For 13 years, Revolution Pro Wrestling has stood at the forefront of independent wrestling. While other companies have had their moments in the sun, enjoying their own periods of popularity and buzz, RevPro has remained a constant.

Following on from Global Wars UK the prior night, RevPro presented their official 13th Anniversary show, in front of a packed crowd at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

One of RevPro’s major selling points over the years has been their ability to bring superstar names to the UK with their various international relationships with major companies like NJPW, CMLL and AEW.

Fittingly, the opening contest of the anniversary featured 2 current AEW talents and 1 TNA contracted wrestler, as Mercedes Moné, Kanji and Dani Luna faced the Cut Throat Collective trio of Alex Windsor, Nina Samuels and Safire Reed, who were accompanied to ringside by Lizzy Evo and Mercedes Blaze.

While Mercedes Moné’s run through the independents has been mostly in one-off championship matches, this tag match was the result of a number of strands that have been woven together in the RevPro women’s division over the past 6 months.

There is the blossoming friendship between Mercedes and Kanji, who the Cut Throat Collective have been circling at every possible outcome. You then factor in that Dani Luna has had her own dealings with the CTC and is *still* due a crack at the British Women’s Undisputed Championship (unless I’ve missed something?) after winning the gauntlet at High Stakes.

There was story there, as well as the opportunity to see Moné for the second time that weekend.

Going back to previous discussions, I enjoy an opening match that gives the fans a clear good/bad dynamic to help warm them into a show and this was as clear cut as possible, with one of the most genuine goodies in BritWres in Kanji, a superstar in Mercedes and the shitkicking Dani Luna going against the hyenas of Cut Throat Collective, with the constant interference of Evo and Blaze on the outside.

It was great to see Mercedes, Kanji and Luna overcome the odds in the end while setting the table for the future, with Luna and Moné (give us this match, please) having a brief confrontation post-match after the former had held onto the British Women’s Championship and former Queen of Southside straps while passing the rest of Moné’s belt collection along.

However, the headlines coming out of this one were not about Mercedes Moné for once. The big news here was that the Cut Throat Collective are down a member.

After months of being accused of “becoming too soft” by her partners, Safire Reed again found herself being lambasted by the rest of the CTC, with Alex Windsor taking the reigns as judge, jury and executioner. As Reed shoved Windsor away and with the rest of the group circling her, it felt like a matter of seconds before Safire Reed would suffer the same fate as Nightshade and find herself under the boots of the CTC.

Except, it wasn’t Safire Reed who ended up on the deck. Instead Nina Samuels fired a kick to the back of Alex Windsor’s head before the rest of the group laid into her.

The Cut Throat Collective has always been about Revolution Pro Wrestling and it has always been about the Cut Throat Collective. It’s about the collective not the individual, it isn’t about furthering yourself at the expense of the group and Alex Windsor crossed that line by “leaving” for AEW.

It’ll be interesting to see where the CTC go from here, with Safire seemingly being elevated to leader of the pack. She is the future of the women’s division in RevPro.

We continued to look towards the future in the next match as Nino Bryant defended the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship against Robbie X, with Jushin “Thunder” Liger at ringside.

Bryant has had some come-up in RevPro over the summer, going from having 0 singles wins in the company to being photographed alongside Liger as defending Cruiserweight champion and reigning British J-Cup winner.

This match was a platform to further showcase Bryant to the biggest RevPro audience of the year, as he pulled out all of his exciting high-flying moves, sending ripples of oohs and aahs through the crowd. Nino is full of beans, constantly leaping from one move to the next.

Robbie X is the best person imaginable to have in a match like this, he could make a plank of wood shine, though he was caught grandstanding too often for Liger to capitalise on some of the openings left by Bryant’s youthful exuberance.

Robbie’s obsession with Liger would prove to be his undoing as he tried to wrestle the belt away from the legendary junior heavyweight, and when he couldn’t, returned to the ring to walk straight into a Facebuster and Bryant Splash as Nino retained the title. This was the best Nino has looked, in my eyes, and he seems comfortable with the weight of being champion.

Business then shifted to some men who certainly aren’t cruiserweights, as 1 Called Manders and Thomas Shire made their way to the ring for the final of the Great British Tag League against Connor Mills and Jay Joshua.

While two hulking Cowboys strolling through South London might have seemed strange to any “normal” people over the weekend, Manders and Shire have strolled right into the hearts of British Wrestling fans over the last 12 months, leading to a proper cup final atmosphere between fans of Cowboy Way and Mills + Joshua.

Connor Mills has become a terrific in-ring performer in recent years. He isn’t the same greasy haired kid who debuted in Progress alongside Maverick Mayhew. He’s a man now, a man that honours the era of British Wrestling he came up in, with flashes of Zack Sabre Jr., Mark Haskins and Pete Dunne throughout his work.

Things opened with Mills aiming to give Shire a British Education with a series of holds and snapping of joints before the action descended into the absolute guys being dudes fest that everyone was anticipating, with all four men going for the Hard Bastard of The Match Award.

Everything here was about being the biggest dude possible. Whether that was Thomas Shire chucking Mills and Joshua around like toys, the defiance of Manders throwing up the middle fingers as his opponents slapped the shit out of him or when Joshua was flung through the barriers by Manders, it was all proper dude behaviour.

Shire desperately coming to the aid of his friend to stop Manders from tapping to Mills’ ankle lock at the end of the match, grabbing Manders by the face and pleading with him to keep on going is as dude as you can get, Samwise taking Frodo on his shoulders at the summit of Mount Doom kind of shit.

When Joshua took Shire out and added some extra hurtin’ to Manders with a crossface, Manders was a man about it and tapped. He couldn’t go on any longer and it’s okay to admit defeat.

The respect that all four men showed at the end was a further nod to the uber-macho appreciation that comes from going to war. Mills and Joshua were the better men on the night but Cowboy Way pushed them to the limit.

That could genuinely be a teaching moment for young lads watching on, at a time when men’s health is in the dumps and all of this alpha/beta and misogynistic shite is infecting our youth, be more like 1 Called Manders, Thomas Shire, Connor Mills and Jay Joshua.

After this weekend, I hope we get to see more of Thomas Shire on these shores. The guy is a beast and has a look that is so interesting, that stereotypical American corn-fed, Division 1 Offensive Lineman build. He makes other grown men look like children.

I also want to see more of Persephone following this weekend, especially following her match with Emersyn Jayne.

With Jayne more willing to engage in direct contact than Alexxis Falcon was the previous evening, Persephone was able to show off more of her arsenal and technical abilities and having won over the audience against Falcon, here she could express herself more leading to a solid showing on her way to picking up the victory. It helped being in there with Emersyn Jayne, who is a fucking phenomenal talent.

While they happened at separate points in the night, the way both Kurtis “Mad Kurt” Chapman and James Castle were honoured during their Hall of Fame inductions was incredibly moving. I hope their family and friends can take some comfort in how beloved they were by the British Wrestling community.

I have a question. Does Blue Panther know what steeze is?

It was lovely touch having Blue Panther and CPF sharing matching ring gear, with the CPF boys in Panther masks and Blue Panther rocking a blue boiler suit, as they squared off with Hechicero, Will Kaven and Trew & Lacey.

The main selling point of this match for the majority of the crowd was the opportunity to see Hechicero trade holds with Blue Panther, so of course Kaven, Trew & Lacey denied us that by tagging themselves in whenever the two Luchadors got within touching distance of each other.

Understandably, some people don’t enjoy Will Kaven in RevPro, but I think he’s so important to the promotion. On the men’s side, they don’t have enough “proper” bad guys. Too many of their male wrestlers dip into shades of grey OR constantly have fantastic matches so get cheered. Having a traditional bad guy who nobody wants to cheer is crucial.

In amongst the Kaven, Trew & Lacey shithousery and CPF bouncing off the walls like 3 kids who’ve overindulged on blue Smarties, we eventually got the exchange between Hechicero and Blue Panther that we’d be hoping for before Panther submitted Kaven to score a win for the good guys.

This was just fun. Good, clean fun. Can’t argue with a bit of fun in the middle of a show that soon would be ramping up the stakes and emotional investment.

What wasn’t fun was the “customer experience” of Crystal Palace particularly during the 13th Anniversary. It hadn’t been *too* bad the night before for Global Wars but with the influx of an additional few hundred people, the issues with the venue were magnified.

Being a leisure centre and not a specially designed events venue, there are 3 male public cubicles available (they did open a 4th later in the night) if you need the toilet. Hazarding a guess, there was about 1000 blokes in the crowd, so the queues stretched from 15-20 minutes for the toilet throughout the night.

The queues for the bar and food were just as bad, if not worse. There was one stall with two draught beer pumps on, a food stall and a can/snack stall to service the entire crowd.

It isn’t great when you have to miss a match every time you want a drink (alcoholic or not), a bite to eat or a wee. Being able to quickly get a drink is especially important in a venue that can get so hot like Crystal Palace.

I get that some people are happy to attend a wrestling event, sit down for anywhere between 3-5 hours and not move from their seat. Everyone has their own preferences and experiences. That just isn’t how I and many others like to experience wrestling. I heard multiple people saying they were put off coming back to the venue in the toilet queues.

It’s annoying because the sight lines are superb at Crystal Palace, there isn’t a bad seat in the house, all the staff I interacted with were sound and I didn’t find it a difficult place to get to despite previous reports but it simply isn’t fit for the purpose of hosting an event with an attendance of 1500-1800 people with the current setup.

Right, I’m off my soapbox. I’ve been to the toilet and had a drink. Back to the wrestling.

This might be a “hot take”, a phrase I personally detest, but I think JJ Gale got more out of Yuya Uemura than Connor Mills did.

I’m not sure what it was, maybe JJ’s style came across as more of a conundrum to Uemura, but it didn’t feel like the New Japan man was always in control of this match in the same way that he was against Mills, which made this one a bit more enjoyable to me.

In particular, the two reversals Uemura had to pull out to avoid the Gale Force – the first an armbar attempt and the second being a backslide into the Deadbolt Suplex in the finishing sequence – were brilliant, standout moments.

While this was a good showing from JJ Gale, he really needs a big win soon. There’s the current Sons of Southampton situation bubbling away between him and David Francisco, but I really hope the final quarter of 2025 sees RevPro put a bit of oomph behind Gale as a singles competitor.

This one isn’t a “hot take”. The TK Cooper, Chuck Mambo and The Cru segment was fucking rubbish. It was unnecessary, adding time onto an already long show and for me personally, has completely paused my interest in the Sunshine Machine story that had me buzzing coming out of Summer Sizzler.

I’m not opposed to Cooper and Mambo being involved, in fact it would’ve weird not to see them all weekend, but shoehorning Lio Rush and Action Andretti into proceedings before a 12 minute match with a daft ending wasn’t the way to go.

Have Mambo and TK smash two of the lads from the Portsmouth School of Wrestling – they would of got the same reaction as The Cru did – in a minute or something instead.

Have you ever done your Christmas food shop, gone a bit mad and then by December 29th you’ve got a pack of party food at the back of the fridge that are out of date and have to go in the bin? That was this match.

In keeping with the Christmas theme, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Zozaya was the cheeseboard. It might not be the MAIN attraction of Christmas Day, but real educated individuals know it’s one of the best bits of the entire season.

At last year’s anniversary show, Zozaya stood a few feet away from me in the Copper Box, marvelling at the display that Zack and Hechicero put on. 12 months later, he has been able to wrestle them both. It’s been a whirlwind rise for the boy.

For Zack, this felt very much like when Floyd Mayweather fought Canelo Alvarez or maybe closer to home, some of his early encounters with Will Ospreay.

ZSJ was never going to lose this match, he’s the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He’s Zack Sabre Jr. However, who Zozaya might be in 5-10 years time is anybody’s guess, the sky is the limit, so getting that W on his record would be a long-term investment.

That future is a while away, though. This was all about gauging where Zozaya is now, taking him through the levels and seeing where his breaking point was.

ZSJ first challenged Zozaya to establish control and dominant positions, before exchanging wristlocks and targeting the legs. When it was clear the young Spaniard was able to defend against the fundamentals, Sabre opened things up with the pair moving round the ring to see whether he could maintain that defence when he wasn’t solely focused on going hold-for-hold.

As Zozaya’s unbridled energy led to him mounting some effective offence on the outside and charging up the crowd, Zack punished that momentary lapse in concentration with his signature neck crank. Zozaya was going to have to be perfect simply to keep up with Sabre.

Next came the stretches, as Sabre yanked and pulled Zozaya into increasingly uncomfortable positions, driving Zozaya’s own wrist and fingers into his side. Unsatisfied with his opponent, Bully Sabre Jr. came out, delivering harsh kicks and European uppercuts, which seemed to spark Zozaya into life and he was able to give Zack a taste of his own medicine by snapping his fingers and instigating a strike battle.

With Zozaya now clearing that level, ZSJ ramped up the intensity again, presenting the younger man with a submission smorgasbord, transitioning between armbar and triangle choke attempts. Not only was this wearing Zozaya down physically, but constantly being trapped in holds is mentally taxing.

The mind games extended further with Zack delivering mocking slaps and offering Zozaya free hits at the King of technical wrestling, which fired Zozaya back up and he was able to lock in a tight head and arm choke, the first real moment of panic for Sabre, who lashed out with a nasty elbow stamp.

While it had been Sabre to take the levels up each time, it was Zozaya who took control with both men dealing with compromised arms, kicking off the big moves portion of the match and daring to trade European clutches with Sabre.

These were now championship rounds, with neither man backing down, but it was here in the deep waters that Zack found Zozaya’s breaking point as a flying armbar resulted in an instant tap-out. Zozaya didn’t quite push the IWGP champ to his limit, but he pushed him enough to earn Zack’s respect.

This was fucking excellent and kicked off a run of 3 of the best matches of the entire weekend (including AEW), maybe 3 of the best matches of the year.

With Zozaya reportedly heading for WWE, the locker room emptied and everyone gave this future superstar the send-off he deserved. You’re destined for greatness mate, I’m just glad you stopped off in British wrestling on your way.

The penultimate match of RevPro’s weekend was the highly anticipated rematch between Michael Oku and Leon Slater.

As a fight fan, I hate how overused “Zombie” by The Cranberries has become, except here it was used to perfection in the pre-match hype video.

Who is really in whose head? It’s an accusation that Oku has levelled at Slater and vice versa throughout their rivalry.

For Slater, Michael Oku is everything that he wants to be. Leon Slater believes he’s ready to become the standard bearer of British Wrestling, the face of RevPro, the man to write the next chapter of this era.

For Oku, Leon Slater isn’t on his level. He isn’t ready. He hasn’t had to scratch and claw his way to the top. He’s still a kid learning a grown man’s game, yet despite that, he’s essentially leapfrogged Oku in the eyes of many fans.

It’s Leon Slater, not Michael Oku, who is on telly most weeks. It’s Leon Slater that’s hanging out with the Hardy Boyz and winning the X-Division Championship.

Perhaps most importantly, the thing that eats Michael Oku up more than anything that can affect Leon Slater, Leon Slater is the one who has come closest to taking his crown as a fan favourite and he’s done it at a time when some fans are wavering in their support of Oku.

Leon Slater had come for everything Michael Oku has, this had become personal without Slater having to resort to underhanded tactics or targeting Amira, and it meant that when the pair locked eyes in the centre of the ring, the big fight feels permeated the RevPro audience.

This was even bigger than RevPro.

This was the best of British Wrestling in 2025 and both men were prepared to put everything on the line to take their spot at the top of the mountain.

If Leon Slater had come to break down everything Oku had built, it was appropriate that he targeted Oku’s back, the back that has carried British Wrestling in recent times. Leon sent Oku crashing down to the apron with a sickening thud after kneeing him clean off the top rope.

That meant the “Master of the Half Crab” couldn’t maintain the Now We Play half crab throughout the contest, neutralising his most effective weapon, and leaving him in constant pain.

Lesser men would’ve succumbed to the 450 Swanton that Slater landed shortly after or to the Styles Clash. They might have tapped out when Leon added insult to injury, firmly locking in the half crab in the middle of the ring. Lesser men would’ve lost their heads seeing their partner manhandled by Liam Slater and Cameron Khai or from almost striking them, for the second time in a month.

You do not become the flagbearer for British Wrestling by giving up, surrendering or cracking. Michael Oku did not go from The OJMO to a headline act by running away from the fire. Instead he embraced it, bit down on his gumshield and kept swinging.

The same can be said of Leon Slater. Unloading the clip on Oku, yet time and again seeing him come back for more, would’ve broken Leon Slater’s heart 18 months ago.

However, with Liam Slater coaching him through those shaky moments, with Cameron Khai in the corner and hundreds of fans behind him, he never stopped. Instead of tapping when Oku locked him in the half crab late on, Slater drove Oku’s head into the mat. Instead of lying down for the frogsplash, he leapt to his feet hitting a Twist of Slate, a Swanton and then his signature 450 Swanton variant to score the biggest pinfall of his career.

While both men deserve the plaudits this match will receive, credit has to be given to Amira, Liam Slater and Khai on the outside. This was a tour de force on how managers/coaches/seconds can have a massive impact on a match without ever directly affecting the in-ring competition.

At no point did Amira have to try and trip Leon up to turn the tide. At no point did Liam or Cameron throw a weapon into the ring when Oku wouldn’t stay down or distract the referee so Leon could land a low blow.

When they did become physically involved, it was to counteract the other. When Liam and Cameron carried Amira away, with Oku in the half crab and desperately reaching out to her, they didn’t hurt her. They held her back, sure, but it never got out of hand.

That also meant Amira was justified in pulling Oku out of the way of Leon’s corner dive, leaving Liam and Khai skittled on the floor.

For the first time since 2023, Michael Oku is not RevPro champion and he isn’t even the next in line. Hell, he might be 4th or 5th in the pecking order.

For the first time, perhaps in his career, Michael Oku doesn’t know who he is. He isn’t the Michael Oku everyone knows and loves, refusing Leon’s handshake or helping hand, despite Amira calling for him to accept the show of respect.

Most concerning, Michael Oku left the ring without Amira by his side, instead cutting his own path back to the locker room, with a look of disbelief across his face. Broken, bruised and above all else, beaten by the better man.

That left us with the main event, title vs. career, between Sha Samuels and Ricky Knight Jr.

Coming into this match, there were doubts about whether this was a “big enough” main event for the most prestigious night in the BritWres calendar. People asked whether enough people cared about Sha or Ricky and whether they could live up to the billing.

It’s important to note that some people DID leave at the end of the co-main. Whether that was in protest or because the show had pushed past the scheduled finishing time, there were some empty seats as Sha headed to the ring with his family.

I’ll hold my hands up and admit that after Slater and Oku had torn the house down, I wondered out loud how RKJ and Sha were meant to follow it.

Well, they followed it by making people care.

When Sha and Ricky tore into each other at the opening bell, people cared. As Sha gave RKJ his comeuppance for rinsing the fake-out chair spot by sending him flying through the entire seated section on one side of the ring people cared.

When RKJ came crashing down the stairs of one of the side stands, people cared. When Sha leapt off the bleachers onto Knight, people cared.

When RKJ bust Sha open with a draping DDT onto a chair, spat the blood of the East End butcher into the air and smiled, people cared. As Ricky presented Sha’s carcass to his family and paraded him around ringside, people cared. While RKJ volleyed the last breaths out of Sha’s lungs, people urged him to fight back because people cared.

As the 1500 strong crowd rose to its feet as one belting out “Stand up, if you hate Ricky”, they didn’t do it for shits and giggles, they did it because people cared.

I know some people’s thoughts on Ricky Knight Jr. I think he’s one of the best wrestlers in this country. He creates a feeling inside people unlike anyone else on the scene. He fosters a genuine dislike. It’s a feat that so few in wrestling can achieve nowadays. It isn’t ” Boo, Ricky’s good at being a baddy, isn’t he?”, it’s “fuck that cunt”.

I grew up around people like Ricky Knight Jr. I’ve played football with people like him and been at parties or in the pub with people like him. The lad who is one wrong move or a misjudged glance away from putting a glass over your head. He makes you uneasy. He makes you believe.

Whether the crowd truly believed that Sha Samuels could save his career and become British Heavyweight Champion is up for debate.

Even as he fought back against RKJ, did anyone truly believe? Every time he kicked out of a big move, it felt like a stay of execution, not an escape. RKJ always had the axe in his hand.

When Sha broke the pinfall from a Rikishi Driver at 1, it felt like the final act of defiance. The spinebuster and East End Destroyer that followed were the final swansong of a British Wrestling legend who was about to exit stage left. Everyone believed the career of Sha Samuels was about to come to a close.

When Sha Samuels countered another Rikishi Driver with a Victory Roll, pinning Ricky Knight Jr. for the 1-2-3 to become Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion over 12 years since his first reign, neither Sha or Ricky looked like they could believe it.

That disbelief was broken by the thunderous roar of the crowd, referee Oscar Harding presenting Sha with the championship and Francesca proclaiming him the winner. As the tears came crashing down Samuels face, his family joined him in the ring.

That’s pro wrestling at its best.

Image Credits: @themfster, Revolution Pro Wrestling