We really need an update on the board to embed tweets...

 

Anyway, WWE announced today they are doing a UK Tournament for the Network starting in January, with the winner getting this belt

 

 

Nigel McGuinness will be a co-host and was today in the announcement.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/809358953708744704

 

It's gonna be a 16 man tourney.

 

 

LONDON — At a historic press conference at the O2 Arena in London, Triple H revealed that WWE’s first-ever United Kingdom Champion will be crowned this January.

The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament is a 16-competitor, two-day throwdown at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom, airing live and exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network, featuring some of the best talent the U.K. has to offer. The last man standing at the end of the tournament will be crowned champion and awarded a title, which was also revealed at the conference

Its really amazing just how much wrestling is so easily accessible nowadays. I'm not familiar with some of the names here and have only seen a few of those I do recognize, but being able to watch this on the big screen as part of my Network subscription is pretty cool.

 

There will undoubtedly be arguments or points about how this may negatively impact the British scene, and there may be merit to much of that. But as a fan sitting at home in the States this seems like a great use of the service. Plus it'll hopefully open some doors and opportunities for the best of the bunch in this field to improve their prospects. Those who stand out should see more from this than a random match on the Network and never be heard from again.

Excited for this .Exited for the dudes I know , excited to learn more about the dudes I don't know a lot about

 

The crazy year called 2016 strikes again

That's easily the best looking title WWE has had in many, many years.

The good news for those British talents is that after the tournament, according to William Regal (as told to WCPW), WWE will put no restrictions whatsoever for those talents and they'll still be able to work any British promotions, in addition to an eventual weekly UK-based WWE Network show. Looks like Triple H wants to help RevPro, ICW & PROGRESS develop, which is very good news to you, British fans.

What an incredible wrestling world we live in right now. It is absolutely bonkers. I have my trepidations about the WWE expanding its reach and influence, but it provides really wonderful opportunities for so many wrestlers (including Nigel, who so very much deserves a big stage and hopefully steady work with the E in the future) and a ton of easily accessible wrestling for us. I am pretty pumped about this.

 

Side note, I have arbitrarily picked Trent Seven as my tourny favorite. I have not seen a single Trent Seven match (its on the docket for today), but i have a good buddy from Wolverhampton, and that is were Seven is from so that is good enough for me right now. You heard it here first, Trent Seven is the guy to watch.

According to the Twitter machine, the tournament shows sold out in less than twenty-four hours. So that's pretty cool.

That's easily the best looking title WWE has had in many, many years.

Amen, brutha!

So how long before WWE launches/buys a Japanese promotion?

 

The All Japan tape library from the 70s-Mid to late 80s would be a great get for them.

Some interesting names in the tournament, some guys who aren't even big names on the UK scene, so this can only help their bookings. Guys like Chris Tyler and HC Dyer I'm familiar with because they mainly work East Midlands indies, but others will be as unaware of them as I am some of the Irish lads who've been announced, and I think that exposure can only help the UK scene.

 

On a personal level, having first seen Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne working in the upstairs room of a Coventry WMC, either of them would be my sentimental pick to win. I think Jack Starz could be the sleeper star of the tournament. He's a Brookside trainee, so he had the connections, and he's just a really solid wrestler, good on the mat and a good storyteller. Hope he gets past the first round.

Noticed Adam Pacitti from What Culture in the crowd. Too bad Parv wasn't there as well representing PTBN.

Noticed Adam Pacitti from What Culture in the crowd. Too bad Parv wasn't there as well representing PTBN.

 

Parv's not on the inside though like Adam.

So how long before WWE launches/buys a Japanese promotion?

 

The All Japan tape library from the 70s-Mid to late 80s would be a great get for them.

 

That would be awesome, but doesn't the Japanese TV network that aired All Japan (NTV?) own the rights to most/all of the library?

Wouldn't China make more sense anyway?

We're going to see a Japan show and a Lucha show within the next couple years if this does well. They wanted something similar to this ten years ago but they didn't have the logistics to make it work. What a strange wrestling world we live in.

 

Noticed Adam Pacitti from What Culture in the crowd. Too bad Parv wasn't there as well representing PTBN.

 

Parv's not on the inside though like Adam.

 

 

I know that, but if he was, then that takes PTBN to a whole new level, and would give What Culture a run for their money.

In a move that surprises no one, the Observer is reporting that WWE has prohibited the wrestlers it is keeping on retainer from working WCPW at all.

 

So how long before WWE launches/buys a Japanese promotion?

 

The All Japan tape library from the 70s-Mid to late 80s would be a great get for them.

 

That would be awesome, but doesn't the Japanese TV network that aired All Japan (NTV?) own the rights to most/all of the library?

 

 

 

Yes, I think that's why some cross promotional matches are missing from NJPW World too.

I'm watching the WOS revival pilot and it's hilarious that THIS is what had WWE so shook. It looks and sounds just like a TNA show (is it the same production team they use in the UK, maybe?), the wrestling is poor, the first show has a ladder match and battle royale (sticking to those WOS roots), and JR sounds more excited than he does for NJ on AXS, but all of his references are to US wrestling and he was obsessed with finding ways to call Viper fat for her entire match.

 

They keep showing clips of actual WOS throughout the show, and it looks so much better. This is just a generically poor American weekly TV show but with UK talent. And WWE freaked the fuck out over it? Lol.

They keep showing clips of actual WOS throughout the show, and it looks so much better. This is just a generically poor American weekly TV show but with UK talent. And WWE freaked the fuck out over it? Lol.

Well, at least we get the UK Championship tournament out of it. I wonder how long that belt will last.

Probably about as long as WOS lasts, which, if the quality is as a good as the pilot, about 3 months.

WoS is on a major TV station with far greater availability than anything WWE is on. That is why they were maybe concerned, not because they feared being outclassed production wise

So Mark Andrews has been signed for the tournament. While it will be interesting to see how his style will work with the others, it is good that he is gone from TNA and that fucking skateboard.

So Mark Andrews has been signed for the tournament. While it will be interesting to see how his style will work with the others, it is good that he is gone from TNA and that fucking skateboard.

 

Amen, and also gone - hopefully - from the stupid name 'Mandrews' - why not just use his name? An excellent addition to the tournament though, and a guy who was basically wasted in TNA, barely appearing on TV for most of the time they had him under contract.

I'm watching the WOS revival pilot and it's hilarious that THIS is what had WWE so shook. It looks and sounds just like a TNA show (is it the same production team they use in the UK, maybe?), the wrestling is poor, the first show has a ladder match and battle royale (sticking to those WOS roots)

 

I mean...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceBmJ25YQ_k

 

and...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCa6PC5bAUQ