NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne was the latest guest on E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness. Dunne opened up about his time in WWE and his long reign as NXT UK Champion, the emergence of the NXT UK brand and more. Highlights appear below.
(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)
On His NXT UK Championship Run:
I think it’s been something like 600 days which is crazy, you know. To think that this wasn’t even a route to WWE before until we came along. It’s something that was unheard of. I figured I’d have to go to Japan for years and years and eventually be able to come here. This whole route just came about now with different levels to the NXT brand and being able to experience all different parts of the company as well. It’s not like I’ve just had to stick to the UK stuff. I’ve been able to do that. I’ve been able to see WrestleMania. I’ve been on the SmackDown and RAW live event tours. I’ve been on RAW. I got to do Madison Square Garden. I really saw every aspect of the company in just a short space of time which is something I never thought could happen.
On Having To Learn Quickly:
We had to learn so fast, especially me and Tyler [Bate] because everybody was thrown into the deep end of that tournament. We had our tryouts in November. December was our press conference and then by January we were live on the [WWE] Network and for myself and Tyler going all the way to the final – especially that match, we didn’t have time to really talk about it or anything – we worked together so many times. It looked good, but we were thrown into the deep end. I think, in a way, that almost helped though because we didn’t have too much time to overthink the way that cameras would be and how different the style would be and all we could offer was the style we’d been working on for the last 12-13 years on the independents. In a way, I think that helped us…..Again, it’s in a short space of time now learning all that stuff where most people have to go spend time on independents, go to NXT, they’re in the Performance Center for awhile before they get to TV and then they go to TV for awhile before they get to TakeOver and so on and so on. For us, it was just, ‘OK go. This is your show. Do what you do.’ In a way that was the best thing that can happen and in another way it was, ‘Alright let’s learn as fast as we can and try to take it as much as we can.’
On The Camaraderie In NXT UK:
WWE always felt like this light at the end of the tunnel that one or two people from Britain might get to. So now, to be in a position where people I literally grew up with, every member of the roster is somebody I worked with at some point or at least traveled with and got to know. To be able to do that with such a massive peer group and all of us make it at the same time…and to be able to create something unique and different – and that extends to the NXT brand in America, as well – a lot of those guys, people like Johnny Gargano were staying at my house….A whole generation of people that basically grew up together have had the chance to make it in the same thing at the same time and I really feel that shows with the quality of matches that are being put out now. It’s a really really fun place to work with such a vast peer group that we’ve known for so long.
On The Level Of Responsibility That Comes With NXT UK:
This unique opportunity that we never thought existed and being able to do that and not only being responsible for our own careers and stuff like that, but then feeling – pressure is the wrong word because we’ve enjoyed the experience – but feeling that responsibility that’s like, ‘Let’s make a brand for everyone in the UK,’ for the wrestlers that have been doing this for so long. Ever since it went off TV five years ago or whatever it is now there has been a bit of a gap. ‘When will British wrestling come back?’ Getting the opportunity to bring it back gives us that little extra bit of responsibility and a good focus instead of thinking we’ve got to get on the main roster as fast as we can. We have a completely different focus which is let us build this from the ground floor and do something completely original.
On Gratification In NXT UK:
One of the most gratifying things for myself, and Tyler, and Trent and all the other guys was – and we talk about this a lot – when we did that first tournament it was the pride that people like Fit and people like Regal and Brookside and Dave Taylor, all those guys that were there at a time when British wrestling was hot and it was on TV and it was booming and then they went off to America, but there was always that void….being able to see it come back and them being proud of what we were doing and the fact that it did feel British. It didn’t just feel like a bunch of lads that were imitating the WWE style. It did have that feel and part of that is the building that we’ve been doing, but part of that is the wrestling style also. One of the most gratifying things to this day that I’ve ever done in my career was seeing how proud they are and being able to talk to people like Brookside and Regal about it and seeing how much it meant to them for British wrestling to come back. That’s one of the best things for us.
Readers may listen to Edge & Christian‘s interview with Pete Dunne below:
RELATED: Figure 2 Photo – Pete Dunne’s Bitter End To Tyler Bate On NXT (VIDEO)
