Exclusive interview with Gerrit Meier, President

The President of WWE International, Gerrit Meier

This past Wednesday, the WWE announced its plan of tapping the potential of the Indian market and broke out the news that WWE will put on two live events in India, in January next year.

The former WWE World Heavyweight champion, and one of the most popular and beloved superstars in recent memory, Daniel Bryan was also present for the announcement – who expressed his gratitude to the fans for giving him a hero’s welcome.

We also had the opportunity to ask Bryan about his return to in – ring competition and Bryan revealed that he will be meeting the WWE medical team in a couple of weeks, after which his fate will be decided by the medical team. You can read our exclusive interview with Bryan here.

During the event, we also had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Gerrit Meier, President - WWE International, and he gave us some insights about WWE’s plans for India, and if they look at India as a major player among the other markets.

With WWE’s longstanding interest in India, do you think the market has grown enough for the WWE to come here with a live event?

Oh, absolutely. I actually believe that we’re long overdue. I think the popularity of WWE in India has already grown over the last few years through our television partnership with Ten Sports, as well as the social media.

I think it’s long overdue; I think the fans are very much excited with the fact that we’re coming back on January 15th and 16th next year.

What specifically drove WWE’s interest for a live event next year?

I think the interest was always there. I think it was all about making it happen through the partnerships here, as well as finding the right venues and setting up to go the distance.

So, it’s a large scale event; when we come, there are a lot of talented superstars and divas to actually pull it off and gives the fans the kind of show that they expect – which requires a lot of planning. So we’re excited that this is happening.

Any reason for zeroing down on Delhi, and not any other city?

Delhi is a great city; India has a lot of other great cities as well, and we have to start somewhere. There’s a great indoor stadium here, with the Indira Gandhi indoor stadium, and with that venue, I think it’s a great starting point to kind of come back to India.

Do you see this market growing, similar to what United Kingdom is to WWE today?

Absolutely. We’re seeing the popularity grow, on television and across all the other media as well. So, there’s no reason why India will not continue to grow for us.

Are there any plans to do a taped show in India and not just a live event?

Well, we’re doing the RAW Sunday Dhamaal, which is a localized version of RAW, and we’re very excited that we have local hosts here. We’re doing it in the local language, Hindi. So I think we’ve already started the process of localizing, but in the end, the fans would like to see the storylines that they get to see on television.

Any message for the WWE fans in India?

We can only say how appreciative we are of their patience, and of us not being back for all these years. We’re very excited, and we’re here to share our excitement. We want to thank them for their loyalty, and they won’t be disappointed at the end of the day.

You can purchase the tickets on in.bookmyshow.com.