Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers. Some are indie prospects hitting their peaks. Others are names to be on the watch for! This edition looks at one of, if not the biggest, rising stars in British professional wrestling today, “The Killer” Ricky Knight Jr.
Ricky Knight Jr has long been one of the brightest young stars in British wrestling, but his profile looks set to grow beyond the UK after a headline-making start to Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory tournament.
Knight wasn’t a name many expected to see in this year’s field. NOAH’s flagship tournament is usually built around their domestic roster and established international names, so his inclusion was already something of a gamble. But any doubts were quieted on opening night, when RKJ scored a huge upset win over Kenoh, a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion and one of NOAH’s top stars, booking Knight to score such a scalp right away signals that NOAH might see more in him than just as a foreign guest.
One victory doesn’t make a tournament, but the booking immediately raised Knight’s stock and has fans worldwide asking the question: Who is Ricky Knight Jr?
Who is Ricky Knight Jr.?
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way – the top of the Wikipedia page description… The 25-year-old is part of the famous Knight family, the long-running wrestling dynasty based in Norwich, England. He’s the nephew of Saraya, a former AEW Women’s World Champion, also known to WWE fans as Paige, and grew up surrounded by wrestling through his family’s promotion, the World Association of Wrestling (WAW).
The Knights have been a cornerstone of the British scene through three generations now, and Ricky Knight Jr has continued that, steadily building his own reputation as one of the country’s top homegrown stars.
But even that might be an undersell for his impact in BritWres; the best way to describe his perception on the scene is that he’s often loved, sometimes hated, but never, never ignored.
He has had a bizarrely long career for just 25 years old, with Cagematch listing his debut match occurring in 2009 (in which he would’ve been, checks notes, NINE YEARS OLD) in WAW Academy. They really had this child working like he was a middle school Japanese girl picked off the playgrounds of Tokyo in the 70s to train at AJW. Throwing forearms before learning how to write does seem to be a bit of a Knight family staple.
BritWres Boom Period, A New Star Arrives
That said, by the time he was getting bookings elsewhere, it was 2016, and BritWres was unknowingly about to step into its most significant boom period in decades. A perfect time for young talent to get their reps in while facing some of the best on the planet, and to be fair, still at just 17 years old, Ricky was doing just that, even if it was only at his parents’ company.
He had become a top guy at WAW, reigning as a Tag Champion with his brother Zak Knight before an acclaimed Television Title run, all whilst facing some of the most promising rising talent alongside him.
That 2016 through 2017 list included names such as Kip Sabian, Chris Ridgeway, Kyle Fletcher, Chris Brookes, and many more. 2018 continued much in the same way, still perceived as a rising starlet at the time but not yet a top-level contender outside WAW, with the highlight from the year, a marquee NWA World Heavyweight Title match across the ring from the seasoned TV veteran Nick Aldis.
Of course, Ricky would lose that match, but it was a tight contest, two veterans pushing each other to the limit – we must remember there is only a 5-year gap between their debuts!
Breaking Out in RevPro
2019 was significant as it marked his debut in Revolution Pro Wrestling, a promotion that was on the rise and by this point very much on the way to overtaking PROGRESS as the top indie in the country again. This was also notably the year he was starting to gain the trust to be a top singles guy with some big-name singles matches coming his way, beginning with a win over NJPW regular El Phantasmo and then indie darling Speedball Mike Bailey.
He didn’t actually make the notable RevPro debut until November. Still, he was pushed hastily with a York Hall debut by mid-December and a first major singles win over the established Mark Haskins before the year was out.
Of course, we all know what unfortunately played out over the following two years or so, but COVID (and Speaking Out) only held off RevPro programming for a mere few months before a new kind of event was put on. The break seemed to be just what RKJ needed as he came back looking better than he ever had. RevPro’s behind-closed-doors ‘Epic Encounters’ run at the end of 2020 saw Ricky finally in the mix with the top stars on the card – here we have probably the first ones I recommend going back and watching.
He teamed with Kyle Fletcher to take on Will Ospreay and Michael Oku in a killer all-star tag match. He then had singles matches with each of them, picking up some major wins on the way, and more importantly, now being talked about in the same vein as the other top guys.
2021 was another stunted year, but it was here that he would pick up his first major accolade in RevPro. He had been pushed all the way through some of the biggest prospects. He reached the front of the line in the early-year Southside Heavyweight Title tournament, eventually beating Dan Moloney in the finals and capturing the title.
The belt was retired two weeks later, but it showed a clear sign of direction for him. Another recommended watch if you want to see some more developing RKJ.
By the end of the year, he would be given the ‘top guy’ role at many indie companies in the UK, a pretty sure-fire sign he was now what the kids might call a ‘draw’. In the UK at least.
Post-Pandemic Growth and a First Major Title Win
By early-2023, he would win the top belt in UK promotions CXW, BWR, and WAW, and back in RevPro, the seeds were starting to be planted for Ricky to go after the Undisputed British Heavyweight belt, held at this point by the ace of the company and the man just a mere few months from hitting 1000 days with the title – Will Ospreay.
It seemed a rogue idea that Ricky would win it when the challenge was set up, but it was the main event of a long-anticipated 10th Anniversary show. RevPro owner and booker Andy Quildan had made it clear he wanted to make a post-COVID splash. And a splash it was…
In a 30+ minute epic, more than that, a war, a (Meltzer-approved) 5-star classic – a rampaging babyface Ricky Knight Jr did the impossible and dethroned an Assassin atop the throne, ending a historic reign and throwing down a massive gauntlet on a just 22-year-old RKJ to lead the company into the future. Seriously, go watch this match. If I start writing about it, I might not stop, so go enjoy!
Becoming a Real Top Guy
Notably, this was also the time PROGRESS Wrestling would first pick up on the talents of Knight and start booking him regularly. He would be pushed almost immediately with his first big matches coming in the Natural Progression Series. He would win all three rounds, defeating Tate Mayfairs in the final. By February of the following year, he had big wins over some long-term favorites in the company.
He was being set up as a main antagonist on the roster, beating the likes of Axel Tischer and Big Damo, the latter being the one he would eventually beat to pick up the Atlas Title, his first title win in PROGRESS.
Unfortunately, back in 2022, RevPro, things weren’t running so smoothly, and after just one defense, he was forced to relinquish his newly won Undisputed British Heavyweight championship essentially. With a match scheduled for Uprising 2022 against Great-O-Khan, RevPro decided his injury was too significant and put a replacement in, another from the family tree, Zak Knight. Zak lost that match, and the reign was over after just a few months.
Setbacks and the Rebuild
A letdown in what was supposed to be a real litmus test for Ricky as a top-of-the-card guy, but it was valuable experience nonetheless. Stepping into 2023, it was noticeably a slower year for him in RevPro. A rematch for the title came in March, but he lost decisively before another loss in the Revolution Rumble. Later in the year, he went on a run in the Great British Tag League, reaching the finals with Anthony Ogogo.
Still, it was Greedy Souls who were called upon to take that win, capping a relatively inconsequential year in the company after back-to-back years of progression before.
2024 saw him nailed in as a top heel with a much more considered and cut-down schedule to focus on PROGRESS and RevPro almost solely. He had some major defences of the Atlas Title, including Alex Hammerstone, before dropping to YOICHI (or better known now as NXT/NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura) in April. This would prepare him for a push up the card where he would make the final of Super Strong Style 16, losing narrowly to Luke Jacobs with wins over Mike Santana and Man Like Dereiss in the build-up.
Relevant to his current NOAH excursion, actually, later in the year, he challenged for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, put in top position across from Kaito Kiyomiya during their UK tour. He would close out that year with his first chance in a match for the PROGRESS Men’s World Title, losing in a four-way contest.
Opportunities were proving more challenging to come around in RevPro. Still, he had some pretty fun matches across the year – definitely recommend the 6-man tag at Fantasticamania: Gabe Kidd, Magnus & Templario vs Ricky Knight Jr, Mistico & JJ Gale, RKJ vs Michael Oku at Global Wars UK 2024, and a great match with Leon Cage at Live In Southampton 34.
2025: The Year of RKJ
2025 is where we have truly seen the monumental payoff for his previous years of work in RevPro, with just two singles matches lost all year. He started with wins over Donovan Dijak and JJ Gale before storming the Undisputed British Heavyweight Title #1 contenders tournament, picking up big wins over Zozaya and David Francisco.
He would eventually challenge for the title in July at Summer Sizzler, just weeks out from a landmark 13th Anniversary show, beating Michael Oku in just over 26 minutes. A crowning moment for a very different Ricky Knight Jr from the one who held that title last. Another MOTY contender for me, and a must-watch.
He still had his fair share of doubters coming out of it. To be fair, Oku seemed the most reliable choice for a huge anniversary show that needed ticket sales, but the gamble was a respectable one. Ricky had been preparing for this moment for years. He would face Sha Samuels, winner of the 2025 Revolution Rumble and a veteran mainstay in British Wrestling.
The stipulation would be Title vs Career, the biggest match of each of their careers to this point. An opportunity for Ricky to really make something of this title run, even if it ended here at just under a month, it would have been far more memorable than the last run, and memorable it was. Sha would go on to win the belt in a pretty good match that had them battling all over the arena to main event the Anniversary weekend. Definitely worth watching to see some of his best heel work; it elevated Sha perfectly.
Looking Ahead…
Okay, we’ve made it up to the current day! Whether you’re a BritWres fan and know Ricky Knight Jr all too well, a NOAH enthusiast looking at you’re next new prospect, or here for general interest, I hope you learnt something new or have a match rec you’re excited to go now and watch. He’s by no means a perfect wrestler, but when he’s good, he’s really damn good.
He is, of course, still currently in Japan, and I will be watching his N-1 tournament very closely. He could be an outsider pick to go all the way to the play-off stages at least, keep close watch!
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – X (@RKJ450) – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world.
