I attended WWE's first ever Scottish PPV - electric atmosphere, masterpiece entrances & THAT main event ending

WWE invited me along to get a taste of the action as Scotland hosted its first WWE premium live event in history this weekend with Clash at the Castle.T

he WWE is globally recognised as the biggest professional wrestling promotion on the planet and with local hero Drew McIntyre main-eventing the show it was a highly-anticipated event.So getting the opportunity to attend as a member of the press was an opportunity that I could not refuse. Here’s my experiences from the weekend. 

The press junket 

The fun began on Friday morning as I got to attend the press junket where I met several WWE stars including Drew McIntyre, Piper Niven, Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Bianca Belair at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow - just hours after attending a Foo Fighters gig in Manchester.

Despite my lack of sleep, it was hugely exciting for me as a lifelong wrestling fan and the fact I got the chance to chat, take pictures with wrestlers and have my cowboy hat complimented by Piper Niven was unbelievably cool. Having got there late and with some fellow media professionals in attendance believing I was an Undertaker cosplay (I’ll happily take it as a compliment), I had to wait a little bit before my first interview and I got to speak with Drew McIntyre.

First and foremost, Drew is crazy tall. I almost felt miniscule next to him, but he was very friendly and getting to interview the three-time world champion is something I’ll remember forever. Next up was Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. As the duo approached me, Alba made a point of complimenting my Foo Fighters shirt, which was nice. As I got to speak to them, I noticed how excited they were to be wrestling at home once again and they both spoke candidly about how great it was to be making history. It was great fun interviewing the pair of them!

Friday Night SmackDown

Firstly, I could not have been happier with where I was sitting. I was given a seat alongside fellow members of the press in block 057 - directly facing the ring and close to the entrance ramp too, giving me an unbelievable view of the action. 

The second thing that I noticed about SmackDown was how electric it was inside the arena and I think the wrestlers were even in awe. As Cody Rhodes stepped into the ring for his promo against AJ Styles, he was serenaded by “Cody Cody Rhodes” chants by the 14,000 or so in attendance and stopped briefly to soak up the atmosphere. 

Whilst in the middle of the show Santos Escobar was serenaded by chants of “I just sold my car to Santos Escobar” in the tune of We Buy Any Car, which gave everyone a little chuckle. However, it was the return of Randy Orton that brought the biggest pop of the night. As he raced to the ring to save his tag-team partner Kevin Owens, the fans in attendance belted out ‘Voices’ in full voice almost reminiscent of how I belted out ‘Monkey Wrench’ the night before.

Earlier in the night, Pretty Deadly entered the arena dressed in England shirts for a dark match against Cedric Alexander & Ashante Adonis and needless to say they enjoyed the boos.

Germany’s Ludwig Kaiser repeated that trick a little later in the night as he entered the ring dressed in a Germany shirt holding three fingers up in reference to Scotland’s score with Germany at the time. Like Pretty Deadly, Kaiser loved every single one of those boos.

WWE Clash at the Castle

Heading to the arena on Saturday evening for Clash at the Castle, the atmosphere felt amplified from where it was on Friday night and it was even in better seats as well. I was sitting in block 202 directly facing the ring in the hospitality section and it is safe to say that the great seats made the experience even more enjoyable.

To kick the night off in red-hot fashion, Cody Rhodes was once again met with an electric reception as the fans screamed his “WOAHHH” in full voice during his entrance and gave AJ Styles a hostile welcome as they called him a “w*****” throughout the ‘I Quit’ match.

Chad Gable was met with a similarly hostile response during his match with Sami Zayn, with the crowd referring to him as a “S*** Kurt Angle” in a match that had great storytelling, two equally-matched athletes and near-falls. Hometown heroes Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn winning the tag team titles was a great feel good moment to experience, Piper Niven coming up short but earning the appreciation and applause of thousands was amazing to see as well.

Then it was time for the night’s main event…

Drew McIntyre’s entrance was an absolute masterpiece. The reaction from the crowd as he made his way to the ring with bagpipes being played told a story of a million words and made two things abundantly clear, One: the prodigal son was back home wrestling in front of his hometown faithful and the second being everyone wanted to see Drew go over.

As the match started, the atmosphere was that of hope and concern. Hope that McIntyre would be crowned World Heavyweight Champion once again and concern over Damian Priest’s leg following that scary suicide dive over the top rope, especially considering he was limping for much of the match.

But as McIntyre hit the claymore for what looked set to be a match-ending win, CM Punk made his appearance to a mixed reaction that soon turned to anger from the crowd as he low-blowed the Scottish Warrior, ending his hopes of winning his fourth world title.

Following the match, the atmosphere turned from positive and energetic to that of frustration, anger and disappointment from the crowd. Was it surprising? Probably not. I imagine a number of those fans bought tickets thinking McIntyre would win like how British Bulldog won at SummerSlam 1992. It wasn’t the ending everyone wanted for sure, but did it detract from a great event? Absolutely not.

The Verdict

It was a weekend that I expected so much from and a weekend that I truly enjoyed. I feel pleased and fortunate to have been invited along to attend both shows and to meet some truly amazing people at a premium live event that certainly delivered.