The highly anticipated Revolution Pro High Stakes show featured the dream match between former WWE exile PAC (formerly known as Neville) and Will Ospreay – and it was certainly one to be remembered as they fought out an absolute classic which ended in rare circumstances – a 30 minute time limit draw.
Slight change
The show had a few interruptions beforehand with RevPro announcing a few changes to the match card on the day of the event and the night before. With only three matches being announced beforehand with a usual seven or eight on the card, it left fans worried about a possible change to their main event.
Thankfully, the main event, which sold out within five hours with only one match announced, was untouched and the card went ahead without many disruptions.
Bloody main event
There was blood spilt as Ospreay was busted open from his mouth after a nasty collision with PAC, this led to the Essex boy leaping from the ring over the guard rail and into PAC in the crowd to the fans fright and delight as they scampered for the high heavens to avoid being clattered.
Even though Ospreay is the local boy and RevPro favourite, there was cheers and boos for every swing of either opponent. Both PAC and Ospreay got attacked by Jon Gresham and Chris Brookes during the match as Ospreay was feuding with Brookes at previous shows. They were thrown to the back by both men and the bout continued.
The match was filled with a lot of athletic moves from both guys who looked like they were trying to kill one another. PAC (whose nickname is ‘The B*****d’) kicked Ospreay in his nether regions and went to the top rope to hit his finisher.
As the timekeeper was counting down the time left in the match, two seconds remained and PAC flipped off the crowd to a yell of disappointment and exasperation. It was a time-limit draw, PAC grabbing his DragonGate Championship belt and laughing as he exited York Hall, teasing the crowd and taking it away in one fell swoop.
This match was billed as one to help galvanise British Independent Wrestling as a lot of the performers have been tied down to contracts to WWE NXT UK, which has stopped them from performing for most promotions in the UK. The action and drama certainly lived up to the hype and the way it finished left everyone wanting even more. The main event did its job perfectly.
Canada vs America
Other notable mentions from the show was El Phantasmo up against MJF. Canada versus America in this matchup, as the cocky MJF mouthed off the York Hall crowd constantly with generic digs at the English.
With much theatrics towards the fans, this encounter was hard-hitting, high flying and laughs all round. El Phantasmo picked up a brilliant win and this honestly would have been match of the night on any other night if it wasn’t for the main event.
Highlight opener
Josh Bodom versus Angelico opened the night, it was a steady opener and lacked substance but Bodom’s right-hand man Sha Samuels was hilarious in causing interference and disrupting the match by shouting at the fans in the front row.
East London’s own Sha Samuels was going around shouting ‘EAST!’ at every opportunity to wind up the crowd. Very funny and forever the bad guy.
Team White Wolf beat The Besties in the World in a tag match which was a bit messy but it had some nice moments – White Wolf being attacked by Bodom and Samuels after the match to cause some trouble ahead of their match in the next RevPro show.
Women Champion retains
Zoe Lucas beat Bea Priestley to retain her British Women’s Championship which had a dodgy ending with the referee counting to four instead of three which left the crowd flummoxed.
Rest of the card
CCK (Gresham & Brookes) stole a win against Aussie Open (Fletcher & Davis) in an affair which ended up mostly In the crowd – with my chair being taken to pile on top of Mark Davis (I didn’t get it back) – Jon Gresham running around with a stapler using it on Davis and Fletcher’s heads to gasps from the crowd. As Aussie Open rallied towards the end, it was stolen by Brookes who rolled up Davis for the win.
MK McKinnan defeated Kip Sabian was the late replacement for Chris Ridgeway who broke down on his way to the show. Ridgeway was the original replacement for the Great O’Kharn who had to go back to Japan for personal reasons.
These were the main disruptions of the show as far as we know. This was the match before the main event and the fans were tired at this point, which showed in the reaction. It was shame as the match was fairly decent.
Final thought
Overall, RevPro High Stakes 2019 had its ups and downs but as an event with a lot of significance on the British Independent Wrestling scene, it lived up to the hype overall with two absolute standout matches with performers who have not been signed up by the big corporations.
Usually shows don’t even sell out towards the day of the event, but for three months in advance and a few disruptions on the day, High Stakes was well worth the money and time to see two of the greatest on the planet put on a wrestling clinic for the hundreds in attendance
