WWE announced a new series for its United Kingdom division on Monday via a press release, revealing new championships and the first eight taping dates.
According to WWE.com, the series will feature WWE Superstars based in the United Kingdom and Ireland and involve the United Kingdom Championship (currently held by Pete Dunne), a U.K. Women’s Championship and a U.K. Tag Team Championship.
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The announcement was made during Monday’s taping of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England by Triple H and the show’s new general manager, Johnny Saint.
“The U.K. has an amazing talent base and incredibly passionate fans that are deserving of their own showcase,” Triple H said in the announcement. “This is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content and further develop our brand globally.”
BREAKING NEWS: A new brand, #NXTUK is coming to @WWEUK. @TripleH and GM Johnny Saint announced the news this evening @RoyalAlbertHall. pic.twitter.com/qSsoFa8ztS
— WWE (@WWE) June 18, 2018
The announced dates included July 28-29 in Cambridge, Aug. 25-26 in Birmingham, Oct. 13-14 in Plymouth and Nov. 24-25 in Liverpool.
The WWE did not mention when the tapings will air, though it is safe to assume they will be broadcast on the WWE Network alongside the rest of NXT’s programming when the time comes.
Rumors of a WWE brand in the United Kingdom have been spreading ever since the 2017 United Kingdom Championship Tournament in January 2017. Tyler Bate became the first United Kingdom Champion by winning the two-day tournament and he, Dunne, Mark Andrews and Trent Seven have since appeared on NXT and 205 Live shows.
Bate lost the championship to Dunne at NXT TakeOver: Chicago in May 2017, and the “Bruiserweight” has since held onto the title for nearly 400 days.
The two-day network tournament special will continue taping on June 19 and be released on the WWE Network on June 25-26.
Monday’s taping was comprised of the seven matches remaining in the 16-man single-elimination tournament along with a main event of British Strong Style (Bate, Dunne and Seven) taking on The Undisputed Era’s Adom Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong.
Tuesday’s taping will feature Dunne vs. the tournament winner for the UK title, Cole vs. Wolfganf for the NXT North American Championship, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Bazler vs. Mae Young Classic contender Toni Storm, O’Reilly and Strong defending their NXT Tag Team Championships and a tag-team match between Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. EC3 and Velveteen Dream.
