RevPro Owner Andy Quildan Explains Why WWE Deal Fell Through

WWE is truly the global juggernaut of professional wrestling and they have tried to acquire other promotions in the past. In fact, it appears RevPro owner Andy Quildan has now revealed why the promotion never reached a deal with WWE.

Revolution Pro Wrestling, founded in 2012 and led by Andy Quildan, recently celebrated its 12-year anniversary with a show at the Copper Box Arena in London, followed by an event in Berlin, Germany. Quildan spoke with Markus Gronemann about the promotion’s journey and his past conversations with WWE, which had shown interest in acquiring RevPro as part of their expansion into Europe.

Quildan revealed that while there were discussions with WWE, the negotiations never advanced to the point of formal offers. One significant reason for this was WWE’s proposal, which included an option to purchase RevPro at the end of their agreement. Quildan was concerned about the lack of a clear plan from WWE, with many questions being met with vague “to be decided” responses. This uncertainty, combined with his strong partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, led him to hesitate.

Quildan explained that his loyalty to New Japan, which had consistently supported RevPro, played a crucial role in his decision not to move forward with WWE. Although he was tempted by the prospect of working with WWE, he chose to prioritize the stability and growth of RevPro.

”I wouldn’t say we didn’t want to work with them. I think it was very much on the table for us to work with them. Like I said, partnerships have to be two-sided. So, we never (got) to the stage of offers on the table to turn down. We had the conversations. But the offers, what was being put my way, wasn’t — I’m trying to think of the right thing to say without getting myself in trouble. Basically, what was being put to me wasn’t something — look, as a fan of WWE, of course I wanted to do it. One of the terms they used was, ‘We’re bringing you under the WWE umbrella.’ Of course I wanted to be under the WWE umbrella. Of course I wanted to wear my WWE merch and say I work with WWE and get tickets to all the shows and do you know what I mean? It’s the biggest show on earth. It’s a show that I’ve watched since childhood and you know, I love it. I’m not gonna say anything bad about WWE because WWE helped so many people and when I say helped so many people, I’m not talking about, like, the wrestlers. Obviously, it’s great for the wrestlers.

But I’m talking about the fans. Think about how many lives that WWE has made. Including mine. If it wasn’t for WWE, I wouldn’t be doing this right now. So I’m never gonna say anything bad about WWE, and of course I would have loved to be involved but, you have to approach these things, not as a fan. I could’ve just had my blinkers on and just been like, okay, yep. Whatever. Whatever you want. Yep. We’ll agree, we’ll agree. Which I think some people did. But, I think ultimately, it turned out okay for those that kind of signed up to the WWE thing but there were little caveats in there like, they would have the option to buy the promotion. It’s a loan deal. I forget how it was termed. Like, loan your footage or X amount of time for the Network and at the end of the term of the contract, they had the option to buy, and it’s like, ‘Option to buy the footage?’ ‘No, the whole promotion.’ So I think that’s a bit of a leap, when you get to that stage. Then what’s gonna happen to you? Are you gonna get a job there? Can you get fired? Is there gonna be a no-compete? So there’s all these aspects of what next and for me, you could essentially — because of all the uncertainty, any difficult question was just TBD, it’s TBD. Any difficult question was asked. What’s gonna happen to this? It’s TBD. What’s your mindset on this? TBD. We need to explore that at the moment.

It was no clear gameplan. Which is fine when you’re in the early stages of conversation but when you’re talking about buying someone’s business outright, you kind of need to have clear lines of thought, and of course I had my partnership with New Japan. We had two sets of conversations. The initial set of conversation happened with William Regal. The later set was with Triple H and then his team. But, which was initiated by William Regal but William Regal was the person who reached out originally and he’s obviously got a relationship with — had a relationship with PROGRESS, Jim Smallman. Their friends, whatever so, he’s always gonna go in with the mindset of, you know, they’re number one. We’re number two. Whatever. We had the conversation. We agreed we’re open to doing stuff in the future. But at the moment, it’s very difficult because we’ve got our relationship with New Japan and my relationship with New Japan, I’m loyal to them because they’ve been loyal to me, therefore I’m loyal to them. So I’m not the type of person that’s gonna be like, sorry New Japan. See you later. I’m the type of person that says, I’m interested, but I need to have a discussion with New Japan.

This is gonna be a lot more complicated than other deals that perhaps you’re trying to put together, and that’s where the initial set of conversations stopped and then, a while later — and then they did the championship tournament. I didn’t really realize a championship. The conversations had stopped. Until they did the championship tournament and everyone’s there suited and booted at the show and I’m sat watching it in my pants in my living room. But then we had another set of conversations a little bit later. Obviously, at this stage, I can’t even remember the timescale. We had another set of conversations a little bit later and that’s what involved Triple H’s team, and that’s when all the non-answers came into play. So, nothing happened and it’s — can something happen in the future? Maybe. Like I say, it’s one of those things. I’m open to working with anyone, and I feel like I’ve reached this stage in my professional wrestling career where I’ve put in a lot of time, I’ve put in a lot of hours. I’ve dedicated my whole life this and because I’ve dedicated my whole life to this, of course I’m not gonna walk away from it. But, I feel like we need to be taking those steps. We need to be moving forward and obviously, forging these relationships with New Japan, CMLL, AEW, etcetera. 

Quildan mentioned that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, 2024 marks the first year RevPro has regained stability. Quildan is now focused on taking the promotion to the next level, exploring potential partnerships, TV deals, and sponsorships to ensure continued success.

”I kind of reached that stage now where I feel I’ve put in so much to this and it’s time to take this to the next level so, how (do) we go about this? Is it partnerships about doing this? Is it TV deals? Is it sponsorship? Open for all exploration but… What I’ve always wanted was that sustainable structure, what I’ve always wanted is to know that we’re gonna be okay for month-to-month. We started to get there just before the pandemic. It’s taken us all this time to rebuild. This is the first year since the pandemic where we’re actually in a stable situation, which we would be on any other year but we had to pay a lot of pandemic debt back. So last year was a good year. But, it got us back to being able to float up after coming back from that pandemic. So, yeah, we’re in a good position.”

Will Ospreay also revealed last year that RevPro turned down WWE’s low-ball offer of $1 million for the promotion. Regardless, RevPro is clearly thriving right now and that is all that truly matters.

What’s your view on what RevPro’s owner had to say about a deal with WWE never coming to fruition? Do you feel that was for the best? Sound off in the comments section below!