Tyler Bate looks almost unrecognizable in latest image amid WWE hiatus

WWE Superstar Tyler Bate looks almost unrecognizable in his latest update. The former champion is currently out of action with an injury suffered earlier this year.

Bate tore his pectoral muscle while competing alongside Pete Dunne in a tag team match. The injury took place on the July 2 episode of NXT in a bout against Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. Dunne has since become a singles star and picked up a victory over Kofi Kingston on last night's episode of WWE RAW.

Bate took to Instagram to share an update today and looked almost unrecognizable in his message.

"Once upon a time…," he wrote.

Tyler Bate accomplished a lot during his time in NXT but has not had the same success on the main roster where the veteran is yet to capture a title.

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Tyler Bate opens up about debut on WWE SmackDown

Tyler Bate made his main roster debut on the New Year's Revolution edition of WWE SmackDown and recently opened up about the experience.

In an interview with TNT Sports, Bate shared that he only found out about his debut a few days before it happened. The 27-year-old shared that he was nervous about making the jump to the main roster, but it was time to do so.

"I found out in the same week that SmackDown was happening. I kind of heard rumblings for a while before. It seemed like the internet knew before I did as well, which is pretty funny. But things just seemed to, it was like the stars aligned. Things seemed to just work out perfectly. The Brawling Brutes, they broke up. Butch, he was kind of left on his own, didn’t really know what to do, at the perfect time when I was primed, ready for the main roster jump. So it just made sense for me to be Butch’s tag team partner. So I was super excited, I was super nervous about making that jump to main roster. But it’s been a lifetime’s work all coming together on that day," said Bate.

It will be interesting to see what the company has planned for Tyler Bate when he returns from injury down the line.