We Brits like to think of ourselves as the WWE’s third most important market after the US and Canada. Of course, the Mexican and Indian fans will have something to say about this, but however you view it, we in Britain love the WWE.
Professional Wrestling, while by no means the biggest sport in the UK, has a long history here, dating back to the legendary days of Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy on a Saturday Night. Recently, however, the vast majority of our wrestling experience has come from the states, and there are a few things we have learnt to live with over the years about the WWE’s relationship with us. Here are ten things in particular that British WWE fans know to be true:
#1 Summerslam 92 was the greatest Summerslam
When WWE fans think about Summerslam, they’ll no doubt think back to the epic 2002 show featuring Shawn Michaels and HHH in an unsanctioned street fight, as well as Brock’s triumph over the Rock in the main event. If you’re a British WWE fan specifically, however, there’s another show that will spring to mind.
Summerslam 1992, live from Wembley Stadium, is still to this day, one of the best PPVs of all time, and a big part of that was the raucous London crowd in attendance. The show can around the main event match-up between The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, and his brother in law Bret Hart, for the Intercontinental Championship. These were the days when the IC belt could legitimately take centre stage, but having it main event as part of a feud between Hart and a hometown hero in Davey Boy was an extra stroke of genius by Vince.
It feels a bit strange to say it, but in many ways, this was a one-match card. The other bouts lower down the bill were entertaining enough, including a WWE Championship match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage, as well as a brilliantly worked opener between Shawn Michaels and Rick Martell. However, the show will always be remembered for that final sunset flip that awarded Davey Boy the IC belt in one of the biggest ‘pops’ ever recorded.
#2 There were TWO British Bulldogs – and they were both superb
Thanks to the revisionist history the WWE likes to adopt, fans will automatically think about Davey Boy Smith when they think of The British Bulldog. And while he did go on to have a lot of success as a singles star, Davey actually started out as part of a tag team called ‘The British Bulldogs’ in the mid to late 80s.
The team was made up of Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid. The two complemented each other brilliantly, Davey being more of a power hitter and Dynamite a high-flyer. They would go on to win the WWF World Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 2 – after accompanying a young Ozzy Osbourne to the ring!. There has been a lot said about Davey Boy over the years, but not nearly enough credit goes to his tag-team partner. Dynamite Kid was years ahead of his time, putting on five-star matches in an era when muscle-bound, cartoon-character wrestling was all the rage. If you haven’t already seen it, do yourselves a favour and check out the match-up between Dynamite and Tiger Mask from 1982 – you’ll be forgiven for thinking you've accidentally tuned into modern NJPW.
Both members of The British Bulldogs shared a troubled personal life outside of the ring. Davey Boy struggled with drug addiction for most of his career, while Dynamite paid the ultimate price for his high-impact wrestling style, becoming wheelchair bound at an early age. It is a tragic shame that neither are currently WWE Hall of Famers. It’s about time the WWE showed their appreciation for the pair and cemented their legacies once and for all.
#3 We aren’t as patriotic as the Americans
If Mick Foley’s ‘’cheap pops’ are anything to go by, American WWE fans love to hear a Superstar utter the name of their hometown. This is also apparent when the cameras cut to scenes from the city that the show or PPV is being hosted from, and the crowd erupts with delight at seeing all the hometown sights before them.
When it comes to the UK, however, crowds tend to prove themselves a little harder to please. It’s not as if we aren’t excited about the WWE being on UK soil or anything; it’s just that we as a culture are not as inherently patriotic as the US. When we see images of Buckingham Palace or Trafalgar Square come up on our screens, we aren’t filled with local passion or a desire to stand up and re-pledge our allegiance to the Queen.
Also, when heels come out and say something negative towards England – again, quite an effective tactic to use in the states – we aren’t really that bothered either. We might boo and jeer in a kind of pantomime way, but if you want to slag off the country in general, I don’t think many people will be trying too hard to stop you. Instead, we will just cheer for you if we like you – simple as that.
#4 The stereotypes do get a bit much
Whenever the WWE come to the UK as part of their European Tour, they sure like to let everyone around the world know about it. It wouldn’t be Raw or Smackdown without the token black taxi and red phone box up on the stage, for example. And while the two are still very much a feature of the UK, visible around the streets of London, mobile phones and Uber are having a bit of an adverse effect on their usefulness.
We've had to endure some pretty awful segments as well, including the time when Michael Cole was knighted by somebody dressed up as the queen and the time when Santino Marella hosted Sheamus for a tea party. It's not that we don't appreciate the effort, but most of us tune in to watch professional wrestling like any other city in the world, not an insight into Vince McMahon's skewed interpretation of British culture.
This week, in particular, was no exception. Having James Ellsworth belittle us for the state of our teeth – an incredibly unfounded myth, we might add – and seeing Fandango dressed up as Sherlock Holmes, were just the latest examples of the cringe we must go through as British wrestling fans. In future, it might be better to just rely on a few cheap shots at our accents and one or two football jokes, before moving swiftly on to the wrestling.
#5 We start the best chants
Interaction from the WWE audience has become part and parcel of the company’s product over the last decade or so. It used to be that people like Stone Cold and The Rock would tell us exactly what to chant after coming up with it themselves, nowadays we use our imaginations, sometimes drastically interfering with the show itself in the process. While the US still very much relies on the ‘WHAT?’ Chant, or Daniel Bryan’s ‘YES’, we in Britain like to think of ourselves as the innovators of the WWE Universe. That’s why a lot of the more popular chants first get going across the pond.
Two recent examples are the ‘John Cena Sucks’ sing-a-long everytime his music plays and the ‘oooh-Enzo Amore’ (to the tune of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army) that fans like to sing whenever Enzo and Cass are in the ring.
We were also the first the put the word ‘Bayley’ into a variety of different pop songs as a way to show our appreciation for the former Raw women’s champion. Whether it’s ‘Heyyy-hey Bayley, ooh-ahh’ or ‘oooooh-we want some Bayley’, both of these can be credited to the good old United Kingdom – and you wonder why Superstars love coming here.
Also read: 10 WWE Gimmicks that should’ve been given more time
#6 The WWE dropped the ball with Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett should be a main event star in 2017. As the winner of the very first season of NXT, and leader of one of the most exciting factions of the PG era in the NEXUS, the guy had everything going for him when he first burst onto the main roster. He is naturally gifted, both as a professional wrestler and as a heel character. He has the traditional WWE look, fights a very WWE style and has the ability to get himself over with less-than-complementary gimmicks.
From a business standpoint, it would have made a lot of sense giving Wade a long run with the WWE Championship. Part of the reason why we’re currently preparing for a WWE Title match involving Jinder Mahal is that the WWE likes to throw a bone to their international markets. The Indian fans have also had The Great Khali as World Heavyweight Champion, while Mexico has been able to cheer on Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio. Seeing as though Britain is arguably the company’s third most important market – behind the US and Canda – there’s no discernable reason why we have not yet seen a British WWE Champion.
One silver lining for Barrett is that we now find ourselves in a time where an impressive run in the independent scene can help you to get back into the WWE’s good books, just ask Matt Hardy and Drew McIntyre. It does feel like the boat has been missed with him, however, but us Brits would love to see him get one more run at the top.
#7 We deserve another big four PPV
Part of the reason why we bark on about the greatness of Summerslam 1992 is to remind the WWE how well a big four PPV can actually work on British soil. Our fans are passionate and loyal and tend to sell out arenas within weeks of hearing about an upcoming WWE live event. Therefore, time difference issues aside, having another big four PPV in the UK should strike the WWE as best for business.
This week, this very topic would take centre stage, with fans demanding HHH give them a UK WrestleMania. The Game’s response wasn’t exactly encouraging, however, despite his wife Stephanie alluding to the fact that she would like to see the WWE come to the British Isles for a PPV soon.
Perhaps WrestleMania is a bit too much of an ask. If there’s one PPV per year that the majority of fans want to see live, WrestleMania is still the one. Therefore the US and Canadian markets probably wouldn’t respond too well to an early morning WrestleMania, but those issues simply aren't as relevant when it comes to shows like Summerslam or Survivor Series. True, it’s still preferable for US audiences to watch it at prime time, but surely the advantages of holding the event in the UK outweigh this.
Another factor is the United Kingdom Championship. It’s all well and good having a UK belt feature on your main roster from time to time, but surely the best place to showcase that title is in the country it represents. Hopefully, the WWE will see sense and give us what we want soon enough.
#8 William Regal is responsible for Daniel Bryan, not HBK
When Daniel Bryan was at his heights back in 2013/14, the WWE used to love telling us that The American Dragon was once a student of Shawn Michaels. While this is technically true, Bryan did spend some time under the tutelage of HBK before breaking out on the indie scene, but it was the UK’s own William Regal, currently general manager of NXT, that had a much bigger impact on Bryan’s career overall.
You can see why the WWE prefer to talk about HBK. Shawn is known for being one of the greatest in-ring performers the company has ever seen, and given Daniel Bryan’s own technical brilliance inside the ropes, many will have drawn the comparisons between the two straight away. Regal is one of those figures that probably deserves more credit than he gets. He has a nice role with NXT at the moment, but one could make the case that he actually deserves the same amount of recognition as Paul Heyman for his contribution towards helping new talent and his mind for business.
There’s a reason why Bryan himself, during his retirement speech in Seattle, credited William Regal with training him and didn’t say one word about Shawn. If you’ve ever enjoyed a Daniel Bryan match or found yourself carried away by the magic of the YES movement, you have the Regal one to thank.
#9 Referencing local sports teams doesn’t work as well here
As well as merely mentioning the name of the town you’re in, another sure fire way to get a positive reaction from the WWE Universe in America is to make reference to the local sports team. Like the point about patriotism mentioned above, fans in the US will typically have strong emotional links to their American Football, Baseball or Basketball teams, almost to the point of religious proportions. In the UK, however, the picture is a little more complicated.
Firstly, while we do love our football, it is never a good idea to just assume the local audience will respond well to you if you mention the name of the team that originates from that area. Most big English cities will have more than one football team to its name, therefore if you’re in Manchester, you could either annoy a lot of Manchester City fans by singing the praises of United, or vice versa. London is even more complicated, as there are numerous top level clubs to choose from. When it comes to talking about football in a British WWE ring, it’s probably best to just avoid the subject altogether.
Another problem is that considering the UK is a relatively small country, travelling from London to Liverpool to watch Monday Night Raw isn’t so much of an ordeal. Therefore, the crowd is likely to be made up of a variety of English cities, all with their own favourite football team. Maybe in future, Superstars should stick to talking about the English national team – although be careful you haven’t wandered over the border into Scotland!
#10 No matter what, we’ll probably stay forever loyal
The WWE is in a tricky situation at the moment. Management clearly wants to position Roman Reigns as the top babyface of the company, and still, prefer the bigger guys to the smaller ones. This usually results in quite a lot of negativity from the fans, most notably after the 2015 Royal Rumble when #cancelWWENetwork started doing the rounds on Twitter.
The relationship between the WWE and the WWE Universe is a lot like a marriage. There will be ups and downs, and now and then one of the members will question its loyalty to the other, but at the end of the day we simply cannot live without each other.
Nowhere is this truer than in the UK. The British fans are amongst the most passionate and loyal followers anywhere in the world. To this day, you can see advertisements for live showings of WrestleMania or Royal Rumble in most nightclubs across the country. For what is still a very ‘American’ product, with its tendency towards the glitz and glamour, there is something about the WWE that has ingrained itself into the consciousness of the UK audience and its difficult to think of anything that would ever change that.
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