(Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of WWE Network News.)

Over a year ago since it hit the Network, NXT UK is the show to showcase the best talent from the UK, Ireland and, in some cases, Europe. It is also one of the best-seen shows (contrary to popular belief, and mostly is the case when there’s no PPV that week), according to the Network’s trending page. Although it has a rocky start since it has been promised since the 2017 UK Championship Tournament. But tapings and a name only got revealed a year and a half later, with first broadcasts happening three months after the first taping. Although the show has its ups and downs, anything can improve and become better. And seeing as NXT UK is dear to my heart since it airs on a better time for European fans (such as myself), here are my (fan-perspective) suggestions to improve NXT UK.

Tour the NXT Championship

As the days of the international NXT territories looms closer and closer, it will be time for the NXT Championship to be seen as the top championship for every brand under the NXT umbrella. Although there has to be a way to devalue the UK Title as less as possible, having the NXT Title defended at select UK TakeOver events (or at first even NXT UK TV) would establish it as the all-encapsulating world title and gain more viewers from the NXT camp to check NXT UK out.

More crossover with NXT and 205

Keeping on the topic of further NXT integration, having stars from NXT US and 205 do guest appearances on the main brand’s UK cousin that do get broadcasted will also boost viewership. It would also help name recognition for the one lucky UK star and brand as a whole if a star gets to go over an NXT US talent. It would also be good for the brand and stars if more UK wrestlers make guest appearances on NXT or 205 (although the latter is traditionally a twice-a-year happening with the UK tour of Raw/SD)

No throwaway Axxess tapings

I wouldn’t list this reason if Worlds Collide wasn’t a thing, but now that it exists, I am including this. Cards from some tapings (mostly from Axxess, but in a less sense Download Festival tapings as well) feel more like a glorified house show than a consequential episode of NXT UK (alright, we’ve had bomb title matches at those tapings). I can understand if the Download tapings stay, but in the case of Axxess, either bring lower NXT UK stars in to push them and make the Axxess episodes more consequential or lower the Axxess taped episodes length if they want to tape NXT UK episodes on Axxess. Otherwise, use the higher ranked UK matches at Axxess to fill Worlds Collide broadcasts. Most Axxess taped episodes feel like either Worlds Collide with UK graphics or NXT’s midcard show with UK storylines/preferences.

Mid-card championship

This point would be moot if the first point happens, but if it doesn’t, I can see NXT UK having a mid-level championship. There’s a lot of signees and talent in NXT UK to the point that not every male singles competitor can go for the UK Championship. The hypothetical mid-card championship can otherwise be used for specific match types only like British Rounds, or as a buffer for a hypothetical NXT European Championship before it potentially spawns another brand.

More crossover with PROGRESS, wXw and ICW

Before NXT UK became publicly known (even shortly before the first UKCT), WWE has signed partnership deals with ICW and PROGRESS. Thanks to that partnership and a wider open-door policy with indie appearances, mitigated the problem of having no house shows since UK brand signed competitors are free to wrestle on indie shows as long as there’s no taping. With the advent of NXT UK, the indie appearances for stars slimmed down, but haven’t stopped as policy strengthens. To show gratitude to the two partnered promotions, it would be a good idea to feature rare NXT UK title defences (which they already do) and storylines bleeding over to ICW/PROGRESS/wXw events. Even announcing them on the WWE Network during NXT UK at the period that the VIP tier has been implemented to drive probable more VIP subscribers. Heck, even having a surprise PROGRESS Championship defence at a UK TakeOver as an “indie showcase” of sorts can bring the name of PROGRESS more out there. I mean, the PROGRESS Atlas Championship has been defended on a WWE show at one point, anything can happen.

More TakeOver events

The NXT TakeOver brand is a very fan-favourite brand to sell, as events exceed, if not meet fan expectations. And that’s the case with UK TakeOver’s as well, seeing as Cardiff was one of the best Network events of the year, so far. As far as I’ve heard, UK TakeOvers will continue as a quarterly thing. It would be a fun idea to see it included with the Raw/SD UK tours for two of the four probable TakeOvers, so that probable main roster appearances to put UK stars over have less hassle with travel.

Tapings/TakeOver in Europe

Going back on the “in some cases, Europe” line, NXT UK has hosted a platform for select European talents, such as WALTER, Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner, Killer Kelly, Ilja Dragunov and more. If WWE wants to have a platform to have European stars featured, NXT UK can only be used for select stars, but if they don’t see the need of doing a European brand, a sporadic TakeOver or Network taping for the UK brand can suffice for hardcore European fans and probable tryouts.

Those are the ways I would consider to improve NXT UK. I’ve been enjoying their first year, although some shows are hit and miss. But that’s okay since it’s a “developmental” show and not every TV episode has to hit it out of the park, as long as the talent do their best to develop their characters and moveset to a more mainstream audience.

If you have different ideas for improvement of NXT UK, feel free to sound off in the comments!

(Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of WWE Network News.)