Looks like we got a little excited when WWE put an exclusive United Kingdom Championship Special on the Network schedule for this upcoming Thursday, May 18. It’s still listed there as of this writing, but company officials inform us it’s being updated and the show will premiere Friday, May 19 at 3PM Eastern, with a replay at 8PM.
This addresses one criticism from fans - that a show aimed at the UK market would premiere after midnight local time. Now, the initial broadcast will happen in primetime for viewers across the Atlantic from WWE’s home turf, with a replay in choice U.S. time slot (and, presumably, the program will be available for on-demand viewing as well).
WWE’s official press release also gives us an example of what matches from the May 6 - 7 tapings we can expect to see on the show, which will also feature Jim Ross’ first play-by-play for the company since the main event of WrestleMania 33:
WWE® NETWORK SPOTLIGHTS U.K. SUPERSTARS WITH NEW SPECIAL
STAMFORD, Conn., May 15, 2017 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) announced today that WWE Network will stream the WWE United Kingdom Championship Special this Friday, May 19 at 3 p.m. ET, with a re-air in primetime at 8 p.m. ET. The action will be called by WWE Hall-of-Fame announcer Jim Ross, who will be joined by color analyst Nigel McGuinness.
Emanating from Norwich, UK, WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defends his title against the high-flying Mark Andrews; Pete Dunne and Trent Seven battle to become the number one contender to face the UK Champion at NXT TakeOver: Chicago this Saturday; Wolfgang faces Joseph Conners; and Rich Swann and Dan Moloney take on TJP and The Brian Kendrick in a tag team match.
“The WWE United Kingdom Championship Special will showcase some of the best talent from the U.K.,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative. “This is an opportunity to super-serve our fans in the U.K. as well as fans anywhere who appreciate the U.K. style.”
Fans can stream the WWE United Kingdom Championship Special by signing up at WWENetwork.com.