Consistently one of the stronger promotions in Europe, a lot of people will look back at 2018 as quite possibly the most important year in the history of Revolution Pro Wrestling for many reasons. 2018 was the year where the Revolution Pro/New Japan Pro Wrestling relationship reached new heights in both markets with a two-day UK summer arena tour getting plaudits worldwide – as well as Revolution Pro storylines and belts being featured on NJPW events. It also saw one of the biggest upheavals in terms of roster since the beginning of the company when WWE contracted stars including inaugural Women’s champion Jinny, possible future figurehead Zack Gibson and CCK lynchpin Travis Banks were all pulled from the Portsmouth promotion in June. Thirdly, Revolution Pro took steps into the world of television when World Of Pro Wrestling made its debut on FreeSports in September.

WWE’s encroachment into the UK hit RPW like a tonne of bricks in June – with RPW joining Defiant Wrestling on the metaphorical naughty step. The aforementioned Jinny, Gibson and Banks – along with Eddie Dennis and Flash Morgan Webster were all in the midst of important feuds which forced Revolution Pro to rebuild their roster at short notice. However, booker Andy Quildan’s philosophy of “good wrestling having no nationality” saw RPW weather the storm of the WWE blacklisting and end the year with one of the most diverse and interesting rosters on the planet. European up and comers such as the Arrows of Hungary and Team White Wolf found themselves alongside wrestlers from New Japan, CMLL and Ring of Honor with names as varied as El Soberano Jr, Titan and Shane Taylor. New Japan has also trusted Rev Pro with one of their Young Lions – with the former Tomoyuki Oka becoming the first to go on long-term excursion in the UK – with some outlets reporting he could be over in the U.K. for as long as three years. Oka has been working with the unique “Dominator” The Great-O-Kharn gimmick and has instantly clicked with the eclectic roster and is genuinely one of the most popular acts in the company. His partnership with Lord Gideon Grey has been sublime.
In terms of stars at the top of the cards of the big York Hall shows, the usual New Japan imports have taken centre stage but El Phantasmo, Chris Ridgeway, Chris Brookes and particularly David Starr have all featured prominently week-to-week on live events and on the popular World of Pro Wrestling TV show.

Seemingly burnt by the 5* Wrestling debacle in January/February – FreeSports announced World of Pro Wrestling in the late summer. Revolution Pro’s first foray into the TV arena began with a two-day taping taking place at the York Hall with several blockbuster matches announced. Naturally, the product was going to be compared to ITV’s WOS Wrestling that was broadcast earlier in the summer which didn’t quite hit the spot for a large number of wrestling fans – but WOPW surpassed expectations for many. Having weekly televised bouts featuring the likes of Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, KUSHIDA and Jonathan Gresham were a real treat – with the presentation toeing the line between a good UK independent event and a professional television show (especially considering the frankly spotty history of Revolution Pro’s VOD production values). The addition of NJPW voice Kevin Kelly added a real cutting edge to the show – managing to make the previously unbearable (sorry!) Andy Boy Simmonz sound like a competent broadcaster.

The eight episode series was a great compliment to the live shows – with the main segment being a number one contenders tournament for the Tag Team titles; the final of which will be taking place in Guildford in January. As well as this, an intriguing Ridgeway/Sabre Jr. feud blossomed as well as a much-needed heel turn for Chris Brookes in his and Gresham’s program with Liger and El Phantasmo. Unfortunately at the time of writing, there’s seemingly no sign of a second series.

A genuinely troubling issue for Revolution Pro has been the handling of the titles. The Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship came into 2018 in the hands of Zack Sabre, Jr. and was held until the WrestleCon shows in New Orleans – when it was taken by Tomohiro Ishii for a few months before switching over to Minoru Suzuki on the Manchester NJPW Strong Style Evolved UK show. Ishii clawed it back three months later at Global Wars UK and successfully defended the title in Osaka against Suzuki and in a unification bout versus Cruiserweight champ David Starr at November’s Uprising. Whilst it has added a lot of gravitas to the belt being prominently featured on New Japan events (ZSJ will fight for the title in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th!) – it’s been incredibly frustrating to not have the belt on more shows in comparison to previous years. If ZSJ can get the belt in January – the likes of Josh Bodom and Chris Ridgeway must be in the conversation for title shots in 2019 – and that’s if Sabre can get past PAC in the January 6th Cockpit show.

Likewise, the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship has been mostly AWOL barring the big events once Suzuki-gun wrangled the straps from WWE superstars Tyler Bate and Trent Seven in January’s High Stakes event. This is perhaps the most frustrating of all considering the strength of Rev Pro’s tag team division – with at least ten (!!!) tag teams of various styles featured on the shows on a regular basis. Aussie Open, Ringkampf, Arrows of Hungary, The Hunter Brothers and all three combinations of CCK have all looked legitimate contenders for the belts this year but it appears Rev Pro have booked themselves into a corner with the unbeatable Suzuki and Sabre, Jr. holding the straps. Four defences over twelve months is simply not good enough.

The Women’s Championship has also suffered – but to no real fault of Revolution Pro. It was fairly obvious for the better part of two years that Jinny was going to be the ace of the women’s division and the WWE blacklisting did them no favours – forcing them to quickly drop the purple strap to Jamie Hayter whom was left to defend the belt against a division that simply wasn’t ready. Bobbi Tyler and STARDOM’s Zoe Lucas have been the strongest of the rest – with the latter stealing the belt via nefarious means in the December Cockpit show.

The one exception to the rule has been the British Cruiserweight Championship in the hands of David Starr. After taking the belt from academy product Kurtis Chapman at May’s Epic Encounter – Starr has consistently been one of the strongest performers in the promotion with the Andy Quildan/David Starr conspiracy storyline being one of the more interesting authority figure/anti-hero narratives in recent years. It’s a nice change from several other European companies for David Starr to be actively booked as a cocky heel because this where he excels. In the ring, Starr has taken on all-comers and had a superb series with fan-favourite El Phantasmo as well as an absolute barnstormer with MK McKinnan in October. It would have possibly been a smart decision to drop the belt to Phantasmo at some point (December’s Cockpit show?) – with the Canadian winning the British J Cup in September but apart from that I’d say this has been one of the better booked belts in Europe this year.

With the recent developments, Rev Pro head into 2019 as the biggest truly independent promotion in the UK – if not the world – and will look to kick it off with a bang with the Queen of the Ring tournament in January and the dream match between Will Ospreay and PAC at High Stakes in February. If any promotion is deserving of your support and money in 2019 – Revolution Pro has to be the number one for fans of truly independent wrestling.

✏️@MikeKilby