WWE United Kingdom Championship
| WWE United Kingdom Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The United Kingdom Championship belt with default side plates. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | NXT UK | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | December 15, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion(s) | Pete Dunne | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | May 20, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The WWE United Kingdom Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE for their NXT UK brand. It is the brand's top championship. The current champion is Pete Dunne, who is in his first reign and is the longest reigning champion.
Unveiled on December 15, 2016, the title was first awarded to Tyler Bate, who won the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on January 15, 2017. The brand's show, also titled NXT UK, had its first tapings in August 2018 and will debut shortly after on the WWE Network.[1][2] From its inception up until the debut of NXT UK, the title was defended on the NXT brand,[3] as well as at shows produced by independent wrestling promotions in the United Kingdom.
History
In a press conference at The O2 Arena on December 15, 2016, Triple H revealed that there would be a 16-man tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion. The tournament was held over a two-day period, January 14 and 15, 2017, and aired exclusively on the WWE Network. The championship was announced to be the top championship of a new WWE Network show, produced in the United Kingdom, set to debut in 2018 as NXT UK.[1][2] Tyler Bate won the inaugural tournament to become the first WWE United Kingdom Champion.[4]
The title began being featured on WWE's NXT brand when Bate debuted during the January 28, 2017, tapings of NXT in San Antonio, Texas, which aired February 1.[5] During the February 1 tapings at the brand's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, the title's very first defense took place, where Bate defeated Trent Seven (aired February 15).[6] The title was defended for the first time outside of WWE when Bate retained the title against Mark Andrews on a show for the London-based promotion, Progress Wrestling; the show took place in Orlando, Florida on March 31 as part of WrestleMania Axxess.[7] The first title change, as well as first defense to air live, took place on May 20, 2017, at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, where Pete Dunne defeated Bate to become champion.[8]
Although unsuccessful, Johnny Gargano was the first wrestler from outside of the United Kingdom division to challenge for the U.K. title on the November 18 taping of NXT (aired on November 22).[9]
Inaugural tournament
| First Round January 14, 2017[10] | Quarter-Finals January 15, 2017[4] | Semi-Finals January 15, 2017[4] | Final January 15, 2017[4] | ||||||||||||
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 | 10:34 | ||||||||||||||
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 | 6:05 | ||||||||||||||
| 8:55 | ||||||||||||||
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 | 5:55 | ||||||||||||||
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| 5:25 | ||||||||||||||
| 6:35 | ||||||||||||||
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| 6:20 | ||||||||||||||
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| 15:10 | ||||||||||||||
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| 5:35 | ||||||||||||||
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| 8:10 | ||||||||||||||
| 7:12 | ||||||||||||||
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| 10:33 | ||||||||||||||
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| 7:30 | ||||||||||||||
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| 4:50 | ||||||||||||||
| 6:00 | ||||||||||||||
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Championship belt design
As with some other championship belts unveiled in 2016, the base design is similar to the WWE Championship, with notable differences.[11] Instead of a large cut out of the WWE logo, the center plate is modeled after the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse (instead of the traditional unicorn) on either side of the arms, while the center of the shield has been replaced with the WWE logo; atop the shield are the crown jewels. The banner atop the arms reads "United Kingdom" while the banner below reads "Champion". Like the WWE Championship belt and other belts introduced in 2016, the United Kingdom Championship belt features two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with removable round sections that can be replaced with the current champion's logo; the default plates feature the WWE logo on the globe. The plates are on a black leather strap.
Reigns
As of October 24, 2018, there have been two reigns. The inaugural champion was Tyler Bate, who won the inaugural tournament. Bate is also the youngest champion, winning the title at 19 years old, while the oldest champion is Pete Dunne, winning the title at 23. Dunne has the longest reign at 522+ days, while Bate has the shortest at 125 days (126 days as recognized by WWE).
The current champion is Pete Dunne. He defeated Tyler Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago on May 20, 2017.
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Days recog. |
Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||
| 1 | Tyler Bate | January 15, 2017 | United Kingdom Championship Tournament | Blackpool, England | 1 | 125 | 126 | Defeated Pete Dunne in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. | [4] |
| 2 | Pete Dunne | May 20, 2017 | NXT TakeOver: Chicago | Rosemont, Illinois | 1 | 522+ | 522+ | [8] | |
See also
Notes
- ↑ WWE recognizes it as 126 days
References
- 1 2 Currier, Joseph (December 15, 2016). "WWE to crown first United Kingdom Champion in January". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- 1 2 Keller, Wade (December 15, 2016). "WWE announces new UK-based brand, holding tournament to crown UK Champion, Nigel McGuinness on announce team". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ↑ Howell, Nolan (February 15, 2017). "NXT: Bate retains UK title against Moustache Mountain partner Seven". Slam! Sports. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Soucek, Andrew. "SOUCEK'S WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REPORT 1/15: Ongoing coverage of night two of UK Championship tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ↑ "NXT TakeOver pre-show TV taping & dark match results". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. January 28, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ "2/1 NXT TV Review". PWTorch.com. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
- ↑ "3/31 Progress Wrestling in Orlando results: Tyler Bate vs. Mark Andrews for the WWE UK Championship, Pete Dunne vs. Mark Haskins for the Progress Championship, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. March 31, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- 1 2 Zimmerman, Zack. "5/20 Zim's NXT Takeover: Chicago live review – Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami for the NXT Title, Authors of Pain vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in a ladder match for the NXT Tag Titles, Asuka vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
- ↑ James, Justin (November 22, 2017). "11/22 NXT TV Report: Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano in main event, Ruby Riot vs. Sonya Deville in likely their final NXT match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ↑ Soucek, Andrew. "SOUCEK'S WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REPORT 1/14: Ongoing coverage of night one of UK Championship tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ↑ WWE Superstars - WWE.com