REVIEW: Pro Wrestling EVE - Riot! At The Yard Theatre

Credit: Pro Wrestling EVE

Pro Wrestling: EVE - Riot! At The Yard Theatre
The Yard Theatre, London
Thursday, May 9, 2023
Reviewer: Iwan Mackenzie (@Iwanmack)

So after two late nights in a row, having attended Gene Munny’s Daft Lad Emporium and the previous nights EVE, it’s fair to say that this week was taking a toll on me and my friends; I’m just thankful that I had the hindsight to take the morning off work.

By the evening I was back in the saddle for the third night of graps in a row and met up with the rest of the boys at the Westfield in Stratford for some dinner. After this we got the Overground to Hackney Wick and the venue was around the corner!

The venue itself was part of a mini-complex and near other venues as well as a food hut that was tempting to say the least. We got ourselves to the venue and after a friendly bag check we chilled out in the bar before doors opened, pretty much on time.

Now the venue itself was fantastic, the tiered seating was pretty perfect for viewpoints and acoustics, the bar prices were reasonable, they played good music and the toilets were decent as well; probably one of the best venues I’ve been to this year.

We had Emily Read as our ring announcer here, and with only two matches officially announced and one additional one announced via email, this card was pretty much a mystery for us so let’s get into it;

Lizzy Evo vs Rayne Leverkausen vs Millie McKenzie

We started off with Dann Read’s (least) favourite match type - the triple threat match. Lizzy, despite getting support the night before, was booed heavily and greeted with middle fingers.

This was a very good opening match, we had a few of the troupes of the triple threat match here with Rayne being isolated by Millie and Lizzy throughout a lot of the short run time (only 06:54 according to Cagematch).

Millie was up to her usual comedy antics and mocking Lizzy, not a massive fan of Millie being a comedy wrestler especially when she shines when being serious, like against Miyu Yamashita.

Rayne was really good in this match, her movement in the ring for somebody who’s only been doing it for a little over a year is brilliant and she held a lot of this match together.

In the end we had Millie spearing Rayne, Lizzy threw her out and then hit the Van Stryke knee to win the match and build back some momentum after the championship loss the night before.

Rhio vs Nightshade

This had a bit of needle from the night before, where Nightshade pinned Rhio to win the match for the Uprising after a belt shot, so understandably Rhio was pissed coming in and wanting revenge.

They started as soon as the bell rang and this was one of the most physical matches of the whole night, this is also probably the best I’ve ever seen Nightshade in a match.

I’ve watched Nightshade a lot over the years and she’s definitely improved, but I do find a lot of her matches to be hit and miss with me, but this match was definitely a hit.

I loved the physicality of this bout, the way Nightshade was able to break Rhio down and how Rhio was able to fight back from underneath to get the edge in this contest, really compelling stuff and the simple bit of storytelling that helped draw me into this match; really enjoyed this match a whole lot.

We had Rhio win this match with the Purple Haze Neckbreaker and Nightshade got the customary finger point of ‘Ah!’ from us lot afterwards.

Skye Smitson vs Safire Reed

It’s fair to say that Skye threatened to steal the show before the bell had even rung, as her comedy antics were fantastic. She’s not suppose to be a funny character or an intentional comedy wrestler but, due to her charisma and connection with this audience despite being a heel, she’s gained popularity with the crowd. She asked if we knew the rest of the words to Radioactive (Safire’s theme tune) and compared it to sex positions.

She then went after her old enemy and fellow reviewer Dave Sewell, after he had shouted out to her, leading to a huge “fuck you Dave” chant and more as we all cracked up laughing, this was hilarious and made it hard to boo Skye.

Anyways, onto this match and even though the main event has received a lot of praise, and I’ll be praising it later on myself, this match should not get lost in the shuffle because it was excellent.

These two worked together so well and brought the physicality that was needed, with Safire in this role in EVE now wanting to get wins - with Kasey and Billie Starkz on the horizon for her - this was the match that she needed to start that.

Skye has been so involved with The Uprising for so long that this felt refreshing for her, she’s great in this solo role. We had Skye get more serious as the match went on, her lariats and knee strikes looked deadly and Safire played the Underdog really well; really loved this match.

We had Skye win this with the Smitson Effect after a stand out performance from both.

Nina Samuels & The AVA vs Queens of Kanpai (Session Moth Martina & Natsu Sumire)

Back from our Interval and we had part one of our co-main event, that had been announced via the poster reveal. Now I wasn’t particularly entertained by the Queens of Kampai the night before and in general their comedy style isn’t for me personally so this match was the one I was least looking forward to going into the show.

I will say that this was my least favourite match of this show and that was a general consensus around the room when talking with people afterwards. I enjoyed this slightly more than the Royal Aces match the night before, but this just wasn’t for me personally.

I can’t personally get behind the Kanpai gimmick and all the schtick it entails; I probably sound like a miserable bastard when I talk about comedy wrestling but for me in wrestling there has to be more than just a one note joke attached to it, which is the feeling I do get with Queens of Kampai in matches.

Another thing that hindered my enjoyment of the match came fairly early on; Moth and Sumire went to do a beer spitting spot but Ava kicked Sumire who spilled half a pint of beef over myself and a couple of others. It’s never fun to be soaked in beer and while I’ve moved past it I’d suggest EVE, and in fact any other promotion, could maybe have a ‘splash warning’ of some kind for people wanting to sit in the front row of shows.

But something I can be positive about is Nina Samuels, who was a standout in this match and since her return from NXT UK to the indies she’s been one of the best wrestlers in the whole of the UK.

We had Ava win this match for her and Nina after a Cheeky Roll-Up (deadliest move in BritWres), Queens of Kampai attack them afterwards and spit beer at them, not any kind of turn but just to give the crowd something to cheer.

Miyu Yamashita vs Miyuki Takase

Here we were at the main event and this had a big fight feel to it as Miyu and Miyuki completed their trilogy of matches. With this match, we had Miyu favour kicks and Miyuki favour chops with both of them getting even harder with the respective strikes as the match went on.

Miyuki had Miyu on the outside and went on a run with chops, including taking a big run up with two of them as she mounted up the stairs, only the first one was successful with Miyu successfully sidestepping the second.

Miyu dominated from here on out, before Miyuki came back as they started trading strikes with each other and not in that cliche Chuckle Brothers ‘To Me To You' kind of way, but actually like they were proving how tough they were.

We had Miyu hut a Skull Crush Kick to get the win in an excellent main event, one of the best matches I’ve seen live this year so far, and will be on the list of Great Matches in the UK in 2023 by the end of the year.

So overall thoughts on this show; I really loved this it. It had a real feeling of the peak Resistance Gallery days of EVE, and this venue was just awesome; from this show I’d highly recommend Yamashita vs Takase, Reed vs Smitson and Rhio vs Nightshade.

In a particular busy week for London wrestling, this was a stand out show.

Thanks for reading, Iwan