Rev Pro – X Anniversary Night 2 21/08/22 – 4.5⭐

By the end of the night, this felt like a real celebration of Rev Pro and British wrestling as a whole. New stars made, old stars return and a massive passing of the torch moment! This was the perfect way to end the weekend.

Destination Everywhere Vs Greedy Souls – 3⭐

Mills finally turned, it had to happen tonight and they finally did it. The match began strong, with Oku and Mills hitting multiple dives to the outside, including a great middle rope moonsault to the floor from Mills.

Greedy Souls got the upper hand and began working Oku hard, to the point where it had to be Mills just leaving him to get beat up. Oku then hit my least favourite move bouncing of the middle rope to hit a clothesline, I hate it even when he does it.

There was an awesome looking back breaker from greedy souls, just before Oku managed to get the hit tag for Mills, when he booted Oku in the face, tagged him back in, and snotted on his body. This allowed greedy souls to pick up the win, finally allowing advancing the team split storyline. Great way to start the show and get the crowd hot.

Chantal Jordan Vs Kanji (c) – Southside Womens Championship – 2.5⭐

Sadly, the crowd died down to near silence for this match. The placement of this match didn’t help, but by the end of it, these two managed to get everyone invested.

They had a slow build to start, and Jordan’s strikes sounded and looked awesome. Kanji hit a nice move, jumping over the corner to land on Jordan tangled in the turnbuckles. But it really picked up in the last couple minutes, with a great sequence of the two exchanging kicks.

Kanji was able to lock in the triangle choke to make Jordan tap out, retaining her belt. A match that maybe could’ve lost the first 5 mins to be more punchy.

Luke Jacobs (c) Vs Tony Deppen – Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship – 3.5⭐

Jacobs wants to be the best cruiserweight champion, and he’s on his way with title defences like this. He put his title on the line before the match, and then slapped the hell out of Deppen. All while Deppen manages to get all the heat from the crowd whenever he wants.

One miss chop into the ring post allows Deppen to work the hand and arm throughout the match. The two had great back and forth, including another huge coast to coast from Jacobs.

After a couple near falls and submission reversals from both men, Jacobs reverses a pin attempt into the sleeper, tapping Deppen out and adding another retention to his reign. I can’t wait to see Jacobs wrestle again.

Gideon Grey Vs Eddie Dennis – 2⭐

This was very much more angle than match, and yes Eddie Dennis is back in Rev Pro. Gideon came out interrupting Francesca, asking for an open challenge. For Mad Kurt to accept, on the behalf of Eddie Dennis for the crowd to erupt.

The two had a fine match, with Grey hitting a low blow and cane shot to the head, for Dennis to kick out very late. Dennis obviously got the win after a keyboard to the head, courtesy of Mad Kurt, and Dennis hitting the next stop driver.

After Dennis, Kurt and Shota all came out to celebrate, and beat up Grey some more.

Mike Bailey Vs Leon Slater – 4.5⭐

Show Stealer! Star Maker! This match was awesome, and made Leon Slater look like a huge deal. Both these guys tore it down, with pace and timing.

There was an awesome sequence ringside where it was reversal after reversal, finishing with Slater leaping over the guard rail. They then went on to hit some great dives, including Speedball hitting a middle rope moonsault from in the ring to outside, which I still don’t know how that happened.

Bailey’s double knee moonsault will always look painful, especially when he hits it on the Apron. Meanwhile Slater a top rope dive onto bailey, which I have no idea what to call, just all the flips and rotations. Which was then reversed into a Bailey pin attempt for a near fall. However bailey picked up the win later on to a great match, with the crowd giving Slater a standing ovation.

Sunshine Machine (c) Vs The Velocities – Undisputed British Tag Team Championship – 4⭐

I think it’s safe to say, a couple months ago if Sunshine Machine had a title match at York Hall people would feel underwhelmed, but now they are proving they’re one of the best British Tag teams out there and have earned that spot at the top of the tag division.

The start of the match was a slow beat down of the velocities, with TK and Chuck cutting the ring in half. This was good but lasted a bit too long for me, as I was ready for the next stage of the match. Once Silva made the hot tag, the match rocked.

There was an awesome dueling shooting star press with both teams hitting one at the same time, a massive Canadian destroyer on the apron, but the stand out was TK Cooper. TK’s headbutts sounded brutal!

The finish built up after Cooper was hit with a great shooting star DDT, which Mambo barely broke up throwing London into the pin. After more near falls, Sunshine Machine got the win after hitting a huge double team of the top rope. A fantastic match with a stand out performance from TK.

Will Ospreay (c) Vs Ricky Knight Jr – Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship – 4.5⭐

What A Match! There was a massive big fight feel and the crowd was deafening. These two went for about half an hour and it flew by. The second the bell rang the two charged at each other and just traded punches.

Spilling out the ring, the two chopped each other, Ospreay hit a huge sunset flip to the outside and powerbombed RKJ onto the ramp. The intensity didn’t let up, as RKJ then went head first into the turnbuckle, busting him open.

Suddenly there was a ref bump, for RKJ to hit a landslide tombstone. A second ref runs down and the match continues, Ospreay piledriving RKJ off the apron, to the outside, through a table! A second ref bump, which led to the only down side of this match for me.

Ospreay went to use the belt, RKJ reversed it, hit Ospreay but when the ref woke up Ricky jumped on the belt to hide it. Very sports entertainment and out of place sadly.

The ending saw RKJ kick out of a rainmaker, hidden blade, and reversed a one wing angel. For RKJ to hit Ospreay with a one wing angel, another landslide tombstone to became the NEW Undisputed British Heavyweight champion.

A fantastic main event for the end of a great weekend. The two shook hands and Ospreay gave a very passing if the torch promo thanking the fans, the locker room and Andy for keeping Rev Pro alive.

Rev Pro – X Anniversary Night 1 20/08/22 – 3.5⭐

A weekend of wrestling in York Hall, despite the train strikes we made it. Always excited to see Ospreay wrestle live, along with Jacobs, Aussie Open and Speedball this was a very fun show. It did well as a stand alone show and built towards tomorrow night’s show as well.

Connor Mills Vs Tony Deppen – 3.5⭐

The opening match was a great way to work the crowd. As much as I think Mills should lean more into the heel side, Deppen was near perfect.

From throwing a fans hat into the balcony, to distracting the ref he got great heat. The two shared the offence evenly, with Deppen hitting a sick looking stomp kick with mills caught up in the corner.

After a couple near falls, Mills got Deppen up on his shoulders hitting a torture rack drop to get the win. A fun match to get the crowd hot.

Maya Matthews Vs Chantel Jordan – 2.5⭐

The fight for the future, Matthews and Jordan put on a good match and showcased what they could do. I think Matthews could be a great struggling babyface fighting for a title.

They had a couple moments of miscommunication but recovered well. Both hit some nice reversals and back and forth.

Jordan won with a package tombstone piledriver. It was a good match and refreshing to see two new women. I still think they need to showcase the division more however.

Luke Jacobs (c) Vs Francesco Akira – Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship – 4⭐

This was a great match! Jacobs gets better every time I see him. Akira also has improved his heel work in my opinion. The match started with Akira avoiding Luke’s chops and working the back.

Eventually Jacobs connected and his chops rock. Halfway through the match kicked into another great and didn’t slow down. There was a great top rope frankensteiner from Akira, which led into the two trading suplex variations.

Akira hit his running knees to a very near fall, building to the final. Jacobs caught him in mid air to hit a power bomb, locked in the sleeper hold and Akira passed out to get the win. A fantastic end sequence to a great match.

Yota Tsuji Vs Shota Umino – Strap Match – 2.5⭐

This to me was the only big misstep of the night. A very gimmicky match that was more angle than match. But the worst thing was Yota not coming out to the Legions music, just its intro. I hope they haven’t changed the theme.

Shota was rushed on stage by Lucian Phillips, hitting a DDT on him, then charged the ring to take down Yota. There were a couple of fun moments, including the two tug of war between the ring post, Shota pulling Yota and Gideon into the steel.

Yota carried Umino around while hitting each corner, as Shota would too hit the corners (shades of the Cryme Tyme strap match). As they got to the final corner, Shota pulled Tsuji away, to hit the final corner and win. The end saw Shota whipping Gideon, hopefully ending this feud now. I think one of the main issues was the strap whips weren’t loud enough, making it not seem that painful.

Destination Everywhere Vs Aussie Open – Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship – 3.5⭐

Once again, I love Aussie Open, and their ability to react to the crowd, whether they’re being cheered or booed. Destination Everywhere made their entrances separately, adding to their descension story.

Mills started the match, and got worked over by both Davis and Fletcher. Even avoiding tagging Oku at one point. After some more double teams, mills eventually got Oku in on a fantastic hot tag, and the crowd erupted.

The highlight for me was Davis hitting a massive top rope piledriver on Mills for a near fall. The end came after Oku tagged himself in, to get hit with a double superkick after a springboard into the ring. Aussie Open got the win after hitting the Cornelius effect on Oku. A great match and furthers the split story for destination Everywhere, but they need to pull the trigger on it soon as it’s gone on for a very long time now.

Will Ospreay Vs Mike Bailey – 4⭐

This crowd was HOT for Ospreay, with “F*** Okada” chants ringing around York Hall. These two soaked in all the chants before locking up, and receiving all the love, Ospreay didn’t go full heel (yet).

These two can move between the ropes! All the speed and reversals and … dives. The match felt like it was built around one move, speedballs moonsault double knees. He kept trying to hit it in different places, and Ospreay kept reversing it. One time bailey landed both his knees, onto Ospreay’s knees and bounced him off, this looked awesome. He finally hit it onto Ospreay from the top rope.

The match finished after Ospreay hitting a middle rope tombstone for a near fall, hidden blade for a near fall, and eventually stormbreaker to get the win. A fantastic match putting both guys over.

The post match had Ospreay address the Okada chants, saying we better give him that when he comes to the UK. Calling out RKJ for him to come out fully suited. This began a great beat down angle with Akira and Aussie Open all coming down, nailing RKJ in the face with their respective belts, busting him open.

A great show and first installment of the weekend!