On Saturday 26th August 2023, Revolution Pro Wrestling crammed over 4,000 fans into the Copper Box Arena and delivered Pro Wrestling At It's Best to celebrate 11 Years of RevPro. What some fans may not realise, though, is that it was also 11 years to the exact day since the first time Revolution Pro-Wrestling delivered Pro-Wrestling At It's Best.
It was 26th August 2012.
The place? Wyvern Hall, a small hall connected to the Swallows Leisure Centre, Sittingbourne, Kent.
Revolution Pro Wrestling presented Summer Sizzler.
Were you there? What were your memories of the show? Get in the comments below; we would love to hear from you.
To commemorate the event, Dave The Mark rewatched the show on RevProOnDemand.com before catching up with Dave Mastiff, Sha Samuels and Zak Knight to get some insight into the mood going into the event and presents 10 Reasons To Revisit Summer Sizzler 2013; the first ever Revolution Pro-Wrestling show.
1. The Card Was Stacked!
The stars of today were all out for the first RevPro show. Zack Sabre Jr, Prince Devitt a.k.a. Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano have all gone on to hold championships in WWE, NJPW and RoH between them.
2. Did We Say The Card Was Stacked?
Sha Samuels and Zak Knight, stalwarts of RevPro in 2023, were front and centre, with Sha wrestling a 30 Minute Iron Fist Match defence of his IPW:UK British Heavyweight Championship in the main event and Zak teaming with brother Roy as The Hooligans in the semi-main against Project Ego, the team of Martin Kirby and the late, great, Kris Travis. Dave Mastiff, a British wrestling legend and former challenger for the British Heavyweight Championship opened the card.
3. New Champion(s)?
In a match not even booked on the show nor pre-advertised, and in an impromptu post-main- event-angle we saw a a championship change hands.
Who won? Who lost? Which title? No spoilers here! It's On Demand, go see for yourself!
4. Sha Samuels Was The First Revolution Pro-Wrestling British Heavyweight Champion... Sadly?
Sha was the first ever British Heavyweight Champion as the championship evolved from IPW:UK to RevPro but, in his own words, there was a "groaning" and a sense of "disappointment" from the crowd towards him as Champion due to his reign, the longest reign in the belts history, being dominated by dirty wins.
5. Sittingbourne Was A Pro-Wrestling Haven
The launch of Revolution Pro Wrestling was in Sittingbourne, Kent, and in the words of Sha Samuels, "at that time, Sittingbourne was very renowned for amazing, incredible matches with the best talent from around the world." Sha said that, because of this, he had to "deliver up to the billing." And boy did he! If you think of yourself as a RevPro fan and you haven't seen this match, pour yourself a cuppa, grab the biscuit tin and sit down with RevPro On Demand for this one.
6. Sha Felt Incredible Pressure... Like His Career Rested On This Show
If this first RevPro main event did not go well, Sha felt like his title run would be cut short and he might never be booked by RevPro again, leading him to feel "a tonne of pressure to deliver" - well, Sha, take it from The Mark, you did, pal.
7. Sha Was Now On The Map After A Very Big Milestone
Sha cited that it was this match that made him feel that he "was on the map", a "very big milestone" in his career and that, in a post-match chat with Andy Quildan, the two agreed that Sha "needed that". Who knows where Sha and the belt would be now had this match gone south? Sha added, in conclusion, that it was this exact match in the main event of this stacked card that convinced Andy that Sha was "the man going forward" and look at what followed; appearing for the company in all but two of the 11 years of RevPro, at only a time when Sha had signed with WWE and was appearing for NXT UK.
8. Dave Mastiff Meant Business Then... And Still Does
Talking to Dave Mastiff, he said that his motive going into the show was to give the fans "value for money". He added that "personal pride to perform to the best of [his] abilities" drove him then and still does now, claiming he believes he has "unfinished business with RevPro" and that "a few people need a shake up" from the big man himself.
9. Who Did Zak Knight Describe As "Incredible Workers"? Zak Knight had high praise for Project Ego, who he and brother Roy faced on the first RevPro card, describing the pair, affectionately dubbed "Kirby and Trav", as "incredible workers" who he felt The Hooligans "always had great chemistry with". 10. Win Or Learn From Day One Anyone who listens to RevPro On Demand has heard Andy Quildan say a thousand times that in RevPro "you win or learn" and these are the exact words The Zodiac used when talking fondly of the RevPro owner. "In regards to the company starting, Andy had earned his stripes and certainly studied the business. He knew what audience he wanted to target and understood quickly that you either win or learn" "Andy has been fantastic for British wrestling and has helped many guys get seen by higher ups and helped them go on to bigger things. You can generally see when working with Andy that he loves the industry and wants to leave it better then he found it." Well, Zak, I make you right there; the scene has never been brighter than in 2023, in RevPro and across British wrestling and here's to another 11 years and many more!