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Post by Jaws the Shark on Jan 12, 2019 15:27:16 GMT -5
The cynical colonisation of the British independent scene continues. I remain unconvinced that this is anything but a negative for Britwres long term, for promoters, wrestlers and fans. Promoters see their talent snatched away by a company they’re unable to compete with financially, wrestlers have their opportunities to earn outside of WWE limited and their development impeded by the WWE style, and fans get lumbered with paying more money to see matches that aren’t as good as the ones they see on the independent circuit. NXT UK is a fairly lacklustre show, the WWE roster is becoming more and more bloated, and independent promoters are already being stepped on. It’s a short-term payday for wrestlers but once they’re out of WWE it’ll be very different. So yeah, forgive my pessimism but I’m not in the slightest bit happy about this. If it's any consolation, the announcement about AEW this week gives some new hope to those promotions still completely independent from WWE. As it currently stands, the powers behind AEW seem philosophically opposed to the kind of in-house development WWE's been creating and will almost certainly see outside promotions as a key to stylistic diversity and, ultimately, its success as a business. The challenge ahead will lie in what kind of influence, apart from direct control, will WWE have on how indie wrestlers wrestle and how promotions present and promote their products. What concerns me about the Performance Center opening in particular is that the ability of the British indys to create new stars has been vaunted a lot, but they don't even need to wait until they're trained now, they can start cherry-picking promising trainees, or prospective wrestlers will skip the indies altogether. We're already seeing negative effects on the indy scene I think, RevPro have had their booking nobbled by the increasingly restrictive contracts and the lower-profile indys like Fight Club Pro and Attack are losing a lot of their marquee talent. On a purely personal level I'm disappointed that as someone in the London area with Progress as one of my "local" promotions, the regular cards they had in London have disappeared since NXT UK popped up. I'm also cautiously optimistic about AEW and how willing it seems to be to coexist with independents rather than replace them, which I think is probably the only way to really threaten the WWE monopoly. |
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jan 13, 2019 1:55:39 GMT -5
And in semi-related news from the Observer, with their World Of Sport contracts expiring (and the series not being expected to go on beyond the live shows later in the month), WWE are apparently on the verge of signing Viper and Kay Lee Ray, who were both brought in for the first Mae Young Classic in 2017. So... already some possible new residents at Enfield. They've also offered a deal to Bea Priestley, but her future is more ambiguous because of her commitments in Japan with STARDOM and her partner Will Ospreay being based there. To follow up on this, it’s basically semi-official that they’ve signed Kay Lee Ray after she got the “sitting at ringside” promo spot at UK Takeover Blackpool. With her, though, wasn’t Viper (who apparently had other commitments, but is still expected to sign), but a different 2017 Mae Classic alum... the German cult hero “Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert. If you recall, Gabert had actually signed a deal coming out of that tourney but had it retracted after neck issues were found during her medical checks. Fortunately, she’s had her neck fixed up and has been back wrestling for about six months now. |
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