WWE UK Championship Special Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

WWE United Kingdom Championship Match
Tyler Bate (c) vs. Mark Andrews

Result: Tyler Bate defeated Mark Andrews via pinfall to retain the WWE United Kingdom Championship.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Our main event is here, with Bate going for his latest successful defense of the WWE UK Championship. He won it at the tournament in January, breaking out into the lead man. This saw him defeat multiple top performers, including Dunne to win the title and celebrate at the Empress Ballroom.

As for Andrews, he’s the high-flyer of this group of British wrestlers. His performances have stood out thus far, so would it be his time to claim gold?

Bate worked a lot of his unique arm holds to start the match. This kept Andrews on the ground for a while, something that’s far from the norm for him. Bate kept the chain wrestling going by working the former TNA star’s legs, continuing to take him out of his element.

Andrews finally worked his way back to get things to a stalemate, breaking out some of his more athletic arsenal. However, Bate started dominating by going back to the legs of his opponent, putting on a reverse Boston Crab. A-plus psychology from the UK champion here.

Finally, it became Andrews’ match after hitting a somersault over the ropes. This continued with a quicker pace in the ring, as things went to a second level. The standing moonsault got Andrews a near-fall.

Andrews nearly claimed the pinfall off a Northern Lights reversal move and a sunset flip, which got Ross and McGuinness amped up. Bate kept taking offense from Andrews, looking down and out, but still managing to roll out of the ring to preserve being neutralizing inside the square circle.

What a Frankensteiner from Andrews, which came during the back-end of the match. It looked like Bate got spiked, coming after an attempt to do an airplane spin into another move.

Andrews got the crowd off its feet near the end. He hit a few wild, aerial moves and even countered a Tyler Driver 97 attempt. However, a try at the Shooting Star Press was blocked and Bate’s finisher was successfully hit for the win.

Thought Dunne vs. Seven was great? Bate vs. Andrews topped it, telling a remarkable story of something that once looked to be grounded, going in the champion’s favor, only to be swung in the other direction. Andrews mounted his comeback and stood a chance of taking away the WWE UK Championship.

However, Bate found his way back with strong counters and the Tyler Driver 97. Oh, and the “97” is representative of Bate’s birth year (1997). That should make some wrestling fans feel old.

Afterward, Dunne came down to the ring and attacked Andrews. He stood face-to-face with Bate, along with an angered William Regal staring at Dunne in the background. The NXT General Manager very much hates this man, who he had problems with in January.

We’re now in for Bate vs. Dunne II at TakeOver: Chicago. These two will have the opportunity to top their stellar showing from January, only in front of a much larger crowd at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. It’s a high-stakes affair for these top WWE UK stars, but given everything they’ve done for the past four months, the moment shouldn’t rattle either man.

Is Dunne the favorite here? We’ve seen Bate have multiple successful defenses over the past four months, so he’s well-established as the champion. Does that mean WWE will switch things up, allowing a heel to walk into the eventual weekly show with the title?

This was a two-match show, with the last two being must-see. Seven, Dunne, Andrews and Bate proved to be the best of the WWE UK performers, and should continue seeing spotlights like this.

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What did you think of the WWE UK Championship Special?