The History of the NXT United Kingdom Championship
World’s Collide 2022 will see the NXT UK Championship merged with the NXT Championship, with Tyler Bate defending their titles, and Bron Breakker taking the helm. This will mark the end of the NXT UK Championship before NXT Europe unveils a new successor. The title was held over five titles reigns during its lifetime, with two of them lasting more than a year.
The WWE UK Championship was created on December 15, 2016, and an official 16-man tournament took place in January 2017. It featured names like Jordan Devlin (Trent Seven), Mark Andrews, Danny Burch, and Mark Andrews. On January 15, 2017, Tyler Bate, nineteen years old, defeated Tucker, Jordan Devlin, and Wolfgang. He was then faced with Peter Dunne, twenty-one, who beat Sam Gradwell, Roy Johnson, and Mark Andrews. Bate pinched Dunne, becoming the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion.
Bate successfully defended his title on four occasions without an official branded show. Bate’s second defense of the title took place on February 11, 2017, at WWE NXT. He was playing against his mentor Trent Seven. A month later, Bate faced Mark Andrews in PROGRESS Orlando. The championship was established as a reliable title with a successful defense against Jack Gallagher, the ‘Gentleman’ on the April 26th 2017 episode of WWE NXT. A main event performance against Mark Andrews on WWE United Kingdom Championship Special also helped to cement the title. Bate averaged a match every 31.25 day over 125 days and four title defenses.
Surprised many, NXT TakeOver Chicago 2017 saw Pete Dunne defeat Bate in an rematch to become the second WWE United Kingdom Champion. Dunne was the NXT UK’s figurehead for 685 days. Dunne also regularly appeared on NXT TV and events. Before the NXT UK debut, Dunne had a variety of title defenses. He mainly participated in matches in NXT (Wolfgang, Johnny Gargano, and Bate on December 20, 2017, Roderick Strong on February 14, 2018, Adam Cole, March 14th 2018, and another great match with Kyle O’Reilly, June 13th 2018. Dunne did defend his title on several occasions, including a Fatal Four-Way Match at ICW Shug’s Hoose Partie against BT Gunn and Trent Seven, a PROGRESS Chapter 60 appearance against Jack Gallagher, a defense against Joseph Connors at PROGRESS Chap 61, Zack Gibson, FutureShock Underground #25 and Markus Burke, on the April 26th 2018 issue of UCW.
The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament 2018, which saw Noam Dar rise to #1, saw Dunne defend Zack Gibson. Dunne defeated Dar on the October 17th 2018 NXT UK debut. He was then able to defend against Danny Burch four weeks later. Morgan Webster also made an appearance on Night 5 of PROGRESS Coast To Coast Tour. Zack Gibson failed to win a second match against Dunne, on the August 22nd, 2018, on WWE NXT. Four weeks later, he was defeated by North American Champion Ricochet in a No Contest. Dunne defeated Jordan Devlin on TV’s November 28th 2018 edition of WWE NXT UK. It was a great match. NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool saw Dunne tap out Joe Coffey as the head of Gallus before WALTER’s sudden appearance. Dunne held nineteen titles defenses in 685 days and helped to transition the title onto its own label.
WALTER won the title match between Dunne & WALTER, despite expectations. This was a resounding success. Dunne moved full-time to the US brand and WALTER became the new leader of NXT UK. WALTER was the third champion and first to retain the title after it was rebranded as NXT United Kingdom Championship. His 870-day reign is the longest since 1988. This reign coincided with the global COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted on the frequency of title defenses. He defended the title three times in 2019, including a rematch with Dunne on May 22nd at NXT UK, Travis Banks June 26th and a thrilling battle against Tyler Bate at NXT UK TakeOver Cardiff.
WALTER entered 2020 after defeating Joe Coffey in what became the last NXT UK TakeOver. Dave Mastiff and Dave Mastiff were killed in the episode. The show returned to NXT UK several months later with WALTER fighting Ilja Dragunov in a Match Of the Year contest. WALTER won several excellent matches, including a win over A-Kid in the January 14th 2021 episode of NXT UK and Tommaso Ciampa in Night 1 of NXT Makeover: Stand & Deliver. The April 8th episode of NXT UK was against Rampage Brown. WALTER was the longest-serving champion with 870 days, but only nine title defenses.
WALTER was defeated in an instant classic at NXT TakeOver 36 by Ilja Draunov. Ilja was the fourth champion in the history. He had to leave the title after 346 days. Ilja was the first champion to defend only on NXT UK episodes during his reign. He defeated A-Kid on Oct 14th 2021, Rampage brown on December 2nd 2022, Jordan Devlin and Nathan Frazer on March 3rd, Roderick Strength on April 7th, Roderick Strong again on April 7th, followed by a rematch with Devlin, on May 12th, and finally Wolfgang, on July 28th. Officially Dragunov had the title vacated on the August 4th episode. However, Ilja maintained the title seven times in 346 days. This averaged a defense of the title every 49 days.
The championship was vacated and a tournament was initiated. The final was scheduled for September 1. Tyler Bate was the last and first holder of this title. He also became the only winner of the NXT UK Championship. Technically, his final reign will be four days long. He won it on September 1st and then unified it at World’s Collide on September 4. Bate, who has been part of NXT UK’s brand from the beginning and an integral part the history of this championship, may be the best choice to become the final holder. It’s actually quite disappointing that NXT UK, just as it seemed like the brand was rebounding from the pandemic lockdown and Speaking Out attacks, seems to be dying with a whimper rather than a bang.
