Tag: dave mastiff

NXT UK results: Heritage Cup contender tournament continues

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Report —

Blair Davenport vs. Nina Samuels never officially started

Davenport attacked Samuels as she was on the turnbuckles during her entrance and Samuels tumbled to ringside. Davenport followed, rammed her into the apron and the barricades, then hit the Falcon Arrow on her. She set up for her V-Trigger but the referee stopped her and another referee and Sid Scala ran in to check on Samuels. Scala screamed at her to go backstage.

Davenport then hit the V-Trigger on Scala and planted him with the Falcon Arrow. She left as Scala writhed on the mat in pain.

**********

Highlights aired from last week’s match between Aoife Valkyrie and Jinny. It was announced that Valkyrie had suffered an knee injury during the match and would be out for an indefinite amount of time. Jinny then cut a promo on her, saying she may have won the match, but Jinny was the woman still standing.

**********

Symbiosis were in a video where they talked about how next week, there would be a six-men tag team match between the three of them and Saxon Huxley and two partners of his choosing. Eddie Dennis said Symbiosis was greater than the sum of its parts and how Huxley may have beaten him, but even a broken clock was right twice a day. He sarcastically told Huxley “better luck next time.”

**********

“Bomber” Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz  defeated Andy Wild & Dan Moloney (05:48)

Mastiff and Wild started out, with Mastiff hitting a Northen Lights suplex on Wild for a near-fall. Starz and Mastiff quickly tagged in and out and had their opponents under control, until Moloney got a backslide against Starz and worked over his arm. Starz then made his own comeback and tagged Mastiff, who hit a senton on Moloney.

Starz was back in and got distracted by Wild, allowing Moloney to take back over. Starz eventually got the hot tag and Mastiff ran wild on both opponents. Starz then hit a diving headbutt onto Moloney who hung in the turnbuckles, followed by somersault senton into the corner by Mastiff for the pin and the win.

**********

Pretty Deadly were posing and dancing in a fountain for WWE’s TikTok account when Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey) walked up. They said the tag team titles would look better on them and Mark pushed Howley over, sending him splashing into the water, which he sold great. Gallus laughed as they left while the champs were pouting.

**********

Emilia McKenzie defeated Amale (06:44)

Amale backed McKenzie into the corner, but she came back with a takedown and started working over Amale’s legs. Amale briefly came back, but McKenzie hit a few suplexes before getting overwhelmed. McKenzie was on the apron and Amale hit a running knee to send her to ringside. Amale kept beating McKenzie down, until she came back with a belly-to-back suplex.

They went back and forth and Amale locked in a cobra clutch. Emilia then caught her with a small package for near-fall, but Amale went back to the cobra clutch. McKenzie came back with a backslide and a La Magistral cradle for more near falls. Amale hit a running kick in the corner, then set up for her finishing maneuver, but McKenzie rolled her up for the win.

**********

A clip recapped Blair Davenport’s attack on Nina Samuels and Sid Scala earlier tonight. Scala, wearing a neck brace, was being checked out in the trainer’s room backstage.

**********

Earlier in the week, Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith came to the arena and Carter told Smith he had a surprise for him. They opened a door and Saxon Huxley was doing Saxon Huxley things. Smith was shocked, but Carter was elated and told Saxon they’d back him up against Symbiosis.

**********

Sam Gradwell and Wolfgang talked about their Heritage Cup tournament match next week. Last time they clashed, Gradwell busted open Wolfgang hardway, while Wolfgang cracked one of Gradwell’s ribs. They both were good here.

**********

NXT UK Heritage Cup number one contender tournament first round: Teoman (w/ Rohan Raja) defeated Nathan Frazer (14:08)

Round 1 —

They battled in a along lock-up spot early and Teoman worked over Frazer’s arm. Frazer came back at the end of the round and hit a dropkick right at the bell.

Round 2 —

Frazer hit a flying forearm that sent Teoman to the outside, then followed with a dive that only wiped Raja out. This allowed Teoman to throw Frazer into the steps and pin him back in the ring at 1:04 of the round. Teoman 1-0

Round 3 —

Teoman attacked Frazer right away, then beat him down. Frazer came back with some head scissors that sent Teoman to ringside, but he trapped Frazer under the ring skirts and beat him down some more. Frazer came back with a springboard dropkick as Teoman was on the top turnbuckle, then hit a springboard hurricanrana, but the time in the round ran out just as he made the cover.

Round 4 —

They traded blows as the round started, until Teoman went for the crossface but couldn’t get Frazer down. Teoman hit a missile dropkick to the back of Frazer’s head for a very close near-fall. Frazer then it a sort of snap/power small package for a quick pin at 1:49 of the round. Frazer 1-1

Round 5 —

Frazer started with a sling blade and a swinging neck breaker for another near-fall. They did an impressive spot where Frazer evaded a back handspring elbow by Teoman, went for a quebrada, bu got countered into a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. Teoman fell to ringside and Frazer hit a dive on him, as Raja was on the other side of the ring. Teoman narrowly kicked out of a springboard flying elbow. Frazer then missed a phoenix splash as Raja briefly distracted him, allowing Teoman to hit an inverted headlock driver for the deciding pinfall at 2:47 of the round. Teoman wins 2-1

**********

Final Thoughts —

  • The Blair Davenport beatdown of Samuels and Scala came as a surprise and will undoubtedly have some repercussions for her down the line. It established her as a monster though.
  • The tag match was fine and McKenzie vs. Amale was a nice match that further established McKenzie as the underdog babyface.
  • The Teoman vs. Frazer Heritage Cup match was fantastic as both men continue to shine. I can see Teoman having great matches with both Tyler Bate and Ilja Dragunov down the line.

Next week —

  • a special replay of the NXT UK championship match of WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov from NXT TakeOver 36
  • Symbiosis (Eddie Dennis, T-Bone & Primate) vs. Saxon Huxley, Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith
  • Heritage Cup number one contender tournament: Wolfgang vs. Sam Gradwell

NXT UK results: Jordan Devlin vs. A-Kid Iron Man match

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Report —

Taped at BT Sports Studios in London, England

The show opened with a great video narrated by Triple H and Shawn Michaels talking about the challenges of an Iron Man match. They had clips from all the great Iron Man matches in WWE history, along with voiceovers by A-Kid and Jordan Devlin, with clips of their previous match.

**********

Blair Davenport defeated Xia Brookside (4:21)

Brookside aggressively worked over Davenport’s arm early. She followed with a hurricanrana and a rollup for a two-count.

Davenport then countered a monkey flip attempt, lifted Xia over the top and sent her to ringside with a dropkick.

They went back and forth a bit, before Davenport hit a head kick, missile dropkick off the top and a V-Trigger for the win.

After the match, Davenport hit a falcon arrow on Brookside and posed over her.

**********

Scenes from after the tag team main event last week aired. Moustache Mountain had beaten Symbiosis when Pretty Deadly came out and applauded them. Moustache Mountain were elated about their win backstage and were confronted once more by the tag team champions, who said they wanted to embarrass the fans’ favorite tag teams. Bate was reluctant, since he is the Heritage Cup champion, but Seven asked him to give it a go and he agreed. He also called Pretty Deadly the Godwinns 2K21, because they wore overalls.

Sid Scala then announced while the match will take place, Bate is also the Heritage Cup champion and as he is a fighting champion, an eight-man tournament will take place to determine the number one contender. The first round matches are:

  • Mark Andrews vs. Noam Dar 
  • Kenny Williams vs. Oliver Carter 
  • Nathan Frazer vs. Teoman
  • Sam Gradwell vs. Wolfgang 

**********

Video aired of Isla Dawn in the ruins of some castle or building in the woods. She uncovered a wooden box with some witch markings, put a watch into it and left it there. While this was going on, images of Emilia McKenzie flashed on the screen. All creepier than Alexa Bliss and her doll.

**********

Subculture were asked what was next for them as they encountered Wolfgang backstage. Webster told him he was a genius for getting a match with Tyler Bate by slapping him. Wolfgang said that’s all you had to do, when Webster slapped him and ran away. Wolfgang smiled, then went after them.

**********

Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz defeated Josh Morrell & Danny Jones (5:27)

Starz and Jones started out and Starz showed off his great fundamentals. Morrell and Mastiff were in next and Mastiff quickly pounced him to ringside. Starz briefly was in trouble after an enzuigiri by Jones and got worked over by both opponents. Morrell missed a flashy split-legged corkscrew senton, allowing Starz to make the hot tag.

Mastiff hit a rolling German, Starz added running, diving headbutt in the corner and Mastiff pinned Morrell after hitting Into the Void.

**********

Amale was in a chair getting makeup done. Nina Samuels stormed in and screamed at her for hogging the camera crew. They got into it, got separated and I guess we will get a heel vs. heel women’s match soon.

**********

Aoife Valkyrie talked about her match with Jinny last week, which she lost because of Joseph Conners. She had a big cage with her and said Conners would not be able to help her next time and that at some point, everyone feeds the birds. Looks like they will have a rematch with Conners suspended in a cage above the ring.

**********

Stevie Turner interrupted Meiko Satomura training at the UK Performance Center. She said she was wired differently. Meiko was not impressed and caught her arm, then threatened going after her.

**********

30-minute Iron Man match: A-Kid defeated Jordan Devlin two falls to one (30:00)

They traded holds and counters early on. A-Kid went for a crossface but Devlin quickly got to the ropes. Devlin got on a Stretch Plum, then transitioned it into a backslide. A-Kid impressively escaped, then got on an armbar but Devlin made the ropes once more. They traded more submission attempts with A-Kid locking in a neck crank. Devlin backed him into the ropes and slapped him, but A-Kid stayed calm.

Devlin trapped A-Kid’s legs in the ropes, then aggressively attacked A-Kid’s previously injured knee and locked in a Boston Crab, forcing A-Kid to tap close to the 10 minute mark. Devlin 1-0

Devlin further targeted A-Kid’s knee, A-Kid locked in a rear-naked choke but Devlin got to the ropes. He rolled to ringside and slammed A-Kid’s knee into the apron and the post, then locked in the Figure Four around the post. Devlin locked in another Boston Crab but A-Kid reached the ropes this time. They traded German suplexes, then Devlin suplexed A-Kid over the top and both men tumbled to the floor at the 15-minute mark. Devlin narrowly made it back into the ring at 9 as A-Kid immediately locked in a omoplata, but once more, Devlin made the ropes.

Devlin vaulted into the ring over the top but A-Kid caught him in a rear-naked choke but released the hold to hit a running soccer kick but Devlin kicked out at 2.9. Devlin hit some strikes but A-Kid countered, then locked in the armbar and Devlin quickly tapped at around 18 minutes. A-Kid 1-1

Devlin got some rest at ringside, but A-Kid quickly sent him to the outside again, then hit a running enzuigiri as Devlin was on the apron. A-Kid sent him to the outside once more and Devlin grabbed a chair. A-Kid kicked the chair into his face. Back in the ring, A-Kid hit a cross body off the top for another near-fall. Devlin recovered and went for the Clover Leaf, then went for a power bomb but A-Kid hit a hurricanrana, then scored a number of near-falls.

They traded strikes, including Devlin hitting a falling headbutt after bouncing off the ropes from a superman bunch by A-Kid. They fought on the apron and Devlin wet for Devlin Inside, but got dropkicked. He then hit the move on the outside after which both men were down. A-Kid made it back at 9.99, probably the closest I ever saw anyone make it in this spot.

A-Kid countered Devlin Inside into a Destroyer, then hit a running dropkick for a very close near-fall. A-Kid got the arm bar of the kickout, then ground and fought his way into an omoplata. Devlin eventually submitted with only about 90 seconds left. A-Kid 2-1

Devlin fought like crazy during the final minute. Devlin hit A-Kid square in the jaw with three seconds left but the time ran out at the two count, without A-Kid kicking out. So A-Kid won but the story was that Devlin would have take the match to overtime if he had been one second quicker.

**********

Devin glared at A-Kid as he celebrated and the show went off the air.

**********

Final Thoughts:

The main event was a fantastic match with a lot of drama and both men looked really good.

Blair Davenport continues to win, probably leading to a match with Meiko Satomura down the line.

Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff was an okay tag match and it will be interesting where they will go with them.

The rest was mostly evolving angles and storylines for the coming weeks.

Next week:

  • Heritage Cup number one contender’s tournament first-round match: Mark Andrews vs. Noam Dar
  • Flash Morgan Webster vs. Wolfgang
  • Amale vs. Nina Samuels

NXT UK results: Jordan Devlin vs. Dave Mastiff

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Image: WWE

Taped at BT Sport Studios in London, England

Big Takeaways —

Jordan Devlin defeated 322-pound Dave Mastiff in an “open challenge,” as seemingly nobody under 205 pounds wants to face Devlin and/or Sid Scala is totally inept at his job. The rest of the matches were used to either shine a spotlight on talent (Jinny & Joseph Conners), build up future matches (Ilja Dragunov vs. Sam Gradwell and Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown), or enhance existing feuds (Xia Brookside vs. Nina Samuels).

Full Rundown —

Nina Samuels pinned Xia Brookside after a shot with her purse (4:54)

Samuels came out with a crew member who carried her bags again. That same thing distracted Brookside a few weeks ago and Samuels told her that Brooksides were only good enough to carry her bags.

Brookside was in control early until Samuels managed to lock in a number of subsequent submission attempts. Brookside came back with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and double knees to the back in the corner. They brawled on the outside, with Samuels grabbing one of her suitcases and throwing it into the ring. As the referee got the item out of the ring, Samuels hit Brookside with a (presumably loaded) purse and folded her up for the pin.

– As Sid Scala was being interviewed about when we might see Gallus defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles against Pretty Deadly, Jordan Devlin walked in. Devlin asked Scala who he would be facing tonight and Scala didn’t have an answer yet. Devlin ridiculed Scala and told him to find somebody.

– Jack Starz was being interviewed when Scala came into the room and asked to speak with him. They were shown talking through a door, but it wasn’t clear what the conversation was about. Scala looked concerned in the end.

Joseph Conners (w/ Jinny) pinned Josh Morrell after hitting a neckbreaker (5:40)

Conners had new, straight hair and a nice new outfit, so the story here was that Jinny was a big influence on him now.

Conners dominated early until Morrell threw him out of the ring. Jinny told Conners at ringside that he “was worthy and that little boy is nothing.” Back in the ring, Conners violently smashed Morrell’s head into the turnbuckles, then viciously beat him down.

Morrell came back and showed off his athletic prowess, including a number of aerial maneuvers. Conners eventually stopped him with a snap DDT and hit a Rude-Awakening-style neckbreaker for the pinfall victory.

– A video on Sha Samuels aired where he talked about being a legitimate butcher from the East End, like his father and grandfather before him. Samuels was shown wrestling in PROGRESS, wXw, and ICW and talked about being in the business for 19 years. Samuels discussed his NXT UK debut match against Joe Coffey. He said he didn’t want things to be easy.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Tyson T-Bone by referee stoppage (6:46)

T-Bone cut a promo on a split screen as he walked to the ring like this was WWF Superstars in 1991. He said he was not afraid of Dragunov.

T-Bone started out strong, beating down Dragunov with kicks and punches until Dragunov managed to block his offense and grind him down. As he had T-Bone in a submission, Sam Gradwell walked out and started talking trash to Dragunov.

T-Bone staged a comeback as Gradwell continued to provide running commentary on the outside and brought up Dragunov’s match against Jack Starz, where the Russian briefly snapped. Gradwell kept distracting Dragunov and told him to keep his composure. Dragunov finally came back with a flying head kick, but T-Bone hit a half-and-half suplex and sent him to the outside. Gradwell walked up to Dragunov and kept trash-talking him as T-Bone attacked.

Dragunov finally snapped and attacked T-Bone, then locked him up on the ground and rained down elbows to the head until the referee stopped the match, just as he had done to Starz.

Gradwell was all giddy but then berated Dragunov, telling him that he threw a tantrum like a three year old. Gradwell told Dragunov he was letting his family and his son down and that he needed to be in control of his emotions. Dragunov finally kicked Gradwell in the head through the ropes and went after Gradwell but couldn’t get to him. The announcers questioned Dragunov’s issues.

– Joe Coffey was shown backstage walking to the ring.

– Scala spoke to Amir Jordan backstage, seemingly still looking for an opponent for Devlin.

– A highlight video of Meiko Satomura aired, with Gallus, Dave Mastiff, Ashton Smith, and Jinny talking about her accolades. Satomura arrives in NXT UK next week.

– Brookside was livid and demanded that Scala give her a rematch against Samuels.

Joe Coffey pinned Danny Jones after hitting All the Best for the Bells (2:51)

Coffey dominated early with strikes, but Jones hit a flurry of offense and even locked in a sleeper hold that had Coffey struggling to escape. Coffey eventually managed to shake the taller man off and hit the Glasgow Sendoff, followed by All the Best for the Bells for the quick victory.

After the match, Coffey talked about crossing paths with Rampage Brown last week and how it got his wheels turning. Coffey said that on this brand, you need to knock someone down so hard that they don’t want to get up again. Coffey called himself the last man standing in NXT UK. Brown then came out and told Coffey he just needed to ask and he’d face him at any time, anywhere.

– A video aired highlighting Gallus and Pretty Deadly, who are the number one contenders to Gallus’ NXT UK Tag Team titles. Gallus said that they have been on top a long time and that will not change any time soon. Pretty Deadly promised it would be PDOT — Pretty Deadly On Top.

– A video highlighted the rivalry between The Hunt and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster. Their feud will culminate in a street fight next week.

– Also, Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions talk show will return with special guest Sha Samuels next week.

Non-title match: NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin defeated Dave Mastiff after hitting a 450 splash (12:07)

Devlin talked about how “Skid Sala” was looking for a contender but couldn’t find anyone. Devlin said if you want to have something done right, you have to do it yourself. He called out anybody under 205 pounds to face him.

Out came Dave Mastiff, much to Devlin’s disbelief. Devlin told Mastiff he wouldn’t even be allowed on 305 Live. Mastiff called him Captain Obvious and was glad Devlin was still sharp. Mastiff said Devlin is just keeping the NXT Cruiserweight Championship warm for Trent Seven. Mastiff said the only thing he was here for was to kick Devlin’s ass. Mastiff shoved Devlin to the mat, a referee entered, and the match was on.

Devlin managed to keep Mastiff at bay until Mastiff used a cartwheel to avoid Devlin and flattened him with a senton. Mastiff hit a German suplex for a near fall. Devlin flipped out of another attempt and went for the uranage, but he couldn’t get Mastiff up. He instead took out Mastiff’s knee and continued working over the much larger man’s leg. Devlin got Mastiff up on the turnbuckles and looked to go for Devlin Side (he defeated Mastiff this way in the past), but Mastiff blocked and hit a shoulder block instead.

Mastiff attacked Devlin in the corner, then violently whipped him to the outside over the turnbuckle. Mastiff stalked Devlin and followed him back into the ring, but Devlin managed to get on Mastiff’s shoulders and hit a victory roll over the top. Mastiff caught Devlin off a dive and slammed him to the mats. Mastiff made it back into the ring by eight but then broke the count and looked to hit the cannonball senton, but Devlin moved and Mastiff crashed through the barricades.

Mastiff made it back into the ring by nine and headbutted Devlin on the way. Mastiff went to the top and actually hit a diving headbutt for a two count. Devlin escaped a Finlay Roll attempt, then hit a dropkick to the knee, a rolling slingshot cutter, and a 450 splash off the top rope for the win.

Final Thoughts —

This was a fun show with a rare five-match card. The main event was good but somewhat illogical. Devlin is supposed to be the heel but wants to be a deserving champion taking on all comers and even said that Sid Scala could choose anybody he wanted. Scala then was bad at his job and allowed Dave Mastiff, who outweighs Devlin by more than 100 pounds, to take the match. Also, Trent Seven attacked Devlin last week for merely pointing out that he is above the weight limit as well (and patted his belly — but more in a friendly way). So I hope Devlin comes out a big babyface in the end.

The Ilja Dragunov storyline where he snaps is kind of intriguing and Sam Gradwell is great as the loudmouth bully. It will be interesting if the Dragunov story leads to him getting another NXT UK Championship shot down the line.

Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown should be a slobberknocker down the line, even though it will probably not be a technical masterpiece.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Meiko Satomura on the show and hope she will be able to bring out the best in all the women she works with.

Also, I greatly enjoy how everything in NXT UK makes sense and matches mostly have a reason for happening (even if it’s just some 30-second backstage segment setting them up). The booking is both linear and logical, something dearly missing from the other WWE brands.

Next Week —

Meiko Satomura debuts, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster face The Hunt in a street fight,and Noam Dar interviews Sha Samuels on Supernova Sessions.

NXT UK results: Seven vs. Mastiff, Rampage Brown debuts

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Quick Results —

  • The Hunt, joined by Eddie Dennis, defeated Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan.
  • Rampage Brown made his debut by destroying Jack Starz.
  • Xia Brookside defeated Nina Samuels. Samuels feigned a knee injury in the match, which backfired as Brookside rolled her up. Samuels then attacked Brookside after the match.
  • Trent Seven defeated Dave Mastiff 2-1 to advance to the finals of the Heritage Cup tournament. Seven will face A-Kid in the finals.

Full Rundown —

The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) w/ Eddie Dennis defeated Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan after Primate pinned Jordan following top rope double headbutts (8:45)

This was The Hunt’s first match since aligning with Eddie Dennis. Dennis came out with them for this match. Wild Boar and Primate started out aggressively, but the smaller babyfaces used their speed and teamwork to gain the upper hand early in the match.

The turning point came when Boar catapulted Williams over the top rope, where he seemingly hurt his knee. They worked over Williams for a while until he finally got the hot tag. Jordan ran wild for a bit, but he eventually fell prey to The Hunt’s double headbutts off the top.

– A very good video aired on the upcoming Trent Seven vs. Dave Mastiff Heritage Cup semifinal match. Seven talked about how he contacted Mastiff years ago to help him become a better wrestler. WWE aired clips of the two of them having matches in PROGRESS. Mastiff said he’ll knock Seven out. Seven said he needed to win this match and called it the most important match of his career.

Rampage Brown pinned Jack Starz after a Doctor Bomb (2:22)

Brown is a veteran of the British scene and has been wrestling for over 15 years. He briefly was signed to WWE in the FCW days in 2011 and also appeared during a UK taping of an ECW on Syfy match back in 2008. He started out in All Star Wrestling and has wrestled for PROGRESS, RevPro, Preston City Wrestling, Defiant, World of Sport, and a ton of other promotions. In a fun trivia fact, he technically still holds the RevPro Tag Team titles with The Great O-Khan (which they last defended in mid-February), meaning that a WWE signed wrestler co-holds a title with an NJPW signed wrestler.

Brown looked like a monster here and manhandled Starz, who continued his role of putting over the debuting monster — Starz also was on the losing end of WALTER and Ilja Dragunov’s first NXT UK matches. Brown hit a Rick Steiner-like powerslam where he caught Starz in mid-air. He pinned Starz with a Doctor Bomb in just over two minutes.

– Sid Scala was in the NXT UK Performance Center about to make an announcement when Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter took the cameraman away. They walked over to where Pretty Deadly were talking. Smith, mockingly playing sports reporter, tried asking them about Eddie Dennis. Pretty Deadly were not amused and said they only care about tag team gold. The two teams got into it and Scala broke it up, telling them they would have a chance to resolve things.

– A video recapped the complete history of Kay Lee Ray’s feud with Piper Niven in NXT UK. The two will face off in a falls count anywhere match for the NXT UK Women’s Championship next week.

– Rampage Brown was asked about his debut backstage. He said he was just getting started and told the rest of the boys to keep up.

Xia Brookside pinned Nina Samuels with a small package (5:50)

Brookside, who has two singles and one tag team victory over Samuels in NXT UK, was in control for most of the match. Near the end of the match, Samuels got on the top turnbuckle, then cartwheeled over the top rope as Brookside ran into the corner. Samuels looked to have hurt her knee. The referee checked on her and repeatedly told Brookside to step back. As Samuels was back on her feet, Brookside immediately went in for a small package to get the win, obviously not believing Samuels was hurt.

As Samuels was being helped to the back after the match, she suddenly attacked Brookside, showing her injury had been a ruse after all. Samuels gave Brookside the Knee-na-goroshi on the outside.

– Sam Gradwell was asked about his loss in the six-man tag to Gallus last week. He elaborately talked about how he couldn’t account for every three seconds in the match and how it had been a melee. Gradwell said that Joe Coffey may have pinned him, but in a singles match between them, things would be different. Alexander Wolfe, who overheard the conversation, then walked up and told Gradwell to get his act together and called him a disgrace to the sport. Gradwell seemingly blew Wolfe off and left.

A quick reminder about the Heritage Cup rules:

  • All matches consist of six three-minute rounds with 20-second breaks between each round.
  • All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
  • Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
  • Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
  • The match ends once a wrestler has won two falls.
  • In the event of a disqualification or knockout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
  • If all six rounds are completed, whoever is ahead on falls wins the match.

Heritage Cup semifinal match: Trent Seven defeated Dave Mastiff 2:1 (10:55)

The winner of this match faces A-Kid in the finals. Mastiff was the only one to win a match by knockout in the tournament and was looking to repeat that here.

Round One —

They traded headlocks and felt each other out mostly. In the final seconds of the round, they collided in mid-air as both men went for a body press at the same time.

Round Two —

Mastiff dominated the first half of the round, but he missed a vertical splash and Seven rolled him up with a crucifix pin at 1:22 of the round. Seven took the lead 1-0.

Round Three —

Mastiff repeatedly hit splashes and sentons on Seven to knock the wind out of him. Seven hit a DDT, but it looked like his ribs were hurt. Mastiff hit a huge superplex at the 2:00 mark. Mastiff hit Seven with a hard forearm that looked to have him at the brink of a knockout. Mastiff inadvertently distracted the referee, keeping him from properly checking on Seven. Seven told the ref he was good to continue.

Round Four —

Mastiff hit a power bomb and the rolling cannonball in the corner, getting the pin at 0:42 of the round and tying the match at 1-1.

Round Five —

There was a rare production error, as they actually had “Round 6” on the screen here.

Seven was still in the corner as Mastiff went for another cannonball, but Seven rolled out of the way and escaped to ringside. Mastiff went to suplex him back inside while on the ropes, but Seven blocked it. They battled on the top rope and Seven went for a sunset flip powerbomb but couldn’t get Mastiff off the ropes. Seven chopped Mastiff’s thigh, then picked him up for the Burning Hammer and scored the pinfall victory at 1:31 of the round. Seven won the match 2-1.

Seven looked at the Heritage Cup trophy after the match and said his name would be the first to be engraved on it. A-Kid walked out and they shook hands, declaring that the best man may win.

Next week —

Kay Lee Ray defends the NXT UK Women’s Championship against Piper Niven in a falls count anywhere match.

Heritage Cup semifinal, Rampage Brown’s debut set for next NXT UK

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The semifinals of NXT UK’s Heritage Cup tournament will conclude next week.

During today’s NXT UK episode, WWE announced that the Heritage Cup tournament semifinal match between Trent Seven and Dave Mastiff will air on NXT UK next Thursday. The winner will advance to face A-Kid in the finals.

A-Kid clinched his spot in the finals by defeating Noam Dar in the main event of this week’s NXT UK episode. A-Kid defeated Flash Morgan Webster in the first round of the tournament and Dar in the semifinals.

Seven defeated Kenny Williams in the first round of the tournament. Mastiff’s first round win was against Joseph Conners.

The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship following the tournament. Here are the rules for Heritage Cup matches:

  • There will be six rounds for Heritage Cup matches. Each round will be three minutes.
  • There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
  • All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
  • Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
  • Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
  • Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
  • If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
  • If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.

Recent NXT UK signee Rampage Brown is also set to debut on NXT UK next Thursday. His opponent hasn’t been announced. The 37-year-old Brown is a former PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion and Atlas Champion.

Two matches confirmed for next week’s NXT UK

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two matches have been announced for next week’s episode of NXT UK.

Ilja Dragunov & Pete Dunne will take on WALTER & Alexander Wolfe in a tag team match on NXT UK next Thursday (October 15). The Heritage Cup tournament will also continue on the episode as Dave Mastiff and Joseph Conners face off in a first round match.

Dragunov & Dunne vs. WALTER & Wolfe comes in advance of Dragunov challenging for WALTER’s NXT UK Championship on the Thursday, October 29 episode of NXT UK. Dragunov saved Dunne from WALTER and Wolfe at the end of last week’s NXT UK episode. Dunne had been the special guest referee for Noam Dar and Wolfe’s first round match in the Heritage Cup tournament. Wolfe blamed Dunne for his loss and went to attack him after, but Dunne fought him off. WALTER then came down and helped Wolfe until Dragunov made the save.

Dar and A-Kid have advanced in the Heritage Cup tournament and will face each other in the semifinals. The winner of Mastiff vs. Conners will face the winner of Trent Seven vs. Kenny Williams in the semifinals.

Heritage Cup matches have the following rules:

  • There will be six rounds for Heritage Cup matches. Each round will be three minutes.
  • There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
  • All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
  • Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
  • Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
  • Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
  • If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
  • If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.

The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules following the tournament.

WWE announces Heritage Cup for NXT UK

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

WWE has announced that “following the tournament, the NXT UK Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules.”

**********

An eight-man tournament with British Rounds rules will soon kick off on NXT UK.

WWE announced today that the Heritage Cup tournament is coming to NXT UK. Seven of the eight participants for the tournament have been revealed. They are: Flash Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Joseph Conners, and Trent Seven.

Here are the rules for Heritage Cup matches:

  • There will be six rounds for tournament matches. Each round will be three minutes.
  • There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
  • All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
  • Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
  • Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
  • Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
  • If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends.
  • If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.

More details for the tournament will be announced on NXT UK next Thursday (September 17). The episode will feature NXT UK’s return to new in-ring action for the first time since events were paused in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tapings for NXT UK’s return are being done at BT Sport studios in London, England with no fans in attendance.

NXT UK results: Gallus vs. Mastiff, Seven & Webster

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped at Coventry Skydome in Coventry, England on March 6, 2020

Quick results:

  • Kay Lee Ray beat Dani Luna in a quick match, then got run off by Piper Niven when she kept attacking Luna 
  • Finn Bálor faced off with Tyler Bate backstage 
  • Bate will be in a 20-men battle royal in two weeks for a shot at WALTER’s NXT UK title
  • Ridge Holland beat Joseph Conners in a competitive match
  • Mark Andrews was attacked backstage, taking him out of the main event
  • Kassius Ohno beat Kenny Williams
  • A-Kid and Noam Dar will meet next week
  • Gallus beat Dave Mastiff, Flash Morgan Webster and substitute partner Trent Seven

Full rundown:

The show opened with a recap video of Finn Bálor calling out WALTER and pinning Alexander Wolfe last week.

**********

WWE NXT UK Title Match: Kay Lee Ray (c) pinned Dani Luna after the Gory Bomb (02:36)

Luna used her power advantage and hit multiple waist lock takedowns and dazed KLR, then managed a roll-up for a two count.

The champion came back and applied a sitting abdominal stretch, then landed a near fall of her own.

Luna came back with a deadlift back suplex off a missed dropkick by KLR for another two count.

KLR then capitalized on a mistake by Dani and hit the Gory Bomb for the quick win.

After the match, KLR kept attacking Luna and went for another Gory Bomb but Piper Niven ran out to make the save sending KLR packing.

**********

In a WWE.com exclusive video from after last week, Finn Bálor was shown walking through the backstage area with everyone staring at him, including Johnny Saint and Sid Scala.

He came upon Tyler Bate and they stared each other down. Bate then went to Saint and Scala and asked for an opportunity to “knock Bálor down a peg.” 

They told him that opportunity might come eventually, but he would be in a 20-men battle royal in two weeks for a chance to compete for the NXT UK championship at NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin.

**********

Nina Samuels talked about facing Aoife Valkyrie next week

**********

Ridge Holland pinned Joseph Conners after Northern Grit (7:45)

They locked up and Holland got the easy advantage. Conners tried some evasion tactics, but got ran over by the massive Holland repeatedly. Holland hit a tilt-a-whirl slam, then rained down forearms on Conners.

Holland stumbled to ringside and got hit with a dive by Conners, who followed with a forearm from the top back inside the ring. Conners worked over Holland’s leg, as Holland tore his quad during his rugby career. Conners pulled him into the ropes from the apron, then kept attacking the leg further.

Conners went for Don’t Look Down but got blocked, then pulled of a small package but Holland escaped. He went for Northern Grit, but also got thwarted. Conners rammed Holland’s leg into the ring post repeatedly.

Holland finally came back with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex when he caught Conners off the top rope, then followed up with a second one.

Holland hit a head butt and a lariat, then pounced Conners halfway across the ring, before collapsing and grabbing his leg. Holland got Conners from ringside, but Conners escaped to the apron on the other side, then launched himself over the top for an STO.

Holland then finally got Conners up for Northern Grit. After some struggling, Holland hit the move for the win.

**********

Mark Andrews was down backstage grabbing his leg, seemingly after an attack. Mastiff and Flash Morgan Webster were there to tend to him when Gallus walked up and said they had nothing to do with it.

**********

A video package on Ilja Dragunov aired.

**********

Kassius Ohno beat Kenny Williams when the referee stopped the match as Ohno had Williams in the Kassius Clutch (6:58)

Ohno quickly got Williams down on the mat, but Williams escaped and turned the tables on Ohno.

They worked over each other’s arms. Williams rolled Ohno up for a two count, then hit some tilt-a-whirl head scissors. Ohno caught him off a body press, but got covered with a crucifix for another near fall.

Ohno pulled Williams off the top rope and worked over Williams’ fingers. Williams came back with some innovative offense, including two dives through the ropes. He hit a double-jump back elbow to the outside, then followed with a dropkick back inside.

Ohno then caught Williams off an attempted wheelbarrow roll-up, hit the rolling elbow to the back of the head, then locked in the Kassius Clutch for the referee stoppage.

**********

A-Kid was being interviewed backstage when Noam Dar interrupted him and told him his time was over. A-Kid spoke to him in Spanish and Dar replied in French. He told him that he was just “A Kid,” but that Dar was “A Legend.”

A-Kid then challenged Dar for a match next week.

**********

A video recapped Jordan Devlin winning the Cruiserweight title at Worlds Collide and his history with Travis Banks. They will meet next week.

**********

Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) beat Dave Mastiff, Flash Morgan Webster & Trent Seven when Joe Coffey pinned Webster after All the Best for the Bells (9:27)

Seven replaced the injured Mark Andrews.

Seven and Wolfgang started. Wolfgang had the brief advantage before Seven wiped him out with a crossbody and high-angle arm drag. After some quick tags, Gallus singled out Webster as their target of choice and worked him over.  

Webster eventually tagged out to Mastiff who ran wild. Webster tagged back in and hit a 450 off the top.

Webster looked to hit poison rana on Joe Coffey but got caught and was put away by the powerslam/kick combo by Mark and Wolfgang, followed by All the Best for the Bells for the win.

**********

Next week:

Jordan Devlin will defend the NXT Cruiserweight title against Travis Banks. Nina Samuels wrestles Aoife Valkyrie and A-Kid faces Noam Dar.

NXT UK results: WALTER vs. Dave Mastiff title match

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped at York Barbican in York, England on January 18, 2020

Quick results —

  • Alexander Wolfe defeated Travis Banks with a sit-down powerbomb.
  • Eddie Dennis cut a promo about his superior mind.
  • Ridge Holland quickly squashed Saxon Huxley.
  • Aoife Valkyrie defeated Isla Dawn.
  • Jordan Devlin will return next week. Ligero will also face Noam Dar.
  • In the main event, WALTER successfully defended his NXT UK Championship against Dave Mastiff.

Full rundown —

The show opened with a video hyping up our main event for tonight: WALTER vs. Dave Mastiff for the NXT UK Championship. Mastiff claimed that “WALTER, tonight, your reign is over!”

Alexander Wolfe pinned Travis Banks after a sit-down powerbomb

Wolfe went to start out with a kick, but Banks evaded him and struck him down with a kick of his own. Banks followed up with a dive as Wolfe rolled to ringside.

Back in the ring, Banks scored a near fall. Wolfe came back with a kick of his own, then pounded on Banks. Wolfe locked in a chinlock before following up with a slam. Banks came back with punches and hit a forearm that staggered Wolfe. He hit a running dropkick into the corner, then hit a double stomp to Wolfe’s sternum. Wolfe then came back with a spinning suplex.

Banks hit a number of kicks, but Wolfe hit a German suplex for another near fall. Banks hit Slice of Heaven, but Wolfe rolled to the apron. Banks looked to go for the Kiwi Crusher on the apron. Wolfe escaped and went for a powerbomb, but Banks escaped, climbed to the top, and hit a double stomp on Wolfe, who was in the ropes.

Wolfe recovered and hit a draping DDT off the apron to the floor. After some more back and forth back in the ring, Wolfe hit the sit-down powerbomb for the win.

– Eddie Dennis talked about being the principal of a private school and compared the job to being in NXT UK. He said it used to be his job to mold the minds of young people and it took a special kind of person to manipulate the mind.

– A great video on the NXT UK tag team division aired.

Ridge Holland pinned Saxon Huxley after hitting Northern Grit

Huxley started with a running kick and clotheslined Holland into the corner, but quickly found himself at the receiving end of an overhead suplex. He pounced Huxley halfway across the ring, then hit Northern Grit and followed up with another Northern Grit for the quick win.

– A tale of the tape graphic compared WALTER and Mastiff ahead of their title match later in the show.

– NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin proclaimed that he would return next week.

Aoife Valkyrie pinned Isla Dawn after a top rope axe kick

Valkyrie worked over Dawn’s arm early on. She then rolled Dawn up for a two count. Dawn held Valkyrie’s arms down for a cover, but she bridged out of it and hit a monkey flip.

They traded pinfall attempts until Valkyrie took back over with a leg sweep and a standing moonsault. Dawn kicked Valkyrie’s legs out as she was going up the ropes, then hit a meteora from the top rope for near fall. Valkyrie came back with a top rope axe kick for the win.

– WALTER and Mastiff were shown on a split-screen as they walked to the ring.

– Ligero talked about Noam Dar and said he would meet him next week.

NXT UK Championship match: WALTER retained against Dave Mastiff after hitting a powerbomb

They locked up early and WALTER briefly was in control before Mastiff ducked a chop and hit a forearm. They repeatedly crashed into each other without either man budging. WALTER leap-frogged Mastiff but then got wiped out by a running crossbody.

WALTER applied a sleeper and tried to transition into a German suplex as Mastiff grabbed the ropes, but he couldn’t get Mastiff up. He then got back body dropped off a powerbomb attempt. Mastiff hit a German suplex into the corner, but the champ came back with a shotgun dropkick. They traded shots until WALTER hit a big overhand chop.

WALTER went for the big splash off the top, but Mastiff rolled out of the way and WALTER crashed and burned. Mastiff hit another German suplex, then hit the rolling senton for a close near fall. Mastiff went for Into the Void, but WALTER moved out of the way and it was Mastiff’s turn to crash.

Mastiff came back with a senton and hit Into the Void for another two count. Mastiff went to the top, but WALTER threw him down. Mastiff hit a hard clothesline but got punched in the throat. WALTER then hit a kick and finally hit the powerbomb for the pinfall victory.

WALTER posed with the title as the show went off the air.

Next week —

NXT UK tapes this coming Friday and Saturday, so a number of matches will be shown from those tapings. Jordan Devlin returns and Ligero will face Noam Dar.

NXT UK results: Imperium vs. Andrews, Webster & Mastiff

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped at York Barbican in York, England on January 17, 2020

Quick results —

  • Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan defeated The Hunt, then later said they were here to face Gallus.
  • Toni Storm said Kay Lee Ray still was in her head.
  • Eddie Dennis gloated over beating Trent Seven, who came out and challenged him to a street fight with all turnbuckles uncovered. The match will main event next week’s show.
  • Tyler Bate and A-Kid will meet in friendly competition next week.
  • Isla Dawn defeated Nina Samuels.
  • Ilja Dragunov is proud he did not miss Finn Balor and injured his nose. He also vowed not to miss against Joe Coffey.
  • Ridge Holland defeated Tyson T-Bone in a battle of the big men.
  • in the main event, Imperium (Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe) were victorious over Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Dave Mastiff. WALTER ran out late in the match, but got bested by Mastiff.

Full rundown —

The show opened with a recap of Worlds Collide. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews were then shown choosing Dave Mastiff as their partner for their six-man tag match against Imperium in tonight’s main event.

Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan defeated The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) when Lorcan pinned Primate after an assisted spiked DDT (7:27)

Burch and Wild Boar started out, with Burch getting the early advantage before Boar rammed his shoulder into Burch’s mid-section. That was followed up by a top rope double axe handle by Primate.

Burch and Lorcan then tagged in and out, beating on Primate. Boar ran hard into an elbow by Lorcan and found himself on the receiving end of a double back suplex.

Lorcan locked in an abdominal stretch, but Boar eventually powered out and tagged out. Primate ran wild on both opponents for a bit, then hit a hard lariat on Lorcan for a near fall. He missed a shoulder block into the corner and hit the post, allowing Burch to come back in with a German suplex and then hit an assisted powerbomb on Primate.

Burch and Lorcan went for a Doomsday Device, but Primate escaped and hit a Northern Lights suplex on Lorcan.

Boar was back in, but crumpled after a headbutt by Burch. Boar grabbed Lorcan after some miscommunication and threw him to ringside, but missed a splash off the apron. Lorcan and Burch then hit an assisted spike DDT on Primate for the victory.

– Toni Storm was interviewed backstage at Worlds Collide and asked what went wrong in her match with Rhea Ripley. She said what went wrong was that Kay Lee Ray was still in her head and this had to end.

Eddie Dennis in-ring segment

Dennis walked to the ring dressed in a gray suit. He said “I did this,” as a clip of him hitting the Razor’s Edge on Trent Seven to the outside at UK TakeOver: Blackpool II aired on the screen. He said he took a pillar, a founding father of NXT UK, picked him up over his head, and when the ref wouldn’t let him throw Seven into the turnbuckle, it forced his hand and he had to send him over the top rope.

At this point, Seven’s music played and he walked out. He called Dennis boring and a liar. Seven said that while the history books will forever say that Dennis beat him, they will miss that Dennis exposed the turnbuckles to gain the win. Seven then proposed they do it again, but take the turnbuckles off and have a steel corners street fight.

Dennis then looked to take a swing at Seven, but Seven ducked and threw Dennis out of the ring, leaving the Welsh Dragon in shock.

– Tyler Bate was interviewed at the NXT UK Performance Center. He was talking about his victory at TakeOver: Blackpool II when A-Kid walked up and congratulated him. A-Kid said he couldn’t wait until he could do what Bate could do and would be in the same position.

Bate then asked him why they should wait. Bate said he would go to Johnny Saint and they could have a match next week. A-Kid was ecstatic and they shook hands on it.

– A video aired on Aoife Valkyrie, who will make her debut next week. A graphic also plugged Ridge Holland.

Isla Dawn pinned Nina Samuels with a bridging German suplex (5:02)

They traded holds and throws early on until Samuels slammed Dawn’s face into the mat. Dawn came back with a bridging pinning combination and a standing dropkick before missing a knee in the corner and tumbling to ringside.

Samuels followed up with a forward handspring kick, throwing Dawn off the apron once more. Samuels threw Dawn around by the hair, then whipped her into the corner and followed with an axe kick. Samuels was on offense with various corner attacks, but she then missed a knee strike and received a release German suplex.

Samuels tried to go for Ninagoroshi, but Dawn escaped. Samuels went up the ropes, but Dawn hit a 619 through the ropes to kick her off. Dawn then pinned her with a bridging German suplex.

– Ilja Dragunov was interviewed backstage at Worlds Collide. Dragunov said he was always looking for the biggest battlegrounds — he could learn from every match and he was proud that he did not miss, as he bloodied up Finn Balor’s nose. He said Joe Coffey was waiting for him and he would not miss again.

– Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Lorcan & Burch backstage. They said they were here to beat people up, and Burch said they were looking to match themselves against Gallus.

Ridge Holland pinned Tyson T-Bone after hitting Northern Grit (3:12)

They locked up and Holland backed T-Bone into the ropes. They traded forearms and punches. T-Bone repeatedly hit body shots, but Holland just took them before hitting an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for a two count.

Holland hit a short-arm clothesline and a few uppercuts, but T-Bone cut him off with a back suplex. T-Bone went for a powerbomb, but Holland escaped, grabbed him by the ears, and headbutted him a few times. He followed with an Alabama slam and Northern Grit for the victory.

– A graphic plugged Bate vs. A-Kid and Seven vs. Dennis in a steel corners street fight for next week.

Imperium (Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe) defeated Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Dave Mastiff when Aichner pinned Andrews after an assisted brainbuster (11:24)

Andrews and Barthel started out. Barthel grounded Andrews to the mat and applied a number of submissions. Aichner tagged in and kept up the submissions. Andrews eventually flipped out of the move and tagged Webster.

Aichner used his power to stop Webster’s high-flying offense. Wolfe tagged in, but fell victim to Webster’s speed. Mastiff tagged in and beat down Wolfe, who tagged in Aichner. Andrews and Webster tagged in and out and they took the advantage over Aichner and Barthel.

Mastiff tagged in and hit a long vertical suplex on Barthel. Mastiff assisted Andrews on hitting a moonsault leg drop. Webster ran wild on Imperium, but Wolfe then threw him on his neck on a high-angle German suplex.

Aichner dismantled Webster and hung him in the corner in a tree of woe. Aichner and Barthel then hit dropkicks from in and outside the ring on him. They followed with a spinebuster/running soccer kick combo. Webster finally managed to evade Imperium and hot tag Mastiff.

The Bomber went wild, clearing the ring of Imperium and hitting a rolling senton on Aichner for a two count. Andrews went to the top, but Barthel threw him into a suplex by Aichner. Andrews managed to turn this into a Stun Dog Millionaire.

Webster and Morgan hit stereo dives on Aichner and Barthel. Mastiff threw Wolfe on them for good measure, then followed with a somersault senton off the apron.

Mastiff got up, rolled Aichner and Barthel back into the ring, and mockingly hit the Imperium/Ringkampf pose. WALTER ran out and looked to attack him, but Mastiff knocked him down with a forearm.

Meanwhile, Andrews got the better of Barthel and Aichner back in the ring and went for a springboard move, but Barthel caught him and threw him at Aichner. Aichner caught him in mid-air and hit a brainbuster for the win.

Imperium posed in the ring as the show went off the air.

Next week —

Tyler Bate will take on A-Kid, while Eddie Dennis and Trent Seven will face off in a steel corners street fight.

NXT UK results: Fallout from TakeOver Blackpool II

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Quick results —

This was mostly a recap show looking at the results and fallout from NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. Along with recap videos and WWE.com exclusive backstage segments from after TakeOver, this show featured two matches taped before TakeOver last Sunday.

In a very good match, Joseph Conners pinned A-Kid, capitalizing on the latter’s knee being tweaked. Both looked good here and A-Kid is a tremendous talent with a very bright future. In the main event, Dave Mastiff pinned Kassius Ohno in a battle of agile heavyweights.

Full rundown —

The show opened with a graphic remembering Rocky Johnson.

Next up was a video recap of NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II that included all the big spots from the various matches, culminating with the cowardly attack by the Undisputed Era on WALTER and the rest of Imperium.

After the intro, Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness recapped TakeOver some more over some still photos. After that it was time for our first match. It featured two men who recently clashed backstage at NXT UK.

Joseph Conners pinned A-Kid after hitting Don’t Look Down (10:17)

Conners came out wearing a T-shirt reading “TakeOver Worthy.” Well, he made the pre-show at least.

They did some mat wrestling early as A-Kid showed his mat prowess. He looked to have strained his neck early on a head bridging flip over.

A-Kid kept in control with some arm drags and a dropkick. Conners capitalized on a slight hesitation by the young Spaniard and threw him head-first into the bottom turnbuckle. Conners tossed A-Kid off a vertical suplex for a two count, then followed up with a Falcon Arrow for another one.

Conners hit a side suplex, then locked in a chinbar, but A-Kid powered out and hit some strikes. He played possum off a clothesline by Conners and hit a beautiful dropkick, followed by a German suplex and a Northern Lights suplex for a two count of his own. Conners held on to the ropes to avoid a head kick, but got wiped out with a dive as he slid to ringside.

Conners hit a slingshot on the top rope, but A-Kid quickly recovered and hit a kick to the jaw as Conners got back into the ring. He then hit a great top rope moonsault to the outside on Conners.

A-Kid hit a high crossbody off the top. Conners rolled through and went for Don’t Look Down, but A-Kid turned it into a small package for a near fall, followed by a crucifix bomb.

A-Kid hit some Daniel Bryan-style kicks to the chest of a kneeling Conners. Conners hit a blow that might have been low, then ducked another kick and hit a neck snap. Conners went for a Figure Four, but he got kicked off and caught with a flying knee. Conners then hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He followed with a top rope moonsault but got caught in an armbar on landing.

A-Kid transitioned to a triangle. He got lifted up but managed to go for a sunset flip and another small package. A-Kid went for a backslide, but Conners kicked him in the knee that A-Kid may have tweaked earlier on the moonsault to the outside. Conners then hit Don’t Look Down for the victory.

– A WWE.com exclusive clip of the backstage confrontation between Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis from after their match at TakeOver aired.

– A graphic announced that Imperium would speak out next week. Ilja Dragunov will also be in action.

– A highlight video of the Tag Team title ladder match from TakeOver aired, followed by another WWE.com exclusive clip of Alicia Taylor interviewing Gallus after their victory. Wolfgang said the Tag Team titles would stay with them for a long time.

– Another video looked at the history between Jinny and Jazzy Gabert and teased dissension between the two with some clips from recent weeks. A graphic announced Gabert would face Killer Kelly next week.

– Yet another TakeOver highlight video looked at the Women’s title match between Kay Lee Ray, Toni Storm, and Piper Niven. A WWE.com video with Taylor and Storm then aired.

Storm was very bitter and desperate and said that she was robbed at TakeOver. Storm said rules were there to be broken, but this did not apply to her. What happened in her match would be bad news for everybody and it would make things worse for Rhea Ripley. Storm said her head space was worse than before and she would rob Ripley when they face off.

Ripley will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Storm at Worlds Collide on January 25. A hype video for Worlds Collide aired, focusing on Imperium vs. Undisputed Era.

– Another recap video looked at WALTER vs. Joe Coffey from TakeOver: Blackpool II and the subsequent attack by Undisputed Era.

– This was followed by Sid Scala and Johnny Saint announcing that two NXT UK wrestlers would compete in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship fatal four-way match at Worlds Collide. The participants will be decided next week in two matches: Jordan Devlin vs. Ligero and Travis Banks vs. Brian Kendrick.

Dave Mastiff pinned Kassius Ohno after hitting Into the Void (6:49)

Ohno stalled early. The two heavyweights locked knuckles and Mastiff quickly overpowered Ohno, who came back with a shoulder block and wristlock. Mastiff countered with an overhead takeover and locked in a wristlock of his own. Ohno repeatedly kipped up and slapped Mastiff, but got wiped out by a dropkick.

Ohno rolled to the apron but quickly got launched back inside with an arm drag. Mastiff then went to the apron and had Ohno in a waistlock through the ropes, but Ohno pulled at Mastiff’s singlet and rammed him into the ring post.

Ohno locked in a cravat. Mastiff tried to lift him, but a knee to the gut took him down. Ohno followed with two rolling sentons and locked in another cravat. Mastiff hit a backdrop driver to power out of the move, then hit a clothesline, two rolling sentons, and a running senton of his own for a two count.

Mastiff went for Into the Void (his somersault senton in the corner), but Ohno evaded him and turned it into a sit-down pin. Mastiff quickly recovered and hit a German suplex, then went to the second turnbuckle.

Ohno stopped Mastiff’s flying ambitions and applied a cravat on the top rope. Mastiff countered, lifted Ohno onto his shoulders, and hit a super rolling senton from the top. Mastiff then hit Into the Void to get the win.

Next week —

NXT UK tapes a couple of weeks worth of shows in York, England this week. With Worlds Collide coming up just one week from Saturday, next week will feature some matches and segments to build to that show:

  • Imperium will address their grievances with the Undisputed Era before the two factions clash at Worlds Collide
  • Ilja Dragunov will be in action, in preparation of his match against Finn Balor at Worlds Collide
  • Jazzy Gabert will face Killer Kelly and probably shed some light on the relationship between her and Jinny
  • Jordan Devlin faces Ligero and Travis Banks faces Brian Kendrick, with the winners of those matches getting the remaining spots in the fatal four-way match with NXT Cruiserweight Champion Angel Garza and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott at Worlds Collide

Last man standing match official for NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A last man standing match is the latest addition to the NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff lineup.

On this week’s NXT UK episode, it was confirmed that Dave Mastiff will face Joe Coffey in a last man standing match in Cardiff. The announcement comes after Mastiff and Coffey fought to a double countout in the main event of last Wednesday’s show.

Cardiff is the second TakeOver special in NXT UK history. Coffey lost to Pete Dunne in the main event of UK TakeOver: Blackpool in January, while Mastiff defeated Eddie Dennis in a no DQ match.

UK TakeOver: Cardiff is being held at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff on Saturday, August 31. NJPW Royal Quest and AEW All Out are both also taking place that day.

WALTER will defend the WWE United Kingdom Championship against Tyler Bate in the main event of UK TakeOver: Cardiff. Toni Storm will put her NXT UK Women’s Championship on the line against Kay Lee Ray.

NXT UK results: Joe Coffey vs. Dave Mastiff

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped July 19 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England

Quick recap —

Noam Dar defeated Ashton Smith in a fun opener, but not before getting a taste of his own medicine of playing possum. Dar then said he’d be at TakeOver, which Travis Banks later questioned.

The Grizzled Young Veterans were challenged by both Gallus and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster, with no clear direction being given. Andrews & Webster later talked to Johnny Saint and were given a chance to proof themselves over the next few weeks.

Jinny & Jazzy Gabert defeated Xia Brookside & Piper Niven after Rhea Ripley came down and brawled to the back with Niven, leaving Brookside to become an easy victim.

In the main event, Joe Coffey and Dave Mastiff had a battle that led to both men being counted out.

Full rundown —

– The show opened with WWE’s very nice Harley Race tribute video.

Noam Dar pinned Ashton Smith after hitting the Nova Roller (5:43)

They went back and forth to start. Smith tried a kip-up but briefly got caught in an arm lock. Dar kept the pressure on with some unfair tactics, but Smith hit a nice dropkick coming off the ropes. Dar pretended he had been caught in the eye, then used the distraction to send Smith to the outside.

Dar took back over with some pinning combinations and submissions on the mat until Smith finally hit him with a stiff clothesline, a knee in the corner, and a flying leg kick. Dar came back and set up for the Nova Roller, but this time Smith played possum and cradled Dar for a near fall. Smith missed a leg lariat off the top and Dar finally hit the Nova Roller for the win.

Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Dar post-match. Dar said he signed with NXT UK because he got benefits — such as being a star player at all the big games. Dar announced that he’d be at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff.

– Tyler Bate was interviewed coming out of the trainer’s room. He said while Trent Seven may not be back at full health yet, he’s at 100 percent and he won’t allow WALTER to disrespect the WWE UK title any longer. Bate vowed to become the first two-time champion.

Grizzled Young Veterans in-ring segment

Zack Gibson said that a little bird told him Gallus were campaigning for a title match in Cardiff. He said Gallus had been impressive. But while the Grizzled Young Veterans beat the best teams in the world, Gallus hadn’t beaten anyone.

Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) came out and said they were not campaigning — they were taking a title shot. At that point, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster came out.

Andrews said they also wanted a title match and would not sit on the sidelines in their home town of Cardiff. As they argued, Gibson announced that Johnny Saint makes the matches and whatever happens, the titles would stay “grizzled.”

– A video aired where various talent talked about what NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff meant to them and what they wished to accomplish by participating in the event.

– Radzi caught Travis Banks coming out of Johnny Saint’s office just as Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster went in. Banks said he talked to Saint — and Noam Dar’s spot at TakeOver was not guaranteed. Banks said Dar would have to earn it just like everyone else.

Radzi then talked to Andrews & Webster, who said Saint told them they’d have to prove themselves over the next few weeks to earn a shot at the Grizzled Young Veterans.

Jazzy Gabert & Jinny defeated Piper Niven & Xia Brookside when Gabert pinned Brookside after a Dominator (9:39)

Brookside and Jinny started the match, with Brookside immediately flooring her with a dropkick. The faces quickly tagged in and out, but Jinny managed to hit a hurricanrana on Brookside, sending her into Gabert’s corner.

Gabert came in and threw Brookside around a bit, then tagged back out so Jinny could take back over. Brookside managed to tag out to Niven, who steamrolled Jinny, then caught another hurricanrana attempt and powerbombed Jinny into the corner.

Jinny tagged out and Gabert and Niven faced off. Niven got the better of the exchange and hit a running crossbody on a sitting Gabert. She tagged Brookside and threw her on top of Gabert. Brookside went for a spinning headscissors, but Gabert easily caught her and hit a side slam before tagging out again.

At that point, Rhea Ripley came out and distracted Brookside, prompting Niven to attack her. Niven and Ripley brawled all the way to the back, leaving Brookside alone with the opposing team.

Jinny landed a head kick on Brookside for a near fall. Brookside came back with a backstabber on the arm, then realized her partner was gone.

Brookside hit a spinning headscissors and Broken Wings on Jinny, but she couldn’t get the pin. Gabert then tagged in without Brookside noticing. Brookside still hit a crossbody on both of her opponents, but she soon fell victim to a Gabert clothesline and finally the Dominator.

– A video on Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray aired, looking at all the matches they had in promotions such as wXw, PROGRESS, and ICW. Storm said she wanted to be like KLR as soon as she first saw her.

KLR once again said no one knew Storm better than her and she’d take the belt off Storm. Storm said the NXT UK Women’s title was the most important thing in her life and she has to fight for it because her life depends on it.

– Ilja Dragunov was getting ready to be interviewed backstage in a darkened room. Kassius Ohno came in, turned on the light, and mocked Mr. “Unbesiegbar.”

– A graphic announced Dragunov vs. Ohno and Flash Morgan Webster vs. Mark Coffey for next week.

Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey ended in a double countout (7:59)

Both men smashed into each other at the bell, then traded elbows and punches until Mastiff finally hit a hip toss for a cover. Mastiff tried to hit a German suplex and finally succeeded, though Coffey fought tooth and nail to avoid it.

Coffey came back with a running spear into the corner, driving Mastiff into an exposed turnbuckle. Coffey then took over with shots and throwing Mastiff into the corner, then followed up with a backbreaker. Coffey trapped Mastiff’s arm and hit him with body shots. Mastiff finally managed to slam Coffey, but Mastiff clearly was hurt.

Mastiff managed to hit another release German suplex, a back body drop, and a big forearm that sent Coffey outside. He hit Coffey in the ear, sending him off his feet before rolling him back into the ring.

Mastiff then locked in a chinlock and rained down elbows to the side of Coffey’s head. Mastiff hit a senton for another two count and smashed into Coffey once more.

They fought some more on the apron and Coffey launched himself into Mastiff with a spear, sending Mastiff into the ring post but also sending Coffey down to the floor. They punched each other down one more time and the referee counted both men out.

The rest of Gallus came out to carry Joe away as Mastiff went crazy and shouted at Joe to keep fighting him as the show went off the air.

Next week —

Ilja Dragunov faces Kassius Ohno in the main event. Flash Morgan Webster tries to prove himself against Mark Coffey.

NXT UK results: Gallus vs. The Hunt & Dave Mastiff

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Quick Results —

Ilja Dragunov quickly defeated Ashton Smith. NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Candy Floss in a non-title face vs. face match, then Kay Lee Ray made her presence felt. Trent Seven said Tyler Bate was in the hospital and challenged WALTER.

In the main event, Gallus defeated The Hunt & Dave Mastiff

Full Rundown —

The show opened with a recap from last week’s Grizzle Young Veterans vs. Moustache Mountain match and Imperium interfering. Still shots showed the aftermath of Tyler Bate & Trent Seven getting taken to the back.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Ashton Smith with Torpedo Moscow (4:42)

Smith used a headlock early, but Dragunov escaped and hit a crossbody on a charging Smith. Dragunov followed up with a senton. Smith worked over Dragunov’s legs, but he didn’t have much success.

Aiden English said “Unbesiegbar” was Russian for invincible, but it’s German for invincible. Dragunov hit a Gotch-style powerbomb. Smith came back with a fisherman’s suplex, but Dragunov hit a dropkick, then the Konstantin Special and Torpedo Moscow for the win.

– A graphic plugged the six-man tag main event.

– A video recap of Xia Brookside’s history with Jazzy Gabert and Jinny aired. Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Brookside about their history. She said she’d face Jinny next week.

– Nina Samuels did a skit where she interviewed fans at Download Festival. One said Samuels was his favorite.

Non-title match: NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Candy Floss with Storm Zero (5:55)

Storm outwrestled Candy Floss early. They one-upped each other with poses on the mat, then Candy Floss tried a quick pin. Storm showed approval for Candy Floss when she went for another one.

Candy Floss worked Storm’s arm and shoulder, but she got taken out with a kick. There was more offense from Candy Floss, but Storm hit a clothesline and Storm Zero for the win.

As Candy Floss walked to the back, Kay Lee Ray came out and attacked her. Storm came to her aid and KLR left.

– Another Ligero promo video aired, focusing on him losing his latest matches.

Trent Seven speaks

Seven talked solemnly and said usually he doesn’t speak alone. He said Bate was hospitalized and injured, but Seven’s here and always has been. He said this was built on British Strong Style.

Seven said Imperium claimed the mat was sacred — but “this is our mat.” He said he’d cut the head off the snake and was coming for WALTER, and it would be for Pete Dunne, Bate, and the Trent Seven Army. He got intense and started screaming “this will be for us!”

– Mark Andrews accepted Kassius Ohno’s call-out, saying he had been a “Hero” of his. They’ll face off next week.

Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Dave Mastiff & The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) when Joe Coffey pinned Wild Boar after a lariat (12:25)

All six guys brawled right at the bell, with Gallus being beaten to ringside. The Hunt worked over Mark Coffey with some unique offense until he tagged in Wolfgang. The heels isolated Primate and Joe Coffey put him in a submission.

Primate finally tagged Wild Boar, who ran roughshod on Mark Coffey. Mark hit a chokeslam and tagged Wolfgang. Boar was the face in peril for a while and got beaten up. He finally tagged Mastiff, who beat up Gallus on his own, including hitting a big German suplex on Mark and an overhead suplex on Joe.

Mastiff hit a Finlay roll with Mark onto Wolfgang. Joe turned things around for a bit, but Mastiff took back over. He hit the somersault senton onto Mark in the corner as The Hunt hit stereo dives to the outside.

Primate hit a top rope splash on Joe, but he wasn’t the legal man. Wolfgang rolled Boar back inside — and Joe hit his rolling lariat for the win.

Next Week —

Mark Andrews faces Kassius Ohno.

NXT UK results: Fatal four-way number one contender’s match

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped April 20, 2019 at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland

Quick results —

The Hunt beat Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone in a short opener. Kay Lee Ray pinned Kasey Owens in another quick match.

The Grizzled Young Veterans announced that they’ll have to defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles at Download Festival.

In a very good fatal four-way match, Travis Banks earned a future title shot at WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER by defeating Jordan Devlin, Joe Coffey, and Dave Mastiff.

Full rundown —

– The show opened with a video hyping up tonight’s number one contender’s fatal four-way match between Jordan Devlin, Dave Mastiff, Joe Coffey and Travis Banks.

The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) defeated Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley after pinning Huxley with stereo diving headbutts (3:41)

The heels dominated early and worked over Wild Boar between some quick tags. Primate finally was in after a hot tag and ran wild with suplexes and strikes. Boar hit a wild senton into the corner on Huxley, then The Hunt won after an assisted back suplex and double diving headbutts off the top rope.

After the match, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang ran out and attacked The Hunt. They threw Wild Boar into the guard rails and Primate into the announce table, then intimidated Vic Joseph for good measure.

– A video on Kay lee Ray aired. It was announced she’d be in action next.

– A graphic announced Ilja Dragunov vs. Joseph Conners for next week.

– Another graphic plugged NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff for August 31.

Kay Lee Ray pinned Kasey Owens after a Gory Bomb (3:58)

KLR worked over Owens’ arm, but Owens countered with a quick roll-up. Owens tried an armbar over the top rope, but KLR kicked her in the back while she was upside down, sending her crashing to ringside.

KLR followed up with a dropkick and some ground and pound. They traded offense back and forth until KLR ducked a running kick, hit a slap, and hit a Gory Bomb for the win.

– A highlight video about Imperium aired. WALTER said Imperium means absolute power.

– A video on the debut of Jazzy Gabert, alongside Jinny aired, including Xia Brookside getting destroyed by Gabert. Backstage, Jinny and Gabert were being interviewed. Jinny said she knew exactly what to do and decided to befriend Gabert once she saw her in the crowd at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. She said Gabert would take care of whoever wanted to get in her way.

– Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness were about to analyze tonight’s main event, but the Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake( entered the arena.

Grizzled Young Veterans in-ring promo

An angry Zack Gibson said they were informed they had to defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles in front of a bunch of sweaty freaks at Download Festival.

Gibson said it was expected that he walk in his custom tailored shoes over a muddy field drenched in bodily fluids while bands like Slipknot butcher music. He said if they’re unhappy, the NXT UK locker room soon would be unhappy and asked “the old man” to sort it out.

– Another NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff video aired, followed by a feature about Tyler Bate in the new issue of Men’s Health UK.

– Imperium (WALTER, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) vs. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) was announced for next week

WWE United Kingdom Championship number one contender’s fatal four-way match: Travis Banks defeated Dave Mastiff, Joe Coffey, and Jordan Devlin when he pinned Devlin after the Kiwi Crusher (12:14)

Banks attacked Devlin right away. As they brawled on the outside, Coffey and Mastiff clashed, eventually also ending up on the outside. They ran into each other, until Banks decided to dive onto Mastiff, but got brushed aside.

Some dives later, all four men were down at ringside. Banks and Devlin ended up back in the ring, but got interrupted by Coffey. Banks ended up taking both men out as they were in opposite corners. Seconds later, Mastiff was back in and hit a number of German suplexes on everyone.

As Coffey recovered, he hit a combined airplane spin and inverted big swing on Banks and Devlin, then took Devlin for another ride on a butterfly swing. Devlin recovered, sent Coffey to the outside, and hit a uranage/standing moonsault combo on Banks. Devlin then disposed of Mastiff as he was trying to get back into the ring. He mocked Gallus, which drew the ire of Joe Coffey.

The other three played a round of Whack-A-Devlin and he was sent to the outside. As the dust settled, Mastiff hit his running senton into the corner onto both Coffey and Banks, prompting Devlin to make the save during the pinfall attempt that followed.

In quick succession, everyone hit big moves on each other, followed by narrow saves. As Mastiff and Coffey took out each other, Banks hit Slice of Heaven and the Kiwi Crusher on Devlin for the win.

Next week —

Imperium faces British Strong Style. Ilja Dragunov takes on Joseph Conners.