World of Sport/WoS will be returning to mainstream British television this Saturday night at 5pm on ITV. The show will be running for 10 episodes until mid October in front of the largest potential viewing audience in decades.
SEScoops staff writer Jake Jeremy spoke to star of the WoS Women’s division Viper about her involvement in the new rebooted show, the WWE Evolution PPV and comparisons between WoS and NXT UK. Check it out below:
Jake Jeremy – I am joined by Viper of Pro Wrestling: EVE, PROGRESS, ICW…and now World of Sport…oh and of course Stardom!
Viper – Of course you can’t forget Stardom!
Jake:Â We’ve just seen the premiere of WoS and next week you’ll be included in a huge bout…you’re going to be on mainstream television for the next 10 weeks that’s pretty incredible
Viper: When we were all talking about the show it was hard to grasp the concept, what I hope is that we’re going to have an impact on people’s lives. I’ve been talking to friends that say I’m going to be on lunchboxes, t-shirts and things like that…we’re going to be like Wolf and Jet from the Gladiators! We’re going to be that to a generation of kids, we aren’t going to be quite as athletic cause they were all olympians (laughs), but for me that is the most important thing, it’s about the kids
Jake:Â If there’s one young person that watches WoS and says “I can do that” then this is all worth it right?
Viper – Exactly. Not even so much if people want to become pro wrestlers it’s about giving kids heroes and villains (baddies), that’s so influential in kid’s lives and I’m a very bad girl throughout this series (laughs)
Jake:Â So now you’ve appeared on ITV, you were on the BBC so…Channel 4 next?
Viper: Well the company that filmed my BBC documentary (Raise The Roof) they don’t just record for the BBC, they do anything with Phil and Kirstie (UK TV stars) and more with Channel 4 than the BBC so that could be a thing! Maybe I could just go in the Big Brother house? Sign me up (laughs)
Jake:Â We could just get Pro Wrestling: EVE on Channel 4?
Viper:Â That would also be good, let’s do that. That would be amazing
Jake:Â Well there has been an absolute boom in Women’s wrestling which has been a long time coming. WWE are obviously doing their Evolution All Women’s PPV…because apparently they invented Women’s wrestling
Viper:Â (laughs…a lot)
Jake Jeremy: You don’t have to say anything, it’s fine it’s me saying this.
Viper: Erm…I will concur (laughs)
Jake:Â I’ve tried to explain to people how big of a deal this really is, professional wrestling on mainstream television. It’s such a big thing and every year ITV gets seen in 34 million households. The NXT UK brand is being shown on a Network with sub 2 million people just as a reference point
Viper:Â When we were talking about it and all of the comparisons “is it going to be as big as WWE?” Ok so, X Factor. How many people watch X Factor on ITV?
Jake:Â Millions per week. Saturday night is big for families in the UK and you’ll have kids watching the shows with their parents/grandparents who remember Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks…then they’ll see Will Ospreay for the first time and be blown away. To me I’ve seen him perform a thousand times but to a young/older casual fan an Enziguri will amaze them
Viper:Â It’s going to blow their minds. After watching the first episode I’m really proud because when we all made this we knew there would be three main demographics that we needed to appeal to. We had to appeal to the kids, parents and hardcore fans. Especially the people who do remember World of Sport from before. It’s very hard to please all three.
Jake:Â Someone like Kip Sabian is going to be a big star throughout the series because everyone can resonate with his character
Viper: He’s fantastic. He and Iestyn Rees (from ICW) really stood out and could be massive stars. When you think about all of these random shows like The Only Way Is Essex and shows that started from nothing…look where these people are now. This is going to catapult so many people so you aren’t just going to be a wrestler anymore you’re going to be a personality. It’s a really exciting time for us and for wrestling as a whole. The feedback generally is “this can only get better”
Jake:Â It’s a ten episode run so that’s through the whole summer…into?
Viper: Mid October. I have so much faith in the show and can’t wait. It’s just the perfect amount of time as well
Jake:Â Yes it’s not a 6 hour show that goes on to six o’clock in the morning where I wonder what I’m doing with my life (laughs). So ITV 5pm Saturday nights!
Viper: (laughs) Get it watched, tell your granny to watch it! Grannies well love it, they were so violent!
Further information on the return of WoS can be found on the company’s official website
THIS TIME TOMORROW … @ITV @WeAreSTV #WOSW @gradowrestling pic.twitter.com/lXZIqzemvx
— WOS Wrestling (@WOSWrestling) July 27, 2018
