BRM Reviews RevPro Live at the Cockpit 25

[Big Red Machine]

RPW Live at the Cockpit 25 (1/7/2018)- Marleybone, Greater London, UK

LORD GIDEON GREY CALLS EDDIE DENNIS OUT TO TALK- good segment.
Lord Gideon points out (in a shockingly polite manner) that Eddie Dennis has yet to win a match in RevPro and gives him a choice: either they can have a match which Eddie will surely once again lose, or Eddie can join the Legion of Lords and learn how to win under the tutelage of Lord Gideon, who boasts the longest undefeated streak in RevPro history. Lord Gideon said that to accept his offer, Eddie must give him a hug, so Eddie gives him a hug that he turns into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex to kick off…

EDDIE DENNIS vs. LORD GIDEON GREY- 4/10
It has finally occurred to me that Lord Gideon Grey is clearly the long-lost lovechild of R.D. Evans and 2006 Bryan Danielson. Lord Gideon Eddie Guerreros Eddie Dennis for the win. Dennis, with nothing left to lose after having been disqualified, figures that if he is going to be punished for the crime no matter what, he may as well commit it and smashes Lord Gideon in the face with the weapon.


RPW BRITISH WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Zoe Lucas vs. Deonna Purrazzo- 5/10
A fine if not particularly exciting technical encounter.

RPW BRITISH WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Millie McKenzie vs. Jinny- 6.5/10
Very good match. Jinny wins with a handful of tights.

WILL OSPREAY, TRAVIS BANKS, & KURTIS CHAPMAN vs. ROB LIAS, JOSH BODOM, & ZACK GIBSON- 5.75/10
This was just a mess of stuff happening. The finish saw Chapman get a pin on Bodom, which should have felt big, except that the finish seemed like it was specifically designed to make it feel like there was no possible way he would have pinned Bodom without Ospreay and Banks doing all the work for him. If that was what they were going for then they succeeded, but whatever story you could tell coming out of that (and there are definitely some you could tell) will feel totally counterproductive to establishing Chapman as being a real part of the roster rather than just a Young Lion (or a “contender” or whatever RevPro calls their students), which was the entire purpose of putting the belt on him in the first place.

PETE DUNNE vs. CHRIS BROOKES (w/Kid Lykos)- 7.75/10
Dunne jumped Brookes to start things off. He then destroyed Brookes’ perennially taped-up arm for a long time on the outside and they weren’t counted out. When the referee tried to get him to stop, Dunne shoved him down but was not disqualified. These logic holes could have been easily avoided if they had just had Dunne jump Brookes on his way to the ring rather than giving both guys a full entrance because that way the match wouldn’t have started yet.
Dunne obliterated Brookes on a railing, including powerbomb onto it and pulling his shoulder and/or ribs and/or head into it (it was hard to tell what was actually hitting, but Brookes was bleeding from the forehead, though that might have been blading). Only once they finished their big spot on the outside (the aforementioned powerbomb) did Dunne get back into the ring and the referee started to count Brookes out. The reason this bugs me is that it betrays a philosophy that the wrestlers are willing to ignore logic for the sake of doing their cool spot rather than trying to find a way to make their spot work logically. It’s just the wrong mindset to have.
Now, if you ignore that, this was an excellent slugfest of a match with a determined babyface trying to overcome the dastardly sneak attack of a ruthless, brutal, despised heel. They traded big stuff for a while with Brookes specifically working the head while Dunne worked over whatever part of Brookes’ body he could get his hands on, until we got a ref bump. I thought the execution on this ref bump was wonderful because, unlike most ref bumps, this one was designed to make you think that Dunne bumped into the referee on purpose, and Dunne and the ref played that out perfectly (especially Dunne, with his contrived but still just plausible enough change of direction right into the referee).
Dunne took full advantage of this ref bump that he had caused by kicking Brookes in the nuts… only for Kid Lykos, who Dunne had thought he had taken out on the outside much earlier in the match, to return and nail him in the head with some sort of foreign object. I thought this would have been a fine finish, with Dunne’s tactics backfiring and CCK showing Dunne that they were willing to play dirty if it came down to it, but when Brookes made the cover Dunne kicked out and got the win about thirty seconds later, which seemed a little quick to me.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Kid Lykos came in to check on Brookes, so Dunne, being a huge asshole, offered him a handshake. Lykos responded to his by kicking Dunne in the head, and while Dunne sold it, he never left his feet. I presumed this meant that he was about to destroy Kid Lykos as well but Dunne instead just walked off and smiled. Not killing Lykos felt very out of character for Dunne.

CHARLI EVANS & NINA SAMUELS vs. SAMMII JAYNE & ZAN PHOENIX- 5.75/10
A fine match between two happy-go-lucky babyfaces and two mean, angry heels.

RPW BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Zack Sabre Jr.(c) vs. Martin Stone- 8.5/10
Stone worked over the neck while Zack was up to his usual tricks. Then they started to get frustrated and traded slaps and things got VICIOUS.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- GREAT!
Zack cuts a promo saying Suzuki-Gun are going to take over RevPro and that starts when they take the tag titles from “those mustached idiots” at High Stakes. He says he respects Stone but then calls him an “old fart.” Stone responds by cutting a total babyface promo putting over the promotion and telling Zack that he would have had him if not for the ropes and that he will definitely be coming for the belt again sometime down the line. Stone said that despite what Zack said he does still respect him and offered a handshake, and Zack accepted… and then Zack kicked him in the groin and said “Sorry. Suzuki-Gun style” or something to that effect and left. Stone tried to hurry after Zack as best he could after a kick in the nuts.

RPW BRITISH WOMEN’S TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jinny- 6.25/10
They started off with some nice technical wrestling in which Deonna had the advantage, then it transitioned into more of a brawl in which Jinny had the advantage. Deonna made her come back and hit some really nice German Suplexes… and then we got a ref bump, and the fans booed and I groaned. Deonna got the visual pinfall, Jinny got up and got a big nearfall in, then they took it down half a gear before going into their short finishing sequence and Jinny got the win. This would have been a lot better without the overbooking.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- forced
A masked woman came out to the ring to confront Jinny. Meanwhile, Millie McKenzie, who Jinny cheated to beat earlier tonight, grabbed Jinny from behind and hit her with a German Suplex. Millie and Mask-y then had stare-down as Millie posed with the belt until Jinny slid back in and snatched the belt away. Then we went off the air without ever finding out who the masked woman was (the internet, as well as the announced card for High Stakes tell me that it was Bea Priestley).

This was a good show from RPW, but unfortunately, like last night, the stuff that delivered was not the stuff in the women’s title tournament that was the focus of this weekend. The booking at the end was particularly baffling. Why not just have Jinny beat Deonna cleanly to become your first champion! Then you can have Bea show up at the end and attack her and there’s your title match for High Stakes. Or why not just do the semi-finals tonight and save the finals of Jinny vs. Millie (obviously you’d rebook things with Millie in Deonna’s spot) for your biggest show of the year? That seems like a much more sensible place to both crown your first-ever Women’s Champion and also to have a big name in British women’s wrestling show up for the first time in months, setting you up with both a champion and a hot new challenger coming out of your big show. Much better than pointless overbooking to set up three-way in which Millie will feel like a third wheel right after you just tried to make a big deal out of crowning your first champion, no?
Anyway, this show is worth watching, but prepare to be disappointed by the women’s stuff. I assume Zack’s promo and Stone’s will both come to something big at some point down the line, as Suzuki-Gun showing up in force in RevPro seems like a logical step given that 1) they are stale in New Japan again, 2) they’d provide a change of pace from the usual contingent New Japan sends over, 3) both Suzuki and Kanemaru have a style that will match up extremely well with that of many of RevPro’s wrestlers, and 4) both Zack and Davey Boy Smith Jr. are British. We shall see, but the first step seems like it would logically come in the form of Zack and Suzuki winning the RPW British Tag Team Titles from Mustache Mountain on the next show so tune in next time for High Stakes 2018.

[cero2k]

EDDIE DENNIS vs. LORD GIDEON GREY- 4/10
Lord Gideon Eddie Guerreros Eddie Dennis for the win.

i had to read this three times to understand what you were saying