DEVASTATING Acts Of Self-Sabotage That RUINED Wrestling Careers

2. The BritWres Scene

AEW Collision CM Punk Terry Funk
WWE

British wrestling - or 'BritWres', "the graps" - really was big in the mid-to-late 2010s.

Insane Championship Wrestling sold out arenas. WhatCulture Pro Wrestling - later Defiant - played a not remotely insignificant role in rehabilitating the careers of Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. PROGRESS, now that the worldwide scene isn't what it was in the wake of AEW's rise, was probably the last of the taste-making hipster independents. ROH > PWG > PROGRESS is a not inaccurate chronology of where the hype was across the 21st century.

BritWres was booming, and WWE was so afraid of its rise that they created NXT UK when the rebooted World of Sport popped up on "terrestrial telly". The rot set in when, at frankly pathetic contract offers, a lot of the best talent twerked in WWE's direction. Beyond a few over-praised UK TakeOver events, they might as well have joined MLW for all the exposure they got.

The scene was also littered with creeps and abusers, many of whom were outed in 2020. BritWres never recovered after the pandemic, and that was for the best. The all-angles self-implosion was so devastating that it ruined a scene, not just multiple careers.

A lot of those careers can rest in the piss that William Regal drinks.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!