Tag Archives: Final

Rev Pro – Summer Sizzler 23/07/22 – 4⭐

Saying I was excited for this event is an understatement, and it did not disappoint! It had some great action, star power, and story telling throughout.

The three standouts for me were Callum Newman, Like Jacobs and Mark Davis. But everyone put in a shift, and seeing PAC live again was awesome.

6 Man Scramble Match – AEW All Atlantic Championship #1 Contenders Match – 3⭐

The opening contest was a chaotic match to get the fans pumped up, and it did just that. It had Callum Newman, Robbie X, RKJ, Will Kroos, Dereiss and Connor Mills.

The main take-aways for me were Newman shone, and proved he can hang with the top stars like RKJ and Robbie X. Both Newman and Robbie X hit huge top rope dives to the outside, almost hitting the lighting grid on the way.

Also, RKJ was awesome and took most of the offence from the match. He hit a huge 3 man Samoan drop, before him and Will Kroos brawled to the back, I would assume to start a mini rivalry until Ospreay comes back to the UK.

The match finished after Mills pinned Newman, which surprised me, continuing Mills’ push in a big way. A fun match to start the show and get some of the lesser known guys some good experience in front of a big crowd.

Yota Tsuji Vs Shota Umino – 3⭐

A match between former best friends needed to start strong, and it did with them both firing head shots, almost hockey fighting. This was good intensity for the story.

Shota took control early, attacking Yota whilst avoiding Gideon Grey on the outside. But the numbers game caught up, Gideon grabbed the ankle and Yota took advantage. The middle part of this match was a tad too long for me, Yota just working over Shota slowly, being methodical.

There was a beautiful transition from Yota into a chicken wing, just before the finish of the match. We had a ref bump, leading Gideon to throw Yota the cane. Umino reversed the shot, grabbing the cane, giving it to Gideon and then hitting him to the ground. Shota was able to hit some big moves onto Yota but only managed some near falls. Yota hit a spear and picked up the win. A good match that lost intensity in the middle.

Lykos Gym Vs Sunshine Machine (c) – Undisputed British Tag Team Championship – 3.5⭐

The first talking point for me was that Sunshine Machine came out with the Progress Titles, I don’t know why this felt like a big deal to me. Anyway, this match was awesome, and I love Lykos Gym. They are my favourite team to boo right now.

Lykos gym tried to jump the champs as the bell rang, but sunshine Machine countered this. The two teams had a good back and forth, leading to the exercise band spot from Lykos gym. Sadly, the first attempt was botched as the band snapped. This was sold perfectly by Lykos. The second attempt had TK hold the band, and cut it in half.

After more great team moves and combinations from both sides, lykos were up to more heel shenanigans tying TK to the guard rail, and double teaming Mambo for a while. After 2 baking tray shots to the head, and 4 brainbusters, Mambo still kicked out. TK came back into the ring and Sunshine Machine picked up the win. The right result but I’m not sure they needed to hit 4 brainbusters on Mambo to kick out. It doesn’t help put that move, or even Lykos Gym, over at all. Still a fun match with fun spots.

Mike Bailey Vs Francesco Akira – 4⭐

This was one of my most anticipated matches for the night, and I loved it. Both these guys are two of the best cruiserweights in the world right now, and they had all the strikes and strike reversals in the match.

Two of the big highlights for me was Bailey’s double knee moonsault on the apron, which looked like it sucked to take. Followed up with a massive top rope hurricanrana from Akira. The pace of this match was awesome and kept the crowd into it throughout, with lots and lots of songs for speedball.

The final act had multiple near falls that I bought, but Akira managed to get the win with double knees to the back of the head. A well worked match that got the crowd invested, and whenever the United Empire wins I’m happy.

Alex Windsor (c) Vs Alexxis Falcon – Undisputed British Women’s Championship – 2.5⭐

Sadly, this match didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I think it being after the interval, and after the previous match the crowd was worn out. Another factor sadly is no one believed Falcon was going to win. At this point, Rev Pro haven’t built up anyone who could realistically beat Windsor. I think the smaller shows need to include more women matches if possible and more story telling to build up a realistic challenger.

The match was good though, it wasn’t bad it was just lacking any heat and momentum. Falcon was a good heel, back chatting to the crowd and getting some reactions.

Windsor was able to get the pin, and retain the belt. I hope we see more of Falcon in Rev Pro after this, and get more consistently booked women, again if it’s possible.

Luke Jacobs Vs Michael Oku (c) – Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship – 4.5⭐

This was my match of the night. These two tore the house down. Jacobs was such a hometown hero, flanked by Ethan Allen, and it felt like if he lost there’d be a riot. Oku came to the stage with Amira and Mills, but Mills went back to prepare for his main event, creating more tension.

The match started with Oku ducking a Jacobs lariat, and the intensity did not let up from there. There were multiple hard chops and strikes, followed by some great reversals. The end began with another red bump, and Oscar sold it incredibly. Jacobs got a visual pin, and I really thought that meant Oku was going to retain here.

This led to Oku and Allen having a tug of war with the belt, and it finally collided with Jacobs head busting him open. Oku put him in the half crab, and this was an awesome visual of Jacobs fighting the pain with a crimson mask. Once he broke out, he hit two huge lariats for two very very near falls.

He finally won after hitting a piledriver, and the crowd erupted. This was a great match with a great atmosphere. Jacobs grabbed the mic to address the fans, which led to Akira coming back out, setting up Jacobs first defense possibly.

Oku was left in the ring, and received a standing ovation. He kissed the logo on the ring mat, and stood at the top of the ramp sobbing. This really felt like a goodbye so I’m excited to see what the future has for him. This year he has put on some of my favourite matches and hopefully this isn’t the last time he wrestles at Rev Pro.

Aussie Open Vs The Velocities – Great British Tag League Final – 4.5⭐

First things first, I preferred their match at Epic Encounters, and that’s still my favourite tag match ever. But this match still ruled. I truly believe Aussie Open are one of, if not, the best tag team in the world. I also become a bigger Velocities fan every timeI see them.

The match started fast again, but there was a scary botch early on. Paris de Silva was whipped into the corner and did a handstand on the top rope, but his momentum kept him going to the outside, Davis ran to grab him and saved him enough. Silva had a nasty looking mark on his back from the top of the post. The next sequence was a bit shaky but they managed to get back on track after.

After this the match was near flawless, with great team moves and combinations. Silva and London are so quick between the ropes, and the arrogance and charisma Aussie open have just made this match feel very big time.

Davis for me was the stand out of this match though, with an awesome 1 on 2 sequence, beating up both Velocities at once. He also hit a HUGE European uppercut on London during a shooting star press. Another highlight for me was London hitting an awesome looking avalanche double hurricanrana on both Davis and Fletcher.

The match came to an end, after multiple near falls from Aussie Open. Velocities got the upper hand, and Silva got the win after a shooting star of the top rope into a double DDT. An awesome match that I wished had 5 more mins. Velocities win the Tag League and will challenge Sunshine Machine down the line, which I think could be a lot of fun. This also sets up a rubber match, as it’s 1-1 now and surely they’ll complete the trilogy.

PAC (c) Vs Connor Mills – AEW All Atlantic Championship – 4⭐

The main event, and technically my first love AEW match. PAC is a star, and it was great to see him wrestle live. I also had doubts when Mills won the #1 contenders match, but he did step up and did not feel out of place during this. He worked more of a heel, and I think Mills has to be more heel in future I think it fits him much better.

Just before the match, Kip Sabian sat front row and I am so excited for him to un box. And for the first time I’ve seen, he was referenced with PAC standing face to face with him.

The match was great, Mills has some great kicks and I absolutely love the way PAC moves around the ring. The two worked well together but the result was never in doubt. Mills had some near falls towards the end but PAC managed to get the win with the black arrow.

This match was made for PAC to feel like a star, Mills’ push to continue, and keep the intrigue of Sabian going and all the above was achieved. A great end to a fantastic show, Rev Pro continues to be my favourite promotion here in the UK.

Purpose Wrestling – March of the Dogs 08/07/22 – 2.5⭐

Back in the library! This was a fun show with multiple comedy moments, a title unveiling and one of my new favourite wrestlers in Bullit.

The 87 Vs East City Sovereigns – 2.5⭐

The opening match was a great way to get the crowd involved and set the pace for the night. The East City Sovereigns came out to a lot of boos and worked them from then on.

The two teams had a good tag match, sharing the offence nearly 50/50. ECS had some good heel comedy moments with the 87 looking the stronger and more dominant team. The highlight of the match for me was a huge jumping knee from Banks!

The finish came after some chasing and a distraction for ECS to hit water mist and a roll up for the win.

Rob Lias Vs David Francisco – 2⭐

Lias cut a promo before the match, giving it some heat, calling Francisco out for being selfish about his promotion.

The match was mainly David getting worked over and Rob taking the majority of the offence, sandwich with some power strikes Francisco gave out at the start and end of the match.

Francisco locked in a submission and Rob taped out, a good match that kept the crowd into the show.

The Super Chapman Bros. Vs The 0121 – 2.5⭐

After Deriss’ entrance rap, there was a good comedy bit where mad Kurt insisted on rapping better. To his credit, Mad Kurt wasn’t awful at it.

The match began and it was heavy on comedy spots, the 0121 took most the offence and no sold a lot of the Chapman’s soft strikes. At one point Deriss was chased off leaving Moloney to take them both on, and doing so. Deriss returned with water and a sandwich.

Towards the end Mad Kurt hit a flurry of attacks which was followed up by a huge Drilla from Dan Moloney to get the win. A fun match, but in my opinion one that went maybe 5 mins too long. Also, I love Dan Moloney, but think he works much better as a heel, but that’s just me.

Oli Peace & Bullit Vs Alexander & Taylor – 3⭐

This was my first time seeing everyone in this match, and it was my personal match of the night. I love Bullit! Alexander and Taylor I think were both great babyfaces in peril, and Peace was a fun Heel hiding behind his monster.

This for me put over Peace as a new heel force to be reckoned with, behind the muscle of Bullit. Alexander and Taylor both played their part great, with some nice comeback moments and fight backs.

But Bullit was too strong, and frequently threw one of the faces into the corner, asking for the other to be tagged in. Then when I couldn’t love him more, he hit a huge spine buster. Bullit got the win with a big powerbomb.

Ava White Vs Amira – 2.5⭐

Amira finally got booked, and she was great. In full Alex Windsor cosplay, she got the whole crowd behind her. For White to attack straight away and get a very very close pinfall (which I fully bought).

Ava White worked the majority of the match, working slowly and methodically. Amira had a good comeback moment, hitting some good moves on the outside and getting pumped up.

The end came very quickly though, White just pinned her all of a sudden. I think this could have been a great match if there was more of a 3rd act to it, especially after the hot start.

Destination Everywhere Vs Breaks & Bryant – 3⭐

The main event was great, and everyone came out better than going in, with the offence being shared pretty evenly throughout the match.

With multiple high spots throughout the match, one including a suicide dive into the recycling bin, it was mainly the final few minutes that had the main story beat.

Mills and Breaks will challenge for the first Purpose Championship next month, and Mills couldn’t pin Breaks. They wiped Nino out after a tombstone on the outside with Oku’s top rope dive.

When it was practically 2 on 1, Breaks was hit with move after move, and kept kicking out. Until he managed to roll Connor Mills up, Nino held Oku and the babyfaces won.

After the match, the handsome bastards tag team ran down to attack the faces, Connor unveiled the new belt and posed with it. The attack continued for the locker room to empty and save Breaks and Nino.

Progress – Super Strong Style 16 (Day 3) 05/06/2022 – 3⭐

This was my first Progress Wrestling show live, and I had a great time. There was a real party atmosphere, which was guided along by Simon Miller’s interactions in-between each match.

Team Damo Vs Team RSP – 2⭐

This was great, silly, sports entertainment. From the football being introduced to all the picks everything was well done. Crowley coming out first and waiting to be picked also added that extra comedy. This was my first time seeing Crowley and his entrance and look was awesome!

After Damo picked Jody Fleisch, Maggot and Callum Newman and Rickey Shane Page chose Dean Allmark, Charlie Dempsey and finally, forced to take Crowley, the teams had a photo op with the champions League music playing.

The match began with each team’s opposite styles facing off. Once Crowley got in, and beaten up, his team left him for dead for a while.

I’d never seen Dempsey before either and he was awesome, really quick and technical ability. After a few high spots from Newman, RSP was about to get the pin when Crowley tagged in and dropkicked him out of the ring, and stole the win. He was then chased off by his team.

Warren Banks Vs Johnny Progress – 2.5⭐

The mood then shifted as the first semi final for the Super Strong Style tournament and Progress World Championship began. The match stakes and star power of Johnny Progress really made this a big match feel.

The match began with a good feeling out process and nice slow build. They kept the fun party feel of the night with Johnny hiding under the ring, leading the crowd to chant “Johnny Missing”.

Sadly the finish fell a bit flat for me, and the two botch a top rope Spanish fly from Johnny to Banks which I think would’ve led into the finish. They got back up and did the spot in the opposite corner. Banks picked up the win shortly after but the momentum was halted.

Gene Munny Vs Chris Ridgeway – 3.5⭐

The second semi final was next, and these are two more guys I’ve not seen before. Gene’s gimmick, I won’t lie, didn’t get it at the start. But as the match progressed I got more and more behind him to win.

Ridgeway’s look is really cool, a proper badass technician. And his kicks are awesome. He worked over Genes padded and taped up knee for the match. Ridgeway then took off the boot and all support on Munny’s knee, putting on a figure four.

Gene had some good comeback moments and played a great baby-face in peril. He had some great near fall kick outs, but after a punt kick to the head, brainbuster then a knee bar locked in from Ridgeway, Gene passed out. And the final will be Chris Ridgeway Vs Warren Banks.

Kanji Vs Giselle Shaw (c) – 2 out of 3 falls Progress Women’s Championship – 3.5⭐

The promo before this match was awesome. Telling the story of Shaw targeting Kanji’s injured arm in their last match. This led into this match with multiple angles and story beats.

The first fall was almost immediate, with Shaw locking in an arm bar on the injured arm for Kanji to tap instantly.

The match then didn’t slow down from here, with Shaw taking most of the offence and Kanji having some nice comeback moments. After Giselle threw Kanji into the chairs (Kanji FLEW!), some massive strikes and a lovely top rope corkscrew followed by a very near fall, Kanji rolled Shaw up for the second fall.

The final fall came after Shaw teased the arm bar again, after taking all the tape and padding off (a theme for the night apparently). Officials and crew rushed to ringside to try to stop her. The distraction and taunting allowed Kanji to put the triangle choke on and tap Giselle Shaw out.

A really great match to crown a new champion, and one of my favourite women’s matches I’ve seen live. I’m not sure why Shaw didn’t just lock in the arm bar with everyone ringside, but it did add some realism to the match.

Spike Trivet Promo

Spike then came out too a very hostile reaction. Chants and Boos echoed around the electric ballroom. He paid the crew to protect him (this was odd but fine) and called out Tom Dawkins.

Dawkins came out, and Spike offered him the proposal that he can still wrestle in Progress, after losing their “Loser leaves Progress – I Quit” Match, but without the Cara Noir gimmick.

Tom Dawkins replied “yeah fine”. This did exactly what it set out to, Spike is a HUGE heel, and it progressed the next story beat for these two.

Lykos Gym Vs Jack Evans & Aramis – 3⭐

I love Lykos Gym, great look, awesome music and very good funny heels. It was also nice seeing Jack Evans live, I always thought he was great in AEW.

This was a good place for this match after the serious promo before, it started with Lykos asking for a dance off. The music began, Evans started dancing and Lykos attacked both him and Aramis. A very fun start which got good heat from the crowd.

The match featured lots of fun high spots and great heel work from both Lykos’. A highlight being Evans jumping off the turnbuckle, onto a lykos who was on Aramis’ shoulders, and jumping off lykos to do a corkscrew on the second lykos on the floor.

Aramis then got both Lykos’ onto his shoulders, did an aeroplane spin into a bomb. Picking up the pin, a very fun high flying match.

Tate Mayfair Vs Anthony Ogogo – 2.5⭐

This match began with Mayfair interrupting Simon Miller, to say Ogogo has no showed. This led to Ogogo’s music to hit and the match followed the format of Mayfair being a coward heel occasionally getting some offence in.

Mayfair hit a huge coast to coast elbow drop on Ogogo who was in the tree of woe. He then continued to work Ogogos left arm, causing him to not hit some moves.

This match’s purpose felt like a way to showcase Ogogo’s moveset and boost his stat power, which it did very well and Mayfair was a near perfect opponent for this.

After Ogogo picked up the win, Mayfair kept talking smack, leading him to get beat up twice more, and the GB and Progress flags placed over him.

Luke Jacobs Vs Axel Tischer – Atlas Championship – 4⭐

This lived up to the Super Strong Style name. These boys slapped and chopped the life out of one another. Another theme from the night was front row chair spots, and we got two in this match. Jacobs threw Axel into two different blocks of chairs.

The two hit some huge power moves on each other and the crowd was hot for it all. They had great sequences together and lovely reversal spots, which led to multiple near falls (which I bought a few of them).

The finish came after Jacobs hit a massive lariat on Axel and got the 3 count. A show of respect after, and Luke Jacobs gets better and better each time I see him I feel.

Warren Banks Vs Chris Ridgeway – Progress World Championship – 4⭐

The final of Super Strong Style 16, and world championship match. There was a big match feel for this one, which elevated after Banks walked out second, stood on the stage and threw his ice pack off his shoulder.

Chris Ridgeway attacked Banks behind his back to start the main event and he kept the momentum for almost the whole match. We got some more chair spots, as the two worked their way to the main stage.

Ridgeway hit a thudding suplex onto Banks on the stage, and just kept working him over. Banks got some brief comeback moments but this felt like a dominating performance.

There was a lovely flurry of kicks from Ridgeway, then a massive slap to Banks face which echoed round the room. At this moment I, and I think most of the crowd, suspected Banks to have a huge comeback to be crowned the new champ.

At one point Ridgeway took his wrist tape off and used it to choke Banks, it was supposed to be out of the refs vision but I’m pretty sure he saw and just didn’t DQ. This was the beginning of the end, as Banks laid on the floor he took 3 huge punt kicks to the head, Chris Ridgeway rolled him over for the pin and got the win.

The crowd was stunned and almost silent for a few seconds, the whole match felt like it was building up to a big baby face comeback for a feel good moment to end the show. This was brilliantly done though and really got over how vicious Ridgeway is.

The post match saw Gene Munny come out on a crutch to embrace Banks, who was still laying in a streamer filled ring. Bringing the show to close on an emotional moment for those two.