10 Best Ever UK WWE Matches
Best of British.
Casually dropped into the middle of a recent '205 Live' broadcast, commentator Tom Phillips was the first to note that an exclusive new UK-only weekly show will be coming to the WWE Network later this year.
To accentuate the move, WWE paraded Pete Dunne, Wolfgang, Trent Seven, Mark Andrews and inaugural UK Champion Tyler Bate to the fans in attendance at the post-WrestleMania cruiserweight broadcast, drawing a tremendous response for all five from one of the most hardcore audiences of the year.
Building off the phenomenal UK Championship Tournament in January, the company taped two nights of television in Norwich, England as the project's opening salvo, even integrating Pete Dunne's UK Championship rematch with Tyler Bate into May 20th's NXT TakeOver: Chicago card. Top names were also added to the ongoing UK tour ahead of the roll-out.
To launch a show exclusively within British locations will be unchartered territory even for WWE, but there have been moments of magic in their previous trans-atlantic forays that justify a more mutually beneficial relationship with one of their biggest non-US audiences. London Raw and SmackDown Live! tapings this week are likely to bear out the logic.
From pay-per-view peaks to tantalising television tapings and live events that have bi-annually rocked cities up and down England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, some of the finest ever WWE matches have taken place on UK soil, and the company will look to use these historic encounters to enhance that reputation with their burgeoning show.
10. Christian Vs William Regal - ECW On Syfy (November 2009)
Cynically punished for his decision to work in TNA during a WWE hiatus, Christian's position as ECW Champion was a mettle-testing demotion for the Attitude Era star upon his return to the company in 2009.
As an experienced and consummate professional, the multi-time tag champion predictably over-delivered in the role and was rightfully installed as a main roster utility player following two lengthy babyface reigns atop the third-string wasteland.
It was during this time Christian began an angle with former Un-American colleague William Regal that had spanned the summer months and brought quiet acclaim back to the dilapidated brand. An eight-second squash at that year's SummerSlam pay-per-view was erased by a choice encounter at the following month's Breaking Point event, but their best encounter was saved for Regal's home crowd at the climax of a Sheffield ECW television taping.
Currently unavailable on the WWE Network thanks to the inexplicable omission of the revived ECW telecast's back catalogue, the match is something of a rarity but the slow-building 20 minute technical masterclass drew intense heat with the crowd split between fiercely popular babyface Christian and hometown hero Regal embarking on possibly his last crack at a 'major' title.
Subsequently devoid of shenanigans, the finish built to Regal setting up for a running knee that had flattened Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella in seconds exactly one year earlier. The champion had it scouted, swivelling away from the exhausted Brit to hit the challenger with his 'Killswitch' finisher for the climactic victory.