Final
Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne
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As Nigel McGuinness put it, “if looks could kill”. William Regal, holding the championship looked menacingly at Pete Dunne. Probably hoping he wouldn’t win it, which meant to me he probably would.
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Atmospheric lighting was employed as the competitors were announced. I thought the production looked weird throughout this tournament. They should have kept the lights down for every match, never mind the introductions.
Anywho, the match kicked off and Dunne went right for the injured shoulder. The beginning of the match felt a lot more controlled. I felt this was to emphasize the fact that there was no time limit for the final match, the championship match. We saw an impressive display of mat wrestling, to begin with and a picture perfect dropkick from Tyler Bate. Joints were worked, shoulders stretched, ankles bent and limbs smashed. As they grappled to the outside, things slowly descended into a street fight.
I do believe that makes a full house for matches that ended up outside the ring too!
The strikes were vicious, though. I think they agreed to throw potatoes before the match because there’s no way to fake the real sound (not the slapping sound) of a forearm smashing into someone’s chin.
Dunne went to fire Bate into the corner again to do more damage to the shoulder but got a taste of his own medicine as Bate countered. An exploder suplex from Bate soon after resulted in a near fall as he had complete control of the match, but his shoulder failed on the Tyler Driver and Dunne got a short flurry in.
This was short lived as Bate pulled out the old crowd favorite! Aeroplane spin!! Not once, not twice, but three times a lady. Dunne managed to catch a triangle choke to put pressure on the shoulder put in an amazing show of strength, Bate lifted Dunne up and out of the hold and we were denied the first submission victory of the competition.
Bate executed a flying maneuver I don’t even want to attempt to name (Nigel called it a Frosby Flop so we’ll go with that) and followed it up with a 450 splash but he landed with his feet. Despite this, Dunne managed to complete his finishing move but Bate kicked out!! Absolutely amazing and this sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Dunne put a wrist/arm lock on Bate that looked like a reverse Kimura lock, but Bate managed to escape from the floor and somehow managed a brainbuster, taking us all back to 1998. It looks like a devastating move, but he still could not make it a three-count!
A slap off ensued, which Bate lost, but he then managed two wheelhouse kicks and hit the Tyler Driver. Ladies and Gentlemen, your new WWE United Kingdom Champion – Tyler Bate! And just like that, he became the youngest champion in WWE history, breaking Rene Dupree’s record as the youngest WWE Superstar to have won a championship.
Winner by pinfall – Tyler Bate and the first UK Champion!
What a match. It was a close call between this and the semi-final that involved Dunne for match of the night but this was an amazing way to end the tournament nonetheless. And I have no doubt that Dunne will probably be the first contender for a shot at this championship. WWE, you did the United Kingdom proud, as did all 16 competitors.
