NXT Europe isn’t expected to launch until some time in 2023, but Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque is already toying with some “World Cup-type” ideas to make the brand a success!
The announcement of NXT Europe effectively replacing NXT UK moving forward shocked many. The latter’s closure was more obvious, given rumours at the time, but expanding the brand wasn’t expected by anyone. Triple H, however, couldn’t be more thrilled.
WWE’s Chief Content Officer spoke during the post-Clash At The Castle press conference, explaining to Evelyn Lau of the National UAE how excited he is for the brand’s launch next year. As he detailed, his vision is ultimately to have a “World Cup-type” scenario with various markets:
“One, very excited about NXT Europe. I think the opportunity for us…NXT UK started here, we had large plans for it 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 what we decided to do is pull back on what we were doing, so that we could advance to the next level, sometimes tough to do at the same time, so I think you’ll see [that with] NXT Europe.
And as I mentioned the other day in some interviews, I think the long-term goal is to be in markets all around the world with products that, eventually, can be competing against each other, World Cup-type scenarios that are feeding into Raw, to SmackDown, and to WrestleMania.”
This wouldn’t be the first time WWE has utilised a World Cup scenario, as they promoted an eight-man World Cup tournament leading into the 2018 Crown Jewel pay-per-view, though the bracket consisted of eight American-born Superstars. Shane McMahon – who replaced an injured Miz in the finals – won by last pinning Dolph Ziggler.
NXT Europe was officially announced on Thursday, 18 August. As NXT UK’s replacement, WWE’s United Kingdom division will officially close up shop following Worlds Collide, with the brand’s final episode having aired this past Thursday and seeing Tyler Bate become NXT UK Champion.