5 Wrestlers that would have made the UK Championship Tournament a must-see tournament
This weekend saw a revolution in British wrestling as it was brought to the big stage by the WWE over a two-day special on the WWE Network. The United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a fine place for the cream of English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish talent, to show off their skills and make a name for themselves.
Held in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, (an arena with an amazing atmosphere for wrestling shows, I can attest to that), the tournament had people on social media buzzing as it was announced that a new Champion would be crowned.
However, when the line-ups were announced, unless you follow British wrestling, especially the promotion Progress wrestling, you’d struggle to recognise anyone in there. I am aware that the amount of talent in the WWE that could enter this tournament is slim, but it still would have been good to get some recognisable names in there, if only to generate the interest needed to generate the viewership.
A new concept alone, especially in the wrestling industry, is not always enough to motivate fans to watch the show. Big names are needed to make people watch things. As I’ve said, if you don’t follow independent wrestling, the people in the tournament could have just been people off the street, having been asked if they want to wrestle for the night.
It gave the WWE more work to do, as they had to help build characters and personas in four hours of wrestling.
The power of a big name is not to be underestimated. They draw tickets and they make sure people watch the show. They can also help make stars while they’re there. There are many independent stars you will have heard of because they’ve generated enough interest to come into general wrestling chatter.
I have come up with five wrestlers that would have made the WWE UK Championship a must-see event for fans.
#5 Neville
People did not know that Neville was going to be wrestling at the event. Even if there were rumours beforehand, there is never anything guaranteed in the WWE. The self-proclaimed ‘King of the Cruiserweights’ arrived at the event, cut a promo on how it was an outrage that he was not in the tournament and then proceeded to have a filler match with Tommy End.
Well, you know what Neville? I completely agree with you.
All the way from Newcastle England, Neville is an absolutely phenomenal talent and despite not doing much on the WWE main shows, he has always been a fan favourite and this is what made him a household name. The fact that he recently turned heel makes me even more bemused as to why WWE did not include him in the prestigious tournament.
Neville could have blown up a babyface’s popularity because he is a veteran; he’s already made it to WWE and he knows what he’s doing.
You might make the argument that because Neville is a home-grown boy, that he wouldn’t have got booed, but if you’re thinking this, then you may be forgetting the fact that they’re all home-grown, so in this case, heels can stay heels and not become the anti-hero for the night.
Having the former NXT Champion involved in proceedings would have been a great move but unfortunately, it was not to be. At least we got to see him wrestle Tommy End and the fans were treated to the Red Arrow in action.