Cero Reviews RevPro High Stakes 2022

[cero2k]

RevPro High Stakes 2022
January 29, 2022
York Hall, London, England

Gideon Grey's Open Challenge
Gideon Grey vs. Alex Coughlin - Squash
Before Coughlin came out to the big ovation, Grey cut a promo talking shit on Umino not being to come out since he had a match next, but to pay attention and learn a thing or two, Grey also talked shit about some other people that are particularly able to challenge.

Match was less than 2 minutes of slams and then Coughlin choked out Grey for the win.

Shota Umino vs. Yota Tsuji (w/Lucian Phillips) - 8/10
This was a great, actual opener of the show. This was a good clash in what should eventually be a bigger story. At this point, Tsuji is stuck with The Legion, a group that he doesn't want to be with, he comes out to the ring and he looks dead inside; whereas Umino comes out, full of energy, taking photos with the fans and giving out his tee to a fan.

Match was mostly back and forth from the get go. While not really a heel, Tsuji worked a more stoic match, compared to Umino, where playing to the crowd is probably what he has learnt the most during his excursion. Tsuji at one point even got his hands on a walking cane from Phillips, and instead of giving in and using it on Umino, he attacked Phillips and continued wrestling with Umino, who at the end would end up getting the win with a a DeathRider. The only one spot that I didn't like was when Tsuji took an avalanche sitout slam and there seem to be a short scare that Tsuji was hurt, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad they checked on him, but the stalling made things weird for a bit.

Watching this, it felt like it could easily become a Tanahashi vs Goto match in 3 or so years.

Dan Moloney vs. Callum Newman - 6.5/10
This was the straight definition of "Get Your Shit In", two dudes that can do moves and so they do them, they wanted to do the stage dive, the striking battle, the big aerial moves, the countout tease, everything. The saving grace is that Moloney has a good physic and has a style that looks good, a style that worked well against Newman who does a lot of high fly offense. Moloney won after spamming a bunch of moves.

Post-match - Maloney cut a promo about not being liked by anyone and made fun of the fans as he walked to the ramp. He talked shit about not getting competition, but the whole thing was so bad that I think he's getting the level of competition he deserves. Don't let this man near a mic again.

RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship Match
Alex Windsor (c) vs. Charli Evans - 7/10
Good match. This was 100% laid out like a men's Japanese match, with the one person having the upper hand early, the comeback, the striking battle, the fighting spirit spot, and into the near fall exchange with the big spots. Windsor retained with a Fisherman driver. Evans had already survived of a Coast-2-coast among other things.

Post-match - Debbie Keitel attacked Windsor from behind, took out Evans who tried to make the save. She cut a promo about being disrespected by the promotion, and we got an appropriate "you deserve it" chant for once. She said that on her last loss, she had a concussion, so since she doesn't remember anything, than it surely didn't happen nor it counts. She's going for the title again and she wants a challenge. Too long to not say much.

Out came Hyan, also making her return. They brawled until Hyan took out Keitel with a spear. Keitel ran away when Hyan went for a second one.

Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Luke Jacobs - 7/10
This whole match felt like a RKJ showcase, where he had to deal with Jacobs, instead of being a contest of two up-and-comers. Not to the point where it was a squash, but RKJ's star just outshone all of Jacobs' talent in the ring. Jacobs is just the poster of boy of being a big fish in a small pond, but once he goes to the sea, he just doesn't live up to the stage. Anyway, the in-ring action was really good, just a bit too long of a match.

Gabriel Kidd vs. Francesco Akira - 8/10
Dojo Wars! NJPW Dojo vs AJPW Dojo right here. This could had been a good clash of styles based on the Dojo styles, but just because of the big size difference, the match ended up becoming more of a strong style match where Akira was the smaller underdog facing up against a striking machine in Gabe.

90% of the match as striking, to the point that comparing this match to say a WALTER vs Mark Davis from PROGRESS wouldn't be that far-fetched. Kidd was just mean and dominant, he was fixed on only using chops and slaps and it worked to create that sense that his strikes are making a lot of damage due to the sound. Akira didn't, but he had some great explosive spots that made up for it.

RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship Match
Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) - 7/10
I just couldn't get into this match, the champions were the underdogs and at the end, I walked out thinking that the heel challengers should be the champions and that the babyface champions won almost out of luck.

I also thought the match was a bit longer than it needed to be, they had two babyface in peril segments for both Mambo and TK, and then they went for the tornado tag stuff, the striking battle where everyone falls down, the mirror sequences, the final babyface peril with a bunch of near falls and cheats, and at the very end, a big convoluted destroyer spot where Mambo almost spiked himself on top of his head, and Fletcher failed to take.

Having said all that, the action was good, Aussie Open are a fantastic team, and Sunshine Machine have developed into a decent unit, Mambo is not a joke anymore and while Cooper is not as great as with SPPT days, he can still go in the ring.

Ospreay vs Oku Video Package - Fantastic, two simple promos that tell you all you need to know. Well, almost everything.

RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship Match
Will Ospreay (c) vs. Michael Oku - 10/10!
Yeap, the hype was real, this was a banger of a match. I think it's a match that greatly benefits of knowing the story of how Ospreay defeated Oku last time and the build to this one that you can mostly get from the video package, but I have a feeling that if you come into this match and watch it in a void, it still delivers in all departments. While I had some issues with commentary tonight, I thought they did a good job in this match introducing the supporting cast with Oku's family, especially the girlfriend who played a big part in the story.

Match was mostly about Ospreay's dominance versus Oku's heart. A match that just kept escalating in drama in violence, that gave Oku some fantastic comebacks as he started to work Ospreay's leg towards the single leg Crab. We had some great near falls towards the on both sides, and while I may sometimes complain when we have finishes where the babyface is already defeated and we're just waiting for the end, Ospreay knew perfectly how to do it to keep the heat on him and not turn into a House of Torture energy void.

The way this went down, I straight up don't want to see Ospreay lose the title until many months later when Oku finally overcomes him.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
An up and down show, I struggled staying interested in some of the matches, but we still had some great stuff here and there. The main event is something worth going out of your way to watch, but I would also suggest the Kidd vs Akira match, and the Umino vs Tsuji match if you're a fan of the NJPW Young Lions.

I did wanted to note that at some point between the Knight vs Jacobs match and the main event, I really started to dread the commentary on the show, I felt they reached that 'small promotion syndrome' that causes them to just pretend their promotion is the greatest thing in the world and everything is overly dramatic and hyped, making me constantly think that commentary is full of shit for overselling me that such and such is the greatest something something; not to mention the constant reminder that many years ago, some big name dropped by, like stop living on the high that many years ago, Shibata or Styles were your champions, focus on your current roster instead. You really shouldn't do that unless you have someone like Oku and Ospreay, who can legitimacy claim to be the best wrestlers in the UK at the moment.