After a number of it’s stars appeared on the most recent episode of NXT 2.0 the future of NXT UK looks increasingly uncertain.
On August 12th it was reported that two upcoming NXT UK tapings had been cancelled. BT Studios where the show is taped was being used for BT’s football coverage, so the taping was scrapped. The move was said to have caused some “uneasiness” backstage, with many pointing out that the tapings could have simply been rescheduled.
The future of the brand was thrown into further doubt on August 16th when a number of it’s top stars appeared on NXT 2.0. Tyler Bate, Blair Davenport, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang were all featured, but it was the appearance of Bate that caused most consternation.
Bate arrived on the show with the United Kingdom Championship despite the conclusion of the tournament in which he was crowned champion not having aired on television yet.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that some within NXT UK fear that the brand is “not long for this world.”
“Nobody knows, but everybody in the company – I mean I’m sure Paul Levesque (Triple H) knows – but there are many people in NXT UK who are presuming that (NXT UK) is not long for the world.
“NXT UK has cancelled its next two tapings. So it’s kinda like, there’s all these signs but WWE has not announced it, has not told anyone officially, but that’s kind of the big story in WWE right now, like ‘What’s going on?’.
“And nobody’s telling people, ‘You don’t need to worry’, nobody’s said that either. So of course the people in the UK that were not called to come to the United States are very worried.”
Since it’s inception as a full-time WWE brand, NXT UK has helped launch the WWE careers of Toni Storm, Rhea Ripley, Doudrop, and Gunther.
H/t to Wrestle Talk for the transcription.