RPW promoter discusses TNA and New Japan using British talent

[classiq.]

Arguably the most under-reported story at Cageside Seats has been how the British wrestling scene has seen a resurgence in recent years with many independent companies drawing crowds on a regular basis that should make their American counterparts like PWG and Evolve blush with envy.

 

The latest example of this phenomenon was Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) selling out London's York Hall to the tune of 1,200 fans for their annual High Stakes supershow featuring an emotional sendoff for AJ Styles who dropped RPW's British Heavyweight title to Zack Sabre Jr. before teasing that he might be an entrant in this year's Royal Rumble match, and an absolutely scintillating number one contender's match between Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay.

 

Before that event, Nick Quinn of The Canvas Theory podcast had a chance to interview RPW owner Andy Quildan, which I highly recommend for anyone wanting to know more about his promotion:

 

 

Quildan was very candid in the interview, touching on a number of newsworthy topics including his thoughts on TNA using RPW's top stars Ospreay, Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo on their tour of the UK next week, the possibility of New Japan Pro Wrestling using RPW talent in the future, and his plans for the year ahead.

 

Regarding TNA, Quildan thought that it was a demonstration of how far British wrestling has grown in cult popularity (and conversely how far TNA has fallen) that now TNA is shrewdly trying to piggyback off of that success to boost attendance for their upcoming shows at a time when their own interest is at rock bottom levels:

 

"I think a big flaw about the international wrestling press is that they don't really cover British wrestling to anywhere near the level they should do. I mean there's so many promotions over here that are doing so well and I think to me the big thing is if, for example, you look at a promotion like TNA, which has had every advantage in the world, you look at its current position and then you look at what we've achieved, and when I say we it's not just Revolution Pro Wrestling, it's Progress Wrestling, it's ICW, it's Preston [City Wrestling], etc, etc, the list goes on, and we've achieved that without Hulk Hogan and without national television and without huge marketing budgets, we've achieved that through ticket sales, hard work, word of mouth, a real do it yourself attitude and loyalty from the fanbase and yeah that's what we've achieved, and we've got ourselves to a state where for TNA to try and get a buzz about their UK tour they have to take three of our guys and try and have a poll about who's going to represent. And that's not because the guys aren't good enough quality to be on the shows, that's because they want to kind of generate a bit of buzz and a bit of talk about a product which is of little to no interest to anyone at the moment. I think that's a real testament to British wrestling and how the hard work which everyone has put in and again just to reiterate I'm not just saying myself but the wrestling community as a whole."

 

Conversely, on the subject of New Japan, Quildan spoke in glowing terms about his cooperative relationship with the promotion, which has seen the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada and Jushin Liger, amongst others, wrestle on RPW's biggest shows in past years. When asked whether New Japan would be using his British talent on their own shows in the future, Quildan indicated that this would probably be happening sooner rather than later:

 

"Absolutely, I'd say watch this space, there's stuff in the works at the moment and I think that people are going to be very happy in the very, very near future."

 

I really hope that this happens soon as Damo (against Nakamura and Tanahashi), Ospreay (against Okada) and Scurll (against Nakamura) have already proven that they can have top notch matches with New Japan talent when they wrestled them last year.

 

Regarding his plans for RPW in 2016, Quildan's biggest announcement was that the company is in the process of making action figures of their biggest homegrown stars:

 

"Just more of the same. We're going to continue to try and push boundaries in terms of our in ring action. We're going to continue to use the best wrestlers in the world. I think you're going to see a lot of people in the UK scene step up another gear. Again as I've said previously and I will continue to drill home, these guys you're seeing before your very eyes, you think they're good now, imagine what they are going to be like in a year's time, two year's time, etc, so health permitting, God willing, they're going to continue to evolve and get better and better and better and that's a scary prospect for a lot of people, but they're going to continue to get better and we're going to be the ones that benefit from that. And on top of that, as many different [revenue] streams that we can create, the better. So one thing that's going to be new for this year is that we're actually going to be producing an action figure line, and to me that is kind of a big deal. We're planning on being, obviously we're going to be the first promotion in Europe to have action figures, I think we're probably the first independent wrestling promotion to have figures on the market by the time the first figure comes out. Actually the winner of the Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay match tomorrow is going to be the first action figure which is going to be made. So they've both had their pictures taken for the figures and they're being hand sculpted and then moulded from there.... They're all going to be the measurements of the top line in action figures at the moment, so they'll fit right into someone's action figure collection, so for kids they can play with them, adults, they can have them as a collector's item, they're going to be packaged well, so that's something I'm very excited about. I want to continue to grow the Rev Pro brand, merchandise, etc, and again it's a gradual process and I'm fully aware of the fact that it's a gradual process and... you have to take a risk, if it's going to work. We've invested a lot of time, money into these toys. It might not work, but if it doesn't work at least we've tried. I will continue to, I guess my whole philosophy on wrestling, British wrestling, wrestling in general is I'll continue to do absolutely everything I can, everything in my power to push it to the next level. I'll do everything in my power to produce a product that we can be proud of, to push a product with high production values and with the best in ring talent and ultimately, to sum it all up, Revolution Pro Wrestling, our catchphrase is pro wrestling at its best, and that's quite frankly because that's what I believe in."

 

http://www.cagesideseats.com/indies-independent-wrestling-indy-promotions/2016/1/20/10802766/rpw-promoter-discusses-tna-and-new-japan-using-british-talent