WWE issued a press release this afternoon, announcing the debut of a “NXT UK” series. At about the same time, Triple H and Johnny Saint made an official announcement of the series at the WWE UK Championship Tournament event at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
There is no word yet where the series will air. WWE has been trying for some time to get a UK-centric series off the ground. At one point, they intended to use the King of the Ring name for the series, but that appears to have been dropped. WWE has made pitches over the last year to a number of UK outlets to carry the series when it had the King of the Ring branding, including ITV and BT Sport, among others.
The official release also announced that UK Champion Pete Dunne will be joined by two new titleholders for the brand as WWE will institute a UK Women’s Championship as well as a UK Tag Team Championship.
WWE also announced eight future TV tapings for the brand.
The official release reads:
WWE® LAUNCHES NEW UK SERIES
– TICKETS AVAILABLE FRIDAY, JUNE 29 –
LONDON, England and STAMFORD, Conn., June 18, 2018 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that tickets will be available next Friday, June 29 for eight live events that will be taped for NXT UK, a new UK series featuring the greatest competitors from the UK and Ireland.
The UK Championship title, plus two new Championships – the UK Women’s Championship title and UK Tag Team Championship titles – will be on the line at the following NXT UK events:
Saturday, July 28 and Sunday July 29 at the Corn Exchange, Cambridge.
Saturday, August 25 and Sunday, August 26 as part of Insomnia, the UK’s biggest gaming festival, at NEC Birmingham.
Saturday, October 13 and Sunday, October 14 at Plymouth Pavilions.
Saturday, November 24 and Sunday, November 25 at Liverpool Olympia.
Tickets for the events in Cambridge, Plymouth and Liverpool will be available via www.livenation.co.uk and tickets for the Birmingham events will be available via www.insomniagamingfestival.com. Further information will be available at www.wwe.com/events.
“The UK has an amazing talent base and incredibly passionate fans that are deserving of their own showcase,” said Paul “Triple H®” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “This is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content and further develop our brand globally.”
Here’s a video of Johnny Saint and Triple H with the announcement: