Tag: isla dawn

NXT UK results: Women’s title match, Moustache Mountain in action

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode 17 (taped October 14 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)

Quick recap:

Jordan Devlin defeated “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in the opener. Fabian Aichner took the first step on his road to redemption after his loss to Flash Morgan Webster last week, disposing of Eddie Ryan.

Moustache Mountain defeated Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley in their quest to qualify for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament. In the main event, Rhea Ripley successfully defended her NXT UK Women’s Championship for the first time, defeating Isla Dawn.

Full rundown:

– The show opened up with a video hyping Rhea Ripley defending her title against Isla Dawn

Jordan Devlin defeated “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in 4:57 after Ireland’s Call

The “Wild Boar” started out aggressive, going for Devlin’s arm right away and even hitting a short-arm suplex. Devlin came back with forearms to the back and some ground and pound and transitioned into a chinlock, which Hitchman eventually powered out of.

Devlin hit his uranage/moonsault combo, but Hitchman was the first man to roll out of the way and hit a senton on Devlin and a uranage of his own. He followed with a spear into the corner. Hitchman tried for a package powerbomb, but Devlin got out and hit a spinning Pele kick for a two count.

Devlin went to the top for a moonsault, but Hitchman moved and Devlin landed on his feet. Hitchman immediately hit a pop-up powerbomb — but missed an inverted cannonball. Devlin hit the pull-up backdrop driver, followed by Ireland’s Call for the victory.

Post-match, Devlin cut a promo in the ring. He asked when the fans would learn not to support guys like Hitchman anymore. He closed with a message to the NXT UK roster — saying that the Ace trumped all.

– Moustache Mountain were interviewed outside the arena. Trent Seven said that NXT UK kicked off in a big way. Tyler Bate said that British Strong Style are focused on Gallus, but once they deal with them, they have their eyes set on the NXT UK Tag Team titles.

– Radzi Chinyanganya was backstage with Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews. Webster said that they also had their eyes set on the NXT UK Tag Team titles. Andrews added that NXT UK was the most exciting brand in WWE and they were the most exciting team. They said that the sky was the limit for them.

Fabian Aichner defeated Eddie Ryan in 5:04 after a spinning sit-out powerbomb 

Ryan is a local wrestler from Plymouth and actually works as an analyst at a building and loan association. He started in 2008 and mostly worked for 4 Front Wrestling and other smaller promotions. He is a former two-time 4FW Heavyweight Champion and also a former two-time Tag Team Champion for that promotion.

Ryan was ready to go, but Aichner stopped and offered his hand — only to pull it away when Ryan went to shake it. Aichner then escaped into the ropes. They locked up and Aichner pushed him into the corner, then teased a punch and Ryan flinched. The fans were behind Ryan, who hit a dropkick and clotheslined Aichner to the outside.

Ryan tried for a dive, but Aichner got back into the ring and hit a tilt-a-whirl-backbreaker. Ryan came back with a few chops until Aichner hit him with a back suplex, then locked in a sitting abdominal stretch and worked over Ryan’s ribs. Ryan got out and eventually hit an enzuigiri and a forearm into the corner and a back elbow.

Ryan came off the middle ropes with a flying European uppercut. He tried for an Alabama slam, but Aichner grabbed the top rope and escaped, then suplexed Ryan onto the top rope and threw him to the outside,. He rammed Ryan into the steel steps and followed up with a running knee, the same tactic he successfully used against Mark Andrews a few episodes ago and also tried against Flash Morgan Webster.

Back in the ring, Aichner hit a spinning sit-out powerbomb for the win.

– A graphic for Rhea Ripley vs. Isla Dawn aired and we saw Dawn meditating backstage.

– Another graphic hyped up Moustache Mountain vs. Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley.

– A Travis Banks video aired. He talked about Joe Coffey and said he was the Kiwi Buzzsaw and nobody squashed him. He talked about Gallus taking him out backstage but said they didn’t get the job done. He said he took out Wolfgang. Banks has his eyes set on the WWE United Kingdom title. He said Gallus’ oversight would be their downfall and Joe Coffey was the first on his list.

Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) defeated Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone in 7:02 when Seven pinned Huxley after a lariat/snap dragon suplex combo

In a WWE.com exclusive video, Radzi interviewed T-Bone and Huxley. He said that many people believed that Moustache Mountain were the favorites. T-Bone asked if Radzi believed that too. T-Bone said that favorites are only good to disappoint, and Huxley said that they would send their opponents to the seventh circle of hell.

Bate and T-Bone started, with the big guy landing with body shots right away. He backed Bate into the corner, but Bate came back with shots of his own. T-Bone tagged Huxley, who worked Bate over, including a backbreaker over the shoulder. Bate came back with a spinning European uppercut from the second turnbuckle and tagged out.

Seven hit a number of chops in the corner but got distracted by T-Bone, allowing Huxley to hit a Thesz press. Seven hit T-Bone, who had tagged back in with a few chops to no effect, so he kicked him and hit a quick DDT. Seven tried for a Figure Four, but T-Bone kicked him into Huxley and then hit a hard right that briefly had Seven out cold on the mat.

The heels continued to work Seven over, isolating him in their corner and quickly tagging in and out. T-Bone got a near fall after two face-wash kicks into the corner. Huxley hit a body press into Seven while he was in the ropes. T-Bone kept working him over, but Seven eventually managed to hit a snap dragon suplex before being stopped by Huxley.

Seven managed to hit an enzuigiri and make the hot tag. Bate came in like a house of fire and took out both guys. He caught Huxley on a running forearm into the corner, carried him over, and hit an exploder, followed by a running Shooting Star Press. T-Bone accidentally hit an elbow drop on Huxley while trying to make the save and got sent outside courtesy of a hard left by Bate, followed by a suicide dive. Bate went for the Tyler Driver ’97, but Huxley escaped.

Bate managed to tag in Seven, who locked Huxley in a full-nelson. Bate hit the ropes for his springboard launched lariat into a snap dragon suplex by Seven for the victory.

– Radzi was backstage with “Bomber” Dave Mastiff, talking about his victory over Eddie Dennis last week, making him the still-undefeated monster of NXT UK. Mastiff talked about wanting to go for the UK Championship, but he was then brutally attacked by Dennis from behind.

Dennis repeatedly rammed Mastiff into a steel door. He screamed that it was far from over between them.

– Ripley walked towards the ring backstage. A graphic announced her match was next.

– A video aired, promoting the “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne and his UK title win against Tyler Bate as well as his current title reign. Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness talked about who might be able to stop the champ.

– Another video promoted Toni Storm’s return to the ring next episode, as well as Zack Gibson & James Drake vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews and Travis Banks vs. Joe Coffey.

NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Isla Dawn to retain her title in 9:01 after hitting the Riptide

They locked up and Ripley backed her into the corner, but Dawn turned it around and they ended up back in the middle in the ring, still jockeying for position. Dawn locked her in a side headlock. Ripley whipped her way out of it, but Dawn tripped her and hit a double foot stomp for a quick two count.

Dawn went back to a headlock on the mat. Ripley finally managed to get up and back Dawn into the corner, then hit a running dropkick right to Dawn’s jaw. Ripley took over with kicks and punches, wearing the “White Witch” of NXT UK down, then hit a vertical suplex for a two count. She tried to follow it up with her modified cloverleaf, but Dawn managed to kick her off. Ripley took Dawn down with a snapmare and locked in a chinlock, rag-dolling her smaller opponent. She then took out Dawn with a stiff lariat.

Dawn managed to block a few suplex attempts, but Ripley caught her on a roll-through attempt and locked in her modified cloverleaf. Dawn slowly crawled her way to the edge of the mat and eventually reached the ropes, not without Ripley kicking her hard in the back.

Ripley missed a big boot, a dropkick, and eventually a shoulder block into the corner, where Ripley launched herself right into the post. Dawn took over with a series of kicks and a backdrop driver, followed by a head kick. She hit her float-over gutwrench powerslam, but Ripley managed to kick out at 2.9.

Ripley held onto the top rope as Dawn tried to whip her, then ducked a high kick and transitioned into hitting the Riptide for her first successful title defense.

Ripley celebrated with her title as the show went off the air.

Next episode:

Joe Coffey faces Travis Banks, Zack Gibson & James Drake take on Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster, and Toni Storm returns to the ring.

NXT UK results: Dave Mastiff vs. Eddie Dennis

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

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.

NXT UK results: Jordan Devlin vs. Flash Morgan Webster

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

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.

Next episode:

  • Travis Banks vs. Wolfgang
  • Rhea Ripley will be in action

NXT UK results: Women’s tournament first round concludes

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

Four more participants set for WWE Mae Young Classic

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With four more participants being announced today, 19 of the 32 wrestlers for this summer’s Mae Young Classic have now been confirmed.

Zeuxis, Isla Dawn, Lacey Lane, and Karen Q were added to the lineup for the Mae Young Classic during the most recent round of announcements. The tournament will be taped at Full Sail University on August 8 and 9, with the finals taking place at WWE’s Evolution pay-per-view at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York on October 28.

Zeuxis is from Puerto Rico and recently left CMLL. She defeated Princesa Sugehit, who made it to the second round of the inaugural Mae Young Classic, in a mask vs. mask match at last year’s CMLL anniversary show.

Dawn is Scottish and is part of WWE’s United Kingdom division. She wrestled on the first night of last month’s WWE UK shows at Royal Albert Hall, losing a triple threat match that saw Toni Storm win and go on to unsuccessfully challenge for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship the next night.

Lane was introduced as part of the newest group of WWE Performance Center signees earlier this month. She played division two basketball while in college, was trained at The Dudley Boyz’s Team 3D Academy, and is a former Women’s Champion for The Crash Lucha Libre.

Karen Q currently wrestles on the indies and is part of ROH’s Women of Honor division. She took part in a WWE tryout at the Performance Center last October.

Here’s the updated list of participants for the 2018 Mae Young Classic:

  • Kaitlyn
  • Rhea Ripley
  • Io Shirai
  • Nicole Matthews
  • Jinny
  • Kacy Catanzaro
  • Deonna Purrazzo
  • Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell)
  • Jessie Elaban
  • Reina Gonzalez
  • Taynara Conti (won a qualifying match at NXT TV tapings)
  • Mia Yim
  • Mercedes Martinez
  • Kavita Devi
  • Killer Kelly
  • Zeuxis
  • Isla Dawn
  • Lacey Lane
  • Karen Q