{"id":39411,"date":"2019-02-27T13:09:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T18:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=39411"},"modified":"2019-06-08T16:18:21","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T20:18:21","slug":"wwe-officially-announces-5-new-nxt-uk-signings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/02\/27\/wwe-officially-announces-5-new-nxt-uk-signings\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Officially Announces 5 New NXT UK Signings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today NXT UK got 5 new names to add to their growing roster of European talent.\u00a0 <strong>Ilja Dragunov, Kay Lee Ray, Jazzy Gabert, Oliver Sauter<\/strong> and Jay Melrose have all been officially announced.\u00a0 Some have been rumoured to join since last year&#8217;s tryout in Cologne and three have already appeared at tapings.\u00a0 The big question on some people&#8217;s minds will be who are all of these people, well never fear we&#8217;re here to help<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ilja Dragunov<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-39442 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/02\/Ilja_Dragunov_-_3181081443476439040-e1551290676607.jpg\" alt=\"NXT UK\" width=\"374\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ilja Dragunov\u00a0<\/strong>made his name wrestling for Germany&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw)\u00a0<\/strong>and the Russian import became a massive star for the company after his feud with\u00a0<strong>WALTER\u00a0<\/strong>and their much talked about match in the 2017\u00a0<strong>16 Carat Gold\u00a0<\/strong>final.\u00a0 In 2018 he finally branched our from wXw and had a high profile match against\u00a0<strong>Pete Dunne\u00a0<\/strong>at\u00a0<strong>PROGRESS Wembley<\/strong>.\u00a0 The man known as &#8220;unbesiegbar&#8221; is one of the most unique performers in Europe with a strange cadence and uncanny charisma that makes him stand out from the crowd.\u00a0 At just 25, he has been through many a battle and now gets ready to unleash the Torpedo Moscow on NXT UK.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Longest chant in wrestling history: Bobby Gunns vs. Ilja Dragunov (wXw 2018)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OkbumyeQtI8?start=244&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Kay Lee Ray<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39444\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39444\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-39444 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/02\/Mae_Young_07132017sm_0906-eef6603c5739d4fa27d77f6df097372a-e1551290694805.jpg\" alt=\"NXT UK\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39444\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/01\/16\/who-is-kay-lee-ray\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kay Lee Ray<\/a> was an important part of\u00a0<strong>Insane Championship Wrestling<\/strong>&#8216;s explosion into the public eye.\u00a0 At a time when people were crying out for women&#8217;s wrestlers to receive the treatment they deserved, she was having crazy hardcore matches against all comers in ICW and gaining a reputation as one of the toughest wrestlers in the UK scene.\u00a0 Her daredevil ways have seen her travel the world and pick up championships\u00a0everywhere she&#8217;s been.\u00a0 The first ever 3-time ICW Women&#8217;s champion, the first ever\u00a0<strong>World Of Sport\u00a0<\/strong>Women&#8217;s champion, a 3-time\u00a0<strong>Queen Of Southside\u00a0<\/strong>champion and a former\u00a0<strong>Defiant\u00a0<\/strong>women&#8217;s champion she has also toured Japan as a member of the\u00a0<strong>Stardom\u00a0<\/strong>roster and stole the show on the biggest all women&#8217;s show in European history as she had a classic match with the legendary\u00a0<strong>Meiko Satomura.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kiAHqYZTfDU<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Jazzy Gabert<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39443\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39443\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-39443 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/02\/MAE_07132017ca_4254-ca7c861ad31090e300c2c48ecd164117-e1551290716283.jpg\" alt=\"NXT UK\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39443\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Standing at over 6 feet tall, Jazzy Gabert is a powerhouse of women&#8217;s wrestling.\u00a0 Gabert was a part of the first ever\u00a0<strong>Mae Young Classic\u00a0<\/strong>where she failed t make it out of the first round.\u00a0 But the majority of her success came as Alpha Female on the independent circuit.\u00a0 A veteran who has been wrestling since 2001, she was the <strong>Pro Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong><strong>EVE <\/strong>Champion for just over 200 days and more notably one of only nine people to have held the\u00a0<strong>World Of Stardom\u00a0<\/strong>championship in it&#8217;s 8-year history, joining the likes of Satomura,\u00a0<strong>Kairi Sane\u00a0<\/strong>(then Kairi Hojo), <strong>Nanae Takahashi<\/strong>, <strong>Toni Storm<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Mayu Iwatani.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>She has wrestled all over Europe honing her skills during her near two decade\u00a0long career and held some of the biggest titles in women&#8217;s wrestling. Will we see her hold the NXT UK Women&#8217;s championship soon?<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lbCKRfe9Ic4<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Oliver Carter<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39441\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/02\/27973160_1678680632229070_3181576329487954587_n-e1551290742165.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\"><\/p>\n<p>Coming from a background in Soccer, Oliver Carter hails from Zurich, Switzerland and has been wrestling all over Europe in some of it&#8217;s under-reported scenes. Central Europe is currently bustling with talent from places like France, Switzlerland, Spain and Sweden.\u00a0 <strong>Oliver Carter\u00a0<\/strong>was one of the many from the region tipped for greatness.\u00a0 NXT UK will provide him a stage to showcase himself, but he also has the expectations of a region on his back.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=j1nY9-0N5F0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Primate<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39445\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39445\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-39445\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/02\/NXTUK_Blackpool_01132019at_3866-d5e4e0f029bb83f1c20dcdf1f4bfecf1-e1551290762229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39445\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Primate&#8221; Jay Melrose<\/strong> briefly was forced to retire due to a jaw injury.\u00a0 He most notably wrestled for\u00a0<strong>Defiant\u00a0<\/strong>in some incredibly brutal contests.\u00a0 His hardcore, brawling ways saw him form a successful tag team with\u00a0<strong>Jimmy Havoc\u00a0<\/strong>as the two won Defiant&#8217;s tag team titles and Melrose himself was a 2-time hardcore champion.\u00a0 A late bloomer and someone who was hurt by injuries could be a sleeper hit in NXT UK.\u00a0 One thing is for sure though, everyone better watch out for this bruiser.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rampage vs Primate - Exit Wounds Full Match\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iZCP-G49R_o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today NXT UK got 5 new names to add to their growing roster of European talent.\u00a0 Ilja Dragunov, Kay Lee Ray, Jazzy Gabert, Oliver Sauter and Jay Melrose have all been officially announced.\u00a0 Some have been rumoured to join since last year&#8217;s tryout in Cologne and three have already appeared at tapings.\u00a0 The big question [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":28244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5336,3],"tags":[1139,3738,2514,1429,2868,1689,1728],"class_list":["post-39411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nxt-uk","category-wwe-universe","tag-kay-lee-ray","tag-alpha-female","tag-ilja-dragunov","tag-jazzy-gabert","tag-nxt-uk","tag-primate","tag-wwe-uk"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}