How WWE Were Destined To Damage British Wrestling With NXT UK
Smallman and Dallas aren't the enemies here of course, but were perhaps the two most high profile promoters to swing their doors so wide open for WWE to pillage and plunder.
On the surface, it appears as though they were accepting a knife in the front rather than the back, but perhaps they too are playing long games. In 1984, Gerald and Jack Brisco sold their shareholder stakes in Georgia Championship Wrestling to Vince McMahon. It gave McMahon control of the territory and Jack and Gerry jobs for life. The late Larry Matysik was a St Louis stalwart who didn't even really like Vince Jr's hostile takeovers. He accepted a role as WWE's business representative in the area in a failed effort to protect what he and fellow booker Sam Mushnik had built before the juggernaut trampled over it.
PROGRESS, ICW, OTT, Futureshock Germany's WXW, Fight Club Pro, Attack! Pro Wrestling remain the only companies the WWE-contracted talents can work for. Nearly all of them have direct links to people already placed within WWE's trojan horse takeover. Even then, Triple H's new contracts have restricted (and there's that word again) the above organisations streaming or distributing the matches. They'll exist for a live audience only, halving what said organisations can make from booking the wrestlers in the first place.
This kicks another hornets' nest. How will this impact talent right now? What fate awaits those already on the NXT UK gravy train, not to mention those that may have hoped to jump on?
Pete Dunne may believe British Wrestling is safe, but he's a two-armed beneficiary of the deal and in no real position to comment on the potential pitfalls. He co-owns Attack! Pro Wrestling with fellow WWE contractor Mark Andrews, and stands currently as the face of the entire strategy. That's not to say he doesn't deserve his spot - far from it in fact, the gulf in class between 'The Bruiserweight' and some of his alleged contemporaries is vast - but his company-line defence smacks of small-mindedness from a man that theoretically knows more about the physical and financial tolls of the industry than any mere fans or observers ever will.
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