The Great British Hype....Fact or Myth

"He should have been World Champion"

"He's good enough to have won at least one World Title"

"Held back due to their Nationality"

Those are just some of the quotes we often see attributed to a plethora of British Wrestlers who ply their trade in one of the main Pro Wrestling companies in America.

Ever since the mid 80s when American Professional Wrestling went main stream and World-wide in certain instances one thing has remained the same, no British National has ever reached the summit of the business whether it was the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, World Championshio Wrestling, Extreme Cchampionship Wrestling or latterly Total Non-stop Action, and for some people they can't see anything other than a sinister reasoning behind that statistic.

Many Wrestling fans (British as it happens) would have you believe that their exports have been intentionally held back and/or held down when given an opportunity with the big leagues, no doubt there has been plenty of British (mainly English) talent to hit the main stream but how many of these guys really should or could have been World Champions? Timing as they say is everything and I think it'll be interesting if we could take a closer look at British Wrestlers who many believe should have been a World Champion and dissect whether or not it would have been logical for storylines or business purposes and if there truly is a more sinister undertone to consider.

• William Regal
Possibly the most popular Brit when topics like this crop up, was he good enough for a run with a World Championship? Yes, no doubts, was he held back? No, not for me, looking back at Regal's career can anyone point to a specific time that he should have won a World Title? The only time he was ever deemed important enough and was given the push was in 2008, he was the RAW GM, he was the King of the Ring and was expected to enter into a feud with Triple H over the WWE Title, it's believed he was going to get a run with it at this stage but Regal himself killed that momentum when he failed a Wellness test, his 2nd and that meant he was suspended for 60 days, the height of his popularity and the highest position he'd held and he himself blew it.

• The Dynamite Kid
Possibly the most technically gifted Wrestler Britain has ever produced, was a fantastic Wrestler and was a great Tag Team guy, should he have been World Champion? No, not for me, he was never close and there was many in front of him that would have ticked more boxes, was he good enough to win the World Title? No, not for me, great Wrestler but his character wouldn't have hooked the average fan in

• The British Bulldog
Probably the closest anyone has got, Davey Boy Smith's draw can't be in question, being given the main event slot for SummerSlam 92 and the resulting victory and emotion from the home fans was easily enough to convince most people that he'd be able to handle being World Champion and everything that comes with it, however it only told half the story, Davey was so wasted before the match that it was a miracle it worked out so well, Bret Hart was the hero of that match even if it wasn't portrayed that way, still, the backing was there, could he have become Champ around that time? Possibly, if Vince didn't have the Steroid scandal and choose to go with 'smaller' guys, when Vince took that road then the Bulldog was never likely to be looked at for the belt, onto 1996 when he was given a main event run, should he have won the belt then? Again it has to be no for me, as good as he was in the ring, this was Shawn Michaels time to shine and Bulldog was used to help propel him, was he good enough to win the World Title? No, not for me, he was never engaging enough

• Desmond Wolfe
For me the greatest export from the United Kingdom ever, known in the indies as Nigel McGuinness he had everything, he had the look, the size, the power, speed and great in the ring, add to that he was excellent on the mic and you had what should have been a perfect Pro Wrestler, there was talk of a WWE contract for a long time but for one reason or another it wasn't forth-coming, when they did finally get round to negotiations he failed their strict medical, it killed any hope of a WWE contract but he was signed up to TNA, in TNA he had possibly the feud and matches of the year with Kurt Angle, in my opinion he was going to be the biggest star TNA had but unfortunately had to retire due to a blood disease, so was he good enough to win the World Title? Yes, no doubts, was he held back? No, he was unfortunate in that he had to retire before he fulfilled his potential

• Gentleman Chris Adams
This guy is second on my list for British exports, this guy was a mixture of both McGuinness and Regal, very talented and he was on the fringes of greatness in WCCW, infact many believe he was their greatest asset, he was a 4 time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, the highest belt you could win in WCCW out with the NWA Title (which the holder wouldn't always come from that particular territory) he was schedule to beat Ric Flair for the NWA Title in late 88 but plans got changed very late in the day, was he good enough to win it? Yes, was he held back? Probably, was it due to his Nationality? No, I wouldn't say so.

• Wade Barrett
This guy is the latest wrestler to garner opinion about Brittish Wrestlers being held back, this I just don't believe, he's only been in the WWE for little under 3 years, he's been hand picked to win the inaugural NXT and has been chosen to lead two separate factions, although granted the second was based on the first, he's also worked with the #1 and #2 face during his first year and had plenty of main event time and title matches, people say his biggest problem is that he was never booked to go over Cena or Orton, for me the biggest problem is that he's never truly got himself over with the average fan, still, enough people see enough in him to persevere with him, will he win a World Title? Who knows? Should he? Not until he truly connects? Is he good enough? Worse have been chosen in the past

(I've not forgotten anyone, I merely choose guys that probably had the best chance)

Good.craic that the Irish have the great white as world
Champion!!!

McMahon like his old man has always wanted an Irish Champion, especially a big red head, Vince Snr even wanted Hogan to dye his hair red way back when.

Sheamus whether people like him or not is at least unique in his look, he's pale with red hair and a red beard, he isn't the standard Orton/Cena prototype that the WWE machine kept producing and spitting out at a tiresomely regular rate

Can't fault the guy he has taken his opportunities and. (from my uneducated eye) is good in the ring, especially for a big guy.

Us Irish are always ginna be popular with the yanks compared to the Brits.

On topic we won't have to wait much longer, pretty sure batter will get a run with the whc at some point- sooner rather than later.

I like him too, I think he could be a much better character but not entirely sure that's his fault, I do think he's worthy of his spot though

Another interesting read KF.

I've always had a sneaking suspicion that the various companies prefer to use British wrestlers as heels, just like Hollywood likes to cast British actors as bad guys.

I know being a heel has never stopped wrestlers from being champions, but my own gut feeling is WWE, TNA or whoever, will always give the biggest pushes, longest title runs etc. to US wrestlers over Brits.

I think Brits may also have something of a natural handicap in that we tend not to be as loud or outrageous as Americans, so probably aren't seen as having that "X Factor" (sorry for using that phrase) the company execs are looking for.

As far as TNA goes, personally I'd like to see the British Invasion reformed and become the lynchpin of their tag team division.

I actually think Magnus is the best British talent on screen at the moment, I feel he has the personality to make it big