WWE NXT UK: WALTER Stares Down Pete Dunne To Close Show

The WWE NXT UK brand knocked their first TakeOver Special out of the park in Blackpool, with the shows closing moments featuring a chilling staredown between United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne and new signing WALTER.

In 2018, few wrestlers reached WALTER’s heights, as he produced some of the most memorable matches of the year, including a widely acclaimed bout against Will Ospreay at OTT Wrestling. WALTER’s signing with WWE was reported a couple of months ago, and it was made official at WWE NXT UK’s first TakeOver Special in Blackpool on Jan. 12.

The show’s main event pitted Pete Dunne in a heated title defense against Joe Coffey, who truly did prove to be the stiffest test of Dunne’s career. Coffey gave Dunne absolutely everything he could handle, kicking out of multiple Bitter End’s and nearly matching Dunne for resiliency before his body finally gave out against “The Bruiserweight”.

What happened after the match was just as extraordinary. WALTER’s recognizable Dvorak theme hit, and out he strode, as confident and powerful as ever. The master of the chop stared down Dunne, setting up a future confrontation for the UK Championship that Dunne has held for 600+ days, making him the longest-reigning champion in the modern era.

WALTER could be the man to end this incredible reign, though, as he has the experience, the strength, the technical wrestling prowess, and the name recognition among diehard wrestling fans and the NXT UK Universe.

It’s unclear when the second NXT UK TakeOver Special will take place, but if it doesn’t happen before WrestleMania weekend, perhaps WALTER vs. Dunne could take place at NXT TakeOver: New York in the City as one of the championship matches on the card. That may not be likely, but WALTER could travel to the United States for an occasional special match like this, which would be a dream out more than worthy of WrestleMania weekend.

Dunne’s reign as United Kingdom Champion has been hard to put into words, and the man always reminds the fans of how good he is in the ring and of how valuable that championship is with each and every performance inside the ring. WALTER, however, could bring something even more profound out of Dunne in their fight, and if Coffey took Dunne to the limit in that way, then imagine what WALTER can do.

There’s no doubt that WALTER is respected by everyone in the wrestling business and is a huge addition to the WWE NXT UK brand. His signing makes this group of wrestlers that much stronger, and it will be interesting to see how often WALTER wrestles and if he can be the one to finally take Dunne down.