WWE Planning UK Pay-Per-View?

When looking back at the huge WWF Summerslam 1992 event in Issue 83 of FSM, John Lister noted that the event didn't quite live up to buyrate expectations. With a 44% drop-off from the previous year, Vince McMahon “appeared to convince himself that that an overseas taped event just didn't cut it on Pay-Per-View, which explains why he hasn't repeated the exercise in the 20 years thereafter”. In spite of this, the event – held at the old Wembley Stadium in London before a crowd of around 80,000 – was a huge financial success, mainly due to the live gate and merchandise sales.

It's hard to believe that it's been over 20 years since that magical Summer's afternoon, with the then-WWF at the peak of its power in the UK. The company has run several big events in the country since, such as Capital Carnage in 1998 and the annual Insurrextion and Rebellion events on SKY Box Office, but these have all been largely scaled down offerings which were treated as one-off specials and rarely furthered storylines or featured significant title changes.

In breaking news, WWE officials did meet with representatives of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales last week, with a view to staging a large show (possibly even a Pay-Per-View) at the venue. In addition, officials are also meeting those from Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, home of Manchester United. Both stadiums hold in excess of 75,000 people, which could be a hint that the promotion are finally thinking about once again invading these shores with one of their regular, marquee events.

“It's true that WWE have met with officials from the venue, but nothing concrete has been decided at this point. It'd certainly be exciting for fans in Wales and we hope we'll be able to announce something in the future”, a spokesperson for the Millennium Stadium told FSM.

Certainly an exciting proposition, the UK remains one of the promotion's hottest markets, with house shows regularly sold out when WWE run annual tours twice per year. Stay tuned to FSM for the latest on this situation.