Earlier this week, news leaked that WWE is reportedly close to reaching a deal with mega-popular indie U.K. promotion Insane Championship Wrestling that would bring ICW programming to WWE Network. The specifics of that deal are not yet clear, nor have they been announced, but it’s now looking like ICW might be the tip of the iceberg. It turns out there’s more to several promotions being featured during the United Kingdom Championship Tournament than fans may have realized.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, ICW is only part of the equation. The other promotions that WWE worked hand in hand with for the UKCT, This Is Progress and OTT, are working out similar deals to bring their content to the Network.
WWE has worked with ICW many times over the past year, sending Finn Bálor (and Mick Foley) there on multiple occasions, and they let NXT signee Tommy End work at at a Progress show the weekend of the UKCT. Meltzer’s sources indicate the WWE Network deal with Progress is already in the bag, and the announcements for any or all of these partnerships could arrive by week’s end.
The partnerships are reportedly extremely sweet deals for WWE, as they will pay the companies annual fees of $50,000 on three-year deals, which is reportedly less than what FloSlam is paying promotions for being carried on their over-the-top streaming platform. Obviously, however, the audience size doesn’t compare to the Network at this point.
The other major indie in the U.K., Revolution Pro, is not currently discussing a deal with WWE, as they book loads of New Japan and Ring of Honor talent, which would obviously be a massive conflict. WWE and Rev Pro worked together prior to the Cruiserweight Classic, but any sort of working relationship wouldn’t be feasible as Rev Pro’s roster is currently constructed. However, Meltzer noted that while Rev Pro outright turned down an offer from FloSlam, there was no official offer from WWE, “more of a feeling out process.”
The tentative plan for ICW (which already has their own streaming service that will remain the same), is that their “live” events will never air on WWE Network, and that a new “Indies” section (or similar) will be created on the Network interface, so there will be no need for ICW to tone their product down. WWE Network already offers parental controls, of course, which I’m sure lots of people use.
The other interesting tidbits about all this info from the Wrestling Observer are that WWE is attempting to (or at least considering) getting EVOLVE away from FloSlam, and that while all of the talent that was signed to deals for UKCT aren’t allowed to compete for ITV’s World Of Sport reboot, or New Japan, ROH, TNA, and a few other companies, they’re on flat $20,000 yearly deals that they can supplement with outside bookings from all over, so it’s absolutely win-win for the wrestlers, as their profiles will be elevated by the Tournament and exposure on the Network, plus they’ll receive steady paychecks from WWE and will be able to pretty much book themselves as normal.
Whew, that’s a whole bunch to take in. I’m just gonna sit back and try to process it while I wait for a bunch of indie U.K. wrestling to be uploaded to the Network.
