Wrestlemania... outside of North America

[DEGENERATE KID]

I was just wondering, seeing that the WWE has the word WORLD in it, why dont they have PPV's in other countries?
I mean we are the WWE UNIVERSE so why is Wrestlemania only held in USA and CANADA?
I'm from South Africa, and here we have a minimum of 2hrs of WWE programming everyday - 7days a week. Here are die hard WWE fans and a Wrestlemania would be AWESOME. We recently hosted the Fifa world cup successfully so i dont see why we cant have a PPV here. I'm sure there are many posters on these forums that dont reside in North America and feel the same way as i do. So my questions are: would you like to see a Wrestlemania or any WWE PPV outside North America? Would it work? And why the WWE dont have international PPVs?

 

[mrbrownstone]

I'm from Australia and I would love to see it happen one day but I doubt it will, especially with their showcase event. If it were to happen it would be with a Fatal Four Way type show, if it bombs no one cares as it isnt that important. I can't speak for every country but if a PPV were to be held in Australia I am not sure wether or not it would work but I dont think it would, from what I can gather the WWE isn't extremly popular here as is in other places and the WWE wouldnt risk the PPV only half selling out B-Show or not.

 

[Dashadow]

Before a PPV could be done in a foreign country, first a televised RAW or Smackdown would need to be hosted, at the moment countries such as Australia (Where I am from) and South Africa host house shows but no more than that. Of the house shows I've been to, the place has always been sold out and the fans have been extremly into it, whether this is just because Aussies are die hard supporters or because we only get to see two live shows per year (one from each brand) is another question for another day.

Do I think a Wrestlemania would do well outside of North America? Short answer, Yes.

We already have televised shows from England so the obvious next step for Wrestlemania outside of North America would be in London, however even this I doubt to see prior to Wrestlemania 31. Correct me if I'm wrong but A foreign country has yet to host one of WWE's big 4 PPV's, ie Sumerslam, Surviver Series, Royale Rumble and of course Wrestlemania.

A reason that Wrestlemania will not be held outside of North America in the near future is also due to travel issues. At the moment, it is fairly easy for people in America to travel to somewhere else in America for Wrestlemania and therefore a number of people do. If say the PPV was held in South Africa or Australia, while yes there would be great intrest from the people of those countries, very few people would be willing to travel from America which could be deemed as a potential loss of profits due to a lack of selling out the show. Personally I think the show would still sell out (I know I for one would be willing to travel to South Africa for a Wrestlemania, just to remind you, I am from Australia) however my single opinion is not going to be enough to convince Vince.

Would it work? In theory, probably not. In practice, it probably would.

Would I like to see a Wrestlemania outside of North America, yes I would, especially if it was more towards my neck of the woods so I could attend.

Will it be shown outside of North America within the next 10 years? Possibly, I would be guessing London would be the place if anywhere.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

I think the big problem is time difference. It would have to come on late in the US or stat at a crazy time there. I don't know what they did for the world cup. Also I know they at one time had UK PPVs. But I can't recall if they were built up like normal PPVs or just like the tours they do now. But One Night Only was a pretty big deal IIRC.

So I would guess they would have run the risk of having the show late over seas so it aors on time in the US. But you have to worry about people wanting to stay up late. What if it doesn't sell well and people have to work the next day. What if it does sell well and the crowd comes off bad because they are tired? Just seems like it isn't worth the risk when they can put on the supershows like they are doing now in Asia and still sell buldings out.

To add, don't the Raws that air from England or when they did one in Japan air on a r hour delay. For time reasons. If they did that for a PPV it would be on the internet before it even came on in the US.

 

[Gman35]

It would be good, but the only problem for them to do this, would be the time difference. The show would most likely be done on a Monday, and they will always have Raw live after a ppv. If they were to tape Raw a week earlier, everything would be given up the week before and that wouldn't be good either.

 

[showstoppaa]

I'm from England and yes, I would love to see it happen as well. I think there is a chance that they could host one of the smaller PPV's in another country, But certainly not Wrestlemania.

I can see that WWE is obviously a bigger draw in America, (Over here TNA gets higher ratings!), So maybe it's from a money perspective that they won't do it, Although when I have been to live events it has been sold out, so I think they would do more than fine with a PPV.

One other reason could be because of the superstars competing. Could you imagine this years Summerslam in england, With the crowdbeing fully behind Wade Barret for the nexus, Or like you said in South Africa, Having them cheering Justin Gabriel. I don't see anything wrong with this myself, But the WWE wants everyone to cheer John Cena, And that wouldn't happen if he was facing a hometown superstar.

 

[ToWhomItConcerns.]

idk if WM will ever be held outside of North America but i'd love to see it happen (and yes i live in America)

i think IF it goes more global first it needs to happen in Mexico. with all their large soccer/futbul wtfever they call it WM could easily get more ppl in a stadium there than in America and Canada.

WITH THAT SAID...the biggest problem would be time differences. i live in Pennsylvania its about 9:15 AM here...in Johannesburg (i probably spelled that wrong if so sorry) its about 3:15 PM so if they hold a WM it would have to be earlier in the day maybe starting around 2 PM here and 8 PM there

theres NO WAY IN HELL WM could or would be taped the spoilers would be out the minute they happened and thus nobody here would order it.

idk...like i said i'd love to see it in a huge stadium outside of North America (or at least outside of US and Canada) but if/when it'll happen? idk. maybe never.

 

[CrazyBeastKing]

You ask why WWE does not hold Wrestlemania outside of North America. There are two simple answers to that:

The timeslots would screw up.
Those that live in other countries such as England, Australia and South Africa are many hours ahead of countries such as the U.S and Canada. Let's take South Africa for example. South Africa is about 10 hours ahead of eastern North America. So, if Wrestlemania were to start at the regular time it does on the east coast, which is 8pm, then that would mean that those on the east coast would have to catch it at 10 in the morning and those on the west coast would have to get up at 7 in the morning just to watch Wrestlemania. That would definitely not go well in terms of viewers.

Popularity of WWE
You say that there are many WWE fans out in South America, but are there enough to have a Wrestlemania-like audience? That answer would be no. You see Vinny Mac cares a lot about profits (hence the reason why Cena is still face). Selling 70,000+ tickets at $100 a piece compared to 10-12,000 is a big gain in Vinny Mac's eyes. The place that WWE is most popular is right here in North America, so if a Wrestlemania were to take place in North America, a lot of people would come to the event, fill Vinny Mac's pockets and he'll be happy. True there may be quite a bit of fans out there, but only enough to house a usual Raw or Smackdown.

So that would be a good idea, but in terms of timeslots and popularity, it wouldnt work out.

 

[oogieboogie]

Correct me if I'm wrong but A foreign country has yet to host one of WWE's big 4 PPV's, ie Sumerslam, Surviver Series, Royale Rumble and of course Wrestlemania.

Actually SummerSlam 1992 was held at Wembley Stadium in London, UK.
It was a complete sell out with around 80,000 people.

I believe the buy rates for that were quite low in the US. I don't think it was shown live, though i could be wrong. I guess that is why they haven't done PPV's outside the US since.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Yeh, SummerSlam was the last big ppv to be out in a foreign country, the buy rate was low but it was a sell out crowd because Davey Boy Smith main evented it..I'm from England and I would love for a ppv to come over here, but the thing is yes, the buy rates were kinda low compared to 1991 because it wasn't shown live in the US, it aired 2 days later and maybe there wasn't a lot of internet spoilers back then, but can you imagine it now? With all these websites it would get ruined and heck people from the US might just be able to download it before it airs..

If it was to air live in the US, like someone above stated, the timeslots could be messed up big time..If they show it live here in the UK at 7pm, what time would that be in the US? around 1pm? and it's your never really in the mood to be watching 3 hour live ppv at THAT time are ya? There is an idea of having it aird exclusive in the US say later that night, maybe it could work?
Because the big 4 ppv's are too precious, I don't see why WWE shouldn't try this with any other ppv.With a good card, a good headliner it could sell out say Arsenal's Emirates stadium..or maybe just a 40,000 seater!
--------------------------------
Also next year would be a great time for WWE to come to the UK, they have a lot of UK wrestlers e.g. Drew McIntrye, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Mason Ryna from FCW, DH Smith (son of Davey Boy) etc..there are lots...

Sheamus isn't from the UK.

You know what I mean!


As for WrestleMania in a foreign country? No, they would lose out!

 

[Vip3r L3g3nd Kill3r]

Actually SummerSlam 1992 was held at Wembley Stadium in London, UK.
It was a complete sell out with around 80,000 people.

Yep, the main event was Bret Hart Vs The British Bulldog.

And coming from England, I would love to see Wrestlemania hosted in London, and (naturally) Wembely Staduim. But I've seen the thread being discussed before. The time differences would be an issue. We are 5 hours (and more, I think) ahead of the USA, so if the show started at like 7pm, it would start at 2pm in the USA.

 

[GothicMatt]

WWE has actually held a few ppv's over here in the uk Summerslam 1992 was one i think no mercy was another

 

[VLR]

Yeh, SummerSlam was the last big ppv to be out in a foreign country, the buy rate was low but it was a sell out crowd because Davey Boy Smith main evented it..I'm from England and I would love for a ppv to come over here, but the thing is yes, the buy rates were kinda low compared to 1991 because it wasn't shown live in the US, it aired 2 days later and maybe there wasn't a lot of internet spoilers back then, but can you imagine it now? With all these websites it would get ruined and heck people from the US might just be able to download it before it airs..

If it was to air live in the US, like someone above stated, the timeslots could be messed up big time..If they show it live here in the UK at 7pm, what time would that be in the US? around 1pm? and it's your never really in the mood to be watching 3 hour live ppv at THAT time are ya? There is an idea of having it aird exclusive in the US say later that night, maybe it could work?
Because the big 4 ppv's are too precious, I don't see why WWE shouldn't try this with any other ppv.With a good card, a good headliner it could sell out say Arsenal's Emirates stadium..or maybe just a 40,000 seater!
--------------------------------
Also next year would be a great time for WWE to come to the UK, they have a lot of UK wrestlers e.g. Drew McIntrye, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Mason Ryna from FCW, DH Smith (son of Davey Boy) etc..there are lots...

As for WrestleMania in a foreign country? No, they would lose out!

Sheamus isn't from the UK.

I think WWE should host a PPV at Wembley Arena, it has a roof so rain isn't a problem.

I really wouldn't be irked at a 1am start, if that was a hurdle to overcome.

 

[vampirek]

WWE has actually held a few ppv's over here in the uk Summerslam 1992 was one i think no mercy was another

WWE use to have its own UK PPV, Rebellion and Insurrextion. These were dropped in favour of doing proper Raw/Smackdown's.

Everyone who keeps mentioning the UK, mentions London as a venue. You fail to see there is a huge problem with hosting it at Wembley. Wembley has a time curvew meaning it can't be open after 11.30 pm 6 days a week and 11pm on a Sunday. If Wrestlemania is four hours long it would mean airing Wrestlemania at mid day on the East Coast. Otherwise a) they'll pull a WCW or b) it would be time delayed and really thats just stupid to day in this day and age.

The next option would be the 02 or the MEN, however never one of them is capable of the capacity a Wrestlemania event can bring. The likes of Old Trafford are bound to be used during that week, so can't be used either.

 

[PompeyDJ]

"Correct me if I'm wrong but A foreign country has yet to host one of WWE's big 4 PPV's, ie Sumerslam, Surviver Series, Royale Rumble and of course Wrestlemania"

i believe summerslam was held in wembley, london at some point in the 90s

 

[ToWhomItConcerns.]

Popularity of WWE
You say that there are many WWE fans out in South America, but are there enough to have a Wrestlemania-like audience? That answer would be no. You see Vinny Mac cares a lot about profits (hence the reason why Cena is still face). Selling 70,000+ tickets at $100 a piece compared to 10-12,000 is a big gain in Vinny Mac's eyes. The place that WWE is most popular is right here in North America, so if a Wrestlemania were to take place in North America, a lot of people would come to the event, fill Vinny Mac's pockets and he'll be happy. True there may be quite a bit of fans out there, but only enough to house a usual Raw or Smackdown.

So that would be a good idea, but in terms of timeslots and popularity, it wouldnt work out.

idk if i agree with that. WM is WM no matter where it is. i think if its held in a big city outside of North America (lets just say London) it could still have an audience of 70,000+. every year they go over for the UK tour and every year they have tons of people. in 2007 they had 146,000 in April 2008 they had 170,000+...i can't find the numbers for the tours in 2009. anyways i know thats over the course of multiple shows but the point is they can draw for just "regular" shows (aka the boring ones) i'm sure they'd do fine with WM

also a few years ago they went to Australia (which city, idk Melbourne more than likely) and they had 56,000+ ppl at 1 show.

attendence isn't a problem the only valid argument against WM overseas is the time difference. London is in the same time zone as Johannesburg (which i mentioned earlier)...if they started the show over there at 7 PM it would be about 1 on the east coast of America. that would probably be a problem b/c of the folks on the west coast so maybe if the show was from 9PM-12/1 AM that would help the situation out a bit....like i said before idk its pretty tricky cause some ppl are just gonna complain about how early it is.

but hey WM is always in March/April and theres just about nothing to do early Sundays at that time.

 

[CJ The Pirate]

I think it's a bit of an awful arguement to say that the time differences would be a problem. I regularly have to stay up until 1 or 2am to watch Raw and PPV's and I've done it for years. I've never had an issue recording an event and now, with Digital Recorders in almost every home, it's even easier to do that.

Wrestling is something you all claim to love but some of you are really saying you'd discourage an international PPV just because it inconveniences you once in an entire year. How is watching Wrestlemania any different to watching the Superbowl. That takes place in the afternoon, no big deal.

I don't expect England or any other foreign country to get Wrestlemania. It's like our FA Cup Final in Soccer. I wouldn't want that played anywhere other than England. In fact it was played in Wales for a few years due to the new Wembley Stadium being built and there was uproar about that and they're apparently united with us. But any other events would be more than welcome.

One small thing I've noticed which could cause problems with PPV's abroad is that there is very rarely any kind of gimmick match like Ladder Matches, Hell In A Cell, Elimination chamber. I think I remember there was a cage match at Insurrexion one year, but it was a very small cage and, lets face it, cage matches aren't as hardcore as they used to be.

A big event generally has these matches and whilst I'm all for a simple PPV event featuring one on ones and tags and maybe a few triple threats or battle royales, other fans love all the big, hardcore stuff. I think getting it over here is an issue for them.

That all said, I do expect a PPV to be held in a foreign country, most likely England or Mexico before Wrestlemania 30

 

[JGlass]

You mentioned the World Cup, but there's a big difference between The FIFA World Cup and Wrestlemania; soccer/football is the most popular sport in the world, with hundreds of professional leagues around the world. Professional wrestling is not the money titan that soccer is, or even half as popular. Also, let's not forget that the World Cup takes place every four years, causing people to travel thousands of miles from all over the world to see it, since they possibly won't have the same opportunity four years later. Wrestlemania happens every Spring, so people won't feel the need to go from the US to South Africa just to see the show.

As an early poster mentioned, the suggested country would have to host a WWE show first, like RAW or Smackdown, so they can gauge the interest of the country. This is not something that could be done in one tour, and would probably take at least 10. They aren't going to send their talent to South Africa (or any country that far away for that matter) more than once a year, so you're talking ten years from now already.

Secondly, they have to think logistics. The WWE needs to ship all their best people to Wrestlemania, and I'm not just talking about the wrestlers (though just sending them is probably ridiculously expensive). They need to send the creative team, the camera guys, the lighting team, the production team, the set up crew... all of the people who work behind the scenes to bring us WWE programming, not to mention all the equipment. I'm no shipping expert, but shipping the ring, the titantron, the entrance ramp, the announce table, the props, etc... we're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses for the WWE. When they host it in North America, they can just ship it via truck, a much cheaper option.

Finally, the WWE needs to think about it's fans. This is entirely speculation, but I believe that they feel that North American fans deserve Wrestlemania as they make up the majority of their viewership. They won't have to worry about not selling out the event, they are all but guaranteed some famous people will be in attendance that they can show on camera, and they are all but guaranteed that city that is hosting them will welcome them with open arms. None of these things are guaranteed if they decide to test overseas markets for their most important PPV of the year.

Sadly, I don't think a nation overseas, especially one that hasn't been tested yet, will ever host a Wrestlemania. Theoretically, though, if the WWE ever did decide to host a Wrestlemania in a non-North American country, I think it would be in either the UK (where the WWE visits regularly and draws pretty well at) or China (where they have the option of performing in Olympic arenas and selling merchandise to tens of millions of people). Maybe one day you will get a PPV, maybe even one of the major ones like Survivor Series, but not for a long time, and not Wrestlemania.

 

[Sharpshooter51]

How about, instead of going to Europe for a PPV, why not Brazil or Mexico City? Brazil is only 1 hour ahead of the east coast of the USA, so a PPV starting at 8pm in Brazil would be 7pm east coast USA.

Mexico City, I think is the same time zone as Texas, which means that the PPV time would work out like any PPV in Houston/Dallas.


I am fairly certain that there are soccer stadiums in both places that hold 40,000 or so that would make the event possible.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

They could always start the PPV at a different time over seas to make it air normal time here in the US. 8PM EST I think is 1AM in London. Would people in the UK want to spend 3 hours out and about on a Monday morning? I can't see them trying to put on a PPV on a Sunday afternoon in the US. Sure regular season football comes on 1pm EST time but that is way bigger then wrestling. Even the Super Bowl comes on later in the day. Super Bowl 44 kick off time was around 6:30pm EST.

WWE learned their lesson with Taboo Tuesday. PPVs outside of the Sunday 8PM EST don't do that well.

 

[ScouseSlammer2010]

Wrestlemania Should Come To Wemberley .
What A Event And Loads Of Us English Would Pay To Go And See It .
I Mean .. I Get Sick Because I Havent Got The Money To Travel To America Even Though I Go There Yearly To Florida Or New York But There Never On In The Places I Go .

 

[CrossRhodes]

I am from Australia and for years I have only dreamed of having a Live RAW Here. I have been to house shows before but they arent the same as live events.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The Millenium Stadium could easily host the event as it is in Cardiff City Centre, Wales however transport links are not as good... It would also hold 60,000+ for wrestling and has a roof...

The issue isn't should the WWE do this, it is when... As their expansion grows into the UK it is a logical step... If a Live RAW airs on tape delay, what is the major problem of a 2pm wrestlemania? If the show is strong enough it would sell... Do RAW in London the following night or even the same night to keep the crowd in and leakage to a minimum...

It's doable, but it has to be worth it to WWE... when some of the Brit talent does get over big, which one of them will... It will be worth doing...

 

[Tanned Sheamus 2.0]

Correct me if I'm wrong but A foreign country has yet to host one of WWE's big 4 PPV's, ie Sumerslam, Surviver Series, Royale Rumble and of course Wrestlemania.
.

Sorry, Iwill have to correct you
Summerslam '92 was held in Wembley Stadium,London.

Anyway, i live in England and i don't see it happening anytime soon, for a couple of reasons:

1. Time difference. when its midnight in England GMT, it's 3-4PM in america, (US/Pacific time) so it would be really weird for Americans(Easily the biggest market Country-wise) having to watch WM at about midday or something stupid like that.

2. UK Crowds. I have been to UK tour live events and TV tapings, and the crowd don't bring signs, and are much, much quieter than US fans, so the atmosphere would be dead.

So no, in my opinion we won't see another "foreign" PPV any time soon

 

[Richard]

I'm from Australia and there's only one real place I could imagine WrestleMania being held here, Sydney. We have Sydney Olympic park which has football stadiums that can hold 100,000 people easy for a football game and even in Sydney, every single WWE show sells out, guaranteed.

I think Sydney in Australia would be the only place WrestleMania would work here and I think it should happen. It could be a great theme for WrestleMania, WWE going 'down under'. Sydney is such a popular tourist destination aswell and I would think that it would be great since it makes financial sense for Americans to come to Australia where they get more for their dollar aswell.