The Single File #11
05/31/01

With the death of ECW and temporary shutdown of WCW, a lonely wrestling nation turns its eyes elsewhere to get its wrestling fix. That's why I'm very glad I fell into Revolution Pro.

Rev Pro, in case you didn't know, is a small league based in Southern California that specializes in a mix of American, Mexican, and Japanese styles of wrestling. The group first came to my attention when I caught a match between Super Dragon (1) and Ultrataro, Jr (2). on a comp tape. Not only did that match feature amazing highflying, but also some great psycology, selling, and stiffness rarely seen in the States.

I was impressed, and ordered a few shows, which were mostly hit or miss. Frankly, the league has some wrestlers I just don't enjoy watching. But the gold is GOLD, some of the best indy wrestling I've seen in years. Most of the good features Super Dragon, RevPro's definite franchise player (and #91 in the DVDVR 500), but Ultrataro's no slouch either (#110). So we'll look at another awesome match involving these two, as well as some of their friends

Backstory: Well, Dragon beat Ultrataro in the above mentioned match with the Psycho Driver (3), so Taro recruited his heel buddy Excalibur (#359) to battle Dragon and his pal Rising Son (#351) in a tag match. That's about it.

The Match: Taro and Excalibur come out first. Ultrataro could be the skinniest wrestler I've ever seen. He's got on red and white pants and a mask with some Liger-ish horns. Excalibur wears a black bodysuit and mask, and also looks like the Big Show cut in front of him in the buffet line. I hope these two use their share of the purse to buy a sandwich or something. Dragon and Rising Son come out next with a dummy wearing an Excalibur mask, whatever that means (it's tough to follow stories when the videos are all handheld with no commentary). Dragon's got the full Sasuke ninja pajama look going, while Rising Son has a Japan gimmick (duh). And as I alluded to above, this show takes place in a very tiny room, maybe the back of a warehouse. The venue has so little width that the ring barely fits, and there appears to be maybe 50-75 people in attendance.

Son and Excalibur start us out. Tie-up, and Excalibur applies a wristlock, which Son promptly cartwheels out of and applies one of his own. Excalibur then reverses the wristlock again and trips Son so he lands face first on the mat. Excalibur flips Son over, but Son kips up and hits an armdrag in mid-air. Beauty. Excalibur gets up and walks into another armdrag. Son tries for a third armdrag, but Excalibur puts on the brakes and Son crashes to the mat. Excalibur lays in a quick kick to the head, then picks up Son and mockingly drags him near Super Dragon before tossing him into the rudos corner. Ultrataro comes in and they lay some clubberin' onto rising Son. Excalibur snapmares Son over and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Excalibur tries another snapmare, but this time Son holds on and manages to snapmare Excalibur over. Son lays in a kick to the back of the head, and then a running dropkick right in the face of the seated Excalibur. This time Son mockingly drags Excalibur near Ultrataro before tossing him in the technicos corner. Super Dragon comes in and they lay on the clubberin'. Excalibur does manages to escape and make the tag to Ultrataro.

Taro tries to get a chant going to no avail, so he and Excalibur do the old "cover up the ears so they can't hear" bit. Cute. Dragon and Taro tie up, go behind by Taro, reversed by Dragon, who flips Taro over and applies a cross armbreaker. Taro manages to get to the ropes. Dragon picks up Taro, applies a wristlock, and lays some elbows into the arm. But Taro manages to elaborately flip out and trip Dragon, then going for a quick cover. Dragon kicks out, trips Taro, and tries a cover of his own. Taro kicks out, and we've got a standoff.

Dragon flips off Excalibur, just because, I guess. Dragon and Taro tie up again, and Dragon slaps on a headlock and takes Taro over. Taro manages to escape and scissor Dragon's head with his legs. Dragon escapes that by kipping up and we've got another standoff. They tie up again, Dragon takes Taro over with a headlock again, and again Taro manages to apply a headscissors. But this time Dragon manages to flip up and reapply the headscissors again in a nifty move. Taro manages to get to his feet and shove Dragon off into the ropes. Dragon rebounds with a shoulderblock and hits the ropes again. This time Taro drops down and leapfrogs, but Dragon then puts on the brakes and kicks him in the gut. Dragon with another whip to the ropes, and he tries a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Taro flips out and tries a Boston crab, but Dragon flips out and we've got another standoff.

Excalibur takes a swing at Dragon from the apron, and Dragon just gives him a "yeah, whatever" look. Now Taro gets in Dragon's face and gives him a hard slap, and Dragon responds in kind. So Taro slaps him again, and this time Dragon retaliates with a stiff kick to the side. Dragon sends Taro into the ropes, but Taro ducks a clothesline and back elbow. Taro tries a satellite headscissors, but Dragon simply drops him on his face. Dragon picks up Taro and drops him gut first on the top rope, then DDTs him from that position. Cool! Dragon covers for 2. Dragon picks up Taro and tries another whip, but Taro reverses, and Dragon reverses again, snapmares Taro over, and kicks him in the face. Dragon with a lazy cover for 2. Dragon with another whip to the ropes and tries a kick, but Taro ducks. Dragon tries a hiptoss on the rebound, but Taro blocks that and does the somersault reversal, but turns it into a 'rana in mid-air. Taro goes up on Dragon's shoulders like he's trying a victory roll, but twists and turns it into another 'rana that sends Dragon to the outside.

Taro tries a baseball slide, but Dragon catches him and rudely dumps him face first on the concrete. Rising Son comes over and looks like he's going to try an Asai moonsault, but instead opts to springboard into the ring and attack Excalibur, but fucks it up (the handheld kinda missed this). Son gets dumped outside and Excalibur hits an insane outta control somersault plancha onto Dragon. Taro follows that up by diving from the top rope to the floor onto Son. All four guys play dead on the floor for a few seconds until Dragon and Excalibur make their way back into the ring. Excalibur tosses Dragon into the corner and lays in with some dickish bootscrapes to the face.

Taro comes back in and whips Excalibur at Super Dragon. Dragon tries a clothesline, but Excalibur ducks and Taro follows up by pasting Dragon with a clothesline of his own. Weird spot. Dragon slumps in the corner again and again Taro whips Excalibur at Dragon, and this time Excalibur connects with a flying bootscrape that almost takes out the cameraman. Dragon rolls out of the ring as Rising Son comes back in, only to be met with a kick from Excalibur. Taro and Excalibur whips Son to the ropes, hit a double kick to the gut, and then a slam to the mat. Taro and Excalibur then grab Son by the legs and stand him on his head and pose, then punch him in the nuts for good measure. The rudos then do a bizarre combination of the Fargo Strut and People's Elbow. Ultrataro then hits a standing senton, and Excalibur follows up with a somersault senton. Taro picks up Rising Son and sends him at Excalibur who nails him with a clothesline. The rudos try the sequence again, but of course Son reverses and Taro gets nailed by his partner. Son hits a running kick that knocks Ultrataro to the outside. But Excalibur makes a quick recovery and nails Son with a sit out Tiger Driver '91.

Excalibur picks up Rising Son and holds him up as Ultrataro comes off the top in a Hart Foundation-esque double team. Excalibur holds onto Son after the clothesline and clamps on a Boston Crab. He suddenly lets go and Taro locks on a Camel Clutch, and Excalibur adds to the punishment by kicking Son right in the face. The rudos then try for a Superbomb, but Son turns the powerbomb into a 'rana in mid-air. But before Son can tag out Ultrataro nails him in the back with forearms. He sends Rising Son to the corner and charges, but Son backdrops him out to the apron. Taro quickly nails Son in the back of the head and tries something off the top rope, but gets dropkicked in mid-air for his effort, which allows Son to finally make the tag to Super Dragon!

Dragon springboards into the ring and nails Excalibur in the back of the head with a dropkick. Then he charges at Taro and nails him with a somersault kick in the corner. Taro then slumps onto Excalibur in a…uh, less than manly way. Dragon picks up Taro and puts him in the Tree of Woe, the picks up Excalibur…yep, double Tree of Woe. Dragon stands on both their groins for added effect. Dragon tries a baseball slide, but Excalibur manages to sit up and Ultrataro takes it right in the face. Dragon shoves Excalibur down again and whips Rising Son into the corner, but Excalibur sits up again and Ultrataro takes another dropkick in the face. Son and Dragon take both guys out of the corner and Taro manages to roll outside. Excalibur isn't so lucky as Dragon lays in some LOUD chops. Excalibur gets sent to the corner, and Rising Son hits a nice handspring elbow, and Son and Dragon hits a Poetry in Motion variation that sees Dragon deliver a flying punch to the nuts. Ultrataro gets back in the ring, so the technicos hit a Poetry in Motion on him too, this time with Son delivering the flying leg lariat. Taro slumps to the mat as Son heads out to the apron. Dragon tries a catapult on Ultrataro, and Son clotheslines Taro in mid air. Ultrataro slumps back across Dragon's knees, and Rising Son comes in with a slingshot somersault senton. Excalibur gets back to his feet, so Son and Dragon lay in some kicks, finishing with stereo enziguiris.

The heels regroup on the outside, so Rising Son nails them with a baseball slide, then heads up top and hits a corkscrew plancha to the floor. Super Dragon then tries a Flying Space Tiger Drop, but fucks it up by hitting the ropes in mid-air (4). Dragon makes up for it by nailing a corkscew Asai moonsault to the floor. Everyone plays dead on the floor again until Dragon and Excalibur make their way to the ring again. Dragon manages to hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Dragon hits a German Suplex and looks like he's going to try a Curtain Call, but Excalibur punches out and Dragon walks into a RUDE jump swinging DDT from Taro. Taro covers for 2. Ultrataro puts Dragon on top like he's going for a Super Backdrop, but Dragon manages to shove Taro to the mat. But Ultrataro makes a quick recovery and crotches Dragon on the top rope. Then Taro stands on the top rope next to Dragon and hits a super neckbreaker to the mat! Taro covers, but it gets broken up by Rising Son. Son pushes Taro into the corner and lays in some kicks, followed by a whip to another corner and a running spinkick that sees Rising Son land on the apron. Taro walks into a spinning Implant DDT from Dragon, and Son comes off the top with a nice frog splash. Son covers, but it gets broken up by Excalibur. Excalibur then whips Rising Son into the corner and charges, only to be met with a boot to the head. Son tries a Tornado DDT, but Excalibur blocks it and puts Son right back on the top rope. Excalibur goes for an Iconoclasm, but Son manages to flip out. Son tries a 'rana, but Excalibur counters with a truly spine-crunching Spiral Ligerbomb. Excalibur covers, but it gets broken up by Super Dragon.

Excalibur retaliates by laying some kicks into Dragon and putting him on the top turnbuckle. Excalibur lays in some more punches and nails a cross arm Iconoclasm that gets a 2. Dragon rolls outside and Taro lays in the badmouth. Meanwhile, Excalibur tries an Iconoclasm on Rising Son, but Son turns it into a nasty Diamond Dust. Son goes for a pin, but Ultrataro finally turns around and breaks it up. Taro attempts what appears to be a Death Valley Driver in Son, but Rising Son slips out and applies a waistlock. Taro elbows out of that and bounces off the ropes, only to be met with a spinkick that knocks him outside. Son follows on the apron to try and Asai moonsault, but Taro yanks his legs and Son's face slams into the apron. Taro grabs Rising Son and calls for Excalibur to do a dive. And Excalibur does indeed attempt a tope suicida, but Super Dragon (remember him?) comes outta nowhere and punches Excalibur in mid-air. Yikes.

Taro uses the distraction to ram Rising Son into the wall and knee him in the gut. Meanwhile, Super Dragon tries a springboard dropkick on Excalibur in the ring, bur Ex manages to move and sends Dragon crashing to the mat. Excalibur lays in some kicks and then sends Dragon into the ropes. Dragon counters a clotheslines by attempting a Dragon Suplex, but Excalibur manages to block it. So Dragon tries the Psycho Driver, but Excalibur again manages to slip out and hit a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Excalibur tries a powerbomb, but can't quite do the move, so Dragon crushes him with a Kobashi-level lariat. He covers, but it gets broken up by Taro. Taro then puts Dragon on the top rope and tries a superplex, but Dragon pushes him off. Taro comes right back, though, and manages to hit a Dragon Rana into a pinning position, but Dragon reverses that for a 2 count of his own. Taro stands up and simply dropkicks Dragon in the nuts.

Taro calls for the Death Valley Driver, but Dragon manages to slip out, knee Taro in the back, and killify him with the Psycho Driver! Meanwhile, Rising Son springboards into the ring and hits a DDT on Excalibur. Son and Dragon head up to the tope rope-Son hits a Swanton Bomb on Excalibur and Super Dragon hits Ultrataro with a Phoenix Splash. Double Cover, double count, double pinfall for the technicos (19:36)!

"Dragon" chant breaks out as Dragon and Son play to the crowd. Dragon then checks on the bad guys, and then everyone has a group hug. Aww…

Really great match with awesome effort from all four competitors. They actually threw in some wrestling and built up to the big spots. They did blow some spots, but it didn't really detract from the match overall. The worst thing you could say is that these guys don't look as polished as other cruiserweights, but they will get better with time.

Fallout: All four are still in RevPro, as far as I know. In fact, all four competed at an XPW show (although this time it was Dragon/Excalibur vs. Ultrataro/Rising Son). Plus Dragon fought Juventud Guerrera at a UPW show a few days ago. I'd love to see Dragon at a national level in the States, or at least do some tours of Japan. Hopefully he impressed some folks at the UPW show.

You can get the poop on the fed at www.revolutionpro.com. The merchandise page is down for the moment, but should be up soon (maybe by the time you read this). There's supposedly a best of Super Dragon tape in the works, and that's probably the best place to start. As far as individual shows, Digable James Cobo has lots of show reviews up at Rant Central. Yes, he's lucky enough to see these shows and talk to the wrestlers, so he probably knows what he's talking about waaaaay more than me.

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back in a while with another Single File when I think of what to do. Take care 'til then.

Joe Gagne
bwo@telegram.infi.net

Endnotes
(1) Not to be confused with Shawn Michaels trainee and 2001 Super 8 winner American Dragon
(2) I still haven't figured out what that name means.
(3) Psycho Driver = You get your opponent in a Torture Rack, then flip him up hit an inverted Michinoku Driver.
(4) I'm not too upset about the blown spot, since it is really hard to do. It's not like he fucked up running the ropes or anything. Besides, at least he didn't repeat the spot.

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