The former NXT UK talent has been hired as a writer/producer for the NXT brand. Dennis had been with the company as a wrestler from 2018 until being released with several other members of the NXT UK roster last August.
WWE posted a video to LinkedIn on Wednesday announcing the hiring of several new employees, including Dennis.
Dennis announced his retirement from in-ring competition at RevPro’s Revolution Rumble in London on March 27. During his 15-year in-ring career, Dennis won titles for promotions such as Progress and Attack! Pro Wrestling.
In NXT UK, Dennis was part of the Symbiosis faction along with Primate, Wild Boar, and T-Bone. They feuded with members of Gallus in 2021 but all three of his stablemates ended up turning on Dennis and disbanding the group on the June 9, 2022 episode. His final match with the promotion aired on August 18, 2022, as he teamed with Saxon Huxley and was defeated by Chase U.
A former NXT UK wrestler is stepping away from the ring.
Eddie Dennis retired from in-ring competition at Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Revolution Rumble event in London on Sunday. Dennis said going into the show that he would retire if he didn’t win the Revolution Rumble match.
Michael Oku won the Revolution Rumble. Dennis was eliminated by Connor Mills.
Dennis was released by WWE in August 2022. Most of the NXT UK roster was released at that time, with WWE announcing that NXT UK was ending in its current form and would become NXT Europe.
The 37-year-old Dennis was both a wrestler and a manager in NXT UK. He was part of the Symbiosis faction with Primate and T-Bone.
Dennis, who is from Wales, is a former PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion and Tag Team Champion.
PROGRESS tweeted about Dennis’ retirement: “We didn’t want to believe the news, we didn’t think it could be true. The reality has set in and now we know this is the end. #ThankYouEddie We will forever party hard with your amazing memories from what you created with us at PROGRESS.”
Before becoming a full-time wrestler, Dennis worked as a math teacher. “It was a risk giving up teaching altogether to pursue my dream,” Dennis told the BBC in 2022. “It was pretty terrifying… I had a very much established a life, my fiancee and I had a mortgage. I was leaving that to go and wrestle independently.”
Williams worked over Frazer’s left arm early, but Frazer eventually countered and repaid the favor. Frazer hit a somersault senton that was so fast that he over-rotated and actually landed on the ramp, but he fortunately seemed to be unharmed.
Back in the ring, Williams took out Frazer’s knee and worked it over for a while. Frazer went for a springboard move, but his knee buckled. Frazer then hit a springboard dropkick anyway, using only one leg and scoring a near fall.
They went back and forth some more until Williams, while on the apron, removed the padding off a turnbuckle and pulled Frazer’s head into it. Williams then hit the Headlock Driver for the pinfall victory.
– A video recapped Jordan Devlin’s win over A-Kid from last week and the gruesome submission that Devlin used to score the win.
– Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey went into Sid Scala’s office and agreed to talk privately.
– A video looked at the feud between NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and Amale. Amale said she has been overlooked all her life and it will not happen anymore.
Mark Andrews pinned Lewis Howley to earn Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster a shot at Pretty Deadly’s NXT UK Tag Team titles (9:17)
Howley dominated early, using his size to his advantage. Andrews eventually used his speed to fight back and landed a wheelbarrow bulldog for a near fall. He sent Howley to ringside and then followed with a dive.
Howley rammed Andrews’ shoulder into the ring post and took over from there. Andrews came back with a moonsault block off the top that he turned into a tilt-a-whirl DDT. He followed with an enzuigiri and a destroyer for another near fall.
Andrews had the match won with a springboard hurricanrana, but Howley’s Pretty Deadly partner Sam Stoker distracted the referee. The rest of Subculture then ran out to even the odds. Andrews then hit the Stun Dog Millionaire and a Shooting Star Press for the win.
With Andrews winning, he and Flash Morgan Webster earn a future NXT UK Tag Team title shot against Pretty Deadly.
– Jack Starz received a pep talk from Dave Mastiff at the UK Performance Center. Mastiff said if anybody came to NXT UK and was looking to prove themselves, they had to go through Starz. Mastiff said that was a “hell of a spot to be in.”
– Tyler Bate said that if Mark Coffey wanted a match, all he had to do was ask.
Blair Davenport defeated Laura Di Matteo (03:14)
Davenport (Bea Priestley) moved from England to New Zealand with her parents, then trained there and made her debut at 16. She moved back to England in 2016 and trained more at the PROGRESS “Projo,” also wrestling for PROGRESS, RevPro, Pro Wrestling: EVE, and other groups in the UK.
Priestley also competed for WCPW/Defiant and World of Sport, becoming champion for both groups, but she spent the majority of her time between 2017 and 2021 in Japan, where she was one of the top stars in Stardom. She won a number of different titles there, including the World of Stardom Championship. She also was signed to AEW from 2019 until August 2020, when she could no longer travel to the United States from Japan due to the pandemic.
Priestley also was part of real-life boyfriend Will Ospreay’s United Empire stable in NJPW until being kicked out of the group shortly before severing ties with NJPW and Stardom and moving back to the UK.
Davenport aggressively worked on Di Mateo’s arm and then slammed her. Di Matteo briefly fought back but ate a double foot stomp to the back for her troubles seconds later. Davenport hit a double-jump springboard dropkick, followed by a jumping knee as Di Matteo hung in the ropes. Davenport then hit a V-Trigger for the dominant victory.
After the match, Davenport cut a promo and put the women’s roster on notice.
– A video aired where Jinny talked about Aoife Valkyrie. She said Valkyrie tried to be a mystery but was beaten by Meiko Satomura. And once Valkyrie cracked, Jinny would be able to get into her psyche and destroy her. She called Valkyrie a little girl playing dress-up and told her she would not survive. Jinny’s delivery and choice of words is top-notch.
– Teoman and Rohan Raja sat at a dinner table. Raja thanked Teoman for taking care of him and his family. Teoman said that he was impressed when Raja had not given up in their match. They will face Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith in a tag team match next week, and Teoman said it was Raja’s turn to protect the family. Raja said he would forever be loyal to Teoman.
– On NXT UK in two weeks, NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov will face off in a rematch of their legendary bout from last year. There will be an in-ring press conference with WALTER and Dragunov next week.
Trent Seven defeated Eddie Dennis (11:35)
Seven came right out of the gates with an attack on Dennis, which he kept up until Dennis fled to ringside. Seven immediately wiped Dennis out with a dive, but he ate a lariat by Dennis seconds later. Dennis dominated the next stretch until Seven managed to eventually hit a DDT. Seven hit an Emerald Frosion for a near fall but then missed a twisting senton off the top.
Dennis hit a Severn Bridge on Seven, then hit another one into the turnbuckles. Seven evaded a lariat and hit a snap dragon suplex but fell victim to a lariat by Dennis right after that. They traded strikes until Seven hit the Seven Star Lariat for another very close near fall.
Seven had Dennis up for the Burning Hammer, but Dennis was able to escape. Primate and T-Bone then made their way out as Dennis hoisted Seven on the top. But Dennis ended up receiving a top rope Emerald Frosion from Seven. T-Bone got Dennis’ foot on the rope and then pulled Dennis to ringside. Seven hit a dive on everyone.
Back in the ring, Primate distracted Seven, allowing Dennis to roll-up Seven for a near fall. Seven then hit the Burning Hammer for the win.
Primate and T-Bone then attacked Seven right away. They beat him down until Tyler Bate ran out and made the save. Moustache Mountain cleaned house and then hit an assisted powerbomb on Dennis. Bate pulled a pair of nunchucks from his pants and performed with them. Primate got back into the ring and got hit with the weapon, sending Symbiosis packing for the time being.
Final Thoughts —
A fun show. With a win over Nathan Frazer, it looks like Kenny Williams is getting more of a push than I initially thought. Pretty Deadly vs. Subculture is also fine by me any day of the week.
Blair Davenport looked good in her debut. It will be interesting to see her against some of the more established women on the roster.
The main event was a fun match and will set up a Moustache Mountain vs. Symbiosis match, possibly making room for one more babyface to even the odds down the line.
Next Week —
In-ring press conference with NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov
Teoman & Rohan Raja vs. Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith
In Two Weeks —
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II for the NXT United Kingdom Championship. I repeat — WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II for the NXT United Kingdom Championship~!
Trent Seven is set for action on next week’s NXT UK.
WWE has announced that Seven vs. Eddie Dennis will take place on NXT UK next Thursday. The match was made official following a confrontation between Seven and Dennis on this week’s episode.
Dennis interrupted Seven during a backstage segment where he was speaking to the media on this week’s NXT UK. Dennis listed off matches that Seven has lost and asked him how it feels to always be the bridesmaid but never the bride. Seven then reminded Dennis of when he smashed Dennis’ shoulder into “about 150,000 pieces” when he gave him a Birminghammer off the announce table and through another table in their Steel Corners Street Fight last year.
Dennis defeated Seven when they faced off at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II in January 2020. Seven then defeated Dennis in a Steel Corners Street Fight on NXT UK in February of that year. The Steel Corners Street Fight was a match that had exposed turnbuckles.
Nathan Frazer vs. Kenny Williams has also been announced for next Thursday’s NXT UK. Plus, WWE has set up a match between Lewis Howley and Mark Andrews for the episode. If Andrews wins, Subculture (Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) will get a shot at Pretty Deadly’s (Howley & Sam Stoker) NXT UK Tag Team titles.
Coffey punched Dennis out of the ring and attacked him at ringside. Back in the ring, Dennis escaped through the ropes to stop another barrage by Coffey. Dennis came back with a judo throw and kravate. Coffey eventually escaped with a slam, but missed the Glasgow Sendoff into the corner.
Dennis caught a body press by Coffey and hit a slam for a near fall. They traded strikes and Coffey hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, followed by a running shoulder block and an elbow drop for another two count. Dennis caught Coffey on the turnbuckles, then hit the Severed Bridge for a another close near fall.
Coffey came back with a spinebuster and a Boston Crab. T-Bone and Primate ran in and distracted the referee, but Coffey disposed of them. Gallus ran out to brawl with T-Bone and Primate.
Back in the ring, Coffey hit the double-jump reverse body press, Glasgow Sendoff and All the Best for the Bells to pin Dennis.
Coffey got attacked immediately by Primate and T-Bone, but the rest of Gallus made the save and sent Dennis and his thugs packing.
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Ilja Dragunov sat at a laptop and watched clips of his match with WALTER, getting an incredulous look on his face as the match progressed. He then watched clips of his matches with Jack Starz, Sam Gradwell and others and how he would snap whenever he got chopped in the neck. His eyes grew bigger as he watched, before the screen faded to black.
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Gallus were excited as they came backstage. Joe Coffey encountered Rampage Brown and told him he’d watched him and WALTER and it was tough, as he’d been there himself. He reminded Brown that he had promised him a rematch and told him to give him a call.
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Sam Gradwell defeated “Bomber” Dave Mastiff (04:54)
Mastiff quickly backed Gradwell into the ropes and called him a “Yogurt”. They traded hammerlocks, before Gradwell got smacked in the mouth. Mastiff hit a judo roll over Gradwell, then followed with a fireman’s carry roll. Gradwell came back with a knee strike with his knee brace, hurting Mastiff’s back.
Mastiff eventually hit a running crossbody but couldn’t hit his cannonball senton into the corner because of his injured back.
Gradwell seized the opportunity, impressively hoisted Mastiff on his shoulders and hit a Falcon Arrow for the win.
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Aoife Valkyrie walked through a city at night and talked about this being her opportunity. She will face Meiko Satomura next week.
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A video profiled Emilia McKenzie.
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Jinny (w/Joseph Conners) defeated Dani Luna (04:03)
Dani took Jinny down with a waistlock takedown right away. Jinny slapped her, then escaped through the ropes and attacked Dani from behind when she turned away.
Jinny locked on an Iron Octopus but Luna powered out. Jinny locked it on once more from a seated position, but Luna lifted her up and threw her. Luna hit two consecutive rolling gutwrench suplexes, then followed up with another suplex.
They traded strikes and slaps and Dani followed with a running clothesline. Conners got on the apron, which distracted Luna and allowed Jinny to hit a kick to the knee, rolling Liger kick and pin Dani with a La Magistral cradle.
After the match, Jinny stomped away at Dani and locked her in a modified STF as Conners screamed into her face. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster ran out to make the save.
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Sid Scala was asked about the Amir Jordan-Kenny Williams main event from last week when Jordan stormed in and demanded a rematch.
Scala said that Williams was willing to give him a rematch under no DQ rules, but only under the condition that the loser will leave NXT UK.
Jordan was taken aback, but eventually signed the contract and said that nobody would be taking this away from him.
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A video aired on newcomer Rohan Raja (Tony Gill, the former Gursinder Singh of the Desi Hit Squad in Impact in 2018/19), who said he was 6’1″, British born, Australian raised, Canadian trained (by Lance Storm, nonetheless). He said he would make his NXT UK debut next week against Teoman.
He said Teoman had been making people tap out but that he does not quit and Teoman would have to bring his A game.
Teoman replied to Raja’s promo, saying he would die for his family and protect them with honor, respect and fear. He reiterated that he was the “Babo” (boss) Teoman.
Dar and Bate started the match. Bate had the early advantage with arm drags before Dar managed to tag in Samuels, who wanted Seven. Seven quickly hit a clothesline and leg drop. Bate was back in and hit a somersault senton, then worked over Samuels’ arm before Dar tagged back in.
Bate had Dar up for the airplane spin, but Samuels blind tagged back in and attacked Bate, who eventually tagged Seven. Dar and Samuels quickly tagged in and out and worked over Seven for several minutes. Seven finally hit a DDT and snap dragon suplex on Dar before finally making the hot tag.
Bate ran wild and hit an exploder on Samuels. Bate hit a Seven-assisted power bomb on Samuels and went for a bridging pin, but the referee was distracted and Samuels eventually kicked out. Samuels hit a spinebuster on Bate off a slingshot lariat. Seven and Bate hit subsequent dives on both Dar and Samuels.
Bate then hit a double foot stomp of the top into a Burning Hammer by Seven on Samuels and pinned him.
Final thoughts —
A decent show with a good main event.
Dennis vs. Coffey lead to the inevitable six-men tag, which should be a fun, hard-hitting brawl next week.
Jinny vs. Dani Luna also progressed the storyline and we should get some sort of mixed tag team match out of it soon.
Sam Gradwell picked up his first proper win since returning, and looked good in doing so.
The main event was a small redemption story for Trent Seven, who I still suspect will turn on or challenge Tyler Bate if/when he wins the Heritage Cup from A-Kid.
I like how they had short promos building up next week’s Rohan Raja vs. Teoman match, which felt like watching Superstars or Wrestling Challenge when I was a kid.
Jordan Devlin successfully defended his NXT Cruiserweight championship against Oliver Carter in week 1 of his open challenge series
Noam Dar debuted his Supernova 11 Series talk show; his guests were NXT UK Heritage Cup winner A-Kid and, unexpectedly, a returning Tyler Bate. Dar stirred things up and they ended up agreeing to a Heritage Cup match later tonight
Eddie Dennis and The Hunt pressured Sid Scala into a tag team title match for next week
Isla Dawn beat Xia Brookside after Nina Samuels distracted Xia from the big screen
Saxon Huxley attacked Jack Starz and Levi Muir af the UK Performance Center
A-Kid successfully defended his Heritage Cup championship against Tyler Bate, winning 2-1; Bate scored the first fall with a rollup, A-Kid scored the second fall from a moonsault implant DDT and then turned over a jackknife cover in round 6 for the final pin
Report —
The show opened with Jordan Devlin in the ring as he welcomed us to NXT UK, the show with the real NXT Cruiserweight champion. He kicked off week 1 of the Jordan Devlin’s Cruiserweight Championship Open Challenge. He said every time you saw Jordan Devlin in the ring, the championship was on the line.
Backstage, Ashton Smith was pumping up Oliver Carter and told him to go out there and win for Switzerland (his native country) and Ghana (the country he has his roots in). They came out together but Smith went to the back before the match.
NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Jordan Devlin pinned Oliver Carter to retain the title (06:30)
Devlin beat Carter down, but the challenger came back, showing his athletic prowess with a back flip kick into the corner and arm drags.
Devlin caught Carter’s foot and he went to back flip, but Carter bounced into the ropes and landed right on his neck, which either was a brutal accident or an intricately planned spot. He sold the neck the rest of the match and Devlin worked it over.
Carter came back and even hit a hurricanrana on Devlin, who was on the top rope. Carter hit a uranage, but once more sold his neck and couldn’t follow up on it. He hit an enzuigiri into the corner, but Devlin hit a poison rana, which once more spiked Carter on the neck.
Devlin followed up with Devlinside for the pinfall victory.
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Jinny was interviewed at the UK Performance Center. She was asked about Piper Niven and said that she would deal with Niven on her own time and Niven would not see her coming. But for now, she does not concern herself with Niven and said she tamed wild animals in the past and would do so again.
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Supernova 11 Sessions
Noam Dar hosted the first episode of his new talk segment. The setup was a lounge, complete with a couch and snacks. Dar put himself over, then introduced his guest, the first-ever NXT UK Heritage Cup champion, A-Kid. Dar laid on the couch while A-Kid had to sit on a folding chair.
Dar greeted A-Kid in French, then asked if he spoke English in Spanish. A-Kid said that Dar knew full well he spoke English and in fact, he may speak it better than Dar himself.
A-Kid said after beating Dar in the tournament, he was happy to be here. Dar said he was looking to clear up the misconception that they were rivals and that when A-Kid came to NXT UK, Dar took him under his wing, nurtured him and became his mentor and sensei. A-Kid looked like this was news to him.
Dar even gave him a new name and said after winning the Heritage Cup, he was no longer A-Kid but A-Man. A-Kid told him to stop, that he was in fact not his mentor, sensei or friend. He said a lot of people helped him out, but Dar was not one of them. A-Kid said that no one helped him more than Tyler Bate. Dar ran down Bate and called him a has-been, asking who he ever beat.
At that point, Bate’s music played and he made his return to NXT UK after more than 9 months. Dar played all nice and clapped, but Bate blew him off and congratulated A-Kid on winning the Heritage Cup. He said he wished he could have been in the tournament and Dar immediately picked up on it, asking if what Bate meant to say was that he would have beaten A-Kid. Bate said that’s not what he said and not to put words in his mouth.
Dar said they should have the match tonight and he even would go to Johnny Saint to request it, so that they could find out who was the student and who was the master. Bate and A-Kid agreed to have the match and shook hands on it.
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Eddie Dennis and The Hunt walked into Sid Scala’s office. The Hunt positioned themselves on either side of Scala and growled at him menacingly, then began to throw things off his desk.
Dennis asked about who were the previous tag team champions (Mark Andrews & Fash Morgan Webster) and who beat them last week (The Hunt). He demanded that the Hunt get a title match against Gallus.
Scala, clearly scared, stammered that he had to talk to Johnny Saint about that. Dennis told him to go and do that, then snapped his fingers and left with The Hunt.
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A graphic announced the A-Kid vs. Tyler Bate Heritage Cup match for tonight’s main event
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Isla Dawn pinned Xia Brookside (05:24)
Both women were more aggressive than in the past and had a back and forth match.
They brawled on the outside after a dive by Brookside when a stagehand set down a number of bags and suitcases by the ringside area. Nina Samuels appeared on the screen and told Xia (who beat her a few weeks ago) that “Brooksides are only good for carrying my bags.”
This distracted Xia, who walked right into a head kick by Isla. Dawn followed with a Saito suplex for the win.
**********
Sid Scala was being interviewed about how things were going at the NXT UK Performance Center when Saxon Huxley came crashing out of a room, screaming “Better luck next time!” and smashing some trash cans.
Scala and the camera ran into the room, where Levi Muir and Jack Starz where on the floor after having been attacked by Huxley. They had told Huxley after his last match week that he may have “better luck next time.”
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A graphic announced Gallus defending the NXT UK Tag Team Championships against The Hunt for next week.
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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 2 out of 3 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.
If there is a draw on falls, the match continues under sudden death rules with no time limit.
NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship: A-Kid beat Tyler Bate two falls to one to retain the Cup (16:56)
Bate looked phenomenal and in even better shape then before his pandemic induced break from the ring.
Round 1
The stared out with mat work and traded holds and counters for most of the round. They were locked in a knuckle lock as the round ended.
Round 2
They traded straightjacket holds for half of the round, A-Kid then transitioned into some BJJ in the final minute. luring Bate into his guard. They grappled some more as the round drew to a close.
Round 3
Bate went for an airplane spin early, but A-Kid escaped and hit a snap German. They traded more counters and Bate eventually rolled up A-Kid with an O’Connor roll for the pin at 1:47. (Bate 1-0)
Round 4
A-Kid was more aggressive now and had Bate locked in a triangle, which Bate power-bombed out of right as the round ended.
Round 5
A-Kid hit a springboard moonsault on DDT on Bate to score a pinfall in 1:00 of the round (Tied 1-1)
Round 6
They traded strikes and kicks early. Bate threw A-Kid through the ropes but held on to his leg, then went for a deadlift vertical suplex but A-Kid escaped. Bate went for his springboard lariat but A-Kid caught him and turned it into an armbar and went for a Jim Breaks Special, but Bate eventually escaped. Bate went for a jackknife pin, but A-Kid flipped him over and scored the deciding fall at 2:04 of the round. (A-Kid 2-1)
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Bate shook A-Kid’s hand after the match and raised his hand.
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Next week —
Gallus defend the NXT UK tag team championship against The Hunt.
Taped at York Barbican in York, England on January 17, 2020
Quick results —
Piper Niven pinned Dani Luna in a short match. Luna showed off some of her power.
Tyler Bate defeated A-Kid in a very good but short match. Joseph Conners then came out and berated Bate.
Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter defeated Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley), who are now NXT UK regulars.
Kay Lee Ray came out for a promo and was interrupted by Toni Storm. KLR then challenged Storm to an I Quit match, with the stipulation being that — if Storm loses — she won’t get another title shot as long as KLR is the champion.
Trent Seven got revenge on Eddie Dennis and his TakeOver loss by pinning the Welsh Dragon in a steel corners street fight where all the turnbuckle paddings were removed. This was an insane match with lots of crazy spots that was well worth watching.
Full rundown —
The episode opened with Eddie Dennis and Trent Seven being shown arriving at the arena earlier in the day.
Piper Niven pinned Dani Luna after a Michinoku Driver (4:33)
After she had some matches as a freelance talent on the brand before, Luna recently was signed to NXT UK.
They locked up and Luna actually managed to push Niven, but quickly found herself in a headlock. They smashed into each other. Luna managed to stagger Niven — but she did not go down.
Niven caught Luna off a crossbody, slammed her down, slammed her again, and hit a crossbody of her own on a sitting Luna for a near fall. Niven hit a headbutt that sent Luna to the mat, then sent her into the corner hard. Luna answered a charge by Niven with a kick, then kicked away at her knee.
Luna actually got Niven up on her shoulders, but Niven slipped down and took Luna up on her own shoulders. Luna tried turning the move into a sunset flip, but Niven dragged her up and hit the Michinoku Driver for the win.
– A promo video on Gallus aired. They basically said that the Gallus boys are on top.
– Jordan Devlin was interviewed earlier in the week and said he was the best wrestler under 205 pounds in the world.
Tyler Bate pinned A-Kid after the Tyler Driver ’97 (5:40)
Bate came out to a superstar reaction. They locked up, then A-Kid took Bate down with a waistlock takedown and followed with a headlock takeover. Bate eventually powered out.
They traded wristlocks and athletic escapes, then Bate locked in a side headlock. A-Kid transitioned into a headscissors. Bate escaped with a headstand, but he immediately found himself in the hold again. They traded offense until A-Kid hit a Northern Lights suplex for a two count.
Bate hit an overhead suplex and followed with the running Shooting Star Press, but A-Kid caught him in an armbar. Bate did the Karelin lift and hit the airplane spin, but A-Kid turned it into a sunset flip, then sent Bate to the outside with a dropkick. A-Kid followed with a springboard moonsault to the outside.
Bate caught A-Kid with a dropkick of his own when A-Kid came off the ropes, then hit his rebound lariat and followed with the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win. Bate raised A-Kid’s hand afterwards.
Joseph Conners came out after the match and cut a promo on Bate. Conners said he was there when Bate won the UK title in 2017 and it was success after success for “Mr. TakeOver” while Conners was left on the sidelines. He challenged Bate to face a real man and said he would show everybody how worthy he was.
This was probably one of the best five-and-a-half minute matches of the year and I’d love to see those two go at it again in the future with 10-15 minutes more time.
– Trent Seven was shown preparing for his match backstage.
– A commercial for NXT UK merchandise on WWE Shop aired.
– A recap of last week’s Imperium vs. Dave Mastiff, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews six-man tag aired, focusing on Mastiff and WALTER. They then showed Mastiff rummaging around backstage after last week’s show, screaming for WALTER.
Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter defeated Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) after an electric chair into a neckbreaker (5:44)
Pretty Deadly also are new signees for the NXT UK brand after having had some matches there in the past. If there ever is another Worlds Collide, matching them up against Breezango is a no-brainer.
Smith and Howley started out, with Smith demonstrating his power. Both teams tagged in and out a few times with not a lot happening, then Stoker got the upper hand on Smith.
Smith came back with a double clothesline on both Pretty Deadly members. Pretty Deadly used some dirty teamwork to send Smith into the barricades and continued working him over. Smith made his own comeback and tagged in Carter, who hit clotheslines on both members of Pretty Deadly.
Carter hit a uranage on Howley, but Stoker made the save. Pretty Deadly came back with some double-team work, but Smith eventually escaped and came back with a superkick. One superkick party by Carter and Smith later, Carter hit a backbreaker off an electric chair on Stoker for the win.
After the match, Pretty Deadly turned out to be sore losers and attacked their opponents. They threw Carter out of the ring, then hit a double-team codebreaker on Smith.
– Ilja Dragunov was shown training at the Performance Center when a reporter asked him about Joe Coffey. Dragunov said he was there to help Coffey at TakeOver, but if Coffey says his days are numbered, he better count fast.
Kay Lee Ray in-ring segment
Kay Lee Ray said she proved that she was the best at TakeOver and claimed that she would never lose the NXT UK Women’s Championship. She said she now understood why Toni Storm was so desperate to become the champion again, as she saw all the attention that came with being the champion.
Storm came out and said that KLR stole the title from her. KLR then challenged Storm to an I Quit match. KLR also said that if she wins, Storm would not get another title shot as long as KLR was the champion. Storm accepted the terms.
– A graphic announced an NXT UK Tag Team title match for next week. It will be Gallus vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
– Eddie Dennis was shown backstage preparing for the main event. The referees were then shown removing the turnbuckles before the match.
– An epic video on Aoife Valkyrie running through some mountains aired.
Steel corners street fight: Trent Seven pinned Eddie Dennis after a Birminghammer (11:27)
Seven immediately attacked Dennis. He stopped short of hitting the exposed turnbuckles, slammed Dennis, and hit a leg drop. Dennis fled to ringside and was hit by a dive.
On the outside, Seven hit a chop that would have made WALTER proud, then went to whip Dennis into the steps, but Dennis reversed. Dennis took apart the steps and looked to hit the Severn Bridge on them, but Seven escaped and hit a DDT on the steps instead.
They brawled into the crowd, where Seven sat Dennis down in a chair and hit another chop. Dennis came back with a whip into the barricade, then actually hit the Severn Bridge over the barricade onto the steel steps. Back in the ring, Seven narrowly kicked out of a pinfall.
Dennis escaped getting whipped into the turnbuckle by sliding under the bottom rope. Seven hit a snap suplex outside, then they brawled into the crowd once more. Dennis back body dropped Seven into the announcers area and took apart the announce desk. Dennis shoved Seven into the desk, then took a swig from a water bottle and spit it into Seven’s face.
Dennis went for another Severn Bridge off the announce table, but Seven escaped and hit the Birminghammer off the announce desk and through a table that was set up in front of the desk.
Seven clotheslined Dennis over the barricade back to ringside. He went for a twisting senton off the barricade, but Dennis moved and Seven crashed to the floor. Dennis then pulled Seven’s mouth into the steel turnbuckle from the other side of the ring post. Dennis smashed Seven’s forehead into the exposed steel.
Dennis went for the Next Stop Driver, but Seven escaped. Seven repeatedly whipped Dennis into the exposed steel, then hit the Birminghammer for the victory.
Next week —
Gallus will defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles against Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
Episode 22 (taped November 25, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)
Quick recap:
Toni Storm beat Deonna Purrazzo in a good opener, gearing up for her upcoming championship match against Rhea Ripley. The champ came out afterwards to stare Toni down. Wild Boar beat Josh Morrell in a short match. Eddie Dennis and Dave Mastiff brawled to a double DQ, so Johnny Saint booked them in a No-DQ match for the upcoming NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
In the main event segment, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey signed the contract for their upcoming match at TakeOver. After “talking to much” (according to Pete Dunne), Coffey got his fingers snapped but had the last laugh as he power bombed Dunne through the table in the ring and posed with the championship. All six members of British Strong Style and Gallus will meet next week, leading up to TakeOver.
Full rundown:
Toni Storm beat Deonna Purrazzo in 9:25 after Storm Zero
Toni took Donna down and locked in a guillotine, followed by a waist lock and Toni was victorious in a battle of hold and counter holds, then offered her hand to Deonna. Deonna then managed to escape head scissors by Toni via a headstand and refused to shake Toni’s hand afterwards. Toni hit a spin kick, followed by a running basement dropkick for a quick two count.
Toni locked in a combo STF/chin lock but Deonna made the ropes. Toni missed her running hip attack and Deonna started working over Toni’s left arm. Deonna eventually hit an STO and locked in a Koji Clutch, but Toni managed to turn it into a pinning combination. Toni eventually managed to stop Deonna’s momentum with a backstabber, but Purrazzo managed to stop a Storm Zero attempt, but got flattened after a head butt.
Deonna escaped Storm Zero once more, hit a back flip followed by a drop kick and locked in the Fujiwara arm bar until Toni finally managed to reach the ropes with her legs. They had a battle of chops and forearms until Toni managed to escape another Fujiwara arm bar attempt, hit a release German suplex and Storm Zero for the win.
Rhea Ripley came out after the match, got on the apron, stared Toni down and held the NXT UK Women’s Championship right in front of her.
A short video on WIld Boar aired.
Radzi interviewed Sid Scala and Johnny Saint about the other bracket of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Scala announced the semi-final match of Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Zack Gibson & James Drake for next week.
“Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman beat “Turbo” Josh Morrell in 3:04 after a frog splash
Morrell showed some athleticism early on, but Board countered with sheer craziness and took over, launching his own body all over the ring and into his opponent. Morrell managed to hit a sunset flip from the top rope but quickly got his momentum taken away as Boar hit a fireman’s carry into the corner, followed by a flying inverted senton and frog splash for the victory.
A Jospeh Conners video aired, talking about how there is no “we” in NXT UK, only himself. He vowed to break all the “shiny new toys” of the brand.
Travis Banks cut a backstage promo, saying that he loved his country as much as Jordan Devlin loved his.
Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner confronted Sid Scala backstage and demanded to be put in the NXT UK Tag Team Championship semi-finals match instead of Andrews & Webster. Scala told them they had just arrived and if the got involved in the match next week, they would be out of NXT UK as quickly as they had come in.
Eddie Dennis vs. “Bomber” Dave Mastiff went to a double DQ in 4:20
Dennis charged in with punches and whipped Mastiff into the corner numerous times. He followed with a number of kicks and stomps, until he charged right into Mastiff’s elbow. Mastiff wiped Dennis out with a running cross body, followed by a big dropkick after some pulling and pushing. Mastiff hit a few big elbows to the side of Dennis’ head. Dennis escaped to the outside and attacked Mastiff as he followed.
Dennis had Mastiff up for his splash mountain drop but Dennis escaped and hit a rolling fireman’s carry on the outside, but smashed into the ring steps as Dennis moved out of the way of his charge. Both men made it just back into the ring at the count of 9. Back inside, the two big men went at it with punches and would not stop so the referee disqualified them both.
After a brief shock, the two behemoths kept going at it until a number of referees and Sid Scala tried breaking them up with little success. Johnny Saint finally came out and made a no disqualification match between them for NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
A recap of last episode’s tag team main event of Moustache Mountain vs. Gallus with Joe Coffey and Pete Dunne getting involved aired; a match between all six members of Gallus and British Strong Style will take place next week.
Contract signing between Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey
Johnny Saint and Sid Scala were in the ring for the contract signing between WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey. Scala called out Coffey first, followed by the champ, who came out to a big ovation. Scala wanted them to sit down but neither man would oblige. Coffey finally took the mic and they both slowly sat down.
Coffey said that there would be a change of the guard in NXT UK. Coffey asked Johnny and Scala to back off, because he wanted a moment with Dunne. He said that the NXT UK brand was his and the title would soon be his too. He said Dunne was champion for too long and that he only still had the title because he had not been here before. He said now was the time to claim his throne.
Coffey signed the contract but as he was done, Dunne grabbed his fingers and broke them. He said Coffey talked too much and he would see him at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. The rest of Gallus came out and Coffey used the distraction to hit Dunne in the throat and power bombed him through the table, then picked up the WWE UK Championship and posed with it in the ring as his music played and the show went off the air.
Next week:
Zack Gibson & James Drake battle Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in the second semi-final for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Also, British Strong Style will meet Gallus just days before NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
Episode 20 (taped November 24, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)
Quick recap —
James Drake & Zack Gibson beat beat “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman & Primate in a fun opener. Eddie Dennis destroyed Dave mastiff’s opponent before the match could start, sending a message to his rival. Marcel Barthel made his NXT UK debut and looked tremendous against Mark Andrews. Rhea Ripley defended her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Deonna Purrazzo in an excellent main event; when she attacked Purrazzo after the bell, Toni Storm came out for the save.
Full rundown —
We kicked the show off with a split screen, showing Rhea Ripley and Deonna Purrazzo preparing for their match backstage
James Drake & Zack Gibson beat “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman & Primate in 4:55 after hitting Ticket to Ride on Hitchman
Primate, who also wrestles as Jason Prime is a former six year veteran of the British Army, and served in the household cavalry for the Royal Family. He chose his ring name because his father, who passed on since, used to say that wrestlers in the ring looked like gorillas. He started in 2014 and was trained by Rampage Brown. He wrestled mostly for Defiant/WCPW, but also other groups such as ICW and PROGRESS among others. He is a former Defaint/WCPW Hardcore and tag team champion.
Gibson and Hitchman started out. There were light Gibson chants. Hitchman escaped from a wrist lock and took over with an arm lock but got thrown on his head. Drake came in but was hit by a senton by Hitchman, who tagged in Primate. Primate hit a clothesline in the corner. Gibson blind-tagged Drake and threw Primate to the outside, then picked him up and Drake launched himself onto Primate over the top to the outside. Gibson locked in his sitting cobra clutch, then tagged Drake who struck him down with a forearm.
They worked over Primate for a while until he managed to throw Gibson over the top and suplex Drake to make the quick tag. “Wild Boar” ran wild for a bit, including a senton on Drake and a pop-up power bomb. Hitchman missed a senton into the corner when Gibson pulled Drake out of the way. They hit Ticket to Ride, their finish where Drake throws the opponent into Gibson’s codebreaker for the win.
Afterwards, Gibson cut a promo in the ring to a mix of boos and light chants. He said the NXT UK tag team titles were right around the corner and he knew a thing or two about winning tournaments. He said he loved his city but he absolutely hated the people of Liverpool. He said not to blame this on him, as the fans turned on him as soon as he got some success. He was the only one to represent Liverpool as no body else in the arena could. He said they were the top tag team in the world, soon to be recognized as the NXT UK Tag Team champions.
A graphic announced Marcel Barthel vs. Mark Andrews; this was followed by a WrestleMania commercial
Moustache Mountain were interviewed backstage about their match with Gallus next week and NXT TakeOver in Blackpool. They said they would become the first-ever NXT UK Tag Team champions.
Dave Mastiff vs. Josh Morrell never got started
Morrell is also known as “Turbo” Josh Terry and previously wrestled Lio Rush on 205 Live. He was trained by current NXT assistant coach Johnny Moss and made his debut at just 16 years old and wrestled for Discovery Wrestling and target Wrestling among others.
Mastiff came out first, followed by Morrell, who immediately got attacked by Eddie Dennis and slammed into the lights on the entrance ramp. mastiff was furious in the ring but the referee held him back. Dennis smiled and went backstage.
Joseph Conners was in a video segment, talking about how there was a mod, a time traveler and a luchador in NXT UK and how they were all just new, shiny toys. He knew how that felt like, because two years ago, he was just one of these news toys as well before he got bad, scratched and discarded. So if he can’t be any of these toys, he’d make sure they would be as bad and scratched as he was.
Marcel Barthel beat Mark Andrews in 9:48 after hitting the Landungsbrücken
Marcel Barthel, 28, is a second-generation wrestler from Germany and the son of legendary German wrestler Axel Dieter, who wrestled all over Europe from 1955 to 1987 and passed away in 2015 at the age of 81. He joined NXT in mid-2017 and has been a regular on their Florida house show loop and also appeared a few times on NXT television.
They locked up and Barthel took him down immediately with a wrist lock. Barthel continued to school Andrews on the mat, locking in a hammerlock. Andrews from the bottom got Barthel into a headlock while still in the move, but Barthel did a head stand into a neck bridge to escape. Andrews eventually managed to escape and hit a few arm drags and a hurricanrana. Barthel came back with a punch to the gut and showed his striking prowess, being a former boxer.
Barthel caught Andrews on a whip, picked him up on an roundabout slam onto his face, then followed up with a knee to the face for a two-count. Barthel locked in a head lock on the mat, transitioning into a chin lock. Andrews escaped, but got his head slammed into the mat for his troubles. Barthel hung Andrews face-down off the second rope then hit a baseball slide right to Andrews’ face, then stopped for a Ringkampf pose on the second rope. Andrews hit a few strikes, but ate a running European uppercut into the corner in return. Barthel locked in a head-and-arm submission and screamed “Nein!” as Andrews tried to escape. Andrews eventually tried to roll through for a two-count.
Andrews followed up with a few chops, slid under a clothesline and hit an enzuigiri that put Barthel down. He followed with double knees into the corner, a roll through and Stomp 182, then tried for a standing moonsault, but Barthel again screamed “Nein!” and rolled out of the ring. Barthel avoided a plancha but Andrews finally hit a somersault body block off the ring steps. As Andrews rolled Barthel back into the ring, Fabian Aichner came out and distracted him, leading to Barthel cradling Andrews once he was back inside for a near-fall.
Barthel went for another European uppercut in the corner but Andrews got up for an enzuigiri. Barthel then hit a slam for another near-fall. Barthel went for a suplex but Andrews turned it into Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went up for the shooting star press, but Barthel rolled out of the way and Andrews landed on his knees. As Andrews hit another enzuigiri from the apron and went for a springboard, Barthel pushed him off the rope to the outside. Aichner at the point hit a running knee on Andrews against the barricade.
Barthel then hit a modified “Landungsbrücken” (fisherman release belly-to-back suplex; the original ends with him bridging) for the victory. Aichner got into the ring after the match and he and Barthel shook hands.
In a WWE.com exclusive, Mark Andrews said that he didn’t lose to Marcel Barthel but to Barthel and Fabian Aichner and is sick and tired of Aichner constantly interfering in his matches
A video on Toni Storm aired, focusing on her Mae Young Classic victory and her then demanding an NXT UK Women’s title match during the last episode; she talked about moving to the UK to get better opportunities and the UK meant everything to her
WWE NXT UK Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley (c) defeats Deonna Purrazzo in 11:22 after Riptide
Deonna Purrazzo started out in 2013 and was trained by Rip Rogers and the D2W Wrestling Academy. She appeared on NXT TV as early as 2015 and was part of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. She also wrestled for Ring of Honor, Stardom, Impact, SHIMMER, WSU, RISE, RevPro, GCW and numerous others and held some indy women’s titles.
Rhea Ripley’s previous theme song Final Straw seems to have been replaced by a new one called Brutality, which can’t hold a candle to the old one.
Purrazzo started ff string with a running boot to the head and a head scissors take down, then began to work over Ripley’s arm. Rhea came back with hard forearm strikes, but Deonna got a two-count with a poor woman’s version of a La Magistral cradle. She followed this up with a dropkick to the hip of Ripley which sent the champ to the outside. As she followed, she ended up on Ripley’s shoulders and got her face planted on the apron, then got thrown into the barricade.
Ripley got her opponent down to the match with strikes and kicks, then posed with on foot on top of her fallen opponent, before picking her up for a vertical delayed suplex and another two-count. She locked on body scissors and continued to taunt Purrazzo. Deonna briefly managed to transition into a pin but only got a one-count, before eventually managing to pry Rhea’s legs apart and escape the hold. Rhea followed that with some ground and pound. Purrazzo went for a sunset flip but Rhea rolled through, stomped her in the chest and locked in her reverse Clover Leaf.
Deonna eventually reached the ropes, then managed to evade a clothesline into the corner and pull Rhea’s leg out for a quick pin. Ripley came back with a drop kick to the head and Purrazzo rolled gto ringside while Ripley posed in the ring. Ripley went for a suplex but Purrazzo escaped to the apron mid-move, then hit a kick and a somersault plancha. Purrazzo hit an STO and transitioned into a Koji clutch right away. Ripley tried to escape and managed to turn the hold into a pin, forcing Purrazzo to release the hold.
They traded strikes and chops until Ripley managed to throw Purrazzo on her face off a whip-in. Ripley put her up on the top for a superplex but Purrazzo held on and tried going for a sunset bomb, but this time Ripley held on to the rop ropes. She tried punching down onto Deonna who moved and used Rhea hurting her hand and releasing her grip into a German suplex off the middle turnbuckle, leading to both women being down. Purrazzo kept hitting strikes, then followed with a takeover STO for a near-fall. Purrazzo went crazy on Ripley in the corner, but her aggression was out of control as Ripley managed to pull her head-first into the turnbuckle. She followed up with Riptide for the win.
As Purrazzo got up, Ripley hit her with a kick to the face, then managed to beat her down in the corner until Toni Storm came out to make the safe, sending Rhea packing. Rhea posed with her title on the ramp as Toni stared her down from the ring. Toni and Deonna bumped fists as the show went off the air.
In a WWE.com exclusive interview, Radzi asked Rhea Ripley is she was concerned about Toni Storm. She said he should ask Toni is she was concerned about her, then asked “How dare you?” and sprayed water in his face
Next week:
Moustache Mountain face Gallus in the semi-finals of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament.
Episode 16 (taped October 14 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)
Quick recap:
The two undefeated monsters of NXT UK clashed, as Dave Mastiff met Eddie Dennis in the main event, with the Bomber reigning victorious in a fun hoss fight. Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) were victorious over Ashton Smith & Ligero in a quest to qualify for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship Tournament. Jinny managed to beat Xia Brookside, while Joseph Conners squashed Jack Starz in a quick match. Rhe Ripley will make her first NXT UK Women’s Championship defense next week, facing the “White Witch of NXT UK”, Isla Dawn.
Full rundown:
– The show opened up with a split screen of Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis warming up for their match backstage, while Vic and Nigel talked about the main event
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) beat Ashton Smith & Ligero in 5:37 when Coffey pinned Smith after an enzuigiri
Ligero and Wolfgang started out, and the Leeds Luchador frustrated the bigger man with a spin kick and a drop kick but got caught on a body press attempt. He quickly tagged out to Smith and both men hit a double drop kick on Wolfgang. Ligero got himself caught on a spinning DDT attempt but managed to escape until Mark Coffey distracted him and a forearm to the back of the head sent him to ringside.
The heels worked Ligero over until he managed to throw Wolfgang out of the ring and made the hot tag to Smith. Smith ran wild for a bit and hit a springboard back elbow on Coffey, but Wolfgang eventually pulled him out of the ring. Ligero then hit a somersault senton to the outside onto Wolfgang, jumping over Smith who was hanging in the ropes.
Back in the ring, Smith tried and O’Connor Roll on Coffey but he managed to kick out, hit a double hammer to the chest followed by an enzuigiri for the win.
– We took a look back at Isla Dawn challenging Rhea Ripley last episode. Both women were backstage with Johnny Saint and Sid Scala, who announced the match for next week. The women had a stare down, with Rhea saying “See you next week” and walked off
– A graphic announced Joseph Conners to be in action next, followed by a TLC promo.
– Radzi was backstage with Gallus after their match. They said that they set a standard and were the team to beat. Joe Coffey said that he was concerned with Pete Dunne and was going to rip the WWE UK Championship from his mouth. But first, he would meet Travis Banks and squash him like a bug.
Joseph Conners beat Jack Starz in 2:16 with Don’t Look Down
This was basically a squash. Starz refers to him as the Self Made Machine, but Conners wasn’t impressed, grabbed his ear and yanked him down to the mat. He sent Starz into the ropes and hit a backbreaker as Starz came bouncing back. Conners worked him over, went to ringside and pounded on Starz who was on the apron.
Starz got a brief hope spot in and hit some European uppercuts, but that was ended quickly. Conners then hit a sunset bomb into the corner and followed up with Don’t Look Down fpr the quick win.
– Radzi was backstage with Xia Brookside, who said while she may not be the most experienced wrestler in NXT UK, Jinny better get read to “fly with Brookside”. Jinny then turned up, looked at Xia, turned away with a disgusted look on her face and walked off.
– There was a commercial for the Royal Rumble Axxess shows; no word on if any NXT or NXT UK talent would be on those events.
– A video package for Saxon Huxley and Tyson T-Bone aired, where Huxley said that T-Bone was violent, destructive and almost as twisted as he was. He also talked about his shadow being rooted in hell, channeling his best inner Undertaker from the 1990s. T-Bone and Huxley concluded that they would be the NXT UK tag team champions.
Jinny beat Xia Brookside in 4:13 after hitting her with A Touch of Couture
Xia wanted to shake Jinny’s hand, but she kicked it away. Xia went for a headlock and took her down, but Jinny quickly locked on a head vice with her legs, from which Xia escaped via head stand. Jinny kept working Xia’s arm, but Xia came back and eventually hit a huracanrana from the corner, followed by a dropkick and a cross body from the second turnbuckle.
Jinny came back with the Fashion Disaster, which is her STO into the corner. Jinny went to bend Xia’s arms backwards, working over her back until Xia managed to roll through on the move and escape. She hit a chin breaker, followed by a bulldog and a head scissors takedown.
As Jinny was propped up in the corner, Xia hit a running double knee to the back of the head and went for a surfboard variant, but her back gave out and Jinny rolled through on the move, sending Xia into the ropes. As she got back up, Jinny hit A Touch of Couture, her rolling kick, for the win.
– A Dave Mastiff video package aired, and a graphic announced Mastiff vs. Eddie Dennis next, followed by a WWE Custom Tees ad.
– Zack Gibson and James Drake came out for a short in-ring promo. Gibson said that people got a tiny glimpse of what they could do when they beat Jordan and Williams and that they would soon be recognized as the NXT UK tag team champions.
– An Eddie Dennis video package aired, where he said that NXT UK meant everything to him as he could apply his trade here; this was followed by a WWE Network commercial.
– A graphic announced Rhea Ripley defending against Isla Dawn next week.
“Bomber” Dave Mastiff beat Eddie Dennis in 11:47 after a cannonball into the corner
Mastiff pushed him into the corner early. Dennis tried for some shoulder blocks, but Mastiff wouldn’t budge. Dennis tried some striking but was stopped by a drop kick by the big man. Mastiff trapped Dennis’ arms and rained down some elbows on his jaw. Dennis was back on offense a little later but got mowed down by a running cross body block by Mastiff.
Mastiff missed a senton, allowing Dennis to recover, hot a running boot, followed by a kick to the jaw that sent “the Bomber” to ringside. Dennis kicked him off the apron as he tried to re-enter the ring, but a second kick showed no effect, so Dennis slid out of the ring and pulled Mastiff off the ring.
When they came back to the ring, Dennis applied a cravat but Mastiff eventually powered out, hit a head butt and eventually a big superplex. After exchanging some more strikes, Mastiff hit a Finlay roll and a senton for a near fall. Mastiff stepped things up with a bridging German suplex for another close two count.
Mastiff tried to hit the cannonball into the corner, but Dennis got up, caught him in mid-air and hit a black hole slam for a near fall. He tried to get the big guy up for his Severed Bridge into the corner, but Mastiff back body dropped out of it. Dennis was on the apron and put his upper body through the ropes, but Mastiff pulled him back into the ring and into the ropes.
Mastiff set Dennis up for another superplex attempt, but he escaped and got Mastiff up for the Severed Bridge. Mastiff escaped the move. A hard clothesline by Dennis led to another near-fall. Mastiff cut him off, hit a snap mare followed by a head butt, a release German suplex and eventually the cannonball senton into the corner to end Eddie Dennis’ undefeated streak and pick up the win.
Next week:
Rhea Ripley will defend the NXT UK Women’s championship against Isla Dawn and more tag teams will be in action.
Episode twelve (taped October 13 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)
Quick recap
Fabian Aichner made his NXT UK debut, defeating Mark Andrews and looking good in the process. Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in a quick match, while Edie Dennis basically squashed Tucker. Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in a good main event match.
Also, Travis Banks returned from injury to confront Gallus, the new official name for the group of Wolfgang and the Coffey Brothers. In other news, Sid Scala officially was appointed assistant to NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint.
Full rundown
The show opened with a graphic about Tom “Dynamite Kid” Billington passing away. A scrolling message at the bottom of the screen also wished his family, friends and fans the best.
This was the first show from the third set of NXT UK tapings and saw a number of debuts and returns, the first of which happened in the first segment. Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang came out and Joe Coffey cut a promo in the ring. He said people had been calling them “ruthless”, then asked his brother for what other word they had been called. “Devious”, was the answer.
He asked Wolfgang for another term. “Underhanded”, was what Wolfgang told him. He said that this was absolutely right, he said that this was their kingdom and that they would be known as Gallus, which, according to Wikipedia means is a Lowland Scottish word for self-confident, daring, cheeky or stylish, impressive,
He said that this was their kingdom now and that there was no such thing as Big Strong Bois anymore. At that point, Travis banks came out and stood in the aisle. Joe Coffey asked him how he felt and that they had put him on the shelf. he dared Banks to get in the ring, noting that there were three of them and just one of him.
He then told him they could go one on one. Banks stormed the ring, but as he took Joe down, the rest of Gallus interfered and beat him down. Moustache Mountain ran out to make the save, sending the heels packing.
Nigel and Vic were in studio, talking about the last segment and then threw it to a backstage interview where Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Fabian Aichner, who made his debut here. He said that there were some of the best competitors in the world here and he was looking forward to mix it up with them, just as he had done in NXT.
A graphic informed us that Aichner would do battle with Mark Andrews next.
A TLC promo aired.
Radzi was back with Jordan Devlin. Devlin asked if he had seen how far he had pushed Pete Dunne in his own home town and that he was confident another title opportunity would not be too far away for him.
He said that he was the Irish Ace and he looked at the NXT UK roster like a deck of cards and when he shuffles that deck and pulls out Flash Morgan Webster, he sees the Joker. He threatened to rip off Webster’s anorak, throw his helmet in the fifth row and said that the Ace always trumps the Heart. (which makes basically no sense in any kind of card game, but I digress)
Fabian Aichner beat Mark Andrews in 9:19 after a spinning sit-out power bomb
Aichner of course is the current EVOLVE world champion. He hails from South Tyrol which is a German speaking autonomous province in northern Italy, which originally belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian empire (there, you learned something). He started in 2011 and trained in Germany with former WCW “Wunderkind” Alex Wright and his English father, Steve Wright.
Aichner and Andrews shook hands for the start of the match. After some back and forth, Aichner showed his power by easily gorilla pressing Andrews, but Andrews reversed out of the move. He tried his somersault over the top rope from the apron, but Aichner once more caught him in mid-move, even though Andrews managed to turn the move into a lucha arm drag and followed with a huracanrana. Andrews followed this up with a topé.
Back in the ring, Aichner stopped Andrews, threw him high into the air and caught him for a backbreaker, which looked impressive. Nigel talked about Aichner’s trainer Steve Wright once wrestling Tiger Mask, in a similar display of strength and technique versus high flying. Andrews hit a standing corkscrew senton for a near-fall and turned a power bomb attempt into a huracanrana.
He once more tried his somersault over the roped but this time it ended in a hard face slam for him. Aichner turned him inside out with a clothesline and went for a brain buster which got turned into the Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went up top but Aichner caught him mid-air and gave him a brain buster for a near fall.
Aichner then showed his athleticism with a spring board moonsault which missed. Andrews went for a moonsault of his own which got caught, but managed to turn it into a tornado DDT for a near fall of his own. He tried for a shooting star press but impressively managed to land on his feet as Aichner rolled to ringside.
Aichner pulled Andrews out and drove him into the steps, then followed with a running knee into the steel for good measure. This was a turning point, as Aichner supposedly embraced the dark side here. Andrews managed to get back in at 9 but got caught in a spinning sit-out power bomb for the pin.
This was a very good match and a great NXT UK debut for Aichner.
Vic and Nigel talked about the NXT UK Women’s championship tournament, which concluded last week.
A promo looked at Isla Dawn, the White Witch of NXT UK. She went by some ancient buildings and talked about her powers. A graphic announced Isla Dawn would meet Nina Samuels next.
A commercial for the AJ Styles WE 365 documentary aired.
Radzi was with Johnny Saint, asking him how he handled all the chaos going on in NXT UK right now. Johnny said that he knew he needed some help, so he had appointed Sid Scala as his assistant. At that point, Rhea Ripley walked up to them and towered over Scala.
She said they should be talking about her and find her some competition. Scala assured her that they were looking into it. Rhea at that point pinched him in the cheeks and mockingly stated tha the little assistant would be finding her an opponent. She walked off and told Johnny that she didn’t think much of his hired help.
Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in 3:20 after a gutwrench powerslam
They locked up and Isla managed to pull out of a head lock. Samuels took over with a chin lock and we were told that she had run the London marathon four times, so she had stamina. That was of little use, as Isla moved out of the way of a charging Samuels and hit some kickboxing kicks, a back drop driver and eventually her gut-wrench power slam for the quick win.
Some Eddie Dennis highlights aired and we were told that he would be in action against Tucker next
A WWE Shop commercial featuring the New Day aired; apparently there is a Book of Booty-Os. Sounds thrilling!
We saw highlights from last week’s tournament final between Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm. Toni talked about the crucial moment when her back got hurt off a spot of being thrown onto the edge of the apron (originally there was fear she would be out for a while with a back injury). She said that while Rhea was the first NXT UK Women’s champion, she herself would be the best champion and the the injury just made her stronger.
Eddie Dennis beat Tucker with the Next Stop Driver in 2:27
Denis was in control from the start with punches and hard whips. He hit his Black Hole Slam into a backbreaker on his knee, then locked Tucker in a cravat. Tucker briefly managed to come back with a back elbow from the second turnbuckle and a clothesline in the corner, but Dennis took his head off with a hard clothesline.
He hit the Severed Bridge into the corner and ended the match with the Next Stop Driver.
We were informed that Jordan Devlin would be in action next
A WWE Network promo aired
Johnny Saint announced via Twitter that Travis Banks would have a chance for retaliation against Gallus next week when he gets to face Wolfgang
Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in 12:04 after Ireland’s Call
Webster early on flipped out of some arm locks and they traded counters back and forth. Devlin eventually took over and kicked Webster into the corner. He hit his uranage/standing moonsault combination and taunted Webster. He picked the smaller man up and hit a backbreaker on his own shoulder, which looked impressive.
After a near fall, he locked in a sitting abdominal stretch. He threw Webster to ringside and smashed him into the apron before rolling him back inside. He taunted Webster some more and answered Webster’s comeback with a face rake. he screamed that Webster didn’t belong on his level nor into his ring.
Webster his the Modern Knee and consecutive dropkicks, followed by an enzuigiri into the corner and followed up with a huracanrana off the top rope. Devlin then did his pull-up by the arms into a backdrop driver spot, which always looks cool. Webster came back with a head-butt that sent Devlin to the outside. Webster followed him with a baseball slide and managed to avoid getting rammed into the steps and hit the Rude Boy Block off the steps on the outside.
He went for a somersault senton but Devlin got his kneed up and eventually landed Ireland’s Call for the victory.
Episode eleven (taped August 26 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Quick recap
Pete Dunne successfully defended his WWE UK championship against Jordan Devlin in an outstanding main event, as both men delivered and had a great match. In women’s tag team action, the young up-and-comers Xia Brookside & Millie McKenzie beat the debuting Charlie Morgan & Killer Kelly in a fun match. Eddie Dennis kept his undefeated streak, beating Ashton Smith in another fun match. Joseph Conners beat former tag team partner Saxon Huxley in a slobber knocker mean guy match. All in all an entertaining episode.
Full rundown
Show opened to a graphic promoting the NXT UK women’s title finals next week, when Toni Storm meets Rhea Ripley. Another graphic informed us that Pete Dunne would defend his WWE UK title against Jordan Devlin tonight.
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Xia Brookside & Millie McKenzie beat Charlie Morgan & Killer Kelly in 5:13 when Xia pinned Morgan with a bridging pin
Charlie Morgan, who was trained by Danny Collins and the Knight wrestling family (Paige, her brothers and parents), started out in 2011. She wrestled for all the major UK women’s promotions, such as WAW, Bellatrix and Pro Wrestling: EVE. She also performed for PROGRESS, RevPro and Southside Wrestling Entertainment among others and is a former Bellatrix and EVE champion. She is openly gay and had her coming out at a Pro-Wrestling EVE show in 2017. She also was born prematurely at only 28 weeks old.
Morgan and Xia started out and Xia took her down with a top wrist lock. After some back and forth, Morgan escaped with an impressive headstand. Xia hit a huracanrana and a drop kick and tagged McKenzie, who came in with a swinging neck breaker. Kelly managed to tag in but also quickly got locked in a Fujiwara arm-bar style submission which looked like Millie almost ripped her shoulder out of the socket.
Kelly came back with a surfboard attempt that ended with Millie’s face firmly getting planted in the mat after a hard stomp to the back of the head. Millie eventually came back with a release German suplex, after which both women tagged out. Xia hit a chin breaker and double knees into the corner on Morgan.
She went to the top, but Kelly pulled her off. Meanwhile Millie came in and hit a hard spear on Charlie Morgan, who then got pinned by Xia using a bridging pin.
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We saw Pete Dunne backstage, preparing for his upcoming match.
There was a graphic for Eddie Dennis vs. Ashton Smith, followed by a TLC promo.
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Eddie Dennis beat Ashton Smith in 6:00 after the Neck Stop Driver
This match had been built up for a few weeks, with Dennis telling Smith to watch his debut match and Smith then interrupting Dennis’ backstage interview.
Dennis took Smith down early, but Smith escape and locked in a head lock for a bit. He flipped out of a back suplex attempt, did a leap frog over the much taller Dennis, hit a drop kick that rocked the bigger man and finally a leg lariat that briefly took him down and to ringside. Smith tried a dive as a follow-up, but Dennis caught him mid-move and gave him a black hole slam on the apron.
Back in the ring, Dennis used his judo background and threw Smith, then locked in a cravat and held it for quite a while. Smith finally escaped and hit a springboard dropkick on Dennis who was on the apron. A somersault plancha connected and back in the ring, Smith hit a leg lariat from the top for a near-fall.
He then hit a drop kick on Dennis, who was sitting on the top rope, but failed a superplex attempt as Dennis slipped beneath him and picked him up for the Severed Bridge, a Razor’s Edge style buckle bomb. He followed that his the Neck Stop Driver for the win.
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We took a look back at Joseph Conners turning on Saxon Huxley last week and were informed that this match was next. Also, a WWE Shop commercial aired.
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Joseph Conners pinned Saxon Huxley in 5:16
These two had a mean guy match, right out of a Vinny V dream sequence. The first 90 seconds or so were just punches and kicks, as Huxley tore into Conners with punches and Conners came back with body shots. Huxley got whipped into the corner, but stormed right back out with a shoulder block. Conners came back with a clothesline and more punches, then draped Huxley over the ropes in the corner and rained down some more punches on him. Huxley came back with a knee lift and a dropkick.
Conners escaped an over-the-shoulder power bomb attempt and hit some more. you guessed it, punches. Huxley briefly got the upper hand with a clothesline but Conners hit a nice sit-out spine buster for another near fall. He grabbed Huxley by the hair and screamed “this is my world, you are just visiting” at him, before finishing him off with a kind of reverse-spinebuster-face slam type of move.
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Nigel and Vic were in studio as we got a Toni Storm video with sit-down segments and in-ring highlights, including her winning the Mae Young Classic this year. She said that she always had felt pressure, but if you wanted to be a history maker that’s what it took. Her whole life led up to this point and that this was not something she wanted but she needed.
She said that she was going to be the first NXT UK Women’s champion, after nine years of hard work and sacrifices. She concluded by saying that it was Toni Time.
We saw Jordan Devlin prepare backstage, followed by a WWE 2K19 commercial.
Next, we took a look at Rhea Ripley. She came to the UK to rip the women’s division apart, and that Toni would just be another victim. Toni’s last step was Rhea Ripley, her name was going to be on the NXT UK Women’s title. She will be the first champion and this is where it all ends.
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WWE UK Championship: Pete Dunne (c) submitted Jordan Devlin in 15:07
They locked up right away and Dunne immediately took him down with an arm bar and kept working the arm, but Devlin head scissored his way out amd slapped Dunne, prompting and immediate slap back from Dunne. Dunne tried stomping Devlin’s elbow and forearm, but Devlin rolled out of the way. A monkey flip by Dunne sent Devlin flying. then the champ followed with a hard forearm and an even stiffer lariat.
Dunne worked over Devlin’s arm and when to manipulate his fingers as well. Dunne tried his backflip off the turnbuckle on a whip but Devlin caught him and gave him a back stabber for a two count, which established Dunne’s lower back being hurt. Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault combo for a two count.
Dunne came back with a running enzuigiri into the corner, after successfully completing his backflip this time around. Dunne went for a German but got countered and Devlin hit a German of his own, which Dunne flipped over on and landed on his feet and hit a snap German of his own. He followed that by suplex into an arm bar, but Devlin escape by rolling up Dunne.
Devlin hit a running kick that had Dunne down in the corner and in an impressive spot, Devlin pulled Dunne up from the corner by the arm, straight into a backdrop driver for another two count.
After missing a standing moonsault, Dunne stomped his hand but then ran into a Spanish Fly out of nowhere. Devlin couldn’t capitalize on the momentum though, as Dunne immediately locked in a Koji clutch. The action spilled to ringside, and as Dunne tried to stomp Devlin’s arm on the ring steps, Devlin pulled his legs away and Dunne crashed onto the steel steps face-first. Devlin then hit a Spanish Fly off the steps onto the floor, which looked brutal.
They both narrowly got back in the ring at 9. After a double stomp on Devlin’s fingers, Dunne went for the Bitter End, but Devlin countered it into a reverse huracanrana for another near-fall. A quebrada by Devlin was stopped mid-air by a forearm smash by Dunne, who hit the Bitter End, but on landing, hurt his back even more and couldn’t go for the pin. They both were on the apron and Devlin shoved Dunne hard into the ring post back first.
They both got to the top rope and Devlin hit a Super Spanish Fly for a 2.99 cover. Dunne got up in a fighting stance, but Devlin hit a head butt that took both men down. Devlin removed Dunne’s mouth guard and hit a super kick for another close near-fall.
Devlin went for a moonsault, but got caught in a triangle on impact. He managed to briefly touch the ropes, but Dunne rolled over with the triangle still locked in, bent Devlin’s fingers apart, then grabbed the remaining fingers and bent them as well, forcing Devlin to tap.
Devlin sulked backstage, as the Bruiserweight celebrated in the ring.
Episode nine (taped August 25 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Quick recap —
Ligero and Jordan Devlin had a very good main event match. Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley advanced in the NXT UK women’s tournament, joining Dakota Kai and Jinny in the second round. Eddie Dennis and Mark Andrews also were victorious and Ashton Smith challenged Dennis to a match.
Full rundown —
A graphic informed us about tonight’s main event of Ligero taking on Jordan Devlin. We got a quick recap of the NXT UK women’s title tournament and went to Xia Brookside taking on Rhea Ripley.
Rhea Ripley beat Xia Brookside in 4:13 after the Riptide
The “Mosh Pit Kid” Rhea Ripley at just 22 years old (21 when this was taped) has a football (soccer) background and hails from the land Down Under, where she started out at Riot City Wrestling at just 16 years of age, where she eventually won the women’s title twice.. She moved on to Japan in 2015, competing for Diana and REINA and eventually participated in the Mae Young Classic in 2017 and returned again in 2018.
Xia Brookside is the 20-year-old daughter of NXT trainer Robbie Brookside and started out in 2015 with All Star Wrestling. She wrestled for IPW:UK, ICW, RevPro, GWF (in Germany), Defiant and Southside among others and first went to Japan to wrestle for Stardom in 2017. She is a former IPW:UK women’s champion and part of the current Southside tag team champions with Sean Kustom in a mixed team and also competed in the 2018 Mae Young Classic.
Ripley pushed Xia away as she went to shake her hand and proceeded to power the smaller woman down. Xia went for some head scissors in the corner, but Ripley picked her up and buckle bombed her into the turnbuckles before hitting a delayed vertical suplex. Rhea then applied a variation of the clover leaf, using just her hands and picked Xia up almost completely from that position which looked both cool and impressive.
Xia eventually managed to counter and dive between Ripley’s legs and threw Rhea into the turnbuckles head-first in the process. Xia hit a bulldog, tilt-a-whirl head scissors and double knees into the back of Ripley’s head. She went for a body press, but Rhea caught her and transitioned into the Riptide, a pump-handle power bomb for the win.
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We saw Toni Stom and Isla Dawn backstage, preparing for their match.
A graphic informed us that Eddie Dennis would be in action tonight, followed by a NXT UK taping commercial.
Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed James Drake and Zack Gibson backstage, asking about why Drake helped Zack against Trent Seven last week. Gibson stopped him, told him he had known Drake for 13 years and this was just a friend helping a friend. He then threw their names into the hat for the NXT UK tag team title tournament and stated that no team could come close to beating them and nonchalantly ended the interview.
Nigel and Vic discuss the interview and throw it to a WWE.com Exclusive video of the Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang continuing their attack on Moustache Mountain backstage last week, seemingly injuring Seven’s hand in the process.
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Eddie Dennis beat Jack Starz in 3:16 with the Neckstop Driver
Starz is a Robbie Brookside and Dan Collins trainee, who started in 2012 and wrestled for All Star Wrestling, Kamikaze Pro and Preston City Wrestling, among others. He also is a former Kamikaze Pro tag team champion.
This was a glorified squash, with the much taller Dennis toying with his much smaller opponent, patting him on the head to start the match. Starz came back but got caught when attempting a body press, which Dennis turned into a back breaker. A series of European uppercuts actually got the big man down to one knee before Starz missed a dropkick when Dennis stepped out of the way. Starz received a big buckle bomb out of a splash mountain position for his troubles and was pinned after a Neckstop Driver.
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After a WWE Shop commercial, we got another WWE.com Exclusive, this time showing a backstage confrontation between Dave Mastiff and Tyson T-Bone ffrom last week. A Tweet by NXT UK GM Johnny Saint conformed a match between the two behemoths for the next episode.
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Mark Andrews pinned “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in 5:28 after a shooting star
Boar hit an amateur-style suplex takedown early and worked over Andrew’s arm. Andrews kipped up and eventually flipped out of the hold using the top rope and used some arm drags and a huracanrana for his comeback. Boar escaped to ringside, Andrew hopped the ropes and attempted a moonsault body block, but Boar wasn’t where Andrews expected so he landed on his feet on the floor and got dropped face first on the apron for his troubles.
Hitchman used his body as a weapon with a number of senton variations and a jumping head butt into Andrews’ back. Andrews slid on his knees beneath an attack by the Boar, hit an enzuigiri that sent Hitchman to the outside and this time hit his moonsault body block off the apron perfectly. Back in the ring, he hit a nice springboard somersault seated senton for a two count.
They traded full nelsons until Boar flipped Andrews over with a half-and.half suplex. Hitchman eventually missed a frog splash but still managed to turn Andrews inside out with a stiff clothesline. A suplex attempt got turned into the Stunt Dog Millionaire by Andrews, who finished things off with a beautiful shooting star press.
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Nigel and Vic threw us to an interview with Eddie Dennis. Radzi talked about Dennis being undefeated to which he replied that Starz didn’t even knock him off his feet once. Ashton Smith interrupted, telling Dennis he watched his match last week. Dennis freaked out, telling Smith not to touch him, asking if he knew who he was and telling Smith he’d destroy him.
After a commercial for the Dean Ambrose documentary, we took a look a the women’s title tournament again.
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Toni Storm beat Isla Dawn in 4:07 with the Strong Zero
Isla started strong, hitting a running dropkick into the corner at the bell, followed by a backdrop driver and double knees for a near fall. SHe followed with stomps and kicks, a running knee and then transitioned into the Rings of Saturn, from which Toni eventually escaped. Storm came back with strikes and kicks of her own and took Isla down with a big left boot, followed by a hip attack.
She got stopped by a head kick from Isla though that got her down on her knees, but she quickly transitioned into a release German suplex and quickly hit the Strong Zero (the tiger driver variant this time) for the win. Afterwards, she helped up a devastated Isla Dawn.
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After a WWE 2K19 promo, graphics informed us that both Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai and Toni Storm vs. Jinny would be on the next episode.
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Jordan Devlin beat Ligero in 11:45 with the Island’s Call
This was a very good match, with both guys looking impressive again. They traded arm locks early and Ligero managed to get a two count early on. Ligero escaped to ringisde as Devlin was charging at him, so Devlin bumped into the ropes and Ligero swept his legs. Ligero hit some head scissors and a side kick before falling victim to Devlin’s uranage/moonsault combination. Devlin went for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Ligero turned it into a body block, followed by a running kick and a Code Red for another close call.
Devlin came back with a running knee into the corner and then, in an impressive spot, pulled Ligero up into the air and hit a backdrop driver in one swift motion. Devlin then escaped to ringside when Ligero was on the top rope, so Ligero tried a baseball slide, charged Devlin who moved, jumped up and did a hand stand on the apron, bounced back off the ropes and took Devlin down with another pair of head scissors.
Back inside Ligero went to the top again, but Devlin hit an enzuigiri and got on the ropes as well. Ligero eventually threw him down and tried a splash but got caught in Devlin’s knees. Devlin hit a beautiful standing Spanish Fly for a near fall and went for Island’s Call, but Ligero turned it into a victory roll. They battled up on top once more, but this time Ligero managed to throw Devlin off and hit the splash for another near-fall.
They battled on the apron and on top of the steps, but Devlin kicked Ligero’s legs way and he took a dive onto the steel steps. Devlin hit a moonsault off the second turnbuckle to the outside and back in the ring followed things up with a running knee and the Island’s Call for the victory.
Afterwards, Devlin screamed into the camera that Pete Dunne was on his radar as the credits rolled.
