At High Stakes 2022, we witnessed Michael Oku step up and compete in the biggest match of his life when we went to war with the Assassin Will Ospreay for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. After a phenomenal 40 plus minutes, Oku was visibly out after being struck with multiple hidden blades before Ospreay laid him to rest with the storm breaker. In his quest to become one of few triple crown winners in Revolution Pro Wrestling, the master of the half crab fought so valiantly and threw every ounce of energy into his attempt at slaying the leader of the United Empire yet it wasn’t enough to put the champion down.
With his family present in the front row courtesy of Ospreay’s wallet, this might just be the hardest pill to swallow for Oku in his career so far, but you can’t overlook the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champions ability to overcome defeat.
Throughout his short career in professional wrestling, Michael Oku has suffered defeat, reflected and adapted in order to further develop himself and overcome those same challenges later in life. But with this being his second loss to the Kingpin, will Oku be able to bounce back and reclimb the rankings to eventually claim the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship?
Upon analysing some pivotal moments of the young mans career that helped craft him into the exceptional talent he is today, we cannot glance over the losses he’s suffered. Michael Oku is the flag bearer for men who refuse to let defeat erode their confidence as was illustrated in his match at the London Cockpit against Pac in June 2019. Only 3 months removed from earning his place as the newest member of the Revolution Pro Wrestling main roster, Oku put up one hell of a fight against the Bastard but ultimately didn’t have what it took to put down Pac.
Proving himself as a man who walks away from defeat learning and bettering himself as a professional wrestler, Michael Oku managed to pick up his first ever win in Revolution Pro Wrestling and made a huge statement to fans when he upset the reigning Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo in the main event of Live at the Cockpit 44. This unpredictable outcome resulted in the underdog becoming the number one contender to the championship with the contest being scheduled for Summer Sizzler 2019. Much to fans displeasure, lightning wouldn’t strike twice for the master of the half crab as after a valiant effort against the recent Bullet Club recruit, it wasn’t Oku’s night
Little did we know that these two setbacks, which would have derailed the confidence of many a man were just the beginning of a seemingly fairy tale story. For before every rise there comes a fall. Oku had fallen but the spectacular rise was about to become engrained in our memories as pivotal parts in Revolution Pro Wrestling’s history. As Oku reflected, refocused and went back to work and evidently that hardwork paid off as he went 2 wins to 0 losses between Summer Sizzler and the 2019 British J Cup where he managed to overthrow Rocky Romero in the first round earning his spot in the final. After a near 15 minutes after Pac had been disqualified and Robbie Eagles eliminated by ELP, Phantasmo & Oku left it all in the ring in the UK’s most iconic combat sports venue where Oku managed to score the heartfelt victory Infront of his family and the RevPro faithful.
This feel-good moment soon came crashing down at the hands of the Bastard, Pac.
Pac stormed through the crowd, ambushing Oku and obliterating the British J Cup trophy in front of Oku’s friends and family which left Michael Oku all the motivation he needed to finally defeat Pac on his road to the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship. The contest was signed for 3 weeks’ time at York Hall, Bethnal Green, Uprising 2019. Oku vs Pac 2.
With only 3 weeks to physically and mentally ready himself to go to war with Pac for the second time, Michael wasted no time and began getting the reps ahead of Uprising, picking up back-to-back victories over Ren Narita and Shota Umino. With his record since his loss to ELP at Summer Sizzler standing at 6 wins to 0 losses, Oku was in the form of his life ahead of this potentially life changing contest with Pac and after a brutal 23 minutes plus, Oku managed to cradle Pac’s shoulders to the mat for the 3 count and the York Hall crowd erupted. Fans were on their feet for the master of the half crab who had just achieved what no other man in Revolution Pro Wrestling was able to do. Oku was able to learn from losing to Pac in June and in just 6 short months, was able to put the work in and successfully overcome the toughest challenge the young man has ever had to face in the process becoming the only man in RevPro to have been able to defeat Pac.
With the smoke now beginning to clear, the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship looked within arm’s reach of the defeater of Pac, with Oku proving he can avenge defeat and come back stronger, it was only a matter of time before history repeated itself inside York Hall, Bethnal Green.
Michael Oku’s date with destiny was set for Valentines Day 2020. Oku was in the form of his life walking down the ramp to battle El Phantasmo and it was only a matter of time before the stars aligned and Michael Oku snatched the leg of ELP and cranked with everything in his body before Phantasmo tapped out, ending his 280 day reign. Finally, the hard work and dedication shown by Oku in the previous months had all paid off and the master of the half crab had his career defining moment.
Since becoming Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion, Oku has proven to be a world beater, with a singles record of 13 wins to 3 losses & along the way he also made history by simultaneously holding British Tag Team & Cruiserweight gold. There is no questioning his credentials and there is certainly no questioning his heart. But just how does he respond to this heart-breaking defeat & how does he respond to losing to the same opponent twice for the first time in his career?
If Oku’s career in RevPro has taught us one thing it’s that he will come back swinging & he did that this past Sunday, defending his Cruiserweight gold in another show stealing performance against Callum Newman. Post contest he made his intentions clear. He fully intends to continue to be a fighting Cruiserweight Champion and refocus his attention to making that championship the most important gold in RevPro. True to his word he has already lined up his next opponent for this weekends event in Southampton in Luke Jacobs. This is a dangerous strategy from the Master of The Half Crab, and those close to him (notably his tag team partner Connor Mills included) have suggested that instead of throwing himself in deep, he should be taking a step back to refocus, strategize and perhaps most importantly heal.
Just how mentally or indeed physically ready the Master of The Half Crab is for the road ahead remains to be seen, but Oku has gone on record in saying he will continue to make history as the Cruiserweight Champion and one day in the future will do what until about 30 minutes into his epic clash with Will Ospreay, many people thought was the impossible and become Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion & if history has dictated on thing it’s that you’d have to be a betting man to bet against him doing just that.
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If you want to re-watch the story of Michael Oku in Revolution Pro Wrestling from the start then you can check out all of his matches including Ospreay vs Oku from High Stakes right now over on RPWOnDemand.com !
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