Tyler Bate BENCHED By WWE, Not Injured (WWE News)
Despite speculation, Tyler Bate clarifies he is NOT injured.
Having only wrestled two matches on WWE programming since returning from injury this past March, there has been speculation amongst fans that maybe Tyler Bate is back on the injured list. According to Tyler himself, that is not the case.
A torn pec put the Big Strong Boi out of action for the second half of 2024 and into the start of this year, with Bate returning on the 31 March episode of Raw, where he joined his New Catch Republic partner Pete Dunne in a loss to the New Day.
Since then, Tyler Bate has competed on main WWE TV just once, which was as part of the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania 41. The 28-year-old has laced them up in a handful of WWE Main Event matches post-'Mania, the most recent of which being on the 29 May broadcast, where he and Dunne beat A-Town Down Under.
Squashing those rumblings of him being injured, Tyler took to Instagram to simply state, "Not injured. Waiting..."ram @byler_tate
By this point, Tyler Bate has been with WWE for eight and a half years, having been a part of the company's United Kingdom Title Tournament back in January 2017. Not just did Tyler take part in that tourney, of course, but he would emerge victorious, defeating Tucker, Wolfgang, Jordan Devlin, and Pete Dunne on his way to becoming the inaugural NXT UK Champion.
Bate would have a solid 125 days as the NXT UK Champion, eventually dropping the belt to Dunne at NXT Takeover: Chicago in a bona fide Match of the Year contender. That title would eventually be rebranded as the WWE NXT United Kingdom Championship during Walter's mammoth 870-day reign, with the nowadays Gunther bringing an end to Pete Dunne's own impressive 685-day run with that prize.
By the time all was said and done when NXT UK closed its doors, Tyler Bate was the brand's only ever two-time WWE NXT UK Champion, the final WWE NXT UK Champion, and the only person to win the NXT UK Triple Crown of the WWE NXT UK Title, the Heritage Cup, and win the NXT UK Tag Team Titles alongside Trent Seven.
Given how the Raw tag team division could do with a shot in the arm right now, it's a little strange that a tandem as talented as Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne find themselves struggling for time on main WWE TV. While Pete became a father for the second time in early May, the Bruiserweight has returned to the ring since then, so it seems a case of the New Catch Republic waiting for WWE to come up with some creative for the British Strong Style duo.