Backstage News On 'Uneasiness' Amongst WWE NXT UK Crew
It's now been a little over four years since "NXT UK" was officially launched as WWE's UK brand, coming two years after WWE introduced the WWE United Kingdom Championship in a 16-man tournament. The brand has since aired on the WWE Network, and later on Peacock, in the United States, while airing on BT Sport in the UK, and has been the home for talents such as Ilya Dragunov, WALTER (now known as Gunther), Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Meiko Satomura, and other notable talents.
For most of its existence, though, "NXT UK" has largely been out of sight, out of mind compared to bigger shows like "WWE Raw", "WWE SmackDown", and even "NXT," known as much for controversies surrounding low pay and it's uncertain future as for it's onscreen product. And if a new report proves to be correct, there may be even more uncertainty regarding "NXT UK" on the horizon.
Upcoming NXT UK Tapings Canceled
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer passed along some interesting information regarding the brand for the month of August.
"There is a lot of uneasiness within the NXT UK crew," Meltzer said. "The next two sets of television tapings were canceled on 8/9. The reason given was that BT Sports Studios, where they tape, had to be used for football/soccer coverage. But as you can imagine with the talent how the reaction is, given you could tape somewhere else and shutting down tapings is never a good sign. Nobody really has been told anything."
With a new regime atop WWE following the retirement of Vince McMahon, it wouldn't necessarily be shocking to see changes made regarding "NXT UK," including the brand possibly be overhauled or even disbanded. It should be noted, however, that the future of the brand hasn't been questioned since the new regime took over, likely due to Paul "Triple H" Levesque's new positions as Head of Creative and Head of Talent Relations. Triple H spearheaded the formation of both the "NXT" and the "NXT UK" brands, and has largely been seen as one of "NXT UK's" key supporters.