REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - Multiverse Rumble

Pro Wrestling EVE: Multiverse Rumble
Big Penny Social, London
Friday, January 5, 2024
Reviewer: Jamie Walker (@walker_this_way)

Last year at EVE 100 the Multiverse Rumble was born. It was plagued with bad luck, with wrestlers pulling out left and right at the very last minute. And yet it made for one of the best shows of 2023, with everyone banding together and battling the odds to put on an incredible night.

Well, clearly the Multiverse Rumble is cursed because in the first show of 2024, EVE were once again plagued by misfortune. Not wrestlers this time, no instead the entire block the venue, Big Penny Social, was on lost power just hours before the show was meant to start.

The folks at Big Penny were kind enough to let us inside to wait, with only candlelight to stave off the darkness. The show was due to start at eight, but the lights wouldn’t come back on until closer to nine.

Then, after a long time waiting, at around 9:20pm, the Multiverse Rumble finally got going….and boy was it worth the wait.

Session Moth Martina vs Millie McKenzie vs Kasey Owens vs Nightshade vs Skye Smitson vs Su Yung - Scramble Match

If the crowd did indeed need warning up from the waiting then this match was the perfect tonic. Even the entrances were laugh out loud funny, with Moth taking the chance to grind on MC Lolo Brow and Skye doing to same but with the injured Rayne Leverkusen who was watching from the crowd (If you can find the video you have to watch it, Rayne was on her knees for Skye and it was hilarious).

And when the returning Su Yung came out the crowd went mad for it. It was one of the pops of the night, everyone was so thrilled to see her return to EVE.

The match itself was fast-paced and frantic with plenty more humour to go round as well. The mother/daughter team of Millie and Moth of course worked together as did Skye and Uprising teammate Nightshade.

However nobody was a match for Su Yung, who essentially devoured all her opponents and left the ring standing tall.

This match didn’t go long, barely over five minutes, most likely due to the fact the show was now running nearly 90 minutes late, but it was a brilliant start to the evening. If anything the fact it had to be sped up made it more enjoyable.

The Decibelles (Lana Austin and Ivy) vs The Gals (Debbie Keitel and Anita Vaughan)

The laughs kept coming in the next match as these two teams seemingly fought not just a wrestling match but also a battle of which team could annoy the other the most.

Debbie was not happy about being in Lana and Ivy’s ‘Book of Losers’, especially when she realised they’d spelled her name ‘Kettle’ (cue ‘Kettle’ chants from the crowd). Meanwhile The Decibelles weren’t too pleased when The Gals tried stealing their signature megaphone.

Beyond being side-splittingly funny this match did also showcase plenty of brilliant technical ability. I’d not seen much of Anita Vaughan prior to this but she is an absolute powerhouse. She showcased some incredible strength and ability during this contest.

The other three however are three wrestlers I love and have seen plenty of times. They’re all some of the best on the scene and matches like this show why the crowd are so into them.

It was The Decibelles that came out on top with, well not a double submission but both Gals were locked in submission holds when the match ended so you know what I mean.

Another really fun display that kept the crowd going and the flow of the show moving fast.

Bonnie Knockers - Burlesque Act

There was a break from the wrestling as Lolo introduced tonight’s Burlesque act. The partnership between wrestling and burlesque is actually very storied and both acts would frequently appear on shows together.

EVE is clearly hoping to reintroduce that to their shows and I thought it was great. Far from being just a ‘strip’ show, Bonnie’s act centred on encouraging women to check their breasts in a cancer awareness routine.

Her performance was intermingled with good advice and funny side notes and while yes, she did strip down to her underwear, the performance was simply charming and hilarious.

I’d be more than happy for this to become a regular feature on EVE, and any other, shows.

The M62 Wrecking Crew (Lizzy Evo & Alexxis Falcon) vs Kanji & Aleah James

This match was brutal. It was a bit of a step away from a lot of the humour we’d had before and - technically speaking at least - I’d say it was match of the night. Both of these teams went at it HARD and left it all in the ring.

As you’d expect from these four there was really no holding back, fierce kicks and strikes everywhere you looked - there was a particular set of chest slaps from Kanji to Lizzy that may have been the hardest I’ve ever heard live in person…I can’t even imagine how they felt to receive.

Considering the late running of the show I was surprised this match went at long as it did, at over ten minutes it was comfortably the longest of the first half. But it needed time to breathe and really develop into the contest it ended up being.

The Wrecking Crew got the victory and revelled in the crowd’s upset, flipping off anyone who dared boo them on the way to the back.

Nina Samuels vs Safire Reed (c) - Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship

Following the interval it was time for the big grudge match between Safire Reed and Nina Samuels. Nina has plagued Safire ever since The Radioactive One set foot in EVE and the torment was far from over.

From the first bell Nina came out the more aggressive of the two, launching into a frenzied attack on her young opponent. Nina is normally quite physical in the ring but she really sold the idea that this match meant more than others by going above and beyond in her attempts to punish Safire.

For her part Safire fought back valiantly, proving that she’s more than up for doing whatever it takes to hold onto her belt. There were some excellent exchanges in this contest, with both women going absolutely all out in pursuit of EVE’s top prize.

Safire looked to have the contest won with Nina in a submission hold (my memory eludes me but I believe I’m right in saying it was a crossface). But as she pushed back on the ropes to drag Nina back, Nina countered and pinned Safire. 1…2…3! AND NEWWWW!

The crowd is absolutely stunned, save for EVE crew member Iain Scott who is overjoyed…you heartless man Iain! Nina is the new Pro Wrestling EVE champ and takes her personally tally of belts (at the time of writing) to a frankly ridiculous SEVEN!

Safire looks dejected in the ring, once again Nina has bested her but you can be absolutely sure this rivalry isn’t over!

The Multiverse Rumble

As the clock rolled round to 11:15pm the Big Penny was still rammed for the headline match, the one we’d all been waiting for, the MULTIVERSE RUMBLE and as I mentioned earlier, boy was it worth waiting for.

Now, I was so busy laughing my arse off that I don’t remember who eliminated who, but I can tell you all of this;

First to enter was Amira dressed as a very sexy Theresa May - boobs out and everything - she was joined by the natural enemy of the Tories….Captain Hook? Oh sorry I mean Captain Hookson, portrait brilliantly by Skye Smitson.

As these two battled things out the next arrival came very quickly (a real sign of how late things were running) and it was the Deadly Lampshade. Now, for those fans who don’t know Lampshade is the classic chant fans sing to Nightshade to really rile her up. The fact the swerved into that in the rumble was amazing and made her the fan favourite.

She did act like a true lamp, moving only with bounced and other wrestlers were so intrigued that she was constantly surrounded by people trying to switch her on.

Next the classic Jaws music played and as the tension grew out came Zizi or should that be Zizi the Shark, dressed in a mega inflatable shark outfit. It’s mad to think that in the last 12 months Zizi has been one of the best, new, young stars on the scene and has also dressed as both a shark and a dinosaur (at Wrestival).

And who do you call for when there’s a shark attack? Why the beautiful ladies of Baywatch. Ivy and Lana came to the ring in their best slo-mo running, ready to take down Zizi. And although they struggled at first a sneaky tactic of kicking her in the stomach and bopping her nose seemed to do the trick.

Next up another classic pop culture duo. Two Italian brothers with a love for plumbing…it’s Mario and Luigi, well as close to them as this rumble was going to get. Lizzy Evo and Alexxis Falcon genuinely looked like they were having the time of their lives as they ran into the ring in some amazing outfits. This was one of the highlights of the rumble but there was still more to come.

Kanji was out next and gave an Oscar worthy performance in her rendition of Jim Carrey’s classic character, The Mask. She was strutting and dancing to the ring and once in there all the iconic Carrey moves came out…aside from one which was still to come.

Debbie Keitel and Anita Vaughan then entered with a proper throwback, dressed as Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in Absolutely Fabulous. This one was wild because you could really gauge the age of the room here based on who got the reference and who didn’t.

But before that the Rumble was given a little dose of Goth as Kasey Owens entered dressed as The Crow…this got a mega pop, people love Kasey, people love The Crow and the combination worked brilliantly…although she was eliminated almost immediately.

Next up was by far the most rouge entry of the lot. It was Su Yung, but not dressed as Su Yung or any of her alternative characters from TNA. No, Su took the wild decision to instead portray AEW star Christian Cage. She got in the ring, told Amira that she wasn’t her mum and that her mum was dead. Then she slapped her. It was bonkers.

But then came to moment Kanji became an acting star. Aleah James entered the rumble dressed brilliantly as Lara Croft…with toy guns in her hands. She used them to good effect, mainly on Kanji who then recreated Carrey’s famous Mask being shot scene, died in Aleah’s arms, stood up, took a bow and launched herself over the top rope and out of the rumble. It was magic.

Then came, at least for me, the moment of the night. For weeks Dereiss has been taking to social media proclaiming that he wants to debut for EVE, criticising Dann Read for not booking him on EVE and teasing that he would show up for the rumble. Well…he did! Or at least his multiverse self did. It’s Millie McKenzie, rapping her way to the ring in the iconic Dereiss gear and with the maybe not so classic dance moves.

And as if Dereiss’ dreams hadn’t come true enough next out was Safire Reed, just like last year dressed as John Cena, but this time the second iteration of Cena from WWE. She got into the ring and her and Dereiss squared off in what I would very loosely call a ‘rap battle’. It was wonderful, I’m not sure anything in 2024 will top it to be honest.

And the final pair out were the dastardly Nina Samuel, again like last year dressed as Right To Censor. But this time she had backup in the form of Session Moth Martina. It was weird seeing Martina being a stickler for the rules, but it didn’t take her long to be tempted into bad behaviour. She’d soon cast her new persona aside and turned on Nina before partying like only Moth can.

Now I realise I’ve not mentioned many eliminations and that’s simply because I can’t remember them. But what I do remember is this, the final two, Lampshade and Captain Hookson, in another world both members of The Uprising. And as Lampshade dodged a Hookson attack and the pirate fell to the floor the crowd went mad because the most inanimate object in the entire rumble had won the whole damn thing!

Lampshade was delighted, the crowd were delighted and it was just a great way to end a hilarious match. I always think it’s tough to recreate magic, the first Multiverse Rumble was so amazing that I’m not sure it will ever be topped in terms of pure ‘gimmick’ matches. And while I did enjoy that one more, this year’s rumble cemented why it needs to be an annual EVE tradition.

Then it was time to leg it to the station so I didn’t miss my last train home and while I had a stitch and was completely out of breath it was absolutely worth it.

REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - Multiverse Rumble

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