Influx of British Wrestlers

[rge2010]

Since the British Bulldogs, WWE has only really had William Regal and Paul Burchill . Upon until recently though we have seen a mini influx of British wrestlers come into the WWE.

Wade Barret from England, Drew McIntyre from Scotland and ok, not technically British, but from these waters, Sheamus from Ireland. All 3 have the potential to be big name players in the future. Then you have Mason Ryan from Wales who is set to join the roster in the early part of 2011.

Meanwhile, over in TNA you have Desmond Wolfe and Magnus from England, and Doug Williams and Rob Terry from Wales.

Is British & Irish wrestling at its strongest? And why has there being a mini influx in the big two recently? And is there anybody else I have forgotten about who has made an impact?

 

[mrpops]

Dont forget about that irish finlay guy. Now i know your saying only british wrestlers, but wwe has been doing this for years.

Justin Gabriel is from africa or something and has an accent.

Its quite obvious WWE is simply trying to appeal to every single market in the world. They have always done this. They want atleast one of everything. Look at the rosters over the years. You can easily see almost every country is represented. Plus since WWE has been making alot more overseas tours over the years, they want more overseas wrestlers. They get huge pops in there respective countrys.

Despite the hate for wade barret in the states, he is cheered in the UK. And despite the silence for yoshi tatso(spelling?) in the states he still gets....uh....silence in japan. LOL

 

[brighamosity]

I think it just comes down to appeal. These foreign wrestlers are different, and different is interesting. Like it or not, guys like Wade Barrett may not have been as successful if they had been American. I know they were all relatively successful in Europe, but WWE is the biggest stage of all and you have to have the right look and something interesting about you to really be successful. This is nothing new. It's why Andre the Giant was successful.

But as far as why all three of those guys were successful, I'm guessing that talent scouts are just looking at more non-conventional places for talent now, I guess. It does seem like there are more European wrestlers now than there have been in the past.

 

[rge2010]

Good point about WWE Targetting every market. Makes good business sense. You have a couple of Mexicans, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Indian, Samoan, Cuban, French, Parts Unknown...

Yeh, I was thinking of Finlay when I wrote this but forgot to type his name! Skip Sheffield can be added to that list aswell!

 

[flyinbukta]

Firstly, to the guy above me, Skip Sheffield is billed from Texas and from Las Vegas, to my knowledge. Definately not English.

But it's about different styles. The best way to keep different matches interesting is to have a lot of different styles, and different countries teach people different styles, because different countries like different styles. For example in Japan, a lot more guys know the martial arts style as part of their wrestling, because martial arts is huge over there. Most guys from Europe are big guy brawlers, with the exception of only (that I can think off from the top of my head) Doug Williams, who still has a bit of a brawler about him, but has trained in every major wrestling country in the world, and is more worldly than most. Mexico has luchadores, different countries have different styles as their majority, and it just comes from the history and the tradition.

And even after grouping them as that, different countries have different styles, if only slightly. Look, for example at:
Rey Mysterio - Mexican
Kofi Kingston - Ghanan (I know he's billed as Jamaican, but I don't care about what the WWE tells me about stuff like that. Just because the kids relate more to a Jamaican, doesn't mean that I do.)
Yoshi Tatsu - Japanese
AJ Styles - American

Now, at the very basic, bare-bones categorising of all four wrestlers, they're high-flyers, but in the way the moves are performed, sold, and the way a match goes, their country of origin affects everything.

Now, being from Britain myself, I love the influx of British and Irish talent, gives me some home guys to cheer for (and I do love seeing little kids look at me confused when I cheer the British heel ), and especially that most of them are getting decent pushes, but variety is great, and I'm all for it.

 

[goldbergiswrestling]

Dont forget about that irish finlay guy. Now i know your saying only british wrestlers, but wwe has been doing this for years.

Justin Gabriel is from africa or something and has an accent.

Its quite obvious WWE is simply trying to appeal to every single market in the world. They have always done this. They want atleast one of everything. Look at the rosters over the years. You can easily see almost every country is represented. Plus since WWE has been making alot more overseas tours over the years, they want more overseas wrestlers. They get huge pops in there respective countrys.

Despite the hate for wade barret in the states, he is cheered in the UK. And despite the silence for yoshi tatso(spelling?) in the states he still gets....uh....silence in japan. LOL

I agree and this is kind of going back to the last time we had PG-13 WWE in the Golden Era, but during that time we didnt really have many british wrestlers, but you had The Iran Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff. I even remember Hogan saying in an interview that they originally wanted him to dye his hair red and play Irish, which is why they gave him the name Hogan, but he didnt want to do that so they made him all-american.

 

[harrythem]

Doug Williams is from England, not from Wales. And Sheamus is from The Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland, which although part of the same country, doesn't make him a British citizen (and he'd be rather offended to be called one as well).

It seems there are more then there have ever been and, as a proud Englishman, it's great that there are more guys on the card to get behind then ever before. Perhaps WWE and TNA remember the effect having Bulldog doing well helped WWF's business in the early 90s and are hoping that some of that will rub off with the new guys (would love to see another big PPV over here)

Wolfe aside they all need some major work on at least one area of their characters before they're ready to be proper main event guys but, the future is promising!!!

 

[DirtSheet]

Yes this has defo been the best for Ireland anyway with Sheamus being a champ. Long ago that wouldn't have even been thought about so I was very proud of the Celtic Warrior that he won the WWE Championship.

English guys are always big sellers to the English market I believe. William Regal gets a loud, loud pop and although Barrett didn't get the same I'm sure there were a few cheers. I mean if people are flipping through the channels and see a country man of their own, they might to stop to watch it.

And no Ireland is not a part of the UK, I know no-one said so but usually in these threads someone will bring it up

 

[nachoman13]

I love the foreign talent because it gives me people to cheer for and gives me the opportunity to view different wrestling styles. In fact there's pretty much someone from every major country. UK (Doug Williams), Ireland (Hornswoggle), USA (Jeff Hardy), Ghana (Kofi Kingston), Russia (Vlad Kozlov), Japan (Yoshi Tatsu), South Africa (Justin Gabriel), Italy (Santino), Canada (David Hart-Smith), Puerto Rico (Primo), India (The Great Khali), Mexico (Rey Mysterio)and Samoa (Samoa Joe). And that's just off the top of my head.

 

[rge2010]

Doug Williams is from England, not from Wales. And Sheamus is from The Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland, which although part of the same country, doesn't make him a British citizen (and he'd be rather offended to be called one as well).

It seems there are more then there have ever been and, as a proud Englishman, it's great that there are more guys on the card to get behind then ever before. Perhaps WWE and TNA remember the effect having Bulldog doing well helped WWF's business in the early 90s and are hoping that some of that will rub off with the new guys (would love to see another big PPV over here)

Wolfe aside they all need some major work on at least one area of their characters before they're ready to be proper main event guys but, the future is promising!!!

Over here in Britian we differentiate by saying Ireland and Northern Ireland. I stated Sheamus was from Ireland, and I also stated that it wasnt part of Britain, just in our waters.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Yes this has defo been the best for Ireland anyway with Sheamus being a champ. Long ago that wouldn't have even been thought about so I was very proud of the Celtic Warrior that he won the WWE Championship.

English guys are always big sellers to the English market I believe. William Regal gets a loud, loud pop and although Barrett didn't get the same I'm sure there were a few cheers. I mean if people are flipping through the channels and see a country man of their own, they might to stop to watch it.

And no Ireland is not a part of the UK, I know no-one said so but usually in these threads someone will bring it up

Ahem, Northern Ireland is still officially British. Although with dual nationality every resident has the right to be either British or Irish and in fact many residents of Our Wee Country(TM) have both British and Irish Passports. And thanks to everyone for remembering our Dave.

I think each wrestler in the current WWe has been hired for the same but different reasons - that they're distinct. They had William Regal - who has always been portrayed as a blue blood English snob character who could brawl but was more regarded as a technical wrestler and Finlay who came in under his Belfast Brawler gimmick. Poor Paul Burchill suffered from creative... well - uncreativity. Sheamus came in as a mythical Cúchulainn character, with the monster aura authenticated by his size, physique and... well, Irishness (there is also possibly a nod to Brad Pitt's character in Snatch). Drew McIntyre is actually a similar character (William Wallace inspired) - only with a less intimidating physique and Regalesque nature. Drew plays the soccer mob character to perfection - in fact the Nexus angle could easily be called the Green Street Mob!

The TNA squad now - both Doug Williams and Magnus play on the Regal stereotypical characters, Wolfe is again of the soccer hooligan type (strange, given his English rose girlfriend Chelsea) and Rob Terry - well, he doesn't play of his roots; just his size. Winter... I don't know, she seems to be playing an early WWe Mickie James lesbian character (possibly an ode to the new Knockouts' main star).

I think it's great to see these characters - yes, they may be stereotypes but, at the heels of the hunt - stereotypes do exist.

 

[DirtSheet]

Yeah I know but I meant the Republic of Ireland. Believe me I know too much about this I've seen alot of people call Sheamus British and it pisses me off so that's why I put there. Should have said Republic of Ireland instead. Apoligies

 

[Dave]

Since the British Bulldogs, WWE has only really had William Regal and Paul Burchill . Upon until recently though we have seen a mini influx of British wrestlers come into the WWE.

Wade Barret from England, Drew McIntyre from Scotland and ok, not technically British, but from these waters, Sheamus from Ireland. All 3 have the potential to be big name players in the future. Then you have Mason Ryan from Wales who is set to join the roster in the early part of 2011.

Meanwhile, over in TNA you have Desmond Wolfe and Magnus from England, and Doug Williams and Rob Terry from Wales.

Is British & Irish wrestling at its strongest? And why has there being a mini influx in the big two recently? And is there anybody else I have forgotten about who has made an impact?

I wouldn't say that British wrestling as at it's strongest. What I would say and it perhaps hits the nail more firmly on the head, is that British wrestlers seem to be at their strongest at this point in time.

As you have correctly pointed out, a lot of the main event talent that is coming through at this point, is being brought in from outside of the US and that can only be commended on the part of the WWE. Listen, the WWE is a business at the end of the day and international markets are the easiest way to bring in a number of new fans. 1 billion people live in India and another 1 billion people live in China. It just makes great financial sense for the WWE (and TNA for that matter) to start expanding the realms in which they pick talent from. If there is a British Champion, perhaps their may be a sales boost in the UK?

As for the British wrestlers, I would say that most of them have enjoyed good spells with their respective companies because they are exceptional talents. Sheamus and Wade Barrett haven't been far from the main event scene in the WWE for numerous months now and they have shown that they have the talent to be able to perform at that level. I would say that they have the perfect mix of being talented in the ring and having some charisma. Perhaps that is what makes them a cut above anything that William Regal has been able to achieve within the company? Either way, it si a good time to be a supporter of the British talent in the WWE.

 

[Cocky King of The World1]

I believe it is at its strongest. You have a lot of of young stars from Britain and Ireland who can be big stars ,ithink a brawling and techinical wrestling style is what any company needs its real wrestling. Wrestlers who hail from these countries like William Regal and Finlay have been selling this gimmicks as bluebloods and natural tough guys, are ideal for British and Irish wrestlers.

I think this is what WWE and TNA are looking for and I believe Desmond Wolfe, Sheamus, Wade Barett, and Doug Williams are the futures of both these company's

Noone else has made a substantial impact

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It just makes great business sense for WWE to feature wrestlers from all over the world. They run tours to a great number of countries and having a home town hero on the card will always encourage fans to turn out. As they are a truly global company, this can only be expected.

Rey Mysterio, despite not being as good as he once was due to age/injuries etc will continue to remain a high-profile character in WWE due to his popularity in Mexico, which is a huge market for the company. Del Rio too, he will become WWE's main selling point to the Mexican market once Mysterio retires.

Same with the British talent, they are very useful to the WWE on tours to this part of the world, this goes back to the days of the Bulldog.

I do believe that British wrestling is at a strong point right now, there seems to be a lot of good talent on the UK Indie circuit, I think I remember reading that Martin Stone had signed a developmental deal with the WWE, and with guys like Pac around (who deserves a move to the big time) there will only be more stars born.

There is also Winter (Katie Lea Burchill) in TNA who is English, but I wouldnt call her a major success in US wrestling yet, although she is extremely talented, and WWE were going to push Hade Vansen, before releasing him for some reason.