WrestleMania in the UK?
There are billions of WWE fans all around the globe whose dream is to see their favorite Superstars in live action. Many wrestling fans and wrestlers have wanted WrestleMania to make its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom.
But the question is: "is the WWE interested in bringing the Showcase of The Immortals to the British Islands?" Let’s analyze this!
WWE is considering a couple venues and cities for the 2020 and 2021 editions, as was reported by Joe Peisich (Barnburner’s Fired Up podcast).
“I was going to go more in-depth into WrestleMania 36. Sources have told me that WrestleMania 36 will be coming to Minnesota. Minnesota, the new stadium there, the home of the Super Bowl last year where the Eagles surprised the New England Patriots. Minnesota WrestleMania 36. WrestleMania 37 I hear may come to the new Los Angeles stadium whatever they’re calling it.”
This means we may not see the UK as the 'Mania location until 2022.
WWE's success in Britain is not a secret, as the NXT brand has proven over the years. Some examples of this are the NXT TakeOver: London in 2015, the brand-new NXT UK show and the different titles, such as the WWE United Kingdom Championship or the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
The arena is not a problem because Wembley Stadium (the most valid option), with a capacity of 90 000 people in football events, has already hosted a WWE event: SummerSlam 1992. Besides,the O2 Arena (seating capacity of 20 000) could host the Raw and Smackdown Live after ‘Mania shows.
The biggest issue is timing. WrestleMania 34 started at 7 pm ET so, if this happens in the United Kingdom, the show would start at 2 pm in the US East Coast. This is not a crazy time, but such an early start would reduce the audience ratings.
A not very good-looking alternative is to air the show in America at a more reasonable hour, not live. However, spoilers will appear everywhere, as when Raw or SD Live are hosted in this very same country.
Now that the UK has become one of the most important WWE locations, do you think that the biggest show in sports entertainment will travel beyond North America in recent years? The time is now!