On 15 December 2016, it was revealed that Dunne would be one of 16 men competing in the two-night United Kingdom Championship Tournament to crown the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion on 14 and 15 January 2017. Dunne defeated Roy Johnson in the first round, advancing to the quarter finals and eventually the semi-finals where he defeated Sam Gradwell and Mark Andrews respectively to advance to the finals, where he lost to Tyler Bate. Dunne then signed a contract with WWE, which allowed him to continue taking independent bookings with some restrictions. He then became a part of NXT, making his debut on 22 February 2017 in a winning effort against Mark Andrews; he then started to appear on NXT. On 4 April, Dunne, and others who participated in the tournament, appeared on "205 Live" to promote upcoming UK live shows.