Today’s big news from WWE was the introduction of a new WWE United Kingdom Championship, which will crown a winner through a 16-man tournament in January.
Triple H spoke at the press conference today about the new title and the tournament; a full transcription of his speech (courtesy of Chris Featherstone of Inquisitor.com / Pancakes And Powerslams Show) can be read below:
“Thank you all for coming here and joining us for this historic moment. You know, I’ve had a long career, over twenty years, and one of my favorite things about being a WWE superstar was being able to tour the world. Seeing countries and meeting fans all over the globe. And the U.K. has always been one of my favorite places to come. Whether if it’s the rich history of our industry, or the appreciation that the fans have here for our craft, U.K. has always made our tours memorable here and this is always a place that is near and dear to my heart.
“So I can’t tell you how proud I am to be here to make this announcement today. One of the great things about the WWE Network is our ability to further engage our fans around the world with localized content. It’s been the better part of a year working right here with brands such as Progress, RevPro, ICW, and OTT in Ireland. We spent that time to identify and cultivate the best talent in both the U.K. and Ireland.
“And today, we’re excited to announce that we will crown, for the first time ever, a WWE United Kingdom Champion. We will crown that champion live on the WWE Network during a special two-night tournament on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, beginning at 8pm local time. The WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament will emanate from the historic Empress Ballroom in Blackpool.
“It will feature sixteen of the top competitors from the U.K. and Ireland. And like we’ve done with NXT and the cruiserweights, our intent, is in the long term, to use this tournament as a launching pad for a brand new WWE weekly show produced right here in the U.K.”
