Wrestling Forum banner

Why WWE has never had an English WWE Champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

6K views 65 replies 56 participants last post by  Lesnar Turtle 
#1 ·
This is related to the whole Jinder situation. Jinder is champion because they want to expand to India and make money there, no two ways about it. But I honestly don't think WWE will be really succesful in this enterprise since they have jobbed Mahal to death and no one is buying him as champion. This made me think, why WWE has never pushed an english wrestler to be WWE champion? Giving the amount of great english talent they have had over the years (Regal, British Bulldog, Barrett, Neville) and the fact that the UK is the 2nd or 3rd market for WWE (not sure if Canada or the UK is second), why not trying harder there?

The UK wrestling scene have been really hot for the last couple of years, selling out venues and producing great matches and great wrestlers, so there is a market willing to expend a decent amount of money in wrestling and I honestly think that there would be a better chance of getting, I don't know, 500k network subscribers from the UK with a good british wrestler as top champion (and there are several) than getting 500k subscribers from India with an average wrestler that have alienated your audience and is making the ratings drop. Granted, they are trying with those UK specials, but those shows are network only, which would limited their growth, unlike having a british wrestler on main events of PPVs and weekly tv.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkLady
#13 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Hello the WWE prioritised the UK more than any other market outside North America .

They held Summerslam 1992 in Wembley stadium and hold RAW Smackdown NXT in the UK several times a year and just had a UK championship . The main event of summerslam 1992 was the British bulldog vs Bret Hart for the IC title .

The UK market
has been targeted for years , India is untapped on a large scale so WWE going after 1.31 billon people is a good idea.

The WWE need to look to new emerging markets to keep the company growing !

Yours

Farhan
 
#10 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

population basically, though I wouldve feckin loved a bad news barrett run as champ.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

India has only recently surpassed the UK in GDP, the first time ever in 150 years. The problem is India is still poorer in terms of GDP per capita. The UK may have a lower population, but it's population is richer and has higher disposable income than that of India. It's pretty stupid for WWE to try and move into India now, when the population as a whole hasn't gotten that much richer to spend money on the WWE product. They can tune in to watch the product, but to actually pay money for merchandise is gonna be quite a task. At the least WWE is attempting to establish a foothold in the country as it develops as a economy. Also India has a large English speaking population. Due to the colonial past, Indians have been taught in schools to speak English and it's easier for WWE to show their product in India than it is to go to China; whose population speaks little English. With India they got a better shot and India does have a great culture and their entertainment industry is pretty big.

Anyways I think its stupid that we get a Indian WWE champion before we ever got a Black WWE champion (Rock don't count) or a UK WWE champion. At least it has opened the possibility for it to happen.

Edit: You guys need to stop looking at the populations of each country. Just because Indian has 1 billion people doesn't mean much if they don't have the money to spend on the product.
 
#22 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

India has only recently surpassed the UK in GDP, the first time ever in 150 years. The problem is India is still poorer in terms of GDP per capita. The UK may have a lower population, but it's population is richer and has higher disposable income than that of India. It's pretty stupid for WWE to try and move into India now, when the population as a whole hasn't gotten that much richer to spend money on the WWE product. They can tune in to watch the product, but to actually pay money for merchandise is gonna be quite a task. At the least WWE is attempting to establish a foothold in the country as it develops as a economy. Also India has a large English speaking population. Due to the colonial past, Indians have been taught in schools to speak English and it's easier for WWE to show their product in India than it is to go to China; whose population speaks little English. With India they got a better shot and India does have a great culture and their entertainment industry is pretty big.

Anyways I think its stupid that we get a Indian WWE champion before we ever got a Black WWE champion (Rock don't count) or a UK WWE champion. At least it has opened the possibility for it to happen.

Edit: You guys need to stop looking at the populations of each country. Just because Indian has 1 billion people doesn't mean much if they don't have the money to spend on the product.
I was coming in here to post this. India has a lot of people but it also has one of the highest poverty rates. Like...30% of its population lives below the international poverty line, which I believe is $1.90/day. Its nice that they want to make a move into a new market, but if the people there can't afford your product, what's the point? This isn't some cheap can of Coke we're talking about, WWE merchandise is fucking expensive, and so are tickets.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkLady
#5 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Maybe because India is a huge market that needs to be grown. Over a billion people who aren't cynical for the most part and they have quite a lot of people who haven't been exposed to the WWE already.


A better question would be why they chose Ireland over England with Balor and Sheamus, but the answer would be that Triple H has to take care of his children.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

The question isn't why they chose India over England, the question is why they choose EVERYWHERE over England. Mark my words, there'll be a world champion from fucking Rwanda before there's one from England. If Regal and Barrett couldn't do it, it's impossible, at least with Vince in charge.
 
#9 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

WWE social media is strongest in India, even stronger than the United States. India has 1.3 billion people, a lot of which believe wrestling is real.

They are a goldmine, WWE just need the right guy to make into a Indian megastar. Roman could be that guy, but Jinder it seems is now taking that role.
 
#12 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

I once had a group of Indians on Facebook threaten me aggressively on Facebook for saying I loved it when HHH "busted his nose" on the announce table abou Roman. Would you rather market to a small portion of a 70 mil population of cynics (wrestling isn't cool here in the slightest) or a portion of 1 billion people who get so upset over kayfabe actions they threaten to murder people online? :lmao
 
#14 ·
Well BNB was made of glass and Regal had his heart and drug issues so........................

I once had a group of Indians on Facebook threaten me aggressively on Facebook for saying I loved it when HHH "busted his nose" on the announce table abou Roman. Would you rather market to a small portion of a 70 mil population of cynics (wrestling isn't cool here in the slightest) or a portion of 1 billion people who get so upset over kayfabe actions they threaten to murder people online? :lmao
I have had a lot of these.
 
#43 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

I answered this in a previous thread but here goes again.

Simply saying "the population" isn’t wrong, but is giving only part of the story.
If population alone was the reason, then WWE would’ve had a Chinese champion by now and would be pursuing the same for Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria and other nations with large populations exceeding Britain’s.

The fact is that India has been identified as a market with the potential for massive growth. That is not true of all nations with big populations. India is also a developing market, meaning that the growth has to be encouraged and nurtured in order for it to reach its maximum potential. This could include moves like establishing an Indian champion in order to garner media attention in the country and get more eyes on the product.

The UK, conversely, is very much a developed market for WWE. It has been one of WWE’s most profitable markets for the past 30 years and shows have sold out consistently there over that time period. Demand for WWE in the UK is inelastic in that the fans are dedicated and seem to support the product no matter what.

WWE does not need to skyrocket British performers in order to get attention in the UK and encourage fandom here – the fandom is already well-established. Yes, having UK performers is helpful and the fans enjoy it, but it’s not necessary to get the product off the ground.
 
#7 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

The potential monetary gain from appealing to the UK is completely insignificant compared to that of India, I'd imagine. I think we're going to see quite a bit of Indian and Chinese pushes in the coming years because WWE is desperate to break into those markets.
 
#15 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

The potential monetary gain from appealing to the UK is completely insignificant compared to that of India, I'd imagine. I think we're going to see quite a bit of Indian and Chinese pushes in the coming years because WWE is desperate to break into those markets.
Then I can't wait for Tian Bing to win the Universal Championship within the next year.
 
#17 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

The great Khali sold out a 60k arena wrestling a freaking jobber in a city that only has a population of 8 milion. India has a population of what 1.2 billion? Imagine how big the wwe could be over there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkLady
#20 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Indians don't pay for wrestling. They like to watch the product on YouTube (which is a money loser for WWE.) Network numbers are pretty weak for that region.

This venture will be another money loser for the company, as are most things these days outside of their TV deal.
 
#26 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Talk of population is not accurate as the UKs buying power/tv accessibility/internet relevancy etc has far exceeded India's for almost the entirety of the time the WWE has operated. Things are somewhat changing now and the Indian middle and upper classes are now large enough in number and access to tv/cable/internet to be a relevant market. Thing is, the UK, being part of the English spekaing world is still a larger play on the global entertainment stage so yeah, its still a weird decision.

It probably has something to do with trying to break a new market.

Oh and isnt JInder actually American?
 
#28 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Oh and isnt JInder actually American?
Jinder Mahal is Canadian, he was born in Calgary.

The question isn't why they chose India over England, the question is why they choose EVERYWHERE over England. Mark my words, there'll be a world champion from fucking Rwanda before there's one from England. If Regal and Barrett couldn't do it, it's impossible, at least with Vince in charge.
Even the British Bulldog, I still can't believe he was never world champ. It's not like they never had the means to do it.
 
#29 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

UK is already got there own show and own champion what more do they want?

Plus India's population is like a billion people, best to expand the Indian market.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rookie of the Year
#30 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

UK is already got there own show and own champion what more do they want?

Plus India's population is like a billion people, best to expand the Indian market.
Couple PPVs a year would be nice :side:

To be fair we had neither before 2017 and had never had a UK champ despite being the WWE's 2nd biggest market for virtually ever.
 
#31 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Because the UK doesn't have once-in-a-lifetime talents like the Maharaja obviously, who possesses miraculous healing powers that form him from a fat, gassed alcoholic into a lean, veined monster in six weeks.

His acne and bitch tits are obviously curses from jealous swamis that can't handle his awesomeness.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rookie of the Year
#40 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

To be frank as an African American I'm confused on why it matters when plenty of white people in general have been champ debating about where those white people are from seems silly. I mean there's never been a French WWE champ or a German WWE champ, why does a Brit champ specifically really matter that much?

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
#54 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

To be frank as an African American I'm confused on why it matters when plenty of white people in general have been champ debating about where those white people are from seems silly. I mean there's never been a French WWE champ or a German WWE champ, why does a Brit champ specifically really matter that much?

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
I mean I wish Regal won a World title not because he is English but fucking amazing.

I mean some people get weirdly attached to nationality which is why.
 
#18 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

Because they haven't had a British champion worth a shite. Barrett was pipped to be the first one, but for some reason, he couldn't get major reactions with the fanbase. And Barrett was sick of midcarding and asked to be let out of his contract. He should have learned from Jinder and just did his job without complaint and waited for an opportunity to present itself.
 
#21 ·
Re: Why WWE has never had an english WWE champion? Why did they choose India over the UK?

They won't make money via Network subs in India, however they are angling to get a large tv deal next time. I believe pay per view events there air on the equivalent of pay channels, so the game would be maximizing tv rights fees. The merch market could be huge too as the hundreds of millions in the middle class (300M?) can certainly afford it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top