Banks first worked for the WWE on 1 April 2017, participating in a match at WWE Wrestlemania Axxess where he teamed with TK Cooper in a losing effort to Mustafa Ali and Rich Swann. On 18 May 2018, it was announced that Banks would be taking part in the second ever WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Banks beat El Ligero in the first round at NXT Download on 8 June. On 18 June, the first night of the two-night tournament event at the Royal Albert Hall, Banks beat Ashton Smith in the quarter finals and Joe Coffey in the semi finals before ultimately losing to Zack Gibson in the final. On the second night, he lost a match to decide the number one contender for the WWE United Kingdom Championship to Noam Dar in a bout that also featured Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. On the day of NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool, Banks was supposed to face Jordan Devlin but Devlin attacked a few hours before their match. On the January 23 episode of NXT UK, Banks faced Devlin but it ended in a double count-out. After months of feuding, Banks lost to Devlin in a falls count anywhere match on the March 6 episode of NXT UK ending their feud. On the June 5 episode of NXT UK, Banks defeated Devlin, Dave Mastiff, and Joe Coffey to be the #1 contender to face the NXT UK Champion Walter. On the June 26 episode of NXT UK, Banks was defeated by Walter.