IT’S been an exciting weekend for UK wrestling fans as WWE staged UK Championship Live across two nights at Epic Studios in Norwich.
Featuring the best of WWE’s UK talent – including United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate – it was the first outing since Bate was crowned champ in a special tournament back in January.
The cruiserweight stars from Raw and 205 Live were also on hand.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest WWE news, gossip and rumours
Here’s seven important things we learnt from attending the Sunday night show.
UK fans are the best in the world
Fans dominated the show with some hilarious – and very British – chanting.
Choice chants included “TJ is a w*nker!” at TJ Perkins, “Dude looks like a baby!” at the baldy brawler Sam, and even an “Alan Partridge!” chant in honour of the Norwich setting.
Which really confused Triple H.
He might know his British wrestling, but sounds like he needs to bone up on his British comedy.
This could be the start of a weekly UK show
Though it was essentially a WWE Live event, cameras were on hand at Epic Studios.
It’s likely the matches will be broadcast on the WWE Network at some point – but this could also be a test run for WWE’s much talked about UK show.
It was a small venue but the atmosphere was enough to give the NXT crowd at Full Sail a run for their money.
The cruiserweights got a better reaction than on Raw
The one thing still holding back the cruiserweight division on Raw is the lack of interest from fans during most matches.
But the Norwich crowd were on fire as Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins faced Rich Swan and Dan Maloney.
It was mostly played for laughs – TJ locked his own partner in an arm bar by mistake at one point because he was looking the wrong way – and fans got behind the match and British boy Maloney in a big way.
Unfortunately for Maloney though, he was pinned by Kendrick in the closing seconds of this energetic bout.
most read in football
The UK won’t be getting WrestleMania anytime soon
When Triple H appeared mid-show to thank the UK fans, he was met with a chorus “We want Mania!”.
He jokingly replied: “Oh, you want Mania? I can get you the code for the travel packages.
It’s only 7 hours away. I do that journey all the time. Don’t keep bitchin’.”
British fans had better not hold their breaths on that one.
There’s a new number one contender for the UK Championship
Pete Dunne – who arrived with his Progress world title gripped between his teeth – battled Trent for a shot at WWE UK Champion at NXT TakeOver: Chicago next week.
“British Strong Style” was out in full force as the two Brummie stars traded blows.
The highlight came when Seven blasted Dunne with his snap dragon suplex on the ring apron – a painful-looking spot that rocked the entire studio.
After working Seven’s injured elbow, the villainous Dunne locked in a kimura lock and later hit the Bitter End for the win.
The level of British talent is incredible
Ask any fan of British wrestling and they’ll tell you the scene is hot right now.
As well as Pete Dunne and Trent Seven, there were also top performances from Wolfgang, Joseph Connors, Tyson T-Bone, Saxon Huxley, and Sam Gradwell.
As soon as WWE wants to pull the trigger on its UK show, the British superstars are ready to prove they’re amongst the best wrestling talent on the planet.
Tyler Bate is still the United Kingdom Champion
Tyler Bate put his title on the line against Mark Andrews in the main event.
The opening minutes were a technical showcase of holds and crafty reversals (Bate’s Boston Crab-surfboard combo looked particularly good) but it erupted into a jaw-dropping thriller.
Mark Andrews proved he can reverse almost any position into a hurricanrana – even when hoisted up on Bates’ shoulders at the top turnbuckle.
He also delivered a stunning moonsault to the outside that he turned into a DDT.
But the charismatic Bate retained the title with his Tyler Driver – before facing down with his TakeOver challenger Pete Dunne.
It should be another classic from the Brits.
Watch NXT TakeOver: Chicago on the WWE Network Saturday May 20
Leave a comment