By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
After 18 months of deliberation WWE finally confirmed a UK brand, titled ‘NXTUK’ the announcement was made during the first night of the second United Kingdom Championship Tournament. This immediately captured the hearts and minds of wrestling fans worldwide, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a dedicated, episodic WWE TV show was finally coming to the UK. There is much to celebrate with the news, finally the top stars of the UK independent scene will be broadcast worldwide, finally the men and women who have worked in church halls, leisure centres and warehouses had made it to the big time. The opportunities are vast, never before has talent like Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Zack Gibson and Flash Morgan Webster been given this type of chance. Ten years ago, when the independent scene in the United Kingdom was on its knees, the talent mentioned above wouldn’t even be considered, now the smaller, more agile and technical wrestlers are the men needed to keep the business going. Full details of contracts, appearances and the availability of wrestlers is not yet known, therefore speculation is rife, will the news be a positive or a negative to the Indy scene as whole?
There is an argument to be made that the idea for the inaugural United Kingdom Tournament was established after World of Sport made its return to British TV screens in December 2016. Be it out of spite or fear, WWE hastily announced and organised the tournament to crown the first ever WWE UK Champion, as Triple H stood centre stage some of the best independent talent flanked him. This was truly an historic moment for WWE and the wrestlers that were chosen to participate, as mentioned above these were men that a decade ago would have been considered too small to work for WWE. By raising the profile of wrestlers such as Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Joseph Connors and Wolfgang, WWE had changed the landscape of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom, they were no longer independent wrestlers, they were WWE superstars. For the remainder of 2017 WWE did little with the handful of UK talent they had signed, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne engaged in the Match of the Year at NXT Chicago, but still that didn’t prompt Stamford to make any plans where the UK was concerned. NXT would feature more matches with Dunne, Bate, Seven and Wolfgang, but as time moved on it seemed WWE only signed these guys to trump WOS.
The wrestlers featured on WWE TV returned to independent promotions bigger stars, the demand for the talent to appear at Progress, RevPro, ICW, Attack Pro and others was huge. The UK scene was now the centre of excellence for Indy wrestling, there was more interest than ever and the audiences for live shows grew. Two promotions in particular seemed to expand after the interest from WWE in the UK scene, Progress Wrestling and ICW (Insane Championship Wrestling) seemed to flourish. As popular as Progress shows were, the amount of talent per show was overwhelming, top independent talent from all over the world was showing up, Matt Riddle, WALTER, Keith Lee, Zack Sabre Jr and others all graced the Electric Ballroom. In the last year, WWE have loaned Finn Balor & Chris Hero to Progress, a financial relationship of some sort is obviously in place, and the pick of Progress & ICW talent is there for WWE to choose from. It would make sense for WWE to make reach out and make relationships, however does the fact that independent promotions align themselves with WWE makes their existence hypocritical? I mean if it wasn’t for the fact that WWE became a wrestling conglomerate, would these companies even exist?
For me personally it was great to see talent like Eddie Dennis and Wild Boar get their opportunity with WWE, I have seen these men wrestle every month for the last 3 years. To see them reach the ultimate goal of WWE is an amazing achievement, and I wish them the very best of luck as they take on new challenges. The cynical critic inside of me does have my doubts about this whole expansion, you have to argue that it isn’t too different to WWE’s expansion of the 1980’s, which saw Vince McMahon sign the best and leave the rest, slowly the American independent system died. I also agree that this opens up more opportunities for younger talent trying to break through, if top UK talent are pulled from independent events due to commitments then wrestlers like Danny Jones and Chris Ridgeway have the chance to take the throne once held by Dunne, Bate and Banks, the landscape has most definitely changed. As mentioned above little to no details have been announced, only the location of tapings etc, we don’t yet know if NXTUK will work the same as in the United States, will UK guys be promoted to the main roster yearly? If WWE were to work it that way then it’s that what worries me, unless Triple H is to gain control of WWE I see no bright future for NXT or UK talent.
NXT under the leadership of Paul Levesque is a better promotion/brand than RAW & SDLive, there is no argument. The wrestlers, commentators, GM and interviews are done with old school precision, nothing feels scripted and everyone works their own unique style. On NXT Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reily, Aleister Black, Ciampa and Gargano look like true wrestling superstars, yet a promotion to the main roster of WWE worries me, for they are not the ‘type’ of superstar Vince looks for. Even in 2018, where the smaller, more technical wrestler is king, Roman Reigns, Jinder Mahal, Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar are the faces of the main roster, they are the guys that WWE want front and centre, not Pete Dunne and not Adam Cole. Many will argue that the US Indy scene is thriving, and to an extent is it, but how long after WWE signed all ROH’s talent did it take for them to replenish the ranks. Within a five-year period, WWE took Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, three men who played a huge part in the building and maintaining of Ring of Honor. At NXTTakeOver Chicago, WWE revealed Keith Lee as their newest signee, another man who was making waves on the independent scene. With the recent news of the WWE/FOX deal, the company finds themselves in a very comfortable position, the cheque book is blank and the ink is wet, they can sign anyone.
Well there is a few exceptions, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, who under their own volition have built a career away from the biggest wrestling company in the world, and in doing so have become the biggest wrestlers in the world. Kenny and the Bucks know their worth, they also knew a long time ago their prospects in the WWE, in NJPW they are free of scripted promos and a WWE ring style. They look across and see how Nakamura, Bryan, Seth, KO, Sami, Gallows/Anderson and other have been treated over the last decade, they decided a long time ago they wanted no part in Vince McMahons version of WWE. As happy as I am for the British & Irish talent that have signed and will sign, I am still in two minds over WWE’s UK expansion. I for one still see this as a business plan to vanquish competition and keep their grip firmly on the throat of a possible usurper to the throne.
