It was recently revealed that current WWE star Apollo Crews was set to appear at Independent Wrestling Promotion PCW on February 10th next year, as part of their Road To Glory tournament and event.
This was something that WWE had never allowed a contracted talent to do in the past and began online speculation that the former NXT star was set to be released. According to The Wrestling Observer, the real reason is much simpler than that, it seems that WWE is gaining just as much out of this deal as Preston City Wrestling.
The reason is that PCW promoter Steve Fludder has an exclusive deal with an arena in Blackpool, England and WWE want to be able to run events there. WWE has allowed a PCW alum to return to the company for a one-off show so that they can attain permission from the promoter to run events at the venue in the future.
This is great news for UK fans, it means that WWE is looking to continue to stage independent UK events over this side of the pond. This year was the year that the WWE United Kingdom Tournament debuted and the UK competitors were introduced to the WWE Universe, it seems that 2018 will now see the company expand on what they already have.
https://twitter.com/PCW_UK/status/942140006747066370
