WWE NXT UK Title Vacated At Latest Tapings

Ilja Dragunov made a seismic announcement at the latest set of WWE NXT UK tapings.

WWE's UK brand held their first of two days of tapings on Wednesday, July 6, at BT Studios in London, England, and Dragunov announced at the show that he was dealing with an injury and would be vacating the NXT UK Championship.

If Dragunov is dealing with a genuine injury is unknown, though, as spectators at BT Studios speculated the issue could be a part of a storyline.

An eight-man tournament to crown a new champion got underway at the taping, according to Inside The Ropes. Tyler Bate, Mark Coffey, Trent Seven, and Oliver Carter advanced to the semi-finals.

When Dragunov will vacate the NXT UK Title on TV is currently unknown. Dragunov has been NXT UK Champion for 316 days, since he defeated WALTER (now Gunther) for the gold at NXT TakeOver 36 in August of 2021. Unbesiegbar has defended the title on six occasions since then against the likes of Roderick Strong, Nathan Frazer, Jordan Devlin, Rampage Brown, and A-Kid.

Dragunov's announcement marks the first time the NXT UK Championship has been vacated in the title's history. Previous champions include Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, and the aforementioned WALTER.