NXT United Kingdom Championship


The NXT United Kingdom Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the top championship of their NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of NXT based in the United Kingdom. The title is also occasionally defended at NXT events and independent wrestling shows in the United Kingdom. The current champion is Walter, who is in his first reign.
Established on 15 December 2016 as the WWE United Kingdom Championship, the title was first awarded to Tyler Bate, who won the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on 15 January 2017. The brand's show of the same name had its first tapings in August 2018, which began airing in October on the WWE Network. From its inception up until the debut of NXT UK, the title was primarily defended on the NXT brand and shows produced by UK-based independent wrestling promotions. In January 2020, the title was renamed to reflect its status as the top title of NXT UK. Although it is the top title of NXT UK, it is viewed as a step below its sister brand's NXT Championship.

History

In a press conference at The O2 Arena on 15 December 2016, Triple H, the Chief Operating Officer and head of NXT for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, revealed that there would be a 16-man single-elimination tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion for the promotion's new United Kingdom division. The tournament was held over a two-day period, 14 and 15 January 2017, and aired exclusively on the WWE Network. Tyler Bate won the inaugural tournament to become the first WWE United Kingdom Champion.
Following the inaugural tournament in 2017, the title began being featured on WWE's NXT brand when Bate debuted during the 28 January 2017, tapings of NXT in San Antonio, Texas, which aired 1 February. During the 1 February tapings at the brand's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, the title's very first defense took place, where Bate defeated Trent Seven. The title was defended for the first time outside of WWE when Bate retained the title against Mark Andrews on a show for the London-based promotion, Progress Wrestling; the show took place in Orlando, Florida on 31 March as part of WrestleMania Axxess. The first title change, as well as the first defense to air live, took place on 20 May 2017 at, where Pete Dunne defeated Bate to become champion. Although unsuccessful, Johnny Gargano was the first wrestler from outside of the United Kingdom division to challenge for the UK title on the 18 November taping of NXT.
When the championship was unveiled in December 2016, it was announced to be the top championship of a new WWE Network show, produced in the United Kingdom. However, it was not until mid-2018 when WWE formally established NXT UK as the brand for their United Kingdom division and sister brand of their American-based NXT. The brand's show, also titled NXT UK, had its first tapings in August, which began airing on 17 October. On the premiere episode, Dunne retained the UK Championship against Noam Dar. During the 17 January 2020 taping of NXT UK, the title was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship to reflect its status as the top title of NXT UK.

Inaugural tournament

Championship belt design

The base design of the belt is similar to the WWE Championship belt, with notable differences. Instead of a large cut out of the WWE logo, the center plate is modeled after the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse on either side of the arms, with a shield at the center; atop the shield are the crown jewels. The banner atop the arms reads "United Kingdom" while the banner below reads "Champion". Gold divider bars separate the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what has become a prominent feature of WWE's championship belts, the side plates feature removable center sections that can be replaced with the current champion's logo; the default side plates feature the WWE logo on a red globe. The plates are on a black leather strap. When the championship was originally introduced as the WWE United Kingdom Championship, the shield at the center of the main plate featured the WWE logo, but that was changed to the NXT UK logo on 17 January 2020 when the title's name was changed to NXT United Kingdom Championship.

Reigns

As of , there have been three reigns. The inaugural champion was Tyler Bate. Bate is also the youngest champion, winning the title at 19 years old, while the oldest champion is Walter, winning the title at 31. Pete Dunne has the longest reign at 685 days, holding the title from 20 May 2017 until 5 April 2019, while Bate has the shortest reign at 125 days.
The current champion is Walter. He defeated Pete Dunne at on 5 April 2019 in Brooklyn, New York.
NameYears
WWE United Kingdom Championship15 December 2016 – 17 January 2020
NXT United Kingdom Championship17 January 2020 – present