Rev Pro was back after another show after an eventful cockpit show earlier on in the month. This time they were back at the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green. The show was another sell out at the 1,500 seat theatre in London. The main event was a dream match (we'll sort of) as the villain Marty Scrull faced the master of 619 and bonafide WWE hall of Famer Rey Mysterio. Also scheduled for the card was Zack Sabre Jr. Taking on Chris Brooke's with the British heavyweight title one line. Shane Strickland teamed with Ryan Smile to face The Briscoes, Martin Stone clashed with Sami Callihan and Josh Bodom defended the British Junior Cruiserweight Weight Title against Puro legend Jushin Thunder Liger plus much more.
I decided to change up this review doing from a live perspective as well from the VOD perspective as my notes got deleted due to my own buffoonery. As usual with every BritWres show the doors were late opening by over 30 minutes. So obviously people were late getting in. This really grinds my gears about BritWres; if you say 6 pm doors then open at 6 pm not past 6.30pm. This obviously had a knock on effect to the show starting on time (which again is a norm in BritWres) but this was a Thursday night show so it meant people having to leave before the main event as the show started late and trains, buses etc never run as late as they do on Friday or Saturday night. Anyway, rant over let's move onto the review she'll we. On arrival inside, I noticed how bloody hot it was inside York Hall. I had been in there for last June's Angle vs Sabre and a Lucha show back in June this year and it was hot both evenings but this was uncomfortably hot. Thank god for the awesome graps that took that place that night to forget about the heat. Singles Match: Martin Stone vs Eddie Dennis Unfortunately, Sami Callihan no showed his appearance for his long awaited singles match with The Governor here after 3 months of build. It's believed that Sami has signed with NJPW and was carrying an injury; hence why he pulled out with two days notice. Sami's replacement was actually a lot better if I'm honest as it was the pride of Wales Eddie Dennis who's losing streak gimmick is really starting to get over huge in rev pro. As expected both guys had a solid match which the crowd really seemed to enjoy. The two had a good back and forth early on, then the match went into higher gear as Eddie got a near fall after giving the Governor a black hole slam onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Martin battled back with a German and an RKO for a near fall. Eddie battled back from another German by stone with a lariat for a near fall. Martin rolled up Eddie for a two count then applied a crossface but Eddie somehow countered it into a pin for a two count. Stone nailed Eddie with a powerbomb then a cheeky low blow. Stone headbutted Eddie and then nailed him with the London Bridge for the win. Winner: Martin Stone Stone cut a promo afterwards mentioning Sami 'I'm a twat' Callihan, his first win in NXT and Eddie Dennis stepping up with two days notice to wrestle him. Stone also put over Eddie's sacrifice of him leaving his job as a headmaster and trying to pursue his dream as full-time wrestler. It was A classy promo by a classy man and afterwards both men hugged and shook each other's hands. London Street Fight: Sha Samuels vs Bully Ray This match was omitted from the VOD. RPW owner and Booker Andy Quildan mentioned on Twitter vaguely hinting that bully didn't really want to do business. The match itself was rather lacklustre and was overshadowed by the match ending angle. Sha was out first and rather strangely he received a heel reception even though he had only recently turned face back in July, but then it's to be expected as most York Hall fans rarely keep up to date with recent Cockpit shows. It didn't stop Quildan taking to Twitter and venting his frustration over this. Anyway, Bully started the match by coming through the crowd which got a cheap pop. Once Bully got in the ring he basically made this a London street fight getting the customary "E-C-Dub" chant going for some reason and it wasn't the last time this chant would be heard that night. The two basically did a walking brawl hitting one another with a variety of objects and brawling in the crowd. This went on for what seemed like forever then but was getting a reaction. To be honest I can't remember the finish but bully beat Sha clean with a bully Bomb. Afterwards RICKY I mean Rob Lias hit the ring and attacked both bully and Sha. Most of the York Hall crowd chanted "who are ya?" again enforcing the fact a majority of York hall show fans do not watch every RPW show. Bully and Sha ended up teaming up and putting Lias through the table to end the match. Winner: Bully Ray Singles Match: Dalton Castle/with The Boys Vs Zack Gibson Zack got a superstar style entrance as his "mates" eight lads dressed in Gibson shirts and hoodies sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as he came out. Zack grabbed the microphone and as usual was booed very heavily during his Liverpool's Number One promo. It's a simple yet effective promo which always gets a great reaction. Dalton was the perfect face for Gibson to do his thing against. They did some solid work early on then Dalton took Zack to the outside and encouraged some child to chop Gibson over and over. Back in the ring Gibson, as solid as ever, worked over Dalton's left arm to set him up for the Shankley Gates. Dalton battled back with a Saito suplex, German and gut wrench suplex. Dalton got a near fall with a dead lift German suplex which he couldn't believe didn't put away Gibson. The two brawled on the outside and Zack threw Castle into the ring post and Castle landed on his bad arm. Back in the ring, Zack locked on the Shankley Gates and Castle tapped out clean. This was a far superior use of Gibson after a disappointing loss to Hiroki Goto at Epic Encounter and he went over clean thankfully. The strong push of Gibson continues and let's hope his big grudge match with Ospreay actually happens at Uprising. Winner: Zack Gibson Tag Team Match: The Briscoes (Mark & Jay) vs Ryan Smile and Shane Strickland 'The All Day Star' got a very mixed reaction coming out here. I would assume some knew of his Twitter outburst only a few weeks earlier and like myself couldn't help but boo him. Shane was very much over as well as The Briscoes. So what did Rev Pro do? They had The Briscoes get heat on Smile by having them beat him down for a prolonged period before the hot tag. I've got to admit it felt a bit strange seeing two people in Jay Briscoe and Smile go back and forth knowing their less than stellar real life opinions and Twitter outbursts, but most of the crowd didn't care while I couldn't get past it. If you see me on VOD I barely made a reaction until Mark and Shane were in the ring. Anyway, rant over. These two teams actually had a really good match watching it back on VOD. They built up the hot tag nicely and did some very innovative things with one another in there which many others couldn't pull off or do. All day Swerve pulled off a near looking Devastation Device cutter spot which could have gone horribly wrong but thankfully didn't. Jay killed Strickland with a DVD onto the ring apron and back in the ring Mark hoisted up Smile into a reverse DVD position while Jay climbed up top. Jay came off the top with a double foot stomp and landed on Ryan and then Mark drilled Ryan with a reverse DVD to finish off Smile and pick up the win. Winners: The Briscoes (Mark & Jay) Intermission was up next it was brief thankfully and gave me a chance to go and cool off and get out of that sweaty building. Singles Match: Travis Banks vs Jay White This was the kind of match I love as both men beat the living shit out of one another with stiff strikes throughout. I referred to it as a beautiful massacre on Twitter and stand by that tweet I made following the show. These two I could watch do this kind of match all day. Early on both men went back and forth with stiff strikes. Jay then did the three amigos for a near fall. Travis tipped Jay and did his running cannonball splash for a near fall. Jay did a nasty looking double underhook suplex sending Travis hard into the corner for a two count. Both men were going at 100mph and rarely slowed down throughout which is a testament to both men's Cardo. The crowd was very much behind Travis here and I really hope we don't lose him here in the UK once his visa runs out which has been speculated to run out at the end of the year. Jay follows up with a Flatliner and German but Travis pops right back up and knocks Jay out of the ring with a Buzzsaw Kick and does a big dive out onto Jay. Back in the ring, Travis nails Jay with a Kiwi Krusher for a near fall. Jay battled back with a double underhook front slam then locks Travis in the Boston crab and Travis has no chance escape and is forced to tap out. This was a tremendous match and yet again Travis Banks is killing it with another stand out performance, but let's not forget Jay who more than held his own here. I'm still wondering what is next for the undefeated Jay in Rev pro. Andy Q hinted at a heavyweight title shot but I hope they go in a different direction and have him lose his undefeated streak to Josh Bodom Winner: Jay White Rev Pro Undisputed Cruiser Weight Title Match: Josh Bodom (Champion) Vs Jushin 'Thunder' Liger This was probably the match with the most obvious result heading in with Bodom going over the legend clean but dammit on this night I refused to believe it and thought maybe just maybe Liger would win the title even if it was for a short caretakers regain but Andy Q probably made the right decision by having Bodom go over clean. I wasn't the only one who thought Liger might pick up the big win as the crowd really did bite for the near falls. Especially after they did the spot that saw Liger beat Bodom with at the British J Cup as Liger nailed Bodom with a palm strike, Liger Bomb and brain buster but somehow Bodom kicked out at two. Bodom, who I've been critical of, really put in a stand out performance here like he did with Will Ospreay, Ashley Dunn and David Starr. He is really starting to live up to his push in Rev Pro at long last. Bodom teased getting a count out win which was a great call back spot to the British J Cup yet again. Liger got the crowd biting when he came close to getting a three count with another Palm strike. Bodom went for the Bliss Buster but Liger countered. Liger chopped Bodom on the outside and then rolled him into the ring. Roberts was distracted on the outside as Liger climbed into the ring, Bodom kicked the middle rope and it went into Liger's nether region. Bodom then drilled Liger with the Bliss Buster for the three and the fairy tale liger story was over. Afterwards, Liger received a standing ovation. Winner: Josh Bodom (And still Rev Pro Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion) Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (Champion) Vs Chris Brookes Almost immediately Brooke's is all over sabre jr taking the fight to the champ. The champ quickly settled in by working over the challenger by targeting his long legs. Both men slap the hell out of one another before Zack takes down Brookes and begins to apply a leg lock but Brookes reaches the ropes. Aggressive Sabre stomps on Brookes in the corner and again targets the legs. Sabre decides to channel Minuro Suzuki with some bulky boy tactics but Brookes fires up and nails Sabre with a German suplex for a two count. Sabre again works over Brookes with elbow smashes and hits Sabre with a big top rope suplex. Brookes follows it up with a big dropkick for a two count. Zack drives Brookes down with a dragon style bridging suplex for a two count. Sabre goes for a dragon sleeper but Brookes counters out. The two trade strikes again which looked very vicious indeed but then Sabre locks Brookes into an octopus stretch but Brookes counters with a suplex. Brooke's then applies the octopus stretch - the move Brookes made Zack say I quit to back in June. Zack begins to target the arm and applies a number of different arm bars but Brookes continues to be able to reach the ropes with his long legs. Brookes catches Zack with a big knee lift but Zack comes back with a penalty kick. Brookes catches the leg on the third attempt at the penalty kick and nails sabre with a Michinoku driver and a springboard cutter for a near fall. Zack battles back and applies another octopus stretch and then begins to stomp on the back of Brookes' head. Brookes is forced to say I quit and Sabre Jr's big push as heel champion continues. Winner: Zack Sabre Jr. (And Still Rev Pro British Heavyweight Champion) This was another quality scrap and maybe my favourite Chris Brooke's single match this year. Hell, I'd even say it was better than his outing with Nixon Newell back at Fight Club: PRO's Rise Against show. Sabre Jr is excelling in his role as vicious heel champion and long may it continue in this reviewers opinion. MAIN EVENT Singles Match: The Villain Marty Scurll vs Rey Mysterio Jr You know what, Rey could have shown up and phoned it in as long as he did his signature spots similar to what Angle did with Sabre Jr last year. I'm sure no one would have minded but Rey didn't do that as he was professional and Gave Marty the match he and owner Andy Q probably really wanted. Rey did everything that was expected of a man with a pair of surgically repaired knees. He did everything and a lot more by doing all of his big moves and selling everything Marty gave to Rey. Mysterio even let the villain pull off his mask which lead to a near fall. Rey did his crowd pleasing 619 big splash combo for the near fall but after 15 minutes or so of pure spectacle, Marty got his knees up after Rey went up top and went for a Frog Splash. Marty then did a reverse Bird of Pray to pick up the big win. Winner: The Villain Marty Scurll Overall this was yet another good York Hall show. Revolution Pro really does deliver with these York Hall shows. I can't say there wasn't much I didn't like on this card. Everything was booked with a finish that made the most sense and continued to build the right people going forward. The main event was good but had no chance of following Brookes vs Sabre. It was great to see Mysterio live for the first time since 2006 and at least he showed up and put on a hell of a show with The Villain. It was a spectacle, not a lot else, but I match I enjoyed. I paid £33 to see this live. My match of the night goes to Travis Banks and Jay White. Again, I'll say it was a beautiful massacre that any fan of BritWres or the Puro style needs to go out of their way to see. Go to RPW on demand on Pivotshare and pay your $8.49 to see that match you won't regret it. Anyway thanks for reading my review and as always I'll end with I'll see you at the matches. @Billy_Jay83
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