As previously reported, restrictions were recently placed on several of the contracted WWE NXT UK Superstars that will decide which indie promotions they can work for beginning in 2019. Talents will be barred from working for most indie companies in Europe, except for WWE Partners ICW, PROGRESS Wrestling & wXw (Germany).
Regarding WWE’s working agreements with some of these promotions in The UK, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that part of the agreements originally offered & accepted included rights for WWE to purchase the companies if they want to.
WWE would reportedly have the rights, for the next several years if they choose, to purchase the indie promotions for an agreed upon price, which was in the high six-figures in at least some cases. WWE would then be able to shut the promotion down so they would no longer be “competing with themselves” with the idea that the transaction would take place when WWE was up to running full-time schedules in those same markets.
There is no word yet on other terms of these agreements or what the reactions were to these purchase rights but it could make for an interesting story down the line.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter