Tyler Bate To Defend WWE UK Championship On PROGRESS Show
A WWE title on an indie show? Surely not...
As announced during a livestream on PROGRESS Wrestling's official Facebook page yesterday afternoon, Tyler Bate will put his WWE United Kingdom Championship on the line against Mark Andrews at PROGRESS: Orlando on March 31st.
The booking comes following an angle that took place during PROGRESS' Chapter 46 show last weekend. Andrews was facing Pete Dunne for the PROGRESS Championship in the night's main event, but lost due to interference from Dunne's stablemates, Bate and Trent Seven. NXT General Manager William Regal decreed that the UK Championship would be put on the line to repay Andrews, with PROGRESS confirming it yesterday.
WWE titles have been contested outside the company before, and the old Light Heavyweight Championship was regularly defended in Japan during its early days. This is, however, the first time one of WWE's belts has featured on a non-WWE iPPV stream.
A number of PROGRESS wrestlers are set to feature in matches throughout WrestleMania Axxess this weekend, with Bate also scheduled to defend his belt against Mark Haskins and Joseph Conners on these shows. PROGRESS: Orlando will air on iPPV at 12pm EDT/5pm GMT on Friday afternoon.