RPW to Close Early 2026
Coming fresh off the history making cancer charity event “Bleed For The Cause” on September 20th where father and son competed in a Typhoon of 1,000 light tube deathmatch, Ruthless Pro Wrestling has shocked the scene by announcing that they will permanently close their doors early next year. They also announced that the October 11th event, “Slime Wave”, will be postponed due to a medical issue affecting one of the RPW staff members. As of this writing, RPW’s final event in 2025, “Gator Bait”, is still a go and will take place on November 22nd in Riverview, Florida.
RPW held its first event in the summer of 2020 and five years later have found themselves one of the top deathmatch companies running today. The King of the Kill deathmatch tournament became one of the must see events of the year, right alongside Tournament of Death, King of the Deathmatches, and Tournament of Survival, among a few others. The RPW Rust Belt Championship, as well as the Kamikaze Championship, are two of the most sought after deathmatch titles in the scene today, currently held by Lil Sicko (Rust Belt) and Bobby Beverly (Kamikaze). Ruthless Pro helped several companies boost up rising stars in the scene such as Dr. Redacted, Eric Dillinger, Remington Rhor, Dred, Hoodfoot, Otis Cogar, Tommy Vendetta & many many others. Below is the announcement in full posted to all of RPW’s social media sites:
In the official statement it’s not made entirely clear what the exact reason for closing the company is. Regardless, this will be a major blow to the deathmatch scene as a whole. Its memorable matches and events will live on for years to come in people’s minds.
On a personal note, RPW’s owner Chris Kohlenberg has been very supportive of Jobber Radio and we’ve had a great working relationship in helping each other promote & represent deathmatch wrestling. I want to thank Chris and his team for the five years of fun memories and wish everyone involved the best of luck after the wild ride that has been Ruthless Pro Wrestling.
