This weekend saw a revolution in British wrestling as it was brought to the big stage by the WWE over a two-day special on the WWE Network. The United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a fine place for the cream of English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish talent, to show off their skills and make a name for themselves.
Held in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, (an arena with an amazing atmosphere for wrestling shows, I can attest to that), the tournament had people on social media buzzing as it was announced that a new Champion would be crowned.
However, when the line-ups were announced, unless you follow British wrestling, especially the promotion Progress wrestling, you’d struggle to recognise anyone in there. I am aware that the amount of talent in the WWE that could enter this tournament is slim, but it still would have been good to get some recognisable names in there, if only to generate the interest needed to generate the viewership.
A new concept alone, especially in the wrestling industry, is not always enough to motivate fans to watch the show. Big names are needed to make people watch things. As I’ve said, if you don’t follow independent wrestling, the people in the tournament could have just been people off the street, having been asked if they want to wrestle for the night.
It gave the WWE more work to do, as they had to help build characters and personas in four hours of wrestling.
The power of a big name is not to be underestimated. They draw tickets and they make sure people watch the show. They can also help make stars while they’re there. There are many independent stars you will have heard of because they’ve generated enough interest to come into general wrestling chatter.
I have come up with five wrestlers that would have made the WWE UK Championship a must-see event for fans.
#5 Neville
People did not know that Neville was going to be wrestling at the event. Even if there were rumours beforehand, there is never anything guaranteed in the WWE. The self-proclaimed ‘King of the Cruiserweights’ arrived at the event, cut a promo on how it was an outrage that he was not in the tournament and then proceeded to have a filler match with Tommy End.
Well, you know what Neville? I completely agree with you.
All the way from Newcastle England, Neville is an absolutely phenomenal talent and despite not doing much on the WWE main shows, he has always been a fan favourite and this is what made him a household name. The fact that he recently turned heel makes me even more bemused as to why WWE did not include him in the prestigious tournament.
Neville could have blown up a babyface’s popularity because he is a veteran; he’s already made it to WWE and he knows what he’s doing.
You might make the argument that because Neville is a home-grown boy, that he wouldn’t have got booed, but if you’re thinking this, then you may be forgetting the fact that they’re all home-grown, so in this case, heels can stay heels and not become the anti-hero for the night.
Having the former NXT Champion involved in proceedings would have been a great move but unfortunately, it was not to be. At least we got to see him wrestle Tommy End and the fans were treated to the Red Arrow in action.
#4 Jack Gallagher
The gentlemanly gentleman, Jack Gallagher would have been an absolutely perfect fit for this tournament and again, he’s already signed with WWE so it would have been easy enough to shove him into the bracket somewhere.
The reason he might not have been part of the tournament though is that Trent Seven and the eventual inaugural champion Tyler Bate, have gimmicks that are similar to his. You can liken Tyler to Gallagher more than you can with Seven but the similarities are still there nonetheless.
However, I do not believe that this should have put the WWE off this idea in any way shape or form. Jack is a fantastic talent with an enormous wrestling repertoire that would have fit perfectly for the small, indy-esque tournament we witnessed. He is not really involved in a full-fledged storyline on 205 Live so it would still have made sense to enter him here.
Gallagher was extremely impressive when he wrestled in the Cruiserweight Classic and his unorthodox style and gimmick sold the crowd on him almost instantly. It made him more of a household name and after a couple of appearances on Raw, people around the world, even casual fans, would recognise the Mancunian.
This would have drawn fans to the tournament, although it could be argued that Gallagher would have to have been given some time to cut a promo, which could have taken a spot from a man like Wolfgang, who showed his natural ability to reel off an interview after his first round match.
I would have liked to see Jack Gallagher deal with the dirty, rotten scoundrel that is Pete Dunne though!
#3 El Ligero
Here is where things get a little more difficult. Wrestlers that are not currently signed to the WWE. The first one that comes to mind is El Ligero, a masked Luchador from Leeds. He’s a 16-year veteran in astonishing shape for a 32-year-old.
There are many British talents that went through my mind before landing on El Ligero but the reason I went for him is his in-ring style, and his flirtation with being a household name is what would have brought people to the WWE Network.
With him being a Luchador wrestler, he would have contributed to the tournament in ways that the other wrestlers who were competing simply could not. It would have been interesting to see the slight Mexican influence, even if it was only for the first round.
The UK competitors did their fair share of flying but to see Ligero nip through the air would have been special. I would say he’s not a full Luchador and his style does fit more into the UK style of wrestling, so it wouldn’t have been too far removed from what WWE was looking for.
If you follow Cody Rhodes since his departure from the WWE, you may well have already seen him wrestle the Englishman turned Mexican sensation in WCPW. And El Ligero has wrestled some extremely high profile talent including the likes of Último Dragón, Jay Lethal and El Generico, who you might have heard of as Sami Zayn!
The only problem I can see is the fact that El Ligero is billed as being from Mexico…
#2 Zack Sabre Jr.
Another man we saw in the Cruiserweight Classic was one of the most well-known British wrestlers there is, Zack Sabre Jr. His knowledge of the human anatomy is unparalleled and he can bend joints and muscles you didn’t even know you had, just to make you squirm.
He was one of the best talents at the CWC and I was severely gutted when he lost and didn’t sign for the WWE.
Apparently, he has not signed with the WWE because he has goals outside of the promotion that he wants to complete, before committing himself to the land of sports entertainment. Now I completely get that, but come on Zack, you had a good chance of winning this! Make it a one-off appearance again!
He was the first name that went through my head when I heard the tournament announced.
I did also hear on the grapevine that the contracts for the show were quite low and with a man of Zack’s calibre and star power, it was probably very easy to say no if he was approached to work the weekend. It is well known that you can make a lot of money on the independent scene if you’re well-known enough and Zack certainly is.
However, I only have one thing to say to this and that is, OFFER MORE MONEY WWE!!!
How the WWE passed up on the opportunity to sign this talent after seeing what he could do is beyond me, but then, I don’t work the budget for these little tournaments. They can’t be cheap to stage. I can only hope the Zack Sabre Jr. makes his long-awaited appearance in 2017 as I’d love to watch him on a weekly basis in the WWE.
#1 Will Ospreay
If you’re slightly more than a casual wrestling fan and you haven’t heard of this man, then you must have been living under a rock for the past year. He has been making headlines across the world and he could have made more if WWE had of approached him to enter the United Kingdom Championship tournament this weekend.
Trouble being, this guy is so popular, I have no doubt he would have won it, so I guess Tyler Bate can thank his lucky stars that the man is still on the independent circuit.
The 23-year-old from London, England, has been making waves on the wrestling scene and is currently signed to Ring Of Honor. Now you might think that would be enough to put anyone off from trying to sign him, but WWE is run by a billionaire, if Will wanted to go and got the right price, I’m sure the promotion would be fairly compensated for their loss.
Will Ospreay came to everyone’s attention when he had a match with Ricochet in New Japan Pro Wrestling that pushed the boundaries of what a wrestling match should be. It was revered as much as it was criticised, though, and no one can deny that it put the two competitors on everyone’s radar.
Ever since this, people have been pushing for the WWE to sign them both and I think introducing Will Ospreay as a competitor in the WWE United Kingdom Championship would have made the tournament huge.
However, just like Zack Sabre Jr. in the slide before, Will will be making a lot of money in the independent scene and probably has more goals he wishes to compete before taking the chance of becoming a star in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
Blessing in disguise?
Though the first night of action was a little disappointing compared to expectations, the second night where we crowned a new Champion, was a lot better, a lot more exciting and had many mark out moments in it.
I take nothing away from the competitors involved, most if not all, really stepped up to the plate and helped put the UK on the map for wrestling around the world.
The talents mentioned in this slideshow would have just helped the general interest rise. WWE ran a poll after the first night asking what people’s favourite match was. 200 votes here, 200 votes there and almost 20,000 for ‘Did not watch’.
Now I don’t know about you, but that’s just heart-breaking. To see that must have been extremely disappointing for the WWE officials. Many have blamed a lack of star power for this result. I suppose you could argue that the talent mentioned here would have been taking away spots from people like Sam Gradwell, or the rough T-Bone Tyson.
However, they did not make that much of an impact in the tournament and again, I take nothing away from their talent or their craft, but get a big name in there to lose in the same spots they did and you’ve not lost anything, but you’ve gained more of an audience.
The top talent certainly would not have had to win to validate themselves, and it could have helped smaller talents get over and make a name for themselves.
That being said, I thought the 16 competitors we had, were brilliant, it’s just a shame more people didn’t tune in to watch it. The lesser known talents got the chance to shine and gain some experience, whereas established Champions like Pete Dunne, really made an impact and showed the world that they would be here to stay.
Should the WWE run more competitions like this and gain more Champions, which I can only assume is the plan, they can learn from their mistakes and make sure that the next tournament gets a bit more buzz from the lineup than this one did.
Did you watch the WWE United Kingdom Championship? Let us know what you thought in the comments.
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