Scrub's View #28 - Revolution Pro (2.8.03) Review
By Scrub

Welcome to Revolution Pro! Where wrestlers train, aspire, and dream to someday become XPW Superstars!

Sorry, I had to do it. *laughs* OK, with that out of the way, Revolution Pro's latest effort delivered a rather long (yet entertaining) show for the Rev Pro fans at Frank & Sons, where the biggest collection of nerds and dorks congregate and discuss why they have no girlfriends. Honestly, my expectations for this show were not that high. At first glance, it appeared that the card had been erratically put together, with PWI, XPW, and MTV Tough Enough stars making their first appearances in a Rev Pro ring. But even then, I was still curious to see how these new faces would do in good ol' Revolution Pro.

The show ended on a rather unusual note. After the main event tag, Rising Son took the mic and shot on Revolution Pro head honcho, American Wild Child. He discussed the way he has been treated in wrestling locker rooms, saying that one would have to be "buddy-buddy" with the booker, in order to get booked or pushed on the card. Rising Son complained about how he would never get his calls returned from AWC. He also complained about certain promoters not wanting to book him, even after he had shown up to work. A couple Rev Pro students were sent from the back to try to end Rising Son's impromptu verbal tirade, but to no avail. It took a couple more students from the back to try to put a stop to Son's shoot. The four students then proceeded to attempt to retrieve the mic from Son, which resembled a scene in NBC's popular hit sitcom Saved By the Bell, where Zack struggles to take away Jessie's caffeine pills before her performance at the Max, with Jessie's pills being Rising Son's microphone. After the scuffle, the Rev Pro students had backed off, and let Rising Son have his mic time, as Son asked them to "let him finish". Rising Son said, "instead of having your boys try to take the mic, why don't you do it yourself", or something to that effect, directing his comment towards AWC. AWC finally came out to ringside (but not in the ring) with his hoodie on (trying to keep a somewhat low profile) and said, "I've known your family for ten years. I love you like a brother. But, get the hell out of my ring". Again, not a direct quote. Just me paraphrasing for the most part. AWC left ringside as his students followed. Rising Son continued, "Why won't you call me?" After that comment, AWC went to the sound area and asked for his mic to be cut, but that did not happen (I dunno why it did not get cut, if it was indeed a "shoot"). AWC and his students left to the back, as Rising Son stated that he has quit. Rising Son said that "he loves the fans, but screw this company, and screw you (pointing at Rev Pro ring announcer, Travis Gray), I quit". And that was that. That was the end of the show. A rather odd note to end a show with. Who knows if this was a work or shoot. I am not sure. It definitely felt weird to witness that, but it still was interesting. But it wasn't interesting enough that it made me want to find out what the heck was going on. It seemed rather personal, so I decided not to dig deep and find out what was going on.

But aside from all that, entertaining show put on by Revolution Pro. Looked like a full house for the show, with pretty much every seat taken. Some people had to stand or sit against the wall. The pretty much sold out show was probably due to the new faces debuting in Rev Pro. EPIC's "Gucci Glasses", Rocky Romero, D, and Shogun were in attendance as well.

On to the High's and Low's:

Highs

Dance Ref Dance!: Rev Pro Referee Steve Daulton Jr. was met with plenty of "Dance Steve Dance" chants throughout the card. Sometimes, he would not cave in to the pressure from the crowd. But when he finally did cave in to the pressure, he finally did "bust a move". And let me tell you something. That has got to be, without a shadow of a doubt, the absolute most horrible dancing I have ever seen. But it's so bad, it's good! I swear, I think Steve Daulton Jr. should be put in rap videos. He'd make a great backup dancer. "Dancin" Steve Daulton Jr. gets down like no other ref can!

Opening Bout: This was a good opening match. Not the greatest opening match, but a very entertaining one nonetheless. Zokre and Phoenix Star redeemed themselves from their GSCW performances, as they looked rather sharp this time around. Zokre busted out the tope fake, which is one of my favorite moves EVER! These two are definitely frontrunners for 2003 SoCal Rookie of the Year (even though it is only February). Hydro looked good for the most part. He has the athletic ability, he just looked rather comatose in the ring, lacking charisma. Extreme Loco looks to be another rookie that shows a lot of promise as well.

Fight For the Revolution: Good match put on by both Quicksilver and Scorpio Sky, with Scorpio Sky looking better between the two. And obviously the Rev Pro Brass feels the same way, if they're gonna have Scorpio work twice in the same day, with the second time being in the main event. Both men can work that patented Rev Pro style rather well, plus they hit and execute all their moves and spots clean for the most part, including some rather Toryumon-esque submissions. Good match from the two, except for the finish. More on that later in the column...

Tough Enough's Kenny: Kenny looked pretty good in his match. He looks very natural in the ring. He's definitely got the talent to be in this business. Kenny hit his moves very crisp, and moves well in the ring. It's a shame that Vinny Mac and the WWE did not pick this kid up. That's too bad, considering the fact that the WWE opted to pick up the rather craptacular Jackie Gayda. During this match, Kenny and Hawk were met with "You lost to Jackie" chants. Those chants were rather harsh, yet funny. Sad but true. If Kenny lives here in SoCal, hopefully he will continue to receive more bookings. I'd love to see more of him in the ring. But I must say that somebody needs to give him some actual wrestling gear. The kickpads are cool, but the running windbreaker pants have got to go.

Four-Way Title Bout: I was expecting a clusterfuck, but instead I ended up getting a good match. Mr. Excitement looked good in the ring, as he actually looked interested in this match. He was even having a war of words with the Super Joey Ryan Fan! TARO was just TARO, the over-the-top little big man that will fuck... you... up. He's got the best chest in the west, what more can I say? TARO looked just fine and dandy in the ring. He even took the time to have a seat in the crowd, as he let Bomberry and Ryan destroy each other in the ring. Joey Ryan improves more and more everytime I see him wrestle. If you compared a February 02' JoJo with the February 03' JoJo, you could definitely see the vast improvement. He's a whole different wrestler that wrestles a much better match than he did a year ago. Way to go JoJo! Ryan looked rather polished in this match, working some rather nice sequences with Pro Wrestling Iron wrestler, Hook Bomberry. Finish saw TARO retain his Junior Heavyweight Title by defeating Joey Ryan. Order of elimination: Mr. Excitement, Hook Bomberry, Joey Ryan.

Hook Bomberry: Buck Huckleberry? Who in the heck is this guy? And why does he get a shot at the Rev Pro Jr. Heavyweight Title? Yea, I was thinking the exact same thing when I first saw his name on the flyer. But hell, whoever wanted to book this guy for Rev Pro, knows what he's doing! Hook Bomberry definitely impressed me, as he got his own chant as he was walking to the back after he had been eliminated. To me, Hook Bomberry stole that match, as he made it HIS match. He made it his time to shine, and shine he did. For those who aren't in the know, Hook Bomberry is a cruiserweight that wrestles for Pro Wrestling Iron up in Northern California. He wore Ken Shamrock WWF style gear, with the red trunks and the matching kickpads. He looks like Randy Taylor, the middle son from the hit TV show, Home Improvement, starring Tim "The Toolman" Taylor! He throws some rather vicious strikes and wrestles a heck of a mat game. I was talking to Revolution Pro announcer Travis Gray, and he called Hook Bomberry, "American Dragon Jr.". Bomberry is a very impressive wrestler. Bomberry's sequences with Joey Ryan and Mr. Excitement were top notch, with his sequences with Ryan being the better of the two. Hopefully he will continue to get the chance to work more shows out here in SoCal. Joey Ryan vs. Hook Bomberry looks like the logical matchup for the next show, but I'd definitely love to see a Hook Bomberry/Super Dragon matchup as well. To the SoCal promoters: Don't "sleep" on this kid!

Wannabe Damien Steele/Jim Ross: There was this guy in a nice suit and tie, sitting some six-seven feet away from me, thinking that he was Jim Ross, by doing play-by-play for most of the show! On top of that, he looked like Damien Steele! And on top of that, I think he was high! And during the times this guy wasn't doing commentary, he would be offering the wrestlers in the ring some very sound advice. Sound advice such as, "If you wanna win this match, you're gonna have to use the chair!", or "If you wanna win this match, you're gonna have to go to the top [rope]!". Another classic quotable was, "Man, c'mon man! That was cheese!" What in the hell is that supposed to mean?! Cheese?! WTF?~! Your guess is as good as mine. He also said to XPW's Angel, "C'mon man! You suck! You gotta do something man!" HAHAHAHAHAAH, man this guy was nutty. That's cheese, man!

Lows

Killing Finishers: Remember the time when good ol' Thunderbird used the Tiger Driver 98'? Remember the fact that it was the second move in the match? How ridiculous is that? He pretty much used a devastating finisher, for no apparant reason whatsoever, besides the fact that it just looks cool to do. This time around, Buddy George hit Super Dragon's "Dragon Bomb" or Kaos's "Gonzo Bomb" (all both stupid names for the move, but that's what Kriss Kloss decided to name them, and it stuck with XPW fans. Boo.) on Gallinero Chris Bosh in the middle of the match. It looked pretty frigging brutal, as Gallinero Chris Bosh sold the move like death after being drilled on his head. Props to him for that. Or maybe he was really in pain, I dunno. That move wasn't even the finish to the match! The finish saw the Gallineros make someone tap out. But while this was going on, Buddy George hit the same exact move on a dying Gallinero Chris Bosh! THE SAME MOVE! He drilled him again, right on his head, and again, Gallinero Chris Bosh sold it like death. The brutal dropping of Chris Bosh's head seemed rather unnecessary and irrelevant in this match, as it served no purpose at all. Poor Chris Bosh. I don't think Super Dragon uses the "Psycho Driller" anymore (that's my name for the move), but I do believe Kaos still uses it every now and then. And if Kaos still does use it, Buddy George just used one of Kaos's moves, and Kaos was on the same card.

Fight For the Revolution Finish: Rev Pro ring announcer Travis Gray strongly emphasized that there would be a time limit in this match. He also mentioned that in the event of a time limit draw, that three judges would determine which student would receive the Rev Pro contract. The three judges were Steve Daulton Sr., the Alternative Wrestling Shop's Bart, and "the Expert" Matt Sinister. So obviously we all knew that the finish would come down to the judges decision, which took all and any suspense out of the match, because the crowd already knew it was going to a time limit draw.

So, the match is over, and the judges are tabulating their scores using the scoring format that boxing judges use. Daulton Sr. and Bart had casted their votes, making the scores tied up. Matt Sinister had the deciding vote. So he votes 8 for Quicksilver and 8 for Scorpio Sky, because he's so evil! The judges then recount their scores so they can determine a winner. Daulton Sr. and Bart switch up their votes, so that Sinister again is the one with the deciding vote. Sinister then decides that he changed his mind, and that he would deduct points from their scores, making it Quicksilver 7 Scorpio Sky 7. OOOH, how diabolical! Sinister then grabs the mic and yaks on and on establishing his heel status. Next thing you know, Sinister takes a face turn, and attempts to rile up the crowd, saying that Quicksilver and Scorpio Sky both busted their ass for Rev Pro, saying they had the heart, determination, and the guts to make it in this business, etc. He also said that they should both get the contracts, which got a good reaction from the crowd. It was still awkward how Matt Sinister was a face, then a heel, all in a matter of 5-10 minutes. Keep in mind that this process took a long ass time, as the crowd just sat there, either dumbfounded or bored with what was going on. There was no suspense with this angle at all.

If I were to rebook that, I would have had Scorpio Sky go over in this match. That wouldn't mean Quicksilver does not get a contract, because all of the other students that lost in the battle royal on the previous Rev Pro show are still working the opening match, thus negating the need for a "contract" (A flaw I do not like in Ring of Honor's "contract" matches as well). With Scorpio going over in the Fight For the Revolution, he'd look a lot more stronger and legit in his main event tag with Kaos later in the evening. It would also make more sense, as it would have appeared that Scorpio Sky earned that spot in the main event..

Tough Enough's Hawk: I have never seen Hawk wrestle in an actual match before outside if Tough Enough, but his performance at Rev Pro was unimpressive. With his size, I thought he'd be a decent wrestler, but he needs a lot of improvement. His strikes definitely need some work. In the ring, Hawk would laugh at Top Gun Talwar and his in-ring presence, but the truth is that Top Gun looked better in the ring than the Tough Enough superstar. If Hawk is going to continue to be booked on SoCal cards, he is going to need to work really hard working out the kinks in his game. Either that, or he's going to need to be moved down lower on the card. On a side note, Hawk does bear a striking resemblance to Rev Pro referee "Dancin" Steve Daulton Jr. They could pass for brothers.

The XPW tag was neither a "high" nor a "low". The match wasn't bad, but it could have been a lot better. Kaos should have had more ring time, as the fans definitely wanted to see him in action, as the "Superstar" chants echoed off the walls, errr... curtains at Frank & Sons. But instead, Scorpio Sky wrestled the most for his team. Angel looked rather queer in his match, which is what he was going for, because that's his gimmick! Good job, Angel! The visible deathmatch scars on Angel look pretty nasty. Finish saw Scorpio Sky bust out this badass T2P-esque roll up on Rising Son which looked to be the finish, but wasn't as referee Patrick Hernandez didn't count the three even though it appeared that Son's shoulders were down. Scorpio quickly picked up Son and hit the original Tiger Driver on Son for the duke. It could be possible that Rising Son had a problem with losing to this young up-and-coming upstart, which could have possible triggered Son to go into full on shoot mode after the match. Son putting Scorpio over kind of symbolized a "passing of the torch", if you will, as Rising Son used to be one of the top guys in Rev Pro. And with Scorpio Sky getting this monster push, it makes alotta sense.

The whole Rising Son retirement is pretty unusual and awkward. Son airing out his dirty laundry seemed rather unsettling, but it also seemed like it had to be done, as Son seemed like he really had to vent and let it out. I still question if this is a work or shoot. Hey, you can never tell in this wacky world of pro wrestling. Either way, work or shoot, I hope things between the two parties can be settled. I hope both parties, if need be, can part ways amicably. Hopefully, Son has only quit one certain promotion and not wrestling as a whole. I'm sure other promotions in SoCal would be glad to book Son on their cards. If Rising Son has indeed quit wrestling, I'd like to personally thank him for all the matches he has put on for the sake of my enjoyment.

I remember the first time I saw Rising Son, I was very impressed. He was the first guy I saw do the now infamous "619". When Son busted that move for the first time, I remember jumping out of my seat in awe. His spotfests in XPW were very enjoyable as well, as XPW fans everywhere knew what Son was capable of. One of my favorite matches with Son was the 2001 SoCal Match of the Year Runner Up between him and Super Dragon in Revolution Pro. That match is still one of the most memorable matches in Rev Pro history. Rising Son is still young. He has plenty of good wrestling years ahead of him. But if he genuinely wants to quit wrestling, more power to him. If his body cannot take the punishment anymore, more power to him. If he truly cannot deal with the backstage politics anymore, more power to him. Either way you look at it, Rising Son was an entertaining wrestler in the ring, and a good person out of the ring. I wish him the best of luck with all his future endeavors.

Overall, a really long (yet entertaining) show from Revolution Pro. The show clocked in at approximately three hours and 45 minutes with intermission included. I had fun at this show, but a couple matches did not have to be there, or could have been shorter. I will definitely be at the next show. It's only inevitable that the Rev Pro fans must see Super Dragon vs. Hook Bomberry!

Scrub
Someone please bring back Goalie Howe. Seriously.
scrub@socaluncensored.com