What’s the story?
This weekend WWE is set to present the United Kingdom Championship Tournament, with 16 of the best professional wrestlers the United Kingdom has to offer all battling to be the first champion.
Now the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the there are long term plans to hold similar tournaments to crown both an Asian Champion and a Latin American Champion.
In case you didn’t know...
The United Kingdom Championship was announced during December, with the two-night tournament set to take place at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom on the weekend of January 14/15.
16 men will fight for the recently revealed UK Championship belt, with the potential for a WWE Network show coming off the back of the tournament, similar to 205 Live which followed the Cruiserweight Classic tournament held during 2016.
The heart of the matter
WWE is holding the UK Championship Tournament due to the fact that the UK has become one of the hottest wrestling scenes in the entire world. Some of the best talent in the world comes from the United Kingdom and WWE has decided to capitalise on that momentum and give the talent a platform on the WWE Network.
The fact that WWE is now looking at similar events in both the Asian and Latin American markets is an indication that the promotion wants to make the WWE brand even bigger on a global scale.
When you look at the increased coverage that New Japan Pro Wrestling is gaining in the western world, it’s not hard to see why WWE wants to have a regular Asian branded event, as well as tapping into the massive Latin American market.
What’s next?
Something on the scale of the UK Championship Tournament has been in the works for a long time. Organising everything involved with such an event will not be easy and will take a considerable amount of planning. The same could be said for either an Asian or Latin American event on a similar scale.
With that being said, if these events are set to happen it’s certain that WWE already has them scheduled on its calendar and they already have the men or women who will participate in the event, on their radar.
Some talented professional wrestlers could be included in either tournament, with both Japan and Mexico being vital cogs in the history of professional wrestling.
Sportskeeda’s take
Having seen the popularity of men like current NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and the former WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero, it’s not hard to see why WWE would want a stronger foothold in both of these areas of the world.
We are currently in one of the hottest periods for independent wrestling across the globe, and WWE obviously wants a piece of the action in markets that they don’t currently hold regular events in.
If the UK Championship Tournament is a massive success, you can probably expect to see both the Asian and Latin American versions rolled out by the end of 2017.
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