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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Feb 11, 2020 8:53:39 GMT -5
There's been long standing requests for Wrestlemania to be in the United Kingdom, yet WWE seems uninterested in tapping that market for any of their major events, even though the UK possesses any number of suitable arenas for such an event.
On the other hand, WWE has been paid billions of dollars by Saudi Arabia, and it doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility the prince would ask for their biggest annual event to happen there.
So, the question becomes: Who gets one first?
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XIII
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,439
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Post by XIII on Feb 11, 2020 8:58:37 GMT -5
WWE is Arabia’s ho, so if the Prince asks for it it will happen.
I doubt either really though.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Feb 11, 2020 8:58:49 GMT -5
Here’s the thing with this hypothetical Saudi Arabia WrestleMania... You’re basically expecting WWE to go, “You know, our biggest home payday of the year? Let’s scrap that and move that show to one of the Saudi dates that we already get paid for! Three into two! Yeah!”.
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Post by chronocross on Feb 11, 2020 9:00:13 GMT -5
Neither.
Though it would be cool to see Summerslam in London again.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2020 9:01:12 GMT -5
If there's ever WrestleMania there, STING vs. UNDERTAKER must happen then. It's the Saudi tradition that will have to continue forever and forever.
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adamclark52
El Dandy
I'm one with the Force; the Force is with me
Posts: 8,139
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Post by adamclark52 on Feb 11, 2020 9:27:43 GMT -5
Wasn’t last May’s Saudi Show just as big as Wrestlemania?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2020 9:58:33 GMT -5
The Greatest WresleMania. Super WrestleMania. The Crown of Mania.
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Post by sunnytaker on Feb 11, 2020 10:35:00 GMT -5
probably neither just due to the time difference. 8PM in london would be 2PM for the east and 11AM for the west coast. "WrestleMania for Lunch" as the theme? Saudi arabia is another 3 or 4 hours further into the day than London off the top of my head.
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Post by I'm Team Bayley and Indi on Feb 11, 2020 10:39:11 GMT -5
seems to be last few years for UK it's Wrestlemania or nothing at all.
Maybe do a Summerslam again or the July PPV in the UK
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Post by mrtuesday on Feb 11, 2020 10:43:33 GMT -5
I can't see modern WWE having any of their main PPVs outside of North America.
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Post by TWERKIN' MAGGLE on Feb 11, 2020 13:37:39 GMT -5
Given the length of WrestleMania, the UK would be fine for the American audience, but they're never going to.
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Feb 11, 2020 13:41:00 GMT -5
The most likely thing to happen is that WWE calls one of their biyearly Saudi shows "WrestleMania" or "Greatest Wrestlemania," but they still hold the actual Mania that year in a major US market as usual and the Saudi one doesn't really count as a numbered Mania, except when it's convenient to do so.
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Post by wildojinx on Feb 11, 2020 17:30:03 GMT -5
It would never happen due to the time difference (unless they air it on a delay), but WM in Japan would be pretty cool.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,959
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Post by chazraps on Feb 11, 2020 17:30:57 GMT -5
UK as it's a lot more accessible as a travel destination.
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Post by romanstylesiii on Feb 11, 2020 17:34:18 GMT -5
I could see WWE doing two Mania's, like they did with the Rumble.
This could be dangerous though. Nearly all business theory tells you to take care of your core fans. This would greatly alienante their main customers, and that is usually not sustainable over the long haul
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 11, 2020 21:18:23 GMT -5
I think they will get a Wrestlemania to finish off the 10 year deal.
So doing the math, wrestlemania 44 is their's.
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Post by avenger on Feb 11, 2020 21:54:20 GMT -5
Wrestlemania in the UK will never happen. It's unworkable.
For a start, all the London venues have two things in common that make Wrestlemania impossible.
1 - Curfews before 11pm. So you have to start the kickoff show at 4pm. The crossover in daylight savings time at that time of year makes the time difference 4 hours, so noon on the east coast, 8am on the west coast. On the west coast, the show has to finish before 3pm. The only time that the curfew has ever been lifted at Wembley Stadium has been for the Live Aid/Live 8 gigs. If the England national football team can't get the curfew shifted, the WWE has got no chance.
2 - No roof on the stadiums. April in the UK is traditionally wet, and often windy. If the ring can be covered, the crowd on the pitch won't. Neither will the crowd at the front of the stands (trust me, I've sat there).
The only stadium with a roof and no curfew is the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Fine for Wrestlemania. The Motorpoint arena is the perfect size for the Hall of Fame and Axxess. But it only holds 5000. Too small for Raw/Smackdown/Takeover. The nearest venue that would be big enough for those three on Wrestlemania weekend is the NEC Arena in Birmingham. Over 100 miles away. It also means that your biggest Raw of the year, the day after Wrestlemania, and the go home for Smackdown is on tape delay. Spoilers everywhere, lower ratings, TV networks unhappy.
And that's without the fact that Wrestlemania in the US is big business. Cities bid for the rights to hold it, because there's now a culture of bidding for Wrestlemania, like there is a culture of bidding for the Superbowl, because hosting Wrestlemania beings over $100m of income into that city over the weekend. The UK only does this for major sporting events spread over weeks and cities (Olympics, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, European Football Championships), and the bid and the money comes from the organisation that runs the sport (British Olympic Association, FA). The WWE just isn't on the radar. Vince isn't going to take the hit of losing the money that the city pays *and* the risk of hosting it in a different timezone. It would be a gamble with no upside.
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Bub (BLM)
Patti Mayonnaise
advocates duck on rodent violence
Fed. Up.
Posts: 37,742
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Post by Bub (BLM) on Feb 11, 2020 22:03:44 GMT -5
Saudi Arabi already gets WrestleMania.
Giant stadium? Check. Ridiculously elaborate pyro? Check. Battle royal for a pointless trophy? Check. Old farts coming out of retirement for lots of money? Check. Celebrities coming in for big money? Check.
It's SaudiMania.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2020 22:26:28 GMT -5
Neither will get one because of the time zones.
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Post by Celexa Bliss 54 on Feb 11, 2020 22:35:29 GMT -5
For all the jokes made about the Saudi deal, they will never get WrestleMania. It would be disastrous for WWE, both financially and for PR. You're not going to see Axxess in Saudi Arabia. You damn sure aren't going to see the Hall of Fame ceremony there. And all those fans who travel and make a week of it, they're not flying out to Saudi Arabia. Plus I can't see them doing Raw, Smackdown or NXT there, nor do I imagine any of the talent wants to spend a week there. And with all the crap they already get for doing two shows a year, if they held their biggest event of the year there, it would ruin them. No news outlet would let them off the hook for it.
Honestly, London is plausible, but unlikely. I don't think they want to do a WrestleMania outside if North America, or they would have done it already. It has to be costly doing all the activities in the states, as it is. Imagine having to set all that up overseas. It would be cool, no doubt, but I just don't think it has much chance of happening.
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