Given that the United Kingdom is WWE’s most popular market outside of North America, it’s no surprise that their roster loves making multiple voyages across the Atlantic every year. But what is it about the British Isles that is so endearing to the stars of Raw and SmackDown?
For two decades now, the ‘E has travelled across to the UK for two tours a year, traditionally just after WrestleMania, in April, then again in the run up to Survivor Series, in October/November. However, with brand popularity white hot over the past couple of years, Triple H and co have been adding Premium Live Events to the UK calendar, starting with the inaugural Clash At The Castle, at Cardiff’s Municipality Stadium, in 2022, followed by last year’s Money In The Bank at London’s O2 Arena and then this year’s Clash, at the Hydro in Glasgow.
Hot on the heels of the recent Clash in Glasgow, WWE announced another huge UK tour for this coming October, where the company will run the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester for the first time. The arena, officially Europe’s biggest indoor venue, is a move away from WWE’s usual Mancunian home of the AO Arena, which has been hosting the promotion’s events in the city for over 25 years.
And, judging by how passionately several members of the roster spoke of their experiences in the UK during Money In The Bank weekend, last summer, we should be expecting a deluge of content emanating from the WWE superstars’ social accounts this autumn when they touch down on British soil in October.
John Cena’s surprise appearance at last year’s Money In The Bank at the O2 Arena in London went down in history as the 16-time champion called for the English capital to host WrestleMania. Image: WWE
But it’s not just the sights of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales that excites the WWE locker room, it’s the sounds as well.
“I get really excited by the crowds,” explains former NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, “I was in the Royal Albert Hall and had the whole place chanting ‘Eff you, Shayna’ and that was one of my favourite moments of performing in the UK. It changes the energy and I think you see that in the product when we’re here.
“Also Warhammer World,” continues Baszler, who thrives on pitting her medieval fantasy skills against her fellow transatlantic fans, “I’m really into Warhammer and I think my favourite thing is that Warhammer is way more popular over here than it is in the States, so I get to see it a lot more, I get to talk about it a lot more, there’s more stores around. It’s really cool.”
Other Superstars go down the more historic and traditional route when they arrive in the UK, though, as WWE Women’s Champion Bayley attested during her time in London last summer, “This is gonna make the locker room laugh but I really enjoy the pubs and the nightlife. I feel like you guys have so much more fun and seem more free. I’ve gone out a couple of times while we’ve been here and I feel so free. Just gimme some beer. I sometimes ask for like, a local light beer but I love an old fashioned, because I’m an old man, now.”
Bayley may have defeated a hometown favourite in Piper Niven at this year’s Clash At The Castle, but the WWE Women’s Champion forever remains a white hot fan favourite whenever she performs in the UK. Image: WWE
Santos Escobar, meanwhile, had a slightly more romantic take than most when it came to his approach to discovering the United Kingdom.
“I love London. The UK, but London specifically, I love this city. It’s a city that begs you to walk through her, to know her and discover her.”
Not everyone has time to pound the pavement of the UK’s cities, however, as LA Knight revealed.
“Man, I’d love to tell ya my favourite thing about coming to the UK if I actually had the time to get out and do some stuff. I’ve been staring at the ceiling or sitting on a bus or something. But it’s always cool to get in front of a new audience, it’s always cool to go to a different venue and just see the reactions. We don’t get to get here all the time, so when we do you can tell it’s special, you can tell there’s a certain feeling in the air. I always dig that.”
LA Knight’s visit to the UK last year didn’t end too well, but the reaction he received from the London crowd was undefeated. Image: WWE
With tickets going on sale for WWE’s huge Manchester show tomorrow (19 July), UK fans won’t have to wait much longer until they can generate one of their notoriously raucous atmospheres for the likes of Knight and Bayley to thrive in front of. And with Lyon and Glasgow already setting such a monumental benchmark for crowd noise in Europe and Berlin still to come before the UK tour, Manchester has a very, very high standard to aspire towards when WWE make their Co-Op Arena debut in October.
Featured Image Credit: WWE
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