WWE Reveals Final UK Tournament Roster

The WWE on Friday unveiled the final roster for its United Kingdom Championship Tournament taking place later this month, and while there weren’t any big surprises, there were some unexpected changes to the original roster.

During the original press conference, 18 men stood on stage alongside Triple H, Michael Cole, Finn Balor, and former Ring of Honor stalwart Nigel McGuinness. Most of those names remain, including well-known UK independent grapplers Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate, stars of PROGRESS and Revolution Pro Wrestling. The new list also includes Mark Andrews, who until recently was a member of the TNA roster, and who made an impressive showing at Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s Battle of Los Angeles in 2016, defeating both Dunne and Chris Hero before being eliminated in the semifinals by Trevor Lee. Also of note is Danny Burch, who is known on the independents as Martin Stone, where he’s the current Georgia Wrestling Crown Champion for Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, and who we’ve previously seen wrestle on NXT.

But the updated roster also cuts a few names, which was somewhat expected given that 18 men were promoted for a 16-man tournament. Still, it’s unclear why Jack Starz, Chris Tyler, Ringo Ryan and Tiger Ali are no longer part of the event, which premiers Jan. 14 on the WWE Network. During last year’s Cruiserweight Classic, a few wrestlers were kept on hand to fill slots in the event of an injury, so this may be the same safety net. (The WWE did not immediately respond to an email about the roster.)

To see the full tournament roster, click here.