Canadian indie wrestler Brent Banks is set to make his Defiant Wrestling debut in the UK next week in Newcastle, England at the Refuse to Lose ’18 PPV on November 7, 2018 (although he appeared once previously with the company when they were WCPW). He’ll be facing another Canadian indie star, El Phantasmo, who has been tearing up the UK indie scene the past year, winning RevPro‘s British J Cup amongst other accolades. To many outside the Canadian indie scene in Ontario, the name Brent Banks probably isn’t one that is firing your synapses. But for those who have watched him grow in the Ontario, Quebec and US Midwest indies, it’s an opportunity long overdue.
El Phantasmo will now take on Brent Banks next week in Newcastle! Tickets just £15 via https://t.co/MRU9FHnHTY
Check out Brent’s epic match from the Canadian Qualifier of the Pro Wrestling World Cup With @SpeedballBailey for free at https://t.co/xDoPLIs1r7 pic.twitter.com/IkvUi4HI3D
— DEFIANT Wrestling (@DEFIANTwres) October 29, 2018
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Brent Banks is a product of the Squared Circle School and trainer Rob Fuego (aka indie wrestler El Fuego). Banks started out in 2006 and in 2007 made his debut with Toronto indie Blood, Sweat & Ears (BSE). As Banks career progressed, he moved on to other Ontario indies, like Ottawa’s Capital City Championship Combat (C4), Ethan Page‘s Alpha-1 in Hamilton and Windsor’s Border City Wrestling (BCW), while also jumping on regional cards by CHIKARA and hitting some US indies like Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and All-American Wrestling (AAW) for one-offs.
It was in 2012, that he joined with fledgling Toronto promotion Smash Wrestling, where he became one of the company’s core stars, alongside the likes of Tyson Dux, Tarik and others. He also continued to work alongside Scott D’Amore with BCW, which has lead to appearances with IMPACT Wrestling in the past year, working Xplosion against Eli Drake, and having tag matches on One Night Stands. As Smash Wrestling grew over the past few years as one of Canada’s premier indie promotions, Banks has become a bigger presence. When Smash co-hosted WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW, now Defiant Wrestling)’s Canadian Qualifiers for the Pro Wrestling World Cup, Brent Banks faced Canadian indie superstar Mike “Speedball” Bailey in what was easily the night’s best match.
Banks continues to work with Smash, now part of a faction called The Pillars with Smash originals Dux, Tarik and Sebastian Suave, and continues to be an electric presence on the Southwestern Ontario indies. He recently filmed a match against IMPACT Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz), alongside fellow Pillar member and Smash Champion Tarik, and wears tag team gold in Smash (with Dux) and BCW (with another emerging Ontario indie star, Aiden Prince), but now he’s heading to the UK to show the UK what he’s been showing Canadian fans for years now. And he’s got some supporters in the international community as well, as UK superstar and US indie vet David Starr through in his backing.
People in 🇬🇧@_banks is in the UK until the 12th. I highly recommend giving him the opportunity to do wrestles on your show. Good dude. Good talent.
— Charles Max Barsky (@TheProductDS) November 3, 2018
Banks made his UK debut earlier this week – he worked with WrestleForce in Witham on October 28 against Rocky Mac.
Our main event tomorrow in Witham!
Brent Banks takes on Rocky Mac in this huge international contest!|
https://t.co/9Mnb5ftA15
#brentbanks #rockymac #wrestling pic.twitter.com/4FXUz6tgWF— WrestleForce (@WrestleForceUK) October 27, 2018
Working with the Ontario promotions that the major international indie stars hit on their travels – Smash, BCW, Alpha-1, Superkick’D and C4 – Banks has been picked to fight some of the best over the past few years: Zack Sabre Jr., Matt Riddle, Eddie Edwards, David Starr, Joey Janela, LAX, Chris Dickinson, Petey Williams, Eli Drake, Speedball…the list goes on. And now Brent Banks is taking his show on the road and following in the footsteps of Canadian indie star El Phantasmo – a 13-year veteran of Canada’s West Coast with Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) – who took a chance on the UK scene. Last year, Phantasma headed to the UK to work a RevPro Live at the Cockpit show in June – a loss to David Starr – but ended up doing the circuit, with more RevPro dates, plus Fight Club: PRO, Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), Riptide Wrestling, ATTACK! in Wales, and others. While in the UK, he also made his CHIKARA debut over King of Trios weekend in the Rey de Voladores tournament. Since then, El Phantasmo has exploded as one of the new faces to rise up in the ranks as more of the top stars work more exclusively with the WWE or NJPW. Not only did he win the RevPro British J Cup in a field that included Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, KUSHIDA, Rich Swann, Rocky Romero, Bandido and Tiger Mask, but he recently defeated Will Ospreay in Defiant Wrestling for the #1 Contendership for the Defiant Internet Championship.
It’s quite fitting that Brent Banks’ return to the former WCPW – and first since rebranding as Defiant Wrestling – is against a fellow Canadian who has broken in the UK indie scene. His first Defiant/WCPW appearance was against Mike Bailey, and now he’s facing El Phantasmo. Here’s hoping that other UK promotions see upon watching Brent Banks wrestle up close and on pay perview what the Ontario indie fans have known for years. Banks is money.
