European Invasion 2017 (RLS Universe PPV)

The official logo for European Invasion 2017.

## Next Live Event

The UNION Wrestling Classic 2017

**European Invasion 2017** was a UNION Wrestling Live Event held at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic on the 20th June 2017.

It was preceded by PWU Money In The Bank and followed by The UNION Wrestling Classic.

## Background:

1. Vladimir Shchors was heavily rumoured to be at the event for a couple of weeks prior to appearing. The Ukrainian wasn't, as some outlets reported, wrestling a tryout match, but was instead just a very popular figure on the Czech wrestling scene and considered an incentive to buy a ticket.
2. Though Ambition were gunning for a rematch for the Tag Team Championships, they were replaced in the angle by The United Kingdom following DJ Laine's pulled shoulder muscle.
3. Lara Grey and Amy J had feuded heavily going into this event in place of injured Women's World Champion Birdy, setting this match up way in advance.
4. Ace and Mayhem had been building an interesting feud over the previous few shows based on Mayhem's obsession with "exposing" the Inter Champion as a fraud and a monster.
5. Miss Deeds and Nancy Warren had proven to be incapable of working together going into this Tornado Tag Match in Prague.
6. British Samurai and Wroe was pencilled in late due to the ongoing issues with Wroe and Ravi Rafik's feud with "the Mystery Attacker", who was proving difficult to get around the Rebrand Embargo on debuts.
7. Grayson Gage and Sinyster had been feuding since the former won the title, with their Cage Match being confirmed by the latter a few shows later.
8. Ryan Burton's feud with World Champion Broderick was expected to conclude here, with the champ promising to put the former champ out of action.

## Aftermath:

1. Shchors was well received by the Czech crowd, and would subsequently appear an Attendance Only show in Tbilisi, Georgia before UNION Wrestling returned to the UK. Despite this, he was never contracted and remains a free agent along with Ukralia partner Simon Lowe.
2. The animosity would continue to build between The Coalition, The United Kingdom and Ambition, with the trio of teams all involved in the feud going forward.
3. Lara Grey and Amy J would both go from here to set their sights on the upcoming Wrestling Classic Women's Division Tournament.
4. Mayhem confirmed after his Inter Championship win over Ace that he wasn't finished with him, allowing the rivalry to continue going ahead.
5. Miss Deeds' penchant for hitting her opponents (and sometimes partners) with steel chairs was heavily highlighted in the next few shows as being a potential Achilles heel going into the more traditionally ruled tourney.
6. Despite their match being a last minute addition with little build, the performance they put in saw both considered for a future Brawl Championship opportunity.
7. The actual Brawl Champion, however, would take it easy to give his bad knee a rest following this event; he still worked, just not as vigorously.
8. Ryan Burton would continue on for another set of shows in his battle with Broderick, certain he could best his rival if he persevered.

## Trivia:

* New Temporary General Manager The Maverick was announced at the event. He opened the show with a speech about getting the ship steadied in the face of Broderick and Lara Grey "trying to ruin everything". Despite his shift to authority figure, Maverick denied that he'd had to retire, and hinted that the role was part of a storyline leading to a feud with Broderick in the near future.
* This event was the last to feature any branding involving the "PWU" logo or utterance. Starting from The UNION Wrestling Classic, the new Diamond Union Logo would debut on all billboards, aprons and trons.
* Vladimir Shchors being an attendance exclusive was a measure taken by former GM and new Director of Wrestling Eddie Hamer, due to being unsure as to whether the venture would pull enough out-and-out UNION fans into the arena. He later jokingly claimed that, had he known the event would almost sell-out, he'd have got Shchors to wrestle twice.
* Leaked information obtained by Squared Circle Insider before the event had Ace pegged to retain the Inter Championship at the event, something that didn't happen. Given the proximity of the leak and the actual happening being foreshadowed in hype packages at the event, this makes the information inaccurate, rather than the result a reaction to the leak.