Potential Reason For WWE Signing European Talents Revealed

A possible reason for WWE's signing of multiple stars of the European independent wrestling scene has been revealed.

Cultaholic exclusively reported on May 20 that WWE are signing Aigle Blanc and Mike D Vecchio, with both wrestlers set to start with the company by September. Fightful Select also reported that Zozaya is expected to sign with WWE and he will begin with the company later this year. The signings of Blanc, Vecchio, and Zozaya came about following tryouts at WWE's UK performance centre on March 29 and March 30.

Following the reports, Mike Johnson of PWInsider has noted that WWE have been putting a lot of attention into international recruitment in recent weeks. This coincides with talk within WWE that the company are finally preparing to launch NXT Europe later this year.

NXT Europe has long been discussed, with WWE announcing in the immediate aftermath of the closure of NXT UK in September 2022 that the company planned to launch NXT Europe in the near future. The project has been repeatedly delayed, however, but WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H claimed earlier this year at the WWE UK tryouts that NXT Europe was still happening.

"It is (on whether NXT Europe is happening). I'm still a big believer that the UK was going to work. The product was there, the interest level was there - the pandemic squashed it. For years we couldn't move people, we couldn't bring people in and it just shut it down. I still believe it's there," Triple H told Daily Mail.

"I still believe in the expansion of what we're doing. It's about the opportunity for people. The opportunity in this industry, what we do, is few and far between outside of WWE where you're kind of just trying to do it on your own. It's as if you have an instrument but no one is teaching you how to play it and you're just trying to start a band. You're just kinda winging it and there's no other stuff so people will come and pay to see it. But if you have somebody teaching you, showing you the ropes, showing you how to play, mentoring you, it makes it so much easier. That's what this is about. The future of the business for us is going to Japan, the Middle East, Australia and all of these places where we can help support and grow a thriving industry. The people who don't see that don't see what we do."

Should WWE launch NXT Europe later this year, it would be WWE's fifth brand joining Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and Evolve. WWE also have their WWE ID programme for independent wrestlers.

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