April 30, 2007 Observer Newsletter: WWE Italy tour disappoints, UFC 70 recap
Napoleon had his Waterloo. Hitler had the Russian winter. And WCW had its Tacoma (the night on Raw where everything WCW related was booed so heavily that Vince McMahon canceled all his plans about keeping WCW as a separate group and giving it the Monday Night Raw time slot).
And WWE’s idea of expanding to five brands and running three or more different overseas territories (see 3/5 issue) this past week may have had a Russian winter of its own. Or an Italian spring.
After several years of doing monster business overseas, particularly in Europe, the current 22-show tour that started on 4/14 has been a box office disappointment due to the performance of the shows in Italy, and a lesser extent, Germany. The U.K. has continued sellout business, but when it comes to establishing a full-time European territory, which was a goal talked about for 2008, it’s a very bad sign.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.