Revolution British Wrestling

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Revolution British Wrestling

Details
Acronym	RBW
Established	2002-2007
Location	United Kingdom
Founder(s)	Adam Mumford Aaron Spencer
Owner(s)	Adam Mumford - 2002-05 Aaron Spencer - 2002-04 Ron Sands - 2005-07
Sister	See Branches

Revolution British Wrestling (RBW) was a British professional wrestling promotion, that governed over smaller branches across Great Britain.

Contents 1 History 2 Branches 3 Championships 3.1 RBW British Heavyweight Championship 3.2 RBW Commonwealth Championship 3.3 RBW British Mid-Heavyweight Championship 3.4 Other Titles 4 References

[edit] History

Revolution British Wrestling was originally formed in early 2002 by Adam Mumford and Aaron Spencer, with the sole intention of providing fans in the Nottinghamshire region of Great Britain with a source of quality British wrestling live events.

RBW also lauched a sister product, WrestlingUK, at the same time with the same aim, but focusing on the Southern area of England. Months of preparation took place leading to the debut events of both promotions, with the first WrestlingUK event taking place in August 2002 and the first RBW event taking place in September 2002. It was decided shortly afterwards that WrestlingUK would come under the RBW banner, and promote events under one name, rather than two.

By November 2002, RBW formed a relationship with fellow UK company G.N. Promotions, and put on a combined show in Southwell, Nottinghamshire which saw the crowning of an RBW Commonwealth Champion, and the merging of the G.N. Promotions Middleweight Championship which then became the RBW British Mid-Heavyweight Championship.

As 2003 began, a schedule of live events were put on, with the first being a near sell-out event in Nottingham at Sports Nottingham, part of the Notts County Football Stadium, which starred some familiar faces in British wrestling such as Johnny Kidd and Alan Kilby, and American Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Following this event, further shows took place in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and more, all of which saw talent from all over the country appear.

July of 2003 saw the launch of the first ever RBW Training Centre located in Nottingham, training a new generation of potential wrestlers in the hope that some would go on to be successful as professional wrestlers. Three months later, in October, the second RBW Training Centre opened, this time further south in London, which was the first sign of RBW in the south of England for over a year.

Before the year ended, the start of a tournament to crown a new British Heavyweight Champion took place, as well as the first joint event with the United Kingdom Wrestling Alliance.

As 2004 dawned, a huge expansion into the South of England took place, seeing monthly events take place at the Celbic Hall in Enfield, London/Middlesex, next door to the London-based training centre, coupled with other events in Chingford (London), Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire) and Hitchin (Hertfordshire).

With action not just down South, RBW maintained regular events in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and other locations. RBW also became the first promotion in a long time to bring back British-style wrestling to the infamous Civic Hall in Wolverhampton and also take part in a five-day event at the annual "Yorkfest" event in York.

May 2004 saw the crowning of the first British Heavyweight Champion, World of Sport legend Alan Kilby, who managed to narrowly defeat James Mason in one of RBW's classic encounters. Along with RBW's growth, RBW would appear in the media on various occasions, including TV appearances on BBC, Channel Four and Channel Five, as well as on BBC radio a number of times. There were also articles in newspapers and magazines ranging from local town newspapers to the Daily Star to the World of Wrestling (WOW) magazine.

July 2004 saw a significant change in RBW, when it announced that the Nottingham branch of the promotion, primarily ran by the G.N Promotions part of the group, would no longer be part of RBW. This was due to RBW wishing to maintain its original focus on British-style wrestling, and not follow the American trend that has become so common in other British promotions.

Following this, the RBW management team concentrated on expanding elsewhere in the country, with the opening of a new RBW Training Centre in Hampshire, shortly followed by another in Exeter in early 2005. RBW again saw new areas entered with live events in Cambridgeshire, Devon and Hampshire, plus monthly events in Chingford, London replacing the monthly events in Enfield that finished in 2004.

In July 2005, the RBW management team changed over with Adam Mumford moving on to other projects and selling on the company to Ron Sands, who attempted to keep RBW running during 2005. However, this would not work out as planned with only two more shows soon after the takeover, while training in East London lasted until January 2007, when RBW's offical closure was announced.

[edit] Branches

This is a list of RBW's previous regional promotions. Some of its branches still operate today but have reamerged under new names.

• RBW Nottingham (G.N Promotions; which now runs under the Norton British Wrestling banner)
• RBW Southwest (now Varsity Pro Wrestling; run by The UK Kid)
• United Kingdom Wrestling Alliance (run by Andrew Huntington)
• WrestlingUK

• RBW Training Centres

• Exeter
• Hampshire
• London (Enfield, Plaistow & Beckton)
• Nottingham

[edit] Championships

This is a list of titles recongised within the RBW promotion:

[edit] RBW British Heavyweight Championship

This was RBW's version of the British Heavyweight Championship, which would be recognised within the RBW branches; including, United Kingdom Wrestling Alliance, and G.N. Promotions. The title was decided in a tournament that began in November 2003, and ended in May 2004.

In July 2004, a decision was made to vacate Alan Kilby's Championship, due to changes within RBW, which saw Alan Kirby and the RBW Nottingham branch (G.N. Promotions) leave RBW.

A new tournament was first announced to take place which spanned through the later part of 2004 and early 2005. A decision was later made for one match to decide the Championship, rather than continuing the tournament, which at this point had seen many changes. The two wrestlers who would receive this honour would be decided by RBW officials in relation to their in-ring performance, professionalism and effort. Bofore the two wrestlers could be announced, the promotion went into closer and the title was abandoned.

[edit] RBW Commonwealth Championship

In November 2002, RBW formed a working relationship with fellow UK company G.N Promotions, and put on a combined show in Southwell, Nottinghamshire which saw the crowning of the first RBW Commonwealth Champion. This event saw Andy "The Pigman" Hogg defeat "MTX" Jem Brown become the first Champion. World of Sport star, Alan Kirby would defeat Hogg for the title in March 2003. The title would be vacated by Kirbyon the 8 May, 2004, four days after he won the companies British Heavyweight Championship.

[edit] RBW British Mid-Heavyweight Championship

After the working relationship was formed, G.N Promotions' Middleweight Championship was the only surviving Championship continued from the company, with Matt Jarrett holding the Championship when the merger took place. On November 16, 2002 while in Southwell, Nottinghamshire Jarrett would lose the title to Keith Myatt, after this the belt was renamed the RBW Mid-Heavyweight Championship.

Three other men would hold the title before the title was declared defunct; "MTX" Jem Brown, Scott Future (on October 4th, 2003 in Lincoln), and Blondie Barratt, who would be the last person to be declared Mid-Heavyweight Champion in RBW. G.N.Promotions would split away from RBW in July 2004 coming under the RBWA (Revolution British Wrestling Alliance) then NBW (Norton British Wrestling) banners during this time the company would declare a new Middleweight Champion though it is unclear whether or not the two titles are related.

[edit] Other Titles

• RBW British Middleweight Championship
• RBW British Welterweight Championship
• RBW British Tag Team Championship
• British Battle Royal Trophy - Trophy was awarded by former boxer Paul "Silky" Jones to Jack Hazard after a Battle Royal win in Killamarsh on 22 November 2003.

[edit] References

• www.revolutionbritishwrestling.co.uk / www.revolutionbritishwrestling.org.uk - Revolution British Wrestling's former official sites (both no longer active)
• 1StopWrestling's news and results archive