WWE Announces big Title Rematch For WALTER
The rematch between Ilja Dragunov and WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER has been announced.
Sid Scala, assistant to NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint, announced during today's NXT UK episode that Dragunov will challenge WALTER for the title in two weeks, on the July 22 show.
An in-ring press conference will be held next Thursday with both competitors.
This will be a rematch from the October 29, 2020 NXT UK main event, which saw WALTER retain in a bout that was praised by fans and wrestlers.
WWE recently began a storyline where Dragunov has dealt with anger issues due to the previous loss to WALTER. He recently picked up singles wins over Dave Mastiff and Noam Dar, and then defeated Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown in a Triple Threat on June 24 to move to the top of the list of potential contenders. WALTER attacked Dragunov in a post-match angle that night, and choked him until he passed out.
The leader of Imperium passed 800 days as champion back in mid-June. He has held the NXT UK Title since defeating Pete Dunne at "Takeover: New York" on April 5, 2019.
WALTER's last title defense came over Brown at the NXT UK Prelude event during WrestleMania 37 Weekend. He also retained over Tommaso Ciampa that weekend at the "Takeover: Stand and Deliver" Night 1 event. The NXT UK brand took some time off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but WALTER has a January 2021 successful title defense over A-Kid, an October 2020 defense over Ilja Dragunov, January 2020 wins over Dave Mastiff and Joe Coffey, an August 2019 defense over Bate, June 2019 wins over Trent Seven and Travis Banks, and a win over Dunne in his rematch, which took place in April 2019. That's it for his reign so far.
Stay tuned for more.
You have 14 days to prepare.
In two weeks, @WalterAUT will defend his #NXTUK Title against @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR in what is guaranteed to be a RIPPER! @SidScala pic.twitter.com/FXaeX6BMct
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) July 8, 2021