The 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a two-day

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

streaming event and tournament promoted by the American promotion WWE. The tournament aired exclusively on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television an ...

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 The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in Kensington,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. 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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

Women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as " women's rights" to denote female humans rega ...

, and

Tag Team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

championships were also defended on day two. NXT UK's

and

championships were introduced during the event.

Background

Production

On 14 and 15 January 2017, the American

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

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. A follow-up to the event called the United Kingdom Championship Special aired on May 19. On 7 April 2018, a second United Kingdom Championship Tournament event was scheduled for 18 and 19 June at the

in Kensington,

and to air on 25 and 26 June exclusively on the

. In addition to featuring wrestlers from WWE's new NXT UK

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

, the tournament also featured wrestlers from the American-based NXT. On 25 May 2018,

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...

and

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

were scheduled to make appearances at the event. On 7 June, Johnny Saint was announced as the General Manager of WWE's United Kingdom-based brand, officially named NXT UK. A United Kingdom Championship Tournament: Bracketology special aired on the WWE Network later that day, with appearances from all 16 tournament competitors.

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. 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 Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder ...

on the June 18 event. 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. The winner of the tournament will receive a United Kingdom Championship match with Pete Dunne on the following day. 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 Ligero (pronounced "lee-HAIR-oh") is a type of tobacco leaf found near the top of each tobacco plant. Slower to mature than the seco and viso leaves found at the middle of the plant or the easy-burning volado leaves at the bottom, ligero leaves ...

Joseph Conners Joseph Conners (born 28 May 1987) is an English professional wrestler. Conners competed in many British wrestling promotions, most notably New Generation Wrestling (NGW) and What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW), where he was a one-time WCPW Cham ...

and Amir Jordan. On 18 May, the remaining 8 competitors were announced. On 23 May, it was announced that Aleister Black and

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

would face EC3 and Velveteen Dream in a

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on the 19 June event. On 25 May, a fatal four-way match between Isla Dawn, Jinny, Killer Kelly and Toni Storm was announced for the 18 June event. The winner of the match will receive a NXT Women's Championship match with Shayna Baszler on the following day. On 18 June, it was announced that Adam Cole would defend his NXT North American Championship against

Wolfgang Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...

the following day. 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.

Participants

Tournament bracket

Results

United Kingdom Championship Tournament (18 June)

NXT U.K. Championship (19 June)

Broadcast team

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 program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising ...

me, called '' NXT UK''. The inaugural tapings of ''NXT UK'' occurred on 28 and 29 July at the

Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge Corn Exchange is a concert venue located in Cambridge, England with a capacity up to 1,681 people. Construction The site, on the corner of Wheeler Street and Corn Exchange Street, was earmarked for a new Corn Exchange in 1868 to repla ...

References

External links

* {{WWE Tournaments 2018 WWE Network events January 2018 events in the United Kingdom Events in London 2018 in London

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Tournament 2018 U.K. Championship WWE international