4 Takeaways From The WWE UK Championship Tournament

– Welcome back to column time with Larry. It’s time for one last look back at the WWE UK Championship Tournament. I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to share your takeaways/future booking plans or whatever from the weekend. The only rule is “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.” We all have opinions, we’re going to disagree, just be cool about it.

#TheHOWLING by @WolfgangYoung!!
ONE TWO THREE!!
Wolfgang topples @TrentSeven in the #WWEUKCT's biggest upset yet!! pic.twitter.com/iLTRbXe90p

— WWE UK Championship (@WWEUKCT) January 15, 2017

Wolfgang Surprised Me In The Best Way Possible: I think one of the coolest things about wrestling tournaments is that they give chances for unexpected performers to step up and make a name for themselves. Going into the tournament, I knew about a lot of the guys, but in my opinion, Wolfgang was one of the guys with the least buzz heading into the tournament. I heard some nice things about him, but he largely felt like a guy filling a spot. But once it was over, Wolfgang ended up as a pleasant surprise and it’s great to see a guy take the opportunity given to him and delivering. On night one he won a good hoss style battle against T-Bone, on night two he had a very good match with Trent Seven, scoring the upset victory and again looking impressive. From there, he had another good outing against Tyler Bate. Wolfgang didn’t put on any MOTY contenders, but he worked hard, had good outings and made the most of his time and got some attention for himself against competitors with better resumes and more hype. It made me want to see more of him going forward, and if they do produce a weekly UK show, I feel he can be a fun part of that.

Credit To Michael Cole & Nigel McGuinness: I know that Michael Cole is an easy target to pick on. His commentary is generally over-produced, focusing on buzz words, lack of emotion and focusing on everything but the in ring product. On these shows he was on, he came across as properly educated on the participants and did some of his best work in his career, part of the success of the overall presentation should go to him. As a team, I feel that it needs to be said that Michael Cole & Nigel McGuinness did a hell of a job on commentary, on both nights of the tournament. Both were energetic and shared just enough background information to educate you but at the same time, they never overwhelmed you. Nigel’s ROH commentary was on autopilot most of the time, but he was great here. This is Cole’s best commentary work since the WWE Beast in the East Network special. He came across as excited, rejuvenated and on his game. It was great to hear that. Also you can hear the love and passion from Nigel, who came across as thrilled to be a part of this tournament. While this is not the WWE run that most wanted from Nigel, I am thrilled that he’s getting the chance. It’s amazing how much commentary, especially passionate and enthusiastic commentary, can add to a show.

The WWE UK Championship Tournament Thrived Without The Advantages of The Cruiserweight Classic: This is in no way a knock on The Cruiserweight Classic, which I loved as an overall presentation, but I think something important to consider here is that the UK Championship Tournament thrived without the big advantage that the CWC had. Keep in mind that the CWC was pre-taped, was edited at times and if someone had gotten injured, they had plenty of time to bring in someone to replace them. They were also running a venue that they are intimately familiar with in front of fans they know how to play to. Here, they went to a new venue, with two live shows, and working with a group of guys that have never worked the WWE TV grind. That means that they had to produce two days of live shows, with an extremely small margin for error. And with that being said, they did so very successfully. The shows felt fresh, featuring a fun and minimalist feel with a hot crowd. It also featured the best of WWE production; the overall presentation was beautiful, with the great WWE video packages, they helped to introduce these new faces to new fans and I felt that overall, the weekend was a huge success.

WWE Created a Top Babyface & a Top Heel in Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne: I think that the biggest goal of a regional tournament like this is trying to not only crown a champion, but you want to leave the event creating at least ONE star, especially if you are going to run a weekly show (as rumored). But not only did they do excellent work all weekend in making Pete Dunne the top (gives no fucks) heel for the territory, but the finals were a very focused effort to make Tyler Bate not only look like a deserving champion, but also a sympathetic and easy to cheer for baby face. They did both of these so well, they made stars with the booking and gave both performers a chance with the finals match to prove that they deserved these spots. Both men delivered a special match, earning all the praise they have received. To a lesser degree, I also feel that they established the next tier of stars, with Mark Andrews as someone who got over big as a baby face. Also, I feel that Jordan Devlin was built well as the next heel up after Dunne. I think more than just some great matches and enjoyable shows that building these new stars (for a potential UK brand) was an even more important accomplishment.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”