WWE News: First eight participants in the WWE United Kingdom Tournament announcedÂ
What's the story?
The second annual WWE United Kingdom Tournament is set to take place in a months time live from The Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London and the participants for the competition are now starting to be announced.
In case you didn't know...
WWE's first United Kingdom Tournament took place at the beginning of last year and saw 19-year-old Tyler Bate become the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion by defeating Pete Dunne in the final.
Their feud then continued on NXT up until NXT Takeover: Chicago where Dunne dethroned Bate and has held the Championship ever since.
Even though there was a rumored United Kingdom weekly show coming to the Network, this is still yet to happen and over the past year, the UK stars have been relegated to appearing as part of 205 Live and NXT instead of being given their own show.
The heart of the matter
The United Kingdom Tournament kicks off on the 18th of June and will feature new talent from all over the country.
WWE has already revealed the first eight names who will be part of proceedings and shared a video of Cathy Kelley making the announcement earlier today.
Dave Mastiff, Joseph Conners, Zack Gibson, Joe Coffey, Jack Gallagher, Kenny Williams, El Ligero and Amir Jordan are the first names to be officially revealed with eight more expected to be announced in the coming days.
It was also revealed this week that the first half of the UK tournament will kick off at Download Festival next month when WWE's NXT roster will also be present.
What's next?
The show takes place on the 18th and 19th of June and if rumors are to be believed then Travis Banks, Chris Brookes, Flash Morgan Webster, Eddie Dennis and James Drake could be some of the names who also play their part in the tournament.
Author's take
WWE and World of Sport have realized that there is a lot of talent in the UK and the wrestling scene has definitely picked up over the past year.
The United Kingdom Tournament allows the rest of the world to see the talent that the country has to offer and it could also finally see someone dethrone Pete Dunne after more than a year at the top of the ladder.