The NXT UK Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was defended on the NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of WWE's developmental territory NXT based in the United Kingdom. Established on 18 June 2018, the inaugural champion was Rhea Ripley. On 4 September 2022 at Worlds Collide, the title was unified into the NXT Women's Championship, officially retiring the title in the process, with Meiko Satomura recognized as the final champion.
| NXT UK Women's Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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 The NXT UK Women's Championship belt with default side plates. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | 18 June 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date retired | 4 September 2022 (unified with the NXT Women's Championship) | ||||||||||||||||||
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History
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In a press conference at The O2 Arena on 15 December 2016, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced plans to establish a United Kingdom-based brand on which professional wrestlers from the country would compete. A men's title, the WWE United Kingdom Championship (later renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship), was established that same day,[1] however, it was not until mid-2018 when NXT UK was formally established as the United Kingdom-based brand, and sister brand of the American-based NXT. On 18 June during the first night of the 2018 United Kingdom Championship Tournament, the NXT UK Women's Championship, along with the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, was announced for the NXT UK brand.[2] Afterwards, a two-day eight-woman single-elimination tournament was scheduled to crown the inaugural champion during the first tapings of NXT UK.[3][4][5] During the 26 August tapings, Rhea Ripley defeated Toni Storm in the tournament final to become the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion (aired 28 November).[6][7]
In January 2020, WWE briefly began referring to the women's championship as the "NXT UK Championship" to bring it on an equal level as the men's title,[8] though reverted to calling it the NXT UK Women's Championship soon after; it remained as NXT UK Women's Championship on the official title history during this time.[9]
In August 2022, WWE announced that the NXT UK brand would go on hiatus and would relaunch as NXT Europe at a later time.[10] As such, NXT UK's championships were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts. Subsequently, the NXT UK Women's Championship was retired on 4 September 2022 at Worlds Collide. At the event, Mandy Rose defeated Blair Davenport and reigning NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura in a triple threat match to unify the NXT UK Women's Championship into Rose's NXT Women's Championship, with Satomura recognized as the final NXT UK Women's Champion. Rose went forward as the unified NXT Women's Champion.[11]
Inaugural tournament
edit| Quarterfinals NXT UK 25 August 2018 (aired 14 and 21 November 2018) | Semifinals NXT UK 26 August 2018 (aired 21 November 2018) | Final NXT UK 26 August 2018 (aired 28 November 2018) | ||||||||||||
| Dakota Kai | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Nina Samuels | ||||||||||||||
| Dakota Kai | ||||||||||||||
| Rhea Ripley | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Rhea Ripley | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Xia Brookside | ||||||||||||||
| Rhea Ripley | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Toni Storm | ||||||||||||||
| Jinny | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Millie McKenzie | ||||||||||||||
| Jinny | ||||||||||||||
| Toni Storm | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Toni Storm | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Isla Dawn | ||||||||||||||
Championship belt design
edit.svg)
The championship belt was revealed during the 25 August 2018 tapings of NXT UK.[5] It was nearly identical to its male counterpart, the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Like the United Kingdom Championship, the center plate was modeled after the United Kingdom's royal coat of arms, featuring a lion and a horse (instead of the traditional unicorn) on either side of the arms, while at the center of the plate featured a shield with the NXT UK logo; atop the shield were the crown jewels.[5] Above the arms was a banner that read "United Kingdom", directly below the shield was a banner that read "Women's", and below that was a banner that read "Champion". Gold divider bars separated the center plate from the belt's two side plates. In what became a prominent feature for WWE's championship belts, the two side plates featured removable center sections that could be replaced with the reigning champion's logo; the default side plates featured the WWE logo on a red globe. Like the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championship belts, the strap was white and smaller than the men's.[12]
Reigns
editOver the championship's four-year history, there were four reigns between four champions. Rhea Ripley was the inaugural champion and was also the youngest champion when she won the title at the age of 21, while Meiko Satomura was the oldest at 41 and is recognized as the final champion. Kay Lee Ray had the longest reign, which WWE recognizes as lasting 649 days (beginning 31 August 2019 and ending 10 June 2021); the actual length of her reign is undeterminable as the real date she lost the title is unknown. Ripley had the shortest reign at 139 days (44 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay).
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Days recog. | Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| N/A | Unknown information |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | ||||
| 1 | Rhea Ripley | 26 August 2018 | NXT UK | Birmingham, England | 1 | 139 | 44 | Defeated Toni Storm in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. WWE recognizes Ripley's reign as beginning on 28 November 2018, when the episode aired on tape delay. |
[6] |
| 2 | Toni Storm | 12 January 2019 | TakeOver: Blackpool | Blackpool, England | 1 | 231 | 230 | [13] | |
| 3 | Kay Lee Ray | 31 August 2019 | TakeOver: Cardiff | Cardiff, Wales | 1 | N/A | 649 | WWE recognizes this reign as ending on 10 June 2021, when the match aired on tape delay. The actual date she lost the title is unknown. Ray moved to the NXT brand shortly after losing the title and her ring name was changed to Alba Fyre in early 2022. WWE's official title history subsequently changed her listing to the Alba Fyre ring name; however, her name listed here is the name she held the title under. |
[14] |
| 4 | Meiko Satomura | 10 June 2021 (air date) |
NXT UK | London, England | 1 | N/A | 451 | WWE recognizes this reign as beginning on 10 June 2021, when the episode aired on tape delay. The actual date the match took place is unknown. | [15] |
| — | Unified | 4 September 2022 | Worlds Collide | Orlando, Florida, U.S. | — | — | — | Mandy Rose defeated Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport in a triple threat match to unify the NXT UK Women's Championship into the NXT Women's Championship. The NXT UK Women's Championship was retired with Satomura recognized as the final champion. Rose went forward as the unified NXT Women's Champion. | [11] |
Notes
edit- ^ The actual length of the reign is undeterminable, as the actual date Kay Lee Ray lost the championship is unknown. As such, the reign length indicated here is what WWE officially recognizes for the reign.
- ^ WWE recognizes 44 days due to tape delay.
References
edit- ^ Keller, Wade (December 15, 2016). "WWE announces new UK-based brand, holding tournament to crown UK Champion, Nigel McGuinness on announce team". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ Pollock, John (June 18, 2018). "WWE announces NXT UK brand with two additional championships to be introduced". Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
- ^ "WWE NXT UK Women's Championship tournament results, Rhea Ripley first ever Australian woman to win a WWE title". www.foxsports.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "The first NXT UK Women's Champion to be crowned at NXT UK tapings this weekend in Birmingham". WWE. August 21, 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c Currier, Joseh (August 26, 2018). "WWE UNVEILS NXT UK WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BELT". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "Major news from Sunday night's NXT UK tapings (CAUTION: SPOILERS)". WWE. August 26, 2018. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
- ^ "The first NXT UK Women's Champion to be crowned at NXT UK tapings this weekend in Birmingham". WWE. August 21, 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ "Mia Yim clashes with NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray during Worlds Collide Pre-Show". WWE. Archived from the original on 2020-01-26. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
- ^ "NXT UK Women's Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (August 18, 2022). "WWE Announces The Impending Launch Of 'NXT Europe' Final NXT UK Event To Be 'Worlds Collide' On 9/4". Fightful. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ a b Moore, John (September 4, 2022). "NXT Worlds Collide results: Moore's live review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a unification match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a unification match, Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
- ^ Lowson, Thomas (August 26, 2018). "WWE News: NXT UK Women's Championship Title Revealed". Sportsskeeda. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
- ^ Powell, Jason (January 12, 2019). "1/12 Powell's NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool live review – Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women's Championship, Pete Dunne vs. Joe Coffey for the WWE UK Championship, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate vs. Zack Gibson and James Drake to become the first NXT UK Tag Champions". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ Powell, Jason (August 31, 2019). "8/31 Powell's NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff live review – Walter vs. Tyler Bate for the WWE UK Championship, Toni Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Women's Championship, Zack Gibson and James Drake vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang for the NXT UK Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- ^ Harris, Jeffrey (June 10, 2021). "Meiko Satomura Captures NXT UK Women's Title From Kay Lee Ray". 411mania. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
External links
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- NXT UK Women's Title History
Media related to Wrestlers as the NXT UK Women's champion at Wikimedia Commons
