WWE is locking down talent all over the world for many reasons. They don’t want competition because they want to be the only place to get pro wrestling. That will never be the case, but with the recent restrictions they’re putting in the latest NXT UK contracts, it seems like WWE is getting closer to making that a reality.
There are still few promotions talents are allowed to work for, but they can’t appear on any kind of broadcast. They want their talent to be exclusive to WWE, which is understandable and the fact that so many of those wrestlers appear all over the UK at indie shows was contributed to why the attendance for NXT UK’s latest house show tapings was so low.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio how much NXT UK talents were making before they received a pay increase and exclusivity. He also noted why WWE is being so protective of their talents as well outside of the fact that they don’t want to risk overexposure.

“Before the talent was upset because they were only making $20,000 a year on their WWE contract and you know they were originally told they could work anywhere they wanted as long as WWE had first dibs on dates. Then they were told you can’t work anywhere a week before our taping because Travis Banks got hurt like doing an indie show a couple of days before TV and they had to re-do TV.”

WWE didn’t want someone to get hurt before their NXT UK television taping because they didn’t want it to mess with the television storyline. It was noted that the amount of the raises hasn’t been released yet, but that information might come out eventually.
Triple H wants WWE to have their own global territory system at this point in Brazil, Australia, Japan, the UK, etc. The goal is for these wrestlers to have “nice careers” even if they never make it to the main roster. Therefore, only time will tell how effective that will end up being. But it looks like WWE is getting started on this idea much sooner than some might have initially expected.
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H Jenkins

I love pro wrestling and hate BS. These two things drive me. Years of experience in writing, journalism, and digging exclusive insider info for Ringside News. Worked in finance before realizing pro wrestling journalism made much less sense. Pro beachballs at pro wrestling shows, pro dives if someone catches, anti bullies, olives, and pineapples on pizza.

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