Welsh Government quiet on WWE Cardiff Clash at the Castle funding

The showstopper at the capital's Principality Stadium drew in thousands of spectators and brought a real buzz to the city, with long queues at pop-up merchandise shops and big crowds at city-centre pubs on the day of the event.

The government's support for the event was well-publicised, both in ministerial comments - deputy arts minister Dawn Bowden told the Senedd the Clash was "a huge event and it will be a massive boost to our economy" - and in official communications.

The WWE itself announced the "Clash at The Castle is to be hosted in Cardiff, Wales, with support from Welsh Government, delivered in line with its Major Events Strategy".

"Event Wales work closely with local partners including the Cardiff Council Events Team to attract a range of sporting, cultural and business events to Wales, including spectacular global events such as this, which raise Wales’ profile world-wide and further cement Wales’s reputation as a world-class events destination," a WWE notice read ahead of the event.

But a recent Freedom of Information request to the Welsh Government, asking "what funding was made available to World Wrestling Entertainment for them to host the event in Wales", was turned down by the Welsh Government for reasons of protecting "commercial interests".

The Welsh Government also refused to answer whether any conditions were "attached to [WWE] receiving this funding" for the same reason.

The WWE Clash at the Castle event brought wrestling superstars to a UK stadium for the first time in 30 years. (Image: NQ Staff)

"The Welsh Government (WG) is of the view that revealing the information at this time would be likely to prejudice both our and WWE’s commercial interests should it be disclosed at this point in time," the government explained. "Releasing information relating to the funding and costs into the public domain would negatively affect WG’s ability to negotiate with future event providers on a level playing field.

"The information would reveal commercially sensitive information not otherwise publicly available and which, if disclosed would be likely to prejudice our service offering and future strategy and development."

The government added: "By revealing this information which might otherwise not have been considered would enable competitors/hosts to adjust their offering to WG’s and WWE’s detriment."

The Freedom of Information request also showed there are no current plans to bring the WWE back to Wales.

"The Welsh Government, through Event Wales, remain open to discussions with event organisations in relation to hosting or developing events in Wales but there are currently no discussions underway in relation to a return for WWE," the government said.