When WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, faces Drew McIntyre this Saturday in Clash at the Castle, wrestling history could be made in more ways than one.
The major event will take place in the United Kingdom, making it the first major WWE event in the UK in nearly 20 years and the first outdoor stadium wrestling event in the UK in 30 years when the unforgettable 1992 SummerSlam took over Wembley Stadium in London.
That event, which we’ll talk about more below, is still spoken of highly and certainly deserves its place amongst the most memorable events in WWE’s history.
Now, with WWE’s return to the UK this weekend, we look at four ways that wrestling history can be made at Clash at the Castle.
1. Potential Records for Attendance
Within 24 hours of Clash at the Castle being announced, over 59,000 people pre-registered for tickets, setting a new all-time WWE record.
The showdown will be held at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales which has a capacity of over 70,000. The Clash at the Castle event has been said to have a little over 71,000 seats. This means it has a legitimate chance at being the biggest non-Wrestlemania attendance in 30 years since the aforementioned 1992 SummerSlam.
80,355 were in attendance that night at Wembley Stadium to watch the outstanding main event for the Intercontinental Championship between title holder Bret Hart and his real life brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith (then known as the British Bulldog). The match was so highly anticipated in the UK that it became a rare time where the World Championship match was actually the undercard to the Intercontinental Championship (with titleholder Randy Savage losing that World Championship bout by a countout to the Ultimate Warrior, but keeping the title). It also saw British boxer Lennox Lewis, who had yet to win the WBC World Heavyweight Championship, escort Smith into the ring while waving the Union Jack.
Bret Hart and the British Bulldog put on a wrestling showcase that is considered one of the greatest matches in wrestling history, and the roar of the massive crowd reached a peak when Bulldog managed a unique pin on Hart for the win as the champion attempted a sunset flip.
It’s worth noting that the attendance for that SummerSlam has been disputed and so has the next biggest non-Wrestlemania card, which was The Big Event from 1986. That memorable outdoor event took place at the Exhibiton Stadum in Toronto and saw Hulk Hogan survive a title defense over then arch-rival Paul Orndorff.
It has a disputed attendance of 74,000 (with figures as low as 61,000), as to the WWE often exaggerated attendance at the time, even in cases where exaggeration was completely unnecessary. So, this weekend’s Cash at the Castle will likely be recognized by the WWE as the third biggest non-Wrestlemania attendance in its history, though it could be true that it is, in reality, the biggest.
2. The longest title reign since Hulk Hogan will likely end
Roman Reigns has held the WWE’s Universal Championship for two years, uninterrupted. Such lengthy title reigns in modern wrestling are unusual. Reigns is the sixth longest reigning world champion in WWE’s nearly 60-year history. In fact, it’s the longest title reign since Hulk Hogan first ruled the squared circle in the Rock n’ Wrestlin’ era. Hogan held the title for 4 years, losing it in February of 1988 to Andre the Giant in typically controversial fashion. The match was aired live on NBC in America and is still the single most watched wrestling event in television history with a whopping 33 million people tuning in.
That was 34 years ago. Ending Reigns’ title reign now makes sense because, let’s face it, they’re not going to have him keep it for another 2 years, especially considering Roman’s less frequent appearances. The only real argument would be to have him drop the title at Wrestlemania. However, that’s seven months away, and anything can happen before then. Wrestling insiders have stated that the WWE is likely to make the title change. The most obvious reason to have Roman drop it now, however, is because of who his challenger is.
3. Drew McIntyre can become first British wrestler to win the WWE World or Universal Title in Great Britain
The Scottish wrestler who previously held the WWE World title in 2020 can make Principality Stadium roar as loud as Wembley did in 1992 if he ends the long reign of Reigns.
McIntyre is riding tremendous popularity right now, and WWE knows that if they are going to give him the title at some point, then now is obviously the time. McIntyre has expressed his desire to win the Universal title in front of a home crowd, and WWE is having a Roman Reigns celebration on this Friday’s Smackdown to commemorate him being a champion for two years, adding further speculation that Reigns is about to drop the title to McIntyre.
4. Sheamus could become a WWE grand slam champion
In his career, Sheamus has won three of the recognizable titles that make up the WWE grand slam and he has stated for a while now that he wants to win the Intercontinental title in order to become a WWE grand slam champion and then likely retire.
The bad news for him is that it’s unlikely that the WWE will give the title to someone who they would then have drop the title very shortly after, just so he can retire. The other bad news is that the WWE has been pushing the Intercontinental Champion, Gunther, as a solid heel in the making and a loss now could potentially stunt that growth.
The good news for Sheamus is that there is sentimental value for giving him the title and not just to mark a grand slam end to his career. He’s an Irishman. This makes him the second man from the British Isles, along with Drew McIntyre, to challenge for a title at this weekend’s event. Though a heel, he is likely a home crowd favorite, especially considering that Gunther is also a heel. However, Gunther is from Austria, so this event also brings him a little closer to home.
Overall, Drew winning the Universal title and Sheamus stealing the Intercontinental title will only help to make this event perhaps as memorable as the 1992 SummerSlam, especially if the matches are truly unforgettable.
It also features what’s becoming a very heated rivalry between Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins, multiple tag team matches, and the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler with rumors being that the highly popular champion will drop the title to make way for a Shayna Baszler vs Ronda Rousey showdown.
Clash at the Castle begins at 6pm local time, airing live in the States at 1pm est. on Peacock.