At the Download Festival in Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, NXT invaded once again for their annual showcase, this time bringing along the opening round of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. WWE posted the results via their Social Media today, while some of the competitors commented on their victories (or defeats). The first round will not air as part of the WWE UK Championship special on the WWE Network, but the matches will all be released on WWE’s YouTube channel next week leading into the special, which will air from the Royal Albert Hall in London (NOTE: One first round match, Drew Gulak vs. Jack Gallagher, will air next Wednesday as part of NXT)
Earlier today, WWE released their Bracketology special as well, previewing all the competitors in the tournament.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
BREAKING: @Travis_BanksPW defeats @Ligero1 at @DownloadFest and advances to the next round of the #WWEUKCT at the @RoyalAlbertHall pic.twitter.com/qqh36ujH24
— WWE UK (@WWEUK) June 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/Travis_BanksPW/status/1005154571348529152
https://twitter.com/Ligero1/status/1005162752669777925
BREAKING: @ZackGibson01 moves forward in the @WWEUK Championship Tournament with a win over @iamamirjordan at @DownloadFest #NXTDownload pic.twitter.com/bLtPMNDPAo
— WWE UK (@WWEUK) June 8, 2018
BREAKING: Ashton Smith defeats Joseph Conners at @DownloadFest and advances to the Quarterfinals of the @WWEUK Championship Tournament! #NXTDownload #WWEUKCT pic.twitter.com/llFHqaaJl6
— WWE UK (@WWEUK) June 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/JosephConners/status/1005175020677722112
BREAKING: @Flash_Morgan advances to the next round of the @WWEUK Championship Tournament by defeating James Drake at @DownloadFest. #NXTDownload #WWEUKCT pic.twitter.com/eUH2lUlT2W
— WWE UK (@WWEUK) June 8, 2018
Thanks NXT download!
First round conquered!!
Next stop Royal Albert Hall
Then the WWE United Kingdom Championship! pic.twitter.com/bOhd58l7fM— Flash Morgan Webster (@Flash_Morgan) June 8, 2018
From the WWE press release today in regards to the tournament:
The Download Festival, which continues through Sunday, June 10, will feature more U.K. Championship Tournament First Round action, as well as Superstars from NXT, in the coming days. Matches from the First Round will then release exclusively on WWE Digital channels, including YouTube.com/WWE, starting next week.
Tournament competitors who prevail in the First Round will qualify to compete at London’s world-famous Royal Albert Hall later this month. The tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals will stream on the award-winning WWE Network on Monday, June 25, at 3 p.m. ET/8 p.m. BST.
The tournament winner will then go on to challenge WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne on night two at the Royal Albert Hall. That event, the NXT U.K. Championship, will stream on WWE Network on Tuesday, June 26, at 3 p.m. ET/8 p.m. BST.
Here’s the current state of the UK tournament brackets after the first day of Download.
