Independent Wrestling is a world filled with competitive men and women who are not afraid to risk their own health and well being to entertain a crowd of anywhere from less than one hundred to a couple thousand fans in attendance that particular night. Here at Steel Post Media we salute this dedication to the art of professional wrestling. Every week I will highlight an independent wrestler, or an independent wrestling company with Oz's Indie Spotlight. This past year was huge for independent wrestling around the globe, and with a wide array of talent it was hard to choose my first spotlight. One man stuck out to me as a breakout star in 2017 and that man is known "The Kiwi Buzz saw" himself Travis Banks.





For Travis Banks 2017 was the year that he cemented his position in the hierarchy of independent wrestling stardom. Banks a New Zealand born athlete was first seen by myself and many American Indie fans in 2014 ROH. In 2016 Banks started performing in many of the Prominent main land United Kingdom independent promotions such as PROGRESS, Defiant Wrestling(formerly WCPW). He started as a tag team performer with the likes of Martin Kirby, and Pete Dunne in Defiant, and with TK Cooper in Progress.





In 2017 Banks would go on to join Revolution Pro Wrestling to team with Chris Brookes in the popular tag team CCK to capture the Undisputed British Tag Team Championships. This was just the tip of the Iceberg for Banks in 2017 he not only represented New Zealand in WCPW's World Cup 2017 Banks also debuted for PWG in the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles, made his WWE debut during WrestleMania Axxess night 3, and was rated 135 of the top singles wrestlers in the PWI 500. Banks won PROGRESS Wrestling's Super Strong Style 16 tournament and was Granted a Progress World Title shot against Pete Dunne in September 2017, and in a match for the ages Banks captured the title and is the current reining and defending Progress World Champion.





Banks is an amazing competitor in my opinion.What he lacks in size he makes up for with speed, technical skills, and aggressive strong style striking ability. The sky is the limit for Banks at this point, and I would personally love to see him in a more active roll on the United States independent scene with his prior matches with ROH and PWG it could be a strong possibility. Banks is a regular at Revolution Pro Wrestling in the UK, and as most independent wrestling fans know that they have a partnership with NJPW which I could see being the next level of progression for Banks. No matter where Banks goes in 2018 and beyond one thing that is certain that with his dedication to the art of professional wrestling he is sure to leave a lasting impression on fans all over the globe.



