After a 30-year wait, WWE returned to the UK for its first major stadium event with Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales on Saturday. The major pay-per-view had an announced crowd of 62,296 with fans coming from around the world. The National was in attendance for the big weekend, as well as the event itself. Here are five noteworthy things that happened:
WWE fans take to Cardiff
The capital city was more than ready to host the WWE with plenty of weekend festivities for fans, including pop-up installations, a superstore and fan signings. Fans travelled from as far as Mexico City and France for the event. There was a number of things to do, including attending the Undertaker’s one-man show in which the retired wrestler took questions from fans discussing his career.
Meanwhile, the WWE superstore, which was located in St David's Dewi Sant shopping centre, was almost entirely sold out of merchandise ahead of the event, with fans needing to queue in massive lines just to get in.
Special Olympics Great Britain partnership
Ahead of Clash at the Castle, the WWE took part in a Special Olympics basketball game at the Sport Wales National Centre. WWE Superstars Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley and Butch were honorary coaches for the event, held with Special Olympics Wales athletes, to promote inclusion and empowerment.
The hour-long event had the wrestlers facing one another on opposing teams in a friendly game. There were a couple of sweet moments from it, including McIntyre talking to a young person of determination while on the bench during a break and Morgan giving her Women’s SmackDown Championship title to a young fan to hold after the game.
The knitted wool jumper and title belt
WWE fan Charlotte Peacock, who owns Twin Made in Cardiff, along with nine other knitters had the task of creating a specially knitted wool jumper and title belt for the event. The result was a beautifully crafted piece that paid homage to Wales, including allusions to the country’s flag, dragons, the castle and Welsh spoon.
“The belt came along with a jumper. So we started with the jumper and then they were like, ‘we want the title as well’. So [we] obviously had to say yes, the title came about really quickly. And it was just a couple of us working on that,” says Peacock.
“The jumper was a lot more work because we had to design it and then the pattern for the knitters to then do. The title we knocked out in like eight hours. We watched a couple of like documentaries, [and] got it done. The knitted jumper took about 160 hours.”
After the pay-per-view event, it will be on display at the National Wool Museum in Felindre, Wales.
WWE fans in the UK love to sing
The energy displayed during the nearly four-hour pay-per-view was surreal. Throughout the match card, there were plenty of chants and singalongs. From serenading Bayley with DJ Otzi’s Hey Baby to the “who are ya” chants to Roman Reigns during the main event, there was plenty of noise from the lively crowd.
However, one of the most impressive scenes of the night came from the more than 60,000 people who sang along to Edge’s theme song Metalingus by Alter Bridge for nearly a minute as the Hall of Famer came out for his tag-team match with Rey Mysterio against Judgement Day.
A new era under Triple H
Clash at the Castle has already been praised by many fans for its strong booking and storytelling. It was one of the first major events under the direction of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, executive vice president of talent relations, head of creative and chief content officer for WWE. Part of this new vision seems to include doing live-streamed post-event press conferences.
Journalists and media were asked to attend right after the final match finished, with talents such as Reigns, McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Gunter, Liv Morgan and Levesque in attendance answering questions — a format more commonly seen in other promotions, such as All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. This is the first time that the WWE has done such a thing, with many saying that it offers a more authentic feel and asking for it to be repeated in future events.
Scroll through images of fans arriving in Cardiff for Clash at the Castle below
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Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Zayed Sustainability Prize
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Specs
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Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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Available: Now
The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Continental champions
Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)
Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)
Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)
Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)
Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)
Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)
Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation
The five pillars of Islam
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
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4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
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4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Lewis Hamilton in 2018
Australia 2nd; Bahrain 3rd; China 4th; Azerbaijan 1st; Spain 1st; Monaco 3rd; Canada 5th; France 1st; Austria DNF; Britain 2nd; Germany 1st; Hungary 1st; Belgium 2nd; Italy 1st; Singapore 1st; Russia 1st; Japan 1st; United States 3rd; Mexico 4th
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Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
