Tyler Bate Tyler Bate ( March 7 , 1997 ) is a British professional wrestler , currently competing for various independent promotions in Europe and occasionally the United States . Bate was the winner of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament , and is also the inaugural and current WWE United Kingdom Champion in his first reign . Bate is one of only two wrestlers in WWE history to win a championship as a teenager , with the other being Rene Dupree . Professional wrestling career . Preston City Wrestling ( 2014 – 2015 ) . Bate debuted in Preston City Wrestling as " The Iron Master " Tyler Bate at PCW Fright Night III on October 31 , 2014 , competing unsuccessfully in a 4 way match also featuring Charlie Garrett , Rich Swann and Zack Gibson . Bate returned to PCW at Shooting Star in January 2015 , aligning himself with The Hunter Brothers and Ryan Smile . Bate and his team were then defeated by Pete Dunne , Damian Dunne , Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews . Chikara Pro ( 2015 - present ) . In early 2015 , Bate , alongside Trent Seven , debuted in American promotion Chikara as part of their tour of the United Kingdom , defeating The Hunter Brothers in a dark match on April 3 and losing to the Devastation Corporation ( Max Smashmaster and Blaster McMassive ) in another dark match on April 6 . In their final dark match on the tour , Seven and Bate teamed with Clint Margera to take on Pete Dunne , Damian Dunne and Jimmy Havoc in a losing effort . Bate teamed with Seven and Dan Moloney at that year ' s King of Trios as Team Fight Club : Pro , making it to the semi - finals before being eliminated by The Bullet Club ( AJ Styles , Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson ) . In 2016 , Seven and Bate began competing more regularly in Chikara , and on August 21 , they defeated Los Ice Creams ( Hijo Del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr . ) , N _ R _ G ( Hype Rockwell and Race Jaxon ) and The Devastation Corporation to win the Campeonatos De Parejas . Progress Wrestling ( 2016 – present ) . Bate debuted in Progress Wrestling at Chapter 28 alongside Trent Seven as Moustache Mountain in a loss to Damian and Pete Dunne . At Chapter 33 , Moustache Mountain split after Seven turned heel , attacking Bate and aligning with Pete Dunne to form British Strong Style . At Chapter 39 , Bate returned to Progress , attacking Jimmy Havoc during a 7 man elimination match for the vacant Progress Wrestling Championship , turning heel and aligning himself with Seven and Dunne . On December 16 , Seven and Dunne were stripped of the Progress Tag Team Championship after Dunne attempted to give his half of the shield to Bate . Two weeks later at Chapter 41 , Seven and Bate defeated The London Riots and The LDRS of the New School ( Zack Sabre Jr & Marty Scurll ) in a three - way tag team match to win the vacant titles . WWE ( 2016 – present ) . On December 15 , 2016 , it was revealed that Bate would be one of 16 men competing in a two night tournament to crown the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion on January 14 and 15 , 2017 . Bate defeated Tucker in the first round to advance to the quarter - finals , before defeating Jordan Devlin to advance to the semi - finals . Bate then defeated Wolfgang in the semi - finals and Pete Dunne in the final to win the tournament and become the inaugural champion . Bate was presented with the title belt by Triple H , William Regal , Finn Balor and Fit Finlay .