After two days of hard hitting, high flying action emanating from Blackpool, WWE have crowned their first ever United Kingdom Champion, and what a two days it has been.
For British Wrestling fans, the convenience of not having to stay up until the ungodly hours of the morning to watch live wrestling was a great novelty, but the action between the ropes was some of the best on show in the UK today.
This tournament was one of the greatest wrestling experiences I have had in a long time. The atmosphere provided by the British fans was amazing and the stories told in just two days made people feel invested in everyone on the second day at least, if not both days.
For me, it would be a shame to just run down the matches, so what I’ll do is run down each competitor, in order of elimination, and give my opinion on each them, and then my thoughts on the competition as a whole.
Please bear in mind that I didn’t know of many of these wrestlers before entering the tournament, and the ones I had heard of I had not seen a lot of. My main source of British Wrestling was WCPW until recently, so please excuse a level or ignorance with some of these performers’ backgrounds.
Round of Sixteen
HC Dyer
It must have been a high pressure match for HC Dyer. He was in the first match of the entire competition as a relatively unknown entity to international fans and he was up against Trent Seven, a man who got so much exposure before the bell even rang it would be hard to see him going out at this early stage.
His match with Seven only showed off some of the massive potential this young man has. He went toe to toe with Seven and hit him with some impressive shots and a mean looking Blue Tiger Bomb. Overall, he was good and I hope to see him used more on the weekly show when it comes.
Danny Burch
His match with Jordan Devlin will only be remembered for that ending. Was it a three-count? Was it to end the match early as Danny Burch looked fairly badly cut open from that kick? We may never know. All I can say is that he looked good.
Danny Burch has appeared in NXT a few times before, fighting Tommasso Ciampa and James Storm, so it was nice to see him in this again. He looked like a solid hand and he now has a storyline leading into the main show against Devlin possibly. I’d like to see them face off again and build both these guys up as stars.
Saxon Huxley
“HEEEY, HEY JESUS. OOH! AHH! I WANNA KNOOOOW(OHH) IF YOU’LL BE MY GOD!”
I love British fans.
For me, Huxley’s match with Sam Gradwell was the least interesting of the Round of Sixteen. I don’t know why, and we’ll get into Gradwell a little later, but I just didn’t connect with him or his cause. He pulled off some impressive moves, like his Butterfly Suplex Backbreaker, but other than that there was not a lot else on the cards for me. His character could build into something great, as I’m sure it has on the independent scene, but I’d like to see more of this Jesus looking fella.
Roy Johnson
Self billed as the ‘most wavy guy in sports entertainment’, I didn’t know what to think of Mr Johnson and his wavy arms. He seems immensely strong and quite athletic, but also clunky at the same time.
He faced the same sort of fate as HC Dyer, facing one of the hot favourites in the competition in the first round in the form of Pete Dunne. A good performance, if not marred by a few instances of him looking a tad green in with Dunne.
Tyson T-Bone
For me, this was the best of the Round of Sixteen matches. Tyson T-Bone and Wolfgang looked incredible coming out of this, securing T-Bone as a do-anything-to-win heel and a great brawler.
His moniker of ‘King of the Gypsies’ gives him a distinct character and he has buckets of charisma. He’s also a hard hitter and, from what I saw, a very proficient hand in the ring. Out of all the people leaving the competition at this stage, T-Bone was the one I missed the most and the one I’d love to see thrive in the weekly show.
James Drake
I can’t remember many actual spots from Drake’s match with Joseph Conners, but I do remember it being a good match over all.
James Drake seemed agile, strong and all round a great performer. It was a slightly forgettable match, but with so much going on that night, some may slip through the cracks. I look forward to what the weekly show can do with Drake.
Dan Moloney
Dan Moloney’s video package showed him to have a rough upbringing and a hard life before he came to the wrestling ring. He came up against the happy-go-lucky Mark Andrews, so the match was diverse going in. Their styles varied so much and experience prevailed in the end, with Andrews going over.
Moloney is only 19 years old , so has so much more to give in the ring. That’s amazing seeing how proficient he was in the ring on Saturday. Given training and enough time and effort, he could develop into a fantastic heel and a brutal brawler.
Tucker
A strange introduction to Tucker, talking about his difficult birth and working from there. Strange as it may be, that didn’t stop him from getting into the ring and putting on a great showing with Tyler Bate.
When it comes to his moves, all I can say is That. Superkick. I genuinely felt that Bate could go out at this stage as that kick looked to rattle his brain into submission. He was amazing good in the ring, even though he lost out eventually to Bate. An excellent prospect for the United Kingdom wrestling scene under the WWE banner.
Quarter Finals
Sam Gradwell
At the closing of the first round action, Pete Dunne attacked Gradwell and weakened his back, giving him a massive hill to climb against the Bruiserweight. To me, this was a great decision to keep both guys strong, especially with Sam Gradwell being a local boy.
I don’t know what it was, but there’s something about Sam Gradwell that, well, scares me. He’s a very intense looking individual and his move-set is very hard hitting and he seemed to work stiff. His flying headbutt is frightening, possibly only through association.
As I said above, his match with Saxon Huxley was slightly underwhelming, but his short match with Pete Dunne more than made up for it. Working hurt against a smug heel made him look like a babyface despite the scary looks. Pete Dunne went over in the end, but there’s a spark there with Gradwell I can’t quite place. People want to react to him, be that boos or cheers. Either way, it’s a good start.
Joseph Conners
The video packages and the commentators made a massive deal about Joseph Conners missing half of his ear. I know having distinctive characteristics is good for your character, but it got to the stage it was all they could say about this outstanding wrestlers.
Both of Conners’ matches were outstanding. Him and James Drake put on a show, showing off the power and agility Conners has in his arsenal. This was only increased by fighting Mark Andrews in his quarter final match. Conners works very much as a Tweener in this competition, and I think this is best for him. People will want to cheer and boo this man for doing anything to win and be the best.
He had a huge following, most probably for his association with What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW). His finisher looked amazing too and I saw him as a dark horse to win the entire thing.
For me, Conners was amazing in this contest, looking at times unhinged and cocky, effortlessly flickering between the two. He will do well with the WWE I think, because he is very versatile.
Trent Seven
Quite frankly, I didn’t see myself writing about Trent Seven until the final, but here we are in the Quarters after he was knocked out by Wolfgang in an incredible match.
Seven has a lot of charisma and was rightly one of the favourites to win the whole thing. When a wrestler can go in the ring, that’s essential. When he can speak and get a crowd on his side, that’s what makes a superstar, and Trent Seven can do both with incredible ease.
Opening the competition with HC Dyer showed his physical prowess, with hard hits and a comprehensive victory over his opponent. He finished Dyer with his Seven Star Lariat – a sick looking clothesline which turns people inside out.
However, his match with Wolfgang was something to behold. These guys went to war, with big hits and a suicide dive which threatened to rip the ringside area apart.
Seven has a talent for signalling for moves, working the crowd up, then getting reversed and garnering support. Two big almost-moves from Seven was him signalling for a top rope piledriver on Wolfgang, and him telling the crowd to move so he could superplex Wolfgang from the ring into the crowd. These sorts of crazy attempts make a story great and their reversals keep them safe for the same pop.
Seven is a Superstar, no doubt about it. He’s teeming with talent and charisma, and I can see him taking that title at some point in the near future to Moustache Mountain.
Jordan Devlin
I didn’t like Jordan Devlin. I’ll rephrase that: I like Devlin as a wrestler, but I don’t like him as a character. I think he’s a smug dickbag who deserves a slap in his oversized head. As a heel, it’s perfect.
His opening match again Danny Burch ended in controversy, firstly with the strange end to the match which left Burch bleeding from his head. Secondly, in a sign of disrespect not eclipsed for at least…an hour, Devlin shook Burch’s hand shortly before kicking him in his still bleeding head. His cockiness was on full show leading into his match with Tyler Bate.
As an athlete, he’s impressive. His kicks look like they hurt and he is a very accomplished grappler. Yes, the comparison to Finn Balor can be made and were by both the commentary team and crowd with chants like “You’re not Balor!”. In the end, Bate was too much, but it was a great showing for Devlin and I expect much more from the young man.
Semi Finals
Mark Andrews
Back in the day, if you came to WWE with the audacity to work for another promotion, you’d be humiliated, buried and forced out of the company faster than you could say hello. Look at Goldberg’s original run with WWE and also Buff Bagwell for more information. This attitude has changed recently, especially seeing as Mr TNA, AJ Styles, is currently holding WWE’s most renowned belt. So here we have another TNA exile, Mark Andrews, and he was shown off expertly by this tournament.
Opening against the hard hitting Dan Moloney, he showed off his ability to work with bigger guys, winning in comprehensive fashion hitting his amazing Shooting Star Press.
He then moved onto Joseph Conners, another large but more agile man, and put on a hell of a show. Andrews has this amazing in ring charisma and ability that makes him infinitely likable. Whenever he was in the ring, I wanted to see him win and beat out the odds. After Conners, I genuinely thought Andrews was a shoe in for the title because he was so entertaining.
Then he faced Pete Dunne. These two guys tore the house down. They have so much in ring chemistry, it’s like they’ve been working together their entire lives. Andrews hit some amazing high flying and agile moves, including an amazing looking Standing 450 Senton on a prone Dunne. In the end, Dunne was just too much, finishing him off with the Bitter End, but both men looked amazing.
Mark Andrews was a star coming into this tournament with a huge following. He showed himself to be an amazing high flyer and I look forward to seeing him in the future.
Wolfgang
For me, Wolfgang made me a fan from the moment he started wrestling. Like most of the guys in this tournament, I’d never seen Wolfgang wrestle, but I had heard of him as this incredible independent wrestler. I was not disappointed.
His match with Tyson T-Bone started my interest in the man. There’s something about big, fast men which make wrestling so exciting to watch. He wasn’t sloppy either, everything he did had purpose and was executed amazingly.
His agility is astounding, as shown in his Quarter final match with Trent Seven. Going in as an underdog to that match, he showed himself to be a great believable face against a cocky tweener. The finish saw Wolfgang hit The Howling, a Senton Bomb, to Seven’s back, which looked amazing from such a big guy.
When he faced Tyler Bate, however, he changed from this likable face to this big bully heel against the smaller, more popular face. They put on a short but good match, eventually leading to Bate finishing him off and then shaking his hand.
Wolfgang is a likable guy, an excellent wrestler and the person I gained the most respect for in this tournament. He’s amazing.
Finals
Pete Dunne
I knew I’d be talking about Pete Dunne in the final, but I expected it to be as the champion, not the runner up.
To be frank, Dunne was the wrestler who made the absolute most of this tournament to further his character and make a name for himself. He is a heel of the highest order, opening disobeying authority to become the champion. His match with Roy Johnson showed Pete Dunne as this wrestling machine, keeping momentum for much of the match and showing off The Bitter End as this killer maneuver.
He progressed onto Sam Gradwell, who he mercilessly attacked after the show on the Saturday. He ran fowl of William Regal, but not Triple H, who allowed him to proceed in the tournament against the NXT commissioners wishes. Obviously, he won by attacking the injured back and keeping him as a hated heel.
Mark Andrews gave Dunne a lot of problems, but managed to get through with some great mat work and being one step ahead of his high flying opponent at all times. Ring psychology is massively important in WWE, and Dunne has proved himself to be proficient in it throughout his time in a WWE ring, even though it is just four matches.
Yet again, he attacked his next opponent, Tyler Bate, before they thought, leaving his shoulder in tatters. This lead to an amazing Final between the smug heel and the brave babyface. Both men played their parts so well, keeping the pace up and maintaining the psychology. He eventually fell to the eventual champion, but not without a few close calls and some serious effort.
Pete Dunne proved himself a future champion and possibly to be the best all round performer in the competition. The future is bright for Dunne and I can’t wait to see him on a weekly basis in the WWE ring.
Tyler Bate
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see my slow growing fandom of Tyler Bate over the course of the two day tournament. I went from a casual fan of him and his look, and now I’m a rabid fan of his mic skills, ring work and ring psychology. To me, he is the reason I watch wrestling – a young man on top of the world because he’s that damn good.
Opening against Tucker, he showed his personality and character, his fist bop and bang a particular favourite of mine watching just for it’s sheer entertaining properties. We also saw his amazing finisher, the Tyler Driver 97.
He moved onto Jordan Devlin, and seemed to steal a win from the Irish man, who’s cockiness cost him a space in the semi finals. Showing Bate as a fighter, a scrapper who can turn the tide in a match within seconds. He had a firery babyface charm which made him incredibly over with the crowd.
The Wolfgang match brought him a massive task, wrestling a man who weighed more and was a more imposing threat. He crafted an excellent story in such a small amount of time that made his win even more impressive. His post match beat down made the fans feel more sympathetic, solidifying him as the crowd favourite in the tense finals.
The final, as mentioned above, was bliss. A real story of two men wanting to be the best and both going very different ways about achieving it. Dunne focused his offence on the injured shoulder, while Bate went about taking him down the only way he knew how, by out-wrestling him. The moment I knew Bate would win was him kicking out of the Bitter End by Dunne. He came back, hit the Tyler Driver 97 and became the first even WWE United Kingdom Champion.
Everything about Tyler Bate draws me to him as a fan. His unique look. His charisma. His enigmatic wrestling style. Everything he does makes me love him more and more. To me, he is British Wrestling and I am so excited to see more of him in the WWE United Kingdom weekly show.
Final Thoughts
Two words – British Wrestling
Everything about this tournament was amazing for a British fan. The slow build to talented wrestlers, the storylines built in only two days, the wrestlers being allowed to be themselves and show their characters superbly.
All the wrestlers showed the potential to be big stars in the WWE, and guys like Wolfgang, Trent Seven, Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate proved to be Superstars from the get-go. There is a lot of room for improvement for some of the guys, but for now, it’s a great way to start the division.
All I have to say now is – who’s ready for the weekly show? I know I am…
RAMBOLIC RAMBLER 