RPW Okada vs. Aries Review

RevPro presents an incredible dream match!

RPW Okada vs. Aries

London, England 10/19/14

1.) RPW Undisputed British Cruiserweight Title – Triple Threat Match – Josh Bodom vs. Rich Swann vs. Will Ospreay: ***

Rich Swann’s entrance is just so entertaining every time. How could you not get pumped up when “All Night Long” plays? It’s infectious. Anyway, Josh Bodom, a member of The Revolutionists, is defending his RPW Undisputed British Cruiserweight Title. This was a good opening match, but it definitely went a little shorter than I was anticipating. I think that did hurt the match a bit, in my opinion, but these three were still able to put together an entertaining opening contest, packing in a fair amount of action in the time they were given. In the end, Will Ospreay would score the victory to capture the RPW Undisputed British Cruiserweight Title!

2.) Joel Redman vs. Sha Samuels: **3/4

Back at Summer Sizzler 2014, Joel Redman, along with Martin Stone, captured the RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Titles from Sha Samuels & Terry Frazier, known as The Kartel. It seems natural that we’d get at least one subsequent singles match between the members of the two teams. This was a decent match. Samuels stalled towards the beginning when he tried to get Redman to take him on in (I guess) a Master Lock Challenge, before faking out Redman to take advantage. Towards the end of the match, Samuels ripped off Redman’s knee brace. This would come into play later, as Terry Frazier came out and hit Redman with his own knee brace while the referee was distracted. This allows Samuels to pick up the win.

3.) Martin Stone vs. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Karl Anderson: ***1/4

In our next contest, we have Martin Stone, co-holder of the RPW Undisputed British Tag Team Titles with the aforementioned Joel Redman, taking on another tag team champion in the form of Karl Anderson, who was (at the time) one half of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions with Doc Gallows. I thought this was a pretty solid match. It wasn’t spectacular by any means, but for what it was, I enjoyed it. There was some good back & forth between these two, and eventually, Stone picked up a pretty surprising win over Karl Anderson (I wasn’t expecting that at all).

After the match, Anderson raised Stone’s hand, and the two embraced.

4.) RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Title – Marty Scurll vs. Shelton Benjamin: ***

Shelton Benjamin is, of course, part of Suzuki-gun, which at the time, was still in New Japan. Commentary mentioned all of his prior accomplishments in places like WWE & ROH as he came out. Benjamin is challenging Marty Scurll for the RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Title. These two were actually having a nice little match. It was fine for it’s spot on the card, but it was a bit disappointing in the sense that this match was for the promotion’s top title, and it didn’t exactly deliver a very good match (at the least). The fact that the match ended in a DQ when Sha Samuels attacked Shelton Benjamin didn’t help matters. There was some decent action in this one, but it was a disappointment as a whole.

After Samuels ran in for the DQ, Benjamin was able to fight back, and eventually, he gives Samuels a piledriver on the stage! That looked brutal.

Then, Marty Scurll took the mic, criticizing fans for booing him after everything he’s had to sacrifice. Chants for Rockstar Spud break out, and Scurll calls him out for a match right now (I guess they were having a feud at the time). Spud comes out, in one of his whacky suits, and the two brawl for a bit. This included Spud taking one of his expensive shoes off and attacked Scurll with it. Scurll soon bails, and Spud cuts a promo calling him, jealous, insecure, paranoid, a chickensh*t, and a dickhead. He calls out Scurll for always complaining, and says guys like Joel Redman, Martin Stone, & Will Ospreay are the ones who deserve real opportunities. Spud promises to shut up Scurll in their upcoming title match and says that he’ll become the RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion. Scurll leaves as Spud then strips down to his pink underwear and attacks his clothes, Ric Flair style.

5.) The Hunter Brothers vs. 2 Unlimited: ***1/2

So the show up to this point has been pretty average. Fortunately, these two teams were able to pick up the pace! It’s actually a very interesting match, as it consists of two teams of brothers (Jim & Lee Hunter and Jay & Patrick Sammon, respectively). This was a very good match, in my opinion. Although the action wasn’t always crisp, it was a fun match to watch from start to finish. Both teams looked good, and both nearly had the match won at a number of points. In the end, 2 Unlimited would score the victory.

Before the Main Event, Andy Boy Simmonz (a former wrestler and one-half of the commentary team) comes down from one of the balconies to cut a promo. He calls himself “The Forgotten Son of British Wrestling”. Simmonz had been teasing all night that he was going to confront Buff Bagwell (who I guess was making an appearance), since he has some sort of beef with him, and has decided to call him out right now. Bagwell, of course, comes out in his ridiculous hat. Simmonz says that Bagwell was once his hero, but then says that he ruined WCW, and the wrestling business in general. He then makes fun of Bagwell’s infamous mother, Judy Bagwell, before Buff Bagwell takes the mic, and makes fun of Simmonz in return. It looks like Simmonz wants to apologize, but it’s a trick, as he attack Bagwell! However, Bagwell is able to fight back and sends Simmonz packing. He then thanks the fans for coming out, and celebrates in the ring.

6.) Austin Aries vs. “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada: ****

So originally, Ricochet was going to be wrestling Okada here, but he had to pull out due to commitments regarding Lucha Underground (I think it may have been their first set of TV Tapings). Austin Aries has now stepped up to the plate to take on Okada. Of course, given that the show was named after this match, you would expect it to deliver, and fortunately, it did! This was great! It was easily the best match on the show, in my opinion. Both guys are awesome in the ring, and they were able to put together an awesome Main Event! We saw some great back & forth action between these two, especially in the closing stages. They worked very well together. I really enjoyed every second of this match. Aries came close to winning on a number of occasions, but in the end, he fell to The Rainmaker, and Okada picked up the win.

After the match, Okada tried to cut a promo in English. Subsequently, he says that his English is very bad. He asks the crowd if they know the song “Englishman in New York”, and asks them instead to sing “Japanese Man in London”, which they do. Okada thanks them for coming to the show, and says he will return.

Overall: 7.25/10

This was pretty much a one-match show. Kazuchika Okada vs. Austin Aries was the main draw for this show, and those two were able to deliver with a fantastic Main Event. While the rest of the card wasn’t bad, it was very average. The first four matches in particular all hovered around the *** range, with The Hunter Brothers vs. 2 Unlimited being the only one to break out from the pack in the undercard. If you’re looking to check anything out from this show, the Main Event is the only thing that’s truly worth seeing.