Next week's NXT will set the stage for the next WWE United Kingdom championship match.
WWE.com announced tonight that Roderick Strong will challenge Tyler Bate on the next episode of NXT. The winner of that match will the next challenger for WWE United Kingdom champion Pete Dunne. This is expected to be taped this Saturday before the live portion of NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia airs.
Here is what WWE.com wrote about the match:
Expect a classic this Wednesday on NXT when Roderick Strong battles Tyler Bate in a match to determine the next challenger to WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne.
Between Strong’s knife-edge chops and endlessly inventive backbreakers, and Bate’s belting strikes and textbook execution, this first-time matchup is guaranteed to be long on action. That it’s for a crack at The BruiserWeight’s U.K. Title will only heighten the intensity. Despite their many similarities inside the ring — fundamental expertise, a willingness to give and receive ferocious hits, bottomless gas tanks — Bate and Strong are approaching the opportunity from very different perspectives.
Bate gave Dunne the fight of his life last month in a U.K. Title Match but came up short of regaining the championship. A win against Strong would put the English prodigy back on track for another showdown with his familiar foe and potentially a second reign as U.K. Champion.
The veteran Strong, in contrast, is still in search of his first championship since joining WWE. If he were to advance past Bate and dethrone The BruiserWeight, The Messiah of the Backbreaker would not only accomplish that goal, but he would make history as the first American to win the U.K. Title.
Other highlights also expected before Takeover airs that will probably be taped for next week's episode include the return of TM61 to television and Nikki Cross.
