Triple H Reveals Ambitious WWE "World Cup" Plans
Paul Levesque has ambitious ideas for WWE's global expansion.
WWE held its first United Kingdom stadium show in 30 years, Clash at the Castle, in Cardiff, Wales last night - and it doesn't sound like the promotion will be dialling back on its global expansion anytime soon.
Speaking at his post-Clash press conference, WWE's creative lead, Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, painted a bold vision of the newly-announced NXT Europe project's future. He started by stating that WWE had grand plans prior to the COVID-19 pandemic's 2020 inception, which forced the promotion to regroup and rethink (h/t WrestleZone):-
“One, very excited about NXT Europe. I think the opportunity for us—NXT UK started here. We had large plans prior to the pandemic. We were about to make some big moves with it, and things happen in life, as Tyson Fury said. Sometimes we all get knocked back down. We gotta regroup and figure it out. I think with all that behind us hopefully now, the time to make that move is now and we decided to pull back on what we were doing so that we could advance to the next level. Sometimes [it’s] tough to do at the same time.”
Continuing, Levesque stated that in the long run, WWE intends on continuing to expand into other global markets before building what he described as "World Cup-type scenarios" that extend to Raw, SmackDown, and WrestleMania:-
“So I think you’ll see NXT Europe—and as I mentioned the other day in some interviews—I think the long-term goal in that is to be in markets all around the world with product that can eventually be competing against each other. World Cup-type scenarios that are feeding into Raw to SmackDown and to WrestleMania.”
And as far as future stadium shows in other countries go, Clash at the Castle represented step one in an ongoing process:-
“We want to be in stadiums all around the globe doing this kind of event. Tonight was step one in that process, and I think you’ll see and hear a lot of announcements over the next few years that will be exciting for everybody. Hopefully, all of you have your passports and stuff and can visit us there as well.”
WWE announced an attendance of 62,296 for Clash at the Castle.