By Laura Mauro @lauranmauro
28/7/18 – Hampton Sports & Leisure Club, Chelmsford
Revolution Pro Wrestling made its way up into the wilds of Essex for the promotion’s first ever show in Chelmsford. With a small audience primarily made up of families with children, the atmosphere was undeniably different to the York Hall shows I’ve become used to – somewhat coincidental given that the family-orientated World of Sport Wrestling was making its ITV debut at the same time. But ‘family friendly’ doesn’t have to be a euphemism for ‘boring’, and despite the small-scale feel of the audience and venue, Rev Pro were well up to the task of putting on a decent show.
The opening match saw Hungarian Championship Wrestling’s own Arrows of Hungary take on CCK in a tag team match. This is the first time I’ve seen Kid Lykos since his return from injury, and while the small size of the crowd and venue perhaps led to a slightly tamer Lykos than I’m used to (for my money, Lykos is one of the best high-flyers on the UK scene right now) but still perfectly entertaining. A battle of speed vs power ensued as Lykos and whip-quick teammate Chris Brooks attempted to run rings around the more powerful Dover and Icarus, but to no avail; the Hungarians succeeded in isolating Lykos, blocking his attempts to hit the brainbuster, and grounding him with a brutal-looking Crossfire for the win.
Winners: Arrows of Hungary
NJPW Young Lion Tomoyuki Oka revealed his new ‘Dominator’ Great-O-Kharn gimmick at Strong Style Evolved in June, which appears to be some kind of riff on Killer Khan. Tonight he took on Lee Hunter in a slow-paced and not especially exciting match. It feels a bit like Great-O-Kharn is still settling into his new persona; he gives off a very ‘evil foreign heel’ vibe, and by that I mean the vaguely racially insensitive World of Sport archetype (recently revived by Jinder Mahal). Lots of basic heel tactics – eye-gouging, headlocks, and the requisite Mongolian chops to offset his character. Lee Hunter didn’t get much of a look-in except for a particularly inspired spot of crowd participation, inciting small children to ‘attack’ O-Kharn’s injured hand. O-Kharn submitted Hunter with a torture rack variant, with a claw to the face for added insult. I can only hope O-Kharn finds his feet with this gimmick, because otherwise it’s going to be a long excursion indeed.
Winner: Great-O-Kharn
‘Loose Ledge’ Adam Brooks took on TK Cooper next – both men carry the distinction that they have not been pinned in singles competition, and Brooks has not been above resorting to DQ to maintain his record. Which man would emerge triumphant in the battle of the pinfall? Er, neither, as it turns out; TK Cooper deliberately got himself disqualified with a low blow, making Adam Brooks the winner. Since there was no pin, both Cooper and Brooks live to brag another day. A fun, fast-paced match, with Adam Brooks variously throwing himself through the air and out of the ring; TK Cooper earned a good deal of (presumably) good-natured ribbing, comparing him to Roman Reigns, nonetheless displaying an impressive striking ability, and some questionable dungarees.
Winner: Adam Brooks (by DQ)
My most anticipated match of the night, El Phantasmo vs Jeff Cobb lived up to expectations. Phantasmo is ridiculously entertaining even when he’s not wrestling – which is a good thing, because between all the handshakes, hugs and lengthy excursions into the crowd, it took a little while for the actual wrestling to get going. Not that it mattered; by the time the action started, the crowd were well and truly won over by both performers. Continuing the theme of speed vs power, there were plenty of high spots, not least Phantasmo walking the top rope around the ring, Jeff Cobb pulling off an impressive standing moonsault and an even more impressive one-handed delayed suplex, leaving Phantasmo dangling for what felt like minutes on end. Despite taking some punishing offence, Phantasmo was able to roll Cobb up for the win. Cobb and Phantasmo are both impressive athletes and great showmen – the sky is the limit as far as their futures are concerned. And there was a nice post-match display of sportsmanship to boot. Who says nice guys finish last?
Winner: El Phantasmo
Another tag match, this time the team of James Castle and Dan ‘The Hammer’ Head against Spain’s Team WhiteWolf, comprised of Adam Chase and A-Kid. A decent match playing up the aggressive heel/underdog babyface dynamic, with Castle and Head isolating the much smaller A-Kid for most of the match. Adam Chase didn’t get much match time, but he looked pretty impressive nonetheless. Castle and Head are good old-school heels, bickering with the crowd and translating their aggression well in the ring. Not one to set the world alight, but watchable enough.
Winners: James Castle and Dan Head
After a brief intermission we returned to watch Team Cupcake’s Zoe Lucas take on reigning RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter for the title. Given the size of the show it was a foregone conclusion that Hayter would retain, but that didn’t stop them from putting on a good match. Hayter’s strike-heavy style is the perfect foil to Lucas’ athleticism, and the two seemed to have solid in-ring chemistry. No surprises when Hayter took Lucas down with the Falcon Arrow, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Winner: Jamie Hayter (C)
So to the main event, where Josh Bodom squared off against Jonah Rock, the latter making his Rev Pro debut. Jonah Rock is a legitimate monster of a man who nonetheless exhibits great versatility – his top rope splash is a sight to behold. Josh Bodom, on the other hand, is the kind of surly, glowering heel you can’t help but hate, which is surely the whole point; I’ve never known a wrestler to get heat just by wearing velvet trunks, but that’s the kind of chap Bodom is. Aggressive stuff from the get-go, with Rock playing the immovable object to Bodom’s irresistible force – each failed attempt seemed to add fuel to Bodom’s fire, leading to his taking out both the referee and Dan Magee, who had previously been on commentary and was clearly wound up by Bodom’s cheating. Roberts recovered just in time for Bodom to clinch the victory. He’s bragging about it on Twitter today because he’s a consummate kayfabe professional.
Chelmsford proved a very different audience than Rev Pro tends to attract – it had been advertised in the local press as a ‘family friendly’ event. It seemed that they were pretty successful in adapting; the kids in the audience responded well to the action, and performers like Hunter and Phantasmo did a great job of playing to the younger audience, encouraging their involvement, but without watering too much down (though the language was distinctly PG). There were rumblings that the promotion might return to Chelmsford, and perhaps next time the crowd – knowing what to expect – might be a little more receptive. I hope so, because while a family crowd makes for an interesting pro-wrestling experience, the kids watching are the next generation of wrestling fans, and it’s reassuring to know that at least some of them are receiving an induction into pro-wrestling that doesn’t paint the entire industry in WWE colours.
