With their ties to New Japan and some stellar homegrown\/UK based talent in tow, Revolution Pro definitely brought some of their big guns to New York. Would that be enough to provide a great show for the expectant audience? Let’s find out<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl Fredericks and Clark\nConnors versus CCK (Chris Brookes and Jonathan Gresham)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know: <\/strong>Fredericks\nand Connors are from New Japan\u2019s LA Dojo, so it\u2019ll be interesting to see what\nthey offer. CCK with Gresham might arguably be the best version of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>The opening\nexchanges are all about showing that Fredericks and Connors are capable on the\nmat, whilst also having a hunger to compete as Fredericks shoved Gresham into\nthe corner to force a tag to Brookes. Brookes does end up briefly double\nteamed, but a blind tag allowed Gresham to dump Connors from a leapfrog into a\nGerman suplex in a great move. Fredericks was given a nice chance to shine with\na hot tag, whilst stereo Boston crabs had CCK in trouble. Connors\u2019 big moment\nsaw him win a chop exchange with Brookes, but he required Fredericks to save\nhim after a paying mantis bomb. The young lions continued to show resilience,\nonly for Gresham to take Connors out with a spinkick for three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>A decent\nshowcase for the young lions as they were given a few chances to shine against\nthe more established duo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlos Romo versus\nA-Kid versus Kid Lykos versus Flamita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know:<\/strong> Be\ninteresting to see A-Kid and Romo go at it, whilst I\u2019ve seen less Lykos than I\nprobably should have done due to his history of injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>Fatal Four\nWay rules allowed for all four men to be in the ring at the same time. Initially,\nTeam Whitewolf looked to work together, passing up the opportunity to fight each\nother\u2026only for Kid to take out Romo by mistake with a dive. This sparked a sequence\nof dives, the most impressive being a corner dive by Flamita. Kid saved Romo\nafter a Flamita Spanish Fly to suggest things were fine between them, whilst\nLykos came closest to victory at this point with a splitlegged corkscrew\nsplash. Kid and Romo almost fell out once more as Romo tried to capitalise on\nKid\u2019s work to pin Lykos, yet once again Kid had to save Romo from a Flamita\npinfall attempt\u2026only for Romo to steal the victory from Kid after he had landed\na Canadian Destroyer variation on Flamita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>The\nmatch felt a bit disjointed at times, but the Team Whitewolf narrative was at\nleast interesting, especially the ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The O.J.M.O. versus\nBrian Cage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know:<\/strong> I\u2019ve\nseen The O.J.M.O. live once only, so am interested to see a bit more of him.\nHowever, I\u2019m not a huge fan of Cage, though this environment (big guy versus\nlittle guy) might play into his strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match:<\/strong>\nUnsurprisingly, the opening exchanges were all about Cage showcasing his power,\nincluding blocking a headscissors attempt and throwing O.J.M.O. with reckless\nabandon. Any small hints of a comeback are snuffed out quickly as Cage just\nbullied O.J.M.O. around the ring. The set up for several of O.J.M.O\u2019s aerial\nspots later on in the contest felt prolonged to the point that Cage was just\nstanding around for way too long, whilst Kevin Kelly defended some weak looking\noffense as well. The execution on a few spots also leaves a bit to be desired\nas there are a few issues. O.J.M.O. got a couple of nearfalls out of nowhere,\nbut a Steiner Screwdriver gives the win to Cage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>Just an\nugly match. One of the worst I\u2019ve seen this weekend, and I feel sorry for both\ninvolved as nothing clicked whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will Ospreay\/Hiroshi\nTanahashi versus Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki\/Zack Sabre Jr.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know:<\/strong> One\nof the most interesting matches of the whole weekend, no question about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>After a\ntentative start, Suzuki whacked Ospreay illegally to stop a dive attempt which\nsparked into life Suzuki-Gun as a team and gave the fans what they wanted \u2013\nOspreay getting the shit beaten out of him as he bled from the nose and was\nmugged by both members of Suzuki-Gun. Sabre Jr. even targeted the nose to add a\nbit of a flourish to his unique submission offense, as did Suzuki with several\nelbows. Tanahashi didn\u2019t fare much better as he was also isolated with Gun\u2019s\nno-nonsense offense. A fresh Ospreay did finally manage a flurry that dropped\nSuzuki, only for Suzuki to stand straight back up to the roar of the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stereo Gun Octopus Holds halted a brief change in control,\nyet Ospreay wiped both Sabre Jr. and Suzuki out with a handspring spinkick. The\nproduction team for the show chose the worst angle for the Cheeky Nandos as it\nshowed how clearly Sabre Jr. blocked it. Ospreay was twice unable to land his\nStorm Breaker finisher, the second of which saw Sabre Jr. turn it into a pin\nfor the victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>A great\nmatch \u2013 what else did we expect? The Suzuki\/Ospreay interactions were the best\nas Suzuki just mauled him for the most part. Post-match, Suzuki \u2013 having teased\nit all match \u2013 beat up Chris Roberts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rocky Romero versus Ryusuke\nTaguchi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know:<\/strong> I\nhaven\u2019t seen anything from these guys in the past few years. Any viewing of\nthem will have been at least three years ago, if not more. Never been overly\nbothered by either, though prefer Romero if pushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>Some early\nexchanges mostly played out to very little interest from the crowd, though\nRomero using a handshake as a means to cheat did earn him some boos. Taguchi\nbegan to use his bum to good effect, but was cut off before a dive and caught\nwith a Romero suicide dive instead. This didn\u2019t halt his buttock bashing work,\nwhilst a Three Amigos earned Taguchi a nearfall. A sequence of bum attacks in\nthe corner were halted by a hand jammed into the crevice by Romero in an\ninteresting spot. Multiple strike exchanges and sequences aimed to get the\ncrowd fired up, but only half succeeded. Taguchi ended up picking up the win\nwith a modified facebuster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>They tried,\nbut it was often played out in silence and just never really got going for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Starr versus\nTomohiro Ishii<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know: <\/strong>Starr\nhad an absolute belter against Lucky Kid already and I almost thought it must\nhave been one of his only matches as he went balls to the wall on that one.\nIshii isn\u2019t exactly going to take things easy \u2013 should be brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>This is my\nfirst proper chance to see a heel David Starr, so his early attempts to\npatronise Ishii are laughable and earn him the beating he deserves. However, he\nmanaged to use the top rope to stagger Ishii, allowing him to methodically work\nover his opponent until Ishii walked straight through his trademark\nchops\/forearms in the corner and unleashed some of his own. Sporadically, Ishii\ndid just seem impervious to Starr\u2019s offense, dropping him hard with a\nclothesline and hitting a well-executed second rope superplex. Even with Starr\u2019s\nbiggest offense (Han Stansen; Blackheart Buster), Ishii wasn\u2019t staying down.\nOne sliding lariat and a vertical drop brainbuster later, Ishii was the winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>Not as\ngood as the Starr\/Kid match. It was good in sporadic moments, but it felt like\na match that would have been better if Starr was playing the fiery babyface\nfrom underneath. Him being heel hurt this if anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roppongi 3k versus\nAussie Open<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What I know: <\/strong>Roppongi\n3k were a team that came about at a time that I stopped watching New Japan.\nHowever, all I\u2019ve ever heard is good stuff, so I look forward to checking them\nout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Match: <\/strong>The\nopening felt tentative in a way that suggested this was going long, whilst it\nwas Roppongi 3k who threw the first real bombs with dual tope con hilos. I was\nwaiting for Mark Davis to exert his power and it was Sho who felt the brunt of\nit as Open effectively began to cut the ring in half. A hot tag allowed Yoh to\ncome in and primarily put a beating on Kyle Fletcher, targeting the leg in\norder to slow him down. It didn\u2019t quite work as Yoh almost was pinned following\nan assisted cutter from the second rope by Fletcher. A fired up Davis went to\ntown on Sho moments later, yet the young junior showed fighting spirit as he\ntook the fight back to his much bigger opponent, including a German suplex into\na bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yoh also managed to grab a couple of nearfalls on Fletcher\nwith flash cradles that looked like they could steal a win for Roppongi 3k.\nAnother schoolboy after a Davis\/Fletcher collision came close to ending the\nmatch, but a Sliding forearm, Close Your Eyes and Count To Fuck and a Fidget\nSpinner put Yoh away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verdict: <\/strong>The\ncrowd never took to this in the way you might have hoped, so whilst the work\nwas decent \u2013 good in places \u2013 it just never quite reached that next level for\nme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I now know: <\/strong>Whilst\nthis wasn\u2019t a bad show, it is hard not to feel like the best match of the night\ncame before the intermission and the crowd were burned out past that.\nServiceable semi and main events just didn\u2019t get the reaction you\u2019d have wanted\nto help take them to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best match: <\/strong>Suzuki-Gun\nversus Tanahashi\/Ospreay \u2013 a really easy choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Less good: <\/strong>The\nO.J.M.O. versus Brian Cage \u2013 sadly, another easy choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With their ties to New Japan and some stellar homegrown\/UK based talent in tow, Revolution Pro definitely brought some of their big guns to New York. Would that be enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,39],"tags":[74,974],"class_list":["post-12047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-uk-indy-reviews","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wrestlemania-weekender"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-38j","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/revpro-liveinny-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12049,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12047\/revisions\/12049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}