Watchers of WWE Network’s NXT are familiar with Danny Burch. He’s been an on-again, off-again presence on the brand since its outset. In 2017, he was pretty prominent - featuring on the United Kingdom Championship Tournament shows, then a follow-up match against UK Champ Pete Dunne, and a series with Oney Lorcan which led to their forming a tag team which competed in the recent Dusty Rhodes Classic.
Considering all that - and his approximately three year run in Developmental before his 2014 release - it’s understandable a lot of fans probably didn’t know Burch wasn’t under contract to WWE. Sure, he works indies in Great Britain, Europe and the United States, but so do people like Dunne and Kassius Ohno, and Triple H has them locked up.
But, no. The 36 year old from Leeds was a free agent working date-by-date for NXT... until last month (according to PWInsider). Burch (aka Martin Stone) confirmed as much after his match at Beyond Wrestling’s show in Worcester, Massachusetts on Sunday (April 29):
Thank you @strongstylebrit! pic.twitter.com/7eRixQS4lK
— corey poitras (@coreyjp) April 29, 2018
Thank you @strongstylebrit. ✌️
— Beyond Wrestling (@beyondwrestling) April 29, 2018
Burch and Lorcan seemed to set-up at least a short-term feud with Undisputed ERA on the latest episode of NXT. Both men are listed at approximately 190 pounds, meaning they could work as singles or a tag team in the Cruiserweight division. And there are UK Championship Tournament shows coming up in June, with signs a more consistent live and/or television presence for that brand is finally coming soon.
In short, there are lots of ways for Triple H to use a guy like Burch. So he put a ring on it.
Like the move? Where do you hope to see The British Brawler used in his second full-time run with WWE?