What’s the story
WWE's United Kingdom Championship Tournament has been making quite a buzz in social media ever since the tournament was initially announced.
Despite what the reports suggest, however, the tournament hasn’t been received by the WWE Universe with the fanfare that WWE would have liked. One of the main reasons for this loss in interest has been suggested as the lack of star power.
Zack Sabre Jr.’s exclusion from the tournament has caused quite a stir in the wrestling community. Dave Meltzer revealed the reason for it while answering some of the questions posed to him by wrestling fans.
In case you didn’t know...
WWE recently announced the United Kingdom Championship Tournament and kicked it off in a grand affair. Despite the heavy promotion the event received from the likes of Triple H, Finn Balor and several others, the tournament has been lacking some much-needed buzz.
The lack of star power in the event has been suggested as the reason for the disinterest of fans in the event. Notable names like Zack Sabre Jr. have been conspicuously missing from the event and it is needless to say that it has raised quite a few eyebrows in the wrestling circles.
The heart of the matter
Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer recently revealed the reason for the exclusion of top names in the tournament while answering some questions posed by fans to him on Twitter.
Meltzer noted that the guys who were signed are under low contracts and many of the major stars like Sabre didn’t want to sign with the company.
Answering a question regarding Sabre’s absence from the tournament, Meltzer tweeted that Sabre turned down the offer from WWE as he had other goals outside WWE for this year.
Speaking of the stars and the timing of UKCT, Meltzer noted that this was a great opportunity for the stars present in the tournament. He also noted that it was very fair to say that these stars were not the cream of the crop in the UK wrestling scene right now.
Meltzer replied to a fan who was questioning about the timing of the tournament by stating that the timing of the tournament was in response to World of Sport being brought back to the UK.
He was also confident that the tournament would have happened sooner or later even if World of Sport wasn’t brought back.
What next?
Speculations suggest that the introduction of UKCT would lead to the reemergence of the European Championship title in WWE.
The title might move to the SmackDown brand which is in dire need of star power. The winner of the tournament may indeed be brought to WWE and crowned as the champion as it was done with the Cruiserweight Championship tournament.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Regardless of the absence of any major stars in the tournament, it is good to see young talents receiving a platform like WWE to showcase their skills.
If WWE indeed brings back the European Championship to SmackDown we can expect the roster to be increased sizably. The title might also help the mid-card talents to establish themselves before coming on to the main event scene.
Here’s a video of Zack Sabre Jr. wrestling on the Cruiserweight Classic:
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