Andy Quildan revealed why he had to turn down the chance to work with the WWE.
The RevPro boss has been a key figure in the UK wrestling scene since splitting off from IPW to form Revolution Pro Wrestling.
The company has helped make stars of the likes of Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr and Michael Oku. This caught the eye of the WWE, who wanted to work with the promotion.
Andy Quildan spoke with with Markus Gronemann (H/T to Post Wrestling for the transcription). He talked about wanting to work with the WWE, but finding the partnership they offered lacking.
He added that he would have loved to be “under the WWE umbrella”, having grown up watching the company and being a huge fan of the product.
“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.”
Andy Quildan: WWE Wanted Option To Buy RevPro
Andy Quildan continued. He revealed that the WWE wanted to buy the company outright at the end of their deal with RevPro.
“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.”
Will Ospreay previously revealed that WWE offered $1 million to buy the company some years ago, so it is clearly something Andy Quildan has had to fight off for some time.
RevPro’s Agreement With New Japan Pro Wrestling Was Another Factor
The RevPro boss added that he spoke with William Regal first, and then with Triple H about brokering deal with the WWE.
However, Andy Quildan said that RevPro’s agreement with NJPW was a sticking point, and he didn’t want to leave them high and dry to purse a deal with the WWE.
“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.”
