#235: Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne, NXT TakeOver: Chicago (5/20/2017).
This is for Bate’s WWE United Kingdom Championship.
In January of 2017, a tournament was held to crown the inaugural United Kingdom Champion, a tourney which was won by 19 year old Tyler Bate. The definition of an underdog, Bate won the finals by beating heavy favorite Pete Dunne in a great match. This was the beginning of what would become NXT UK, a brand that wouldn’t formally start up until 2018. Until then, the championship and its wrestlers were featured often on NXT programming.
After becoming #1 contender, Dunne was set for his rematch against Bate at TakeOver: Chicago, far and away the biggest audience both of these young men had ever wrestled for before. This had all the makings of a great one – a hot crowd in Chicago, commentary being done by the great Jim Ross and British wrestling legend Nigel McGuinness, and the fact that TakeOver simply doesn’t miss. If ever there was a chance to make a good first impression, this is the proving ground for it.
The bell sounds, and the fans seem to be on the side of Dunne more than Bate. He takes Bate to the mat, and looks to control the head. Bate stands up and twists the arm of Dunne. He is countered by Dunne, who uses his legs to bring Bate to the mat. Dunne wraps his legs around Bate’s head, and digs his elbows into the back of the champion. Bate maneuvers his body to pop out of the position, as Dunne looks on in disgust.
They lock up, and Dunne uses Bate’s arm to bring him back down. He grabs the wrist and bends it in weird directions, while punching at Bate’s ribs. Bate is back up, and he takes control of the arm, and dropkicks Dunne, sending him to the outside. Bate follows him, and walks into a strong forearm into the jaw. He brings Bate’s to the steel steps and bends his fingers back. He goes to stomp them on the steps, but Bate fights back. He comes flying off the steps and hits a flying uppercut.
Dunne with another forearm to the jaw, and then a release X Plex onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Dunne kicks at Bate’s face. He gets a hammerlock in on Bate, and then grabs the opposite arm, twisting and pulling at the fingers. He’s also got his knee right into the side of Bate’s head. More forearms to the head by the Bruiserweight, followed by stomps to the side of the head. Bate stands back up and takes the shots head on. He lifts Dunne into an Exploder Suplex.
Bate explodes with a running European uppercut on Dunne in the corner, followed by an even stronger one. He goes for a third, but Dunne runs at him with a running enziguri. He goes for the X Plex, but Bate slips out and hits a running shooting star press to his back, and then a waistlock suplex for a 2 count. Bate goes for another running shooting star press, and Dunne catches him in a Triangle Choke! Dunne punches at Bate’s head to add even more pain to it. Bate uses all his strength to lift Dunne up into the air, and powerbomb him to the mat, breaking the hold!
Bate lifts Dunne up for the airplane spin and he just goes fucking crazy spinning him as fast as he can! Bate makes the cover and Dunne kicks out. Bate goes for a German Suplex, but Dunne lands on his feet. Bate scales the top rope and goes for a flying crossbody, and walks into a forearms. Dunne lifts Bate up for a suplex and transitions into a sit out powerbomb, but that only gets a 2 count! The fans are on their feet for the efforts!
On the ground, Dunne kicks and punches at Bate, and the champion responds in kind. Both men are back up, throwing bombs at each other! Bate fakes him out, and knocks him to the mat! Dunne is back up, and an enziguri to the shoulder follows. They’re face to face now, exchanging slaps. Dunne with a forearm, and Bate comes off the ropes with a kick to the face. Dunne responds with a low kick to the face. He sends Bate into the ropes, and Bate bounces his head off the ropes to rebound with a sick lariat! That only gets a nearfall, though.
The crowd cheers “fight forever” to these two young men. Bate is up first, and he goes for the Tyler Driver, but Dunne slips out and goes for the Bitter End, and Bate counters it into a DDT! Dunne rolls to the outside. Bate goes to the apron, and climbs to the middle rope. He comes down on Dunne with a moonsault and immediately brings him back into the ring. Bate goes to the top, and hits the Spiral Tap off the top, but that only gets a 2 count!
Dunne is back on the outside. The crowd is chanting “UK.” Bate runs off the ropes and dives over the ropes, but Dunne catches him with a forearm instead! Back in the ring, Dunne hits the Bitter End on Bate, and that is enough for the win! Dunne is the new WWE United Kingdom Champion! The fans are on their fate, clapping and cheering for both men. Dunne bites the end of the title and poses in victory, as Bate lays on the outside, now realizing that he has lost.
Now that’s how you make a fucking statement! Competing in front of the largest live audience of their careers up to this point, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne went out there and made everyone remember their names. They absolutely stole the show on a TakeOver that was admittedly cold coming in. With this kind of opportunity in front of them, neither man disappointed.
Dunne employed a great strategy here, as he looked to tear Bate apart piece by piece as the match went on. And Bate countered that methodical approach to the match with sheer grit and a crazy amount of strength. Dunne wanted to keep the match slow, but Bate forced him to stay up to speed with him, due to his fast offense. This made the match more exciting because of it. We got great technical wrestling mixed with some crazy spots. You could really tell how seriously both men took their spot.
It went second on the card, and nothing could top it, before or after. With a match like this, the NXT UK brand showed that it was a force to be reckoned with, and for a while it was. Sadly, once the pandemic happened, WWE seemed to totally forget about it, which is a shame. Before COVID, NXT UK gave off the impression that it was really about to take off. Alas, we have matches like this instead to remember the brand for.
This is one of the best 15 minute matches you’ll see anywhere. Given that the match was on the shorter side, both guys didn’t waste any time, and made everything count. Every move had purpose, and each transition felt like it mattered. These boys did British wrestling proud, and it’s no wonder that both guys are still doing pretty well for themselves in WWE to this day. Especially Dunne, who no longer has to be called “Butch.”