Rev Pro Wrestling’s’ Epic Encounters 8 Recap and Review
Last night saw British Wrestling Promotion Rev Pro Stream their most recent show in their Epic Encounters series, Epic Encounters streamed free on their YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels. This was the first show of 2021, with the last Epic Encounters airing on the 27th of December. The show would feature two Women’s Championship matches as well as seeing the continuation of their Southside Heavyweight Championship tournament.
JJ Gale and Callum Newman defeated The “Legion” Gideon Grey and Chris Ridgeway.
What a way to kick of the show with a high octane, hard hitting match that featured some of the best wrestling you will see any where in the world. JJ Gale and Callum Newman once again showed why they were put together at the request of Will Ospreay, as the two competitors are the future of Rev Pro and British Wrestling. Chris Ridgeway is one of the most believable hard men in British wrestling and whilst he may not be the biggest, he can certainly hit the hardest, landing shots that will have you wondering how Callum and JJ’s heads are still attached to their bodies. Gideon Grey is another excellent wrestler, whose technical mastery and story telling has made him as one of British Wrestling’s most under-rated and unsung talents of British Wrestling, another fantastic showing.
Ricky Knight Jr (RKJ) Defeated Rob Lias
The first of the two Southside tournament matches saw Ricky Knight Jr continue his climb towards redemption after loosing his Championship match to Will Ospreay, he continues to show what has made him the next stand out from the Fighting Knight Family. Rob Lias may have gushed over RKJ in the first few Epic Encounter shows but he wasn’t prepared to roll over and did his best to play spoiler with some excellent underhanded heel tactics.
Kanji Defeated Bobbi Tyler with Zoe Lucas
Kanji returned to action after several months out of action thanks to a broken arm, the Southside Women’s Champion did not looked like she had missed a beat, putting in a decent performance defending and retaining her title. Bobbi mixed in some excellent character heel work with a mixture of technical holds and solid strikes with Zoe Lucas ringside, Bobbi was the perfect person to try and spoil Kanji’s return. After the match Zoe Lucas tried to steal Kanji’s Championship but recent NXT UK Signing Aleah James came out to make the save, as Kanji thanked Aleah, both ladies were then jumped by Bobbi and Zoe who then managed to steal the championship.
Kid Lykos II defeated Connor Mills
Back to the future of British Wrestling with the two of British Wrestling’s best young stars, Kid Lykos showed some truly excellent technical wrestling with a high flying style and some underhanded tactics that would make Eddie Gurrero proud. Connor Mills showed his full range of abilities in this match, as the bigger of the two competitors, he worked some decent power moves in with his usual hard hitting high flying offence.
Screwface Ahmed defeated Joel Redman,
Both of these competitors brought that same fire and energy they brought in their first encounter however with the help of Gideon Grey, Screwface was able to pick up the win on this occasion. Screwface has always been dangerous and viscous in particular with his striking, but now with the Legion in his corner that danger and that viscousness has been taken to another level, could it take him all the way to the tournament final. Joel Redman looked great in defeat but Redman just looks great any time he steps foot in a wrestling ring, with his strength, power and athleticism, plus being great wrestler and he brings these tools to each match.
Jamie Hayter Defeated Gisele Shaw to become new Rev Pro Women’s Champion
This match was every bit as good as their first encounter at Epic Encounters 1 but this time it was Jamie Hayter who came out as the victor, notably without Tag Team partner Bea Priestley in her corner. Hayter brought everything that makes her one of the best wrestlers in the UK into the match plus everything she brought back from from her time in Japan, putting it all together in an incredible performance. Gisele Shaw may have come up short in this match but the Quintessential Diva would’ve made her mentor, Lance Storm proud, a true hybrid wrestling performance.
Epic Encounters 8 is no longer available on YouTube but will be put up on their V.O.D streaming site Rev Pro on Demand in the coming days, they are currently offering a two week free trial. On there you will be able to check out all the other shows that make up this Epic Encounters series plus a full library of older Rev Pro events featuring stars such as, PAC, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr, AJ Styles, Hiroshi Tanahashi and many more.
You can hear our review of the event on the latest Tea and Tights, Brit Wres Round Up Podcast;
You can Follow Andrew More on Twitter @GBOtaku82
Check out our official store at PRO WRESTLING TEES, show us your support and buy a shirt. You can visit our store by clicking here.
Make sure to follow us on Twitter @BodySlamNet and on Instagram @BodySlamDotNet
Also check us out on Facebook and give us a like and share by clicking HERE.
