Wrestlemania UK

[debunker]

Can anyone tell me what channel (or if it was shown) the first few wrestlemanias were shown on in the UK? 'Mania 1 was just before my time, the erliest mania I can remember watchin was 8 and that was on VHS, however I cannot remember how or if they were shown on television

Cheers

[Danny Electric]

I'm sure I remember them being on Sky Sports in 1994.

[debunker]

I know WWF programmes were on Sky Sports in that year but do you mean like repeats of earlier wrestlemanias?

I would be interested to know how WWF PPV events were shown in the UK between 85-92

Thanks for your response though

[Gerard]

I know WWF programmes were on Sky Sports in that year but do you mean like repeats of earlier wrestlemanias?

I would be interested to know how WWF PPV events were shown in the UK between 85-92

Thanks for your response though



PPv events up untill the last lot of years were all free (can't remember when sky started charging for them), though we didn't get them live it was a few days later. Thats going back to the early/mid 90's though, can't even remember when we started to get ppv's live, raw always used to be recorded and played on friday nights over here as well, that changed to a live show about 3-4 years back i think.

[The Destroyer]

I doubt they were - I don't think anyone in the UK aired WWF programming before Sky, who didn't exist prior to 1989.

V or VI was probably the first one that would have been on here, but I don't remember watching one on Sky until about WM X.

[The Mackem]

I think the early 90's was when Sky started showing them, I think. 8 or 9 may have been the first. We need Rob Harvey here.

[The Mackem]

CSL might know as well.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Pretty sure it was 5 or 6. Pretty sure I watched 6 the Monday after the even was held.

Not sure if it was also shown live, or if not when the first live one was.

[debunker]

Thanks for all your responses.

I have been watchin WWF on Sky since I was about 7 which would be 1993 but cant remember if the shows were live then? I seem to remember the PPV's were shown on a wednesday afternoon/evening?

Some good memories from 96-00 whent he PPVs were all free and I could go home from school on a friday night ready to watch raw at 10pm and smackdown the next morning on sky one at 11am.

I was just thinking about earlier manias before my time and how they were broadcast over here in the UK. The local video store here used to stock all the old PPV's and I used to rent them from there as well as sky sports

[CSL]

Well ITV had the WWF rights for a while from maybe 1987(?) on Saturday afternoons, but used to show TV matches. Sky have had the WWF/E rights since 1989 but I don't know if it was from early enough in the year to show WrestleMania V. My 'guess' would be WrestleMania VI on either Sky One or Sky Movies (There were PPV's on Sky Movies in 1991, dunno about 90 though)

[debunker]

Sky movies? wow i didnt know that

I remember wrestling on ITV and remember seein ric flair in about 1990 so figured that was WCW but i could be wrong as I was very young at the time.

Thanks for your help with this everyone

[The Mackem]

I remember seeing that, might have been Worldwide, definitely remember the TV title being defended.

[CSL]

Yah, Worldwide was on from like 1991-92 about 1am before being moved to Saturday afternoons. Used to get my Nan to tape it

[debunker]

That must of been what I saw, I was sure I saw ric flair, must of been before he jumped across to wwf but it was definitly a saturday afternoon I saw it.

During the late 90's early 2000's my parents cancelled the sky sports channels, luckily just as the did this Channel 4 got the rights 2 a few pay per views, Royal Rumble 2000 and Backlash 2000 being two of them, possibly the Survivor Series that year as well?

It was round about the time Sunday Night Heat was on Channel 4

[The Mackem]

Yeah, then Setanta got their hands on them and they became PPV. Remember buying Royal Rumble 2003 and then being billed for it about half a year later.

Sunday Night Heat got to the point where it was crap to watch because of the editing. Not as bad as WCW on Channel 5 though.

[debunker]

Sunday Night Heat on C4 was too cheesy for me, i remember clips before or after every commercial break with guys like Edge and Y2J saying stuff along the lines of "this is edge and your watching heat on channel 4". Even at 14 years old that used to make me cringe

[CSL]

lol WCW on Channel 5. That was classic stuff, if only for the lovely Batman-esque 'THWAK' speech bubbles

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[debunker]

haha i remember watching that it used to be on 7pm on a sunday night.

Was never really a fan of WCW at that point though.

[XL]

Royal Rumble 93 was definately on Sky. I remember my neighbour taping it for me and can vividly remember the Sky logo in the corner. Not sure bout Mania's but I'd guess they'd be shown in RR was.

[addy2hotty]

The first PPV I watched on Sky was the Survivor Series in 1991 (still have the recording on video), and I'm pretty sure that the following Wrestlemania VIII was the first WM shown in the UK and it was all on Sky Movies at that point. Although Sky had the rights to WWF from 1989, I'm pretty sure they starting showing PPVs in mid-1991 as they marketed it around The British Bulldog.

Sky's Sports channel became encrypted in August 1992 and then the PPVs moved there.

All the other WWF programming was mixed between the Sky Sports channel and their entertainment channel.

Raw debuted with it's first episode on Sky Sports and this has continued ever since. Albeit the early episodes were cut down (probably international versions).

[Rob]

I think the early 90's was when Sky started showing them, I think. 8 or 9 may have been the first. We need Rob Harvey here.

Eurosport first. Sky Movies second then on to Sky Sports. Then Channel 4 and Sky Box Office got in on it.

[The Mask]

yeah i remember the sport centre where my mum worked had a tv upstairs in the lounge that had eurosport and a couple of other random channels on. that was where i used to watch wrestling back in the day :'( i remember it being a momentous occasion the time i finally got to see hulk hogan actually wrestle and then i thought he was crap.

i used to love wcw on itv though on saturdays i think it was. flyin brian and steven regal was the big feud i remember. i was happy as a pig in shit when flyin brian finally won it :'(