Summerslam to be held in the UK?

WWE bosses are in secret talks with major British sporting venues about hosting a PPV on our shores, according to a leading US wrestling expert.

Dave Meltzer reports that officials are due to meet with representatives of Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium today and have already spoken to Old Trafford and ‘a stadium in London’, believed to be Wembley.

The original Wembley Stadium hosted SummerSlam in 1992, arguably the most important wrestling event to ever occur on these shores.

Along with featuring the likes of Randy Savage and the Undertaker, the pay-per-view was headlined by one of the greatest matches in history – Bret The Hitman Hart v The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith.

It’s thought that if WWE can hammer out a deal with a British venue for 2013, SummerSlam would return for the 21st anniversary of that memorable show.

More than 80,000 fans attended SummerSlam 92, which is officially WWE’s second-highest recorded attendance ever, behind WrestleMania III, for which the genuine number is often queried.

Despite the huge gate, WWE have never produced an international PPV outside of North America since then, largely due to a mix of a poor domestic buy rate, logistical costs and time-zone issues.

For a time, WWE produced UK-only PPVs such as Rebellion and Capital Carnage for Sky Box Office, but stopped in 2002 as sales dwindled.

Of the three rumoured stadia, all have capacities of over 74,000, while the Millennium and Wembley both have retractable roofs.

Current WWE star Wade Barrett, from Preston, weighed in on Twitter following the report in Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer, stating his desire for Vince McMahon’s entertainment company to produce another major show on British soil.

Wade said: “WrestleMania 29 tickets go on sale this Saturday and I’ve no doubt the Brits will again make up a disproportionately large percentage of sales.

“After showing they are the best fans on the planet this week in Brum, I think it’s about time SummerSlam made a return to Wembley.

“There is no place in the world I’d rather beat Sheamus than in the centre circle of the greatest stadium in the world.”

WWE may just be persuaded to host a PPV here by the quality, not just quantity, of crowds in the UK.

This week’s Raw and Smackdown emanated from Birmingham’s LG Arena, where the crowd, particularly for Raw, was praised worldwide for being one of the hottest in recent memory, while TNA Impact had two tapings at Wembley Arena in January in front of their biggest and rowdiest audiences ever.

Attendances on this UK tour are said to have been lower than usual, but Birmingham sold out for Raw and a major PPV would undoubtedly spark a major rise in demand.

Can't imagine theyd send one of the big PPVs. More likely they test something like Over the Limit.

LA seems to be the home for SummerSlam in recent years and ill imagine they will keep it that way.

Survivor Series would be a good one to host IMO as the WWE does do a tour around Survivor Series anyway.

i was there on Monday and the crowd was good, but wish they wouldn't revert to copying the american chants all the time. "Who are ya" to Vickie Guerrero was loud though, couldn't hear a word of her segment about the evidence on John Cena

but on the subject of the thread I think a UK ppv would be a good idea. It would sell 70,00 easy and could possibly coincide with Wade Barrett winning a major championship.

Wade Barrett was a top man at the end of Raw when the camera went off and mentioned the poppy and our war heroes, respect to him for that. The crowd was mad for him all night

arrrrrrgh!

Looks like Barrett is pushing for wembley judging by his '“There is no place in the world I’d rather beat Sheamus than in the centre circle of the greatest stadium in the world.”' comment. Although I wouldn't say it's the greatest stadium in the world (bad memories with supporting Cardiff) it does hold a hell of a lot of people as the recent NFL games have shown.

What I would say is that I've been inside the millenium at a concert with the roof closed and the sound that is held inside is incredible!

I recently wrote something for Bleacher Report about how having Survivor Series in the UK next year could be a massive boost to its dwindling importance as one of the top four that article is here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1400542-wwe-survivor-series-future-survivor-series-could-be-saved-by-a-trip-overseas in case anyone fancies a read).

Summerslam here would be great too, but it seems to be always designed around hot weather and American summers. Plus it looks like its the 3rd most important of the big 4.

I think Brits would be so up for it, especially as a big PPV historically, that we'd make the night with the atmosphere

Like Bluebird said, the NFL games at Wembley have shown how much the British are enjoying the American sports coming over. I have been to 2 of the NFL games now, and the atmosphere is always electric.

90,000 hardcore WWE fans, in Wembley with the roof shut would be the best crowd of all time, no doubt about it. Whether a PPV other than Wrestlemania can draw those numbers, I don't know.

I would love them to test out a Royal Rumble over here as I think that would be one of the better PPVs to gauge the numbers and reaction to a WWE PPV in the UK.

I know Wrestlemania is the main PPV of the year but I much prefer Royal Rumble, if one PPV was to be held in the UK Royal Rumble would be my choice. I don't think the spectacle of the Rumble match can be beaten.

Jammy31 wrote:Like Bluebird said, the NFL games at Wembley have shown how much the British are enjoying the American sports coming over. I have been to 2 of the NFL games now, and the atmosphere is always electric.

90,000 hardcore WWE fans, in Wembley with the roof shut would be the best crowd of all time, no doubt about it. Whether a PPV other than Wrestlemania can draw those numbers, I don't know.

I would love them to test out a Royal Rumble over here as I think that would be one of the better PPVs to gauge the numbers and reaction to a WWE PPV in the UK.

No to Rumble, as its January, Middle of winter and a chance less people would travel due to weather conditions etc. Also a lot of rail service run a very very very reduced scheduele during the winter months. Also you run the risk of the company themselves not being able to get over here with delayed/cancelled flights etc.

Amy wrote:

Jammy31 wrote:Like Bluebird said, the NFL games at Wembley have shown how much the British are enjoying the American sports coming over. I have been to 2 of the NFL games now, and the atmosphere is always electric.

90,000 hardcore WWE fans, in Wembley with the roof shut would be the best crowd of all time, no doubt about it. Whether a PPV other than Wrestlemania can draw those numbers, I don't know.

I would love them to test out a Royal Rumble over here as I think that would be one of the better PPVs to gauge the numbers and reaction to a WWE PPV in the UK.

No to Rumble, as its January, Middle of winter and a chance less people would travel due to weather conditions etc. Also a lot of rail service run a very very very reduced scheduele during the winter months. Also you run the risk of the company themselves not being able to get over here with delayed/cancelled flights etc.

Ahhh yeah...I forgot about the British transport system

Also the roof at Wembley doesn't fully close so you would still be exposed to the elements and lose some of the atmosphere.

The Millenium Stadium would be ideal, the roof fully shut and you could easily get around 80,000 in there.

Personally I can't see them sending one of the big PPV's over here, maybe something like Over the Limit or Extreme Rules

I can't see it but if they did hold a major PPV here then I think all roads would lead to Wade Barrett winning the World Title. The first British World Champion has become such a major point that Vince may feel taking it to their back yard would maximise the value of it, although they may need to turn him face first, having a heel get the big face reaction and probablly acting face wouldn't be helpful