NXT is setting up yet another match for the United Kingdom Championship. With more than British wrestlers going for the title, is the championship shifting to NXT more permanently?
This week’s episode of NXT was taped prior to the stellar TakeOver: Philadelphia event. The final match of the TV taping was a number one contender’s match for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. Former champion Tyler Bate went up against Roderick Strong. And as you saw on NXT, Strong emerged victorious and earned a shot against UK Champ Pete Dunne at a later date.
While a bout between Dunne and Strong is enough to make most wrestling fans salivate in anticipation, it raises some questions about the United Kingdom Championship itself. When the championship debuted in January 2017, most believed it was destined for the long-promised WWE UK exclusive show. With a group of standout British wrestlers signed for the tournament to crown the inaugural champion, most believed the show was right around the corner.
But over a year since the tournament, there’s still no UK show. Every so often, a news item pops up that basically says, “We’re still working on it!” Most recently, the show is rumored to launch in early 2018. Maybe I’m a cynic, but I’m not holding my breath.
Until WWE proves otherwise, it appears the United Kingdom Championship has been informally assigned to NXT. The majority of matches for the title have aired on either regular NXT television, or a TakeOver event. Most notably, Dunne won the title from Bate at TakeOver: Chicago in what would be named NXT’s Match of the Year. The entire company considered that match to be the third best of 2017.
If you look at the write up for that match on WWE’s list, you’ll notice the the following phrase (emphasis mine):
"Pro tip: Watch these guys. Watch them well. Watch Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and all the rest of the U.K. division each chance you get on NXT."
It sounds like WWE is considering the entire UK division a sub-brand of NXT. That makes some sense: In Houston over Survivor Series weekend, Dunne defended the UK Title against Johnny Gargano. Last time I checked, Cleveland was in Ohio, not England. And if the next challenger is Roddy Strong, it looks like more and more non-Brits will get a shot at the title.
Back in the late 1990s, WWE introduced the European Championship. The inaugural champion was the British Bulldog, who won a tournament to become champion. Believe it or not, Bulldog was one of only two Europeans to win the championship – the other was William Regal. So there’s definitely precedent for a championship named after a locale to be won by people from outside that area.
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Does this make the UK Title the equivalent of the European Championship in NXT? Or even the Intercontinental Championship? The main prize is still clearly Andrade Almas’s NXT Championship. But a secondary title may not be the worst thing for the brand. With Triple H sometimes treating NXT like his own personal game of fantasy booking – “Let’s get Tommy End, Chris Hero, and La Sombra all in the locker room at the same time!” – there’s plenty of superstars worthy of a championship.
The big issue becomes time – an hour a week, plus a two and a half hour special every quarter doesn’t provide a whole lot of time to dedicate to too many championships. But if TakeOvers can be the home for banger UK Championship matches, I’m in. This could all change if the fabled UK show gets off the ground – though WWE would be foolish to keep Dunne, Bate, Mark Andrews, and others away from the non-British crowds.
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What do you think the UK Championship’s role in WWE and NXT actually should be?