Laura@LauraNMauro
We’ve almost reached the halfway point of the year, and it’s already been a busy 2018 over at Revolution Pro Wrestling. If you’ve not been following, here’s a quick rundown of the Rev Pro year so far.
The RevPro British Heavyweight Championship, which started the year in the hands of Kent’s finest, Zack Sabre Jr. – his second run as British Heavyweight Champion. ZSJ had previously seen off challenges from Will Ospreay, KUSHIDA and Matt Riddle, notching up an impressive 300+ days as champ, and his momentum seemed unlikely to slow; early 2018 saw him fend off the likes of Martin Stone, Trent Seven and El Phantasmo, pausing briefly to win the New Japan Cup. It seemed that ‘Zacky Three Belts’ was unstoppable…until he wasn’t. His 396 day reign ended in New Orleans at the hands of Tomohiro Ishii in a hard-fought bout in which ZSJ’s submission game just wasn’t enough to keep heavy-hitting Ishii down. Ishii will be defending his title against the implacable Minoru Suzuki at Strong Style Evolved – time will tell if he can surpass ZSJ’s reign, the second longest in the history of the championship.
Let’s not feel too bad for ZSJ, though. He’s hardly been a stranger to silverware this year – he may have lost the British Heavyweight Championship (and the EVOLVE championship, which he held for an impressive 404 days) but he’s still standing tall along with Suzuki as current RevPro British Tag Team Championship holders. They beat Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) in January and have held the titles ever since. Fan favourites CCK (sans Kid Lykos) staged a spirited offense at Epic Encounter in May, but to no avail. A petulant Zack Sabre Jr. made a show of leaving the belt in the ring after the match, suggesting a possible vacation of the titles, but it appears Suzuki-gun are not quite done being ichiban yet. The question remains: if not CCK, then who?
The RevPro British Women’s Championship debuted in January by way of a tournament, in which some of the brightest lights in British women’s wrestling (including Samii Jayne, Millie McKenzie, Charli Evans) faced off for the privilege of becoming Revolution Pro Wrestling’s first ever women’s champ. That honour went to Jinny, who defeated recent NXT signee Deonna Purrazzo to claim the belt. Exciting times for the women of Rev Pro, and for the British women’s wrestling scene as a whole – with the introduction of the Progress Women’s Championship in 2017 and the rise of Pro Wrestling EVE, there’s suddenly a whole lot more to play for – and we can only hope that the future of the Rev Pro women’s division involves more than one match per show. Jinny lost the belt to Pro Wrestling EVE regular Jamie Hayter at a recent Southampton show, but it’s since transpired that she’s signed a contract with WWE, so – pending the ever-fickle WWE’s approval – it’s entirely possible that Jinny is heading for bigger things.
Last, but by no means least, let’s take a quick look at the RevPro British Cruiserweight Title scene. ‘Super Contender’ Kurtis Chapman enjoyed a meteoric (and somewhat unexpected) rise to Cruiserweight Champion-dom, securing the belt after an action-packed five-way match at Uprising 2017. Diminutive Chapman may have seemed an odd choice for champ, but mounted several valiant (if never quite dominant) title defences throughout the former half of 2018. It was never going to last, though, and Philly’s own David Starr finally beat him for the championship at Epic Encounter, eliciting a near-rapturous reaction from the York Hall crowd. Starr’s dedication to the cheap win has earned him just over a month with the title, but a rematch with El Phantasmo (who is on fire right now) is surely on the cards…
The Best of the Rest:
Keep your eyes on Millie McKenzie. Narrowly pipped to the Women’s Number One Contendership by Jamie Hayter, she nonetheless remains one of the most exciting prospects in British women’s wrestling, and at just 17 years old she’s only going to get better and better. Expect a title shot in the not-too-distant future.
It’s ‘Death By Injury’ no more – Kid Lykos is officially back from injury, and while he’ll be making his return at WXW’s World Tag Team League you can expect to see him pop up in a Rev Pro ring sooner rather than later. Assuming he doesn’t break something else in the interim. Speaking of Lykos – with Travis Banks now WWE-bound, at least for the foreseeable future, and Chris Brookes remaining firmly in place, could it be time for the ‘other’ CCK to make a triumphant return…?
As with much of the British indie scene, Rev Pro is in something of a state of flux following WWE’s recent smash ‘n’ grab of Brit talent. It’s not yet clear what kind of effect losing mainstays like Jinny and Travis Banks might have, but if the rumour mill is to be believed, the promotion recently turned down the chance of a business deal with WWE, opting instead to retain their relationship with NJPW. So much the better, since Rev Pro’s next major outing will be at Strong Style Evolved, a two-night event featuring big names from NJPW. With stars like Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, Jay White – and my personal favourite, Taichi – on the card, the Rev Pro roster is largely playing second fiddle, but expect those who’ve made the cut to kill it on the night.
