WWE Announces New UK Championship Tournament, Weekly UK Show
The WWE is making a big splash across the pond. At a press conference held in London this morning, [...]
The WWE is making a big splash across the pond. At a press conference held in London this morning, the WWE announced a two night tournament to crown the first ever WWE UK Champion, complete with a new championship belt. Afterwards, the WWE will then host a weekly show featuring their UK division that will air on the WWE Network.
Michael Cole announced that he and former ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness will be the commentary team for the WWE UK Championship Tournament. McGuinness had a storied career in Ring of Honor, wrestling the likes of Seth Rollins, Somoa Joe, and Daniel Bryan, and has acted as the promotion's on-screen authority figure since retiring in 2012. Ring of Honor announced that McGuinness had left their promotion last week.
The tournament will be hosted at Blackpool's Empress Ballroom on January 14th and 15th. Several competitors were announced for the tournament, including Pete Dunne, Trent Severn, Jordin Devlin, Tucker, and Wolfgang.
The UK has a rapidly expanding wrestling scene and the WWE has even partnered with several indie promotions over the last year to scout talent and host qualifying events for this year's Cruiserweight Classic Tournament. As the British TV network iTV is about to launch their own World of Sport wrestling show (which should quickly eclipse the WWE's viewership in the UK), it appears that the WWE is quickly striking back to gain a foothold in the British wrestling scene.
As the tournament is in just a month, expect more details about the competitors and the upcoming WWE Network series soon.