The WWE has added yet another championship belt — though Thursday’s addition goes beyond just waist-wear. Essentially, World Wrestling Entertainment’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament will go forward as its own league, developmental system and touring brand — just like NXT and now “205 Live.”
“Our passionate U.K. fans deserve to have their own Champion,” said company executive vice president of Talent, Live Events & Creative, Paul “Triple H” Levesque. “The tournament is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content for our global WWE Network, develop another brand that engages our passionate fans, and add a new dimension to our on-going storylines.”
The SVOD service’s tourney will be called by lead announcer Michael Cole, who will be joined by British color analyst Nigel McGuinness.
This event will feature a single-elimination tournament and showcase competitors from all four Home Nations and Ireland including: charismatic Trent Seven, from Wolverhampton; hard-hitting Pete Dunne, from Birmingham; Tyler Bate, the bright young 19-year-old star from Dudley, West Midlands; big brawler Wolfgang, from Glasgow; tough Tyson T-Bone, from Malvern; the aggressive Northern Irish grappler Tucker; Irish high-flyer Jordan Devlin, who hails from Bray, in County Wicklow; and Londoner Roy Johnson, a former champion powerlifter.
Watch Triple H’s announcement via the video above.
The two-night tournament airs live on WWE Network starting Saturday, January 14 and continuing Sunday, January 15, 2017, beginning at 8 p.m. GMT.