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An official press conference will be held today at 2 PM in Manchester, England officially announcing that ITV will bring back World of Sport as a weekly Saturday evening series with the first tapings taking place in late May. The initial series will be ten episodes. While that may seem odd for professional wrestling, UK seasons traditionally run far shorter than American seasons do.
Anthem Media is involved in producing the series and Jeff Jarrett is in the UK for the press conference. Talent announced for the series include WOS champion Grado, Johnny Moss, Sha Samuels, Kenny Williams, Viper, El Ligero, Zack Gibson, Rampage Brown and Ashton Smith
Tapings for the new World of Sport Wrestling series will be held at the Preston Guild Hall on 5/24-5/26. When the series will debut and whether it will be distributed beyond Great Britain, has yet to be announced.
The press release issued last week for the series revival reads as follows:
ITV and Impact Wrestling announced the following:
MANCHESTER | NASHVILLE – ITV Studios Entertainment Manchester announced today that it has teamed up with IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., to bring WOS Wrestling back to ITV, with an initial commission for a 10-part series.
The commission from ITV’s Helen Warner follows a successful one-off-special, which aired on New Year’s Eve 2016. The Executive Producers for ITV Studios are Tom McLennan and Simon Marsh. Jeff Jarrett, the Chief Creative Officer for IMPACT Wrestling, will be the Executive Producer for IMPACT Wrestling.
Thirty years after the original WOS ended – and legendary stars such as Big Daddy, Mick McManus and Rollerball Rocco left British screens – this new series will feature the very best of today’s wrestlers from the current red-hot U.K. wrestling scene.
They will compete in front of a live audience at the intimate Preston Guild Hall on Thursday 25th May and Friday 26th May (doors 7pm / bell time 7.30pm).
Tickets for these historic shows will go on sale at 9am on Friday 7th April from Gigsandtours.com / Ticketmaster.co.uk / prestonguildhall.co.uk
There will also be a launch event this Monday (27th March) at 2pm in Manchester, where the full details of the WOS live shows will be announced, including the roster. Press and fans are invited to attend to the launch, which will include a Q&A and meet & greet. Places are extremely limited, to reserve one please email wswaudience@itv.com
This initial commission is part of a comprehensive co-production agreement between ITV Studios and IMPACT Wrestling to relaunch the WOS Wrestling brand, bringing British stars to ITV while leveraging the roster and creative team of Impact Wrestling along with its expertise in live event production and international distribution.
“This opportunity to work with ITV Studios to revive this iconic brand in the United Kingdom is a perfect example of the ways in which we intend to leverage our strengths to build our presence in international markets in collaboration with local organizations,” said Ed Nordholm, President of Impact Wrestling.
Director of Entertainment, ITV Studios Manchester, Tom Mclennan said: “Britain’s wrestling scene is thriving and there has never been a better time to bring it back to ITV after a gap of 30 years.”
Jeff Jarrett, Chief Creative Officer for IMPACT Wrestling, added: “The WOS brand is etched in professional wrestling tradition. My family’s lineage in the industry dates back 70-plus years, so I am honoured for the opportunity to work on reviving the legacy of this historic British series.”
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