Now while some have usually speculated that having a UK PPV is possible and WWE should in fact, do the deed. The issue for this always has been stadiums and overall ability to do the PPV itself.

Summerslam at one point made it’s way to the UK and one of the best matches in the history of wrestling took place, that being the “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith against “The Hitman” Bret Hart.

Oddly enough, WWE has never gone back to the UK or any other country but Canada and America to do a PPV since. Now, many ask why WWE hasn’t.

There are some clear reasons why that is. Back when this Summerslam took place, it was actually not as live as it was said to have been. It was delayed heavily. But with no one on the Internet giving away results, you had no clue at home. Sort of like how RAW was taped every other week during the Attitude Era and no one cared.

WWE didn’t even care until Eric Bischoff started giving away results on his LIVE Nitro each week.

From then on WWE tried to keep RAW Live.

Even today, WWE broadcasts RAW, the flagship show, LIVE. And only tapes RAW when they go overseas, to funny enough, places like the UK.

The reason is simply, that doing a LIVE show from an overseas perspective is a lot more complicated than the average person at home knows.

I’ll explain it in a few broadcast terms for everyone.

When you broadcast a show LIVE, it immediately throws a signal to a satellite above. That satellite throws signals to a base in certain areas. So, for example ESPN would broadcast a FIFA Soccer match taking place in Brazil. You’d get it sent from the live cams in Brazil.

From the base, it goes back to a satellite above such as DirecTV or Dish. Then they finally broadcast it to you at home. For cable, it goes straight from the base to those at home via cable. But even cable runs through satellite. If they ever sured up their product, cable would easily kill Satellite in overall ability.

Now, what ESPN does is sent signals to bases throughout. They have a place in about every country now. They do this because they know people at home want to get it as LIVE as possible. There is still a delay however. Even if it’s 5 to 10 minutes, it still a delay.

NBC had an issue with broadcasting live match ups for the Olympics and had most of the Games on delay.

Now, WWE has none of these things.

They have a cam who will throw to a truck and then to a satellite and then put it back to their American base. To use a local base to make it easier with far less delay, they’d have to pay a nice chunk of doe. Otherwise they’d have to tape it like they pretty much did with the Summerslam show.

Overall, WWE doesn’t want to spend the money it’d take to do this. Which is why they haven’t gone back to the UK for a PPV since the legendary Summerslam there.

But, word has it that they may.

According to Ewrestlingnews.com:

“Following Wade Barrett discussing his desire for WWE to bring SummerSlam back to the UK, it has now been reported that WWE officials have been meeting with representatives from several major stadiums in the UK about running a stadium event. WWE recently met with representatives from a stadium in London as well as Manchester’s Old Trafford soccer stadium. On Friday, WWE officials will meet with officials from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.”

Now, I wouldn’t get too excited about this. An “Event” wouldn’t necessarily mean a PPV. WWE could want to do a SuperShow in the stadium for the fans there. Or do a show like RAW there. Still taped, not Live. So an event could really mean anything. It’s been known for a while now that WWE has been wanting to play one of the larger UK stadiums for a while.

But what do you think?

Author: Joe Burgett (78 Posts)

Executive Consultant to Wrestle Enigma. Former CEO of Wrestle Enigma Named the website you are on right now. I have two degrees in TV and Radio Broadcasting and Production. I also study Public Health and Social Sciences at UAB. I have written for Yahoo.com, FanvsFan.com, Ring-Rap.com, Oddee.com, SBNation.com, SportsScribes.com, WhatCulture.com, and many more. However, I am probably most known for my 3 years with BleacherReport.com where I spent 2 years as a Syndicated and Featured Columnist. I was the first FC in B/R's Wrestling Section (now WWE section). Going to be opening up a Fight Website in the next few months, if anyone is interested let me know. Btw, if you have any questions just come to me and I'll answer anything you have.

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