NXT UK Championship tournament to begin next week

A tournament to crown the next NXT United Kingdom Champion will begin airing next week.

Today’s NXT UK opened with the announcement that Ilja Dragunov has to vacate the NXT Championship due to injury. It was later revealed that an eight-man tournament for the vacant title will begin on next Thursday’s NXT UK episode.

The bracket for the tournament is:

Left side of the bracket —

  • Oliver Carter vs. Charlie Dempsey
  • Wolfgang vs. Trent Seven

Right side of the bracket —

  • Tyler Bate vs. Kenny Williams
  • Joe Coffey vs. Mark Andrews

Carter vs. Dempsey and Wolfgang vs. Seven will air next Thursday (August 11). Bate vs. Williams and Coffey vs. Andrews will then air the following week (August 18).

Dragunov, who was on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his foot, opened today’s NXT UK by addressing the crowd. Dragunov announced that he suffered a severe ankle injury during his title defense against Wolfgang last week, and the NXT UK medical team won’t clear him to compete. Dragunov said no one knows how long it will be until he’ll be able to recover, so he has to relinquish the NXT UK title.

Dragunov left the title belt in the ring, vowing that he’ll come back stronger and become champion again.

Dragunov relinquishing the title took place at a set of NXT UK tapings last month. The new NXT UK Champion was also crowned at those tapings.

Dragunov had been NXT UK Champion since winning the title from WALTER in August 2021.