WWE has updated its plans for Tyler Bate, following his SmackDown debut on this past week’s show.
WWE had advertised, ahead of the episode on January 5, that Butch will team up with an unknown partner to take on Elton Prince and Kit Wilson from Pretty Deadly.
Butch’s mystery teammate was revealed to Tyler Bate. Tyler Bate is Butch’s former NXT and British Strong Style rival, who won his WWE main-line debut match alongside Butch.
Recent reports confirmed that Bate had previously been discussed for inclusion on the main team. We now know, however, that Bate’s appearance is the beginning of his main-team run.
Bate’s WWE official profile has been updated, now listing him as SmackDown talent. This officially ends his stint with NXT.
WWE has posted a new video on Instagram that shows Tyler Bate reacting after his return to the backstage area.
Tyler Bate has been named.
It has been a long wait, but finally the big, strong boi is here on SmackDown. I am staying!
WWE captioned video to confirm this.
The big strong boo is here to stay. #SmackDown New Year’s Revolution
Tyler Bate’s WWE debut was in the early 2017 WWE UK Championship Tournament as part of a lineup.
Bate was the winner of the tournament. Bate defeated Butch Dunne (then Pete Dunne), and became the WWE (NXT UK Champion) at only 19 years.
The British star has gone on to make NXT UK history. He’s also the only NXT UK Triple Crown champion, having held the NXT UK Tag Team titles, Heritage Cup titles, and NXT UK UK.
He is the only NXT UK two-time champion, and he was the last NXT UK Champ before the gold became unified with NXT Championship.
The main NXT Tag Team Championship was also held by Bate and Trent Seven outside of NXT UK. They won it in 2018 after defeating Roderick “The Strong” Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, and the Undisputed Era.
