NXT’s Global Heritage Invitational will continue with a Group A match airing on Level Up this Friday night.
WWE has announced that Tyler Bate vs. Charlie Dempsey will take place on this week’s episode of NXT Level Up. The show airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays.
Bate and Dempsey are each competing in their second match of the round-robin tournament. Bate started off with a victory against Axiom, while Dempsey lost to Butch.
Here are the current tournament standings:
Group A —
Butch: 3 points (1 win, 1 draw, 0 losses)
Tyler Bate: 2 points (1 win, 0 draws, 0 losses)
Axiom: 1 point (0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss)
Charlie Dempsey: 0 points (0 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss)
Bate vs. Butch and Joe Coffey vs. Duke Hudson are set for next Tuesday’s NXT episode.
The winner of Group A faces the winner of Group B on the Tuesday, September 26 edition of NXT. The winner of that match then advances to challenge Noam Dar for the Heritage Cup at NXT No Mercy on Saturday, September 30.
Here’s the full lineup for this Friday’s NXT Level Up:
Global Heritage Invitational match: Tyler Bate vs. Charlie Dempsey
Dani Palmer & Tatum Paxley vs. Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson
Tyriek Igwe & Tyson Dupont vs. Bronco Nima & Lucien Price
Two matches have been added to the lineup for WWE NXT this week.
Dana Brooke vs. Lyra Valkyria has been booked for the show. Brooke is coming off a loss in tag action on August 29 when she and Kelani Jordan lost to Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice. Valkyria’s last match on WWE programming was a victory in mixed tag action with Dragon Lee over Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley on August 22.
WWE has also announced a six-man tag match for Tuesday’s show. Charlie Dempsey, Drew Gulak & Damon Kemp will team together to wrestle Brooks Jensen, Josh Briggs & Myles Borne.
Dempsey and Axiom are currently competing in NXT’s Global Heritage Invitational. They’re both in Group A of the round-robin tournament. Axiom has competed in one tournament match, going to a 12-minute time limit draw with Butch. Dempsey’s only tournament match so far was a loss to Butch.
The winner of the Global Heritage Invitational will challenge Noam Dar for the Heritage Cup at NXT No Mercy on Saturday, September 30.
Dempsey (Bailey Matthews) is the son of William Regal. Axiom formerly wrestled as A-Kid before adopting his current masked gimmick.
NXT wrestlers Ivy Nile and Trick Williams have also appeared at Reality of Wrestling shows this year.
The Next Chapter is taking place at 9300 Emmett F Lowry Expy in Texas City, Texas. It’s Reality of Wrestling’s first show at their new home venue.
NXT’s Global Heritage Invitational tournament will begin with two matches taking place this Tuesday night.
WWE has announced that Butch vs. Charlie Dempsey and Nathan Frazer vs. Joe Coffey are set for Tuesday’s episode of NXT. Butch and Dempsey are part of Group A for the Heritage Invitational, while Frazer and Coffey are in Group B.
The round-robin tournament is being held to determine who will challenge Noam Dar for the Heritage Cup at NXT No Mercy on Saturday, September 30. The groups for the tournament are listed below:
Group A —
Tyler Bate
Butch
Charlie Dempsey
Axiom
Group B —
Joe Coffey
Duke Hudson
Nathan Frazer
Akira Tozawa
All Heritage Invitational tournament matches will have a 12-minute time limit. Victories are worth two points. If a match ends in a draw, each wrestler will earn one point. The winner of Group A will face the winner of Group B in the finals on the Tuesday, September 26 edition of NXT.
Here’s everything that’s been announced for this Tuesday’s NXT:
Steel cage match: The Creed Brothers vs. The Dyad (if the Creed Brothers win, they are reinstated in NXT)
NXT Women’s Championship number one contender’s match: Blair Davenport vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez
Global Heritage Invitational match: Butch vs. Charlie Dempsey
Global Heritage Invitational match: Nathan Frazer vs. Joe Coffey
Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak
Tyler Bate vs. Dabba-Kato
Dana Brooke & Kelani Jordan vs. Elektra Lopez & Lola Vice
Last week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, before Monday’s WWE Raw. This week featured a debut and a return from two NXT stars.
Bronson Reed defeated Nathan Frazer (4:31)
This was what you would expect with Reed absolutely dominating with Frazer managing to looked good in his main roster debut.
They gave the debutante an inset promo on his way to the ring. He told us to watch carefully because blink and we’d miss it. He certainly has time on his side. At the age of 24 and having been around NXT UK and then the main NXT roster the last year, Frazer has a great deal to offer.
It was all Reed in this one. Frazer could barely get him off his feet, but he finally did, getting some shine with a cool springboard dropkick that toppled him. A sweet standing moonsault got a two count, but that was about as much as Reed could take or Frazer could muster.
In the end, Frazer missed a charge and Reed nailed him with a power bomb. Reed then came off the top rope with his splash they they are now calling the Tsunami. I’m sure at some point that’s a name they’ll have to ban.
Shelton Benjamin (w/ Cedric Alexander & MVP) defeated Charlie Dempsey (7:24)
This was Dempsey’s first match back since a mid-January Main Event when he was defeated by Dexter Lumis.
Benjamin and Dempsey gelled well here and put together a really good match with some really creative spots.
This won’t be for everyone’s taste since it involved a lot of intricate mat work, but, for me, it was far more interesting than what we usually get on Main Event. Dempsey is a little bit special and certainly offers something different than most of the guys on the main roster do.
After Dempsey got the better of Benjamin in the first half, they came back from commercial with Dempsey clamping in a hammerlock on the mat. Benjamin kept rolling through trying to break it, but Dempsey kept changing the torque and reapplying pressure.
When Benjamin tried to power out of the submission hold with a gut-wrench powerbomb, Dempsey just hammered away, clubbing Benjamin’s left shoulder so he had to drop him.
Dempsey went for a very cool looking bridging pin, where even the ref sold how unusual it looked, taking a moment to realize it was a cover before he counted the two.
After Dempsey landed some European uppercuts, both men looked out on their feet. The veteran blocked another strike and hit Dempsey with a high knee before nailing him with Paydirt for the win.
Final Thoughts:
It was good to see a fresh face this week and even better to see Dempsey back in action on Main Event. They could do both of these matches again next week and I would be more than happy. Dempsey needs some careful handling as with the wrong person in gorilla, he could easily get buried.
Dempsey, the son of William Regal, debuted on Tuesday’s NXT episode in a vignette with the Andre Chase University group.
In the comedy segment, Dempsey was introduced as someone that Chase had been impressed with on Chase U’s recent excursion to the United Kingdom who was brought in to teach Chase U’s students.
Dempsey proceeded to take the students apart with wrestling holds, as Chase admonished him that the drills were just practice and an exhibition, not designed to hurt the students.
Dempsey went on to say that if Chase U’s students wanted a homework assignment, that they should look up Billy Robinson.
Real name Bailey Matthews, Dempsey debuted in WWE as an enhancement talent on NXT UK in February 2021 after signing with the promotion earlier in the year. He was reintroduced as a talent with vignettes in September 2021 and went on an eight-match winning streak as part of Die Familie.
NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament first-round match: Oliver Carter defeated Charlie Dempsey (w/ Die Familie) (9:10)
Both men cut in-set promos on their way to the ring. Carter vowed that, despite not being 100 percent, he would win. Dempsey said he’d beat Carter because of Carter’s disrespect for Die Familie.
Carter attacked every member of Die Familie right away and focused on Dempsey. The referee quickly rang the bell and the match was on. Carter was in control and clotheslined Dempsey to the outside, then followed with a plancha.
Dempsey came back and launched Carter into the corner knee-first, then extensively worked over Carter’s previously injured knee. Carter briefly fought back, but Dempsey was relentless.
Dempsey hit a picture-perfect dragon suplex, but Carter got his second wind and staged a comeback. Carter escaped a painful half-crab and turned it into a roll-up for the pinfall victory.
Die Familie hit the ring, but Carter wisely fled up the entranceway and celebrated his win.
– Blair Davenport, Eliza Alexander, Amale, and Isla Dawn all came backstage screaming after last week’s main event. Referees separated them and Sid Scala screamed that neither of them would get a title shot.
– Scala asked Tyler Bate not to interfere in Trent Seven’s match tonight. Bate said he’d never do something like that, but he will get under Seven’s skin by becoming the new NXT UK Champion.
Eliza Alexander defeated Thea Hail (w/ Chase U) (4:11)
Alexander attacked but Hail immediately took over with some clumsy looking lucha offense. Alexander stopped her with a clothesline. Alexander worked Hail over while Hail showed some glimpses of hope in between.
Hail powered out of a Camel Clutch and went for a standing moonsault, but Alexander got her feet up. Alexander then hit a running knee and scored the win via pinfall.
– Nina Samuels crashed an interview segment with Amale. Amale said she would beat whoever it took to get an NXT UK Women’s Championship shot, whether it was Davenport, Dawn, Alexander, or Nina Samuels.
– Andre Chase gave a lecture backstage. Eddie Dennis interrupted and ridiculed him. Chase snapped and swore at him. Dennis mocked Bodhi Hayward, saying that Chase got some neanderthal and taught him to comb his hair. Chase said if Dennis thought it was easy having a protege, he should get one and pointed out Saxon Huxley, who sat in the back of the room eating roasted chicken.
Sam Gradwell defeated Teoman (5:41)
Gradwell beat Teoman up early and threw him to ringside. Rohan Raja got in Gradwell’s way when he went for a kick, allowing Teoman to pull Gradwell between the ring and apron and take over.
Gradwell still held his own and thwarted some nefarious tactics by Teoman and Raja. A little later, Raja pulled Gradwell from the top. The referee saw Raja and expelled him. Teoman argued with the ref, then grabbed Gradwell. Gradwell hit Teoman in the head with his knee brace, then hit his finish for the win.
– Scala congratulated Mark Coffey on winning the Heritage Cup. Noam Dar entered the office and demanded a rematch. Scala said he would try and make it happen.
NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament first-round match: Trent Seven defeated Wolfgang (8:56)
Wolfgang started with a hip toss and an arm drag, then worked over Seven’s arm. Wolfgang hit a dropkick, but Seven threw him out of the ring. Wolfgang quickly took back over and threw Seven into the barricade. Wolfgang climbed the barricade, but Seven threw him down.
Back in the ring, Seven hit a DDT but Wolfgang countered an attempt at the Seven Star Lariat into a German suplex. Wolfgang hit another suplex for a near fall, then followed with an elevated gutbuster for another two count.
They battled on the top rope until Wolfgang threw Seven down and went for a Swanton Bomb, only for Seven to get his knees up. Seven then hit the Birminghammer for the win.
Final Thoughts —
A fun show. Oliver Carter vs. Charlie Dempsey was the best match on the episode, while Trent Seven vs. Wolfgang was a nice brawl between two powerhouses.
Teoman somehow has descended into the midcard. They told a nice story here, but he should not lose to people on the 50-50 level like Sam Gradwell.
Eliza Alexander vs. Thea Hail was another showcase of just how green the NXT 2.0 talent is, but I guess they need all the matches they can get.
Next Week —
NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament first-round match: Tyler Bate vs. Kenny Williams
NXT United Kingdom Championship tournament first-round match: Joe Coffey vs. Mark Andrews
Dempsey is the son of William Regal. It was announced in January 2021 that Dempsey had signed with WWE and joined NXT UK.
In NXT UK, Dempsey is a member of the faction Die Familie alongside Teoman and Rohan Raja. Dempsey defeated A-Kid in a Heritage Cup rules match in the main event of this week’s NXT UK episode.
AEW’s Swerve Strickland was originally set to be an entrant in Super Strong Style 16, but PROGRESS announced today that he’s unable to appear at the shows. Former WWE star John Morrison, who is going by the name Johnny PROGRESS, is replacing Strickland in the tournament.
Strickland will return to PROGRESS at a show on Sunday, July 24.
Here’s the full list of participants for Super Strong Style 16:
They went back and forth early until Huxley hit a Thesz Press and rammed Coffey’s head into the mat a few times. Coffey came back with strikes and got a near fall off a suplex.
Huxley scored a near fall of his own with a sit-down slam, but Coffey hit a back drop driver, followed by a sliding forearm for the win.
– Ivy Nile cut a promo on Meiko Satomura, who she will face in two weeks. Nile vowed to take the NXT UK Women’s Championship home to the Diamond Mine.
– Von Wagner and Sam Gradwell watched each other’s highlights and talked about their match next week.
Lash Legend defeated Emilia McKenzie (6:07)
Legend evaded and blocked McKenzie’s offense early. She ragdolled McKenzie around and hit an elbow drop. Legend caught McKenzie when she came off the turnbuckles with a crossbody and threw her around some more.
McKenzie finally came back and hit a spinning neckbreaker that sent Legend to the outside, where she got wiped out with a dive. McKenzie hit the crossbody this time for a near fall, then followed up with a spear seconds later for another two count.
McKenzie went for her flipping spear off the turnbuckles, but Legend hit her with a big boot for the pinfall victory.
– Kenny Williams was looking for the “masked bozo” who was “stalking” him. Williams talked to a few guys backstage, urging them to let him know if they saw the masked man. Mark Andrews entered the room and told Williams to worry more about him. They will meet in two weeks.
Sha Samuels defeated Damon Kemp (5:43)
Kemp dominated Samuels using his amateur wrestling prowess. Samuels eventually hit an elbow to the face and a lariat for a near fall. Samuels kept pressure on the rookie for a few more minutes until he missed an elbow off the turnbuckle and got suplexed around a few times.
Kemp was in control until Noam Dar wrapped his scarf around Kemp’s leg, which distracted the big man. This allowed Samuels to hit a spinebuster and pick up the victory by pinfall.
– A great video segment looked at next week’s triple threat match for the NXT UK Tag Team titles. Moustache Mountain, Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith, and Die Familie all talked about how they would win next week’s match. Teoman said Trent Seven was a desperate man and would make mistakes.
– Wolfgang gave Damon Kemp a pep talk and told him that if he wanted to beat Sha Samuels and Noam Dar, he had to learn to do things “the Glasgow way.”
Heritage Cup rules match: Charlie Dempsey defeated A-Kid in round six (18:10)
Round One —
They went back and forth with some great mat work and submission attempts for the first few minutes. A-Kid eventually hit a running dropkick for a two count late in the round before they went for more submissions. A-Kid got a bridging pin just as the round was ending and Dempsey kicked out right at the bell.
Round Two —
There were more submission attempts by both men as they used some unique offense and beautiful transitions. Dempsey hit a unique backbreaker just as the round ended.
Round Three —
Both men had locked in kneebars and leglocks at the same time, then both made the ropes. Dempsey was bleeding from the nose by this time.
Dempsey hit a running European uppercut for a two count. After some back and forth, Dempsey hit a wheelbarrow German suplex for two. Dempsey locked in a bow-and-arrow submission on the mat and A-Kid quickly tapped out to prevent further damage. Dempsey 1-0
Round Four —
A-Kid went to strike but Dempsey hit a dragon screw. They traded strikes until A-Kid hit a German suplex, followed by a Northern Lights suplex. A-Kid caught Dempsey with a sleeper in mid-air and then went for a guillotine, which Dempsey turned into a suplex. A-Kid hit a half-and-half suplex, followed by a flying superkick for the pin. A-Kid 1-1
Round Five —
A-Kid hit a crossbody off the top early, then hit a fisherman’s suplex for a two count. A-Kid hit a hard knee and a kick for another near fall. A-Kid went for an armbar, but Dempsey Gotch-lifted him and hit a powerbomb for a two-count of his own.
A-Kid connected with a few punishing kicks. With just seconds left in the round, A-Kid hit the moonsault DDT off the top rope. He would have scored the pin, but time ran out before the referee could count to three.
Round Six —
A-Kid started with a running dropkick into the corner, then hit a suplex that dropped Dempsey on his head and neck. A-Kid followed with a German suplex.
Dempsey reached for his towel but got German suplexed before he could unwrap it. As the referee took the towel away, Dempsey had pulled brass knuckles from the towel, threw them to A-Kid, and flinched in hopes of the referee disqualifying A-Kid. A-Kid threw the brass knucks to the ref but ate a hard right cross from Dempsey in the process. Dempsey hit a bridging suplex for the deciding pinfall. Dempsey wins 2-1
Final Thoughts —
This was mostly a one-match show, but what a match it was! A-Kid vs. Dempsey was just plain fantastic and spectacular. If you like the British style or just plain submission/shoot-style wrestling like the old UWFI, AMBITION, or Bloodsport, go out of your way to check this match out. It was unreal and you basically only see these kind of matches within the WWE umbrella on NXT UK. Both men absolutely have the talent to headline PPVs on the main roster right now.
Coffey vs. Huxley was okay. Legend vs. McKenzie was basically a Lash Legend showcase and totally devalued McKenzie as a serious contender for the future. Kemp looked good against Samuels, and this sets up a tag match with Kemp & Wolfgang vs. Samuels & Dar.
Next Week —
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Moustache Mountain defend against Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith and Die Familie in a triple threat match
Sam Gradwell vs. Von Wagner
In Two Weeks —
NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura defends against Ivy Nile
Bailey Matthews, the son of William Regal, has gotten his new WWE in-ring name.
Matthews is now going by the name “Charlie Dempsey” in NXT UK. The announcement was made via a video that aired on today’s NXT UK episode. The video ended with the announcement that Charlie Dempsey is coming soon.
Matthews said in the video:
An inspiration of mine used to say, ‘The body is just like a ladder, having to move up and down it with every move you do.’ Hearing that, something clicked in my head. I’ve actually gone out of my way to seek out the British competitors of the past and train with them, to learn this style that I’ve come to adopt. I’m not going to do any flips out of the ring, treat this like an acrobat contest. I’m going to take my opponent down and grind them down to a paste. And I’m going to show you something that you’ve never seen before.
It was announced this January that Matthews had signed with WWE and joined NXT UK. He’s had one match for NXT UK, making his debut in a loss to Tyler Bate in February.
WWE hasn’t acknowledged Matthews’ relation to Regal.
The video announcing Matthews’ name change is available to watch below:
