The rise of British Wrestling
The UK scene is hot as hell right now, but the origins of wrestling in this part of the world has a storied history. In this episode, the team look at the original UK boom period with World of Sport, the impact our stars have made in the world and looking into the future with our predictions for this years WWE UK Title tournament
With the British wrestling scene going through a major boom period right now, we take a look at the journey it has went on to get to this point.
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The journey of British wrestling has been some what of a roller coaster over time.
In the early 1950s, wrestling began airing in this neck of woods of main terrestrial TV channel ITV. For many years, it would be a staple of Saturday morning television.
As the popularity of the sport grew, so did the level of coverage. The 1960s saw the launch of World of Sport, which made household names out of its stars.
Names like Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy and Kendo Nagasaki are still referred to today. The end of the ITV era in the 80s marked the decline in the sport in the UK, but the popularity of the WWE meant fan interest was still high.
British wrestling wouldn’t fully re-established its scene until the last decade. UK stars such Neville and Paige were winning titles in the States, and indie darlings Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr were tearing up Japan.
The likes of ICW and Progress were also finding their grove, gaining followers world wide. WWE’s decision to focus on the scene by launching their first UK Title tournament truly marked a turning point for British Wrestling.
Here, Steven Wilson and his panel look at the journey taken by UK wrestling and what the future may hold.
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