It was rather lovely of Rev Pro to dish out so much new content the week that I not only signed up to their On Demand service but also decided to start writing about what they’re up to. I’ll assume they arranged this tour purely for my benefit. Monday Night Mayhem was filmed at Portsmouth’s Guild Hall and had two tasty title matches set up nicely by the previous shows. Let’s dish out some stars.
The Contenders (Josh Wall and Kurtis Chapman) defeated Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher)
There was some lovely tag team wrestling in this match. After a hot start that saw The Contenders bursting with babyface fire, Aussie Open went to work, isolating Josh Wall and grinding him down. Even as they wrenched the pace out of the match, though, their offence was never dull, and Wall had enough hope spots to keep things interesting.
When Kurtis Chapman got the hot tag, he came in spicy and hit some cool looking offence to bring The Contenders back into contention. Even with that flurry, there were moments where it looked like Mark Davis’s power was going to be too much for them (that one-handed powerbomb is beautiful), but they managed to sneak out the shock victory with an impressive roll-up by Chapman.
This was a fun way to open up the show. In my last Rev Pro review, I mentioned how easy Moustache Mountain and The Hunter Brothers made tag team wrestling look, and there was a touch of that here too. Both teams wrestle like they are parts of a bigger whole and with their series tied up at one apiece, I hope we see this again.
Verdict: Three Stars
Zoe Lucas defeated Veda Scott
Zoe Lucas kicked things off by parading around the ring with a cupcake which Veda Scott eventually shoved into her face. You’ve got to start somewhere I guess.
Once we got past all of that, this was decent, although it didn’t go that long. I haven’t seen Lucas before and she seemed a bit green with some of her strikes looking ineffectual. On the flipside, Veda Scott was hitting a bit harder as she sold the frustration from her recent losses to Jinny.
Sadly for her, that mean streak wasn’t enough, and she was on the losing side of an okay but unremarkable encounter.
Verdict: Two Stars
El Phantasmo defeated Rob Lias
A wild Marty Scurll popped up on commentary for this match. He took over from Lord Gideon Grey who had been doing a decent job.
This match never came together. It started off a bit stop-start as there was a lot of stalling before they brawled to the floor. When they got back in the ring, there were moments where it felt like it was going to click and yet they never quite seemed to find that groove. I don’t know if it was a chemistry issue or a bad day. Either way, it turned what looked like a decent match on paper into one which was just okay.
Verdict: Two Stars
Josh Bodom defeated Speedball Mike Bailey to retain the British Cruiserweight Title
Speedball Mike Bailey is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Those strikes are vicious (to the extent where I suspect they’re not that fun to take) and he has a lovely array of moves to follow up on them with.
I also think someone like Josh Bodom is the perfect opponent for him. While Bailey exudes cheerful enthusiasm, Bodom is someone who is out there looking to win and will do anything to do so. He has that Cruiserweight Title in his hands, and he isn’t willing to let it go.
Which played into the story of this match. When the two men went toe to toe, they were relatively evenly matched, but Bailey was coming out the better man. Yet, just as he seemed in a position to see Bodom off and gain that belt for himself, Bodom bent the rules and snuck out with a win.
This was a fantastic match, and while the finish was a bit cheap, it was a cheap finish that I was willing to go along with because it probably means we’ll get to see them do it again.
Verdict: Four Stars
David Starr defeated Timothy Thatcher
David Starr heeled it up before the match and managed to turn the Portsmouth crowd against him. It was a pretty straightforward heel promo, and he delivered it well.
The match itself was Timothy Thatcher doing what Timothy Thatcher seems to do and violently grinding his opponent into the mat. For the most part, he was successful, but every time Starr got an inch he’d take a mile. Whether it was poking him in the eye or dropping his neck across the ropes, he was doing everything he could to get an advantage.
That tactic would pay off for him in the end as he used the ropes to get the flash pin on Thatcher. The finish didn’t quite work because the refs positioning made it pretty much impossible for him to claim he hadn’t seen the feet on the ropes. It also felt like the story was a bit too similar to the match before. If you can ignore those minor niggles, this was another good match, particularly for those who are fans of Thatcher’s style.
Verdict: Three Stars
Dave Mastiff defeated Moose
We’ve got ourselves a hoss battle. The British Bastard vs The American Footballer.
And yet, what’s interesting about this battle is that while we got plenty of huge blows and muscle-bound exchanges, Moose actually spent a lot it working as an underdog. Mastiff controlled things, and there was a period of the match where it felt less like big man wars and more like a big man destroying a small man. Moose needs to learn to wrestle to his own size and use that to his advantage rather than letting opponents put him on the back-foot.
Despite that complaint, this was still a good battle. When it got down to two big men trading blows and seeing who would hit the mat first it was a lot of fun. It’s just a shame that we got our third dodgy finish in a row to see it off.
Verdict: Three Stars
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) defeated CCK (Chris Brookes and Travis Banks)
This one started slowly as both teams stalled out of the gate. When it took off, it really took off. Suddenly we went from slow exchanges of ideas to frantic war with a bit of everything thrown in there. Stiff strikes, big dives and plenty of sick fucking tag moves.
The story seemed to be that while Moustache Mountain eventually picked up the win via a roll-up, these teams were equally matched. Neither was able to gain a clear advantage and when chaos took over, it mainly came down to who could hit a big move first. The finish made it clear that while Moustache Mountain may have won the belts, it was far from definitive.
Which is fine by me, because like the Cruiserweight Title fight, it means we can do this again. These four men are very very good at what they do and the more matches we get between them, the better.
Verdict: Four Stars
Overall Show
An over-reliance on dodgy finishes aside, this was another strong showing from Rev Pro with two fantastic title matches backed up by a strong undercard. While a couple of displays didn’t quite come together, even they weren’t disasters, and they didn’t hurt the show. Before we go, a quick note on the commentary, both Lord Gideon Grey and Marty Scurll did an excellent job. Scurll occasionally got a bit too Bullet Clubby, but on the whole, they focused on putting over the wrestlers in the ring rather than themselves, which is always nice to see.
Ramblings About Wrestling 
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