The Wrestling Revolver
REVOLVER A Night At The MOXbury
February 2, 2023
Calumet Center At Montgomery County Fairgrounds
Dayton, Ohio
Watch: FITE
Evil Uno def. Jake Crist
Really nice opener here; too short to tell a story, but well-paced with nicely executed moves. If this was on a show like AEW Dark, it would have easily been the best match on the card. I think Jake Crist has a shout for being one of the most underrated guys on the indies these days. He has a good moveset, look and can switch things up to a variety of different styles. Evil Uno was good here too and his ‘Something Evil’ finisher looked sweet to finish the match here. ***
Marina Shafir def. Blair Onyx
Blair Onyx has a good look, but it seems like she can only do an inverted crab walk. She did it before the bell and then twice during the match, which just left her defenseless and able to get easily kicked and submitted by Shafir. It’s a cool pose, but it’s goofy if overused. NR
Six Way Scramble Match
Mike Bailey def. Gringo Loco, Jarett Diaz, Jessicka, Madman Fulton & Tyler Matrix
You know what this is. It’s an indie scramble match; high floor, low ceiling. Roll in the ring, roll out. Big dives, everyone gets a showcase. This was fun enough for what it was. Fulton is huge by the way. Seeing him in this relatively small ring is like having a toy that’s one scale bigger than everything else. His theme song is also a Spice Girls/Disturbed mash-up which is ridiculously sublime and kinda fits a 7-foot dude who does flying head scissors. ***
Pure Rules Match
Wheeler Yuta def. JT DunnÂ
A good pickup for WR in getting Wheeler Yuta on the card. I think it makes absolute sense to have AEW on indie cards from a business and performance standpoint, but it does seem to lower the tension a bit when you know that nine times out of 10, the wrestler from TK Enterprises is going over. Nevertheless, this is a good opportunity for Dunn to get some eyeballs on him, especially with Moxley on commentary. Dunn impressed me in previous outings for WR, and there’s something of the old-school heel about him. He knows how to tell a story with the way he wrestles.
Wheeler’s tights are green with a sort of electrical wiring pattern, as if he’s paying tribute to both Mitsuhara Misawa and R2D2. He looked great in this match, and his offense looked very smooth and athletic. Dunn, too looked good and the Pure Rules format led to some great storytelling, with Dunn trying to worm his way out of the referee’s vision to throw sneaky punches. Unfortunately, they pushed what was shaping up to be a great match too far in the direction of shenanigans, with a totally unnecessary ref bump and belt shot at the end. This could have been a four-star match if they had just wrestled. ***1/2
REVOLVER Title No Disqualification Match
Steve Maclin (c) def. Crash Jaxon
Crash Jaxon’s been impressive in Revolver scramble matches. “Whole Lotta Dude” is what you may call barrel-shaped, but he’s very mobile for his size, and he came to ring with what felt like a fresh coat of intensity and aggression.
This match ruled. Maclin looked like he was ready for a main event anywhere in the world here, and from the bell brought a ferocity to his offense that is a rare commodity these days. Two guys just beating the hell out of each other, and, the finish, which involved Maclin atomizing a door on Jaxon’s head, was as brutal as anything you’d see in a deathmatch. At ten minutes, this perhaps was too short to really hit the upper echelons, but it certainly left you wanting more and couldn’t be accused of wasting anyone’s time. Worth a watch. ****
PWR Tag Team Title Match
BULLET CLUB (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) (w/Gia Miller) def. Dadscout (Dan The Dad & Jake Manning) (c)Â
I’ve said this before about Manscout, but anyone can do wrestling comedy, but it takes real talent to do wrestling comedy well. What’s apparent watching Dan the Dad and Jake Manning is that they have excellent fundamentals in wrestling and a knack for the absurd that pushes them far beyond their contemporaries. Ok, I know that they’ve been doing this schtick for a long time and that some people are tired of it. But you can’t really argue with the crowd response here. Ace and Bey are well-seasoned at this point, and while they were happy to participate in the nonsense, this match was a nice showcase for their athleticism. This was a smooth match that had the crowd on side and if you like comedy wrestling, then this is as comfy a match as you’ll see all year. ***3/4
Billie Starks def. Allie Katch
This was decent enough, and Billie is a good babyface. Some pretty snug movez here too. This did its job and the commentators put over Billie’s first WR win strongly. ***
PWR Remix Title / Prestige Title Falls Count Anywhere Superkick Match
Alex Shelley (c) defeats Rich Swann
Shelley has an entourage holding his various belts behind him as he cuts a heel promo, which is a pretty good gimmick. This is the Remix Title, so Shelley gets to make the stipulation. He asks Swann, who suggests a falls count anywhere and thankfully rejects this in favor of something more interesting. Namedropping the Young Bucks, he announces it will be a superkick party match where you can only pin your opponent after a pinfall. Swann ensures his legs are in working order by superkicking the goon holding the NJPW Strong belt. Good stuff.
The stipulation is a good one and gives a layer of tension to that match that makes the superkick, one of the most ubiquitous moves in modern wrestling feel a lot more powerful. Much preferable to a random hardcore match as stipulations go and there’s some early limb work that builds into this. A walk and brawl later and back in the ring, and Swann comes close but Shelley wins after taking out Swann’s legs. This match was anchored by two very good wrestlers and the stipulation helped shape a good story. ***3/4
Before the main event, Moxley came out and gave a good speech about Revolver and ended up DDTing Damien Chambers, who came out to cut a heel promo with John E Bravo. Good stuff.Â
The Rascalz (Myron Reed, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) def. The Second Gear Crew (1 Called Manders, Mance Warner & Matthew Justice)
An incredible atmosphere here at the start of this match, with the crowd leading dueling chants for SGC and the Rascalz for a good few minutes. I guess I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see what these two teams could have done in the ring, but holy hell, if you like hardcore matches, this was a total war featuring doors, chairs, scaffolds, and even fire. They really went all out on this and got multiple deserving standing ovations from the crowd. More than worthy of the main event spot. Do you like heavy spot fest hardcore brawls? You’ll love this. ****1/4
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a very strong offering from Revolver. With Jon Moxley seemingly taking a role in helping to grow the promotion alongside Sami Callihan, who probably deserves more credit than he gets for building this promotion, 2023 looks like it could be a banner year for the promotion.
