The World Wrestling Federations first ever UK-exclusive pay-per-view event took place on October 10th, way back in the year 1989. The PPV was un-creatively called First WWF UK Event -- later incarnations of the international broadcast would be dubbed UK Rampage. These four events spanned a five year period -- no PPV took place in 1990. The original UK Rampage in 1989 and its follow-up in 1991 took place at the London Arena. The latter two incarnations moved north a bit to Sheffield and drew fewer fans than the London events -- 14,000-plus came for the 89 and 91 events, while the 92 and 93 shows drew about 8,000 fans each. Hulk Hogan main-evented the first two events -- defending and retaining his coveted WWF Championship on separate occasions against the likes of Randy Savage and Sgt. Slaughter, respectively. The first UK event also took place in October of 89 -- sandwiched between Summerslam and the Survivor Series -- while all subsequent iterations occurred in April, after each years WrestleMania. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-AkSfLn1mE The 92 and 93 PPVs saw a definite changing of the guard, as the Federation grew nearer to its New Generation era. Hogan was absent from both events -- despite being champion during April of 93. Randy Savage -- who was champion in 1992 -- defended his title against recent singles star, Shawn Michaels. That match, however, took place in the middle of the card, while the British Bulldog battled and defeated Irwin R. Schyster in the main event. 1993 featured a lackluster main event, as Lex Luger -- still competing as The Narcissist -- bested Jim Duggan. The UK Rampage shows were subsequently released both in the UK and the States on home video but have never made an appearance beyond that. With numerous Attitude Era UK-exclusive PPVs on the Network, these early 90s UK-only events would provide a great balance to the already available events.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
