Major wrestling promotion owner reveals why WWE deal collapsed

WWE has ruled the pro wrestling world for more than twenty years now. A younger Vince McMahon was known for buying up the competition, but the company has tried a different method in recent years. Recently, RevPro's owner, Andy Quildan, revealed some surprising details regarding a deal he received from Stamford-based promotion.

Widely regarded as one of Europe's top promotions, RevPro launched in 2012 and has had alliances with AEW, NJPW, CMLL, MLW, and ROH. The roster has featured Will Ospreay, Finn Balor, Pete Dunne, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, and AJ Styles, among others. In August 2020, WWE Network announced that it will feature content from outside promotions, including England's PROGRESS, Scotland's ICW, Germany's wXw, and EVOLVE, which World Wrestling Entertainment bought the month before. Revolution Pro Wrestling was one of the top companies that did not join.

RevPro Wrestling's owner Andy Quildan recently spoke with Markus Gronemann and revealed why he never reached a deal with WWE. Quildan was interested in the opportunity but said partnerships must be two-sided, and they never made it far enough to receive an actual offer.

Quildan noted how, as a fan, he wanted the deal, and will never disparage WWE due to how they've helped people, but as an owner, he couldn't go into this with blinders on, which others did do.

"Ultimately, it turned out OK for those that kind of signed up. They wanted little caveats... they would have the option to buy RevPro. It’s a loan deal, I forget how it was termed... loan your footage or X amount of time for the Network, and at the end of the contract, they had the option to buy. It’s like, 'Option to buy the footage?' 'No, the whole promotion.' I think that’s a bit of a leap, when you get to that stage," Andy Quildan said. [H/T to POST Wrestling]

Quildan recalled having many important questions about the deal and the future, but the answers to difficult questions were just "TBD or we need to explore that at the moment," implying there was no clear gameplan, which he was OK with early on, but not amid talk of buying his business outright.

William Regal apparently reached out to the veteran promoter, and they had the initial talks, which ended in the two sides being interested in the future as RevPro had a loyal partnership with NJPW at the time.

Andy told the company he was interested but his deal would be more complicated than others. Those talks then stopped. Additional talks happened later on, this time with Triple H and his team, but that's when the "non-answers" began. Quildan remains open to a potential relationship, but he's focused on taking RevPro to the next level.

Non-WWE title to be defended on NXT

A loaded lineup has been announced for next week's WWE NXT. The episode will see the forbidden door between World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA Wrestling continue.

Jordynne Grace will return to NXT for an Open Challenge next week. She will put the TNA Knockouts World Championship on the line against a mystery opponent. Below is the updated lineup:

1. Ridge Holland vs. Duke Hudson
2. Last Man Standing: Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams
3. NXT Tag Team Championship: Axiom and Nathan Frazer (c) vs. TNA's Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz
4. NXT Heritage Cup Championship: Charlie Dempsey (c) vs. Je'Von Evans
5. TNA Knockouts World Championship Open Challenge: Jordynne Grace (c) vs. TBA

Next Tuesday's NXT is part of WWE Week on USA Network. RAW will air on Monday, while SmackDown will arrive in its new home that Friday.