Indie Watch: The Filip Brothers

Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at all of the amazing talent working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers, some are indie prospects hitting their peaks, while others are names to be on the watch for! This edition looks at an Australian tag team, Stevie and Tome, the Filip Brothers, who have spent the past few years turning heads in the Aussie indie scene, who are about to embark on their US debut.

Stevie and Tome Filip, known as the Natural Classics, or simple the Filip Brothers, are making their American debut this weekend for Bar Wrestling, Joey Ryan’s promotion in southern California. The Filips, Australian natives, recently worked with Ryan in June, for World Series Wrestling (WSW), an Australian promotion that routinely brings in high level American and Canadian indie stars. The Natural Classics fell short to Ryan’s team, named the Concrete Dongs (teaming with Concrete Davidson), but it may have opened the door for them to get booked in the United States. So, who are these young Aussies? Let’s take a look at their career so far:

Tome debuted in late 2014, with Stevie following shortly in 2015. While working some other indie promotions in their home state of Victoria, Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW), quickly became their main promotion for their early days. In 2015, 2016, and most of 2017, Tome worked almost exclusively for PCW, and in that time he won the PCW Tag Team Championships teaming with Nash Archer, which they held for ten months from September 2015 to July 2016. Later in that year he went on to win the PCW Halloween Royal Rumble winner, and later became the PCW National Title champion. Stevie Filip took a little longer to achieve that status. He worked exclusively for PCW from his debut in 2015 up until early 2017. In PCW, he traded wins and losses in singles matches, but couldn’t gain much traction. In 2016, Stevie teamed with Tome twice, but lost on both occasions. In late 2016, he earned his first title opportunity against Danny Psycho for the vacant PCW National Title, but fell short. In March 2017, the brothers teamed together to make their debut for Riot City Wrestling in South Australia. Later on that year, however, they feuded with each other in PCW over the National Title, and traded the title a couple times, with Stevie ending the feud on top. Stevie held on to that title from August 2017 until February 2018, which included five successful title defenses. Tome made his debut for International Wrestling Australia (IWA) in 2017, as well as his debut in the USA, in a one-off match for Zelo Pro in Chicago. In November of 2017, they as a team debuted for the aforementioned World Series Wrestling, falling short to the Headbangers (yes, those Headbangers).

In 2018, they have both reached new heights in their careers. Tome started working for Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), Australia’s largest promotion, in January, and won his first eight singles matches there, being paired up with Indi Hartwell. In March, the brothers returned to WSW, this time working two nights of the tour. Tome also had a chance to start working for Battle Championship Wrestling, a newer promotion in Victoria. Stevie continued to work for PCW, but got his opportunity to start for MCW in April, taking part in their annual Ballroom Brawl. In addition to continue in winning ways in MCW, Tome also became a tag team champion in BCW with Gabriel Wolfe. They returned as a team to WSW in June, losing again. While Tome was splitting his time with BCW and MCW, Stevie has been focusing mainly on MCW, but also made his debut for Wrestlerock in early October. The two made their tag team debut for MCW in October, in an impressive won over the Untouchables, one of the best tag teams in the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpaIb1ydc4

Now, they are all set to make their tag team debut in the United States together. In approximately four years, these two have grown exponentially. It’s so important to remember that they are both still very new in their careers, and this is just the beginning for them. No doubt will start seeing them more and more around the world, but first, comes Bar Wrestling.