BRM Reviews RPW Live in Southhampton 3 (very storyline-significant)

[Big Red Machine]

RPW Live in Southampton 3 (6/3/2018)- Southampton, UK


THE LEGION OF LORDS vs. KURTIS CHAPMAN, PSYCHO PHILLIPS, DAN MAGEE & MAMBO- no rating, good segment
We open with Lord Gideon Grey and Rishi Ghosh. Lord Gideon announces that although they had some issues last time they were here, those issues will not be issues anymore because Rishi has agreed to listen to Lord Gideon and do everything he says at all times during this match. Lord Gideon also announces that Mambo will not be able to make it to tonight’s show as scheduled due to car trouble. And in case anyone was wondering, he lets us all know that the Legion of Lords definitely dint sabotage Mambo’s car, just in case anyone might have thought they did that, which you shouldn’t think they did because they definitely didn’t do it.
Dan Magee was also apparently supposed to be in this match, but Josh Bodom jumped him during his entrance. The Legion of Lords took this distraction as an opportunity to jump the other babyfaces as well. Bodom powerbombed Magee on the apron so he had to get helped to the back. With the planned match now down to four-on-two, the fans started chanting for Rishi Ghosh to turn babyface but instead they got the Besties in the World coming out to join the babyface team, so now we had…

THE LEGION OF LORDS vs. KURTIS CHAPMAN, PSYCHO PHILLIPS & THE BESTIES IN THE WORLD- 4.75/10
We started off with some good comedy, with poor Rishi Ghosh having to watch Lord Gideon Grey choose No Fun Dunne to be his partner in a “best friends contest” against the Besties in the World. Things then devolved into stupid comedy when Psycho Phillips and Los Federales Santos Jr. got tagged in, and from there turned into a passable wrestling match. The finish saw Rishi have a pin but Lord Gideon hopped up onto the apron and demanded that Rishi tag him in instead so he could make the cover. Torn between his own ambition and the man he still considers his best friend (even it if it isn’t mutual anymore), Rishi had his dilemma solved for him when the man Lord Gideon brought in to be a substitute best friend for Rishi, Los Federales Santos Jr., showed himself to truly be a good friend to Rishi by taking the decision out of his hands to do what was best for Rishi, which he accomplished by bodyslamming Rishi onto the fallen opponent, causing a pin. That was an EXCELLENT finish. Lord Gideon was very unhappy about this and let the others know it, yelling at Rishi Ghosh and Los Federales Santos Jr. after the match and storming off.

ADAM BROOKS vs. T.K. COOPER- 5/10
This was billed as “undefeated streak vs. undefeated streak: somebody’s 0 has got to go.” That’s a F*CKING AMAZING tagline.” That being said, this felt shockingly unimportant for such a match, and the finish really didn’t help. Brooks just kicked Cooper in the nuts for no real reason just as things looked like they were starting to heat up. Brooks didn’t seem to give a sh*t about losing his undefeated streak.

JOSH BODOM vs. KIP SABIAN- 5.75/10
Based on the intro he supplied to the ring announcer, Kip Sabian is a total heel. Bodom jumped him from behind while he was posing on the apron to start things off. The match was mostly good, but the crowd seemed to start and stop caring a totally random points.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Dan Magee came out to attack Bodom and got some revenge on him by hitting him with his own finisher, then some more stuff.

AUSSIE OPEN vs. THE ARROWS OF HUNGARY (Icarus & Dover)- 7/10
The Arrows of Hungary need to get more bookings in promotions where people can actually see them, because they are quite good.

RPW UNDISPUTED BRITISH WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Jinny(c) vs. Jamie Hayter- 7/10
There were a few spots here that didn’t- or at least almost didn’t- quite go as planned, resulting in things looking really scary once or twice, but that really just helped this match. Jinny seemed to be trying to incorporate some new things into her arsenal, which is always appreciated.
Hayter won the title, confirming to everyone that Jinny is headed to WWE. Jinny has been the be-all, end-all of this division for pretty much its entire existence, and has done so by being the best heel in all of professional wrestling. And now that it was time for her to go to WWE… the fans sang “na na na na na na na na, hey hey goodbye” at her, because she’s just that darn hated. And Jinny smiled at this, because that really is the best complement you can give a heel. She gave her “goodbye” not to the fans directly, but through the company, kissing the RevPro logo in the center of the ring, before heading off. The ring announcer then said “let’s hear it for Jinny!” and as she walked through the curtain one last time, she got the most muted applause ever. This was one hell of a moment.

WALTER vs. CHRIS BROOKES- 6.25/10

CHRIS BROOKES PROMO- fine
He says that Travis Banks is probably heading to WWE, and that Jinny is heading to WWE (only now that Jinny was far away did we get a “THANK YOU JINNY!” chant, which lasted only one round)... and Brookes says that he, too, was contracted by WWE, but he turned them down because he loves independent wrestling as a whole and British indy wrestling in particular. The crowd predictably popped huge for this, which seems like it will start some kind of singles push for Brookes.

DAVID STARR PROMO- he is doing his conspiracy shtick, but is getting cheered like a total babyface, even when he introduces his biased referee, including the fans chanting “WE’RE A SH*THOLE” when he insulted their town… but when he told them that he wasn’t going to defend this title tonight as advertised, that got the boos. I have to say, though… Starr isn’t wrong when he says that all El Phantasmo has done recently is lose to Will Ospreay and Cody. Why is he getting a title shot?

EL PHANTASMO vs. DAVID STARR- 8.5/10
El Phantasmo picked up an amazingly hard-fought victory in which Starr worked over his neck but he fought back through everything, including Shane Mercer’s clearly biased but not in such a way that is his intention is clearly provable in a court of law refereeing, to get the win.
David Starr then cut a promo telling El Phantasmo that while he had just earned himself a shot at the RPW Undisputed British Cruiserweight Title, he had also set a precedent earlier this year when he beat then-RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. in a non-title match at Live at the Cockpit 27, so if he ever wants a shot at Starr’s cruiserweight title, he’ll have to take it right now. El Phantasmo, being a babyface and having just beaten Starr, accepted, so we got a…

RPW UNDISPUTED BRITISH CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: David Starr(c) vs. El Phantasmo- no rating, fine segment
Starr immediately kicked El Phantastmo right in the junk to get himself disqualified. Starr left, then El Phantasmo cut a great promo about his journey so far in RevPro and vowing to win the championship. They’re clearly setting up for a payoff with this whole El Phantasmo gets a title shot right after beating the champion in a non-title match story, and when the payoff eventually does come, the pop will be massive.


A GREAT show from RevPro, featuring some solid action in the ring building up to an awesome main event, but the thing that really pushes the show over the line for me is the storyline development. This is a rather small show, but a hell of a lot happened here. This is not one that you can afford to miss if you care about storylines or the women’s title.