfully it took an hour to get a great Match and at long last we got one but then you wouldn't expect any less from these two would you? Winner: 'The Villain' Marty Scurll Afterwards Marty grabs a microphone and says every time we step into the ring we make magic. Marty says this is the reason he loves pro wrestling. It's companies like this that make him love pro wrestling. He then calls ricochet by his shoot name (Google it I ain't breaking kayfabe) and says he loves him. Marty then acknowledges his fallen comrade in Kris Travis and dedicates his match to him. Ricochet then says he doesn't remember his first Rev Pro show but he remembers how great guys like Marty are and thanks Andy for booking him on this show. Ricochet then plugs his gimmick table outside in the main hall which made this reviewer laugh. Non title Match: Josh Bodom Vs David Starr This was a typical Bodom match which this reviewer as usual just didn't enjoy. Not even my 'favourite wrestlers, favourite wrestler' David Starr could get a good match out of Bodom. It was rather weird that Bodom showed up without his title and the crowd immediately picked up on it even if they didn't seem to have a clue to who he was. In fact Bodom announced beforehand this was now a non-title match even though they announced at the Cockpit show earlier on in the month it was for the title. After 12 minutes of so-so action which lacked any crowd heat whatsoever even with a ref bump and a number of cheap tactics to get heat, Bodom pinned Starr with a bliss buster for the three count. Can we just get the title off Bodom already and do something different with him please? I could just about stand him in his feud with Jimmy Havoc but now he's back to sucking up the Cruiserweight division with his usual cheap finish matches I really can't stand him again and it's not like he's bad in between the ropes. It just his attitude and reliability. I really have to question like with Garrett and Redman why Andy Quinlan continues to ram this guy down are throats. Now I just sound like a broken record when it comes to Bodom but as long a his push continues I'll keep complaining! Winner: Josh Bodom Singles Match: Will Ospreay Vs Rey Fenix Up next was a legit great Cruiserweight match as Internet darlings Rey Fenix and Will Ospreay locked up. After seeing what both men did with one another at PWG BOLA last year I was really rather hyped for this contest. They started off slow as both men worked a headlock, armbar then the madness began. Both men flipped off the ropes and posed and this shit was on, or so I thought. Will nailed Fenix with a running dropkick and then they took the fight to the outside. Will kicked away at Fenix on the outside and then tossed him back into the ring for a two count. Will went back to the arm and grounded Fenix and then rolled him up for a two count. Will in fact really slowed the match down but Fenix picked up the pace with a hurricanrana. Will rolled to the outside and the Fenix flow over the top rope out onto Will. Back in the ring Fenix springboarded to the middle rope and came off with a Swanton down onto Will for a two count. Will did his handspring flip but Fenix caught him with a cutter in mid air. Ospreay came back with a cheeky nandos kick for a two count and followed it up with a standing shooting star and a corkscrew moonsualt for another two count. Will did the Chris Sabin hesitation dropkick but Fenix came back with a reverse rana then will popped up and did the same to Fenix. Both men were down and eventually they got back to there feet and traded kicks then Ospreay did his best Great Sasuke impression doing a handspring moonsault onto Fenix on the outside. Will came back with an Essex destroyer for a two count then went up top and came off with a Hayabusa Pheonix splash for a near fall. Fenix blocked the Os-Cutter and nailed Will with a awkward looking kick. Fenix then gave Will a Canadian destroyer for a near fall. Will battled back with a revolution kick to the back of Fenix's head and followed it up with the Os-cutter for the one, two and three. Another great match from Ospreay and Fenix but you wouldn't expect anything less from these two now would you? Apart form a few awkward spots there wasn't a lot I could moan about here. As I'm a big fan of their PWG match at BOLA last year my expectations where high but were met and both men delivered as usual. Winner: Will Ospreay Tag Team Match: The All Day Star Ryan Smile and Shane Strickland Vs The Unbreakable F'N Machines (Michael Elgin & Brain Cage) It was great to see Ryan finally get on show in the States as he's someone I believe will be a big star one day in the States and mixing it up with two established indy names in "Big Mike" and the unbreakable one Brian Cage. Early on Cage proved he was just as good at flippy shit as Smile by doing a standing moonsault and hurricanrana. Elgin and Shane came in and messed around for a bit which ended with Big Mike doing a worm which made Shane leave and go to the back. Shane returned eventually and the wrestling resumed. Big Mike ran through Shane with a shoulder block then did a handspring off the ropes once again proving he could do some flippy shit. Shane nailed Elgin with a headscissors then Big Mike wiped out Smile and Shane over the top. Shane then moonsaulted off of Elgin's chest down onto Cage and Smile. Elgin dominated smile throwing him around like he was a child. Elgin then did his vertical suplex. The Machines then did their spot where they tag in and out while still holding Smile up in a vertical suplex. Cage came in and over powered Smile unsurprisingly and threw him across the ring at one point while he had Smile up in a suplex position. Smile battled back with a top rope missile dropkick and made the not so hot tag to Strickland. Shane came in and cleaned house with a superkick to Elgin and a leapfrog face buster to cage. Shane followed it up with a enziguri and then tagged in his partner Smile. The two double teamed Cage with an assisted codebreaker for a two count. Big Mike came in and he and Cage took out Smile with a double superkick for a near fall. Strickland was then double teamed and Elgin gave Shane a wheelbarrow suplex and a Super Elgin Bomb. Super Elgin Bomb to Smile and then Cage gave Ryan an F5 for a near fall. This match was suffering from the legal syndrome at this point. Elgin then gave both Strickland and Smile a fall away slam/Samoan drop combo move for a near fall. Then Smile and Strickland battled back with a powerbomb/double stomp combo and then Ryan followed it up with stars in the sky from the top rope to pin the former IWGP Intercontinental champion and ROH World champion, Michael Elgin. The crowd booed the finish of course as they probably didn't believe the finish or the fact the unknown Smile could beat such a big star clean. Let's face it Elgin and Cage are bigger stars but they did a great job in this reviewers opinion of putting over the two smaller guys who probably needed the win more than the established and over Unbreakable Machines. Overall I really enjoyed this match, even if it was a bit rushed and unbelievable in places. Winners: Ryan Smile and Shane Strickland Main Event RPW British Heavyweight Title Match: Penta El Zero M Vs Zack Sabre Jr Earlier on in the dayZzack suffered a nasty cut above his eye wrestling Jimmy havoc on the progress Orlando show. So it lead a lot of people to speculate he may have taken it easy here but you'd be wrong. As usual Zack went all out to steal the show much like he did with ACH at EVOLVE 80 on the Thursday night of Mania week. Zack got an appreciative small applause but was mostly booed. I would assume this crowd know about Rev Pro and Zack's heel turn in that company by that reaction as everywhere else that weekend and mostly in America they cheer for Zack. Zack flipped off Penta when he did his pose in front of him and grabbed Penta's arm and bent it backwards. Early on the two traded holds on the mat with either man getting the advantage. Zack stretched Penta's knees and then transitioned into bridge putting more pressure on the knees of Penta. Penta came back with a knee bar of his own but it was nowhere as impressive looking as Zack's. Sabre took down Penta and sat on his back while pulling back on his arms and that really did look nasty. Penta came back with a Mexican surfboard and pulled back on Zack's chin, but Zack was able to get out of it. Zack gave Penta three arm drags but then Penta cut him off and slapped Zack hard sending Zack to the outside. Penta rammed Zack head first into the ring post. Penta then began to work over Zack's thighs and legs with kicks then Penta went for a chop but hit the post, much like Trent Seven. Zack took advantage and zeroed in on Penta's hand. Zack stepped on Penta's throat to huge boos on the outside. Back in the ring, Sabre mocked Penta and stomped and stood on his hand to more boos (this was masterful way for Zack to get heat). Penta flipped Zack the bird but Zack kicked him in the mouth for such a ballsy move by the luchadore. Penta came back with a side slam and then went for a package piledriver but Zack countered Into a octopus stretch. Sabre followed it up with a penalty kick which got him a two count. Penta comes back with a big roundhouse kick and went for he package piledriver but Zack countered it into one of his own and then applied an armbar. Penta finally found his way to the bottom rope to break the hold. The two battled on the ring apron and Penta drilled Zack with the package piledriver onto the ring apron. Penta rolled Zack back into the ring for a near fall. Penta then did the babyface spot of 10 punches in the corner. Penta went for a Canadian destroyer but Zack countered it into one of his own and then applied a triangle choke. Penta then fell to one side but Zack rolled over and applied a arm bar while kicking and elbow striking Penta in the head and Penta passed out. I obviously really enjoyed this match. The stoppage finish only added to Sabre's new character and made him look like a real bad ass. Not many people can say they made Penta El Zero M pass out in pain now can they? Winner: Zack Sabre Jr (And Still RPW British Heavyweight Champion) Overall it was another solid show from RPW. Yeah there was some cold matches on the show and not everyone was over (i.e. Ryan Smile, Josh Bodom, Martin Stone) but the established RPW main eventers like Scurll, Ospreay and Zack were. Quinlan will really need to do something about that if he sees those guys as the guys replacing Scurll, Ospreay, Dunne and Sabre in the future. Anyway there was some real solid wrestling on the show. Basically every match from a in ring point of view delivered expect maybe the Bodom match. It set everything up nicely for the next Cockpit show and the Epic Encounter event happening on April 13th in this reviewers opinion. If this review has made you want to check out RPW then go on over to Pivotshare and sign up for 8 bucks to RPW on demand or even if you live in Blighty and near London then purchase a ticket. That's if you can get one of course because both of those shows are sold out. Anyway thanks for reading and as always I will close with my ripped off Bill Apter line with "see you at the matches!" @Billy_Jay83
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