The SummerSlam held in London in the 1990s was a huge success as was the NXT TakeOver which took place in London a few years back. However, WWE still hasn't held a PPV on that side of the pond despite the obvious desire from fans and the constant pleas from them to do a WrestleMania there.
Now, Triple H has finally shed some light on why the company has decided against holding a PPV in the UK and while it's a reasonable explanation, it's unlikely to satisfy the company's British fanbase.
"You guys are obsessed with that! And you should be. This is an open opportunity for all the markets outside of (the US) The time frame for when we run things in the US doesn’t work for a lot of places in the world. This opens up a lot of opportunities to put things in a localised time format for the wrestling globe – especially the UK where the desire’s very high. Getting things down to work in a reasonable manner with a reasonable cost, in a reasonable time slot is really what it’s all about to us but it is definitely something we’re working towards.
"When people say, “I don’t understand, just do the show.” We run 560 live events a year, we do an average of 9-10 live events a week. They are planned out a year or sometimes longer in advance. Putting those pieces together, one change dramatically affects the entire puzzle so it’s just a process that we’re going through but absolutely we will get there, it’s just, I’m sure for everyone that’s waiting, it seems to be forever, but we’ll get there. It’s not a matter of IF we can overcome the obstacles, it’s a matter of when and getting them all lined up."
Will a PPV ever come to the United Kingdom? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will happen in the next couple of years but WWE still takes RAW and SmackDown Live there twice a year, something they don't do in any other international territory. As always, stay tuned to The Ring Report for updates.