RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Michael Oku
Alright, I've watched Oku vs Ospreay. Despite the length run-time, time wasn't an issue. The match was exciting and while not all purposeful, it didn’t come off as stagnant either. My general thought on Ospreay’s character work is that it can be not so good, I thought it was really good during this match. His body language, offence, selling, etc, was all great here. He had a lot of aggression in his body language and the way he projected it in everything that he did. Ospreay did a lot of work to make Oku seem like a dangerous threat via the half crab and other things. On the other hand, Oku didn't come across as that special or, even, great offensively. Oku had the crowd connection and charisma but he was otherwise ordinary. Oku's offence seemed awkward and almost playful in places. For example, when he was firing up, he threw some pretty poor punches and bad kicks. The conviction just wasn't there outside of the brief exchange after Ospreay began attacking his girlfriend Admira Bliar, including a wicked dropkick into the barricade. I also thought him doing the whole Okada routine, tombstone and rainmaker attempt came off more like a minor league imitation than something substantial. The intention is to reference Okada beating Ospreay in a similar way but it's yet another example of something utterly needless. His selling was decent enough though. I can't fully fault him in that regard. These matches tend to be too much with Ospreay going a little too far in trying to put over the BritWres mainstays. Bless him but it doesn't always work. Some things are needless, like the double blood. Speaking of which, Ospreay blades on a crossbody to the outside. It totally befuddled me and took me out of the match for a bit. I don't know what to rate this match. Ospreay was great and Oku was fine but there are times where this needs a strong, simpler head to guide things. ***1/2
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