Tag: WES

WES cancels debut show again, blames ‘talent not showing up’

WES announced the cancellation of its debut Nottingham show, suggesting that talent backing out was to blame.

Maybe Alistair Overeem is fated never to make his pro wrestling debut after all.

The former UFC heavyweight was slated to participate in the main event of the debut Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES) show in Nottingham, England. The original date was June 4, but the fledgling promotion called it off just days prior and announced a new date of July 9.

Now that’s off as well. WES tweeted today that despite being “disappointed in the news,” it was canceling the show. It pointed to “so many talent not showing up” as the main cause.

The only wrestler called out by name in the cancellation post is Lina Fanene, the former Nia Jax during her time in WWE. Fanene had been adamant on her own social media as far back as June 23 that she would not be participating.

Adam Scherr, formerly WWE’s Braun Strowman, was advertised as Overeem’s opponent for the original June date, and he expressed his skepticism as well in response to a tweet from Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.

It remains to be seen if WES, which was founded by Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa (known as Rezar and Akam in WWE), can recover from such an inauspicious start. But getting off on the wrong foot with the very talent the company is trying to court only adds to the hurdles any new promotion faces, ones that now seem too high to clear in the short term.

New WES card revealed, ex-UFC star still headlining

The first WES card for Nottingham has changed quite a bit since the show was postponed to July, but an ex-UFC heavyweight is still in the main event.

The fledgling Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES) has announced its new card for its debut show in Nottingham, UK, and ex-UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem is still in the main event — he just has a new opponent.

When the WES UK show was originally planned for June 4, Overeem was advertised to face Adam Scherr (known as Braun Strowman during his stint in WWE) to determine the promotion’s inaugural world champion. When that date fell through due to logistical issues around the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration, the card was rescheduled for July 9, remaining at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

It was reported at the time of the postponement that some of the talent promoted for the show would not be able to make the new date, and that appears to be the case as the card is now much different. The changes start at the top, with Overeem now slated to step in the ring against former Impact World Champion Moose.

Another title match pitting Lina Fanene (Nia Jax during her time in WWE) vs. C.J. Perry (Lana while in WWE) is a holdover from the original card. All other matches now being advertised are new:

  • Legion of Pain vs. BT Gunn and Kez Evans (World Tag Team Championship Match)
  • Steph De Lander and Anastasia vs. She Wolves (Women’s World Tag Team Championship Match)
  • Samuray del Dol vs. Lince Dorado
  • Dean Muhtadi vs. Damo Mackle
  • Eric Young vs. Zac Zodiac
  • Levis Valenzuela Jr. vs. Jody Fliesh

The last two matches on the above list will be shown on a free live pre-show, with all others airing on pay-per-view.

Overeem’s continued involvement is the most intriguing part of the event. The 42-year-old MMA fighter raised some eyebrows when he was first revealed as a headliner by the WES, given that he’s been outspoken about his disdain for pro wrestling in the past.

[lawrence-related id=1929]

The brainchild of Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa, known as the Authors of Pain while working for WWE and now calling themselves the Legion of Pain, the WES has a mission statement dedicating itself to becoming “a global brand in the sports entertainment and professional wrestling industry.” Tickets are on sale now, and the PPV will be available internationally through FITE.tv.

Wrestling Entertainment Series postpones UK show, some talent in doubt

The fledgling Wrestling Entertainment Series announced it was postponing its debut UK show until July 9.

Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES) was set to hold its debut show in Nottingham this weekend, headlined by Adam Scherr (WWE’s Braun Strowman) and former UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem. Now wrestling fans will have to wait a bit longer to see what the new promotion has in store.

WES announced today that it was postponing its first UK show until July 9. The venue will be the same — Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham — and the countdown clock on the official WES site has been reset to reflect the new date.

The issue now will be whether the originally advertised talent, which works across a wide range of wrestling companies, will be able to work the July date. In its reporting on the postponement, Fightful Select said it had talked to “numerous people booked on the card who have said they won’t be heading over there in July,” and that some of the wrestlers were “very upset about the postponement.”

A press release distributed on Tuesday cited The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, also taking place this weekend in the UK, as a cause of the postponement.

It was a huge undertaking to move the event to a completely different continent on three weeks’ notice. Unfortunately, with the Queen’s jubilee celebrations and the impact that is having on the events sector in the UK, and with just three weeks to prepare, it proved to be an impossible task.

WES is the creation of Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa, known as Rezar and Akam, respectively, when they worked for WWE as the Authors of Pain. They had originally revealed an impressive list of wrestlers for the Nottingham card, including a number of men and women familiar to WWE fans (albeit under different names), as well as Impact stars Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green.

For now, all of that talent remains on the WES website, but it will be an open question for a few weeks as to how many of them remain on the card.

[lawrence-related id=1929]