I grew up watching WWF/WWE wrestling until I left school in 2002 at the age of 16. I loved the entertainment it brought as both a child and a teenager.
Then life got in the way. Finding a job and a career and dedicating many hours to that. Add relationships, adult life and a passion for football that lasted a decade or so, and I stopped watching wrestling for more than a dozen years.
A friend got me back into it 7-8 years ago. I couldn’t get into the TV shows as I could when I was younger, but watched a handful of the pay-per-views each year, when I could.
Since then I’ve really got back into it in 2022. Watching more and more of the TV shows, and watching every episode of their NXT brand.
I had attended a number of independent shows with my friend Dave, before he moved up north in 2020. I’ve only ever attended three WWE shows – two TV shows in London and a house show in Birmingham.
So when the opportunity to attend a pay-per-view in the United Kingdom popped up, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. WWE organised the Clash at the Castle Event for 3 September 2022 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. A group of four of us purchased tickets, drove up on Friday afternoon and stayed over one night.
This allowed me to cross off Wales as another country I have slept in in the process.
The atmosphere in town was great, the huge variety of wrestling shirts that fans were wearing was enormous, the fancy dress was funny. The whole day was awesome.
Given that all four of us headed to the event as part-time fans, reminiscing of the old days, the event was amazing. Despite our view being very poor from where we were, the atmosphere inside the Principality Stadium was awesome. The matches were great. It went much, much better than any of us had image it would go.
Thank you WWE.
Pre-show: Madcap moss and The Street Profits beat Austin Theory and Alpha Academy
Damage CTRL beat Bianca Belair, Asuka and Alexa Bliss
Gunther (c) defeated Sheamus to defend the Intercontinental Championship
Liv Morgan (c) defeated Shayna Bazler to defender the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Edge and Rey Mysterio defeated the Judgment Day
Seat Rollins defeated Matt Riddle
Roman Reigns (c) defeated Drew McIntyre to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship