Triple H And WWE Looking To Expand In U.K.

Triple H and the WWE are looking to expand their business model across the pond to the United Kingdom with a weekly show, according to Mirror. On the back of a successful showing with The United Kingdom Championship Tournament that took place earlier this month, it was a good way for Triple H and the WWE to test the waters, so to speak — and, it would seem, they like what they saw.

As reported by Wrestling Inc, Triple H was on hand to kick off the festivities (as well as to eye the pool of talent). Triple H was quoted as saying, “Every empire has a beginning.” Judging by the overall success of the event and the impression it left, the WWE seems to be eyeing expansion of their own empire.

In the end, the 16-man United Kingdom Championship Tournament (held in Blackpool) saw its first United Kingdom Champion crowned, in a spirited competition between Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne — with Tyler Bate walking away with the belt at just 19 years old.

Triple H told Mirror,

“I can’t say enough good things about the talent over there. I knew it watching them, I knew it as we were recruiting them, but the talent that we had in that tournament were amazing. Working with them was a wonderful experience. They are very polished and I look forward to the future of working with them even in a bigger way and hopefully we can get everything lined up here to make that a weekly UK show. That is the goal so we can move forward with these guys and showcase their amazing talent.”

It’s clear from this that Triple H and the WWE are certainly looking to capitalize on this largely untapped market, and they are looking to use their brand and pull to showcase this talent and bring it to a much bigger stage/wider audience. When most fans think of wrestlers from the United Kingdom, William Regal is synonymous with that title. Regal was on hand to witness the tournament, and it would seem that the WWE is of the mind to infuse some new blood from the United Kingdom into the computer screens and televisions of their fanbase through this new weekly program.

As part of the overall discussion, the question of contracts and the acquisition of talent is bound to come up. When asked about the legality that could impact the plans to expand moving forward in terms of contracts and possible conflicts of interest, Triple H said,

“We signed talent as part of this UK tournament. Talent knew going in what the deal was, they knew what the restrictions were and weren’t. We’re not restricting them from working for anybody, as long as there is no distribution outside of the live event. Some of these promotions tried to come in after the fact and add a distribution portion or component to that. Talent didn’t sign up for that to start with, they just had that added. That’s a change. Talent had an agreement to go to a live event and compete on a live event and not to do other things. That’s changed.

“Is there a period of time right now where we are allowing guys to work for people? Absolutely. Every single one of these talents knew the deal going into it. Coming out of the other side of it, there is a lot of confusion, but it’s not on our side, and it’s not on the side of the talent I believe. It’s on the promoter side, who kind of change things and just do things however they feel they want to do things. You can call them promotions, but there are a lot of people who do one-off shows over there. It’s a big difference.”

With flagship shows like RAW, SmackDown Live, NXT, and 205 Live, WWE is always looking to move forward and expand, capitalizing on the latest trends and talent in the industry. With WWE close to reaching a deal with Glasgow-based Insane Championship Wrestling, and rumored talks with both London’s PROGRESS Wrestling and Dublin’s Over The Top Wrestling in the works, there’s a lot on the table moving forward.

Ultimately, more competitors mean more matches, more titles, and more content — and that’s a win-win for everyone.

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[Featured Image by Michael N. Todaro/Stringer/Getty Images]