WWE: 5 Bold Predictions for 2018
By Josh.0
Courtesy of WWE.com
1. WWE Will Announce a Major Pay-Per-View in the UK
Like The Undertaker going into the HOF, this prediction also carries us into 2019 since all of the venues for WWE events in 2018 have been announced. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about another glorified United Kingdom house show in the same vein as One Night Only, Rebellion, or Insurrextion which I’m willing to bet most of you young whipper snappers don’t even remember. In the interest of transparancy, I’m also not suggesting that any of the “big four” will go this route (yet) but I could absolutely see something like Fastlane, Battleground, or even Extreme Rules taking their talents overseas.
The UK hosted a nine day tour back in November as part of the WWE Live series and the company has already announced a return in 2018. The success of the UK Championship Tournament in January and the positive reception surrounding the November 6th episode of Raw which was broadcast from Manchester, England has likely given WWE confidence that a full-fledged PPV event can be financially lucrative.
We are still a long way off from something like WrestleMania going as far away from America as Europe but there is a precedent. The WWE has presented “The Granddaddy of Them All” twice outside the U.S. (WrestleMania VI and X8), both at the SkyDome in Toronto, Canada. These shows did extremely well for the company with both of them breaking paid attendance records which still stand today. Not even the NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, or even soccer have been able to host a game that reaches the same crowds as these WWE events so finding success beyond our borders isn’t entirely out of the question.
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Wembley Stadium in London can seat over 90,000 wrestling fans and has played host to several NFL games since its opening in 2007, which saw more than 81,000 fans watch the New York Giants defeat the Miami Dolphins in the first regular season NFL game ever held in Europe. The WWE has been slowly extending its reach around globe for several years and a meaningful PPV being hosted in a foreign country is inevitable. The UK is the most logical destination.