Huge WWE Backstage Heat On Tyler Bate?
So THAT's why the former UK Champion loses every week...
Former WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate has fallen out of favour with company management, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
His heat reportedly stretches back to before NXT TakeOver: Chicago (May 2017). Meltzer states that it stems from WWE asking Bate to work a main roster tour, but the Englishman turning them down, stating that he didn't want to cancel prior independent bookings. The company were understandably upset by this, though it was noted that WWE's request came at the last minute.
Bate lost the United Kingdom Title to Pete Dunne in Chicago, and while he remains immensely popular, he hasn't won a televised WWE singles match since then. Dunne, Roderick Strong, and TJP have all defeated him in recent bouts, and Tyler has acknowledged his losing streak on Twitter:-
UK wrestlers pulling out of existing indie dates has become commonplace since the division's inception. Dunne recently removed himself from a handful of UK shows in order to attend TakeOver: Philadelphia, but it sounds like Bate wasn't willing to take that step back in May.
It remains to be seen how long Tyler's losing streak will last, but he fell to the Velveteen Dream on last week's NXT tapings.