If you go into the woods today, you're sure to find a surprise. And by "woods", I mean the RevPro archives that are RevPro On Demand. And by "surprise", I mean banger match. Here, yours truly, Dave The Mark, scours the archives to save you getting lost and brings to your attention the matches you might have missed since Pro Wrestling At Its Best began in 2012.

I wonder how much our early favourites in wrestling influence our tastes? I am a child of the 90s and Bret Hart was my absolute hero. My earliest wrestling memory is watching his battles with Yokozuna and my go to watches in the WWF/WWE archives were always Bret Vs Owen Hart, 1-2-3 Kid, Diesel, Undertaker or Shawn Michaels. Not long after Bret Hart left for WCW, Chris Benoit came the other way and I had a new favourite wrestler.

When I returned to wrestling after a decade long absence it was Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles and Seth Rollins in WWE,  Zack Sabre Jr, Shingo Takagi and Jay White in NJPW and then Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega in AEW. The women's revolution had taken place and I was in awe of Charlotte Flair, Io Shirai and Shayna Baszler in WWE, Serena Deeb and Riho in AEW and Deonna Purrazzo in Impact. Are you spotting the theme?

I then discovered British independent wrestling, found RevPro and fell in love. I was drawn to the physicality of RKJ and Luke Jacobs, who fought against one another at my first ever RevPro show, the storytelling of Michael Oku and the energy of Robbie X. Over time, though, I find myself drawn more and more to the same types of wrestler - Connor Mills, Chris Ridgeway and Kanji.

It's safe to say I have a type, and whilst I love many, not all, forms of wrestling, the common theme has to be a legitimate struggle between two or more people whose sole focus is to either defeat the other, or hurt the other, depending upon the circumstance. The strikes have to be hard, the holds tight, the transitions seemless and the reversals unexpected. I don't want to see anything that's been copied and pasted from one match to another. Whilst I know my expectations are incredibly high, and therefore often not fully met, nothing excites me more than a match graphic between two people where I know I am going to get all of my cake and get to eat it too. That's what Deonna Purrazzo Vs Kanji was.

Let's cycle back to yesterday and we discussed the holy trinity of factors needed for a top tier match; incredible skill, executed flawlessly; emotional investment in the outcome of the match; unpredictability in the winner. When you get all three, wrestling is the greatest sport in the world and the best art form of all. That's what Deonna Purrazzo Vs Kanji gave us.

People throw around the term dream match all too often; just because two people have never fought before does not make it a dream match. However, I have this tendency to watch wrestlers from afar through my TV screen and think "who in RevPro would I want to see them face?" and when I have watched Deonna Purrazzo, whether it was her epic battles with Mickie James and Jordynne Grace in Impact, or her clashes with Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida in AEW, the answer has always been Kanji. So, an international dream match? Yes, that's exactly what Deonna Purrazzo Vs Kanji gave us.

A rematch once Kanji has dethroned Mercedes Moné and is carrying the Undisputed British Women's Championship?

Yes please!

So let's pick up where left off yesterday, shall we, my lovelies? Luke Jacobs and Connor Mills was a RECOMMENDED scrap and that was to preview this match, the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship match between challengers Young Guns and the champions, the team of Jay Joshua and Connor Mills. And this match, the championship match, not only comes RECOMMENDED but it is, at time of writing, RANKED number 1 as the best RevPro match of the year and is in the conversation for the best tag match RevPro has ever delivered. 

To understand why this one is held in such high esteem we need to go back to the very essence of what we love about pro wrestling and what is needed for pro wrestling to deliver at the very top level. My philosophy is simple but very rarely achieved; the wrestling itself needs to keep you in the story and not take you out of it, something which can happen when the performance looks too choreographed or cooperative; the result needs to be unpredictable; and the result needs to be something the me the fan cares about. Sounds simple, right?

Ask yourself this question; how many times this year, across all the promotions you enjoy, have you watched a match where you genuinely care who wins, where you cannot foresee the result and the work is edge of your seat stuff? Maybe it's me but it doesn't happen often. I watch WWE, AEW, NJPW and RevPro religiously and my love of them swings with their momentum (though RevPro is my ride or die number 1 at all times). So... This year? For me? Kevin Owens Vs Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber for WWE and Gabe Kidd Vs Kenny Omega for NJPW/AEW. Then you have Hirooki Goto Vs Zack Sabre Jr, Yota Tsuji Vs Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney Vs Tomohiro Ishii and David Finally Vs Zack Sabre Jr for NJPW, baring in mind NJPW has held it's biggest two events of the year and already put on one of their most stellar tournaments. 

There are levels to everything, including my own fandom, and that explains my investment. So what of RevPro? We are six shows in, a lot of which was table dressing for Epic Encounter. So which matches gave me the whole set of ingredients needed for greatness? Kanji Vs Deonna Purrazzo, Zozaya Vs Hechicero, the first 1 Called Manders Vs Leon Slater and, of course, this match. Even in RevPro, favourite wrestling promotion in the world, it is rare for matches to have all three of the key ingredients. 

Young Guns Vs Mills & Joshua; The wrestling? Incredible; you could build a company around any of these four men and each could hold their own, bell to bell, between the ropes, in any company in the world, I genuinely believe that. Intensity. Explosivity. Fire. Passion. Technical prowess. Elite level modern day professional wrestlers all four of them.

Investment in the winner? Abso-fucking-lutely. I went into the match wanting Mills and Joshua to survive the Young Guns and was hanging on every nearfall. In fact, the moment the finish was clear, when Jay Joshua was finally indisposed of and Mills was left vulnerable for the double team and the 1-2-3, I felt the hugest of sighs as the realisation set in and my team were going to lose. It felt the way it does when my beloved West Ham lose and that is what it is all about. However, it is the third of the trio of factors which is the rarest to find and that is the unpredictability of the result.

So, was there that all important jeopardy? Absolutely; Jay Joshua and Connor Mills had not long taken the Undisputed British Tag Team Championships, they are two of the most popular people on the roster, they are fresh and as soon as they won the belts they pumped a new found energy into the division and what 2025 could bring to RevPro's tag team division. Then again, the same could be said for Young Guns - after all that Ethan Allen had been through from Young Guns' last shot at the tag titles three years earlier, through £16,000 worth of knee surgeries, an ACL tear, a medial meniscal tear, a lateral meniscal tear... Surely, this had to be Young Guns' time? 

It's very rare in wrestling to get all three, the holy trinity of what makes great wrestling great, but we certainly got it here.

We recently explored the RKJ and JJ Gale rivlary to explain the context of why their February clash in Sheffield came RECOMMENDED and we need to do the same here for Luke Jacobs and Connor Mills. Originally tag teams rivals as part of Young Guns (Jacobs and Ethan Allen) and Destination Everywhere (Mills and Michael Oku) the two have formed an even more intense singles rivalry through their four previous one on one encounters to this as part of the ten times the men ha e shared a RevPro ring. In that time, each man has one decisive singles victory to their name over the other, whilst Jacobs also has a disqualification singles victory over Mills and Mills boasts three tag team victories over Jacobs.

Their best encounter, though, was one which ended in a no contest when referee Chris Hatch deemed neither man fit to continue after a series of too-real-to-enjoy headbutts. That clash came a little over a year ago, in Sheffield, and will now be the measuring stick for all future Jacobs Vs Mills clashes such was it's intensity, ferocity and unhinged atmosphere from start to finish - a real moment.

To understand what made this most recent clash different but just as successful was to understand this match's goals. On the one hand, this was the main event of a show in a new town for RevPro; it had to deliver a match worthy of the spot, a match which was a different gear to everything that came before it and a match which would ensure everyone who left the show would be dipping their hand in their pocket to buy another ticket next time RevPro rolls into town. It certainly did that. My match of the night, currently RANKED 7th on my Top 10 Of The Year So Far, it felt like a step up when these two come out at the HMV Empire. It benefitted from its history but, for all those unaware of it, Mills and Jacobs changed the entire vibe of the crowd in their entrances; tunnel vision, ready to fight and ready to do whatever it took to put the other man down. No other match on the card had that level of gravity or that violent spirit. Job done.

On the other hand, this match also served the purpose of advertising what was to come at Epic Encounter - a "try before you buy", an appetiser designed to whet the appetite but not fill you up. The crowd had to leave this one wanting to see even more of Mills and Jacobs as it was a feature match on a card in a big venue, a new venue, just one week later and only an hour or so away. Effectively, how many people from the HMV Empire were tempted by Mills and Jacobs to buy a ticket and drive up the M6 for Epic Encounter? 

Now whilst that one is a tough metric to measure, what we can conclude is that, in just fifteen minutes, Jacobs and Mills showed why they were the main event without pulling out every trick up their sleeves; whilst they pulled no punches and gave everything 110%, they also left enough on the table to make you want to see even more. A job well done on both fronts, in my eyes. If you like your wrestling to be full of piss and vinegar, to be a real dogfight and to be fought at breakneck speed but with a constant desire to put the other man down, then this, my friend, is for you.

Round VI, when? I'll be waiting. And I won't be the only one.

The introduction last year of the Trios Grand Prix was unexpected and made for a fun weekend of wrestling, an opportunity to develop multiple stories and deliver a series of first time ever contests. CPF were the stars of the weekend, not just by capturing the TGP trophies but also by delivering the match of the night each night, against the Flying Bryant Brothers on Saturday and against Viva Espana, Zozaya and Barcelona Blacklist, on the Sunday. It was fitting, therefore, that RevPro's first visit to Coventry's HMV Empire of 2025 featured not just CPF but also one of those two teams in a big rematch.

The Trios Grand Prix was our first introduction to the Bryants - brothers Nino, Zander and Leland - and they made a lasting impression, with the three appearing at the 229 in December and then here in Coventry in March, with Nino Bryant making addition singles appearances in between against Lio Rush, Will Kaven and Robbie X. Prior to the Trios Grand Prix I can barely recall a trios match in RevPro but, since the competition, RevPro have maintained their presence, sparingly, but still often enough to build on the significance of CPF's victory. And so, in effect, we have the early stages of a trios division and, whilst I cannot foresee the inclusion at any stage of Trios championships, the prominence of the Trios Grand Prix trophies has the potential to work as a storytelling device in their place.

And at the centre of this embryonic division is CPF and the Flying Bryant Brothers. Being able to work trios matches has been a huge win for CPF - they had featured numerous times in tag form, with Danny Black and Joe Lando the established tag team and Maverick Mayhew featuring when Lando was on the shelf. Being able to work as a trio has meant a spot for all three men and their dynamic when a three is where they can be the most exciting and the most innovative, with Danny and Joe bringing the fast paced, high flying dual offence, whilst Mayhew delivers the power moves, never failing to wow a crowd with his incredible moveset of ghastly "neck stuff". CPF are, effectively, the face of trios wrestling within the UK at this point.

Then we have the Flying Bryant Brothers who are, by design, far more understated, far more humble and are the underdogs of every match they feature in. From their chilled indie rock entrance to their family boy band looks, they are the antithesis to CPF's big entrances and their exuding confidence. However, when the bell rings, they show why they have been invited to the dance with smooth offence, a focused team approach, with Nino as captain directing traffic, and a moveset which continues to surprise and intrigue such is it's creativity. The two teams, therefore, are perfect for one another.

This specific encounter topped the Trios Grand Prix contest, for me, and really elevated the show it was on, comfortably the highlight of the show for many, benefitting from how comfortable the two teams now look in a RevPro ring. It was the first trios match in RevPro to really embrace and benefit from the Lucha rules and I very much hope now that all trios matches come with Lucha rules as it it helps to distinguish a further difference between tag and trios matches beyond the obvious extra two combatants. Because of the frequent one in, one out, the contest was performed at a blistering pace. Not only was it the best Flying Bryant Brothers match, thus far, I'd also say it was the in the conversation with the TGP final for the best CPF match thus far also. And for those reasons, it comes RECOMMENDED.

Coming only a few weeks after their first contest, which came RECOMMENDED and is a match or two further down this page, this one had to be different from their first encounter to keep it interesting, to add to the story and to reward those of us who were in attendance for both (and those who tuned into both on RevPro On Demand). The first contest jumped straight to the top of the RANKED Top 10 Matches of the Year So Far and this one did exactly the same, staying on top of the rankings until Epic Encounter. So, how did the same two wrestlers, just a few weeks after battling in Southampton, give us a completely different match, yet continue all of the psychology, story and blistering action of the first when they fought in London? Let's explore...

The first Manders Vs Slater contest was all about two stylistically different wrestlers trying to garner an advantage over the other to get the desired goal; a momentum building victory in their quest to get an Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship match against Michael Oku. Slater brought speed, leg-focused offence, a strike and move approach and an attempt to ground Manders; Manders brought knockout power, heavy hands and an attempt to take the wind out of Leon's sails. It was a classic pro wrestling story but told expertly well, steeped in realism and simplicity to portray a legitimate struggle between two top level heavyweight contenders to the throne.

Between the start of the Southampton clash and the start of the London clash, the story had developed. Firstly, it was Leon who won the first match, a match Manders had expected himself to win, a loss he found hard to take and a moment in which his mask slipped and he showed us that there is a motivated, driven and ambitious pro wrestler behind the smile and the cowboy charm. Then, in Sheffield a week later, Manders took his shot, lariating the champ after he picked up the win for his team as Manders and Oku took on Leon and Liam Slater. Manders had forced Andy Quildan's hand and slotted himself into the main event of Epic Encounter. So the dynamics were adjusted and the contest matched it.

Whilst Southampton's clash was between two babyfaces, equally popular with the crowd, in London Manders turned the crowd against him, even with their reluctance. The work was focused in the ring in Southampton and was very controlled, deliberate and tactical as the two men looked to find an advantage; in London, however it was a brawl, it was frenetic and it took in all of the outside and surroundings. What was it Kanji said on This Is A Revolution this week? Two completely different books, even if the characters are the same.

The same in-ring quality but with even more juice squeezed from the wider story. Increased intensity, violence and the all important piss and vinegar. Character development both in the match and the post-match. A foreshadowing of the post-Epic Encounter Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship scene. Manders Vs Slater I was top notch. Manders Vs Slater II was top notch. You can't have the second without the first. Hopefully we will have a third and we will be saying you can't have the third without the second. These two have too much chemistry to ever let them stop wrestling one another.

Find it, watch it, love it. RevPro On Demand.

Live In London 93 was a really good show but it struggled to hit the 'great' level, in my opinion, because it peaked in the wrong places and one of those peaks was Kanji Vs Safire Reed, which opened proceedings. It's rare for a match like this to open a RevPro show; firstly it's not often that the opening contest comes from the women's division, most likely simply because of the ratio of men's matches to womens matches favours the men and so the women's matches are often spread out during the show. There are four divisions and three (heavyweight, cruiserweight and tag) are made up of male wrestlers so, again, makes sense that it is rare to open with a match from that division.

Secondly, Kanji is a very technical wrestler - a lot of mat-based grappling, submissions and intricate work. These types of matches rarely open the card as, again, they offer variety and so are best placed in between matches. Moreover, they can be matches which begin quietly and build, which can be unfavourable for a show opener when it might be easier to open with a bang. 

However, when RevPro have opened with a women's division match, or with a technical match, Kanji has been entrusted with it. Serena Deeb at Uprising, Stephanie Vaquer at Fantastica Mania UK; Safire Reed at Live In London 93. And every single one of those matches were real highlights of their respective shows and that is no coincidence - Kanji is, for me, at the highest level of in-ring work amingst British and European wrestling.

So what made Kanji Vs Safire Reed such a quality match that the rest of the 229 card struggled to match it? Firstly, these two are made for each other - this was their tenth time facing off in the past year and a half of RevPro and their fourth singles contest (and for my money the best one by far). Safire has comedic in-ring reactions, she's always bitching, moaning and trash talking, whilst Kanji is a very audible wrestler, constantly sounding like she is exerting herself like an athlete in the throes of a match, as opposed to the focused silence of a choreographed collaborative dance. It makes for an immersive contest.

Moreover, Safire is so smooth and proficient in the ring that she can match Kanji's speed and slick footwork whilst also being able to counter her holds to make for some really quite unique transitions. I can't put over enough how well the two worked the match in terms of the technique. Whilst I've never stepped foot in a ring, and know nothing of professional wrestling beyond the view of a fan at ringside, I can say I was I was completely glued to this from hold to hold, strike to strike and loved each and every minute. Professional wrestling at its finest. 

My favourite Safire Reed match? Absolutely. So that is now Safire, Skye Smitson, Millie Mckenzie, Nina Samuels and Alexxis Falcon who can all say their best RevPro match was opposite Nottingham's finest. The Moné match is coming, isn't it?

This clash comes RECOMMENDED for so many reasons which ties in with many things I've talked about in 2025 so far. Our last Deep Dive was on the long term booking of rivalries in RevPro rather than feuds and, in that article, I discussed JJ Gale and his rivalry with Luke Jacobs That one which is based around the different positions of the two men on the card, the lack of respect Luke has for JJ and JJ's determination for said respect from those who have reached the top in RevPro, somewhere he feels he is on the cusp of being. That rivalry is one of my favourites that RevPro has the ability to dip in and out of and has so much juice left in the fruit.

That brings us to Ricky and JJ. Their rivalry is built around the same premise as Luke and JJ's which, on the surface, sounds repetitive and lazy, but actually makes perfect sense; Ricky, like Luke, is a former Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, someone who has headlined York Hall, represented RevPro in other promotions and pretty much done all there is to do in the promotion. JJ, as much as we love him, has not. Yet. He is determined to get to the top and Ricky takes great pleasure in putting JJ in his place; or at least where RKJ perceives JJ's place to be.

Let's roll back to this time last year; Connor Mills Vs RKJ Vs JJ Gale main evented the 229 and stole the show. Each man took one another to their limits and, despite everyone I spoke to's predictions, JJ was not the one defeated by either Mills or Ricky, for whom the crowd were split in terms of who they saw winning. Instead, it was JJ who won the contest in what felt like a significant victory in his arc. That match led to two singles matches for JJ, first with Ricky at Epic Encounter, then with Mills back at the 229 but, on both occasions, the more senior man picked up the victory. Win or Learn doesn't just apply to those at the bottom of the ladder, it transpires.

Ricky had humbled JJ at Epic Encounter, taking every opportunity to embarrass, humiliate or discredit JJ. Their contest in London six months later was more competitive but Ricky still took the win. Then, 12 months on, this one was announced and Ricky and JJ's rivalry was set to be renewed at the Sheffield Network. Upon announcement, I spoke on the This Is A Revolution podcast and said that I felt they needed to make their rivalry more personal now and that is exactly what they delivered.

The match felt like all of the frustration JJ had felt in previous contests with Ricky was at the forefront of his mind and served as his motivation. They maximised their minutes and delivered a real shock and a significant moment when JJ picked up the win. What I loved, though, was that, in the past, JJ would have rolled out the ring, escaping with the win. But instead he stood toe to toe with Ricky who, embarrassed at the defeat, challenged him to throw hands and, my lord did they throw hands! Swinging for the fences, hitting some of the hardest shots I've seen in RevPro; it was right under my nose and so effective that it made me feel genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way. It meant we had to run it back at Epic Encounter and it means we have established some real heat to the rivalry between Ricky and JJ now. And, like Luke and JJ, this is one they can tap into whenever they want and I'll be here for it, looking to see the story escalate and unfold.

Observation number 1:

It's pretty rare when you watch as much wrestling as I do to see innovation. Not a day goes by without wrestling being on the Mark's TV, whether it's Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Dynamite, Collision or NJPW on a weekly basis; whether its dives into the past reminiscing the great things of yesteryear; or whether it's discovering amazing stuff I missed in my lapsed years. 

Observation number 2:

The European wrestling scene in 2025 is STACKED and to find a way to stand out when given an opportunity must be so difficult but also so necessary.

Observation number 3: 

On a RevPro card, the fourth match is coveted, carries high expectations and, therefore, has to deliver. It's a spot that, for a long time, was the Luke Jacobs spot. The main event of the first half, the match the crowd go into the interval on the back of, the match which gets a little added time and the chance for the fans to decompress after and, hopefully, encourages them to go and spend their money at the merch stand. 

Observation number 4:

I'd heard much about Nino and the Bryant Brothers from fellow fans whose British wrestling intake is wider than my own but it was at the Trios Grand Prix that I finally get to see Nino in action, with his brothers, first, against CPF in the GP, and then in singles action against Lio Rush. Consider that, a moment; what a show of faith from Andy Quildan, what a welcome to RevPro and what an opportunity to show out, facing one of the most widely travelled and elite cruiserweights in the world in your first singles match for a new company. A couple of trios and a couple of singles matches in the last four months and, now,  Nino is starting to feel part of the RevPro team. 

Conclusion:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + Robbie X = one RECOMMENDED match

Robbie X Vs Nino Bryant went down at February's visit to the Sheffield Network and took that fourth spot on the card, headlining the first half, going 28 seconds shy of 20 minutes and delivering a proper banger, one of the best matches of it's kind in all of 2025. And my biggest takeaway from it all was how many moments in the match Nino pulled something off that I don't think I have ever seen. Whether it was moves I cannot even begin to try and name or describe, so unique they were, or innovative reversals or even the stance he takes in the ring (one word: velociraptor); so much of his work caught my attention, made me smile or audibly gasp. And of course, a huge shout out to Robbie X who has an incredible nack of getting the best out of fellow cruiserweights, especially this Extreme version of the Best Junior Heavyweight In The World.

Check out on RevPro On Demand.

You won't regret it.

Skye Smitson and Kanji are two of the women that the RevPro I first fell in love with was built around. My first year following RevPro was 2022, I attended 11 shows, mainly split between the big London shows and those at my local, St Neots Priory Centre. I watched everything else On Demand but did not keep up with the week to week as well as I'd like as this was pre-livestream RevPro On Demand where shows would be added a week or two later. In 2023 I stepped it up and attended 20 shows and watched all other shows on the livestreams of the new improved On Demand service and it was around the time of RevPro XI that I began doing some voluntary work for the company, which is where davethemark.com grew from, once the parameters for that voluntary work were defined. Since then I've attended every show (or as close to it as life has allowed me) but it was 2023 when a hobby became a passion and a passion became a passion project.

At this time, Kanji and Alex Windsor, as they are today, were the face of company and the RevPro Women's Championships; Windsor the Undisputed British Women's Champion and Kanji The Queen Of Southside Champion. However, injury meant that the titles could not be unified as circumstance prevented Windsor and Kanji being in the ring at the same time. RevPro, therefore, had to book their women's championships in an uphill battle, against the odds and in cursed circumstances, with the illness Andy Quildan suffered in 2022 prior to RevPro's 10th Anniversary being the tip of the iceberg of all that was going against the company and it's women's championship at the time. 

And it was at this time that two women stepped up and carried the company; Skye Smitson and Dani Luna. Whilst the Undisputed British Women's Championship was shelved with it's champion Alex Windsor, the Queen Of Southside belt became a focal point for the company, with Kanji dropping the belt to Luna, before she took ten months off from RevPro to recover from injury. Meanwhile, Smitson and Luna feuded until Smitson took the title at the Revolution Rumble that Spring. The two belts were finally unified at Epic Encounter, with the returning Windsor securing victory. With Kanji returning to RevPro to challenge Windsor at the British J Cup in the autumn of 2023, and being an ever present ever since, the timelines just never aligned for a Kanji Vs Skye Smitson singles match, despite the pair being pillars of the booking for spells in the post-pandemic era of the company.

Fast forward to 2025 and it felt a little out of the blue that we got the match I had anticipated all of these years but it was confirmed; Kanji Vs Skye Smitson, Live In Sheffield, as Kanji continued the rise to the top which would inevitably end with a Doncaster Dome challenge for Mercedes Moné. There were many reasons why I wanted this match. On the face of it, it is a great clash of styles with Skye the powerhouse and Kanji the technician, it's a first time ever contest and it's two of my favourites from the scene. But most importantly, a lot of that Skye Smitson run was spent wrestling Dani Luna exclusively or women many years her junior in terms of experience and it was exciting to see her lock up with someone I consider to be the measuring stick in British wrestling in 2025. 

And that is exactly what this was; two of Britain's best, competing and contesting, hold for hold, strike for strike - a proper struggle. And whilst the outcome was predictable, how the match came to its outcome was less so, with some wonderfully intricate transitions from hold to hold drawing excitement and appreciation from the crowd. It was years in the waiting, this, for me, but it was worth the wait and it stands as the best Ske Smitson match I've seen and is another match added to the Kanji Greatest Hits that is her work over the last six to twelve months.

Note: Written in March. Filed in chronological order by show.

t How on earth are we a quarter of the way through the year already? In that time we have torn through the first six RevPro shows of 2025 and now, with two weeks before the next one, it's time for some reflection and recommendation. And when we talk about RECOMMENDED matches of 2025 so far, we have to go back to one of THE moments of the year, back to Southampton's 1865 for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship contest between Michael Oku and David Francisco. It was always going to be a spectacle, the unique relationship between Francisco and the South Coast locals would ensure that, but the match, it's presentation, the finish and the story had to deliver more than just a memorable entrance and it needed to be something those watching On Demand could invest in and not just be for the live crowd. Pleasingly, that is exactly what it did.

The origins of the match come in some very neat, tidy and dovetailed booking. In Southampton, in December, whilst Michael Oku was the established number one contender to the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship, Team Francisco won the Revolution Tag main event, including Francisco pinning Oku. The match itself was a vehicle to celebrate the Trios Grand Prix winners, CPF, preview Zozaya Vs Leon Slater, which was one of the main matches the Uprising event that followed was focused around, and foreshadow an eventual but inevitable showdown between Leon Slater Vs Michael Oku, the match we now have to look forward to for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at High Stakes in four weeks time. Francisco's inclusion was deserved and felt like a make-good moment after his Respect Match with Sha Samuels on the previous show was kept out of the main event, which felt wrong at the time and even worse in hindsight. Francisco pinning Oku in the match did not even cross my mind in the days prior to the show, though, and what would follow was not in my predictions.

Then the following week, Francisco and Herois Do Mar partner Damiao faced Young Guns, a team who had been defeated only once since Ethan Allen's return from injury. Again, few would have considered Luke Jacobs being pinned by David Francisco as the finish; it didn't feel necessary if the Oku pin was to set up an Oku Vs Francisco match in Southampton. However, two things were clever here; one, very few foresaw Oku beating Luke Jacobs to win the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship for a second time, therefore Francisco beating him did not mean he would lose anything by going on to lose to Jacobs, and two, it meant Francisco had to be the number one contender for, at its core, RevPro is a sports-orientated competition-based wrestling company.

Come the day of the show, there was such an air of excitement around The 1865. There were David Francisco face masks being handed out, fans with "Dave Section" and "Francisco Army" signs and more Francisco t-shirts than you've ever seen worn in one place at the same time before, from older shirts like FRN and Chaotic Neutral to Nothing To Prove and The Centrepiece to shirts made especially for the past two Southampton shows in Southampton Respects Francisco and I Was There. A very surreal and unique experience. The On Demand service caught the atmosphere well, with The 1865 coming alive for the champion's entrance as Michael Oku embraced the moment/mocked Francisco from a character perspective, entering with the belt held above his head akin to John Cena entering the Hammerstein Ballroom, the home of ECW, to face Rob Van Dam for the WWE Championship at One Night Stand 2006. Then Francisco entered and, trust me when I say this; the venue became unglued.

There was always a chance that the match itself might fall a little flat given the pomp and majesty of the entrances and the exertion from the crowd in the moment but some excellent pacing, crowd psychology and character work from both men ensured this was an unwarranted fear. It then came all about the finish; it had been well judged as either Francisco had to win (unlikely), Oku had to turn (unlikely) or they had to deliver a dirty finish that didn't deflate the crowd. They pulled it off expertly.

Ref Harv took a bump, Oku had Francisco tapping out but to no end, then Francisco got the visual pin on Oku, muddying the waters if they ever want to run this back and equalling the scores. Francisco then pinned Oku with use of the ropes, a method he has used multiple times before, and was declared the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, by replacement ref Oscar Harding, having his moment with the belt and his people. They left it just long enough to feel like this was actually happening before Ref Harv, our original official, was seen speaking with Oscar Harding and via a Dusty finish, the match was restarted. Oku went on to win and the rest is history. It was perfectly done for both the live crowd and those watching On Demand and gives so much weight to Francisco to take into the rest of 2025, gave the 1865 a special moment with their Home Away From Home Away From Hometown Hero and lays the foundation for a rivalry between Oku and Francisco they can return to whenever they wish. All of that from fifteen minutes of professional wrestling. That's Pro Wrestling At Its Best, isn't it?

Two shows into RevPro's 2025 and, for the second week in a row, Leon Slater takes the Match Of The Night and is one half of this week's RECOMMENDED match. Leon Slater came into this one on the back of victory over Leon Cage and, even more significantly, after declaring himself a heavyweight in pursuit of Michael Oku's Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Meanwhile, the 1 Called Manders returned to RevPro with authority, defeating Iker Navarro in a hugely entertaining clash and then showed that he means business by laying his own challenge down to Oku. This, therefore, had high stakes in a company where wins and losses are meaningful.

I like my wrestling to be bathed in logic, in-ring psychology, in-ring storytelling and details. And this match had all of that and so much more. On the surface, Manders and Slater both want the win to get to Oku. On a deeper level Manders has a point to prove - he isn't just a "yank on excursion" as Sha Samuels described Richard Holliday this week, he isn't just a good time cowboy here to chat with fans, sell merch and drink some beers after the shows whilst on holiday. No, Manders is here to prove that he is one of the TOP independent talents in the world and, after falling in love with RevPro, wants the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship to back up his self-confidence.

Just three years ago, Leon Slater was still a relative unknown in British wrestling but was dubbed the next hot talent when he wrestled Speedball Mike Bailey in 2022. He has since backed it up match after match after match, won the British J Cup, the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship and signed with TNA where he is a weekly feature of the company. A man on top of the world, right? But since then the same people who were quick to put him on a pedestal in RevPro have jumped onto the bandwagon of Cameron Khai, first, and now, Leon Cage. Yes, Slater won the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship after winning the British J Cup but his reign ended before it really began. Does Leon have a point to prove in RevPro? Maybe. I personally wouldn't go that far, but I would say he is determined to level up to the very top now and doesn't just eye Michael Oku's belt; he eyes his position as THE top European talent in the world of independent wrestling. There's your story.

And that story is told before these two locked up and throughout - Manders is focused, even though he wrestles with a smile on his face; he is locked-in. Slater wrestles to his own strengths and to Manders' weaknesses; there's your in-ring psychology and there's Leon showing that he is levelling up to be able to match wrestlers of all shapes and sizes, a skill needed to be the THE man in the heavyweight division. Psychology makes matches; why does each wrestler make each and every single movement they make? When it's done well, wrestling looks nothing like a cooperative choreographed dance but a fight, a struggle, and that's what Manders Vs Slater is. 

Slater is an underrated striker - he has a heavy chop, explosive kicks and there's a 6'1", 220+ lb frame going into each and every one of those strikes. But that's nothing on Manders' power, strikes and tolerance to heavy hitters. So Slater attacks the legs to cut the big ol' tree down. Manders can't run without his legs and, if he can't run, he can't hit the Lariat. If he's off balance from a wonky wheel, he can't hit those trademark chops with the same power or precision. Slater has also worked an Ankle Lock into his arsenal which is not coincidentally timed with him stepping up to heavyweight, surely?

Power Vs Speed is the obvious story, but there is so much more to it when you know the two men involved, their RevPro arcs and you pay attention to everything they are showing us in the ring. I adore the finish - Slater wins with a tight pinfall and a very close 3.1 count. And, in that moment, Manders' mask slips and that ambitious, focused cowboy with a point to prove can be seen. He's angry and shocked, he feels slighted and justified in questioning the count and he's pissed at Leon for offering the handshake. This meant more to Manders than it meant to Leon as he is only here in RevPro for a finite amount of time and has to make it happen in one take, at the first time of asking, because there are no second chances with a return to Iowa coming. Slater could have lost here and still had his day come around again. Stories aren't just told, they are shown, and they showed this story beautifully.

This was always going to deliver, right? This is something I love about RevPro; they are able to balance the bringing together of the biggest and brightest stars of British Wrestling in guarenteed bangers, put on in their smaller venues and across the circuit, whilst also keeping other pairings apart for that inevitable holy shit moment.

And both are in the name of developing rivalries, not feuds, as we explored in last week's Deep Dive.

Here Leon Cage, the hottest young talent on the Welsh scene was thrown in with Leon Slater, 'The Youngest In Charge', just to deliver the best possible wrestling show RevPro can. That's the whole ethos, right? Pro Wrestling At Its Best. Meanwhile, Leon Slater, upon winning, teased a match with Michael Oku, two men RevPro have successfully kept from a one on one singles match since December of 2022 when an 18 year old Leon Slater upset the current Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. 

Both of these booking tactics can create incredible rivalries - the enormity of Leon Slater Vs Michael Oku in 2025 feels huge; a match to headline any event. Leon Cage Vs Leon Slater is a very different rivalry; eighteen year old Leon Cage wants to prove he is the future, twenty year old Leon Slater wants to prove he is the now. If both men fulfil their potentials, we could see these two wrestle as many times as we saw Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr. And, like that rivalry, this one has started exactly as it should have done. Let's explore that...

I imagine everyone had that audible gasp moment when RevPro's X account dropped the graphic for this match. The banger of all bangers. However, it could easily have been 50-50, "anything you can do, I can do better", 1-2-3 we kip up together and stare at each other, finisher spamming until one person gets the 3.1 count win.

If it had been that, it would have got a standing ovation, it would have had "This Is Awesome" chants and people would have raved about it. But it had none of those things and it still got the standing o, the chants and people calling it the first Match Of The Year contender. And by avoiding those tropes, it told such a more intriguing story and set up dynamics that make me want to watch rounds two, three, four and five over the coming years.

My issue with it going 50-50 would have been the predictability if it and it would put Cage and Slater at a par when they should not be; Slater might be just two years ahead in age but he is exponentially ahead in experience and in RevPro canon. Also, look at their current arcs; Cage is in the "win or learn" stage of his RevPro career and those losses should keep coming, starting with RKJ this Sunday. That way, when the win comes, and it should not be foreshadowed but somewhat of a surprise, it will be pure catharsis and euphoria for him and all those who have followed since his RevPro Day One.

As for Slater, RevPro is in a period of elevating the talents they have in the post-pandemic and post-Ospreay era and Leon Slater is a ready-made main eventer and is ready to step up from Cruiserweight contender to Heavyweight contender in both storyline and representation. 

So this was not 50-50 at all; Leon Slater was the dominant, imposing, self confident aggressor and Leon Cage fought from underneath against a man bigger, faster and harder hitting than him. Cage had a lot of offence and there was more than one nearfall where I well and truly bit on Cage causing an upset, which is going to keep happening as long as they keep his losing streak up without foreshadowing the inevitable win.

However, all of his offence was counter attack offence, the underdog capitalising on a moment of weakness or a mistake by Slater. It was a match made between a company that knows exactly how they want to represent both men and a performance by two men who completely understand themselves and the bigger picture.

Give it some time - six to twelve months - then run this back. It will be a different match. That 50-50 match will come but first Leon Cage has to get it to 60-40 - this was more 70-30 to Slater and those ten per cent increments are great storytelling drivers.

One day Cage will have Slater 60-40 in his own favour but that's the beauty of the long term rivalry. JJ Gale is waiting for that day in his rivalry with Luke Jacobs. It's where Kanji is in her rivalry with Alex Windsor. Leon Cage is a match or two away but he will get there in this rivalry - if the stars align, if both men stay healthy and, the biggest caveat, if both men stay full time wrestling in the British wrestling scene.

Can RevPro keep doing long term storyline rivalries? That was a question posed on the This Is A Revolution podcast recently. My answer was yes, they can, but not every rivalry Andy Quildan hopes to see materialise will, in fact, materialise. This rivalry has begun, will it materialise? Time will tell. What we do know, though, is that this was an incredible way to start it. And, if it proved to be a one and done, well we were blessed to be there to see it!

Happy New Year, my lovelies! And, for the first time in my RevPro Markdom, we have a month without a RevPro show before the return to the 229 for Live In London 92 in February. And so, what better way to spend the 31 lean, dry days of January than to revisit, rewatch and RECOMMEND 31 matches from the 42 events that took place last year. My goal is simple, to celebrate those matches which might have flown beneath the radar, been forgotten or missed at the time. Want to enjoy the ride, hop on revproondemand.com and watch along with me. One match per day, everyday, until January rolls into February and RevPro returns to live action. Dry January? Not for us - we will be drinking only the very finest from the Pro Wrestling At Its Best wine cellar.

Ladies, gentlemen, Marks... We only fucking did it! We survived Dry January! One entire calendar month without Revolution Pro Wrestling and finally... FINALLY... we can say it's RevPro Sunday this Sunday! Thank fuck for that. January changed me.

I think I'm a WWE fan now.

I've been drinking watermelon juice.

I started a cheese club.

And so, here we are! 31st January, 31 DRY January RECOMMENDED matches and we are back AGAIN with a Michael Oku match, our third in a row, and our second Michael Oku Vs Chris Ridgeway match recommendation of 2024. The idea behind Dry January was to recommend matches that new fans and those who don't get to see every show might have missed from 2024, to ensure those matches which deserve a champion are championed. From today we will look to continue that with a celebration of the standout matches from the year ahead and we will update This Week In RevPro History as we go to keep the eseential RevPro watchlist in tact as we enter the 14th year of Pro Wrestling At Its Best.

So. Sheffield. Oku. Ridgeway. And, most importantly, AMIRA. Tonight we celebrate the One True Queen Of Revolution Pro Wrestling. The match was incredible - of course it was. Find me a Chris Ridgeway match in RevPro that is not beautifully aggressive. Find me a Michael Oku match that isn't dramatic and essential. Oku is the quintessential babyface, the blood in RevPro's veins and Ridgeway is a master technician, a sadist who enjoys the art of pro wrestling violence. It is always a match made in heaven when these two lock up and I cannot wait to see the return of both men when RevPro rolls into Southampton in nine days time.

But this one was made most special by the post-match angle. I personally find it difficult to know when to stop judging a match when there is a post-match angle and, for me, if the two are complementary of one another, I like to see it as one thing. So this was more than just a match - it was the match, it was the North West Strong beatdown and it was the closing moments between Amira and Michael Oku which I don't think I will ever forget; Amira at her very best and a reminder to anyone who doesn't yet know what she brings to Michael Oku's presentation as THE MAN in European wrestling. 

Let me paint you a picture - Oku has been beaten and humiliated by the then Undisputed British Heavyweight Luke Jacobs Champion who he had called out, with Ethan Allen and Chris Ridgeway revelling in getting to put the boots into a long-term rival and any and all contenders who dare to enter the ring. There is a moment where Amira looks in serious jeopardy and in harms way with North West Strong unpredictable and highly strung whilst none of them seem above putting their hands on Amira to get to Oku. The danger passes and the ring clears and Amira is left to lift Oku to his feet with the whole crowd silent as she demands he gets to his feet, that he walks out of his own accord and that he does so with his head held high. He struggles to do any of the three. I can't do it justice in how moving this was and how well Amira did to create the drama - she is an incredible talent and really unlike any other "valet" or "manager" I've ever seen. 

Every single great Michael Oku moment is enhanced ten fold by Amira and not one single moment has ever - EVER - been lessened by her. She detracts nothing but adds so much. So many of the supporting cast in wrestling find the balance difficult between adding to the moment without inadvertently detracting from it. I am talking about commentators, referees, seconds, managers - anyone who is not the centre of attention but has a role to play at ringside. It's a tough gig and, sadly, as many get it wrong as get it right, in my eyes, but Amira nails it perfectly. She is a star and a master of her art. And this, my friends, was one of her greatest ever performances.

Our penultimate Dry January. 40 days without RevPro, 30 days of match recommendations - you've done well, my lovelies, just a couple more to go and the we can lose our little Mark minds to Pro Wrestling At Its Best at the 229 on Sunday. And I wonder just how many people are earmarking Leon Cage Vs Leon Slater to be match of the night? Then, just an hour or so ago, it was announced that RKJ will face Leon Cage in the 1865 next Sunday, a post which has had comments of excitement from fans and fellow wrestlers alike.

It's safe to say, therefore, that Leon Cage has arrived in RevPro and so it is fitting that tonight was always earmarked as his Dry January night as we reach December 1st and THAT match with Michael Oku in the 229. A couple of stats for you - Leon Cage debuted for RevPro at the Trios Grand Prix in mid November and has featured on every card since except for Uprising at York Hall. Very few wrestlers come into RevPro and get booked as frequently as that from their debut. Jay Joshua and Zozaya come to mind - and that's some good company for Leon to keep, right there - but few others.

'The Futurist' is a product of the vibrant and flourishing Welsh scene - there are quality shows in Wales every week, it seems, featuring fresh new talent combined with seasoned veterans and, through the New Wave Academy, and through the likes of Greedy Souls and Subculture, 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman and Nico Angelo, there is a lot of great people for these young Welsh men and women to learn from and great places for them to learn. Cage has been a mainstay of that scene since turning sixteen years of age and, now eighteen, he is ready to take British Wrestling by storm. 

This match headlined the 229 - a high pressure match for such a young man on his debut but a safe bet for many reasons. One is because of how over Cage is with British wrestling fans and how well educated on such matters the 229 faithful tends to be. A second is because he was in the ring with Michael Oku who could get a good match out of an empty ring jacket. Third, Leon Cage is not your average 18 year old wrestler - he is, dare we use the word without putting too much pressure on the lad or sounding hyperbolic, a wrestling prodigy.

It's a stellar main event packed with drama, an intriguing dynamic between the pair and an incredible introduction for many people to Leon Cage in Revolution Pro Wrestling. In the space of just a couple of months Cage will have fought Will Kaven, Michael Oku, Ethan Allen, Robbie X, Leon Slater and Ricky Knight Jr and, from what we have seen so far, he will have held his own with all of them. His matches have shown tremendous potential and from all accounts he has the attitude to match the talent. That is a recipe for success and I'm excited to see the journey. Not seen him before? Make this match your first.

Last night I said that RevPro booking Leon Slater Vs Lio Rush for a 229 show with no pomp and majesty, just a match graphic drop after much of the card already had fans excited was "an absolute flex of Andy's booking power and position by this stage of 2024" and here we are again, four weeks later, in the same venue. A week prior to the show, three match graphics dropped - Zozaya Vs Leon Slater, the debuting Cheeseburger Vs Charlie Sterling and Michael Oku Vs Ethan Allen. The fact that none of these matches were even the headlining match shows the levels RevPro have been able to operate at this past year.

Want to know a crazy statistic? Ethan Allen has only ever had seven RevPro singles matches. Let that sink in for a moment. His first run in 2021 was dominated by Young Guns tag matches with a solitary singles match with Kyle Fletcher. Then 2022 and 2023 were lost in their RevPro entirety to injury such was the horrific ordeal Allen has been through before he returned in the Spring of 2024. Jordan Saeed was his first test and then his next singles contest was the Copper Box Arena versus Connor Mills - an astounding feat.

This clash with Michael Oku was the fourth of the seven matches, with Jay Joshua, Robbie X and Leon Cage rounding off the list. Do you know what tells me? One, Ethan Allen has the full confidence of Andy Quildan to be chosen for the Copper Box, the biggest show of the year, with so few matches as evidence in RevPro of what he can do as a singles competitor. Two, he is an unbelievable talent to come back from such injury at such a high level. Three, the future is fucking bright for North West Strong. 

I feel privileged to have seen all of these matches this past year live from ringside and I cannot think of a single wrestler who has hooked me in quicker. Is anyone in British wrestling more intense than Ethan Allen? Everything he does in a ring is done like his career depends upon it. Victory is everything. The phrase "piss and vinegar wrestling" was made for Ethan Allen - he will quite literally beat the piss out of an opponent if it means getting victory. I genuinely believe that of all the British wrestlers the current crop of youngsters can tape study, Ethan Allen singles matches should be top of that list and this match, this is the quintessential Ethan Allen contest.

Michael Oku has everyone's best match. I genuinely believe that. I also believe that we will not realise just how special of a talent that man is until he is gone. Therefore this is a match made in heaven before we even factor in the years of history between Destination Everywhere and Young Guns, Oku and North West Strong and the upcoming contest between Oku and Jacobs which resulted in Oku winning back the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship which he had lost in the summer of 2024.

And if ever there was a match that was enhanced by blood, even when it was not intended and resulted in a very sore injury for the champ, it was this one. The visuals of Oku bleeding juxtaposed against Ethan Allen's intensity completely symbolise the two men; one is the blood in the veins of RevPro, pumping to keep the company the premier independent promotion in the world. The other is a man desperate to make up for lost time and earn everything that would have come to him had he not had two years taken from him. 

A wonderful contest. I absolutely bloody loved every single second of it.

If you have never been to the 229 for a RevPro Live In London, let me paint you a picture...

The wrestlers come out from backstage down a small set of steps to the right hand side of the ring. They walk around the ring, entering the ring from the side furthest from the hard camera, striking their pose towards the camera. The hard camera, by definition, does not move and the two roaming cameras work the sides of the ring to the left and the right of the hard camera. Therefore, there is a blind spot for the live cameras which only those in attendance can see, which is the set of stairs leading to backstage to the left of the ring which are not used during the show.

These stairs are normally frequented by ring announcer Francesca Oliver after she has made her opening announcements as a way to sit off-screen and watch the matches, but occasionally someone might go and join her, a Contender or a wrestler wanting to watch the action live rather than on the backstage screen. It can be interesting to see who comes out to watch and which matches they choose to watch, something I've always taken note of being the over observant people watcher that I am.

Why this random tangent, you ask, to introduce the 28th RECOMMENDED match of Dry January?

Well, when the graphic for Lio Rush Vs Leon Slater was dropped by RevPro, it was like a mic drop moment for fans. An absolute flex of Andy's booking power and position by this stage of 2024, with so many acts at the hottest they have been in their career, the match was announced as the cherry on top of the cake that was Live In London 89. Despite being a match worthy of headlining any show on the RevPro circuit, it was slotted into the coveted fourth spot on the card prior to the interval. And the off-screen 229 staircase was RAMMED with talent wanting to witness this match live and in person, with a certain Will Ospreay front of the queue. 

I cannot recall a match at the 229 in my time of frequenting the venue every first Sunday of the month that drew so many wrestlers to the stairs, such was the anticipation for this clash. It was not the first match between Leon and Lio, that came in 2022, the year before Leon Slater won the British J Cup and two years before Lio Rush did the same. And this match was a celebration of how far Leon Slater has come in that time, from a breakout star with bags of potential to a mainstay of TNA, a British J Cup Winner, an Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion and a man ready-made to challenge for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship when the stars align between his schedule and the conclusion of current storyline direction.

This, for me, is one of the many, many reasons why I love RevPro. If you'll forgive me for plagiarising myself from tonight's This Is A Revolution podcast previewing this Sunday's Live In London 92... RevPro give us cards with matches built on stories, matches to build stories and matches to simply bang. This one was there to bang. But, what were we saying about rivalries the other day? If they wanted to, if the future paths of the two men allow it, Leon Vs Lio is a potential long term rivalry in the making. No-one will ever complain of seeing these two cross paths again and again and again.

As for Dry January, three days left, rascals. And three very different but very impressive matches to come all featuring one man known as 'The Master Of The Half Crab'.

Until then, Mark Out.

It seems fitting, though completely coincidental, that this is today's Dy January RECOMMENDATION. Firstly, it was only yesterday that Manders and Luke Jacobs' fifth one on one in the past ten months occured, a rivalry which spans companies and continents. Secondly, it is this Sunday that we welcome Manders back to RevPro for the first time since this initial weekend where he fought Luke Jacobs at the British J Cup and Josh James in Sheffield the next day. Then, finally, we finished recording This Is A Revolution, the weekly RevPro podcast my Cromulent friend George and I record each week earlier where we sang the praises of the Boss Of The Plains.

So, why do we love Manders so much? I can't recall, in my time of following RevPro at least, an American independent wrestler, male or female, who has came into the company and ingratiated themselves as quickly, easily and naturally as Manders. His vision of pro wrestling works so well with British wrestling fans and his craic, his banter, is very British for an American cowboy and anyone and everyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Manders has been so positive about the experience. Top man.

I have found in my time following RevPro around the country that there is a hesitancy from newcomers into the company to lay it in as hard and thick as they would when in their comfort zone and against opponents they are familiar with. That's completely understandable, of course. And maybe Manders benefited from the fact that he and Luke Jacobs had worked together before but he came in and LAID it in. And nothing gets over more with RevPro fans than that. I'll always remember the first strike Eric Dillinger hit Will Kaven with, for example, in Southampton as that single strike immediately made everyone sit up and pay attention. Manders Vs Luke Jacobs was that moment between Dillinger and Kaven continuously for 10+ minutes.

It's also very telling that Manders made just two appearances in RevPro and is now back for an extended period where he will get to work a variety of opponents and have the opportunity to build some substantial stories. That says everything about how well the debut weekend went and that all starts with this match. And, I tell you what, watch this back and see that Piledriver and know that Manders picked himself straight back up, dusted himself, came and did merch and could laugh about it afterwards, even if it did terrify me and likely him in the moment. 

So if you like your wrestling full of meat and guts, a proper hoss fight, then this is for you. Enjoy it. Then buy a ticket to come see both men on Saturday at the 229 in London. It's going to be a glorious show!

A couple of days left of Dry January... A couple more RECOMMENDED matches. Come back tomorrow for Day 28!

For the second time this weekend I'm going to recommended a match I RECOMMENDED at the time, such was my love for Kid Lykos Vs Kid Lykos II in last year's British J Cup. It was my match of the night at the J Cup, one of my many matches of the year and the best possible version of a match which could have been played out in multiple different ways. Subtle storytelling, carefully and precisely executed to play with fan reactions and a poetic finish and moment between the two.

In all honesty, I didn't think RevPro would book this match when Lykos and Lykos II were booked for the J Cup. I thought it felt like something other companies would book, not RevPro, and that they would book both wolves against the imported wrestlers with one Lykos going over and one getting knocked out. The idea of putting them against each other is obviously the most interesting option, I just didn't see them doing it.

So bloody glad they did, mind.

It is a delicate act booking partner Vs partner in singles action when you don't want to split them up, or even tease the opportunity, but you want a compelling story. The relationship between Lykos and Lykos II, with the age gap, experience level and dynamic between them, allowed them to lean into that and this was the crux of the match. What I love, though, was how they built their story around sublime pro wrestling. This is such beautifully accomplished wrestling - they balance polished, smooth transitions with a genuine feeling of struggle.

It worked so incredibly well that the crowd grew into the match from a really quiet, cold start to a really hot (for Stevenage, no offence Stevenage) finish. And what's more, Lykos II took that into the main event and was the fan favourite by a country mile in a contest with Dante Martin, Lio Rush and Cameron Khai. That's what this match did, it told a story which made the crowd feel empathy towards Lykos II, a temporary disappointment in Lykos that never leaned too far towards resentment, which would have been hard to come back from. It's an absolute triumph of a story, all told in the ring. Beautiful.

So, I'm an overthinker. Fun fact for you. And this match has been on my mind ever since my podcast co-host George and I did our end of year Top 10 RevPro matches of the year and I made the decision to omit this. Ladies, gentleman, Marks... I think I made a mistake. It's been on my mind ever since. So this will be my closure.

This was a match that, as it happened, and I sat ringside, I thought to myself, I'm going to HAVE to write about this match when I get home. That happened four times in all of 2024. This match, Trent Seven Vs Connor Mills, Robbie X Vs KUSHIDA and Kid Lykos Vs Kid Lykos II. We can talk about matches of the year, best matches, most moments etc but those four are four of my FAVOURITE matches of the year. 

This one, Kanji Vs Millie Mckenzie, was my first ever Millie Mckenzie match and my favourite ever Kanji match. At the time, I summarised it as follows and, today, I can't put it any better:

So many people confuse storytelling in wrestling with promos. That is one way of advancing a story, yes, but that isn't storytelling, it's a method to sell a match. The story is often told in the ring and, for me, that is where it is told best. Why are the wrestlers doing the "moves" they are doing in the order they are doing them, at the time that they are doing them? The story of the match links to the psychology behind the actions of the wrestlers to evolve a reaction from the crowd at the specific moments that they want those reactions. Watch this match and watch each and every movement of Kanji and Millie - it's a struggle and the struggle is as real as pro wrestling gets.

Now the struggle - that is what I look for in pro wrestling. I can enjoy pretty much every kind of wrestling there is but the best wrestlers delivering the best wrestling deliver a struggle. Wrestling is cooperative but it should not appear so - it should appear to be a struggle between two people to overcome the other person. Wrestling is built around sequences and spots but it should not appear so. Nothing in this match felt like a spot. Nothing felt like a sequence. Nothing felt cooperative. Nothing felt like two friends had sat backstage and plotted out a story which they acted before a group of fans. It felt like two women who respect one another immensely determined to prove to the other that one is the best. Every single second of it.

Genuinely, this could be my favourite match of the entire year.

Pro wrestling at its damn best.

In a year without a certain Spanish star-in-the-making, Jay Joshua would have cleaned up in all the fan votes for "breakout star" in RevPro. It's a slightly odd phrase given how experienced Jay is and how pushed he has been in his career across other companies; a champion in half a dozen British companies, including a reign as ATTACK! Champion, goes to show that Jay Joshua was no rookie prior to coming into RevPro. However, every wrestler in Europe will say the same thing - they literally say the same thing to me all the time; RevPro is the destination in European wrestling. 

Jay came in and faced RKJ on debut and then JJ Gale a few weeks later, in his first appearance in Dry January, the 31 RECOMMENDED matches to help get you through the dry month on the RevPro 2025 schedule. That match was followed up but this one with Leon Slater, back at the 229, at the start of September. Like the contest with JJ, this was a perfect styles clash, which is where I think so many of the best RevPro matches fall. Leon had the speed, the agility and gas tank advantage whilst Jay had the striking power, the strength and size advantage. A match that makes both men look like stars, with one going over and one getting over in defeat.

What I love about these styles clashes is how they showcase just how well rounded the talent pool in British and European wrestling. Yes, Leon had the speed - but Jay is deceptively fast. Leon had the agility but Jay is built in the mould of a Jeff Cobb, a man who can do things so unexpected given their stature. Of course Leon has the gas tank, yet Jay has a real engine inside of him. Three dimensional characters and three dimension pro wrestlers; that's what makes it Pro Wrestling At Its Best.

Looking at it from the other side, Jay had the striking advantage but Leon is a heavy hitter and is explosive when he combines that speed and that power together. Jay had the weight advantage but Leon had the reach from his additional height. These, for me, make for such fascinating contests and I love the whole "tale of the tape" which you can physically explore as they square up and start to lock up.

I wonder at what point Andy Quildan looked at Jay Joshua and thought, "this guy has to be here every week" but, for me sitting ringside, it was during this match. The RKJ match was decent - it was a hard debut to make a real statement in given Ricky's stature in RevPro and his style. There was enough there, though, to earn a call back. That call back was brilliant and I loved every minute of it, that Southampton clash with JJ. So then you think, this guy had a great match with JJ, can he follow that up with another match of an equal standard? Hell yes he could and that's when I was sold. Jay Joshua involved for the long term, please, Andy! And look at him now, Undisputed British Tag Team Champion. Talk about coming in and grabbing the bull by the horns.

Love it.

So, I've alluded to this many times before but let's get into it; this match was never meant to happen, right? All the logical story beats were bringing us to a one-time only Destination Everywhere reunion at August's Live In Southampton 31, right? It never happened, and what we got was INCREDIBLE, a match well worthy of it's place on the RECOMMENDED list that is Dry January, but let's take a moment to explore what was (this Mark assumes) meant to go down...

At RevPro XII Anniversary Michael Oku faced Luke Jacobs and, by no coincidence at all given how symmetrical their paths have been at times, Connor Mills faced Ethan Allen. Oku and Mills were long time best friends and tag partners before Mills turned on Oku at RevPro X Anniversary and one of their fiercest rivals was Young Guns, the team of Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen. This tag match would be a perfect go-home match to set up those two singles contests, therefore, non?

Further to this, Mills had been the one to make the save for Oku last time RevPro had been in Southampton when the champ was attacked by Allen and Jacobs' mentor Chris Ridgeway. That prompted a huge reaction and chants for Destination Everywhere. RevPro loves to build stories in particular towns for the continuity of the more casual fan and so, again, the logical booking for RevPro's go-home show before the biggest show of the year was surely Oku and Mills Vs Jacobs and Allen. 

Not convinced? Add in the little detail that Will Kaven was booked to face Eric Dillinger in an oddly placed heel Vs heel match which, in my eyes, was the match Zozaya would have have had, had he not been pulled to take Mills' space in the main event when Mills had his bell rung in York Hall the week prior, resulting in him not being cleared for the match. 2+2=5? Maybe. I guess we will never know!

What we do know is that we got Oku & Zozaya Vs Young Guns and it was a Southampton Match Of The Year Contender for a lot of people, myself included. It was an incredible main event for the final stop on the Road To The Copper Box, a huge treat for the loyal Southampton crowd and a match that you never knew you needed until it happened.

The story of the match centered around a weakened Michael Oku fighting back to partner Zozaya and bring victory home for the heroes, at the expense of Oku's chances at the Copper Box against Jacobs after taking such a beating and needing medical assistance. It also set up a nice future callback, if RevPro want to lean that way, as Zozaya had to take the bulk of the offence here, which was a common theme in the pair's next tag match at the following Southampton show, when Oku and Zozaya faced Jay Joshua and Connor Mills prior to Global Wars. If they wanted, this could be played upon if Oku or Zozaya were to go for Round III to add a little wrinkle to the rivalry. 

Young Guns at their aggressive best. Oku the weakened champion leaning into the underdog role in which he thrives. Zozaya the brave and heroic fan favourite battling against the odds. High paced, dramatic and tonnes of ups and downs along the way - one of my favourite tag matches of the year, this one.

Day 22 of Dry January, my lovelies, and it is time to say thank you and goodbye to JJ Gale and hello to Jay Joshua! JJ's fourth and final match of the 31 RECOMMENDED matches which might have flown under your radar in January comes against mister 'Sicker Than Your Average', who came into RevPro in July and kept coming back and back and back by proving himself undeniable. Coming into 2025 with one of the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship belts around his waist, it is hard to imagine RevPro without Jay Joshua at this stage.

This clash was Jay's second RevPro match and was the performance which guarenteed his involvement with the company longer term. Like so many others, he had come in and faced RKJ in the RevPro acid test - how well can you hang with one of the best? Jay did exactly that. Next, in JJ Gale, he was given a match with someone who would suit his style better and would allow him to showcase even more of what he's about and that he did ten fold.

And that is where huge credit goes to JJ for this one - the balance between helping Jay look like a beast and ensuring JJ's victory was one which felt earned ahead of his Anniversary contest with Tomohiro Ishii was vital and they nailed it. JJ had such a strong 2024 that it is easy to look past that, with so many of the plaudits going to Michael Oku, Luke Jacobs, Connor Mills, the Cut Throat Collective and Zozaya, but JJ seriously levelled up from 2023 and solidified a place at the top of the card. Can he challenge for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in 2025? That has to be the next step - to be THE challenger, something he has not yet had the chance to be.

This match is one of those matches you could show anyone to justify our love of the beautiful, artistic sport of professional wrestling. It is hard hitting, high velocity and expertly dramatic in all the right places. The explosivity of Jay Joshua complements the flashy and impressive style of JJ. I really enjoyed how contrasting each man is - from their very different presentations, to their entrances, to their movesets; JJ is a highlight reel and Joshua is a hard bastard. It's style Vs substance. Glits Vs grit. And the chemistry they had was excellent. I would love to see this run back down the road.

The classic dynamic between the heavyweight hoss and the counter attacking underdog is really compelling and the finish and reaction of JJ really highlighted how far he came in 2024. Had this been in 2023, and had JJ won, which I'm not sure he would have done, he would have snatched a pin, shot a surprised look at the crowd, had a moment of realisation and sunk back into the corner or the ropes. In 2024, though, knowing his worth, confident from greater performances, victories and opportunities, JJ won convincingly. Fighting from underneath, from a position of defence but with a tactical counter attack, is a style which can still work brilliantly with a high win percentage. Look at Michael Oku and Jay White as too masters of the craft. JJ is a man of that mould and this victory was a big step in the right direction for him.

July saw RevPro's second trip to the HMV Empire and, with it, we see our second Coventry rewatch of Dry January. And, you know what, there is a recurring theme here which has made those Coventry shows utterly delectable. The first Coventry show featured your usual whose who of RevPro regulars with the added treat of a rare Man Like Dereiss RevPro appearance - not a debut, but a return. It helped make that first Coventry card special as you'd see a popular figure of the British and Irish wrestling scene we didn't see elsewhere. When RevPro returned in July, it was not a debut but a return that stole the show - Donovan Dijak was quite the attraction but that accolade goes to Debbie Keitel, for me.

A beaten finalist in the 2019 Queen Of The Ring, Keitel featured regularly in early 2020 pre-It's-The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It and then again when shows returned in 2021. In fact, she was the victor in early 2021 in a singles match with a certain other Irish woman synonymous with Revolution Pro Wrestling, Amira. Returning at High Stakes 2022, Keitel brawled with Hyan to set up a match the following week which was the last we saw of the Coffee Enthusiast.

Meanwhile, Kanji came into the RevPro fold during Keitel's absence as Southside Women's Champion when RevPro took on the championships of the now defunct company. From her return from injury in the autumn of 2023 to now, Kanji has risen within RevPro to being a top star and an essential player, culminating in her high profile contests in 2024 with Stephanie Vaquer, AZM and Serena Deeb, the latter representing a landmark victory in Nottingham's favourite daughter's career. In fact, coming into 2025, it feels like this is the the year Kanji reaches that next level.

So, July 28th, Kanji Vs Keitel; an excellent re-introduction to Debbie Keitel and a brilliantly booked match and post-match to develop the dynamics needed to form the team that would stand up to the Cut Throat Collective at RevPro XII. Kanji and Keitel are two of the best in Europe and so, obviously, the match delivered. It was hotly fought and competitive. The character dynamics were explored throughout and the storyline development in the match informed the post match which informed future shows - great episodic booking.

Kanji picked up the victory and offered the hand of respect to Keitel, a gesture rejected, and Keitel left Kanji hanging before the CTC made their presence known, attacking Kanji as Keitel looked on. And, in a perfectly delivered response, leaning into the indecision just long enough to draw the crowd in but not so long that it verged on overacting, Keitel hit the ring, tossed her coffee into the face of Mercedes Blaze and helped Kanji to fight the aggressors off. It helped set up the Copper Box team as a group united by principles rather than friendship and the old addage that the "enemy of my enemy is my friend".

It was a great use of a match, an angle and a setup to THE match. You think Debbie Keitel wrestled just twice in RevPro in 2024, making an appearance at York Hall's Summer Sizzler in between, yet she felt every part of that INCREDIBLE Copper Box five on five as anyone else on the team such was the impact of her work, her ability to gel so fluidly with those around her and the quality of those opposite her to convince us, the fans, that you don't need to spend a lot of time around the CTC before wanting a scrap with them.

Fantastic work all round and here's hoping for two major things out of this - the Undisputed British Women's Championship for Kanji, the darling of RevPro, in 2025 and a return for Debbie Keitel once she smashes Japan with DIANA.

Japan ain't ready, that's for sure.

Ah Live In London 87... One of my favourite events of all of 2024 and a strong candidate for 229 of the year thanks to the beautifully formatted and paced show bookended by this contest and Leon Slater Vs Zozaya I. This was Luke Jacobs Vs JJ Gale IV, the second contest of 2024, a High Stakes rematch, and is part of one of my favourite rivalries in all of RevPro. There is so much to Mark Out over here, so, allow me to do just that.

Firstly, can we take a minute to admire the work put into the second half of 2024 to make RevPro cards less formulaic and a touch more unpredictable. For a long time a RevPro show would open with Robbie X, close the first half with Luke Jacobs and be headlined by RKJ or Michael Oku. There would be 6 or 7 matches per card and each match would go between 10 and 13 minutes except for the main event that would squeeze a wee bit more juice from the fruit to get to 15-18 minutes. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at that - it's a formula that worked to lure me into RevPro Markdom AND it wasn't used all of the time but it did represent somewhat of a predictable order to the card which has been thrown out in the last six to eight months and that has been a welcome change - it has helped elevate talent, surprise fans and keep things fresh, with the air of unpredictability which makes RevPro so exciting.

This particular show opened and closed with matches still talked about to this day. In between we had tonnes of story, debuts and variation in match length, demonstrating the levels to the divisions which have been established over this same six to eight month period. The show closing angle which came as part of the package deal that was this match, the rivalry extension, the JJ Gale promo and the announcement of JJ Vs Tomohiro Ishii for RevPro XII, which was a a JJ -Jacobs proxy war in effect, was inspired booking and incredible storytelling. Andy Quildan at his very best, that.

I've said time and time again that my vision of pro wrestling is 'Rivalries Not Feuds', one of the many things which makes me adore RevPro and Andy's Pro Wrestling At Its Best. The JJ and Jacobs rivalry is one of my favourites as it is one of the more original iterations of this. It's not one built on rubber matches, like Zozaya Vs Leon Slater, which is one traditional wrestling rivalry story, nor is it the Okada Vs Ospreay story of understudy learning to defeat mentor. These are the usual routes for rivalry-based storytelling and they can be fantastic. This, though, is told less often.

Luke Jacobs holds four victories, including this one, over JJ Gale. JJ is determined to prove he is on Jacobs' level. Jacobs ain't having it. It's beautifully simple but so real - it blurs the lines between story and reality so cleverly and you can plot JJ's development as a pro wrestler in RevPro through these four contests. How JJ got under Jacobs' skin by declaring that he'd do the one thing Jacobs had never done (at the time) by beating Ishii was such a fantastic way to get to a match which could have otherwise been a match graphic drop and the story simply be "it's a test for JJ to prove how far he's come". This was so much more interesting.

Watch the match, obviously, but if you can watch it after watching their High Stakes match to see how well the two complement each other. This is the joy of rivalries - they patiently build to make sagas. Do we get JJ Vs Jacobs V in 2025? I hope so. Who knows what that will look like - it could all depend on how Jacobs responds to the disappointment of Uprising. Our first indication of that comes a week on Sunday at the 229; I cannot wait.

2024 saw a lot of newcomers into Revolution Pro Wrestling and, as fans, we tend to love the hot new thing and can get carried away with the superlatives, the hype and the comparisons. If I had a fiver for the number of times I have been told that Wrestler X is "better than Will Ospreay was at his age" my season tickets would have paid for themselves. It's no criticism of my fellow Marks, I've said the same thing more often than I probably should have and potential means nothing in sport - everyone is an injury, a couple of unwise decisions or a change in fortune away from having their career swept away and the very best only get to the top with the intangibles we can never know - that strong and persistent desire, the mindset to fight back from disappointment and the luck needed to be in the right place at the right time when opportunity comes a knocking.

2024 belonged to Zozaya in terms of that level of unanimous fan support, optimism and unwaivering praise that he is going to be a top name in the business based upon his age and his pedigree at said age. In 2022 it was Leon Slater and in 2025 it feels like it will be Leon Cage (who's buzzzzzzzzzzzing for Leon Slater ve Leon Cage?!) but in 2023 it was Cameron Khai. 

Debuting in 2022 at just sixteen, Cameron has achieved a huge deal in two and a half years; he has becomes a mainstay of the RevPro roster, bypassing the Contender route that many of his peers have taken. He has wrestled at York Hall in two Revolution Rumbles, entered the British J Cup, opened Global Wars at Doncaster Dome, challenged for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship at the Copper Box Arena and debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling At Royal Quest IV. Most would bite your hand off to achieve so much at such a young age. 

Sometimes, though, we need to remember that wrestling is a sport with an older peak age than most - look at whatever pro wrestling you choose to watch and think about the average age of the stars of that show. Everyone in wrestling outside of a select few are developing, improving and looking to level up to that top, top level where that select few reign supreme. Look at Cameron Khai's opponent in this very match that comes RECOMMENDED as we hit Day 19 of Dry January; Robbie X was wrestling as a teenager like Cameron Khai and, in the year that Robbie reached the highest peaks of his career to date by achieving his first tour of Japan as part of the NJPW Junior Tag League and wrestling in Arena Mexico for CMLL, he turned 30.

Patience and perspective, my friends, until potential turns into consistency and consistency turns into mastery.

I've been lucky enough to see Cameron Khai live 31 times now and this one is the best of the bunch, for so many reasons. First, it is the best of the three contests between Cameron and Robbie to date and the only one in which Cameron came out victorious. However, it was not the result that made this match the best Khai match I've seen, it was the way he drew reactions from the crowd, pulled the crowd into the work and created a will in the people to see him win. It is something I really noticed in Cameron's work over the second half of 2024 and this was the first time witnessing it and feeling the growth in that element of his game.

Watch this one back but concentrate on Cameron and his facials, his selling and his methods to draw empathy from the crowd. He is an explosive wrestler who always delivers really clean and accomplished work which is exciting to watch but, in the last six months, he made people care more about the final result as well as the performance. He is being talked about as someone people are keen to see win the British J Cup in 2025, to finish the year as Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion and to have focused stories within that division and with Leyton Buzzard once 'El Capitan' returns from injury. These will all come, I am sure, but not because it's Cameron's turn, or because of his potential, but because it will be best for business if he can continue to draw the fans into his work.

A big year for Cameron in 2025, I feel, so now is the time to celebrate his best of 2024.

PS there is a very niche music reference in there somewhere; find it, tell me it and I'll buy you a beer at the 229 in a fortnight's time 😘

One thing we learnt from the This Is A Revolution End Of Year Awards, which were voted on by fifty fans across the RevPro community, was that Sheffield loves piss and vinegar. There was huge crossover in support for Connor Mills and Chris Ridgeway from RevPro's most northern city on the circuit and this match would have been a huge factor as to why. Tonight's RECOMMENDED match for our 18th day of Dry January is one of two matches from this card to be featured in this column and was voted for by many fans as the Sheffield Show Of The Year.

Three weeks after Chris Ridgeway wrestled Michael Oku in Southampton, another RECOMMENDED match, Ridgeway faced Connor Mills in the Network after Mills had come to Oku's aid in the 1865 and after the Mills-Ridgeway alliance, which began at the previous Sheffield show, had collapsed at the 229 in London. Beautifully paced story beats across multiple venues and crowds - it's what makes RevPro's episodic approach to pro wrestling so sublime.

There are lots of styles of pro wrestling and RevPro celebrates many - we get the hoss fights, like tonight's announcement of Iker Navarro Vs 1 Called Manders for the first show of 2024; we get the high flying Lucha inspired cruiserweight action of Robbie X, CPF and Lio Rush we get the technicians like Jordon Breaks, Kanji and Zack Sabre Jr and the modern hybrid wrestlers like Will Ospreay, Leon Slater and Zozaya. Connor Mills and Chris Ridgeway are piss and vinegar wrestlers and, alongside Ethan Allen, they are the best at it of anyone I've seen.

So what is piss and vinegar wrestling? It's about intensity, viciousness and ego. It's fought with a stubborn determination to be the last one able to stand. Often via submission mastery but occasionally through strike for strike scrapping, two wrestlers will attempt to beat the piss, sweat and soul out of the other. It's often dirty and stiff, fought head to head in the centre of the ring and on the mat, inflicting torturous pain through submission specialism. It's Trent Seven Vs Connor Mills. It's Ethan Allen Vs Michael Oku. It's Chris Ridgeway Vs ANYONE. 

The best thing Connor Mills has done in his career, for me, was choosing to lean into this style of wrestling at the start of 2024 and, by doing so, he has made himself an attraction different from everyone else on the core RevPro roster. He is, also, the best at it that I have seen and it complements him so well. This 2024 run of Ridgeway's, between the Revolution Rumble and this contest, his last RevPro match for six months whilst he went back to Japan, was my first experience of him and his style drew me in immediately. It's not for everyone but it is for me. And these two are masters of that particular art of pro wrestling, an art form that is best when it is painted with piss and vinegar.

Watch it tonight, come back tomorrow for the other match from this same card that comes RECOMMENDED as we approach the final third of Dry January.

There is so much to love about the post-Cut-Throat-Collective-debut landscape in Revolution Pro Wrestling. The focus on a division rather than just a championship, levels to how the women are presented and utilised, multiple matches per show to allow secondary storylines to run behind whatever that division's main focus is. We have had six months of this focused, sustainable improvement and it is no coincidence that it has also been one of the most talked about and acclaimed six month periods in company history.

This show, the final show in St Neots for the foreseeable future, was the first real statement of that new intent; three matches from the women's division and three very different matches at that. We had Evie Madden, Artemis and Ronnie Knocks getting demolished by Mercedez Blaze, Lizzy Evo and Safire Reed in the first proper CTC outing. Then, we had this absolute beauty of a match between Kanji and Nina Samuels, the match that stole the show, before Anita Vaughan debuted in the main event against Alex Windsor, with a show closing angle that kept everyone guessing as to where Alex Windsor fitted into things leading up to her eventual turn at Raw Deal.

10 women on one card, three matches, dovetailed stories and, just as importantly as all of that, look at the quality of the performers in play. And that brings me to Kanji Vs Nina Samuels. 2022 and 2023, my first two years following RevPro, were, more often than not, built around two women at a time. At times that was Skye Smitson and Dani Luna, at times it was Alex Windsor and Maya Matthews and at times it was Kanji and Safire Reed. Then there were the likes of Chantal Jordan and Mercedez Blaze who would come in and work a role on regional shows with the bigger events often utilising an import such as Kylie Rae, Charli Evans and Mickie James. It was enjoyable, logical and well executed but not the most inspiring.

There was much which prevented the progress in the division RevPro would have wanted; Kanji and Alex Windsor were the two focal points of the division and both had spells on the sidelines with injury. Andy Quildan discussed in interviews his difficulties securing the best women's wrestlers to bookings as the demand outweighed the supply and calendars filled so far in advance that it was difficult to book long term and even harder to pivot when Plan A would hit a bump in the road.

So, compare THAT to THIS. Nina Samuels, one of the most experienced, high level European women's wrestlers of all time, facing Kanji, one of the two women RevPro had built their post-pandemic plans around, one on one, not in York Hall but St Neots' Priory Centre. That's how far the RevPro women's division has come and this match was just at the start of that journey.

Everyone who came out of this show said the same thing to me, that this encounter was the stand out match, and my daughter Sophie asked me coming home "why are the bad girls always my favourites?" as she fell in love with Nina Samuels immediately, leaving her confused and conflicted as we have always been true Kanji Marks in our house. It was two women who always make their matches feel like the main event, two complementary styles within a fight and two women who know how to draw a crowd in and elicit the reactions from them to support the story they are telling. On a personal note, it was my first Nina Samuels match and she made an instant fan for life out of me.

Can we run this back in 2025, please?

And if both of these women can run wild with the Undisputed British Women's Championship in the next 12-18 months I will be bloody delighted.

Welcome to Revolution Pro Wrestling, Zozaya, and welcome to Dry January! I could justifiably have every single Zozaya match of 2024 included, such was how consistent and how spectacular of a performer he is but our first dip into 'El Freestyler's RevPro back catalogue comes from Southampton and comes from June.

As alluded to in yesterday's RECOMMENDED match, the focus going into Live In Southampton 30 was that Dani Luna's Undisputed British Women's Championship match would headline the card, given the shocking entrance of the Cut Throat Collective the week prior, and given that the belt was on the line. When that did not happen, there was interval discussion in The 1865 as to what would take the headline slot and, given Chris Ridgeway Vs Michael Oku headlined the first half, it was concluded that it would be Luke Jacobs Vs Zozaya. Now, it feels baffling to think a contest between the two would do anything but main event, such has been the rise of Zozaya.

Zozaya defeating Michael Oku in Barcelona was a shock and a real moment - it made that show, told every fan that every trip RevPro goes on abroad is ESSENTIAL and it made everyone take note of Zozaya; he had been given a huge rub and, in effect, we were told to take him seriously. By the time he came to face Luke Jacobs, though, the momentum had died down a wee bit. His matches were excellent and his reactions were really positive but, in kayfabe, his win-loss record had balanced out. Wins over Will Kaven and Cameron Khai added to the Barcelona victory and losses to Angel De Oro and Michael Oku had followed in the four singles outings since, with one tag win and one tag loss bringing him pretty close to 50-50.

Meanwhile, Luke Jacobs was unbeaten in six months. Singles matches, tag team matches, trios matches... hell, even the Revolution Rumble; whatever match Jacobs was put in he won. Jacobs Vs Oku for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship was going to main event the Copper Box Arena for RevPro XII and Jacobs was going to ride the crest of the wave until he was crowned the new champion.

Or so we thought.

The shock of Zozaya winning this RECOMMENDED match cannot be understated. I have never involuntarily stood up at the wrestling before; these two men, two of the best in all of independent wrestling - literally and physically got bums off seats with the 3 count because no-one expected THAT finish.

And it was not a shock for a shocks sake, it was not a swerve for the sake of a swerve, it was not a dodgy finish. What it was, in fact, was a reminder for the fans that "anything can happen" on any show, anywhere in the country. It played upon the fact that even the best sportsmen, women and teams lose. It told us that Zozaya is the real deal. And, my favourite part, is that it gave us a wonderful piece of history between these two young stars that can be leaned into and played with later down the line.

The match itself, you don't need me to sell you on that. It's Luke Fucking Jacobs Vs Zozaya. If you don't get why I don't need to say any more, watch the match, then you'll know.

revproondemand.com

£7.40 a month.

Don't enjoy this one? Then I'm not sure RevPro is for you, my friend.

Live In Southampton 30 followed the 229 and, whilst all eyes were on the Cut Throat Collective and Nightshade's pursuit of the Undisputed British Women's Championship, we had two absolute bangers steal the show in the main event slots of each half, the first of which we celebrate tonight, the second of which we celebrate tomorrow, my lovelies, as we approach the halfway point through the RevPro drought that has been Dry January.

Chris Ridgeway had returned to RevPro on Easter Sunday, the surprise 30th entrant to the Revolution Rumble. Five singles contests and two tag matches across April, May and June, and one final appearance in December followed, and, genuinely, each and every single match was considered for this list, with three making the cut and the others left off simply to allow the love to be shared. The two contests with Michael Oku HAD to be here, though.

Ridgeway offers so much to RevPro - he can easily fit into anything involving Young Guns due to his history with them as North West Strong, whilst also being a prize fighter to inject into anyone's path. We got Ridgeway Vs Shigehiro Irie, Zozaya, Luke Jacobs, Connor Mills and, obviously, Michael Oku. I am so keen to see more Ridgeway - JJ Gale, Robbie X, Leon Slater, Ethan Allen, Cameron Khai, Will Kaven, Sha Samuels - there are so many great contests yet to be seen.

Of all of Ridgeway matches in 2024, his work with Michael Oku was the best; just how many wrestlers can we say that about? It feels like everyone does their best work opposite the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion and that is no coincidence. Oku matches are always expectionally paced, well crafted, beautifully sold and incredibly dramatic - he is a master of in-ring storytelling and engaging real, genuine fan emotions.

This match was all about Ridgeway, a technically gifted, methodically paced sadist, chopping Oku down at the legs to counter the champion's speed, velocity and agility. If he can't stand, he can't hit the Superkick, the Top Rope Lionsault or the DDT. If he can't run, he can't hit the Misdirection Knee, the Fosbury Flop or the Tijeras. If he can't climb, he can't hit the Frog Splash. 

Michael Oku is, though, one of the very best in the world when it comes to fighting from underneath, for perseverance and for being tough to put away as his strongest weapon, the Half Crab, only takes a moment to lock in and, once it is locked, it can be a finish in an instance. If Oku can survive, therefore, he can prosper and that is exactly what this was.

Please come back Chris Ridgeway - again and again and again - and please run this way back again as between this and the Sheffield contest, these two genuinely could fight forever and I'd not complain for a second.

This match preempted the "Moment Of The Year" according to the fifty fans who voted in the This Is A Revolution End Of Year Awards and my only worry is that the moment that followed may lead some to overlook the incredible contest that took place between Rhio and Dani Luna, contesting the Undisputed British Women's Championship, in the main event of Live In London 86. Easily a tip five contest of the year from the women's division; this one deserves it's flowers.

This one was originally penned for the month prior, which has had me questioning ever since whether or not the Cut Throat Collective were originally planned to debut on that show and, if so, were Lizzy Evo, Mercedez Blaze, Nightshade, Safire Reed and Nightshade all backstage kicking their heels together when the match had to be rescheduled? Or was the plan for the CTC coming together pitched between the May and June 229s? Or was June meant to see them debut all along but in another way? I digress but it has fascinated me for over half a year. Alas, it was the violent, chaotic and unhinged debut of the most talked about stable in Revolution Pro Wrestling history which took "Moment" but this is about the match, not the moment.

Dani Luna started 2024 as Undisputed British Women's Champion and carried it for 2/3 of the year before it was taken by Mina Shirakawa. That run with the belt did wonders for the Championship and made an argument for it being the most interesting division in the company for that period. From the Dog Collar Match with Alex Windsor to this encounter with Rhio, the debut of the CTC and the Anniversary Ten Woman Tag to the rise of Kanji; the women of RevPro killed it in 2024.

As for Rhio, she came in hot, defeating Alex Windsor at Epic Encounter to deliver the former champion her first ever back to back defeats in RevPro. On the one hand, that was a huge statement of intent for Rhio. On the other hand it could also be seen as somewhat formulaic; Alex had just lost so one more loss didn't kill any momentum for her and it set up Rhio Vs Dani, a match to make a match, which was a staple of RevPro's booking for the women's championship at the time. 

However, since this match, where it feels like the play book was ripped up and started again, the booking has been so much more inspired, so much more multi-layered and Rhio was a centre of that from this contest through to the RevPro XII Anniversary. She is a top level talent, someone capable of spearheading a company and a division; I really hope we get to see that at some stage in RevPro with Rhio as Undisputed British Women's Champion.

This match was a proper hoss fight, a competitive, hard hitting, highly dramatic and exquisitely paced main event match worthy of that slot on the card. The title felt in the balance - there was that genuine feeling of jeopardy and fans were calling the winner as the wrestlers made their entrances and it was fifty-fifty; not in who they wanted to win but who they thought would win and that is so much more interesting.

The action backed up the vibe, the near falls were proper bitable, the shock of what they were willing to do to one another - THAT apron Package Piledriver 😱 Some matches have the Big Match Feel and this was the perfect example. Two of the most complete wrestlers in Europe delivering a main event worthy of a bigger stage and a packed house. And, for my money, this rivals Michael Oku Vs Leon Cage for best 229 headliner of 2024. 

Treat yourself and go watch it via revproondemand.com then come back tomorrow for Day 15 of Dry January and your next RECOMMENDED treasure of RevPro's 2024.

As promised, my lovelies, we are sticking with the April trip north to Sheffield for our 13th RECOMMENDED match of Dry January to celebrate one of the most underrated matches from the entire year in Michael Oku Vs Seiki Yoshioka. This one caught me by surprise at the time and flew under the radar for a lot of people but deserves to be celebrated, watched and appreciated, so let's do just that.

The day prior, Michael Oku headlined Epic Encounter in a much lauded contest with Zozaya, their second acclaimed match of the week. In contrast, Seiki Yoshioka wrestled the second contest in Stevenage against Cameron Khai in a match which did not quite capture the masses in the Gordon Craig Theatre and, whilst solid and entertaining, is not one I have rushed to watch back since. Sometimes, for whatever reason, it just doesn't land and I think that was the case with this pairing.

Looking at the Sheffield card, it was my belief that Jordon Breaks Vs KUSHIDA looked most likely to headline. When that match came on after the interval, I assumed RKJ Vs Mike D Vecchio would take the pole position but, no, it was Yoshioka Vs Oku which took top place. No real surprise; Oku is a headline act on any card and Yoshioka is a sixteen year veteran across almost the entire Japanese pro wrestling landscape. However, I didn't realise this match would deliver as much as it would, though.

What I loved about this was the pacing of the contest and how it told such an interesting story in Michael Oku's arc whilst also showing off all of the upside of Yoshioka. After his defeat to Zozaya the previous week, in a huge upset, Oku was more methodical and tentative in this contest in similar contexts, a non-title main event bout. Then we have the fact that Oku was in a 20 minute main event the previous night with the additional mental fatigue of responsibility that comes from defending the championship - whereas Yoshioka had a ten minute undercard contest where he never needed to hit fifth gear.

Within the match, Yoshioka showcased his incredible striking ability - particularly with his strong and stiff looking kicks - chopping away constantly at Oku. What I really enjoyed here was how it drew Oku out of his game plan into a striking battle, which actually led to Oku's eventual victory as Yoshioka's frequent kicks frustrated Oku into giving as good as he was getting and the kicks Oku landed softened Yoshioka's legs for the Half Crab.

The match was built with that classic Japanese pacing, timing the flurries of offence, the speed and ferocity of strikes, spots and sequences to completely manipulate the crowd reactions and they had the crowd completely in the palm of their hand. Watch this back and look for the speed with which Yoshioka moves in the early stages - a little flex to tease the crowd of what's to come - and then see the crowd reactions to his kicks.

It's magical stuff and one of those hidden gems I will come back to again and again over the years to come as a celebration of RevPro's wild match making, Michael Oku's incredible growth in the time I've been watching him and the wonderful introduction to Seiki Yoshioka it provided. I hope we see Yoshioka back - this performance earned that, for sure.

Tomorrow, my lovelies, we head back to the 229 for a very, very eventful main event.

2024 was made up of many a Stevenage and Sheffield Weekender - the former always the attraction, with the latter the kicker to follow it. Stevenage was my cappucino, Sheffield was my espresso chaser. However, time and time again, the Sheffield show would outshine its stacked counterpart with the positive vibes and energy that Sheffield Network always has. The April 21st Sheffield event that followed Epic Encounter was the show of the weekend, for me, and we have a match to showcase tonight and again tomorrow from that one and, to be fair, I could have gone three for three and included Jordon Breaks Vs KUSHIDA if it were not for the fact that I'm limiting myself to 31 matches in my 31 days and want to showcase as wide a range of matches, events and wrestlers as possible.

The semi-main of our Spring trip north to Yorkshire was one which had the banger potential from the off - RKJ, a man whose entire 2024 seemed to focus around being the acid test for newcomers, versus Mike D Vecchio, a man we had seen debut at Revolution Rumble, scrap with Oskar Leube to an inconclusive finish in Southampton and then run it back in Stevenage. It had been a solid start from Mike D but his matches had been kept to the ten minute mark and therefore we had not seen a full-on war of attrition which is wear the 'War Machine' raises eyebrows, lifts bums off seats and takes people's breath away. That's exactly what this was.

Of RKJ's 30 RevPro matches across 2024, this match, for me, was only topped by RKJ Vs Michael Oku at Global Wars, my 4th favourite match of 2024 in our This Is A Revolution Top 10 Matches Of The Year. That indicates how highly a rate that contest. If that was 1st and this Mike D Vecchio encounter was 2nd, and their rubber match in Sheffield five months later would be 3rd, our RECOMMENDED match from earlier this week with Connor Mills and JJ Gale would take 4th spot. As for fifth...? Well that's where is interesting. I think there is a significant drop off from 4th to whatever we would consider fifth, such was the quality of Ricky's work with Mike D Vecchio and such was Ricky's 2024, which will hopefully now kick on in 2025 following his brutal (but awesome) attack on Michael Oku at Uprising. He needed some direction and to be a focal point and that looks like where we are heading.

So, why was this encounter so impressive? Different styles of wrestling appeal to different people and one of my favourite things about RevPro is every card offers variety without being wildly far apart from my principle tastes in pro wrestling which focus upon traditional, competitive, sports-based storytelling. Very rarely do you get a match which pits two people infamous for one primary style of wrestling against one another and everyone who comes into RevPro is expected to have the versatility to wrestle a range of styles. Look at Robbie X, the best high flyer in the company, yet we have seen him mat wrestle with Robbie Eagles and go toe for toe in battle with Gabe Kidd. Mike D Vecchio and RKJ meet the criteria laid out as hybrid athletes - they can do just about everything in a ring - and this match was centred around the phrase "holy shit" and the question "how?"

How did he get up from that? How can a man that size, move that quick? How can a man that big jump so far? HOW?

I saw an AEW card announcement earlier today and it had Kenny Omega Vs Brian Cage on it and that made me think of this match. Mike D is that Brian Cage type, where he baffles the brain and wows a crowd with his range of motion and skillset. Ricky moves with the velocity and snap that Kenny does. He is not built in the Kenny Omega mould which many are, such as the level of influence the Best Bout Machine has had on the current generation of wrestlers, but I would be shocked if Mike D has not used Brian Cage as a source of inspiration in terms of body building and combining that with pro wrestling.

If you like blockbuster wrestling, the kind that packs a punch, moves at lightning speed and gets you off your seat, you'll bloody love this.

Come back tomorrow for one more from the same show for the 13th RECOMMENDED match of Dry January as Mike D Vecchio was not the only person to make an impressive Sheffield debut... 👀

Like Connor Mills Vs Trent Seven, this contest had a full match breakdown as it's own article, posted to this thread when it happened, and if you fancy the full Mark Out of this Epic Encounter, scroll down for exactly 8.74 seconds and you will find it. On mobile? 18 swipes of the finger should work.

Alas, here I am once more recommending a Robbie X match - not for the first time this Dry January and not for the last. This one is proper special, though, and I'm going to go balls to the wall and say this match is my favourite Robbie X of all that I have seen. At the time of writing that is 56 live matches and a similar amount again on top of that via RevPro On Demand. This one was really special and deserves so much love.

KUSHIDA announced something to the effect of "My Best Of The Super Juniors starts now" after this contest and that was such a statement after Robbie was overlooked by NJPW for BOSJ 2024. And, to be fair, this match and the work did Robbie in the months following it must have made NJPW management take note as they made no such mistake when it came to Junior Tag League, six months later, with Robbie X teaming with Taiji Ishimori and being a real highlight of the tournament.

This contest was one of the simplest and most traditional contests on any RevPro card all year but was done with such expertise that it was completely encapsulating and peaked with such breathtaking moments. It clocked in at just under 15 minutes and every single moment of that duration contributed to what was a proper pro wrestling story. 

KUSHIDA was one of the fastest moving, high risk, high reward junior heavyweights in the world when he was at his physical peak. Today, Robbie X, who turned 30 earlier this week, is at that very peak. But, where KUSHIDA may not be able to take the risks he once could, he is now at his mental peak - manipulating matches, utilising a wider range of skills and mastering the technical, submission mat game to systematically breakdown an opponent, and that is exactly what this match is.

KUSHIDA is in control for almost the entire match, with Robbie utilising a combination of a blitz attack and a counter attack, trying to change the momentum in his favour, whilst KUSHIDA breaks him down limb by limb. This is one of those matches where the closer you watch it the more you are rewarded - it is just two of the best at what they do delivering a clinic. 

To give you an idea as to how much I loved this match, I am going to go off on a wee tangent - bare with me - it'll make sense in the end...

One of my favourite bands of all time is Radiohead; no other band has so many songs that can stop me dead in my tracks and make me feel. I saw them live in Chelmsford in 2006, headlining the V Festival. I've never seen them live again and I am completely at peace with that as they were perfect. They simply could not give me more or better than what they gave me that night.

That is how I feel about KUSHIDA after this match. I am more than content in the knowledge that, if I never see KUSHIDA live again, it is ok - he gave me the perfect wrestling match.

In Stevenage. In the middle of the card. In fifteen minutes.

Watch it on RevPro On Demand (revproondemand.com or via the IOS/Android app, £7.40 per month and all that...) and embrace the beauty of its simplicity. Then come back tomorrow for our next RECOMMENDED match this Dry January, for tomorrow we head to Sheffield. Twice.

Ah... RevPro Live In Spain... Wasn't it a glorious time to be a fan of European pro wrestling? It was, in fact, the only week of 2024 to be deemed Villain Free such was the vibe amidst the celebration of British and Iberian wrestling. It was also our hello to Zozaya, a man we have taken in and are cherishing for as long as we can until we inevitably have to say goodbye to bigger things, which he is so clearly destined for. One hopes we will always share 'El Freestyler' and never have to fully give him up, but a star was uncovered in April and the world is just starting to glimpse the level of talent and the unlimited potential he possesses.

However, there was so much more to Live In Barcelona - we were introduced to 'Goldenboy' Santos, a man who has put roots down in RevPro ever since; going on to represent the company at the Copper Box for the biggest show of the year in RevPro's annual anniversary show, as well as being involved in integral stories with David Francisco. We saw Iker Navarro make his RevPro debut, someone who has gone on to make two more appearances since, both here in the UK, and we, of course, saw Sito Sanchez and Joey Torres, the Barcelona Blacklist, for the first time. And outside of Zozaya, who stole all of the headlines as he inevitably would, it was Sanchez and Torres who were the talk of RevPro fans here in the UK in the days after the event.

BBL took on GYV, the newly crowned (at the time) Undisputed British Tag Team Champions, in front of a crowd desperate to see them, show out for them and elevate their match. Sadly my relentless, and almost religious, following of RevPro is currently exclusive to the UK dates, due to the demands of being a full time teacher and dad to three little cherubs, so I was watching this one from home via RevPro On Demand and the noise, the reaction and the enthusiasm for the whole show was fantastic but, for Barcelona Blacklist and then Zozaya, it was notably amped up - the crowd were HOT and that added so much to those encounters.

GYV got to be the grizzled, veteran heels that literally defines them - they are masters of the role - and Sito and Joey got to be the underdog, local boys done good - and that dynamic worked so well. The action itself was really high level, not surprising given the GYV pedigree but the fluidity, synergy and speed which BBL worked in tandem was noticeable and made for such a well paced and entertaining encounter, cramming tonnes of action into just 13 minutes. If we did a Top 10 Tag Team Matches for RevPro in 2024 (we should do that, my lovelies 🤔) this would be Top 5 without a shadow of a doubt, maybe even Top 3. That is some doing for a pair of debuting 20 year olds!

My biggest complaint was how it took RevPro another six months to get these guys back! But, they were worth the wait, coming back for the Trios Grand Prix, teaming with Zozaya, and defeating Sha-Shine Machine (Sha Samuels, Chuck Mambo and TK Cooper) and Heróis Do Mar (David Francisco, 'Goldenboy' Santos and Damiao) before falling to CPF (Joe Lando, Danny Black and Maverick Mayhew) in the final. It was a wonderful return and evidence that their encounter wasn't simply beginner's luck; no, these boys are a serious commodity and an act I genuinely hope can make a home for themselves in RevPro.

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Sunshine Machine

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Greedy Souls

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Trew & Lacey

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Lykos Gym

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Flying Bryant Brothers

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Rising Tide

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Harry Milligan & Sha Samuels / Josh James & Sha Samuels

Barcelona Blacklist Vs Brixia Bone Breakers

Barcelona Blacklist Vs The Velocities

Barcelona Blacklist Vs The Rebellion

There's a Top 10 List for ya!

So, that's day 10 of Dry January - our second GYV match from the hot, hot start to their tag title run and our introduction to two hugely talented newcomers. Tomorrow we get technical. And OLD SCHOOL. Come back then for your next RECOMMENDED match to keep the drought of RevPro's Dry January manageable for all the Marks out there, from the biggest Mark of them all.

See you tomorrow team.

Another day, another JJ Gale main event. It's the nineteenth day since RevPro took my love away and the ninth day of Dry January. And we are hitting back to back JJ Gale RECOMMENDED matches and back to back Gale Force main events - you love to see it. I remember this show clear as day as, whilst catching up with a fellow loyal RevPro fan, infamous for his love of timekeeping, during the interval, we praised the first half of the card and previewed what was to come in the second half. As we did, he asked me words to the effect of "Will one of these matches go a level above the rest?" Upon the conclusion of the main event, we smiled at one another and agreed; "That did!"

April's visit to the 229, the fourth of 2024, saw the third 229 main event of the year to be headlined by JJ Gale. It also came six days after JJ headlined the 1865 against Josh Alexander, in last night's RECOMMENDED contest. JJ started 2024 hot and it felt like a significant show of support for him from RevPro management to both elevate their presentation of him and to show their trust in his matches to reach the heights that are expected from a RevPro main event. Trust which he paid back time and time again as three of his four singles main event matches are featured in this list.

What I also love about this contest is just how much juice RevPro gets out of each of their fruits. This triple threat match was a banger of a main event - lovely. Thank you very much; I really enjoyed it and you did a great job of showing me how seriously we need to start taking JJ Gale from 2023 to 2024. He is not yet in the conversation for Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, his win-loss record needs to start balancing the other way for that to happen, but he is so much closer now than he was in 2023 and that was what we were told here.

However, the juice just keeps squeezing. From this match we got RKJ Vs Connor Mills in Barcelona, RKJ Vs JJ at Epic Encounter and Mills Vs JJ at the next 229 in May. We also got the team of JJ & Robbie X Vs Mills & Chris Ridgeway in Sheffield, which led to Mills & Ridgeway Vs Sunshine Machine at the 229 on the back of the victory they obtained and the chemistry they showed as a team, only for them to just as quickly implode and face each other one on one at the June Sheffield Network show. So, for my money, that is six matches built off the back of this one, across six shows and two and a half months. And you know what? All of those matches delivered and not one of them felt stale. Some booking, that.

The match itself? Exactly what you'd hope for - Mills and Ricky showing why they are two of the hardest hitters in Europe, JJ being the underdog babyface caught in the middle, three of the fastest movers in the ring who combine speed, power and impact. All that and a lean into the sadistic, ruthless, risk taking Connor Mills we came to love and hate in equal measures in 2024. It's class. But you knew that by looking at the match graphic.

It's on revproondemand.com (of course it is) and I'm back tomorrow with Day 10 of Dry January as we head out to Barcelona for some much needed sun, an introduction to some people we very quickly became very fond of and, most importantly, for some Pro Wrestling At Its Best.

31 RECOMMENDED matches in 31 days as we survive the RevPro drought together, my lovelies.

And our final Dry January delve into Live In Southampton 29 - the Regional Show Of The Year in the This Is A Revolution End Of Year Awards - brings us to Josh Alexander and JJ Gale, a little trip down memory lane and an anecdotal peak behind the curtain.

Like many of you I am sure, I have RevPro X notifications turned on so I get those sweet match announcements the moment they hit the timeline. And every now and then RevPro drop a graphic which makes me sit up, audibly gasp or go running to my Mrs to Mark Out, whilst she tries not to judge me for being the massive Mark that I am. The Revolution Rumble graphic dropped and, shortly after, the "Josh Alexander Enters The Revolution Rumble" graphic dropped. And I, unsurprisingly, had one of those moments.

I had always been a WWF fan growing up, watching everything I could get my hands on from 1993 to 1997, mainly dependent on my aunt in Norfolk sending us tapes from Sky Sports. We then got Sky as I hit 10/11 years old and I religiously watched everything WWF put out from 1998-2003, getting up at 1am to watch PPVs before school as a teenager. I started to dip out of it in 2004 but still watched casually until fully switching off in 2006. It took me until 2016 to return to WWE and, through NXT, I started to discover the world of professional wrestling - from Lucha Underground to Ring Of Honor to NJPW to NWA to Impact to RevPro.

As I discovered the world of professional wrestling beyond Raw and Smackdown, certain wrestlers captivated me and hooked me in to their promotion; Kota Ibushi in NJPW, Jonathan Gresham in RoH, Michael Oku in RevPro and Josh Alexander in Impact. I always said that if I needed a wrestler to build a promotion around in North America, it would be Josh Alexander - the quintessential modern-day babyface at a time when companies were struggling so much to find a way to present one convincingly.

This is why my little Mark heart filled with joy when RevPro booked Josh Alexander. Easter Sunday was Revolution Rumble and I got it in the neck from my wife, my mother in law and my kids for abandoning a family tradition of Easter egg hunts and a Sunday roast together to get myself to York Hall to see Josh Alexander. 

At this time I happened to be in conversation with RevPro management and I told them how I was not very popular with the wife for foregoing Easter Sunday and I was asked if I was coming to Southampton on the Monday. I said that I had better not or I might risk divorce. I remember saying, "unless you've been able to get Josh Alexander for both dates and he's main eventing Southampton, I'll have to give this one a miss" or words to that effect.

The response was along the lines of "See you there, then".

Decision made; sorry Emily, sorry kids, I'm off to see one of the finest wrestlers in the world put on a RevPro main event - which effectively means; I'm going to watch Josh Alexander wrestle a 20 minute clinic in pro wrestling. Easter Sunday AND Easter Monday were lost to the Walking Weapon.

And a clinic is exactly what this was. I recall my mate Spike saying he wasn't too familiar with Josh - knew of him of course, but wasn't up to speed with why I raved about him as much as I did. After the match he smiled at me and said "I totally get it". 

Now this may have been somewhat of a love letter to Josh Alexander, on this Dry January night, but let's not fail to mention JJ Gale. ANOTHER main event slot for him and arguably his biggest "household name" opponent at this stage of his career. And JJ more than kept to his end of the bargain - it takes two people to put on a match this good and this was one of those moments when people really realised how far JJ had levelled up to. The success of this match would have been even more evidence to support Andy Quildan giving JJ Gale the Ishii match at the Copper Box.

Give it a watch and then come back tomorrow night for Match 9 of Dry January, my 31 RECOMMENDED matches to keep the RevPro fire burning in this month without shows.

And as promised my lovelies, we are staying with 'The Raw After Wrestlemania' on Easter Monday in Southampton's 1865 for our next two RECOMMENDED matches for Dry January, beginning with Grizzled Young Veterans Vs Sunshine Machine in one of the finest tag matches across all 43 Revolution Pro Wrestling events in 2024. And in true unpredictable fashion, playing into the vibe of the show, where it felt like anything could happen, Grizzled Young Veterans agreed to put the championships on the line making this an Undisputed British Tag Team Championship match!

Grizzled Young Veterans won the belts the night prior at the Revolution Rumble, defeating Subculture and ending Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews' 266 day reign as champions. Sunshine Machine, the longest reigning champions of the post-pandemic era, talked their way into a title defence, convincing James Drake and Zack Gibson to put their belts on the line and giving the Southampton crowd a match with high stakes. To be successful, though, Sunshine Machine would have to get over the 'Southampton Curse'.

In four years of Sunshine Machine representing RevPro and all those visits, therefore, to the south coast and to Southampton's 1865, TK and Mambo had recorded one solitary victory, over CPF in the Summer of 2022. In fact, it was that very match which led me to coin the phrase "We Need To Talk About TK" which was the first glimpse of what could easily have been the destruction and collapse of Sunshine Machine in Revolution Pro Wrestling.

On that night TK had more snap, more frustration and more anger in his strikes against Danny Black and Joe Lando and, upon winning, he was emotionless for long enough for this author to detect it and question it, before the relief kicked in. And that moment underpinned everything we saw from a frustrated, out of form and struggling Sunshine Machine throughout the second half of 2022 and into 2023. All the way up to, in fact, this match with GYV.

The match between these two teams was a fantastic clash between two of the most fluid, well oiled and consistent teams in pro wrestling and was a celebration of what makes tag team wrestling unique. You will not find two better teams at dual offence, at understanding and utilising tag team psychology and evoking a reaction from a crowd. The way GYV cut off the ring, isolating TK Cooper from Chuck Mambo for large portions of the match, before eventually winning the match by hitting the Doomsday Device and Grit Your Teeth on Mambo was enthralling to watch, playing into the dynamic between Chuck and TK which underpinned so much of the great work they have done in the nine months since this contest.

Upon the GYV victory and during the post match promo, the seeds for what would be one of the best stories told in Revolution Pro Wrestling all year were sown. With TK and Mambo clearly frustrated at the loss and angered by the patronising tone of GYV, TK cast doubt over the future of Sunshine Machine in RevPro. This advanced the arc the team were on which would lead us all the way to the Copper Box Arena rematch between the two teams at the 12th Anniversary. One of the most intriguing moments of the year, this, which was pivotal in leading to one of the most cathartic moments of the year four months later.

Masterful stuff.

The 'Raw After Wrestlemania' is a long standing wrestling tradition and represents the unpredictability of the show which followed the biggest wrestling event in the WWE calendar. When the 2024 dates revealed that Live In Southampton 29 was on Bank Holiday Monday, Easter Monday in fact, and that Easter Sunday was going to be the Revolution Rumble, we joked that it was going to be a feast or famine situation. It was certainly a feast, I can assure you!

The 'Southampton After The Rumble' felt a lot like a 'Raw After Wrestlemania'; we got an unannounced Gabe Kidd match, Anthony Ogogo wiped out an unannounced Michael Oku, the David Francisco-Southampton love affair blossomed and Josh Alexander wrestled in a 20 minute singles match in front of 200 people. It was chaotic, exciting and rightfully, in my opinion, the winner of the Regional Show Of The Year in the This Is A Revolution End Of Year Awards, as voted on by 50 RevPro fans up and down the country. 

The show was special and we will be revisiting it tomorrow and Wednesday for our RECOMMENDED matches as Dry January approaches the end of our first week. Our first delive into this event, though HAD to be the incredible contest fought between Aigle Blanc and Robbie X in what was a contender for the best Robbie X match I have ever seen, which is quite the statement given I, at the time of writing, have seen 56 of Robbie X's RevPro and NJPW matches.

Coming into the Revolution Rumble, Aigle Blanc was someone I was unfamiliar with, besides the reliable recommendation from Andy at the Tea & Tights Podcast who had sung his praises when I had guested on the podcast not long before the event. Blanc debuted the night before in the Revolution Rumble but I had not had the opportunity to truly appreciate him until this contest with Robbie. A wXw stalwart and a regular for RIXE, BZW and APC, amongst others, booking Blanc against Robbie was a no brainer, given the barnstormer for RIXE six months before which had got rave reviews, and this match picked up exactly where that left off.

If you love your pro wrestling fast paced, high flying and high risk, you will love this. Blanc matched Robbie for speed, something few can do, but also has a strong frame to match the underrated and often overlooked power that Robbie packs. It was an incredible exhibition which epitomised Robbie's association with the phrase 'International Dream Match' and the reversals in the final third of the match were breathtaking and drew the crowd closer and closer - this was one of the best and loudest  Southampton crowds (for the right reasons) that I've heard and they were BANG into this. The X Clamation counters drew audible gasps and the finish came to rapturous applause. My only question is, when can we have Aigle Blanc back in RevPro? 

The whole show is on revproondemand.com (obvs) so give it a watch tonight and come back tomorrow for Day 7 of Dry January and your next RECOMMENDED match.

Our next stop on our Dry January tour of 2024 sees us head to the HMV Empire in Coventry for the first ever RevPro show at the venue, a fortnight removed from the Revolution Rumble. It also saw the booking of Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Michael Oku against Man Like Dereiss in a rare RevPro appearance for the 0121 man and my first ever live experience of a man with a big reputation.

Spoiler: I was not disappointed.

Michael Oku had overcome Will Ospreay the month prior in THAT match, the second highest rated Pro Wrestling Illustrated match of all of 2024, and was being set up for a programme with Leyton Buzzard which would see him defend the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship against 'El Capitan' at Revolution Rumble on the 31st March. 

As for Dereiss, it was our first look at him since his pair of RevPro appearances in 2022, first in a singles contest with RKJ and second in the Scramble match that Connor Mills won to earn the right to face PAC for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. Since those appearances, Dereiss had been, and continues to be, absolutely everywhere. Making a home for himself everywhere from GCW and DEFY to PROGRESS and OTT, Dereiss has become one of the hottest independent wrestlers in the world. The excitement for this one was high, therefore.

Add to this the intangible but undeniable Oku-factor. Firstly, Oku and Dereiss know each well and had fought many times across many companies. In fact, they fought the night before in Leicester for Wrestling Resurgence! Michael Oku also has a proven track record of being an incredibly giving and consistent wrestler for RevPro newcomers to face to help them have the best possible debut/return. In a RevPro ring he got the best out of Brett Semtex, Mitch Waterman and Iker Navarro and played a huge part in the incredible breakthroughs of Zozaya, Leon Cage and, further back, Cameron Khai.

The match had everything it needed to be a killer main event but, with Greedy Souls challenging Subculture for the Undisputed British Tag Team Championships on the card, it was chosen to kayfabe open proceedings, yet actually went on second after an impromptu match between Reece & Rogan and The Contenders opened the show. In hindsight, perhaps it should have main evented - they got the loudest reaction of any match on the card, with both men incredibly popular with the Coventry crowd, and the 20 minute run time was well worthy of a main event slot, with the action backing up the investment in time it was given. 

From bell to bell this one comprises two stars working a competitive match based upon their knowledge of one another and playing to their own strengths - Oku works the leg, slowing Dereiss down, taking out his base from which his power and his agility stem, weakening the leg for the eventual Half Crab tap out. Dereiss sings, dances and is over like no-one you've ever seen but, when you strip all of that back, you are still left with a top level pro wrestler, one of the best the independents has to offer. Go watch this and come back tomorrow for Day 6 of Dry January and your next RECOMMENDED match.

The first trip to Southampton of 2024 was the High Stakes go-home show and the first trip up to Sheffield started the journey from High Stakes to the Revolution Rumble. And, for the second time this Dry January we find ourselves Marking Out over Connor Mills. 'True Grit' faced Luke Jacobs in the coveted fourth sport on the RevPro card in a match which was voted as the Match Of The Year from the Sheffield Network from fifty fans up and down the country as part of the This Is A Revolution End Of Year Awards. Given the quality that venue saw this year, that is quite the accolade!

Last time this column RECOMMENDED a Mills match, he was putting on a masterpiece in in-ring storytelling and technical warfare against Trent Seven, the match which led to him facing Zack Sabre Jr at High Stakes. That bout with ZSJ was critically acclaimed and highly praised by fans, with many ranking it highly on end of year lists. Meanwhile, Luke Jacobs went three in a row with victories over Nico Inverardi, Yuto Nakashima and JJ Gale, at High Stakes, which also earned rave reviews. Therefore the booking of Mills Vs Jacobs was a bold one and the expectation was that it might give an indication as to who was going to carry momentum towards the Revolution Rumble.

If you are reading this, you don't need me to sell you this match. The chances of you reading this and being not aware of Luke Jacobs and Connor Mills and what they bring to European pro wrestling is nigh-on zero. Therefore, use your imagination and you'll come close to how good this was. Two of the hardest hitting men in British wrestling, two different but equally violent approaches to the sport and twenty-two minutes which show us exactly what they can deliver, without blowing their full load; in fact they left plenty on the table for further matches, the first of which came in the opener of the Revolution Rumble, and plenty more we hope to see down the line.

The work was intense from the start; an incredibly physical contest indicative of why both men find themselves in the positions within BritWres that they are. The strikes, the chops, the lariats - everything makes you wince and look away. If you like your strong-style wrestling, this is will be right up your street.

The finish comes with a very rare, unique and surprising result - a double knockout. Anything other than a clean pinfall or submission finish can be loathed by some wrestling fans as a carny result designed to avoid a definitive result. This is often a result of being cursed from watching promotions where that has been a booking pattern for years and can be a real turn off. However, when used sparingly, in my eyes, there is a place for all manner of finishes and this was one which was cleverly deployed without diminishing the outcome in the slightest.

As Mills and Jacobs looked to resort to desperate measures to put the other away and, having drawn each other into a real pissing contest, a series of headbutts took place which were disgustingly visceral. The third such headbutt knocked both men off of their feet and, struggling to find their equilibrium, referee Chris Hatch called an end to the match, declaring neither wrestler fit to continue. It might have got the customary boos from the fans that a finish such as this tends to get but they LOVED every minute leading up to the finish AND voted it their Match Of The Year; a terrific display from two of the finest wrestlers in all of European wrestling.

And that brings me to my final takeaway - there are many things I love about RevPro's vision of professional wrestling but the idea of rivalries over feuds is the biggest and that is exactly what this is - a chapter in a long term feud between two incredible wrestlers competing against one another for spots, for opportunities and for titles. Competitive, sports based professional wrestling.

Go watch it - it's bloody marvellous. Oh, and come back tomorrow for Day 5 of Dry January and your next RECOMMENDED match from 2024, eh? Nice one.

This one very much went under the radar for most people but it was a significant match long-term for both men and was a highly entertaining demonstration of how RevPro structure their matches. That's all well and good but, most importantly, this was also the match of the night for me on our first trip to Southampton of 2024. Let's explore.

Firstly this match was a great example of why the RevPro-Anthony Ogogo relationship worked so well - Ogogo brought eyes and crossover star power to RevPro and RevPro gave Ogogo the chance to wrestle longer, more competitive matches than he was getting anywhere else against seasoned pros. David Francisco, Robbie X, Sha Samuels - Ogogo fought men who have been doing this for years and are either full time trainers at the London School Of Wrestling or are in high demand for pro wrestling seminars. This was, at the time, Ogogo's best match of his career in my book and was topped only at Raw Deal when Ogogo and Michael Oku fought for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship.

I recall the criticism of the match at the time being that it went longer than it should, that Ogogo should have put Francisco away quicker to maintain his dominant aura and because of Francisco's role as a Contender. However, I have both kayfabe and shoot arguments against that. On the one hand, it gave Ogogo the opportunity to wrestle a longer match than he was getting to work elsewhere and to demonstrate a wider range in his work. More importantly, it worked wonders for Francisco - the sympathetic, underdog hero of Southampton and this leans into the explanation of where the 'Patron Saint Of St Mary's' came from in the first place. 

Today we learned that David Francisco will challenge for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship on 9th February 2025, one year from this match. And that match, and the rise of Francisco, does not happen without this match with Ogogo, without Levi Muir, without Spike Trivet and without the incredible work David Francisco has done to capitalise on these moments and the many Southampton moments since. 

August 2023, David Francisco fought Levi Muir in Southampton and was beaten to an inch of his life in a moment that had people touting Levi Muir as a future Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. The Francisco effect. In Southampton. October 2023, David Francisco stepped up when no else did as Spike Trivet took liberties with Robbie X and was brutally whipped with a belt over and over and over again. Again, in Southampton. Then this - Ogogo beating Francisco by referee stoppage, draping the British flag over his lifeless body as Francisco's best support anywhere on the RevPro circuit booed Ogogo and mourned for their hero.

Is it any surprise his Centerpiece promo after the Revolution Rumble was so loudly cheered and not booed by the 1865? These moments are where the run of Francisco's life stems from and this match was a huge part of it. It's not a technical classic but it makes you feel and that is what matters. Find time for it today and come back tomorrow for your next Dry January RECOMMENDED match.

When this match took place in February of 2024, I wrote a recommendation for it immediately and, if you want a detailed breakdown of the match, scroll on down to the bottom of this page and you will find it as the second match RECOMMENDED in this column. The takeaway I had at the time was that it was "in the argument alongside Ospreay Vs Alexander in Impact and Okada Vs Danielson in NJPW for match of the year thus far" and I stand by that. Today, though, I want to explore not just what made this match incredible but also how important it was in the 2024 that Connor Mills went on to have.

So, why this one? The dynamics were so expertly presented and explored, by showing and not telling. It presented Trent as the most vulnerable and sympathetic I have ever seen him in RevPro, calling back to the best work that he and Tyler Bate did in NXT with Undisputed Era, and Mills had never looked this cerebral, vicious and calculating. The match was designed to set up Mills Vs Zack Sabre Jr at High Stakes and show people why that match would be as special it was and I don't think we will ever see "a match to make a match" better than this one. Mills Vs ZSJ at High Stakes took 4.5* from Dave Meltzer and is felt to be underrated by many fans, myself included. This one was right there with it - make no mistake about that. Two career defining matches within the space of a fortnight.

Trent Vs Mills is a match I would direct anyone to watch who wants to know why I love pro wrestling. You don't need to know the story or the history and you don't need a hype package to feel it - it's there to see. The struggle between the two is so visceral - this is not ballet, this is not spots and sequences - this is two professional wrestlers trying to win a professional wrestling match. One is visibly struggling more than the other and is clearly showing songs of wear and tear from a long career against someone who is clearly at their physical peak and is enjoying the malicious and systematic breakdown of his opponent.

As the match evolves, knowing the history allows you to revel in the deeper story as it takes on a metaphor of two lions fighting to be the head of the pride. Trent has done it all - he's been to the top of the mountain in the industry and is now enjoying the twilight years of his career, taking in whatever bookings he wants, wherever he wants - even having documentaries made about the journey. Mills, though, is at the start of that journey and is tired of seeing the likes of Michael Oku, Leon Slater and Dani Luna getting opportunities ahead of him.

I genuinely believe every professional wrestler in the world would enjoy watching this match and that the vast majority would learn a huge amount by watching the facial expressions, the selling, the ring psychology incorporated and each and every small detail at play. This is mastery and makes the greatest wrestling match out of so little. Think about it - the very best matches of the year, the ones you loved the most, were likely built on lengthy feuds and promo exchanges, performed live in front of huge crowds. This was a Sunday in the 229 in front of 150-200 people. Yes, it was a rematch of a match the month prior, but you did not need to see that match to understand anything from this one. Trent and Mills created Michelin food out of the humblest of ingredients. 

Think about the character arc of Connor Mills and you realise just how pivotal this match was. Mills had spent 2023 trying to find himself as a heel in the post-Destination Everywhere landscape. He experimented with his presentation - with theme music, with ring gear, with haircuts - and he experimented with wrestling styles. He had won by narrow escape and by cheating, taking on the weasel-role - he was dubbed by yours truly the Cockroach of RevPro for a period at this time - and, whilst it all worked, it did not elevate him to the levels that his peers had reached. Michael Oku and RKJ were established as the two top dogs in RevPro, with Zack Sabre Jr and Will Ospreay the star attractions of the major events. Luke Jacobs was growing and was earning the right to be the next main eventer. And Mills was not quite there.

How does that all link to this match? Well, many attribute Mills' incredible 2024 to the critically acclaimed match he had with Zack Sabre Jr at High Stakes and the run he then went on but this contest with Trent was the match that started that fire. Mills lost the Cruiserweight Championship he had escaped the Copper Box '23 with to Leon Slater at Uprising, at the tail end of 2023, and his 2024 began with Trent and ZSJ. This was where the growth in character took place and where Mills found himself and his USP in RevPro and BritWres; he is the new technical master, the personification of piss and vinegar, the man with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to do whatever it takes to get to the top, unapologetically, mercilessly and violently. The biggest question left to answer is, does he still have a soft spot in his heart for his oldest friend, Michael Oku, and it is only a matter of time before we find out. 

Simply, Mills' 2024 run, the best run of his career, starts here. As for Trent? Genuinely, the best singles match of the man's career that I have seen, without question. And that is saying something as very few wrestlers make me feel their pain more than Trent has done time and time and time again over the years.

Treat yourself; watch this one back today and come back tomorrow for Day 3 of Dry January.

So for our first forage into the archives we rewind the clock to the very first show of 2024, to Live In London 81, for what was one of the most exciting, entertaining and unhinged matches of the year as a rare mixed tag match occured putting the Undisputed British Heavyweight, Cruiserweight and Women's  Champions against three very different rivals. On one side, Michael Oku, fresh from retaining his championship against Zack Gibson at Uprising, alongside the newly crowned Leon Slater and Dani Luna. Opposite them, Oku's long term rival Luke Jacobs, the returning Jordon Breaks, making his first RevPro appearance since RevPro XII at the Copper Box, and the debuting Harley Hudson. When the match graphic dropped for this it was one of those which equally surprised, bemused and excited, but I don't think anyone was prepared for the absolute riot it turned out to be.

Now I don't want to tap too much into the heavily divisive topic of intergender wrestling and, from everything that's been presented in RevPro history, coupled with things spoken about between RevPro management and various interviewers over the years, it is not going to be a regular feature of RevPro programming and does not marry up with the sporting framework they present for their wrestling divisions.

However, when they dip into men and women locking up, they do not hesitate to let them go at it with full force. If you had any doubts over that, just watch Dani Luna and Luke Jacobs stand toe to toe and watch the power of the Leg Lariat Leon Slater virtually decapitated Harley Hudson with. And listen to the reaction of the crowd; because it is used sparingly, this felt fresh, different; appointment viewing to reward those in attendance and generate real FOMO in those who passed it up.

The action took in every inch of the 229, with a merch table destroyed and wild scenes throughout. Once the action returned to the ring, there were a series of first time ever confrontations, unique and exciting double teams between partners you had never conceived before and plenty of nearfalls to keep you biting and hanging on in there, with nigh on thirty minutes of RevPro at its best. 

The victory from the 'contenders', shall we call them - note, little c, not big C - saw Jordon Breaks pin Leon Slater and, with that, we set up the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship match between Leon and Jordan which saw a shock new champion. As for Luke and Michael, they continued to be within one another's orbit for all of 2024 and bookended the year through brilliant long term story telling. The one big surprise is that we have not seen Harley Hudson back yet - something I hope RevPro rectify in 2025. Go watch it now, my lovelies; start the year right!

Some matches have the heavy burden of expectation before the wrestlers even step foot in the ring and that often comes from fan anticipation, delayed gratification and from promoters edging fans with a series of 'almosts' on the way to the pay off. The fact that this match went down without any specific build (other than years of shared history and a tie-in to the Oku Vs Jacobs storyline) plus the fact that it happened in the 229 and not York Hall/York Hall-adjacent told me two things; we are truly spoilt with talent in 2024 in British professional wrestling and our time with Michael Oku in Revolution Pro Wrestling has an uncertainty to it; or at least that is the narrative at play IF it is just workers working and Marks like me eating up every breadcrumb they drop at our feet. Either way, last Sunday we were treated to a match I've been clamouring for since the first time I watched Ethan Allen wrestle, as Allen faced Michael Oku at Live In London 90. Why did I Mark Out so much for one? Let's explore.

First, let's give that history lesson. It is, after all, the only use I get of my degree in Social & Cultural History these days...

Young Guns and Destination Everywhere were entangled in conflict in 2021 - they faced within the A Block of the Great British Tag League before going at it once more for the Undisputed British Tag Team Championships in two twenty plus minute wars, with Oku and Mills coming out the victor each time. Simultaneously, Allen's tag partner and fellow Young Gun, Luke Jacobs, chased Oku's Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship, with Allen by his side, capturing it at Summer Sizzler 2022 at the second attempt.

Whilst injury kept Allen out of action for all of 2022 and 2023, he was constantly referred to on commentary and Jacobs was always introduced as "one half of the Young Guns" during his meteoric singles run with the Cruiserweight belt and then in the heavyweight division. And when Jacobs and Oku were put on a collision course with Jacobs winning the Revolution Rumble earlier this year, it was Allen who was with Jacobs celebrating.

It was then that Allen made his return, bringing Oku and Allen back within one another's orbit. Their first physical interaction came in Sheffield in June during the Revolution Tag main event where Allen pinned and eliminated Oku, the then Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. The facts are what they are but the additional context comes from Luke Jacobs who had battered Oku to an inch of his life prior, presenting him to Allen as Jacobs had been eliminated already himself.

Oku was to get his own back in Southampton when Oku and Zozaya defeated Young Guns, with Oku having the last laugh prior to RevPro XII Anniversary, though Jacobs left the Copper Box with the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship and Ethan Allen left with the biggest win of his singles career, over Connor Mills, as Young Guns bookended the biggest show of RevPro's year.

At Global Wars last month, Oku defeated RKJ to put himself back on course to the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship and to set up a date with Jacobs in December at Uprising and, thus, this match, now, made perfect sense, even if there is argument to say it could have been built to as a major stop for Oku on his road to Uprising.

And so, to the match itself.  The first thing I LOVED was the urgency in which Ethan Allen came to the ring and the intense stare down he and Michael Oku had from the moment Oku and Amira stepped down into the 229. The stare down continued around the ring, onto the apron and throughout Oku's "Now We Play" call and response. Oku stepped to Ethan to close the distance between them and showed no sign of intimidation. If this was your first ever RevPro show, and you knew none of this story, you already knew that business had just picked up.

As the bell rang, Oku took the centre of the ring, a confident move, even if his face didn't have the confidence his feet did. Allen took the early advantage, backing Oku to the corner before Oku was the first to take his opponent to the ground. It was a tense start, added to by Amira and Allen exchanging insults.

The match rolled to the outside within these opening minutes and Ethan launched Oku, first onto the apron, and then the ring post, seemingly breaking Oku's nose in the process. As the action returned to the ring, the extent of the injury could be seen as blood gushed from Oku's face to the mat and Allen, like a shark smelling blood, launched himself onto Oku. Sickeningly, as Allen kicked Oku in the back the blood could be seen flying off in all directions. The injury may have been an added bonus to Allen's game plan but he took every advantage and it added to the image of viciousness, sadism and mercilessness that Allen epitomises. The punches to the head, the headlock which bordered on a Bulldog Choke looked vile and the blood that covered Allen's looked gnarly.

Allen is an outstanding trash talker and him seeming aggrieved at Oku's injury and the fact that Oku was not able to deliver his hardest shots back worked brilliantly to deliver the idea of how much this match meant to Allen and how much he wanted to prove himself against the best. Allen berating Oku with his own "Now We Play" taunt, intended to lift Oku and bring the fight out of him, juxtaposed beautifully against the hot crowd's hearty Michael Oku chants. Similarly, Allen was heard telling Amira to throw in the towel, knowing that telling her to would put her off doing it, ensuring Allen would get what he wanted - HIS match with Oku. All this led to a comeback from Oku and, just as Allen drew it out of him, Allen slapped the fight back out of him. 

As Oku's next comeback was drawn out of him, Allen looked to close the deal and end the match, seemingly having had his fill and having enjoyed playing with his food, ready to feast and pick up the biggest win of his career. First the Sleeper Hold, then the Olympic Slam and then the Crossface. None got the job done. With Oku slumped in the corner, Allen showed his emotional side and his first sign of frustration with a visceral, guteral and disgusting punch to the ribs. After Amira and Allen exchanged words, Amira spat in Allen's face and Allen rained down shots to Oku's head. I cannot put over how uncomfortable this was to watch but in the most beautifully violent way.

As Oscar Harding pulled Ethan away from the corner, having exhausted his five count, Oku delivered a Hail Mary kick to the back of Allen's surgically repaired knee and the comeback was on with a series of drop kicks but, as the comeback gained momentum, the beautifully timed and sudden catch from Allen of Oku into a Sleeper Hold was one of the most elegantly, technical transitions I have seen in a RevPro ring this year. This fed into the finish, with Oku and Allen working against one another's holds as Oku fished for the legs for the Half Crab and Allen sought the arms to pull back into his horrific looking finisher - what are we calling it; a Mounted Double Armed Chickenwing? Someone help me out there, eh? Oku came out on top, pulling Allen into the Half Crab, surviving Oku Vs Allen Part I with a submission win in what was one of the most intense matches of the year. 

This was truly special and represented everything I love about wrestling. Pure piss and vinegar, technically masterful, genuinely intense and something you could completely lose yourself in. 

Part II please.

The British J-Cup 2024 was my favourite of the seven installments of the series and my standout match was Kid Lykos Vs Kid Lykos II which is the focus of this RECOMMENDED grap. Why did I adore it? Let's explore!

First, the context; this was Lykos and Lykos II's first ever RevPro singles match against one another and their 8th and 9th respective singles bouts in the promotion having predominantly been used in the tag division. Neither man had seen a RevPro singles match since February 2023 when Lykos challenged then Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion Robbie X in the 229 at the start of the month and Kid Lykos II faced Francesco Akira in The Mill in Birmingham three weeks later. This partner versus partner match, or "Teacher versus Pupil" as Andy Quildan labelled in on commentary, comes not out of a failure to coexist as partners or via tag team dissension but through the luck of the draw in the opening round of the British J-Cup tournament which gave a unique opportunity to tell the story in all manner of ways. With Robbie X vs Dante Martin on the card, it would be difficult to run an "anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better" high flying, cruiserweight match. Then you have Cameron Khai Vs Robbie Eagles where Robbie Eagles would undoubtedly play gatekeeper to Khai to test out the hot new guy on the scene. So what do the Lyki do? Let's watch.

First, I like how Lykos II takes the centre of the ring - he is taking a match with his mentor as serious business. He catches Lykos in an early pinfall, which takes everyone by surprise amidst the early chain wrestling exchanges. They are met by a silent crowd, a little fatigued from the outpouring of love for Lio Rush prior to them and a common occurrence for some matches in the Gordon Craig Theatre with a very diverse crowd in terms of levels of investment in the promotion.

Whilst Lykos II is taking it incredibly seriously, Lykos is not given it his all, saving some energy for the main event perhaps, as he patronises Lykos II with some little headpats in early exchanges. Lykos enjoys the technical mat work and teasing his mate and does not take every chance he has to inflict strikes. That is replicatesd as Lykos II finds himself with the chance to attack Lykos from behind when Lykos is distracted by the fan support for Lykos II but waits for his partner to turn and face him. Lykos then tries to get into Lykos II's head when the pair call for the Brainbuster only for Lykos to call a Backslide instead and grabs a near fall.

As the match comes off the mat and between the ropes, Lykos II takes the momentum and there is a slight speed advantage Vs mat advantage established; Lykos shows he's ALMOST as quick, Lykos II shows he's almost as accomplished in submission wrestling and that there are very fine margins between them.

Notice all of the small details; the way Lykos II crosses his legs when he rolls Lykos up on the Oklohoma Roll, the way Lykos traps Lykos II's arm between the trifector of Lykos' ribs, his thigh and his right forearm, freeing up his left arm to deliver strikes (or headpats in this case) and how Lykos II transitions the Octopus Stretch into a Head Scissor Takedown with both of Lykos' arms extended and tied behind him. It's masterfully technical but it's also fast paced and is the benefit of two wrestlers who know each other and have the full trust of one another, both in storyline and reality, to be able to execute these transitions at high pace.

As we enter the 12th minute we get a flurry of near falls which felt like legitimate climaxes but not through the spamming of finishers, or the occasionally contrived roll-up spam, but through an exchange of technical wrestling pinfalls. Lykos follows it up with a Superkick to the boos of the crowd, who have got louder and louder as the match goes on and as the two draw the crowd into their work. This is extenuated with Lykos choking Lykos II in the corner before a Meteora which brings another close fall. The crowd are heating up. A familiar voice bellows "You can't beat him" which leads to a chant at Lykos and is supported by a big Lykos II kick out from a Brainbuster, the only finisher hit in the match, before Lykos II escapes a Package Piledriver into a super tight trapped pinfall and wins the match.

Post match Lykos looks conflicted about his partner but it is played well, not too heavily leaned into, but enough for the crowd to feel the tension. Then the Shitwolves embrace and we, the crowd, rejoice.

A sleeper hit, this, which I adored every second of and encourage everyone to find fifteen minutes for. The match is on RevPro On Demand, of course, and your subscription will set you back £7.40 a month with all shows livestreamed and uploaded in HD normally within 48 hours.

It has to be done.

We are T minus 4 days from the British J Cup, one of my favourite nights of the entire wrestling calendar. For me this will be my third annual J Cup and I will be taking my excited little Mini-Mark, Phoebe, with me to accompany myself and my Cromulent Friend, George, from our This Is A Revolution podcast. Phoebe and I will hope to see another wonderful event after seeing Robbie X and Leon Slater bring the J Cup home the past two years and this year's card promises SO much. If this is going to be your first J Cup, though, I wanted to RECOMMEND one J Cup for some research and past viewing to give you a real flavour of what is to come. 

So, where do we begin? With all past J Cups available on RevPro On Demand, we are somewhat spoilt for choice. The first is often the best. The second was the biggest in terms of format. The third was possibly the most star-studded. The fourth was the first to feature so many stalwarts of 2024 RevPro. The fifth had the most shocks, twists and turns. However it is the sixth I want to go back to, last year's J Cup in fact, for this week's RECOMMENDED event, so grab a drink and have a read. If it's too late for coffee, treat yourself to a beer or a vino, sit back, relax and Mark Out.

The first half of the show saw our four J Cup opening round matches and began with Leon Slater and Will Kaven, a very well chosen opener. Leon was the favourite coming into the show and was the fans favourite to win, with Robbie X another popular figure in Stevenage having one the year prior. Robbie overcame Kaven last on that night so for him to open and to face 2023's favourite was clever booking as the man who played spoiler for so much of 2022 threatened to do it once more and disrupt proceedings. The near 15 minute opener had the drama needed to threaten an upset but Leon overcame the 'Ruthless' one and secured his place in the final. 

The second and third encounters saw 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman overcome the debuting Alex Zayne and Harrison Bennett overcame the returning Senza Volto. This is exactly what you can expect on Saturday and is typical of a J Cup - returning global talents and debuting stars as RevPro is THE destination in European pro wrestling and very, very rarely do we see an overseas talents appear and not be clamouring to return when the stars are all aligned. There is a lot of love for Revolution Pro Wrestling in the wider wrestling landscape.

Boar beating Zayne set up nicely the unpredictability of the main event as the 'Cruiserweight Monster' was a very realistic outside bet for the tournament, having featured heavily across 2024 including Fantastica Mania UK and Copper Box. Bennet going over Senza Volto was a surprise result, for me, and showed the unpredictability of the J Cup which has always been prominent in the booking; remember both Michael Oku and Luke Jacobs were eliminated in the opening round the yeah prior.

That brought us to Robbie X Vs Mascara Dorada which was a match which had "international dream match" written all over it, a phrase that was synonymous with RevPro in it's infancy, and another huge draw to the J Cup, for me personally. It wasn't meant to be for Robbie in 2023 like it had been in 2022 and it was Dorada who would go to the final, meaning Leon Slater had all of the support from the crowd and the Gordon Craig was 100% united behind him.

The final saw Mascara Dorada eliminate Harrison Bennett, 'Wild Boar' Mike Hitchman eliminated Mascara Dorada and then Leon Slater eliminated Hitchman for the win and to send the crowd home happy. A really fun and entertaining J Cup with the right winner and an unpredictable path to get there.

What makes this event my favourite of all J Cups is what we were given to run alongside the tournament and supplement the second half of the show. Alex Windsor just had enough to see off Kanji upon Nottingham's finest's return to RevPro from a lengthy lay off in an Undisputed British Women's Championship clash. This was my Undisputed Women's Championship match of the year.

We also had one of THE matches of the year period when RKJ and Luke Jacobs went for round two of what will, health allowing, become an incredible series of matches over the years to come. Round one was my first ever RevPro show, High Stakes 2022, and was an RKJ victory and Jacobs levelled the score at the J Cup in the match of the night.

The semi-main saw Michael Oku defend his Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship against Gabe Kidd following the incredible spectacle that was their draw in Birmingham in February 2023. This was hard-hitting, dramatic and worthy of any main event slot on any RevPro card - and wasn't even the main event as the J Cup tournament is always the main focus of the event.

A great event which will give you a flavour for what is to come this Saturday. The J Cup this year promises to be even bigger, bolder and better than this RECOMMENDED J Cup and, with Luke Jacobs Vs 1 Called Manders and JJ Gale Vs Zozaya, we have matches with potential to deliver as high as the second half of last year's event. What a night to be a RevPro fan, what a night to be in the Gordon Craig Theatre and, with Live In Sheffield on Sunday, what a weekend of Pro Wrestling At Its Best.

October going to be your first time going to a Global Wars UK? Me too! Saturday 19th October, Doncaster Dome - a 200 mile, four hour round trip on my son's birthday? I'll be honest, I'd not be doing it if I wasn't 100% certain that it has 'show of the year' potential. Look back at Global Wars of past. Look at the field for the J Cup. Look at the Copper Box card. Look at the Summer Sizzler card. RevPro is on another level in 2024. So, yep, I've rearranged little Ike's birthday celebrations to the day after (no Royal Quest for me) and he'll be enjoying some time with the wife and mother-in-law whilst I sneak up north for Pro Wrestling At Its Best. 

And to get myself well and truly up for the event I've revisited the Global Wars of old, available on RevPro On Demand, to pick out the quintessential Global Wars UK to write up for RECOMMENDED. The first Global Wars, in 2015, had Okada Vs Ospreay which is essential watching for any RevPro fan. 2016 was the crowning of Katsuyori Shibata as Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion and his first title defence, against none other than Chris Hero. 2018, the most recent Global Wars, opened with KUSHIDA Vs Kurtis Chapman and closed with Suzuki Vs Ishii for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in a 25 minute war between two men at the peak of their aura. But it's 2017 that I'm going to champion tonight, so grab a drink and have a read. If it's too late for coffee, treat yourself to a beer or a vino, why not, it's Hump Day.

Global Wars UK 2017 was split over two shows, as was the case in 2016 and 2015 (kind of). The first event was held in York Hall with the second in Walthamstow Assembly Hall. The sense of occasion was made clear in the opening match with a change in champion as the late Ryan Smile became Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion, defeating champion Josh Bodom and BUSHI in a three way sprint and the highlight of the undercard came with Tetsuyo Naito defeating Marty Scurll in the coveted fourth spot.

The second half of the show was main evented by one of the best tag team main events in RevPro history as Suzuki Gun and CHAOS went to war with Hirooki Goto (please, please bring him back this year, Andy) and Will Ospreay facing Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki, which served as a perfect 'whet the appetite' contest for the main event the following night, similar to how Michael Oku and Zozaya Vs Young Guns was the perfect go-home show match for the Copper Box this year.

However, Global Wars Night 1 was not designed to set up Global Wars Night 2 and Night 2 was never designed to be the destination show - both events were designed to be that and both delivered on it. As, prior to Suzuki Gun Vs CHAOS, we got the colossal dream match, the infamous contest between Tomohiro Ishii and Keith Lee. For those interested (I always am, I love stats!)... 4.5* from Meltzer and a 9.05 Cagematch rating from 150 votes. This is one of the most critically acclaimed and popular matches in RevPro history prior. If you haven't seen it and don't have time for the whole show, find time for this match. It's one of the best matches you will ever see condensed into 15 minutes.

The Walthamstow show's first half's standout match was Ishii once again, this time going head to head with Dave Mastiff, but it was the second half which had the real highlights. Ryan Smile and El Desperado fought over the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship before a tag match which epitomises the unique matches that Global Wars has always brought as, for the only time in their respective careers, Tetsuyo Naito and Keith Lee faced, with BUSHI alongside Naito and Yuji Nagata alongside Lee. Two wrestlers whom many will have never contemplated what a match between them would like but you know it would be entertaining as all hell and once that seed is planted it's hard not to ponder.

The semi-main saw Minoru Suzuki and Matt Riddle wrestle the first of only two singles matches in their careers before the main event of Will Ospreay Vs Zack Sabre Jr contested ZSJ's Undisputed British Heavyweight Championshipip. Their first singles match in RevPro was the year before, with Zack defeating Will in the Cockpit. This was round two before their 2020 rubber match. So much was said last year about Will Ospreay's run of matches with Shingo Takagi prior to the RevPro XI show but these matches have to be talked about with the same acclaim and superlatives. Between their RevPro and NJPW matches, they have received 34.5 stars across seven matches - that has to be one of the most critically acclaimed rivalries ever, surely? A feud spanning six years, across G1s, in New Japan Cups and over the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. This match started that run. 

Do yourself a favour and go watch it if you've never seen it. 

It's special.

On Sunday 1st September 2024, Millie Mckenzie and Kanji faced off in a RevPro ring for the first time ever. It had been four a half years since Millie had been in a RevPro ring after a short stint in early 2020 before the world shut down. As for Kanji, she is enjoying her most prolific year in RevPro, having put a bad run of luck with injuries behind her, with 18 of her 26 RevPro appearances occuring in the past 12 months. In that time I have made no secret of how big a Kanji fan I am. It was, however, this match with Millie Mckenzie that I can safely say was my favourite Kanji match of that entire run, so let me break down why this one comes RECOMMENDED.

An intense lock up starts us off, with Millie Mckenzie forcing Kanji into the corner, pushing her forearm into her face but giving her a clean break. Competitive and aggressive mutual respect is established within seconds. Kanji wins the second duel, forcing Mckenzie's arms to her side in the corner, with Millie giving Kanji a wry smile. 

Millie draws Kanji in to a Greco-Roman Knuckle Lock where we see Millie's educated feet for the first time, pushing Kanji's hand away and catching her in a headlock which might be the tightest, snug headlock I have ever seen. Locked in like a vice-like grip, Kanji tried everything to escape it, only for Millie to pull her hair straight back into the hold. An escape, a shoulder tackle, a couple of covers and two arm drags gets Millie back where she wants to be, in control of Kanji but, instead of going for another hold, she attempts a swinging neck breaker that is reversed and leads to an exchange of momentum as Kanji hits a forearm, a takedown and a kick to the back of the head.

Kanji goes after Millie's legs and with some well timed and precise kicks and Kanji's strategy is made very clear. She goes straight into gnarly looking leglocks. What I love here is how frantically Millie lashes out at Kanji, swinging fists at any part of her she can reach to make her relinquish the hold. Kanji looks to hit a suplex and the struggle between the two is really something to behold; Millie gives herself a low, wide base, making herself as heavy as possible. Kanji goes for the second attempt and Millie stamps on her foot then nails that Swinging Neckbreaker she looked for earlier on. Five minutes in and the first "move" of the match is hit with momentum-shifting impact. 

Upon Kanji's kickout, Mckenzie eyes widen as she sees her opening and she grabs a Sleeper, transitions into a Camel Clutch and then transitions into a Side Headlock; everything targets the head and neck and everything is cranked, whipped and stretched to the optimum. Kicks to the side of the head and forearms to the back of the head follow as Millie Mckenzie looks to keep Kanji down whilst she regains her own breath and stretches out the knee Kanji exploited early on.

Cravat, Reverse Chinlock and Bulldog Choke follow. A slight comeback from Kanji as she sneaks some strikes in after forcing the Bulldog Choke to the corner and Millie snaps that original Sleeper back on, putting all her weight down on Kanji's back and shoulders. A rollover and the Bulldog Choke is back on. Hammer and Anvil Elbows, a cover with wrist control and, as Kanji kicks out, that wrist control allows Millie to pull her straight back into the Sleeper. Masterful submission work.

An innovative escape from Kanji sees her roll through so that she is standing above Millie Mclenzie and the Kanji-Sabre-Jr Neck Twist followed up by a huge kick and clothesline to the upper back/neck and Kanji has enough time to breathe and get her strength back as Millie is grounded. Nine minutes in and this technical masterclass takes breath and a shift in gears is felt around the room. They can't keep this up at this intensity for much longer before one succumbs to a flash pin or submission.

Kanji returns to the legs, Millie returns to the head and neck. Kanji gets Millie down on her back and hits a pair of Leg Snaps and ties Millie up in a a Figure Four, applying pressure from the side to the knee and simultaneously striking Millie with any chance she gets as Mckenzie attempts any kind of strike to force the break. Kanji Alligator Rolls her between pinfall attempts and snapping back into the Figure Four hold from which Millie remains locked. This is limb work as good as any you've ever seen and it's a genuine struggle on a whole 'nother level.

12 minutes in and Millie escapes before hitting a Suplex, the second "move" of the match and the first of Millie's signature suplex collection. A Vertical Drop Back Suplex and a Cutter bring both women to the mat once more and now we have a slug fest with some of the hardest hitting forearms seen in the women's division in all my time at RevPro. Repeated elbows to the back of the head have Kanji rocked before a Superkick as Millie returns from the ropes stops her dead in her tracks.

Three huge German Suplexes demonstrate why Millie is the Suplex Machine and, but for a mistake allowing Kanji too much distance in the corner, the finish could have been nigh there but Kanji evaded and hit a Tiger Feint Kick. An Ankle Lock, an escape and the most impactful DDT I have ever seen which looked like it snapped Millie in half ends the contest 1-2-3.

Two Arm Drags, five Suplexes, a Swinging Neckbreaker, a Tiger Feint Kick and a DDT for a finisher. 17 and a half minutes. A classic pro wrestling match devoid of so much of the high speed, high octane offence we are used to. No dramatic near falls, no "sequences" or "spots". A true struggle between two highly dangerous competitors who can end a match in an instant, both of whom had a game plan for offence from the beginning. If you, like me, believe Bret Hart and Bryan Danielson to be the two best wrestlers of their respective generations, watch this and rejoice.

Saturday August 24th is the biggest night of Luke Jacobs and Michael Oku's career. They will contest the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the biggest show of the year in European wrestling. Last year RevPro welcomed 4,000 fans into the Copper Box Arena for their 11th Anniversary show, a show headlined by Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi, two of the biggest names in professional wrestling and two men who have a history of critically acclaimed, Meltzer-approved, 5* matches. On that night Michael Oku successfully defended his Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship for the first time, against Trent Seven, and Luke Jacobs put his name on the map with a stellar and much-talked-about epic with Tomohiro Ishii.

In the 12 months since, both men have been on incredible journeys, Oku building up a record 14 successful defences against a who's who of top level pro wrestlers across the world, with the likes of Will Ospreay, Gabe Kidd, Zack Gibson, Ultimo Guerrero, Titan and Anthony Ogogo. Meanwhile Jacobs has been on a killer run proving himself to be the standard of British professional wrestling against the likes of Ricky Knight Jr, Shigehiro Irie, Royce Isaacs, Robbie X and JJ Gale, as well as 29 other men in the 2024 Revolution Rumble. 

Yesterday, I shared a Deep Dive into the contrasting RevPro careers of both men and today and tomorrow we continue that focus, by exploring the five times that Oku and Jacobs have been in direct competition in a RevPro ring, three times in singles action and twice with Destination Everywhere and Young Guns respectively. Today we will explore the two tag matches before diving into the three match singles saga tomorrow. All five matches are incredible watches and come RECOMMENDED by yours truly here at davethemark.com so, grab a coffee, have a read and Mark Out. Then, fire up RevPro On Demand and give these five gems some love.

Destination Everywhere Vs Young Guns

Live At The Cockpit 52

01-08-2021

The first time Michael Oku and Luke Jacobs ever stepped into the same ring in Revolution Pro Wrestling was August 1st 2021, at the 229, as part of the Great British Tag League. Two weeks after making their debut, Young Guns - Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen - faced Oku and his Destination Everywhere partner Connor Mills with three important points in the Tag League on their line after each team lost their tournament opener. 

The comparisons between Oku and Jacobs, and between the two teams, have always been evident, from this very first contest. Young Guns are proper piss-and-vinegar wrestlers - gritty, with a single-minded focus and without ego. They work seemlessly together, focusing upon quick changeovers, double-team offence, power and a smothering intensity. I have watched the match back multiple times and I cannot recall one flashy move from either man and that is a compliment as their offence is so simple, fervent and immersive that it requires no bells and whistles.

Destination Everywhere, on the other hand, always carried themselves more as two charismatic showmen who's own personal accolades, at least in the case of Michael Oku, seem to overshadow the success of the team. Note the matching gear for Jacobs and Allen and the almost-matching gear of Destination Everywhere - the all black trunks and trim, except Oku has his own red half crab. They do, however, draw the crowd emotionally into their matches so, so well, with the dynamics between Oku and Mills always on a knife edge but with fans fully invested in them - just look at the response when Mills gets the pin, an enormous and spontaneous standing ovation. 

Stylistically, Destination Everywhere focus upon their own individual sequential offence. In this first encounter, the win comes the one time Oku and Mills really hit a high impact double team, though even then it is two separate moves which demonstrate their individual athleticism hit in sequence rather than a traditional double team. With Ethan Allen grounded, Mills lifts Jacobs into a Burning Hammer position, Oku hits the biggest of Frog Splashes OVER Mills and Jacobs onto Allen and then Mills hits the Burning Hammer directly on to Allen, taking out both Young Guns in one move. It's a hot finish - Oku looks INCREDIBLE with that dive and Mills looks like a freak athlete AND gets the pin. 

Such a great introduction to Jacobs and Oku, to Young Guns and Destination Everywhere, and a match well worth 20 minutes of your time.

Undisputed British Tag Team Championships 

Destination Everywhere Vs Young Guns

Live At NOT The Cockpit 53

05-09-2021

In a rematch of their first encounter, Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen found themselves challenging for Michael Oku and Connor Mills' Undisputed British Tag Team Championships just one month later after a change to the card following COVID protocols, as was the norm at the time. Young Guns finished the Great British Tag League with 3 points and Destination Everywhere won the A Block with 6 points, going on to defeat The Legion's Lucian Philips and Screwface Ahmed in the final, winning both the Tag League and the vacant Undisputed British Tag Team Championships. 

Oku and Mills had won the Tag League, defeated Shaun Jackson and Kenneth Halfpenny, Two Extremely Athletic Men, and defended their belts successfully against Lykos Gym between the two Young Guns matches. Meanwhile, Jacobs and Allen had defeated the Number One Contenders at the time, Lykos Gym, which led to them getting the second shot at the belts, had been battle tested by Aussie Open and defeated The Legion's Chris Ridgeway and Mark Haskins. The tag division was really, really hot in 2021 and the incredible booking made sense of a complex situation, with Destination Everywhere facing Lykos Gym first, after the Shitwolves beat them in the Tag League, then Young Guns, who themselves had beaten Lykos Gym in the Tag League, and then Aussie Open who had beaten Young Guns at the 9th Anniversary Show. Dovetailed booking at its best.

The first thing that strikes me is a phrase that lives in my head - the RevPro mantra of "Win Or Learn" - and everything about the start to this match screams that very phrase. Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen took the fight to Destination Everywhere last time out, this time they do the same but before the bell has even rung. They take the fight outside the ring immediately, they take out Mills, slamming a door across his arm. This allows them to work on Oku as the perceived weaker link in the team - a clearly different strategy from before. Perhaps, in hindsight, they chose to isolate the wrong man, but the strategy was certainly targeted.

Both Ethan and Luke work with an increased aggression, dictating the pace and being very deliberate and economical with their offence and the assertion of their own energy reserves. All of their offence is targeted - Mills' arm and Oku's back, a clear progression from their first encounter. Both Jacobs and Allen ragdoll Oku around with ease, treating him like a Crash Test Dummy. The resilience, high risk and a will to survive from Oku, though, is unlike any other - the moonsault from the top rope and the struggle with Ethan that follows is the epitome of this. This is proper professional wrestling, in every possible way; Attack Vs Defence, Power Vs Fire, Guts Vs Balls.

As I always say, I view rivalries as sagas rather than individual matches and this chapter, Chapter 2 of the Young Guns Vs Destination Everywhere rivalry, shows a more cerebral and violent side to Young Guns and an increased desperation in Destination Everywhere. Jacobs and Allen just can't put Oku or Mills away - something which very poignantly leads into this year's Copper Box Arena main event and potentially a big showdown between Connor Mills and Ethan Allen further down the card, hopefully, for me, in the semi-main slot.

The closing stretch of dual Frog Splashes followed by dual Arched Back Half Crabs is visually poetic. The sheer exhaustion at the final bell is earned and captivating; Oku survives Jacobs again as we end the second chapter of Young Guns Vs Destination Everywhere, ready to open the Oku Vs Jacobs singles saga. 

Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship

Michael Oku (c) Vs Luke Jacobs 

Live In Southampton 16

13-02-2022

In November of 2021, with Ethan Allen facing the first of several major injuries which kept him sidelined until just a few short months ago, Luke Jacobs found himself entering singles competition for the first time in his RevPro tenure. The then 20 year old started off with back to back defeats to Robbie X and Speedball Mike Bailey before stringing a number of wins together against JJ Gale, Francesco Akira, Kid Lykos and Brendan White, leading to his 'Fight For The Future' contest with RKJ at High Stakes '22, the same night Michael Oku was defeated in the main event by Will Ospreay with the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship on the line.

With both Jacobs and Oku coming away with defeats that night but impressing the wrestling world with their performances, the two were booked to square off for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship in Southampton two weeks later. After defeating Callum Newman in the 229 at the start of February and the week after High Stakes, Oku said of his Championship, "I want to defend against the toughest, I want to defend against people I respect; I don't want it to be easy" and at that juncture, announced Oku Vs Jacobs in the 1865.

Firstly, I love how this match main evented the card despite Will Ospreay being on the card. A signal of intent from Andy Quildan and evidence of the trust that has been in these two men for so long now that they would become what they now are, the standard bearers of RevPro. The intensity in the stare down as Francesca Oliver introduces the pair creates such an aura and atmosphere and I love how Jacobs only break his stare to take sight of the prize on offer. 

My first note comes with how Jacobs dishes all of the early offence but gives Oku more respect than we can expect Jacobs to give him at the Copper Box - occupying the centre of the ring and letting Oku rise to his feet rather than smothering him with offence. As the match develops further, Jacobs becomes more and more intense, more and more aggressive and more and more confident that he will beat Oku.

Oku's offence, when he can get it in, reveals Luke Jacobs' wariness of the Half Crab; every time Oku goes anywhere near his leg, Jacobs desperately seeks a reversal or escape - Jacobs knows Oku can beat him with that hold but also thinks it is Oku's only way of keeping him down. Jacobs, therefore, seeks victory through a war of attrition, wearing Oku down strike by strike, suplex by suplex, powerbomb by powerbomb. 

A major turning point in the match, a moment that Jacobs would be wise to repeat and learn from, comes as Jacobs hits Oku with a Tombstone Piledriver onto the apron. There is a moment of hesitation from Jacobs where he could roll Oku away from the ropes and get a sure and certain three count pinfall. However, the moment of hesitation sees Oku roll away from the ring, off the apron and to the floor. Jacobs is not the same man he is today as he was then - he is in better shape, has a bigger engine and a deeper tank; the hesitation came from exhaustion on Jacobs' part but you have to believe that, at the Copper Box, he won't hesitate.

The second major turning point comes when Jacobs has Oku barely able to stand after locking in an ankle drop, a cross face and after he has hit him with two huge powerbombs that lead to Oku barely being able to stand. Jacobs soaks in the atmosphere here - he goads Oku and, you have to believe, that a ground and pound would have forced Oscar Harding to stop the match, like he had done when Will Ospreay did the same to Oku months prior in their first contest in the same venue. Jacobs went for the big move instead and no one has a better array of reversals than Oku. And it was a series of reversals and a pair of Frog Splashes that got Oku over the line. There are lessons here for Jacobs to learn from ahead of August 24th.

Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship

Michael Oku (c) Vs Luke Jacobs 

Summer Sizzler

23-07-2022

Between Jacobs Vs Oku I and Jacobs Vs Oku II we had two major moments. The first came in St Neots when Luke Jacobs and Gabe Kidd defeated Destination Everywhere, including Luke Jacobs surviving the Arched Back Half Crab - one of a VERY short list of people to ever do so. Jacobs then won a four way encounter with Connor Mills, Robbie X and JJ Gale in Southampton making him the Number One Contender to the championship and leading to this contest - in Manchester where Luke Jacobs promised Oku that he would never lose. And so we have a very different encounter in Chapter 2 of the singles saga - a hot, hot crowd, fully behind Luke Jacobs, with Michael Oku not only the underdog in size, but fighting against a familiar foe in very unfamiliar circumstances.

An early note in the encounter is how the crowd seems to focus Oku and he starts the match far better than he did in Southampton. He fights a cleverer game, a more cautious game and one which is more measured, leaning into the boos and jeers of the crowd. However, his failure to hit the Frog Splash,  which give him victory in Southampton, was completely of his own accord - taken in too much by Jacobs' hometown crowd, allowing him to lose track of the time it took to hit one of his signature moves.

I love the use of the apron Tombstone Piledriver but, again, there is a lesson for Jacobs to learn here - this time he doesn't let Oku roll out the ring but Jacobs sees the finish line and celebrates before crossing it - he plays to the crowd, he goes for the glory shot with a Moonsault, which leads to a cover but the time between the Tombstone and the Moonsault was too long. The Moonsault led to a less than perfect cover by the manner of where he landed and, instead, you feel Jacobs would have had him beaten if he had either gone immediately for a tight cover or locking in the Ankle Lock or Boston Crab whilst Oku was in the centre of the ring. If at the Copper Box he has the chance to hit the Tombstone on the apron, he has to take advantage and, if he does, we will have a new Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.

Another significant moment comes shortly after, when Oscar Harding is floored from some inadvertent contact and Oku has the chance to win the match by using his title belt to take out Jacobs. Oku hesitates - if he has the chance in a month's time, will he hesitate again? Oku then takes the chance to ground and pound Jacobs when Jacobs didn't take the same chance in Southampton after inadvertently busting the Young Gun open with the belt. This is as close to a heel Michael Oku we have seen in RevPro and it may be the side of himself he has to lean into to survive Jacobs at the Copper Box. For he did not survive him in Manchester; Hypersonic Missile, Standing Lariat, Blue Moon, 1-2-3. The precedent has been set, the formula for Luke to beat Oku has been set; smother him with offence and don't let him breathe between.

Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship

Michael Oku (c) Vs Luke Jacobs

Live In London 79

05-11-2023

My first note with this match, watching it back and watching it directly after the first two chapters of Jacobs Vs Oku's singles saga is the maturity in Luke Jacobs on display. In Southampton he rushed out of the blocks and caught Oku but in Manchester be tried the same and was himself caught, in Oku's first attempt at the Half Crab of the match. Here in London in 2023, it is Jacobs who is measured, patient and composed. He also takes less time to get his covers in and gives Oku less time to recover between moves and strikes. Jacobs appears a more dangerous prospect when he is wrestles in control of his emptions, which is exactly how he appears here.

In comparison, Oku by 2023 has a greater wealth of experience, many of which from times when he was written off in a match, in a feud or simply in a moment where he survived and overcame. Those experiences are what create winners. Great football teams do not panic when they are chasing the game, they don't panic when their opponent is dominating possession or when there are only minutes remaining - they trust they have everything the need to create a moment and capitalise. And why do they have this belief? Because they have done it time and time and time again. That's what makes serial winners special and Michael Oku is a serial winner and his approach to this match is evidence of that. 

Across these three matches you can also see the evolution of both men's offence - both have more deliberate and focused work targeted to their own strengths. Jacobs targets the torso of his opponent to take their wind away and reduce their ability to kick out, to stand back up and to move between the ropes with any velocity. Oku targets the legs better in the last six to twelve months than he ever did before - here we see the PK to the back of the knee, the Basement Dropkick, repeated strikes to the leg. We see it in Oku's game more than ever and it means his chances of winning with the first or second attempt at the Half Crab increases significantly.

You can feel the energy in the crowd as this match hits the final third and the atmosphere is the most electric I've ever experienced at a wrestling show outside of Oku Vs Ospreay III, at High Stakes, which had a crowd 5-10 times the number. You can feel fans shifting closer and closer to the edge of their seats. The incredible intensity of the strikes, the Hypersonic Missile, the running diving headbutt which, whilst Oku avoided, caught him on the follow through and busted him immediately open, covering both Oku and Jacobs after Oku catches Jacobs in an Inside Cradle roll up. Jacobs stands tall and Oku can't stand at all; Oku survived Jacobs in Chapter 3 but Chapter 4 is about to begin and, Jesus Christ, watching these five matches and these three singles contests has me READY.

August 24th cannot come soon enough.

One privilege of following RevPro around the country and being a completionist historian of RevPro On Demand so publicly is that I get asked from fans for match recommendations - it is where This Week In RevPro History came from and inspired the RECOMMENDED page on davethemark.com. One match I find myself always promoting and pointing people to, especially young trainee wrestlers who have been in contact, is a match which most might not remember from last year and is one you would not immediately be drawn to from Cagematch. Adam Cole Vs Prince Devitt? AJ Styles Vs Will Ospreay? Keith Lee Vs Tomohiro Ishii? Of course these are go-to matches On Demand for fans. But one match I always go back to for the art of professional wrestling, for the details and for their use of time, is Sha Samuels Vs Will Kaven from the Portsmouth Guildhall last year as it is the match that made me fall in love with Sha Samuels and Will Kaven. 

First off, the context - Sha returned to RevPro after a two year absence at the Revolution Rumble 2023 and was gearing up for an Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship match at RevPro XI Anniversary at the Copper Box as part of a six man scramble. Kaven had a relatively quiet 2023 after a fairly explosive 2022 which saw wins over Michael Oku, Robbie X and Luke Jacobs, as well as a headlining slot at Seasons Beatings competing in a Two Out Of Three Falls match for the Cruiserweight strap. During 2023 Will's appearances became a little less frequent but the quality of his performances grew each time. With Sha enjoying a career renaissance as a beloved figure of RevPro and Kaven the 'Ruthless' "spoiler", we have clear good guy/bad guy dynamics but we have a complexity owing to Sha's sinister history and aggressive streak. On top of this we have some competitive rivalry between a London School of Wrestling trainer (Sha) and a Portsmouth School of Wrestling trainer (Kaven).  Lots going on for the eagle eyed and smart Marks like me, but also a really competitive, aggressive, technical contest which stands alone for those watching more casually. Now, sadly, this one is not yet on RevPro On Demand so I'm going to use it as a basis to make two other match recommendations due to my belief that these are two masters of the details of pro wrestling. Humour me, it will be worth it.

So what makes each man so worth studying? Sha is one of those wrestlers who I think makes everyone better for having the minutes in the ring with him; everyone who faces Sha comes out better from the experience. A Pro's Pro. Carefully look at the details of his work and you are rewarded. Look at the lock ups - aggressive, tight and purposeful lock ups. Then look at the facial expressions during these lock ups - they tell you which Sha has shown up - Sha the coach, ambitious Sha or pissed off Sha. On the other side, look at Kaven when he locks up - trying to win the mental advantage, full of piss and vinegar, trying to gain any advantage. It's the details that make a world of difference and these guys get that.

Look at both men's moveset. Sha has a natural born love to entertain - it's why he goes for the ShaSault or the East End Destroyer, often without success. But when we have Sha the Coach, he keeps it simple, based around fundamentals, strength and conditioning and the moveset adapts. When his blood is boiling he goes for power, strikes, flurries of offence and leaves out the flashy. Kaven on the other hand knows he is not the strongest in the ring so he compensates with a combination of speed, technique and a willingness to do what others won't. The Neckbreaker onto to the top Turnbuckle looks like it could end a career if hit right - others would not take it to that extreme but Kaven does not hesitate. The Running Knee Strike is explosive and makes use of velocity over power and the Tombstone Piledriver uses gravity and his opponents own momentum to do what others might flinch away from. Spiteful, vile but undeniably clever wrestling. 

The memories of this match, almost a year in and without the luxury of a rewatch, stem from the mat work and this is what I want people to pay attention to when Kaven and Sha wrestle. Sha will utilise something as simple as a headlock and make it the most torturous, humiliating and exhausting move. He will tighten it in, crank it, put his weight down on other body parts to add to the pressure and rejoice in having control. It's a war of the mind as much as it is the body. When in such a hold, though, Kaven won't just accept his fate and look to escape with his legs to the ropes or exhaust himself trying to lift himself out - he will scratch, claw, slap, bite... You name it, every attempt at forcing the release is there. These exchanges bring me so much joy - intense, technical grappling which you can got fully lost in. I've told this story before but the most scared my daughter Phoebe has ever been sitting beside me at ringside was when Gabe Kidd locked Michael Oku in with a headlock at the J Cup last year. "I don't like it, he's really, really hurting him" she said. "Good", I thought - her disbelief had been suspended.

Now given, Sha and Kaven is not one you can go and watch on RevPro On Demand, I have some homework for you (yes, I'm a teacher, I'm sorry, homework is my biggest passion outside of wrestling!). Go back to September 2023 and watch Sha Samuels Vs Connor Mills from Live In London 77 and then go back and watch Will Kaven Vs Zozaya from this April's Live In Sheffield.

At the 229, look at how Sha goes into the match as Sha the entertainer but adapts as the match goes on to ambitious Sha and then to pissed off Sha. Look how his offence changes as he gets angrier. Mills is someone I rave about at every opportunity - he is my favourite singles wrestler in RevPro stylistically - and he and Sha complement each other so well. Look at their exchanges on the mat - but don't just look at where you would normally look; if one has a leg lock on, look at what their doing with their arms, their own feet, their hands, their facial expressions. Look at their opponent and look for the details. Look at everything they do between moves, as their opponent hits them with a move and in the setup phases. The way Mills targets body parts is a thing of beauty and the way Sha draws sympathy and emotion from the crowd is unrivalled. I'm going to sound like an absolute shill here, but the fact that you can get weekly training from Sha Samuels for £15 a pop at the London School of Wrestling AMAZES me.

Now you've watched Sha and Mills, it's time for Kaven and Zozaya. Watch as, embarrassed from the opening exchange, and using all of the intelligence previously alluded to, Kaven draws Zozaya outside of the ring, out of his comfort zone and hits the high boot, then smothers him with offence, using his speed and aggression to gain advantage. The spiteful, violent choking on the ropes when he realises he let a crowd member distract him, followed up by a hard Back Elbow. Kaven moves with such snap and speed that all his moves have such high impact. Again, focus on every move, every movement between moves and focus on him when Zozaya is stealing the focus, about to deliver his offence - Kaven makes everything like look a struggle and nothing looks cooperative. He also is a master of giving for his opponent - he bas Michael Oku levels of body control to twist himself, throw himself and make himself appear broken. There's a tremendous babyface in there in Kaven, there really is. 

And so on this Saturday morning, knowing there is no RevPro Sunday tomorrow, I would love you to go back and watch Sha Vs Kaven but sadly that one will have to wait for another day. Therefore, until then I won't you to watch Kaven Vs Zozaya and Sha Vs Mills to see the details in the two mens wrestling that I adore. If Will or Sha are on a card and you can get yourself nice and close to the action, which is always the case in the more intimate venues of the 229 (London), the 1865 (Southampton), the Network (Sheffield), the HMV Empire (Coventry) and the Priory Centre (St Neots), take the chance, study the action and feel all the rewards of spotting the details which make these two men such essential figures in RevPro, not just as wrestlers but as trainers at the two schools of wrestling from which so many of our favourites have come.

Happy Marking Out my lovelies.

This Sunday the Young Guns return to Revolution Pro Wrestling for the first time in nigh on three years and I cannot f'n wait. To get the hype pumping, I decided to watch back some Young Guns matches from the RevPro On Demand archives to pick the one I would recommend for those who want to get a preview of what is to come this Sunday in the 229. And, it just has to be this one, doesn't it?

So the year was 2021 and a young Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen had worked three RevPro dates as part of the Great British Tag League, picking up a win over Lykos Gym and two defeats to The Dream Team (Dean Allmark and Robbie X) and Destination Everywhere respectively. They then found themselves booked for the RevPro IX Anniversary show in Manchester to face Aussie Open. The show featured Gisele Shaw and Mariah May, contesting over the Undisputed British Women's Championship, Michael Oku and Robbie X for the Cruiserweight belt and Destination Everywhere winning the Great British Tag League. The joint main event saw Will Ospreay and Doug Williams for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship and RKJ and Shota Umino for the British Heavyweight Championship, a month prior to the unification of their two belts. A stacked card, for sure. However, the stand out match was this one, between two young local lads at the start of their RevPro journey and a pair of Australians who had made a name for themselves as one of the best tag teams in the world. The match to this day has the highest Cagematch rating from that event - the highest rating of Ethan Allen's career - and rightfully so; it is pure class. So, without further adieu, let's explore why this comes RECOMMENDED.

This one is a bit of me from the second the bell rings as Luke Jacobs and Mark Davis lock up HARD and with intensity. A pair of tight-grip side headlocks, hard shoulder charges and unprotected palm strikes set the tone - this is going to be hard hitting, high paced and aggressive AF. Kyle Fletcher and Ethan Allen pick up where Dunkzilla and Jacobs leave off and then all four come into the ring for the first time and everything SLAPS, every strike lands and every move is hit with fire, piss and vinegar. 

The story of the match is revealed at this early stage and it is the classic 'veteran team tests young team'. It is pitched as a homecoming for Aussie Open, as it is the first time they appeared post-pandemic lockdown, having been RevPro regulars across the three years 2017-19 where they fought up the card to eventually become the dominant team in the tag division and Undisputed British Tag Team Champions. For Young Guns, it was their first RevPro show in Manchester, their home city, and the crowd is split between the two and both teams are determined to show out. 

There are so many highlights in this match which I could purr over but rather than them be spots, combination moves and sequences, they are hard hitting strikes, moments of tag team psychology and unbelievable senses of character. These men, all four of them, live and breathe pro wrestling and do not need to embrace a character to perform; they are as authentic a group as you'll find. And that carries across the camera so well - you can feel the emotion Ethan and Luke fight from underneath with and you can feel the disdain and scorn that Fletcher and Davis emote with every strike and ever slam. It's a tag match I would implore every aspiring tag team to watch and study. 

It is incredible watching this back to see just how good Jacobs and Allen both were at such a young age. And don't get me wrong, that is not to sound patronising - that isn't a ruffled hair rub pat-on-the-head compliment; this match is TOP LEVEL pro wrestling on a par with the best of Aussie Open. The Young Guns have incredible chemistry as a team - they work together like two men who have been doing this for decades. Jacobs is the powerhouse but Allen brings such spite and malice to everything he does - an angry man with a chip on his shoulder and a love for scrapping. They make for an unbelievable team.

Watching Aussie Open makes me miss them dearly as a team and I hope Dunkzilla recovers fully and quickly as the world of professional wrestling is a far worse place without him. I was lucky enough to see the tail end of their RevPro run and MAN if we ever see a tag team as good as them come through the Revolution again we will be blessed. If you need to see what I'm raving about, watch this match with Young Guns and then seek out Aussie Open Vs Sunshine Machine (High Stakes '22), VeloCities (Epic Encounter '22), Destination Everywhere (RevPro X Anniversary) and FTR (Royal Quest II); unbelievable tag team matches. I would love to see them return and face Grizzled Young Vets, Subculture and Greedy Souls, those teams that have carried RevPro since they were last with us.

Whilst we might have to wait for that Aussie Open return, we do not have to wait for the return of the Young Guns; just a matter of days in fact. I hope Trew & Lacey are ready; I feel like they are about to get taken to school.

Today is [NOT] RevPro Sunday! Oh. Well that's disappinting. Feels like a good day to pick out a classic match from the archives that are RevPro On Demand, then, right? And what better man than to feature than the man who next week, May 12th 2024, returns to a RevPro ring for the first time in two and a half years; the 'Young Gun' Ethan Allen. His last match was in the 1865 in Southampton, the night of Oku Vs Ospreay I, back in October 2021 when Allen took on Kyle Fletcher as part of a long running feud between Young Guns, with Luke Jacobs, and Aussie Open. And that match is how I'm choosing to spend my Sunday morning and why it comes RECOMMENDED for you on your [NOT] RevPro Sunday.

I love the intensity of the opening stages of this one. Fletcher is by far the bigger man, as well as being the slightly older and more experienced wrestler, but Allen takes every chance in the opening exchanges to show that he is not intimidated by him at all. Andy Quildan and Stephanie Chase are on the call and they put over how Fletcher will look to draw Allen away from a dog fight and into making a mistake that the 'Aussie Arrow' can seize upon. Every strike looks like it HITS. 

I really enjoyed how Fletcher smothers Ethan Allen in offence, hitting harder and harder. The aggressive Body Slam, the Big Boot as Allen tried to reverse the Irish Whip - it's all such a struggle and Allen taking wild swings at Fletcher's legs as he lays on the mat, desperately trying to get any offence in he can, really epitomises this. When the two are toe to toe the chops the 'Young Gun' lays in are a thing of beauty, upward striking across the chest and shoulder. And the strike battles are not two bucks clashing heads, looking for dominance, it represents two men looking to defend themselves from an onslaught. The speed in which Fletcher returns fire, instinctively and wildly as opposed to measured and precise, tell the story of two men who legitimately don't like each other who want to survive the contest.

As Ethan Allen seizes the momentum after Fletcher lands awkwardly from a Brainbuster, look how he doesn't give Fletcher any time to breathe when he is in the corner, hitting head shots, not worrying about crowd reaction or hitting top speed, but just looking to sink his boot in Fletcher's face. Again and again. The same with the kicks to a kneeling Fletcher - quantity over quality, a cumulative approach, a real blitz attack. You can feel Allen's desperation to beat him and repeated cover attempts, with tight covers for that matter, show he just wants the win, no matter how it comes.

The momentum changes back with a Snap Half and Half Suplex, a running corner kick and a huge Brainbuster. And, as if to play down the impact of Ethan Allen's offence throughout, Fletcher berated him with some patronising, mocking slaps to the back of the head which is met with an ALMIGHTY strike from Allen to Fletcher that completely rocks him and the two enter a full on dog fight, exactly what Fletcher wanted to avoid. The two men are completely depleted by the end of the encounter and resort to some real physicality trying to knock the other out with one last exhaustion of effort.

17 and a half minutes bell to bell. A fantastic showcase of two young, raw, but highly accomplished pro wrestlers who make everything feel as real as it comes. Well, well, well worth a watch, especially if, like me, next Sunday will be your first Ethan Allen live singles match. Welcome back Young Gun. As for the Aussie Arrow, it was such a pleasure to see so many matches whilst he was in the UK as I did and the support continues from afar now he is the US.

Ethan Allen Vs Kyle Fletcher, Live In Southampton 14, Ethan Allen's last singles match. RECOMMENDED.

My Best Of Super Juniors 2024 has started.

Robbie X was really good.

That was KUSHIDA's Instagram post caption on Sunday after Epic Encounter 2024. How Robbie X has been overlooked AGAIN for the BOSJ baffles me to the point of infuriation at this stage but KUSHIDA recognises it. The match the pair had was incredible and anyone who reads my content regularly will at this point know the matches that get me buzzing the most and this was one of them. It is one I would implore everyone to go and watch - your monthly RevPro On Demand £7.40 expenditure is worth it for this match alone, let alone every other great match in the RevPro On Demand archives. Let me break down why I RECOMMEND this match so much.

Firstly observe the entrances; Robbie X stands in the centre of the ring during KUSHIDA's entrance and never takes his eyes off him once he gets in the ring. This is not an independent British wrestler privileged to be facing a top-name international star who has literally worked for every major promotion in the world and wrestled the best the world over. No. This is two of the best in the world going head to head and Robbie knows it. 

The two shake hands, match begins and immediately KUSHIDA tries to draw Robbie into the 'Time Splitter's gameplan; keep Robbie grounded, on the mat and at a deliberately slow pace. That's how KUSHIDA will win the match - slow Robbie down, then cut him down, limb by limb until the arm is weakened for the Hoverboard Lock. All of this is revealed in the first few minutes - the story of the match has been teased, Robbie begins the slow sell of the arm from the off and the psychology of KUSHIDA's approach is revealed.  

In these opening stages, Robbie is able to pick speed up in spells and evade some of the mat work using his unbelievable agility. Each time, KUSHIDA tries to draw him back to the mat - a styles clash which is designed to pay to one another's strengths and fits perfectly into the psychology of the fight between the two. As Robbie builds his first spell of momentum, he looks to take to the top rope to hit a high impact, high risk leap from the inside to the outside but KUSHIDA slows him down, spotting the risk, taking a seat at ringside and calling a time out. If Robbie wants him, he will have to come and get him. This is KUSHIDA's game plan and he will not let Robbie build momentum as that high speed blitz attack offence is how Robbie wins matches. As Robbie re-enters the ring, KUSHIDA smashes him with a PK style kick to the arm. He follows it up with a dropkick to the arm as Robbie uses the ropes for balance. Then a jumping-Juji Gatame and KUSHIDA has the arm weakened to hit the Hoverboard Lock when opportunity arises.

The second phase of KUSHIDA's offence begins next as he starts to work on the legs of Robbie X and adds in the psychological element, goading Robbie into a strike battle, knowing that Robbie's own strikes will take it further out of his weakened arms, and the softened legs will slow him further down. However, KUSHIDA may have underestimated Robbie's resilience and the leg strength he has in those unbelievable thighs from hours and hours of squats. This allows Robbie an opening. As Robbie's offence builds, as does the pace, whereas as KUSHIDA's offence builds, the match slows right down. 

The turning point in the match comes as Robbie looks to hit the X-Clamation - a handstand cutter - only his left arm can't hold and he collapses under his own weight. KUSHIDA hits an almighty straight punch before another PK to the arm. An evaded Hoverboard Lock turns into a pair of Roaring Ebows and Superkicks, strike for strike with each of KUSHIDA's hitting the weakened arm and each of Robbie's barely registering. And then, in a moment that will stay with me for a long time, Robbie hits the X-Clamation without using the handspring - simply somersaulting into the ropes no-handed to bounce back and hit the cutter. What. The. Actual. Fuck. The kickout comes as Robbie couldn't hit the ultimate version of his finish and due to his compromised arm slowing him down as he rolled into the cover. He goes to the top rope in desperation, maybe for the Spiral Tap, but KUSHIDA beats him to the punch, tying Robbie into a rolling avalanche Hoverboard Lock which he can only tap to.

Fifteen minutes. One single nearfall. Everything came down to the arm. A masterclass in Professional Wrestling and a match that comes highly RECOMMENDED.

Certain wrestling matches create magic that is the talk of the community for days, weeks, months and years to come. Sometimes you know it is coming - it is inevitable. Will Ospreay Vs Michael Oku at High Stakes in February is the perfect example. The only person nervous about that match seemed to be the Champ himself, Michael Oku.  Talking to him on merch ahead of the show, I said to him that it was going to be special, that I knew it and he said he hoped so. It was always going to be special. It couldn't not be. Sometimes it is something you suspect and hope for, like Luke Jacobs Vs Tomohiro Ishii at RevPro XI Anniversary last year. I recall talking on the Wrestling Should Be Fun podcast about it and saying that it could steal the show - and it did; it stole the whole weekend. Sometimes, though, these matches sneak up on you. This past Sunday that is what happened with Dani Luna Vs Alex Windsor for the Undisputed British Women's Championship at York Hall in a Dog Collar Match.

Now don't get me wrong, I was hyped for this match; fom the moment we saw the dog collar at High Stakes I was HYPED. However, all the talk in the WhatsApp chats, at the shows on the Road To The Revolution Rumble, in the queue and in York Hall on the day was on who would win the Rumble. All the talk, all the photos and all the socials posts after were about Luna and Windsor. And they deserved it in spades. I hate saying this, as I want everyone to find time to watch both the Rumble and the Southampton show in full as, I know I'm a Mark, but they were two of the best RevPro shows I've seen in my two years following the company around the country, BUT if you only have time for one RevPro match this week, make it this one. When you have seen it, come back and read why it comes RECOMMENDED by davethemark.com

First up, as always, let's address some context. This match was given the pre-interval spot - a coveted spot - as the idea is to put on a match no-one can follow and get everyone hyped so they buy a beer at the bar and a tee at the merch. This was also a women's match, which completely unfairly, is almost always the quietest match on any card. It was also a stipulation match in a company that does not do stipulations often. Take the two years I have followed the company religiously since High Stakes 2022, there have been 85 shows, with 6-9 matches per show in almost all cases. Of those, say 638 matches, there have been three Street Fights, two Two Out Of Three Falls Matches, a four corner Strap Match and now a Dog Collar Match. That adds to the pressure of the execution of such a rare match but also means that there is little precedent to work with or experience to rely upon in such matches in York Hall with a RevPro crowd.

Then we can explore the Dog Collar matches which have been on our television screens in recent years. Cody Rhodes Vs the late, great Brodie Lee was sensational. CM Punk Vs MJF, Eddie Dennis Vs Wild Boar, The Briscoes Vs FTR - these were unbelievably well executed matches by billionaire backed companies that were the talk of the wrestling world each time. That is pressure. All big name wrestlers in their scenes, all Hall of Fame wrestlers in their scenes, all men. Then we have Dani Luna and Alex Windsor, two women who deserve the biggest spotlights in the world as they ARE two of the best in the world, and I say that with no bias as a self-procraimed Mark for Revolution Pro Wrestling. And the two women delivered one of the greatest wrestling spectacles I have ever witnessed, live in-person or on-screen. I had the chance, like many, to talk to a bloodied Dani Luna after and I told her that the match was not just one of the best women's matches or the best stipulation matches, but one of the best matches, period, I have ever seen. And I meant every word. Watch it and see if I am wrong.

The next layer of admiration comes from how simple the two women kept this match. The Dog Collar was the focus at all times. They added in one steel chair for a couple of excellent moments and they utilised a dog cage, in an original series of spots, but the focus, the danger and the violence was in the chain connecting the collars. No tables, no glass, no trash can lids or drawing pins/thumb tacs - the chain was enough. It was the focus of the story, it was there all along and it was the focal point of the entire match.

The time taken as Ref Harv secured the collars around each women's neck added to the eeriness of the occasion. The crowd were loud with duelling chants but then quieten as the match starts. They were all on their feet and electric by the end. Everyone knew they had seen something special. The chain took centre stage from the first moment as both women tested i's length before Windsor whipped Luna with it and Dani let out a very real scream. Watch the footwork of both women as they expertly worked around the chain. Watch how Windsor worked the crowd and gets the first blow in, busting Dani open within minutes. The use of the chain across the mouth of Dani was vile and original.

And then we get to the use of the chain on the outside of the ring, utilising the corner post, a spot frequently used in these matches, but made original as Windsor wrapped it around Luna and the post to squeeze the life out of her. The single chair is introduced and the Sidewalk Slam on to the edge of the chair is brutal. The chair broken, twisted and contorted is continued to be used - one single chair - as Windsor ends up being launched into it in the corner, busting her open and the single streak of blood down her nose is perfectly juxtaposed against the full crimson mask worn by Windsor.

The two women do not rush anything - this is not a spotfest - this is a brutal feud-ender (or is it?) between the two most dominant women in Europe who despise one another. You can see each Windsor and Luna assessing their surroundings, thinking of what they can do next to inflict as much punishment to one another as possible. The chain wrapped punches are sick, the chain to trip Windsor into a Sliding Lariat is clever, the whip of the chain into the face by Windsor is dangerous and the intensity creeps up, minute but minute. Perfectly paced.

Then we have the dog cage, and huge respect to Windsor for setting it up, realising the chain was trapped in the cage and handling the situation so effectively and efficiently, all whilst looking through her own blood with her adrenaline spiking. The use of the chain in the corner continued as Luna delivered the most violent looking headbutt I think I have ever seen. The chain pull into the Running Death Valley Driver on to the cage is beautiful and the cage holding its shape just adds to the pain Windsor must have been feeling. The Suplex onto the cage draws the overdue and deserved "This Is Awesome" chants. 

Ref Harv is then taken out in the corner and Alex Windsor gets a visible pin of three after a spinning suplex (what are we calling that?) onto the chair. As Harv counts and Luna kicks out, Andy Quildan hits the line "Dani Luna Will Not Die". Beautiful cinema. The Sharpshooter with the chain around the throat is the shot that took over socials for days to come. Luna gets free and gets a Crossface with the chain across the mouth. Pro Wrestling At Its Best blended with the violence, blood and guts we do not normally associate with RevPro. And then the hanging - Windsor is hung over the ropes into Luna's patented German Suplex over the top rope, the Luna Landing, 1-2-3. It was a war - a proper war. This is why these things are best when delivered rarely - everything in that match landed, everything worked and the people of York Hall lapped it up. 

A truly special match. Watch it. It's worth it.

It's 7am here in the U.K. and I have woken to the news that Alex Coughlin has retired from pro wrestling. Hard news to take as I have been a big fan of the L.A. Dojo graduate for many years, following his career from the New Japan Strong days to the Bullet Club War Dogs. I am grateful for the occasions I got to see him live here in the U.K. wrestling for RevPro and with NJPW at Royal Quest III and want to take the opportunity to point everyone in the direction of this gem of a match from the RevPro archives between Coughlin and Luke Jacobs. Give me five minutes of your time and I'll tell you why this match comes RECOMMENDED.

First the context. It was St Neots Priory Centre, February 2022. Luke was in the middle of a losing streak after failing to get past RKJ at High Stakes and Michael Oku in Southampton, his first shot at the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship, before he went on to suffer defeats against Shota Umino and Kyle Fletcher in the coming weeks. As for Coughlin, he was wrestling the 8th of his 10 RevPro matches, undefeated in singles competition here in the U.K.

What makes this match special is the incredible pro wrestling story told throughout the match. And don't get this wrong - this is storytelling. You do not need gimmicks, promos and convoluted backstory to tell a story; you need wrestlers who know themselves, who know how to play to their own strengths and fans who pay attention to what is happening in the ring. Every sporting contest tells a story - you don't need a press conference or post-match interview to get the story, you need to watch the match and study the tactics.

Let me break it down. 21 year old Luke Jacobs, as he was at the time, is a big strong boy - he was (and very much is) one of the strongest wrestlers on the U.K. scene. His strikes are dangerous - they won't knock you out but they will wear you down and weaken your ability to strike back with your optimal power. He has a mat game that is strong and likes to utilise an Ankle Lock where he can. Jacobs would win matches at the time by overpowering, outlasting and weakening an opponent systematically, focussing upon the chest to reduce an opponent's ability to breathe so, when he locks in the Ankle Lock, they couldn't drag him to the ropes and if he could hit a power move, such as his signature Powerbomb or Lariat, they couldn't muster the breath and strength to kickout.

Coughlin, though, is a mat expert. In fact, he is a mat expert on a level Jacobs might not have faced before. He's also bigger than Jacobs in height and weight. The normal Luke Jacobs offence might need mixing up for the 'Young Gun' to be victorious. However, Jacobs had identified a gameplan which he played to throughout the match. Before he became a War Dog, Coughlin was a pro wrestling purist - he was focused on his own game, his mat work and his ability to outwrestle an opponent. Jacobs knew this and Jacobs knew he had to draw Coughlin away from that game plan.

With that in mind, watch how Jacobs, early on, kicks Coughlin in the back disrespectfully from the Greco-Roman Knuckle Lock. Watch as Jacobs attempts to draw Coughlin into a strike battle - he's the first to hit a chop, a strike to the face and corner kicks. And, as the match develops, Jacobs tries to antagonise Coughlin as he realises that he CAN match his strength and power, though he has realised he is no match for him on the mat.

Jacobs draws Coughlin to the outside, using his environment to hit and move. When Coughlin returns to the ring, Jacobs smothers him - opportunist strikes stemming from a clear game plan and strategy from Manchester's finest. And the game plan works - it draws Coughlin away from his own submission based offence draws him into a slugfest, into utilising the power and strength which Jacobs thinks he can match. It leads to the two looking for a knockout blow rather than a tapout finish.

The game plan works - but Jacobs has underestimated Coughlin's gas tank. Coughlin can take the strikes - he has a strong jaw. He can take the power moves - he has resilience. He really is a complete pro wrestler and, whilst Jacobs can match him, he could not grind him down enough and after 17 minutes of fascinating strategy, it's Coughlin with his hand raised by Oscar Harding, it's Coughlin who Francesca declares the winner. But seven years Luke Jacobs' senior, Coughlin recognises the fight his young opponent brought and shakes his opponents hand, raises his arm to the cheers of the crowd who had just witnessed the match of the night and match they declared "Awesome" in their chants.

A highly recommended match and I'm saddened today to think that Round 2 is no longer looking possible.

All the love and best wishes to Alex Coughlin; thank you for giving us this match, it was a pleasure to witness live.

"Matter of time ⏰"

That was the caption of the photo Ricky Knight Jr posted after Live In Coventry; a photo of him, Michael Oku and the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. A match which has been hovering in the background ever since last year's Revolution Rumble. That was the night RKJ was robbed of the chance of winning his championship back from Great O Khan, a championship he never lost. That was the night Michael Oku became the number one contender to the championship, outlasting 29 others in the Revolution Rumble main event. Oku went on to become champion at Epic Encounter last July and the prospect of RKJ Vs Michael Oku for the belt has been hanging over RevPro ever since.

Seeing that photo RKJ posted led me to ponder when the last time these two faced off in singles action and I was shocked to see that it was over three and a half years ago, in 2020, in an empty arena match at the Portsmouth School of Wrestling at Epic Encounters 2. What better time than now, then, to revisit that match for Lost In The Archives to see if that match comes RECOMMENDED from yours truly, Dave The Mark. Spoiler: of course it does.

So, the context. The year was 2020, Michael Oku was the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion and Ricky Knight Jr was the Speed King Champion following Revolution Pro Wrestling and Southside Wrestling's merger in 2019. This match, the main event of Epic Encounters 2, was to unify the two championships. Connor Mills was in Michael Oku's corner, the ref was Tom Scarborough and Rob Lias and Andy Quildan were on comms.

It's fascinating watching this in the eyes of a 2024 RevPro superfan - both men have put on considerable size since, especially Oku, but the speed, the strength and the high impact the two men wrestle with in 2024 was apparent in 2020. The match has the big match presentation the occasion deserved and, once again it is worth pointing out, RevPro did empty arena shows far superior to other companies that were broadcast on national television. 

The intensity is what strikes me first. A lot of the early offence belongs to RKJ and the snap with which he moves and the pressure with which he makes his early covers assert him as the alpha in the match, the dominant champion. Oku is the first to let out a visceral, gutteral groan in anguish. RKJ moves quicker, hits harder and has the confidence that Oku seems to be lacking; backed up by commentary who put over that RKJ "has not missed a step" during the pandemic lockdown but that Oku is trying to find his rhythm again. 

The finish is the big talking point, though, as it leans so much into the stories which unfolded over the next 18 months. RKJ had Oku beat with a Kishi Driver - a move very much protected at the time as a match ender. Tom Scarborough stops RKJ from covering Oku to check him, and Ricky being Ricky, he heads straight to the top rope to hit a 450 splash as soon as the ref permits Oku fit to continue. However, RKJ is pushed from the top rope by Connor Mills, allowing Oku to take victory with the Frog Splash. Oku needed Mills, like he continued to need him in Destination Everywhere and like he continued to need him as a defending Cruiserweight Champion. Mills was there as Oku's insurance, an insurance he took for granted over time according to Mills, which led to the betrayal that followed at the 2022 10th Anniversary Show. 

Similarly, RKJ did not get a fair crack at the whip and did not get the rematch he deserved. Just like RKJ did not get a fair crack at his reign as Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, having to designate Zak Knight as the defender of the belt when he was injured for three months which led to him losing it on Ricky's behalf. The same treatment wasn't given to Alex Windsor, who retained her title during her eight month injury layoff. The same treatment wasn't given to Mark Andrews as he rained the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship whilst injured for three months from December of last year to now. The cause of RKJ's frustrations with Michael Oku, with RevPro matchmakers and with his treatment can be traced back to this moment and that will surely be a heavy feature in the feud the two men are about to embroil themselves into going into the Summer.

"We will make this right, you have my word" were Andy Quildan's final words to RKJ during the final moments of the broadcast. Yet we have not had Oku Vs RKJ in singles action since. Ricky has a right to feel aggrieved. It is now just a matter of time.

The world watched on Wednesday night (or last night for most of us here in the U.K.) as Will Ospreay had his first Dynamite match since signing with All Elite Wrestling. And how incredibly appropriate it was that this match, one Will will remember forever undoubtedly, was against one of his closest friends and a man he has grown up with over the last half a dozen years, Kyle Fletcher. This one on one encounter was their first ever encounter in the United States but it was not their first match. First facing off one on one for Fight Club: PRO in 2019, their rematch was with Revolution Pro Wrestling in 2020. The match is available on RevPro On Demand here is why it comes RECOMMENDED.

We go back to the hardest period of professional wrestling, as well as the hardest period many of us have been through in our lifetimes, to the dark days of 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Therefore I am recommending you watch a match in front of no crowd, inside an empty Portsmouth School of Wrestling. Doesn't send tempting, I know. But we are talking about Ospreay Vs Fletcher and, if anyone could overcome the hard viewing of empty arena wrestling, it is these two in the safe hands of Pro Wrestling At Its Best.

First off, let's take in just how well RevPro managed the production of these shows - every effort was made to darken the room, giving a real underground feel and the harsh sounds of backs hitting the mat give as close to the live experience as is possible. Add to that the superb commentary of Andy Quildan and Rob Lias, whose energy and enthusiasm help add atmosphere and a sense of occasion and urgency to the action. Finally, and most importantly, the incredible work of Fletcher and Ospreay who from the very off hit this at full throttle. The intensity is felt from the first moment to the last and is summarised brilliantly by Rob Lias who hits the nail on the head on comms; two men going "balls to the wall".

This match occurs prior to the debut of The United Empire but was a significant moment in not only the faction's formation but also the inclusion of Kyle Fletcher and Aussie Open in that group. Look how Ospreay respects Fletcher enough to waste no motion between moves, to start with fire from the off and hold every pin attempt so snugly.

As the match develops, watch how Ospreay looks more and more desperate with each cover to secure the victory. The message is clear; Fletcher could be the one to end his Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship reign. Watch how well 'The Aussie Arrow' has all of 'The Assassin's offence so well scouted - the sequence that leads to the Spanish Fly and Oscutter are particularly sublime.

Watch how hard Ospreay lays it in after Fletcher fires up - the body shots, the knees to the head, the HARD Kowada Kicks and THAT rolling forearm followed by the most brutal Hidden Blade you will ever see. I love how tight Ospreay holds the leg on the cover even after the Hidden Blade AND Storm Breaker such is how seriously he perceives Fletcher as a threat to his title..

And finally, finally, watch as Ospreay lays next to Fletcher whispering into his ear as Elevated rings around the Portsmouth School of Wrestling. I'd love to know what he said but you'd have to imagine it was an acknowledgement of just how special a talent Fletcher is - the blueprints for the United Empire, laid inside and empty wrestling school on Portsmouth during a global lockdown. 

Haven't seen it before? Find time. It's worth it.

I'm not entirely sure who needs to be told this but Trent Seven Vs Connor Mills from RevPro's Live In London 82 this past Sunday was special. It was not just awesome. It was not just hard hitting or stiff; it was truly special and all fans of pro wrestling should find time for it in their schedule this week. The match is available at RevPro On Demand, via the website or the IOS and Android apps, for £7.40 a month. For now, though, let me break down exactly what made this match the talk of BritWres over the past week and in the argument alongside Ospreay Vs Alexander in Impact and Okada Vs Danielson in NJPW for match of the year thus far.

Firstly, if you need it, here's the context... December 30th, St Neots, Connor Mills, aghast at losing to JJ Gale, distraught at back to back singles losses in RevPro for the first time since October 2022, took his frustration out on Trent Seven. Why? Who knows why. At least, that was our thinking at the time..

Fast forward to the 229 Venue in London in January and we see Trent Vs Mills, "one on one", until Gio interfered and helped 'True Grit' to victory. Post-match we got our answers; Mills is tired of the old guard of wrestling, the "dinosaurs" of BritWres and wants to assert himself as one of the elite wrestlers across all of Europe, something few can argue with given the past couple of years he has had. This encounter was the rematch, with Gio banned from the building - ONE on ONE.

This match had a lot behind it and a lot going into it and that is seen in the opening lock up - honestly, find me a stronger locker up anywhere than the lock up these two put on. Then watch as Mills pushed Trent's head away as Ref Chris Hatch (welcome back Hatch) forced the break. The small details are what makes this special - Mills pushed Trent with the back of his forearm then takes a headlock, cranking Trent's head; as tight a headlock as you will see.

The first strikes of the match follow - the loudest chops, the hardest calf kicks. As Trent lays on the mat, look as he clutches at Mills' leg, trying to desperately keep him at bay. Any advantage is being sought because both men are dangerous, both men's prowess is respected but their feud is personal. Everything that follows hits hard, from body slams to chops to palm strikes across the back (look at Mills' back!) 

It's at this stage that Trent's hand looked to be weakened, it's followed by him being launched into the ringpost and then Mills drops him knee first onto the ring apron - systematically breaking down the entire body of the veteran and Trent has never looked more vulnerable, more sympathetic and more desperate.

Look out for when he swings a punch at Mills' knee as Mills circles him, focusing his attack. Look at how measured Mills is, adjusting his kick pads as Trent writhes on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Watch as Mills makes his decision and pursues the left leg - dragon screw, leg twist, an Indian Deathlock. Watch as Trent takes any opportunity to swing a chop at Mills, knowing his power is his best offence and his only way of slowing Mills down.

With the Deathlock locked in, as Trent repeatedly strikes him to get him to break his hold, you can see Mills' chest welt with each chop . After the avalanche back body drop, look as Trent gets a kick in to Mills' face and Mills' eye immediately swells, blackens and his cheek bleeds - these strikes are Trent's best weapons and he knows it. Mills has him on the mat, in the air and has the advantage the longer the match goes on. A heavyweight striker, though, knows it only takes one strike to change the match and Trent is constantly seeking it. His high volume chop offence is visibly breaking Mills' down, blow by blow, the body welts, the skin reacts and the muscles weaken. 

Watch as he draws Mills into a chop battle In the middle of the ring - the veteran playing on his younger foes ego, on his stubborn nature and on the rage he feels at being busted open, taking him away from his game plan. Listen to the sound of the final chop, see how it weakens Mills' ability to counter but notice how Mills immediately changes tact, reverts to the game plan and attacks the legs. Evidence of the growth in the wrestling IQ of Connor Mills. After Mills kicks out following Trent's desparation side slam following the rebound lariat, watch as both men take a moment on the mat - look at their breathing and you'll see just how much they have put into each and every strike.

Watch as Mills can barely hold himself up as Trent attempts the Seven Star Lariat. As Trent rises to his feet, watch his face - you can see him calculating his next move, knowing for the first time in the match he has the upper hand. Mills tries to seize a reaction out of Trent with the middle finger and by spitting in his face. It doesn't work; Trent keeps momentum with him taking every opportunity to inflict more pain. Mills looks like he could be sick at any moment and Seven looks ready to faint.

As the match moves to the apron, Mills seizes the momentum back with a vicious blow to the back of the neck and then musters all he has to hit a suicide dive followed by - wait for it - a double foot stomp from the top rope to the outside onto Trent and through a pile of chairs. The crowd, who have been drawn in all match, chant "holy shit. Seven only just makes the the outside 10 count to a huge pop and is immediately hit with a Burning Hammer - to which Trent kicks out at one - and the the crowd explode. Amazing crowd manipulation.

At this stage, Trent can barely stand. He can barely lift Mills. Mills can't stand. The lengths both men are prepared to go to in order to defeat the other has brought both men to the mat as they physically can't continue to fight toe to toe. Mills secures a leglcok and prevents Trent from reaching out to the ropes by manipulating every joint, until Trent hits one swift chop to break the hold.

Trent locks in a figure four leglcok and desperately strikes Mills at every opportunity across the knee - in response Mills hits every and anything he can to get Trent to break the hold. They inentsity of the submissions and the strikes throughout them are unparalleled. Finally, Mills locks in an Armloco, traps the other arm as Trent writhes in defence, and Mills delivers heel kicks to the back of the head until Chris Hatch calls a stoppage due to Trent's inability to defend himself. 

The chemistry between the two is incredible and they manage to bring the absolute best out of each other. This was the best Trent Seven match I've ever seen live. The best match I've seen since he and Tyler Bate wrestled Undisputed Era in NXT in 2018. This was also the best Mills match I've ever seen, surpassing the match he and Michael Oku had in York Hall in December 2022 which was a match of the year contender.

This was special and I don't use that word lightly.