WWE IN UK!

[The massive hulk]

Should WWE bring more to the UK fans.

The WWE has arguably the best fans in the UK so I am crating a poll to see what you guys think, it will be interesting to see what you guys in America thin.
The poll options will be Keep it two two tours a year, three tours a year, bring an existing pay per view to England or create a developmental business in the UK. If you have any comments or suggestions just let me know.

 

[Slash-LN]

They should run those UK exclusive pay per views like Insurrextion.
It would end up online on the network anyway so it's not like us in America and other places wouldn't get to see it eventually.

I'm not really sure why they stopped doing them over there but I think it would be nice for people over there to have that.

 

[S'All Goodman]

At the very least, we should get a minor ppv or even a UK exclusive PPV such as Insurrextion. We have proved we are great fans and better than the majority of fans in the smaller American states.
I live in North East, England and the closest venue to me is Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena, and the best thing we get is a B Rated House Show. I don't remember the last time Cena, Bryan or Punk appeared. And the worst thing is, we don't really get to know who will appear because it has changed to WWE Live instead of WWE Raw/Smackdown.
I've only been to one house show event in 2005 and the quality has dropped dramatically since then. There where appearences from HHH, Batista, Flair, HBK, Edge, Jericho, Beniot, Big Show, Shelton Benjamin and that wasn't even half of it.
Back in May, the main event was Kane vs Big Show and Orton & Rybaxel vs The Shield. WWE need to start giving us better house shows, nevermind PPV's. And it's not like Newcastle is a small city, it is one of the bigger and nicer cities with very loud and loyal fans.

Also, A bit off topic, but i would love to see a WWE Raw/PPV taping from Japan.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I think the time we get them over here right now is pretty fair, but maybe have one PPV instead of one of the tours, rather than continuing with both tours AND a PPV. I know the UK is a fairly big market, and our crowds are becoming more and more well known for some excellent chants and atmospheres, but we can't have the mindset that we deserve more shows over other countries that may only get one tour a year, if that.

Kinda off-topic, but I'm attending my first ever live Raw and Smackdown shows in November. You couldn't see a more excitable 26 year-old if you tried.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Stay as it is - with a minor change of having Raw and Smackdown taped in seperate arenas - the UK is smaller than most US states, and Smackdown can often be taped a good 3-4 hour drive from Raw - the same amount of time (roughly) as it takes to get from London to Manchester.

The UK has been investing in better quality arenas in recent years, so a tv show could easily be held at the Glasgow Hydra, Metro FM Arena Bewcastke and especially the brand new First Direct Arena in Leeds. It's better to mix it up than to have two tv shows taped at the O2 Arena in London every April (and I'm a Londoner)

 

[d_henderson1810]

Should WWE bring more to the UK fans.

The WWE has arguably the best fans in the UK so I am crating a poll to see what you guys think, it will be interesting to see what you guys in America thin.
The poll options will be Keep it two two tours a year, three tours a year, bring an existing pay per view to England or create a developmental business in the UK. If you have any comments or suggestions just let me know.

The UK have the best fans? Really? Really? (to quote the Miz).

Sure, last time the crowd was up because BNB, Paige and Adam Rose were on the card.

However, the UK haven't always had good crowds.

I remember seeing on a UK Smackdown one night a rarity- the first time ever two veterans one-on-one in the ring- The Undertaker v Chris Jericho.

Now, this match should have been done on a PPV or a number of PPVs. However, the UK got to see a "never-before-seen" match between two popular Legends, yet the crowd was dead. You could hear a pin drop. Why would there be no cheers for anything that either Undertaker or Jericho did?
After that, the UK should have only got house shows, until they can appreciate what being part of a WWE show means (that is, cheering and buzzing for the superstars in the ring).

No. England shouldn't get "Raws" and "Smackdowns" and yet better crowds in other countries miss out. If the UK can't get into matches then shoot a "Raw" in a country like mine- Australia, where the crowds are hot every year the WWE tour. I know there are timezone problems, but WCW shot an episode of "WCW Nitro" in Australia, so WWE could shoot "Raw" there.

 

[Navi]

Should WWE bring more to the UK fans.

The WWE has arguably the best fans in the UK so I am crating a poll to see what you guys think, it will be interesting to see what you guys in America thin.
The poll options will be Keep it two two tours a year, three tours a year, bring an existing pay per view to England or create a developmental business in the UK. If you have any comments or suggestions just let me know.

I'm sorry but Canadian fans would disagree with you there. Some of the hottest crowds you'll get are at the Air Canada Centre when RAW comes to town.

That being said, the WWE should branch out a little more and take some of their PPV's out of the US. We haven't had a PPV here in Canada for awhile now, and we're still waiting to host another Wrestlemania.

The biggest issue I've heard with having a PPV in Britain the time difference, which quite frankly is bollocks. It would air here in North America in the afternoon, and a lot of people say they wouldn't watch it if it aired mid-day. I say bullshit to that, as Sunday afternoons as filled with sports here on the television. Baseball, hockey, football, basketball and Nascar all have games going and televised in the middle of the day, and they draw a big audience. So would a WWE PPV from the O2 in London.

 

[Soulblazed]

The UK is long overdue for more televised WWE shows along with PPVs..For example, WWE could have Raw in Belfast, Smackdown in Glasgow, a PPV in London, the Raw after the PPV in Manchester, etc..

I'm from San Francisco and I've never been to the UK but every time I've seen a WWE Raw/Smackdown show or the old Rebellion/Insurrextion PPVs, the crowds were damn good and almost always more lively than most US crowds..

If WWE also established a developmental territory in the UK, that'd make things more interesting..

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The UK crowds are, by and large, very good on most occasions, and it is widely acknowledged that the post-Wrestlemania Raw crowd, ie the best of the year, is largely supplemented by UK fans making the trip (I myself have done the last 8 Wrestlemanias and stuck around for Raw on 5 of those trips), but a big part of why they are hot is precisely because they only tour the UK twice a year. Any more could start watering it down.

Now, given WWE is a 52-week per year presentation, I DO agree that more tv tapings should be held in different countries - I think in history they've taped 1 episode of Raw in Italy (when Santino debuted) and 1 in Germany. They could easily do 2 weeks of international Raw and Smackdowns every time they tour Europe (going back to my previous post, you can get a train from London to Paris or Brussels in under 3 hours)

As for the C-level ppvs, no. I enjoyed some (One Night Only was brilliant) and the first WWE card I ever attended live was Insurrexion 2001 at London's Earl's Court Arena, but, other than at One Night Only, nothing major ever happened and they were basically house shows with ppv branding. The current model, with some minor tweaks, is the way forward IMO

 

[Navi]

Oh I agree with you 100 percent and think the WWE should do more PPV's outside the US. I've seen some God awful crowds at some of them inside the US.

The best crowds are in the northeast, Florida, and West Coast. Chicago and Detroit are pretty hot as well but pretty much anywhere in the middle of the US are bad.

They always get a great response here in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, actually anytime they come to Canada they can be guaranteed a good crowd. Same as Britain. And I think it's because the fans in the US are used to having the WWE come to their towns, to us it's maybe 3 times a year and special. You guys in the UK only get them twice a year.

The problem is as I said before the time difference. When RAW and SD are at the O2 they show here in North America on a tape delay. Any PPV done there would have to air live here in order to get the buy rates, and a lot of my friends for some reason or another wouldn't watch it in the afternoon. Shaking my head over that one, cause they watch Formula One, Nascar and other sports on Sundays. I just think they are used to having the PPV's on Sunday nights, and they don't want to change that. Stupid yes, but it is what it is. I would watch regardless of the time.

 

[tomthebodz]

A PPV over here is a must in my opinion. If I wanted to go to a WWE PPV it would cost close to £1000 after flights, hotels, tickets are bought. I think that it would be a successful venture. I don't mean one of those UK only PPVs. A proper one.

In the past I've seen people complain about watching a PPV on either tape delay or in the early afternoon, is that really an issue? For us to watch we either have to stay up until 4am to watch live or avoid spoilers until the next night. I think that's a lot more inconvenient than watching in the afternoon.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I'd like to see the return of the UK-only PPVS like Rebellion and Insurrextion, I always enjoyed them, even though we didn't see many title changes. It would be a nice way to reward the UK fans with something of our own, although I would prefer a big WWE PPV to be broasdcast from these shores. With the massive number of fans in this country, I think it's ridiculous we haven't had another main PPV over here in more than 20 years (SS 1992 I believe was the last one), which was a big success- so why haven't we had more.

I don't think there needs to be any more "tours" over here, they come over a couple of times a year anyway, and with the WWE cutting costs right now, I don't think they'll be increasing that in the near future.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I like the current system of touring house shows and and episode of Raw & Smackdown. The UK PPVs in the past have shown WWE's reluctance to blow off big angles and do massive title changes off-shore. I just finished watching OSW Review of Capital Carnage '98 and they talked about this quite a lot - there's an attitude of "thanks for being loyal fans, make sure to tune in to the REAL PPVS!"

If we're getting a show have it be an above-average normal episode than a sub-par special. Unless it's like Summerslam '92 levels, leave PPVs in North America.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I'm sorry but Canadian fans would disagree with you there. Some of the hottest crowds you'll get are at the Air Canada Centre when RAW comes to town.

That being said, the WWE should branch out a little more and take some of their PPV's out of the US. We haven't had a PPV here in Canada for awhile now, and we're still waiting to host another Wrestlemania.

The biggest issue I've heard with having a PPV in Britain the time difference, which quite frankly is bollocks. It would air here in North America in the afternoon, and a lot of people say they wouldn't watch it if it aired mid-day. I say bullshit to that, as Sunday afternoons as filled with sports here on the television. Baseball, hockey, football, basketball and Nascar all have games going and televised in the middle of the day, and they draw a big audience. So would a WWE PPV from the O2 in London.

Canada?

Canadians fans might buzz a lot, but they are "heel" crowds who boo everything. Anyone American gets booed. Any face (unless they are Canadian) gets booed.

They had to have a match where heel Hart Foundation were turned face and SCSA and his team (a face team) went heel at a PPV, for one night, totally confusing everyone, because the stupid Canucks can't go with the program.

This is how dumb Canadian crowds are. They boo faces, and boo people from the U.S.A., yet they cheer Hulk Hogan, who is both a face, and a "Real American", who carries an American flag, yet he gets cheered for some reason.

 

[MCMG]

Giving us the damn network would be a start....

A PPV in the UK would be nice. There are 13 a year at least one could be over here. It doesn't have to be a big one but Payback or Battleground could be held in the UK. It obviously effects the fans in the US but I'm sure the blow is less significant given the network.

 

[jakerudge]

If the WWE network can really pick up and hit that magic million subscribers and become the success that I hope it will then a proper ppv like a payback or battleground can work in the U.K. If I was in the U.S and preferred to watch in the evening I would happily avoid wrestling sites or twitter for a few hours then just watch it "as live" on the network whilst skipping a match I dont have a interest for like a divas match. I actually have the network here in the u.k so I watch the ppv the next day as staying up till 4am sucks. I do like the current system we have of two tours a year with a raw and smackdown taped as well. I don't think adding a development system over here is needed I think maybe they could further increase their scouting across the globe as William Regal seems to have been doing over the last few years. Or perhaps just have a bit better contact with local promoters. I always thought it would be cool if WWE actually sponsored a indie promotion similar to say wwe is sponsored by skittles on one episode or raw. PCW sponsored by WWE.

 

[Navi]

Canada?

Canadians fans might buzz a lot, but they are "heel" crowds who boo everything. Anyone American gets booed. Any face (unless they are Canadian) gets booed.

They had to have a match where heel Hart Foundation were turned face and SCSA and his team (a face team) went heel at a PPV, for one night, totally confusing everyone, because the stupid Canucks can't go with the program.

This is how dumb Canadian crowds are. They boo faces, and boo people from the U.S.A., yet they cheer Hulk Hogan, who is both a face, and a "Real American", who carries an American flag, yet he gets cheered for some reason.

Really, seriously, and you have attended how many shows here in Canada? I've been to a lot and the crowd is always wild. Yes we boo Americans, most countries boo them as well. As for our Canadian wrestlers we love them, and will blow the roof off the building for them. When 3MB went to the UK, they became the Union Jacks a face team, so please it's not just Canada where they pull out something a little different.

At least we don't sit there like a bunch of bumps on a a log, and you can hear a friggin pin drop, or chant CM Punk all night long. And when it comes to Hulk Hogan, no matter what anyone thinks of him or where he's from, the man is a legend in this wrestling business, and do we cheer him, yes we do. We cheer anyone who has had the longevity that he has. Canada loves the WWE and by all accounts they love to come here. Just wish it was more often.