WWE Announces United Kingdom Championship; Tournament Info; Names of Talent & More!

It was a very newsworthy day in England as World Wrestling Entertainment introduced the new United Kingdom Championship, which you can see in a photo at the top of this post.

They sent out multiple press releases this morning about the tournament, the new title and the competitors involved. Here’s all of that info.

WWE® to Crown U.K. Champion

LONDON & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE:WWE) announced today that it will crown the first-ever WWE United Kingdom Champion live on WWE Network during a special, two-night tournament on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, 2017 beginning at 8:00 PM GMT. Fans can watch the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament by signing up at WWENetwork.com.

Tickets for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, emanating from the historic Empress Ballroom in Blackpool,go on sale today at 12:00 PM GMT and can be purchased online at livenation.co.uk.

“Our passionate U.K. fans deserve to have their own Champion,” said WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul “Triple H®” Levesque. “The tournament is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content for our global WWE Network, develop another brand that engages our passionate fans, and add a new dimension to our on-going storylines.”

This unprecedented event will feature a single-elimination tournament and showcase competitors from all four Home Nations and Ireland including: charismatic Trent Seven, from Wolverhampton; hard-hitting Pete Dunne, from Birmingham; Tyler Bate, the bright young 19-year-old star from Dudley, West Midlands; big brawler Wolfgang, from Glasgow; tough Tyson T-Bone, from Malvern; the aggressive Northern Irish grappler Tucker; Irish high-flyer Jordan Devlin, who hails from Bray, in County Wicklow, the same home town as WWE Superstar Finn Bálor®; and Londoner Roy Johnson, a former champion powerlifter.

William Regal®, Head Scout, WWE Talent Development, and Robbie Brookside, WWE trainer, participated in the scouting process for the tournament competitors, using their unrivalled knowledge and experience of the UK scene, developed over careers of more than 20 years in the ring.

The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on WWE Network will be called by WWE lead announcer Michael Cole, who will be joined by color analyst Nigel McGuinness, a mainstay of the UK independent scene.

Here’s more info on the tournament airing in January on WWE Network as well.

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament comes to WWE Network in January

LONDON — At an historic press conference at the O2 Arena in London, Triple H revealed that WWE’s first-ever United Kingdom Champion will be crowned this January.

The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament is a 16-competitor, two-day throwdown at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom, airing live and exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network, featuring some of the best talent the U.K. has to offer. The last man standing at the end of the tournament will be crowned champion and awarded a title, which was also revealed at the conference.

Joining Triple H in London were former WWE Universal Champion Finn Bálor, General Manager of NXT William Regal and British wrestling icon Nigel McGuinness, who will be calling the tournament action on WWE Network alongside the voice of Monday Night Raw, Michael Cole. The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament competitors also took the stage.

Tickets for this historic two-day event at the Empress Ballroom will be available starting today at 12 p.m. GMT at livenation.co.uk.

Stick with WWE.com for more news on this incredible tournament as it becomes available, and don’t miss the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, January 14 & 15, live and exclusively on WWE Network!

Here’s some news former Ring of Honor Champion Nigel McGuinness being involved with the tournament.

Nigel McGuinness announced as WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament co-host

LONDON — Plenty of big news came out of today’s press conference at the O2 Arena in London, with one of the most exciting reveals being that famed British grappler Nigel McGuinness will serve as co-host for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, live and exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network this January.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest competitors to never have a major run in WWE, McGuinness was a contemporary of Superstars like Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and Samoa Joe, and shared the same global path through the wrestling world as those men. A swaggering London native with peroxide hair and a Johnny Rotten attitude, McGuinness entered the ring to a blistering Oasis anthem and attacked his opponents with the recklessness of a soccer hooligan after a losing game. His series of bouts against Bryan in the mid-2000s were so unrelentingly physical that you watch them and wonder why the cops didn’t intervene mid-match.

Injuries brought an early end to McGuinness’ career, but his influence is present in WWE today, whether you knew it or not. Seth Rollins cites him as a key opponent in his evolution as a ring performer, and the wild rebound lariat Dean Ambrose throws with abandon on SmackDown LIVE is done in tribute to the great McGuinness.

Outside of his in-ring physicality, McGuinness also possessed great intelligence and ring acumen, which he used to his benefit in retirement as he transitioned to the announce booth. He’ll bring those skills to the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on January 14 & 15, 2017, live on WWE Network, and the WWE Universe will finally be introduced to one of England’s — and sports-entertainment’s — greats.

This is pretty cool. It’s obviously a way for WWE to make a big mark in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where wrestling is as popular as ever thanks to so many great European talents around the world as well as promotions that are thriving.

It also means more content coming to WWE Network, which seems to be adding things all the time. They recently added 205 Live as a weekly Tuesday night show. This UK Title tournament will take place in January. There’s likely going to be an announcement about the new Women’s tournament coming in January or February as well. It just keeps going and going. I think it’s tough for the average fan to keep up with all of it, but hardcore fans of professional wrestling will absolutely love it.