WWE News: Pete Dunne pulled from show during the Royal Rumble weekend

What’s the story?

WWE United Kingdom Champion the 'Bruiserweight' Pete Dunne has been pulled from a UK independent appearance he was set to make, during the Royal Rumble weekend next week. The independent promotion has revealed that Pete has been pulled due to a WWE commitment.

In case you didn’t know…

Although Pete Dunne is the reigning WWE UK Champion and performs on NXT once a month or so, he is still not signed to an official full time WWE contract and thus still works as an independent booking, taking in bookings all over the world, most notably in the UK and Ireland.

WWE has still yet to make their intentions with the UK competitors clear so Pete, as well as Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Mark Andrews, Jordan Devlin and others are all still taking independent bookings and will be doing the same for the foreseeable future.

The heart of the matter

NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia is also this weekend and the same day as the UK show Pete was set to appear on, so it is also always possible that Pete was taken off to appear at TakeOver in a match to be taped for the following week's edition of NXT and perhaps a shot of him watching Takeover from the audience.

Pete Dunne is a name that many are speculating for a potential surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match itself, which would certainly give the future of the UK division a boost. Below is the statement from the UK promotion, Britannia Wrestling, announcing Pete's cancellation.

What’s next?

NXT TakeOver: Phiadelphia is next Saturday, while the Royal Rumble event is Sunday. An appearance at one of them is for defenitely possible, but an appearance at both is also a possibility.

Author’s take

It is always a shame for the fans attending an event when a big superstar has to cance. However, Pete has a very good reason and hopefully we will see him a lot next weekend.