United Kingdom Championship Tournament (2018)

The 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a two-day professional wrestling streaming event and tournament promoted by the American promotion WWE. The tournament aired exclusively on the WWE Network and featured wrestlers from the NXT UK and NXT brand divisions—the first event to officially promote NXT UK. The event was filmed on 18 and 19 June 2018 and aired on tape delay on 25 and 26 June. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London, England.

United Kingdom Championship Tournament
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)NXT UK
NXT
Date18–19 June 2018
(aired 25–26 June 2018)
CityKensington, London, England
VenueRoyal Albert Hall
WWE Network event chronology
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WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament chronology
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Final

Day one of the event featured the second United Kingdom Championship Tournament, which was won by Zack Gibson. Day two (promoted as NXT U.K. Championship) saw Zack Gibson unsuccessfully challenge WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne. NXT's North American, Women's, and Tag Team championships were also defended on day two. NXT UK's Women's and Tag Team championships were introduced during the event.

Background

Production

On 14 and 15 January 2017, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE held its first United Kingdom Championship Tournament event. The tournament crowned the inaugural holder of the WWE United Kingdom Championship, which was won by Tyler Bate.[1] A follow-up to the event called the United Kingdom Championship Special aired on May 19.[2][3] On 7 April 2018, a second United Kingdom Championship Tournament event was scheduled for 18 and 19 June at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London, England and to air on 25 and 26 June exclusively on the WWE Network.[4][5][6][7] In addition to featuring wrestlers from WWE's new NXT UK brand, the tournament also featured wrestlers from the American-based NXT.[8][9]

On 25 May 2018, Shawn Michaels and Triple H were scheduled to make appearances at the event.[10][11] On 7 June, Johnny Saint was announced as the General Manager of WWE's United Kingdom-based brand, officially named NXT UK.[12] A United Kingdom Championship Tournament: Bracketology special aired on the WWE Network later that day, with appearances from all 16 tournament competitors.[13]

Storylines

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers.[14][15] Storylines were produced on the NXT television program.

On 28 April 2018, it was announced that British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) would face The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) in a six-man tag team match on the June 18 event.[10]

On 14 May, WWE revealed details about the second United Kingdom Championship tournament, scheduling the first round matches for the 2018 Download Festival from 8–10 June and succeeding rounds for the United Kingdom Championship Tournament event on 18 June.[16][17] The winner of the tournament will receive a United Kingdom Championship match with Pete Dunne on the following day.[16][17] On 16 May, the first 8 competitors of the 16 man tournament were officially announced on WWE.com. The first 8 revealed were Zack Gibson, Joe Coffey, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Dave Mastiff, Kenny Williams, Ligero, Joseph Conners and Amir Jordan.[18] On 18 May, the remaining 8 competitors were announced.[19]

On 23 May, it was announced that Aleister Black and Ricochet would face EC3 and Velveteen Dream in a tag team match on the 19 June event.[20]

On 25 May, a fatal four-way match between Isla Dawn, Jinny, Killer Kelly and Toni Storm was announced for the 18 June event.[10] The winner of the match will receive a NXT Women's Championship match with Shayna Baszler on the following day.[21]

On 18 June, it was announced that Adam Cole would defend his NXT North American Championship against Wolfgang the following day.[22]

On 18 June, it was announced that The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) would defend their NXT Tag Team Championship against Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) the following day.[21]

Participants
Wrestler Hometown Weight (lb) Ref
Travis Banks New Zealand Auckland, New Zealand 190 [23]
Joe Coffey Scotland Glasgow, Scotland 240 [24]
Joseph Conners England Nottingham, England 190 [25]
Jordan Devlin Republic of Ireland Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland 180 [26]
James Drake England Blackpool, England 181 [27]
Gentleman Jack Gallagher England Manchester, England 167 [28]
Zack Gibson England Liverpool, England 220 [29]
Drew Gulak United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 193 [30]
Amir Jordan England Dewsbury, England 185 [31]
Ligero England Leeds, England 160 [32]
Dave Mastiff England The Black Country, England 322 [33]
Ashton Smith England Manchester, England 193 [34]
Tyson T-Bone England Malvern, England 245 [35]
Tucker Northern Ireland Belfast, Northern Ireland 191 [36]
Flash Morgan Webster Wales Brynmawr, Wales 160 [37]
Kenny Williams Scotland Glasgow, Scotland 180 [38]

Tournament bracket
First round
NXT tapings (10 May)[39]
Download Festival (8–9 June)[40] 		Quarter-finals
United Kingdom Championship Tournament
(18 June)[41] 		Semifinals
United Kingdom Championship Tournament
(18 June)[41] 		Final
United Kingdom Championship Tournament
(18 June)[41]
        
Zack Gibson Sub[40]
Amir Jordan 09:29
Zack Gibson Sub[41]
Gentleman Jack Gallagher 13:30
Drew Gulak 06:32
Gentleman Jack Gallagher Pin[39]
Zack Gibson Sub[41]
Flash Morgan Webster 4:20
Flash Morgan Webster Pin[40]
James Drake 07:57
Flash Morgan Webster Pin[41]
Jordan Devlin 7:05
Tyson T-Bone 05:49
Jordan Devlin Pin[40]
Zack Gibson Sub[41]
Travis Banks 17:05
Tucker 07:01
Joe Coffey Pin[40]
Joe Coffey Pin[41]
Dave Mastiff 7:30
Dave Mastiff Pin[40]
Kenny Williams 5:51
Joe Coffey 9:20
Travis Banks Pin[41]
Ligero 5:11
Travis Banks Pin[40]
Travis Banks Pin[41]
Ashton Smith 6:20
Ashton Smith Pin[40]
Joseph Conners 9:45

Results

United Kingdom Championship Tournament (18 June)
No.ResultsStipulations
1DAmir Jordan defeated Joseph ConnersSingles match[42]
2Zack Gibson defeated Gentleman Jack Gallagher by submissionWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match[43]
3Joe Coffey defeated Dave MastiffWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match[44]
4Flash Morgan Webster defeated Jordan DevlinWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match[45]
5Travis Banks defeated Ashton SmithWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament quarterfinal match[46]
6Toni Storm defeated Killer Kelly and Isla Dawn[note 1]Triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship[47]
7Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster by submissionWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament semifinal match[48]
8Travis Banks defeated Joe CoffeyWWE United Kingdom Championship tournament semifinal match[49]
9British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong)Six-man tag team match[50]
10Zack Gibson defeated Travis Banks by submissionTournament final to determine the #1 contender to the WWE United Kingdom Championship[51]
D – this was a dark match
  1. This match was originally a fatal four-way match also involving Jinny, but she was injured in the match and subsequently the match was made into a triple threat match.

NXT U.K. Championship (19 June)
Logo of the NXT U.K. Championship event.
No.ResultsStipulations
1DLigero defeated Mike HitchmanSingles match[52]
2Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) defeated The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) (c)Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship[53]
3Charlie Morgan defeated Killer KellySingles match[53]
4Noam Dar defeated Flash Morgan Webster, Mark Andrews and Travis BanksFatal four-way match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE United Kingdom Championship[53]
5Adam Cole (c) defeated WolfgangSingles match for the NXT North American Championship[53]
6Aleister Black and Ricochet defeated EC3 and Velveteen DreamTag team match[53]
7Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Toni Storm by countoutSingles match for the NXT Women's Championship[53]
8Pete Dunne (c) defeated Zack GibsonSingles match for the WWE United Kingdom Championship[53]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
D – this was a dark match

Broadcast team
Ring name Real name Notes
Andy Shepherd Andrew Shepherd Ring announcer
Cathy Kelley Catherine Kelley Backstage interviewer
Mauro Ranallo Mauro Ranallo Lead commentator
Nigel McGuinness Steven Haworth Color commentator

Aftermath

On 18 June at day one of the event, it was revealed that WWE's United Kingdom brand would be debuting its first television programme, called NXT UK.[54] The inaugural tapings of NXT UK occurred on 28 and 29 July at the Cambridge Corn Exchange.[54]

See also

References
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  2. "UPDATED: WWE UK Championship Special to air on WWE Network on Friday with legend Jim Ross on commentary". Daily Mirror. 15 May 2017. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2016. The 90-minute show, starring the company's top UK and 205 Live cruiserweight talent, will feature action from tapings in Norwich on May 6 and 7
  3. "Jim Ross and Nigel McGuinness to commentate on WWE UK Championship show from Norwich". Metro. 15 January 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  4. Sean Rueter (7 April 2018). "Triple H reveals WWE's UK Championship Tournament returns in June". Cageside Seats. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
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  14. Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
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