Finn Bálor has shared honest thoughts on how WWE NXT UK affected the British wrestling scene.
Speaking on What Do You Wanna’ Talk About? With Cody Rhodes, Finn Bálor explained that when NXT UK launched, it pulled many top stars from the British and European wrestling scene. He said, “When NXT U.K. started, which was a huge thing at the time for British and European wrestling.”
“I feel like it kind of took all the talent, and it starved all the indies, and it took a long time for them to rebuild, and for a lot of them, it hasn’t even happened yet, because there’s no one to learn from or look up to.”
“Like the guys Tyler (Bate) and Pete (Dunne) and everyone else who came to WWE. Now the younger kids don’t have anyone to learn from.” He added top names moving to WWE, younger wrestlers no longer had veterans to learn from or look up to. “So, I feel like there was probably a huge negative effect on the (pool) of talent that WWE took out of that territory, you know? But, slowly, it’s starting to rebuild.” [H/T: Fightful]
WWE launched NXT UK in 2017 and officially began running shows in October 2018. The brand quickly signed many of the UK’s top independent names, including Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, and Pete Dunne. The roster later expanded to include Walter, now known as Gunter.
WWE NXT UK officially shut down in September 2022. Since then, WWE has not provided any major updates regarding the previously discussed launch of NXT Europe.
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