Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: pro wrestling, world of sport, wrestling, wwe

UK's World Of Sport Wrestling Revival Airs On New Years Eve, Featuring Good Ol' Jim Ross

The UK's ITV will launch its official revival of World of Sport, the allegedly classic British wrestling show that's coming back as a one-shot special on New Years Eve, beginning at 5PM. With so many obnoxiously British staff members, Bleeding Cool is uniquely qualified to prove or debunk the World of Sport hype for gullible American wrestling fans.

We asked some our British staff members if they remember the show as culturally relevant as recent promotion claims. Rich Johnston, who despises wrestling, claims to have never heard of it, but Eliot Cole remembers. Cole, however, tells us that RPW is the big wrestling "programme" in the UK.

ITV describes World of Sport thusly:

World of Sport Wrestling makes a historic and triumphant return to ITV for a one-off special, with an exciting mix of fast paced action and family fun for all.

30 years after the original ended, ITV brings together the UK's top wrestling talent in a spectacular display of their sport; a showcase for the next generation of WOS Wrestling.

This two hour special on New Year's Eve will see some of the finest pro wrestlers in the UK such as 'Grado', 'Mastiff and 'Viper' compete in front of a live studio audience across seven rounds of fast-paced and intense bouts. At the end of the show only one fighter will take home the WOS Wrestling Championship belt.

From singles to knockout rounds, tag team bouts and ladder matches where fighters must be the first to the top of a ladder and physically grab a contract to win, through to a seven-man elimination fight, each and every fighter is in it to win it.

World of Sport will air before WWE's planned foray into the UK with the launch of their UK championship tournament and weekly show, aimed at carving out a new global territory system. New Japan Pro Wrestling recently hinted that they may go to war with WWE if the American promotion tries to encroach on Japanese wrestling territory. If the fledgling World of Sport reboot is to survive this cultural incursion, it will need to work fast to secure its spot. To that end, the show will feature a voice familiar to fans of WWE – iconic wrestling announcer Jim Ross – alongside some dude named Alex Shane.

"I've been blessed to have had a 40 year plus broadcast career, but can honestly say being part of ITV Studio's production of World of Sport Wrestling has been a career highlight for me," Ross said of the upcoming gig. "The wrestling talent assembled is brilliant on all levels and they have succeeded in living their wrestling dream on this iconic brand. World of Sport Wrestling lives again!"

While World of Sport may seem terribly disadvantaged in a fight with WWE for the UK's wrestling soul, it's a playing field that could be quickly leveled if the special is a success. Though he remains woefully ignorant of wrestling, and other things as well, Rich Johnston tells us that Sky Sports, the subscription cable service where WWE's programming currently airs, struggles to get seven figures in viewership for its most popular shows, while ITV, a free to air channel, sometimes gets eight figures. However, Bleeding Cool's Patrick Dane says he wouldn't put a lot of stock in World of Sport getting anywhere near WWE levels, though he didn't elaborate on why.

Eliot Cole, however, did:

Unless ITV massively engages the younger audiences, and men (which this could be a grab for), I'm not sure that this'll be anything beyond ITV making a grab for wrestling money, and it'll get post midnight sometimes (or their fourth digital channel/online). If it's a money grab it'll be at the expense of a scene that's had to struggle to pull itself up from a grim 25 years.

So, there's Bleeding Cool's unique Brit perspective on World of Sport's revival.

In any case, as in all things, competition in wrestling leads to a better product for everyone, so we wish World of Sport the best of luck on Saturday. For Bleeding Cool's UK readers – will you be tuning in?

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