Fight Club: Pro (UK) has announced a huge bout for Pete Dunne. The WWE United Kingdom Champion will be taking part in the Project Mayhem VII event. The ‘Bruserweight’ will be appearing on at least the second night on Saturday 29th September.

Dunne’s opponent for the event is Dragon Gate legend CIMA. The Japanese star is regarded as one of the greatest to ever step foot in the promotion, winning the Open the Triangle Gate Championship a record 12 times. CIMA has also held every possible Championship in the Dragon Gate promotion. The Japanese star has also appeared for Ring of Honor, having defeated now WWE Champion AJ Styles back in 2005.

This will be the first ‘dream’ bout for Dunne on the final weekend of September. The ‘Bruiserweight’ will also be facing wXw Unified World Champion Ilja Dragunov on September 30th for PROGRESS at Wembley Arena. This bout is being touted as the two ‘best wrestlers in Europe’ colliding. This may well be one of the last opportunities for UK fans to see Dunne in smaller promotions such as FCP, WWE are reportedly expecting big things from Dunne and his longtime stablemates Trent Seven and Tyler Bate. The PROGRESS Wembley Arena show will be the biggest in England in this century and will feature a huge lineup of international standouts including NXT Superstar Matt Riddle.

🚨PROJECT MAYHEM – NIGHT 2🚨

With the line up of fighters assembled for the Project Mayhem weekend there will undoubtedly be “Dream Match” situations.

This is definitely one of those!!!

Tickets: https://t.co/OGwFjC5aqf#Bruiserweight #OWE #PM7 #NightTwo #DreamMatch pic.twitter.com/GkJFCSqy0X

— Fight Club: PRO (@Fightclubpro) September 15, 2018

IPW:UK has announced Pete Dunne’s opponent for their Anniversary XIV show. The WWE United Kingdom Champion will face Mark Haskins on the September 22nd card in Maidstone, England.

Haskins has a big September ahead of him. The former PROGRESS World Champion will not only face the ‘Bruiserweight’ on the 22nd but he will also be challenging Matt Riddle in his final Independent date. The Haskins/Riddle match will be taking place September 30th from Wembley Arena for PROGRESS.

Dunne will not be the only NXT star on the show. The WWE UK Champion’s British Strong Style stablemates will also be in attendance. Tyler Bate & Trent Seven are two of the most charismatic stars on the UK scene and are destined for even bigger things in the WWE as evidenced by their NXT Tag Title program against the Undisputed Era.

Several other major names will be announced for the Anniversary show. Here’s some of the stellar talent being brought in:

• rent Seven & Tyler Bate
• David Starr
• IPW Undisputed World Champion Kip Sabian
• Bad Bones
• Doug Williams
• IPW Womens Champion Xia Brookside

IPW:UK has issued the following on the big event:

September 22nd will be host to INTERNATIONAL SUPER 8. 8 of the very best international world talent will compete for the Super 8 trophy and the opportunity to face the IPW Undisputed World Champion at our annual end of year supershow UNDISPUTED.

Tickets for the show are available to purchase here

https://twitter.com/IPWUK/status/1039945989413646340

Insane Championship Wrestling has announced that British Strong Style will be heading to ‘Fear & Loathing XII.’ This will be first time that the BSS stable has appeared as a unit in ICW. Trent Seven is a former ICW World Champion. More interesting is that Pete Dunne actually defended his WWE United Kingdom Championship in the company previously.

British Strong Style are arguably the most popular stars from the thriving UK scene. All three are featured heavily on the WWE UK brands and NXT television.

Fear & Loathing XII will be taking place on December 2nd at the SSE Hydro. If you’re an ICW fan you know that the ‘Loathing event is ICW’s biggest in the calendar year and last year’s iteration featured Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash and Rob Van Dam amongst the homegrown talent.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/1035965383474335745

Tickets are available to purchase via Ticketmaster now.

You can check out Pete Dunne’s WWE UK Championship 4-Way match from 2017 below. The ‘Bruiserweight’ defends against Trent Seven, B.T. Gunn? and Wolfgang?. Gunn was not actually contracted to WWE and was the first challenger to the title without being signed to WWE.

NXT is back inside Full Sail University tonight. The brand presents its first show from the television tapings which took place after Takeover: Brooklyn IV.

4 matches have been confirmed for tonight along with an update from William Regal on the investigation into Aleister Black’s attacker.

NXT Preview 8/29

Non-Title
Ricochet & Pete Dunne vs Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly (Undisputed Era)

Ricochet and Dunne are not allies but they will have to work on the same page tonight. The two unlikely partners were involved in a backstage altercation with the Undisputed Era last week, however, leading to this match tonight.

Dunne seems more interested in challenging for Ricochet’s NXT North American Championship than he is gaining a tag partner. This could create an interesting dynamic in tonight’s main event. Should the NXT NA Champion and the WWE UK Champion be victorious tonight they’d likely find themselves in line for a future title shot against the NXT tag champs.

EC3 vs Raul Mendoza

EC3 will be looking to get back in the win column tonight. He suffered a loss to Velveteen Dream at Takeover: Brooklyn IV.

EC3 said his rivalry with Dream isn’t over until he wins. He made the comments backstage following his loss at Takeover. If that is the case, EC3 might want to send a message to his rival tonight.

Dakota Kai vs Aliyah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX-BSO9V4Vw&frags=pl%2Cwn

The NXT Women’s division will see former title-challenger, Dakota Kai, go one-on-one with Aliyah on tonight’s show.

The New Zealander Kai looks as though she will also compete in the NXT UK Women’s division as well. She took part in the NXT UK tapings recently. Kai’s last single’s match on NXT North American programming saw her drop a match to Lacey Evans. Kai has actually dropped 3 of her last 4 matches on the brand, losing to Baszler, Bianca Belair, and Lacey Evans. Her only victory during that period was over Santana Garrett.

As for Aliyah, 2018 has not been kind to her. She’s had 4 matches on NXT programming this year and she’s lost all of them. Lacey Evans, Ember Moon, Bianca Belair, and Kairi Sane have all scored wins over her in 2018.

Keith Lee In Single’s Action

Keith Lee will step back into an NXT ring tonight. He was victorious in his first match over Marcel Barthel last month. Since that match, Lee has won 5 straight on NXT house shows.

William Regal Updates The Investigation Into The Attack on Aleister Black

NXT General Manager, William Regal, has promised to update fans tonight on the investigation into who attacked Aleister Black.

Last week, EC3 speculated Lars Sullivan might have been Black’s attacker. Several surveillance videos have been released recently but who attacked the former champion is still unclear.

There’s only ever been two WWE United Kingdom Champions in history and both have just been confirmed for WWE 2K19.

“As WWE expands globally, we want the WWE 2K roster to reflect those changes as much as possible,“ said Sean Conway from Visual Concepts. 

The standard game releases on October 9th. Pre-Orders will be available on October 5th, however. AJ Styles is this year’s cover athlete.

Behold the #Bruiserweight! Step into the ring with @PeteDunneYxB for the first time ever in #WWE2K19! #i63 #NXTUK https://t.co/TMWIsw0EFY pic.twitter.com/1lUSWUC24h

— #WWE2K25 (@WWEgames) August 25, 2018

Get ready for a dose of British Strong Style! @Tyler_Bate makes his official @WWEgames debut in #WWE2K19! #i63 #NXTUK https://t.co/TMWIsw0EFY pic.twitter.com/vwzNXYyEAS

— #WWE2K25 (@WWEgames) August 25, 2018

And here are a couple of @PeteDunneYxB screenshots to celebrate his inclusion in #WWE2K19! #i63 @IGFestUK @WWEUK @WWENXT #NXTUK pic.twitter.com/dwJRmUg7Ia

— #WWE2K25 (@WWEgames) August 25, 2018

WWE 2K19 Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate

2K has confirmed several other features of the game as well. Most notably, Showcase mode will return to WWE 2K19 this year. 2K is promoting Daniel Bryan’s showcase as the mode returns after a one-year absence.

Pre-Order bonuses also include access to the game 4 days early and Ronda Rousey and Rey Mysterio as bonus characters.

A commemorative Ric Flair version of the game has also been announced as well. This version of the game includes a plaque with a real piece of one of Flair’s iconic robes incased and a replica of a WWE Hall of Fame ring. The Flair version of the game also involves the following characters as bonus content:

• “Rowdy” Roddy Piper character (1980s)
• Dusty Rhodes (1980s)
• Rick “the Dragon” Steamboat (1980s)
• “Macho Man” Randy Savage (WM8)
• The Undertaker (2002)
• Ric Flair (WM24 attire)
• Charlotte Flair (WM32 attire)
• NWA Starrcade 1983 Arena

Tonight’s episode of NXT will feature matches taped before Takeover: Brooklyn IV on Saturday night. The main event will feature a match for the United Kingdom Championship.

Two matches have been announced for tonight’s show. Fans can likely expect several highlight packages of Saturday’s Takeover event as well.

NXT 8/22 Preview

WWE United Kingdom Championship
Pete Dunne (c) vs Zack Gibson

The winner of the NXT U.K Championship tournament in London earlier this year will get another crack at Pete Dunne tonight. Dunne defeated Gibson in Royal Albert Hall following Gibson’s tournament victory.

Meanwhile, Dunne has expressed interest in challenging for Ricochet’s newly won NXT North American Championship. He’ll have to get by Gibson tonight for that to happen, however.

Bianca Belair vs Deonna Purrazzo

A back injury forced Bianca Belair out of title contention but she’ll return tonight to take on newcomer Deonna Purrazzo. Belair is hoping the newly signed Mae Young Classic competitor isn’t the first one to hand her a loss in NXT.

Purrazzo made her in-ring NXT debut at a live event on the 17th. She competed in the MYC tapings which were held on August 8th and 9th.

The fallout from NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV

With two new champions crowned on Saturday, fans can expect to see plenty of the Takeover fallout tonight.

Ricochet is the new NXT North American Champion but you can bet Adam Cole won’t simply let that go without a fight. Shayna Baszler was also dethroned by Kairi Sane and does not appear finished with the original MYC winner either.

PROGRESS has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking part in the company’s 73rd Chapter event ‘Fourth Shade of Green’ on Sunday 15th July from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.

Dunne will be teaming with his British Strong Style stablemate and fellow NXT UK roster member Trent Seven to take on the Kings of The North. This will be the first bout for the KOTN in PROGRESS in 18 months and they have one hell of a test on their return.

The third member of British Strong Style Tyler Bate will also be in action at Fourth Shade of Green. The inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion will be challenging Travis Banks for the PROGRESS Wrestling World Championship in the main event.

All three BSS Superstars will be on hand for the upcoming NXT UK tapings which start in Cambridge later this month on July 28th.

#Chapter73: #KOTN @CorvinNI @BonesawAl return for tag team action after 18 months away; they face @PeteDunneYxB and @trentseven next Sunday at @o2academybham! #ThisIsProgress #FourthShadeOfGreen pic.twitter.com/Bf5MjBtPpa

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) July 4, 2018

Jeff Hardy Changes Finisher

WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy is now using a new finisher as the younger Hardy brother showed off it off at a recent house show.

WWE held a live event on Sunday night in Fresno, CA at the Save Mart Center that was headlined by Hardy retaining his title against Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe and Shelton Benjamin in a Fatal 4-Way match.

The end of the match saw Hardy use a modified stunner and a splash as his finisher. It will be interesting to see if he uses this instead of the swanton bombs going forward.

https://twitter.com/briantheguppie/status/1011202390496825344

Pete Dunne Milestone

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne has hit a new milestone as the current champion. WWE recently noted on Twitter that Dunne’s title reign has surpassed the 400 day mark and the first time in thirty years two WWE Championship holders have had reigns over 400 days.

.@PeteDunneYxB's reign as @WWE United Kingdom Champion has now surpassed 400 days. #WWEUKCT

This is the 1st time since 1988 that @WWE has TWO singles champions (Dunne & @BrockLesnar) who both have 400+ day reigns with titles at the same time. In '88 it was Sherri & @OfficialHTM.

— Wrestling Stats & Info (@WWEStats) June 25, 2018

What are your thoughts on Hardy using the new finisher? Sound off in the comment section.

PROGRESS Wrestling has announced the roster for their upcoming tour of the United States. The Coast to Coast tour will be taking place from August 4th and will be hitting the following cities:

• 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  
• 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
• 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  
• 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The talent that PROGRESS will be taking ‘across the pond’ for #CoastToCoast are as follows:

• PROGRESS World Champion – Travis Banks (4th, 5th, 7th August only)
• PROGRESS Tag Team Champions – Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
• PROGRESS Women’s Champion – Jinny (4th, 11th, 12th August only)
• WWE United Kingdom Champion – Pete Dunne 
• NXT Tag Team Champions – Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
• TK Cooper
• WALTER (9th, 11th, 12th August only)
• ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
• Mark Haskins
• Jimmy Havoc
• Mark Andrews
• Eddie Dennis
• Jack Sexsmith (7th, 9th, 11th, 12th August only
• CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos)
• Toni Storm (4th, 11th, 12th August only)

Ticket information is available via the tweet below from PROGRESS co-owner Jim Smallman:

After the video reveal of the @ThisIs_Progress roster, in case you missed anyone here’s a link to the names, the shows they’re on and how to get tickets to all of our shows in the USA. Come see us! https://t.co/xUGSR8OPox

— Jim Smallman – ????????? (@jimsmallman) June 23, 2018

WWE recently filed for a new trademark. The company has applied for a patent on the term “British Strong Style.” The name has previously referred to the stable of wrestlers consisting of Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, and Tyler Bate.

Dunne and Seven originally formed the stable in Progress back in June of 2016. Bate was added to the group a few months later. The name is said to be derived from their mash-up between British and Japanese style wrestling. Although they have primarily competed for Progress, the stable has also appeared in Chikara. They won the King of Trios tournament in 2017.

WWE filed for the trademark on June 18th, 2018 with the status officially being updated on June 21st, 2018.

Pete Dunne on British Strong Style and WWE UK Division

In a recent interview, Pete Dunne talked about the role he and his fellow WWE UK wrestlers are playing on NXT programming as of late.

“It’s a big part of it, again using this as the marker, not only are we now finally relaunching our own brand kick-starting that properly, but we are also now becoming a big part of NXT,” Dunne said. “It feels great to have had that journey but also I’ve had my own independent stuff with British Strong Style and Progress wrestling, so it feels like two worlds are meeting in the middle and we get to take something that we built alongside WWE in a company like Progress and we get to bring that together when we face the Undisputed Era at the Royal Albert Hall.”

Dunne also spoke in regards to the future of WWE’s UK Division. “Something you’ll find in wrestling, in general, is that people have a respect for the British style,” Dunne continued. “So to be able to have this title now and create something a little bit unique and have a unique part of the NXT show that has our stamp on it is great, and to hear that Johnny Saint is going to be the general manager of the UK show, you know if anybody epitomizes British wrestling as something quirky and unique it’s that man, and he brings so much experience to the table and hopefully that really adds to our show.”

Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking on one of the hottest Independent talents on the planet when he faces WALTER at the first night of the Shotgun Live Tour.

Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld in Cologne will play host to this veritable independent dream match between two of both PROGRESS/wXw’s biggest stars.

This will not be the first wXw opponent that Dunne will face this year, the WWE UK Champion has been booked for a bout against wXw Unified World Champion Ilja Dragunov at the Wembley Arena show on September 30th in a match that will determine who the best wrestler in Europe truly is.

If you’ve never heard of WALTER then he is certainly a performer that should be on your radar. The Austrian powerhouse has been dominating the Tag and Heavyweight divisions in wXw, PROGRESS and PWG over the past couple of years and he is now being slated as a future WWE/NXT signee (even if he denies any sort of negotiations). The de-facto leader of the Ringkampf stable (alongside Timothy Thatcher and previously NXT roster member Axel Dieter Jr) has a ton of potential on the world stage and has already garnered critical praise from the likes of Dave Meltzer, who gave his PWG All-Star Weekend bout against Zack Sabre Jr from October 2017 a 5 star rating.

https://twitter.com/wXwGermany/status/1010092634969378817

PROGRESS has announced the latest bout for their upcoming Chapter 72 event ‘Got Got Need’ which takes place on June 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.

Newly crowned NXT Tag Team Champions Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) will be joining their British Strong Style stablemate and WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne to take on Josh Alexander and the Besties In The World.

Tyler Bate & Trent Seven won the NXT Tag Team Titles in a bout against the Undisputed Era’s Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong at yesterday’s Royal Albert Hall taping, it was unexpected title change considering the announcement that the NXT UK brand would have their own Tag Team Championships and the crowd reaction was massive.

Other bouts already confirmed for the show include:

• ATLAS Championship Match – Doug Williams (c) vs Michael Dante
• NPS Final – Chris Ridgeway vs Mark Davis
• PROGRESS World Title Match – Travis Banks (c) vs Chuck Mambo

#Chapter72: Fresh off raising the roof at Royal Albert Hall, #BritishStrongStyle @PeteDunneYxB @Tyler_Bate @trentseven team up this Sunday to face three of the brightest independent prospects in North America – @BestiesITW and @Walking_Weapon! #ThisIsProgress pic.twitter.com/tzYV3I1yIX

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) June 20, 2018

The results are in from day two of the WWE NXT UK Title tournament.

The sports entertainment company held the tapings at Royal Albert Hall in London, England on Tuesday afternoon. This event will air on the WWE Network on June 26th.

Here are the spoilers for the show:

Tyler Bate and Trent Seven defeated Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

Charlie Morgan defeated Killer Kelly

Noam Dar defeated Flash Morgan Webster, Travis Banks and Mark Andrews in a Fatal 4 Way to become the new #1 contender to the WWE UK Title.

NXT North American Champion Adam Cole retained over Wolfgang.

NXT Champion Aleister Black and Ricochet defeated EC3 and The Velveteen Dream

NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler retained over Toni Storm by count out.

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne retained over Zack Gibson. After the match, Triple H, Dunne, GM Johnny Saint, NXT Superstars and the entire UK roster came out to the ring and stood in the ring while Triple H thanked the crowd.

Pete Dunne Ranks Himself Alongside HBK

WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne was recently a guest on BBC radio alongside WWE Hall Of Famer and Performance Center trainer Shawn Michaels. Dunne posted a photo of he and Michaels during the interview, and made quite a confident caption:

The two best wrestlers of all time on @1Xtra today pic.twitter.com/X26tR7iWI1

— ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) June 19, 2018

JR & Bully Ray Back Becky Lynch

WWE Hall Of Famer Bully Ray recently took to Busted Open Radio and discussed the Women’s Money In The Bank (MITB) Ladder match. Ray noticed that fans were cheering on Becky Lynch whenever she’d climb up the ladder.

Ray suggested he hopes backstage officials take note of this and perhaps give Lynch a push soon:

“Every time she climbed that ladder, those people were on their feet. They’re invested in her, they wanted to see her win. Hopefully the people in the back are listening.”

"Every time she climbed that ladder, those people were on their feet. They're invested in her, they wanted to see her win. Hopefully the people in the back are listening." – @bullyray5150 on @BeckyLynchWWE #MITB #SDLive pic.twitter.com/wmo88FUt1X

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) June 18, 2018

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross responded Ray’s comments, agreeing with him that Lynch is due:

It’s those supermodel cheekbones…only kidding…@BeckyLynchWWE is due! https://t.co/1WX6lfot8J

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) June 19, 2018

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1008931006357917698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mandatory.com%2Fwrestlezone%2Fnews%2F966709-jr-goes-to-bat-for-becky-lynch-mauro-is-ready-for-day-two-of-the-u-k-tourney

Fight Club: Pro has announced a three day residency in London’s Bush Hall music venue that will be taking place on Tuesday 28th August to Thursday 30th.

The three days will see the company host 6 daytime training seminars with 3 stacked evening events taking place on all three nights. No official bouts have yet been announced for the evening events however the promotional material for ‘Project London’ show WWE UK signed Superstars Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Travis Banks as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Will Ospreay and UK independent star Chris Brookes.

This follows the already stellar lineup for FCP’s upcoming International Tekkers show which will feature the following bouts:

In a FIRST TIME EVER match inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate will be facing former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. It is incredible to think that these two standouts have never faced one on one in the squared circle but Fight Club: Pro is making it happen.

FCP has also announced that WWE UK roster member Jordan Devlin will be taking on Dragon Gate’s Naoki Tanizaki. The Dragon Gate veteran will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.

This August we are returning to London and in conjunction with @Bushhallmusic present three days of Wrestling excellence.

From Tue 28th – Thur 30th Aug we will take up residence in the historic venue and provide a series of 6 daytime training seminars & 3 stacked evening events. pic.twitter.com/9eA99aHBNm

— Fight Club: PRO (@Fightclubpro) June 16, 2018

UK based promotion Fight Club: Pro has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be on hand for their upcoming ‘International Tekkers’ event on Friday June 29th from the Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton, England.

The WWE Superstar will be defending his PWRevolver Tag Team Championship alongside Millie McKenzie against the Besties In The World.

FCP are beginning to shape up ‘International Tekkers’ and there are some massive bouts already announced:

In a FIRST TIME EVER match inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate will be facing former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. It is incredible to think that these two standouts have never faced one on one in the squared circle but Fight Club: Pro is making it happen.

FCP has also announced that WWE UK roster member Jordan Devlin will be taking on Dragon Gate’s Naoki Tanizaki. The Dragon Gate veteran will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.

WWE linked Superstar WALTER has also been announced for the June 29th event, the former PROGRESS ATLAS and wXw Unified World Champion does not yet have an opponent named but with the wealth of stars available Internationally right now he should be matched with someone stellar.

🚨MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT🚨

After an impressive @Fightclubpro debut we would have been truly mad to not have them back.

They will face the team that won their @PWRevolver Tag Team Championships…

But this time what titles will be up for grabs?

Tickets: https://t.co/rXwZRGJiTf pic.twitter.com/vkJ8E959DY

— Fight Club: PRO (@Fightclubpro) June 14, 2018

In anticipation of this weekend’s NXT Takeover in Chicago, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, Triple H held a conference call for the pro wrestling media on Wednesday.

The conversation turned quickly to the upcoming WWE UK Tournament, and Triple H was asked who of the UK-based talent he sees as a possible future WWE World Champion.

“Obviously a guy that stands out the most to me is Pete Dunne” Triple H said. “I think his ability to take a style from years ago, in a classic wrestling sense, a joint manipulation sense, and bring that classic UK style back style back, but to do it in a modern form which kind of blends the two, his ability to be comfortable in what he says and what he does… he’s one of those guys that just eats, sleeps, breathes [wrestling] and is constantly learning, he’s like a sponge every time that I see him. So that to me is impressive. If I had to pick one guy, it would be Pete, but there’s a lot of talent out there.”

The call moved on to a variety of topics, including:

• Triple H brought up the idea of WWE main roster talent “guest starring”  for a run in NXT. He also noted that this would be tough because the NXT roster is so deep right now.
• Triple H provided an update on a rumoured injury to Ricochet. Triple H said that the high-flyer tweaked his shoulders in Paris, but he should be fine for TakeOver.
• Triple H shot down the rumour that WWE has plans to expand the current WWE Performance Center or build a new one.
• The upcoming UK tournament had to be pre-recorded, because they wanted to host it at Royal Albert Hall and the venue’s best available dates were on a Monday and Tuesday.
• Though he hasn’t been seen since splitting from the Authors of Pain, Triple H mentioned that WWE are still looking for a way to use Paul Ellering in some role with the company
• Triple H revealed the WWE doesn’t really spend that much on marketing and most of their buzz comes from social media

You can hear the full call with Triple H here:

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne recently took to Twitter to shed a light on some of the “bizarre things” that he has noticed on the UK independent scene “over the past year.”

Dunne’s full statement reads “Have been seeing a lot of bizarre things in Britwres over the past year. Stop looking for shortcuts and cheap pops on social media and matches. Wrestle loads and focus on the quality of your performance if you want to make it. Basics still matter outside your bubble.”

The UK scene has been exploding over the past 3-4 years with promotions such as ICW, PROGRESS and Rev Pro reaching extraordinary heights. The idea that an independent company would be hosting a show at the SSE Hydro in Scotland or London’s Wembley Arena just a few years ago would be seen as ludicrous…yet here we are.

Pete Dunne will be defending his WWE United Kingdom Championship next Tuesday when NXT and the WWE UK roster invade the Royal Albert Hall, the show will be available to view on the WWE Network.

Opinion: It’s not clear who Dunne is referring to with these comments however taking advice from an established WWE Champion and one of the hottest prospects on the global scene right now would probably be a wise career move.

Have been seeing a lot of bizarre things in Britwres over the past year. Stop looking for shortcuts and cheap pops on social media and matches. Wrestle loads and focus on the quality of your performance if you want to make it. Basics still matter outside your bubble.

— ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) June 13, 2018

Current Champion From WWE Wins Indie Gold

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne won indie gold during the Fight Club: PRO event last week where he won the Pro Wrestling Revolver Tag Team Championships.

Dunne teamed up with British female star Millie McKenzie to win the mixed tag titles. It’s worth mentioning here that Millie is also the current Defiant Women’s Champion:

https://instagram.com/p/BjgCWyQBscP/?utm_source=ig_embed

Pete Dunne is scheduled to defend the UK Championship against the winner of the upcoming Championship Tournament on June 19 at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. You can check out the bracket for the event here.

Released NXT Star On If She Will Continue Wrestling

It was reported last week that WWE has released NXT Star Zeda from her development contract and the female star confirmed the report in the comment section of one of her recent Instagram posts.

A fan wrote about the reports of her release in the comment and said that he hopes the now former WWE Star continues to pursue wrestling in the independent circuit.

Replying to him, Zeda thanked the fan and said that she will continue wrestling: “Thank you for the kind words and yes I will continue to pursue wrestling. Stay tuned.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjgjGI4HObb/

Zeda was signed by the company last year and she reported to the performance center in January 2017. She was also a part of Mae Young Classic where the female star was defeated by Shayna Baszler in the first round.

Promoter of Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) Christian Michael Jakobi appeared during PROGRESS Wrestling’s Super Strong Style 16 event recently and challenged the reigning WWE UK Champion to a bout against the wXw World United Heavyweight Champion…Ilja Dragunov.

The roof just got blown off the Victoria Warehouse. @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR wants @PeteDunneYxB at Wembley. https://t.co/TtCiUoSHZE pic.twitter.com/erDudpIYCH

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 20, 2018

WWE has announced the last 8 competitors that will be taking part in the upcoming United Kingdom Tournament to determine a new Number 1 contender to Pete Dunne and his UK Championship.

The final 8 men confirmed for the tournament are as follows:

• Travis Banks
• Flash Morgan Webster
• Jordan Devlin
• Tucker
• Drew Gulak
• Ashton Smith
• James Drake
• Tyson T-Bone

They join the already announced:

• Zack Gibson
• Joe Coffey
• Jack Gallagher
• Dave Mastiff
• Kenny Williams
• El Ligero
• Joseph Conners
• Amir Jordan

Quite possibly the most intriguing inclusion on this list is PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks, the New Zealand star has been one of the standout performers on the UK scene for the past few years and his run as PROGRESS World Champion since September 2017 has produced some stellar bouts against the likes of Chris Brookes, TK Cooper, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. WWE fans who have not yet had the opportunity to see the ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ are in for an absolute treat if he is given the chance to truly showcase his talents.

Another notable inclusion is Ashton Smith who previously took part in the World of Sport New Year’s Eve Special and was a featured star alongside tag team partner Rampage Brown. It is clear that WWE has been securing stars from the WOS roster in an attempt to undercut the new ITV project, however if you take a look at the stacked lineup WOS has amassed it could be argued that WWE is possibly flagging behind in this department.

The first batch of competitors has been announced for the upcoming WWE UK Tournament.

On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, the sports entertainment company revealed the following competitors for next month’s tournament to determine who will face UK Champion Pete Dunne on 6/19 on the WWE Network live from Royal Albert Hall:

*Joe Coffey.

*Joseph Connors.

*Jack Gallagher.

*Zack Gibson.

*Amir Jordan.

*El Ligero.

*Dave Mastiff.

*Kenny Williams.

It should be noted that the remaining competitors will be announced this Friday (May 18).

WWE NXT’s live events as part of the 2018 Download Music Festival in Great Britain on 6/8 through 6/10 will host the opening rounds of the tournament.

The sports entertainment company will then present two live WWE UK Championship broadcast on the WWE Network. 6/18 will feature the tournament finals to determine who will challenge the WWE UK champion on 6/19. The remainder of the 6/19 event will feature WWE UK competitors facing WWE NXT stars.

What are your thoughts on the first batch of competitors being revealed? Do you plan on watching this tournament? If so, who do you think will face Dunne for the UK strap? Sound off in the comment section below.

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne recently did an interview with SPORTbible to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Dunne first discussed what WWE Superstars he’d like to work with inside the ring, to which he named current Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan:

“There’s so many people I’d love to work with like Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan coming back now – there’s a huge list of people but honestly right now my priority is making this UK show a success.

“If we can be the first sort of territory being established, almost being the guinea pig and making it work, it will do absolute wonders for the wrestling scene in general. That’s my responsibility and focus for now and then down the line I’d love the chance to work with people Rollins, Bryan, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.”

Dunne also says that he hopes some new faces get a shot in the WWE UK Tournament:

“I urge people to go and watch PROGRESS, ICW and places like that and they’ll see the depth of talent themselves. There’s a few people like Zack Gibson, Flash Morgan Webster, Chris Brookes (CCK) and Travis Banks – all these guys are based in the UK that are killing it all over the country three, four or five times a week.

“It would be great seeing some of them get a shot on this one. And if not, it’s good to see how it’s developing – how you can start off on the smaller shows, get yourself on places like PROGRESS and this stuff [WWE] seems achievable now. There’s a clear pathway that wasn’t there seven years ago.”

As the WWE’s UK Champion, Dunne has the heavy responsibility of representing UK wrestlers. He discussed the pressure behind representing competitors from his homeland:

“I obviously feel proud of what I’ve done and the fact I’ve brought it this far. Being in a position to get the most exposure and being on NXT and stuff, it is a responsibility – I don’t feel pressure as such but there is that responsibility there to make sure I’m not just representing myself right, but the UK brand in general.

“But there’s still that collective effort. It was the same when Tyler was holding the title – the same mentality that we want to kill it and put on the best shows possible. We want to make it hard for NXT shows to match it, that was the outlook in Blackpool and hopefully that’ll be the same again at the Royal Albert Hall.”

You can read Dunne’s full interview with SPORTbible by clicking this link here.

Pete Dunne is truly the fact of the UK scene for the sports entertainment company.

Before signing with the WWE in 2016, Dunne worked for various promotions that include Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), and Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) while making a name for himself in the business.

He got his big break with the WWE when he competed in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament to crown the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion. He lost to Tyler Bate in the finals. Dunne would later beat Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago to win the title.

The WWE United Kingdom Champion recently spoke with Sport Bible to talk about various topics. During the interview, he was asked who he’d like to work with on the main roster if he gets called up. Here is what he had to say.

“Of course that would be great. There’s so many people I’d love to work with like Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan coming back now – there’s a huge list of people, but honestly right now my priority is making this UK show a success.

“If we can be the first sort of territory being established, almost being the guinea pig and making it work, it will do absolute wonders for the wrestling scene in general. That’s my responsibility and focus for now, and then down the line, I’d love the chance to work with people Rollins, Bryan, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.”

What are your thoughts on Dunne’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.

Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced the main event for their upcoming ‘A Haven for Monsters’ show on June 2nd from the Tivoli Theatre? in Dublin, Ireland. This will be the first big event the company has held since their mega-show Scrappermania IV which took place this past weekend from the National Stadium in Dublin. The main event of ‘…Haven’ will see WWE linked star and former wXw Unified World Champion WALTER teaming with international veteran Low Ki to challenge WWE UK’s Jordan Devlin and fast rising independent competitor David Starr.

In another blockbuster announcement WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will taking part in a match on the card, his British Strong Style stablemate Trent Seven has already been confirmed for a shot at the Gender Neutral Championship however Dunne’s match has not yet been revealed.

Tickets for the show can be purchased now via Eventbrite.

June 2nd Main Event
Tickets https://t.co/nmbLDzm8ii pic.twitter.com/XCCty0juC8

— OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) May 12, 2018