United Kingdom Championship Tournament (2017)

WWE Network event

United Kingdom Championship Tournament

Promotional poster featuring various tournament participants

Promotion| WWE
Brand| United Kingdom
Date| 14 January 2017 (first round)
15 January 2017 (finals)
City| Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Venue| Empress Ballroom
Attendance| 3,236
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The 2017 United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a two-day professional wrestling streaming event and tournament promoted by the American promotion WWE. It aired exclusively on the WWE Network. The first round took place on 14 January 2017, while the finals occurred on 15 January. The tournament was held at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England and crowned the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion. Tyler Bate won the tournament to become the inaugural champion.

## Background

[edit]

In a press conference at The O2 Arena on 15 December 2016, Triple H, an executive for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE and head of the promotion's NXT brand, revealed that there would be a 16-man tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion.[1] A United Kingdom Championship Tournament: Preview show aired on the WWE Network on 9 January 2017, with a behind-the-scenes look at the creators of the event and the 16 competitors.[2] The tournament was held over a two-day period, 14 and 15 January 2017, at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England and aired exclusively on the WWE Network.[3][4] The championship later became the top championship of the NXT UK brand and its show, NXT UK, a WWE Network show produced in the United Kingdom that premiered on 17 October 2018.[5]

## Participants

[edit]

Wrestler  | Hometown  | Weight (lb)  | Ref

|
|
|

Mark Andrews |  Cardiff, Wales | 159  | [6]
Tyler Bate |  Dudley, West Midlands, England | 175  | [7]
Danny Burch |  London, England | 190  | [8]
Joseph Conners |  Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England | 196  | [9]
Jordan Devlin |  Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland | 180  | [10]
James Drake |  Blackpool, Lancashire, England | 181  | [11]
Pete Dunne |  Birmingham, West Midlands, England | 205  | [12]
H.C. Dyer  |  Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England | 213  | [13]
Sam Gradwell  |  Blackpool, Lancashire, England | 212  | [14]
Saxon Huxley |  Hartlepool, County Durham, England | 215  | [15]
Roy Johnson  |  London, England | 206  | [16]
Dan Moloney |  Birmingham, West Midlands, England | 216  | [17]
Trent Seven |  Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England | 216  | [18]
Tucker |  Belfast, Northern Ireland | 191  | [19]
Tyson T-Bone  |  Malvern, Worcestershire, England | 245  | [20]
Wolfgang |  Glasgow, Scotland | 255  | [21]

### Alternates

[edit]

These competitors were initially announced for the tournament, but were not selected as part of the final 16. They were backup competitors if there were any injuries to the final 16, which there were not.

Wrestler  | Hometown  | Weight (lb)

|
|

Tiger Ali  |  Swindon, Wiltshire, England | 185
Ringo Ryan  |  Liverpool, Merseyside, England | 198
Jack Starz  |  Leicester, Leicestershire, England | 172
Chris Tyler  |  Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England | 201

## Results

[edit]

### 14 January

[edit]

No.| Results| Stipulations

|
|

1D| Chris Tyler and Jack Starz defeated Ringo Ryan and Tiger Ali| Tag team match[22]
2| Trent Seven defeated HC Dyer| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
3| Jordan Devlin defeated Danny Burch| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
4| Sam Gradwell defeated Saxon Huxley| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
5| Pete Dunne defeated Roy Johnson| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
6| Wolfgang defeated Tyson T-Bone| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
7| Joseph Conners defeated James Drake| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
8| Mark Andrews defeated Dan Moloney| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
9| Tyler Bate defeated Tucker| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament first round match
| D|  – this was a dark match

|

### 15 January

[edit]

No.| Results| Stipulations

|
|

1D| Saxon Huxley and Tucker defeated Dan Moloney and Nathan Cruz| Tag team match[23]
2| Pete Dunne defeated Sam Gradwell| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match
3| Mark Andrews defeated Joseph Conners| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match
4| Wolfgang defeated Trent Seven| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match
5| Tyler Bate defeated Jordan Devlin| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match
6| Pete Dunne defeated Mark Andrews| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament semifinal match
7| Tyler Bate defeated Wolfgang| WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament semifinal match
8| Neville defeated Tommy End| Singles match[24]
9| Tyler Bate defeated Pete Dunne| Tournament final for the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship
| D|  – this was a dark match

|

### Tournament bracket

[edit]

On 9 January 2017, WWE.com announced the full bracket for the tournament.[25]

The following time limits were in place:

* Round one: 15 minutes
* Quarterfinals: 20 minutes
* Semifinals: 30 minutes
* Final: no time limit

| First Round
14 January 2017[26] | | | Quarter-Finals
15 January 2017[24] | | | Semi-Finals
15 January 2017[24] | | | Final
15 January 2017[24] |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  | | |  |  | | |  |  | | |  |  |
|  Tyler Bate | Pin | | | |
|  Tucker | 10:34 |
| |  Tyler Bate | Pin |
|  |
| | |  Jordan Devlin | 6:05 |
|  Jordan Devlin | Pin |

|  Danny Burch | 8:55 |
| |  Tyler Bate | Pin |
|  |
| | |  Wolfgang | 5:55 |
|  Trent Seven | Pin | |

|  H.C. Dyer | 5:25 |
| |  Trent Seven | 6:35 |
|  |
| | |  Wolfgang | Pin |
|  Wolfgang | Pin |

|  Tyson T-Bone | 6:20 |
| |  Tyler Bate | Pin |
|  |
| | |  Pete Dunne | 15:10 |
|  Mark Andrews | Pin | | |

|  Dan Moloney | 5:35 |
| |  Mark Andrews | Pin |
|  |
| | |  Joseph Conners | 8:10 |
|  James Drake | 7:12 |

|  Joseph Conners | Pin |
| |  Mark Andrews | 10:33 |
|  |
| | |  Pete Dunne | Pin |
|  Pete Dunne | Pin | |

|  Roy Johnson | 7:30 |
| |  Pete Dunne | Pin |
|  |
| | |  Sam Gradwell | 4:50 |
|  Saxon Huxley | 6:00 |

|  Sam Gradwell | Pin |

## Broadcast team

[edit]

Ring name  | Real name  | Notes

|
|

Andy Shepherd | Andrew Shepherd | Ring announcer[27]
Charly Caruso | Charly Arnolt | Backstage interviewer
Michael Cole | Michael Coulthard | Lead commentator[1]
Nigel McGuinness | Steven Haworth | Color commentator[1]

## Aftermath

[edit]

On 15 May 2017, a follow-up to the United Kingdom Championship tournament was announced by WWE,[28] titled the United Kingdom Championship Special, the event aired on 19 May 2017.[29] In April 2018, a second WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament was announced, to be held on 18 and 19 June 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall.[30]

## See also

[edit]

* Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Melok, Bobby. "First-ever United Kingdom Champion to be crowned in January". WWE. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
2. ^ "Watch the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Preview Show tonight after Raw on WWE Network". WWE. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
3. ^ Currier, Joseph (15 December 2016). "WWE to crown first United Kingdom Champion in January". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
4. ^ 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 15 December 2016.
5. ^ "NXT UK joins WWE Network's already packed Wednesday line-up". 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
6. ^ "Mark Andrews". WWE.com.
7. ^ "Tyler Bate". WWE.com.
8. ^ "Danny Burch". WWE.com.
9. ^ "Joseph Conners". WWE.com.
10. ^ "Jordan Devlin". WWE.com.
11. ^ "James Drake". WWE.com.
12. ^ "Pete Dunne". WWE.com.
13. ^ "H.C. Dyer". WWE.com.
14. ^ "Sam Gradwell". WWE.com.
15. ^ "Saxon Huxley". WWE.com.
16. ^ "Roy Johnson". WWE.com.
17. ^ "Dan Moloney". WWE.com.
18. ^ "Trent Seven". WWE.com.
19. ^ "Tucker". WWE.com.
20. ^ "Tyson T-Bone". WWE.com.
21. ^ "Wolfgang". WWE.com.
22. ^ "WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament - Tag 1". Cagematch. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
23. ^ "WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament - Tag 2". Cagematch. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
24. ^ a b c d Soucek, Andrew. "SOUCEK'S WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REPORT 1/15: Ongoing coverage of night two of UK Championship tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
25. ^ WWE.com Staff. "WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament bracket and First Round matches revealed". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
26. ^ Soucek, Andrew. "SOUCEK'S WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REPORT 1/14: Ongoing coverage of night one of UK Championship tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
27. ^ Bobby Melok (10 January 2017). "Meet Andy Shepherd, ring announcer for WWE's United Kingdom Championship Tournament". WWE. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
28. ^ "UPDATED: WWE UK Championship Special to air on WWE Network on Friday with legend Jim Ross on commentary". Daily Mirror. May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2016. "The 90-minute show, starring the company's top UK and 205 Live cruiserweight talent, will feature action from tapings in Norwich on 6 and 7 May"
29. ^ "WWE United Kingdom Championship Special premiere today". WWE. May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
30. ^ WWE.com staff (April 13, 2018). "WWE U.K., NXT championship matches announced for Royal Albert Hall". Retrieved April 21, 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* United Kingdom Championship Tournament on Facebook

* United Kingdom portal

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