I still don't really understand what WWE's plan was with the UK shyt. Beyond "there's buzz there, we gotta get in on this" but knowing they'd heavily disrupt all that and make it worse for everyone. It's not like any UK promotion was ever going to be any threat to WWE, even World of Sport (which lol, what a disaster that whole thing was). The deals they have with the UK guys is so weird since NXT UK doesn't run house shows and tapes like 3 months of TV at a time so they can still work all the UK indies except the ones that work with New Japan....seems like it would be easier to just air Progress shows on the Network with the option to call anyone up to NXT or Raw/SD.
There can't be a way NXT UK isn't losing money, but for what? To....put your foot on the throat of some indies where you could poach talent from at any time anyway? Seems counter productive to disrupt the entire scene like that.
It makes more sense when you realize that WWE doesn't have a true developmental fed any longer.
In their case, yes, it doesn't eliminate a huge threat to chop off the legs of the UK Indy scene, it DOES make sense to use them as your international developmental/scouting arm. And on top of that, they get to dictate terms of how their signed talent is used (do they still do the thing where their talent can't be on DVDs/VOD versions of shows? I honestly don't know), and essentially get right of first refusal to talent, instead of having to bother with making competitive offers with someone working the market themselves successfully.
Another thing to note: cases like Walter, Osprey, and Devitt are the exception, not the rule. There have been tons of wrestlers that were huge in the UK that people over here either never heard of, or just don't connect with. Grado, for example. Or Doug Williams. For a lot of talent, it's definitely in their interest to work somewhere that they know will get them on the WWE's radar.
The problem is them thinking every international market will lay down for them the way the UK did. Mexico and Japan ain't playing that shyt.