Eclipse 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 CREDIT: NoDQ.com According to wrestling writer Vikran Sanger of the Sun newspaper, WWE's public relations company said WWE will return to the United Kingdom in April to film RAW and SmackDown! again and will continue the trend every six months. Sanger wrote the WWE apparently feels the domestic market in the United States is getting stale, causing a possible increase in the number of shows in the UK after April's tour. Holding a PPV -- like SummerSlam 1992 -- may also be on the horizon depending on the WWE's success in the UK the next year. The two nights in Manchester for Raw and SmackDown! were sold out with attendances of 20,000 per show. As a comparison, the No Mercy PPV was held in a similar sized venue in New Jersey, but only 9,500 people paid attend, according to Sanger. WWE estimates 140,000 fans saw shows on its UK tour, which included non-televised shows in London, Nottingham and Belfast. With premium priced merchandise -- from Eugene T-shirts to RVD foam hands -- on display everywhere, it was a very profitable week. The writer of this paper makes it seem that there is no real concrete reason that business has gotten stale in the U.S. Who's to blame? The WWE themselves dug themselves in that hole. Hell, at least the ppl that didn't go to No Mercy in New Jersey knew the waste of money that PPV was gonna be. At this point, the UK will eat anything up that the WWE puts up....unfortunately... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Decemberists 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 At this point, the UK will eat anything up that the WWE puts up....unfortunately... In defense of my UK brothers, the reason that we "eat anything up" from them is that when you only get 5 house shows a year and no TV tapings (bar last week obviously) then you get what you can. When there's a decent demand for a product and very little supply it's no surprise they can sell 20,000 tickets for shows when they do come over, no matter how bad they are at the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 They did this 1997 as well by doing more shows in Canada. The thing that is overlooked is that the less the wwe does shows in a region the more enthusiastic fans may be for the cards. With everything else they go overboard with overexposing things. In a couple of years UK may follow in dwindling audiences. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest whitemilesdavis Report post Posted October 18, 2004 It's a good idea. Those hot crowds even made Heat and Velocity watchable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted October 18, 2004 In defense of my UK brothers, the reason that we "eat anything up" from them is that when you only get 5 house shows a year and no TV tapings (bar last week obviously) then you get what you can. When there's a decent demand for a product and very little supply it's no surprise they can sell 20,000 tickets for shows when they do come over, no matter how bad they are at the time. Then when they're hot again, we won't see them over here for an age. Still, I at least give them props for realising that it's the international market that keeps them turning a profit during the lean times domestically, so what the hell - bring on more TV tapings and Regal jobs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest webmasterofwrestlegame Report post Posted October 18, 2004 Vik is a friend of mine - he does not write for the Sun either! He just knows someone who works for them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHK 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 The markets are hot because they don't get much WWE. Once WWE starts to get a decent numbers of shows over there, and the fans get used to it, the market will eventually run dry there also. Good move by WWE at the moment, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 Didn't WWE stop doing the UK PPVs (Insurrextion, Rebellion) because they thought the UK market was "stale"? What the hell? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Cucaracha 0 Report post Posted October 18, 2004 Didn't WWE stop doing the UK PPVs (Insurrextion, Rebellion) because they thought the UK market was "stale"? What the hell? Yeah, but they were UK exclusive. And sucked. So the buyrates were very likely low enough not to warrant making shows that American fans wouldn't see 'live'. As for this news, that's all well and good, but now that WWE PPVs cost money over his in Britain as of next year, the casual fans are going to ditch the product and I can see WWE's popularity over here dropping pretty dramatically. After all, why should we pay £15.99 for a mediocre PPV when we already have the Wrestling Channel for three...and why will people follow the product when they're not watching the PPVs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
