The British Invasion

After contributing to an American based website (4crwrestling.com) in the last few days, I, along with a fellow Brit, were referred to as a 'British Invasion'. This instantly got me thinking of the British 'assault' on the American leagues of wrestling.

In my lifetime, there hasn't been a huge amount of British influence in American Pro Wrestling, especially at the top of the pay-per-view cards. In the 80s, I remember The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith/Dynamite Kid) being a dominant tag team in the WWF. In the early 90s, Davey would go it alone after the retirement of Dynamite Kid, and would have his biggest moment when facing Bret Hart at Summerslam 1992 in Wembley Stadium. This would be, by far, his greatest achievement - winning the Intercontinental Championship on home turf.

Tragically, Davey Boy passed away on 18th May 2002 at the age of 39. Dynamite is partially paralysed and uses a wheelchair for mobility. In their wrestling careers, these legends never saw the heights of being a World Champion in a top organisation. This is a shame, but hopefully won't continue to be the norm.

Through the 90s and 2000s, we have had some excellent wrestlers populating the rosters of both WWF(E) and WCW. William Regal started in WCW in 1992 and would have two spells before becoming a WWE mainstay in 2000. From everything I read, Regal is a very well respected veteran and deserves his place in the company. Throughout his time in the WWE he has held numerous championships - Intercontinental, European, Hardcore, World Tag Team Champion and most recently the 2008 King of the Ring. This is the mark of this man. The only thing missing has been a World Championship to add to his outstanding achievements. He now does colour commentary on NXT and contributes to the future of the WWE.

In the last ten years we have also had some somewhat failures; Paul Birchill (along with 'sister' Katie Lea) didn't last long in any incarnation and would never reach any note-worthy height; Irishman, (Dave) Finlay, would debut with the WWE in 2005 - after having a 5 year stint in WCW before coming to WWE in 2001 as a trainer - and would go onto be a United States Champion. He, too, is now a respected veteran and valued member of the backstage set-up in WWE.

I'm not too familiar with TNA, but they have given opportunities to British wrestlers; Doug Williams made his biggest impact in America by becoming a two-time X Division Champion and two-time Tag Team Champion. Magnus teamed with Williams and, from what I've read, is doing well and progressing.

I've also come to learn about another man who finally found fame within TNA - Nigel McGuinness (known in TNA as Desmond Wolfe). He was also a prized possession of Ring of Honour, where he was their World Champion for 545 days - the second longest in ROH history (beat that Punk?!). Today, during my research, I proved to myself that you learn something new everyday. I'm man enough to admit that I had no idea that McGuinness was Wolfe. Maybe he could have gone onto greatness but I guess we'll never find out as McGuinness was forced to retire at the end of 2011. I fully intend on looking into his work now.

So what can we expect in the future? Who are our best chances of glory in the coming years?

Drew McIntyre
Scotsman McIntyre made his biggest impression in the WWE in 2009. It was here that he was given Mr McMahon's seal of approval, being billed as 'The Chosen One' - a man that would be a future World Champion. Unfortunately, this has yet to happen and we are nearly four years down the road from that proclamation. McIntyre is now part of the 'Three Man Band' (3MB). This is a comedy threesome at the moment, but maybe there is hope for him in the future? I suppose the positive to take at this stage is that he is on TV quite regularly at the moment.

Oliver Grey (Joel Redman) & Adrian Neville (PAC) - NXT
For those of you that don't know these guys; they are two young English guys that are signed to NXT. And why are they so special? Well, on a recent episode of NXT they were crowned the inaugural NXT Tag Team Champions (along the way they beat 3MB members Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre). This is a great accomplishment for these guys who haven't been in NXT all that long. It's also a sign that there is some belief in them, no?

Wade Barrett
I've blown Wade Barrett's trumpet before and I've got no problem doing it again. Since his debut in 2010, Barrett has been an exciting prospect for British fans.

After winning the first season of NXT, and subsequently becoming the leader of The Nexus (he, along with the runners-up of that competition), Barrett became a main player in his first few months on the main roster. His mic work is possibly the best I've seen from a Brit. He has held the Intercontinental Championship on two occasions and despite being sidelined by an injury early last year, he remains on the fringes of getting the nod to be one of the main players in WWE.

Unlike any Brit I've seen in the past, I genuinely feel that Barrett is our biggest and best hope of finally having a recognised World Champion. He has ALL the tools to get the job done.

Verdict
I'm not really sure why we haven't had an English/British World Champion in my lifetime. The British Bulldog was hugely popular when I was growing up but just couldn't make that step up. Drew McIntyre was given the nod by Vince himself and has still not reached the top of the pile.

As stated above, Wade Barrett is our best hope - I fully expect him to achieve this - whether it's winning the World Heavyweight Championship (more likely to start with) or winning the bigger prize of the WWE Championship.

@jimmosangle