MUMBAI: Over the past week for the first time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) history, both Raw and SmackDown! superstars were on simultaneous overseas tours to perform in Europe.

In the UK, over 115,000 fans saw the shows, bought merchandise and met the stars at local retail markets In India WWE action airs on Ten Sports.

Stars performed in Germany, Finland, Italy and the UK. Each tour culminated with the flagship television programs Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown! being performed from Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester. This marked the first time that Raw and SmackDown! television programmes have emanated from outside the US and Canada, says an official release.

WWE's executive VP, global media, Shane McMahon added, "Our fans in the UK and all across Europe are incredible, and are the reason this new dedicated UK initiative is off to a roaring start. Our UK brand initiative is groundbreaking for us, our business partners, and our fans. It is developing the model we plan to use in other countries as we further implement our global expansion strategy."

In the UK wrestlers appeared on various UK news programmes, and in features in the UK's largest newspaper The Sun. The tours provided an opportunity for WWE licensees THQ, Jakks, Clearvision, Simon and Schuster, Sony Music and Topps, and primary UK retail partners WHSmith and Woolworths, to promote WWE's licensed and consumer products in the UK.

The WWE held a cross promotion with The Sun newspaper and Woolworths. This allowed fans to earn tokens for an exclusive WWE DVD that was redeemed by an estimated 180,000 participants.