WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(formerly World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment), an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion based in Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

owned by the

McMahon family The McMahon family is an Irish Americans, Irish-American family, primarily known for their involvement in the professional wrestling business. They are the founders, owners, and promoters of the wrestling company, WWE. Vince McMahon, a third gen ...

, has been promoting events in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(UK) since 1989. From 1989 to 2001 WWE was promoted under concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith and his brother Martin Goldsmith for UK and European shows.

International broadcasts from the UK

Pay-per-views

Over the years, World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment has run several broadcast events based in the UK. In 1989, the WWF held their First WWF UK event, which aired exclusively in the UK. From 1991 to 1993 similar UK exclusive broadcasts known as

UK Rampage UK Rampage was an annual professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) exclusively for the United Kingdom. With the exception of 1990, it was held from 1989 to 1993. These events aired live on the BSkyB family of c ...

. In 1991 the WWF filmed the supercard event

Battle Royal at the Albert Hall Battle Royal at the Albert Hall was a live professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) that took place on 3 October 1991 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, London, England. The eve ...

, in London. SummerSlam 1992 was the first

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

broadcast from the UK on August 29 (aired August 31). In 1997 they returned to the UK with

WWF One Night Only WWF One Night Only was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and aired exclusively in Canada and the United Kingdom. It took place on September 20, 1997, at the NEC Arena in B ...

. In 1998 the WWF returned to the UK for WWF Mayhem in Manchester and

WWF Capital Carnage WWF Capital Carnage was a United Kingdom-only professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on December 6, 1998, at the London Arena in London, ...

, which aired exclusively in the UK. The following year they returned with No Mercy. From 1999 to 2002 they ran a fall pay-per-view from the UK known as

WWE Rebellion WWE Rebellion was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1999, the events were held and broadcast exclu ...

. In addition from 2000 to 2003 they ran a spring pay-per-view from the UK known as

WWE Insurrextion WWE Insurrextion was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2000, the events were held and broadcast exclus ...

Mayhem in Manchester

Mayhem in Manchester was a

event exclusively for

(UK), produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF) that took place on 4 April 1998 at the Nynex Arena in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The event was released later in an edited form on VHS in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and in the UK. With the exception of the "Old School" editions of WWE Raw on November 15, 2010, March 4, 2013, and January 6, 2014, along with the

Raw 25 Years Raw 25 Years was a special episode of WWE's weekly television series '' Raw'', broadcast on the USA Network on January 22, 2018. The episode was a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the program's debut in January 1993. The event was held ...

on January 25, 2018, and the Throwback

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

edition on May 7, 2021, this was the last ever WWF event to feature the WWF New Generation logo with the posts, ring skirt, floor mats and steps as light blue with the ropes colored red, white and blue.

Production

Background

The event was originally scheduled to be a UK exclusive

, as a follow up to the success of One Night Only. As the event drew closer, the WWF cancelled plans to broadcast the event, due to a profit sharing disagreement with the venue. In addition

Davey Boy Smith David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...

and

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

, who the WWF has planned to center the event around, were no longer with the company by the time of the event. The event would later be released on video rather than broadcasting live.

Storylines

The card consisted of eight matches, that resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF. The main event heading into the event was between

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

and

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

for the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

. After Austin defeated

at WrestleMania to win the WWF Championship, Michaels retired from professional wrestling due to back injury (He returned to wrestling in 2002), and then Austin continued his feud with

D-Generation X D-Generation X (DX) is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable, and later a tag team, who consisted of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The group originated in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ...

members. It was announced that Austin would face Triple H for the WWF Championship at Mayhem in Manchester. Another main event heading into the event was between

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

and Kane. After The Undertaker defeated his brother Kane at

WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV was the 14th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; WWE as of 2002). It took place on March 29, 1998, at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. A ...

, it was announced that the two would face each other again at Mayhem in Manchester.

Event

Preliminary matches

During the opening match of the event

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father J ...

defeated

Brakkus Achim Albrecht (born 2 July 1962) is a German personal trainer and former bodybuilder and professional wrestler. He is best known for winning the over 90 kilograms category of the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness Mr. Universe c ...

via submission, when Brakkus tapped out to the figure-4 leglock. The second match saw

The Godwinns The Godwinns were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Dennis Knight (Phineas I. Godwinn) and Mark Canterbury (Henry O. Godwinn) that they used in the World Wrestling Entertainment, WWF. The team has used other gimmicks before they joined ...

(

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and Phineas) defeat

The Disciples of Apocalypse The Disciples of Apocalypse (DOA) were a biker-themed professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late 1990s. The group came together from the firing of Crush and Savio Vega from the Nation of Domination stable in ...

(

Skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

and 8-Ball) in a strap match. Henry picked up the pinfall victory after hitting the Slop Drop on Skull. Prior to the next match,

Marc Mero Marc Mero (born July 9, 1960) is an American former Amateur boxing, amateur boxer and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ...

sent

Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...

to the back, due to a series of issues leading up to the event. Mero however lost the match following Bradshaw hitting him with the lariat. The following match saw

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

and

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrest ...

defeated The Nation of Domination ( The Rock and

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for his ...

), after brown tapped out to Shamrock's ankle lock. The next match was between Cactus Jack and The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust. During the match, as Jack when to suplex Goldust,

Luna Vachon Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon ( ; January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Luna Vachon.Lisa S. Davis,Ex-wrestler Luna Vachon, 48, found dead", ''Tampa Bay Online'' (August 31, 2010). Over ...

tripped Jack. Following this, Goldust covered Jack and picked up the pinfall victory. Following the match, Sable came out to attack Vachon. Continuing with the issues from earlier in the night, Mero followed Sable out and pulled her off of Vachon. As Goldust and Vachon used this opportunity to escape, Sable turned around and attacked Mero, then left with Mero still on the ground in the ring. The following match saw

WWF Tag Team Champions The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

The New Age Outlaws The New Age Outlaws were an American professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) made up of "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn. The duo became popular in the late 1990s as members of the second incarnation ...

(

Road Dogg Brian Girard James (born May 20, 1969) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with the WWE where he serves as the Senior Vice President of Live Events. James was best known for his initial tenure with World Wrestling Federation (W ...

and

Billy Gunn Monty Kip Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, although he is currently finding renewed popularity under the ring name Daddy Ass, is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently ...

), defend their titles against LOD 2000 (

Road Warrior Animal Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (September 12, 1960 – September 22, 2020), better known by his ring name Road Warrior Animal (or simply Animal), was an American professional wrestler. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one half of the tag team T ...

and

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

). As LOD attempted to hit the Doomsday Device on Dogg,

Chyna Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and television personality. She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where sh ...

entered the ring and hit Animal with a low blow. The referee awarded the victory to LOD via disqualification, allowing The New Age Outlaws to retain the titles.

Main event matches

In the first main event,

and

held the

and

WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...

respectively, however only Austin's title was on the line during the match. At the end of the match, Chyna attempted to interfere, however Austin hit her with the Stunner, followed by hitting Triple H with a Stunner as well, to pick up the pinfall victory. In some areas this turned out to be the final match. The main event of the evening saw

defeat Kane via pinfall, following a Tombstone.

Results

Weekly television shows

Insurrextion in 2003 at the

Telewest Arena The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts m ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

marked the last of WWE's UK exclusive pay-per-views. However, WWE started to broadcast ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'' and ''

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

'' from the UK in 2004. Due to the time change, all broadcasts were recorded and aired on tape delay. The first ''Raw'' broadcast from the United Kingdom was October 11, 2004, with a ''SmackDown!'' recording the following day. Beginning in 2005 WWE would record twice per year in the United Kingdom, once in the spring and once in the fall. In November 2008, WWE recorded two episodes of ''SmackDown''. all recordings have occurred in England, with the exception of November 2016 which took place at the SSE Hydro in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. From 2006 to 2009, WWE's recording schedule in the United Kingdom included episodes of ''

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

''.

2004–2010

2011–present

NXT/NXT UK

On December 16, 2015, the WWE held their first NXT event in the UK, NXT TakeOver: London. In January 2017, they returned for the first United Kingdom Championship Tournament, with the second tournament in June 2018. In May 2017 they also hosted a United Kingdom Championship Special from the UK. In a press conference at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

on December 15, 2016,

revealed that there would be a 16-man tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion. The tournament was held over a two-day period, January 14 and 15, 2017, and aired exclusively on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

Tyler Bate Tyler Bate (born 7 March 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand. In 2017, he became the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion (later renamed NXT United Kingdom Championship), ...

won the inaugural tournament to become the first WWE United Kingdom Champion. In August 2018

Rhea Ripley Demi Bennett (born 11 October 1996) is an Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley and is a member of The Judgme ...

became the first NXT UK Women's Champion. In January 2019, James Drake and

Zack Gibson Jack Rea (born 8 August 1990) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Rip Fowler. He is also known for his work as Zack Gibson on the UK independent circuit. He f ...

became the inaugural

NXT UK Tag Team Champions The NXT UK Tag Team Championship was a men's professional wrestling tag team championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was defended on the NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of WWE's developmental territory ...

. When the championship was unveiled in December 2016, it was announced to be the top championship of a new WWE Network show, produced in the United Kingdom. However, it was not until mid-2018 when WWE formally established

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the s ...

as the brand for their United Kingdom division. The brand's show, also titled ''

'', had its first tapings in August, which began airing on October 17. On January 12, 2019, the first live special episode of ''NXT UK'' aired, called NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.

Broadcast

has been broadcast in the United Kingdom on the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

series of television channels since the 1980s, with a small selection of shows (including Sunday Night Heat and four PPVs a year) briefly being broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 2000 and 2001. In 2014, WWE signed a 5-year renewal deal with Sky, to carry programs through the end of 2019, which included adding ''

WWE Main Event ''WWE Main Event'' is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. Premiering on October 3, 2012, the hour-long program features mid-to-low-card talent from WWE's Raw brand as well as talents from NXT. ''Main Event'' ...

'' to the line up of shows carried. In June 2019

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

announced that from January 2020 they would be the home of

in the UK. However, BT Sport was then acquired in April 2022 by

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...

, the parent company of rival

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

broadcasters

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and TBS in the United States. The

launched in December 2014 in the United Kingdom.

BT Sport

Channel 5

is also shown on tape delay on Channel 5 since February 2020. The weekly Monday Night

and Friday Night

Smackdown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

are shown every Sunday at 10:00am and 11:00am. The shows are 1 hour highlights with advertisements. On

My5 My5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service went live on 26 June 2008. It is owned by Paramount Global and operated by their Paramoun ...

, every episode of

Total Divas ''Total Divas'' is an American reality television series that aired from July 28, 2013, to December 10, 2019, on E!. The series gave viewers an inside look into the lives of female WWE wrestlers from their work within WWE to their persona ...

and Miz and Mrs are available to watch with no extra cost.

WWE Performance Center

The second

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE wre ...

branch opened on 11 January 2019 in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

References

{{WWE WWE international