– Noam Dar and Joe Coffey talked about their Heritage Cup Championship match tonight. Coffey said it will be his first match under Heritage Cup rules.
– Charlie Dempsey was asked about where Die Familie was. He said he didn’t need them for this match — it’s just A-Kid and him.
Charlie Dempsey defeated A-Kid by submission (12:30)
Both men were looking to grapple early. They traded armbars, wristlocks, and hammerlocks on the mat. A-Kid and Dempsey each displayed their prowess of mat wrestling with holds, counter-holds, and escapes.
At one point, Dempsey got into a bridging position on his head. Even when A-Kid stood on top of him, he couldn’t break Dempsey’s bridge. A European uppercut by Dempsey then sent A-Kid to ringside. They traded more uppercuts, then A-Kid went for a backslide and transitioned it into an octopus hold that had Dempsey grasping for the ropes.
A-Kid hit a stiff kick that rocked Dempsey. They ended up on the mat with A-Kid going for a number of leg submissions. Dempsey went for Cattle Mutilation and then transitioned into an armbar and a kneebar before A-Kid countered into an armbar of his own.
Dempsey hit a perfect dragon suplex for a close two count. A-Kid went for an omoplata, but Dempsey countered with an overhead Gotch lift. They rocked each other with simultaneous elbow strikes, then Dempsey sent A-Kid out of the ring with a double-handed palm strike. With the referee holding Dempsey back and having his back turned to A-Kid, Rohan Raja suddenly jumped the railing, sent A-Kid head-first into the post, and rolled him back in the ring. From his positioning with the ref, Dempsey may or may not have seen Raja’s attack.
Dempsey then basically twisted A-Kid into a pretzel, stretching both his leg and neck. Dempsey interlocked his hands for the submission victory. This was outstanding.
– Sid Scala was about to announce that a star from the United States will appear on NXT UK next week. Wolfgang interrupted and asked about a new challenge. Scala then revealed that Wolfgang will face Roderick Strong on next Thursday’s episode.
– WWE recapped the Meiko Satomura/Isla Dawn segment from a few weeks ago, and it was announced that Satomura will defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Dawn in two weeks.
– Aleah James was asked about the future of the title picture in the women’s division. She was interrupted by Stevie Turner and they had words.
Symbiosis (T-Bone & Primate w/ Eddie Dennis) defeated Josh Morrell & Danny Jones (6:07)
Primate threw Morrell around early, then ate a dropkick before tagging out. Jones came in and held his own with T-Bone. Morrell went for a springboard crossbody, but T-Bone caught him and it was all downhill from there.
T-Bone smashed Morrell into the corner upside down, then punished him with more punches. Morrell eventually made the hot tag and Jones ran wild briefly. Morrell then actually hit a twisting corkscrew senton onto T-Bone for a two count, but he quickly fell victim to a top rope headbutt by Primate. Primate pinned Morrell to get the win.
As Symbiosis celebrated in the ring, Wild Boar suddenly returned after being absent due to injury for more than a year. He swung a chair into Primate’s back, then hit T-Bone in the gut with it and flattened him with a lariat before focusing on Eddie Dennis, who quickly got struck down. Dennis begged off and Symbiosis pulled him to safety, but all three men looked shocked to see Primate’s former partner in The Hunt return.
– Nina Samuels looked to tape another episode of her “show” at the UK Performance Center and encountered Emilia McKenzie. After they had a few words, McKenzie insulted her and walked off.
– Moustache Mountain and Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith were in a heated discussion backstage. Carter & Smith wanted another shot at Moustache Mountain’s NXT UK Tag Team titles, but Tyler Bate and Trent Seven said that Smith and Carter first had to beat them in singles matches. The first takes place with Carter facing Bate next week.
NXT Heritage Cup Championship match: Noam Dar retained against Joe Coffey by 2 falls to 1 (15:44)
Round One —
They went back and forth early, with Coffey dominating. Coffey was going for a Boston Crab as the round ended.
Round Two —
Coffey dominated with power moves, a German suplex, and the Glasgow Sendoff. He got a pin at 2:25 of the round. Coffey 1-0
Round Three —
Coffey repeatedly took down Dar with waistlocks. He hit a double-jump crossbody for a two count but got distracted by Sha Samuels at ringside. Dar had the kneebar on but Coffey escaped. Dar then caught Coffey in a pinning combination to take the next fall at 1:48 of the round. Dar 1-1
Round Four —
Dar dominated early, working over Coffey’s knees. Coffey ended up on the apron and hit a slingshot shoulder block, followed by an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Coffey locked in the Boston Crab with 15 seconds to go, but Dar grabbed the ropes.
They brawled at ringside as the round ended and had to be separated by their cornermen. Dar landed a cheap shot as they were being pulled apart.
Round Five —
Dar started with a running dropkick into the corner, then followed with another running kick for a two count. He went for the Nova Roller, but Coffey stopped him in mid-air with a Glasgow Sendoff and scored a two count. Coffey hit a lariat for another near fall.
They traded strikes, then Coffey hit a discus lariat, but Samuels put Dar’s foot on the rope, prompting Mark Coffey to take Samuels out. Dar used the confusion to hit the Nova Roller and score the deciding pinfall at 2:53 of the round. Dar wins 2-1
Final Thoughts —
The opening match between A-Kid and Charlie Dempsey was just fantastic. They put on a mat-wrestling clinic like few can in WWE. Both have future superstar written all over them, if they are being used the right way. If this was A-Kid’s NXT UK farewell, he went out with a bang here. It will also be interesting if Die Familie getting involved in Dempsey’s issues will lead to an eventual split.
The tag match was decent and Morrell and Jones could easily be featured in a more prominent role as both are good. Wild Boar returning gives Symbiosis something to do and may also lead to Boar reuniting with his former friends in Subculture down the line.
The Heritage Cup main event was good — if a bit predictable. The right guy won for where they are going with the Cup at the moment.
Next Week —
Roderick Strong vs. Wolfgang
Tyler Bate vs. Oliver Carter
In Two Weeks —
NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura defends against Isla Dawn
James cut a split-screen promo on her way to the ring where she was working out backstage.
They shook hands as the match started and Aleah showed some athletic prowess to counter some wrist locks. Aleah locked in head scissors which took Xia some effort to escape from.
After some back and forth, Brookside hit the double knees to the back of Aleah’s head, then put her on the top rope. Aleah kicked her off and hit a sunset flip off the turnbuckles for the surprise win.
Aleah was both happy and surprised, then offered her hand to Xia, who angrily slapped it away and then took out her frustration on the ring steps.
**********
Meiko Satomura was working out with Emilia McKenzie. She was asked about her upcoming match with Jinny and said it was good timing for a title match.
Kenny Williams walked through the night. He said he never claimed he was unbeatable. He said people would be surprised about what he had planned next and would see how low the scum of the earth can go.
**********
Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz defeated Symbiosis (Primate & T-Bone) (w/Eddie Dennis) by DQ (08:19)
Pretty Deadly were on commentary for this match.
Starz and T-Bone started, and Starz outwrestled and outran his bigger opponent, but eventually got overpowered.
Primate was in next, but quickly got thrown from the ring. Mastiff tagged in, hot a senton, then tagged Starz who hit a slingshot splash.
Starz eventually got overpowered and was attacked at ringside as the referee was distracted. T-Bone hit a huge sit-down powerbomb for a near fall. Later, T-Bone hit a vertical suplex on Starz and walked around the ring with him.
Starz eventually outsmarted Symbiosis and tagged in Mastiff, who ran wild on T-Bone. He hit a rolling fireman’s carry, German suplex and Into the Void. As he was about to finish T-Bone, Eddie Dennis attacked Starz with a steel chair on the outside for the DQ.
Symbiosis attacked Mastiff and Starz further, until Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith made the save.
**********
A video on Amale aired. She talked about how a loss like she had recently may never happen again. She will be in action next week.
Charlie Dempsey was interviewed at the NXT UK Performance Center. He talked about wanting to build a legacy. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang interrupted and told him not to get in their way with his legacy, but encouraged him to build one. Dempsey then said he wanted to get back to training. A commotion broke out and Galleu got into it with Teoman and Rohan Raja as Dempsey looked on and officials separated the four men.
**********
Supernova Sessions with Tyler Bate
The show took place in the ring, as there were some fans back at the studio
Bate came out with Trent Seven, who Dar said wasn’t invited. He kept insulting Seven, saying he rode Tyler’s coat tails. Dar gave Bate the opportunity to relinquish the Heritage Cup before their match next week, which Bate teased, but of course didn’t do. Bate said every time they fought, the outcome was the same and Bate beat Dar.
Dar then shoved Tyler and ran from the ring, Bate wanted to go after him, but Seven held him back.
**********
Jordan Devlin was working out backstage with his headphones on. Gallus snuck into the room and stole his ring jacket.
Jordan Devlin defeated Joe Coffey (14:08)
Coffey came out wearing Devlin’s ring jacket. Devlin flew in and attacked him from behind before the bell even rung. They brawled back and forth around ringside. Devlin rolled Coffey into the ring, took out his leg and hit a twisting slingshot senton. The referee finally started the match.
Coffey took back over and hit two side slams. He had Devlin in an arm bar for a long time with Devlin not being able to escape. Eventually he did and rammed Coffey into the ring post. Devlin dominated, including hitting a hard knee into Coffey’s gut. Devlin locked in an abdominal stretch to further work over Coffey’s ribs.
Eventually Coffey got out, but quickly found himself in some body scissors. Devlin came off the top, but Coffey hit him with a forearm in mid-air.
Coffey hit a flying shoulder block for a near-fall, then hit a power slam for another one. Devlin came back with the uranage/standing moonsault combo. Coffey powered up and hit the double-jump reverse crossbody for another two-count, but fell victim to a slingshot twisting cutter seconds later.
Coffey was at ringside and got hit with a soccer kick to the sternum, followed by a beautiful Asai moonsault to the outside. Devlin went to the top rope once more, but Coffey jumped up and hit an overhead belly-to-belly superplex.
Coffey hit a few strikes, which sent Devlin to the mat for another near fall. He followed with the Glasgow Sendoff, but Devlin head-butted him as he went for All the Best for the Bells.
Devlin followed with a 450 off the top for a very, very close near fall. He then hit Devlin Side for the pinfall victory.
Next week —
NXT UK Heritage Cup: Tyler Bate defends against Noam Dar
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) defeated Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter (09:57)
Carter and Bate started out. Carter surprisingly got the better of an early exchange, before Bate schooled him on the finer aspects of the British style. Both men utilized quick tags, which eventually led to Trent Seven getting worked over for a bit. Seven eventually tagged out, but Smith and Carter also held Bate at bay with some innovative double team action.
Bate came back with an airplane spin on Carter, culminating with a splash by Seven onto his dazed opponent. Carter evaded both the snap DDT and the Seven Star Lariat, but fell victim to a one-handed power bomb shortly after. He also got out of the way of a springboard lariat by Bate, who almost nailed Seven. In return, Bate escaped a Doomsday back elbow and almost scored a victory over Smith with a victory roll.
As Smith and Bate were down, Symbiosis walked down the aisle. Smith countered a Tyler Driver 97 with a back body drop to the outside, were Bate landed right at Symbiosis’ feet. They were about to attack, when Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff made the save. A huge brawl ensued, with a lot of referees trying to break up the melee.
Seven hit a snapdragon suplex on Carter on the outside, while Bate hit an impressive German suplex off the middle rope on Smith who was on the apron.
Moustache Mountain then hit a springboard lariat/snapdragon combo on Smith for the pinfall victory.
*****
Jinny and Joseph Conners were asked about their future. They insulted the interview lady and walked off, but encountered Meiko Satomura working out with Emilia McKenzie. Jinny told Emilia that she was pathetic and McKenzie told her she didn’t care about her opinion in return. Jinny said she’d make her care. So looks like they’ll have a match down the line.
Jack Starz and Dave mastiff walked in and were asked about why they got into it with Symbiosis. As Mastiff was answering, Nina Samuels rushed in with her own microphone and welcomed us to the Nina Samuels Show.
Mastiff asked what channel that was on, but played along and said Symbiosis stuck their noses were they didn’t belong, which Samuels took to segue into talking about how Amale did the same to her. Mastiff said they didn’t care about Amale. Samuels then talked about how Blair Davenport had attacked her. Mastiff and Starz walked off and Samuels concluded her show.
*****
Dani Luna defeated Xia Brookside (05:36)
Luna showed off her power early, while Brookside used some of her speed to counter and evade. Luna eventually hit an extended vertical suplex, then worked over her arm. Xia countered a second suplex into a small package for a two count.
Brookside came back with a series of dropkicks and some double knees to Luna’s head. Luna came back with a power slam, then deadlifted Brookside into a fall away slam. then hit a sit-down powerbomb off a fireman’s carry for the pin and the win.
After the match, Luna extended her hand to her and Brookside angrily slapped it.
*****
A video aired, recapping Blair Davenport’s attacks on fellow wrestlers and even Sid Scala in recent weeks. Scala then was interviewed about the situation, but Stevie Turner stormed in and demanded that Davenport be reinstated, so she could take care of her. Scala said he’d discuss the request with Johnny Saint.
Sam Gradwell was asked about his problems with Subculture. He said he was there since the beginning, just as Andrews, and he was sick of Subculture getting more attention. He said he was a better singer than Andrews and probably even a better skateboarder. An angry Mark Andrews then ran in and whacked him with a skateboard and a brawl broke out, with officials separating both men. Looks like another match soon.
*****
Charlie Dempsey defeated Josh Morrell (06:14)
Dempsey (Bailey Matthews, the son of William Regal) had his first featured match here (he appeared once before on NXT UK in February, losing to Tyler Bate).
Dempsey immediately showed off his submission wrestling and grappling background, attacking Morrell from all angles. They traded roll-ups before Dempsey hit a beautiful bridging pin off a backslide. He transitioned from a Fujiwara armbar into a kneebar. He then used a bridge as an offensive maneuver to drive Morrell into the turnbuckles.
He hit a textbook bridging German suplex, nose on the mat and all, for a near fall. He then applied another submission, where he hooked Morrel’s leg and neck, then locked his arms behind Morrell’s back for the submission victory.
Ilja Dragunov and A-Kid sit-down segment
They sat alone in a darkened room, with the championship on a table between them. A-Kid congratulated Ilja and said no one thought WALTER could be beaten. He said they were not just enemies and that he was the only one who could understand Ilja, to which the champion raised an eyebrow.
A-Kid elaborated that when he created the NXT UK Heritage Cup, every time he defended it, he felt the pressure, he felt the need to create a legacy, and the only way he could do that, was taking the title off Ilja. Ilja said A-Kid always seems very motivated but he just beat the most dominant champion of the modern era, who destroyed him once. He said A-Kid can’t compare himself to him.
Ilja said it was very, very easy and it wouldn’t matter which trick A-Kid pulled, he didn’t win the title with technical ability. The title needs pain, struggle, the will. You needed to be more than a human to hold this. In two weeks, Ilja said he really was sorry, but we would need to put A-Kid into his place because he was “the czar” and “you are just a kid.”
Ilja then got up, stared A-Kid down and they shook hands. This was tremendous.
*****
A very good video aired on Noam Dar and Wolfgang’s match in the finals of the Heritage Cup number one contender tournament aired. Wolfgang said he wanted to be an inspiration to young talent, such as William Regal, Fit Finlay or Johnny Saint had been to him. Dar said he was a wolf in sheep’s clothes, would eat Wolfgang alive and Tyler Bate was next on the menu.
*****
Joe Coffey (w/ Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Jordan Devlin (11:40)
They traded offense back and forth early. Devlin took over and got cocky, doing the cross-armed pose into the face of Gallus at ringside, then ran into a clothesline by Coffey. He also ate a tackle and got clotheslined over the top. He got up to find Gallus in his way before Joe hit him and rolled him back into the ring.
Joe looked for the double-jump crossbody, but Devlin pulled his legs out and hit a rope-assisted backstabber. Devlin took over with strikes and submissions, grinding down Coffey. He hit the uranage/standing moonsault combo, then once again did the cross-armed pose. Coffey rose behind him like a great white shark, then hit a forearm into the corner and a release German suplex.
Coffey hit the double-jump reverse crossbody off the top for a near fall, Coffey went for All the Best for the Bells, but Devlin countered it into a Spanish Fly for a close near fall. Mark Coffey then got on the apron, wearing Devlin’s sunglasses. Devlin was distracted, but still turned around and went for Devlinside on Coffey, who was by the ropes. Wolfgang held onto Joe’s arm from the outside though, so Devlin fell down off the attempt.
Coffey then hit the Glasgow Sendoff, followed by All the Best for the Bells for the pinfall victory.
Final Thoughts —
If you only got time to watch one thing from this show, watch the Ilja Dragunov and A-Kid sit-down segment. They do such a great job building up to their big matches with stuff that they don’t do on any other show on WWE television. It is effective storytelling without stupid gimmicks and makes you care about the match so much more than somebody just going through a table in a contract signing.
The tag team opener was fun and showed off Oliver Carter very well, who may be one of the most underrated guys in a major promotion right now.
The main event also was really good and Devlin is such a great and crisp worker.
The women’s match was short and mainly just there, but nothing wrong with it.
Next week —
Heritage Cup number one contender tournament finals: Noam Dar vs. Wolfgang
A pair of rematches have been announced for the Thursday, August 26 edition of NXT UK.
Rampage Brown will face Joe Coffey in a match where the win can only come by submission or knockout. Brown and Coffey previously faced each other on the February 18 and June 3 episodes of NXT UK, splitting their series 1-1.
In a rematch from the July 29 NXT UK, Jinny will take on Aoifye Valkyrie in a no DQ match where Joseph Conners will be locked in a shark cage at ringside. Conners got involved in the last Jinny vs. Valkyrie bout, a match that Jinny won.
While those matches will air in two weeks, next week’s episode features a pair of title matches. Here are the lineups for the next two NXT UK shows:
NXT UK, Thursday, August 19 —
NXT UK Women’s Championship: Meiko Satomura (c) vs. Stevie Turner
NXT UK Tag Team Championship: (c) Pretty Deadly vs. Moustache Mountain
NXT UK, Thursday, August 26 —
No DQ match with Joseph Conners in a shark cage at ringside: Jinny vs. Aoifye Valkyrie
Knockout or submission match: Rampage Brown vs. Joe Coffey
The big hosses clashed right away, with Samuels getting the better of things. He eventually went for the Butcher’s Hook, but Coffey broke the hold. Coffey hit a few shoulder blocks and a bulldog off the second turnbuckle for a near fall, followed by a slam for another one.
After some more back and forth, Coffey stunned Samuels with an enzuigiri, then followed up with a diving European uppercut for the pinfall victory.
– Rampage Brown warmed up backstage.
– Emilia McKenzie was happy about Meiko Satomura winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship and said she was proud to call Satomura a friend. The lights flickered as Isla Dawn slowly crept into the frame. McKenzie said she didn’t know where Dawn crept under from, but they had unfinished business. Dawn laughed. Still better than Alexa Bliss being creepy.
– At the NXT UK Performance Center, someone named “Mila” (I believe Mila Smidt from France, who had a tryout in Germany back in 2018) was interviewed about her first week of training here. The lights turned out and Aoife Valkyrie stormed into the ring. Valkyrie started running the ropes and doing flips. Mila watched and Jinny walked up.
Jinny called Mila pathetic for watching someone else train, especially someone who watched others from a distance and didn’t know who was watching her. Mila said she’d like to face Valkyrie and thought she could beat her, “just like Meiko did.” Jinny told her to look at the floor and not her and didn’t care for what Mila thought.
– Video from after last week’s show aired. Subculture celebrated their victory backstage until Pretty Deadly walked up. The two teams had words and it looks like we’ll get an NXT UK Tag Team title match between them soon.
Stevie Turner defeated Laura Di Matteo (4:13)
This was Laura Di Matteo’s first match on NXT UK. The Italy native made her debut in 2015 as a product of the PROGRESS wrestling school and spent a good portion of her career in the UK, wrestling for PROGRESS and Pro Wrestling: EVE, as well as some other groups.
Di Matteo also appeared in Germany for wXw and the German Wrestling Federation, where she is the current Women’s Champion. Di Matteo has wrestled across Europe in France, Italy, Spain, Austria and other countries.
Turner locked in a cravat early but Di Matteo countered. Turner came back and choked Di Matteo on the ropes, then kicked her repeatedly. Turner locked in a straightjacket choke. Di Matteo fought back but was quickly stopped again. Turner then hit a cool looking rope-assisted flatliner for the win.
– Mark Coffey and Wolfgang talked about them each winning a singles match lately. Joe Coffey was warming up for his match later tonight.
– Nathan Frazer was working out at the UK PC when Kenny Williams interrupted and called him out.
– A video aired featuring an NXT UK branded briefcase on a table. A woman in a robe approached, unlocked it, and took some papers labeled “NXT UK confidential” out of it. She looked through them, then signed what appears to have been a contract. The signature line read “Blair Davenport.” It is unknown who this new signee is, but WWE filed a trademark for the name last month.
– A video aired focusing on next week’s NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship match between Tyler Bate and Jack Starz. Bate said Starz’s work ethic is unparalleled and he’s well-respected. Bate said that’s why he chose Starz as his first challenger.
Starz talked about Bate being one of the best in the world and how he was backstage in 2017 when Bate won the WWE United Kingdom Championship. They showed pictures of Starz in the ring celebrating with Bate. Starz said he initially felt unworthy and was still scratching and clawing to get a spot when Bate won the title.
Starz talked about coming up through the “summer camp circuit” (an annual six-week summer tour through various English summer camps with daily shows by All Star Wrestling, the UK’s oldest remaining promotion run by Brian Dixon) like many British wrestling legends had. Starz said he was proud of it.
Starz claimed that he had more tryouts than anyone else in WWE history and was told time and time again that he was not what they were looking for, but he refused to give up. Starz said his hard work would pay off when he faces Bate.
Teoman defeated Oliver Carter by submission (7:03)
A promo by Carter aired during his entrance. Carter talked about his partner Ashton Smith not being here because of family issues.
Teoman and Carter traded holds early, then avoided each other. Teoman slapped Carter, but he came back and ran wild for a bit. Carter threw Teoman into the steps outside, but Teoman played possum and evaded a kick. Teoman then took over once back in the ring.
Teoman went for the crossface but transitioned into a Fujiwara armbar that Carter broke on the ropes. Carter evaded a handspring back elbow and hit a quebrada instead. Carter got a near fall off a superkick, then followed with a scissors kick for another one. Teoman came back and hit a tornado DDT off the turnbuckles for a near fall, then immediately transitioned into the crossbar on the kickout for the submission victory.
Teoman locked in the crossface once more after the match until Rohan Raja ran to the ring and faced off with Teoman, who asked him in German if Raja wanted to punch him. Teoman backed away and almost left the ring, but then turned around and pointed to his eye. Raja then attacked Carter, pounded on him, and gave him a Codebreaker. Teoman and Raja then left together.
– Ilja Dragunov warmed up for the main event.
– A-Kid talked about losing his Heritage Cup Championship to Tyler Bate but said that defeat is part of every champion. He said Jordan Devlin became cruel after losing his Cruiserweight Championship and he would teach Devlin to respect defeat when they face off next week.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey in a triple threat match (16:16)
This was a tremendous hoss fight, so I’ll just list some of the highlights. Coffey paired off with both opponents early on, then got taken out briefly as Brown powerslammed Dragunov. Coffey hit an overhead belly-to-belly on Brown before Dragunov got back into the mix. Brown threw Dragunov into a German suplex by Coffey. Coffey had Brown in a Boston Crab when Dragunov returned from ringside and started punching Coffey, who held on. He then hit a running kick to break the hold.
Brown hit a double back suplex on both men. Dragunov hit a bridging Gotch-lift German suplex on Coffey. Brown hit a fireman’s carry drop on Coffey, then Dragunov followed with a senton. Brown gave Dragunov a spinebuster onto Coffey. Dragunov nailed Brown with the Konstantin Special.
Dragunov hit a Coast-to-Coast top rope dropkick on Brown, then Coffey nailed him with a Glasgow Sendoff that smashed Dragunov into Brown for good measure. Coffey hit a double-jump crossbody off the top to both opponents on the outside.
Coffey got a near fall on Dragunov after a missile dropkick from the top. Coffey nailed Dragunov with All the Best for the Bells, but Brown speared Coffey through the ropes and they fought on the outside. Dragunov had some sort of injury to his midsection and collapsed, but he willed himself to beat on Brown and hit two German suplexes on him. Brown then double German suplexed Dragunov and Coffey. Coffey dropped Brown with an electric chair.
Dragunov hit Torpedo Moscow on Coffey as he was in the middle of hitting All the Best for the Bells on Brown. Brown then hit the Doctor Bomb on Coffey, but Dragunov broke up the pin. Dragunov then hit a springboard Torpedo Moscow off the second turnbuckle on Brown to gain the hard-earned victory.
Dragunov celebrated his victory before NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER entered the ring. He nodded at Dragunov approvingly, asking him in German if he had his eyes on the title. WALTER then slapped him down hard, applied a choke, yanked Dragunov off his feet, and proceeded to choke him out, just as he had done in their legendary bout last year.
WALTER urged a semi-conscious Dragunov to look at the belt before posing over the fallen Russian with his foot on Dragunov’s chest.
Final Thoughts —
Another strong show. Mark Coffey vs. Sha Samuels was a fun brawl. Stevie Turner also looked good in her outing with Laura Di Matteo, who I hope we will see more of in the future. Teoman turning Rohan Raja to his side is intriguing as he slowly builds his NXT UK version of his previous EZEL stable. Those two against Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith will also be good.
They also really built up Jack Starz as a challenger for Tyler Bate’s Heritage Cup next week. The NXT UK video packages are so effective and great — it’s a shame they are seen by so few people.
The main event was a tremendous “mean guy match” between three hosses. As strong style as it gets in WWE with some super hard-hitting action. It is now certain that we will get a WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov rematch, hopefully in front of fans, who will scream, gasp, and cry bloody tears of joy once this epic encounter goes down one more time.
Next Week —
NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion Tyler Bate defends against Jack Starz
A-Kid vs. Jordan Devlin
NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura will address the NXT UK Universe
A triple threat match will headline next week’s NXT UK episode.
WWE has announced that Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown vs. Ilja Dragunov will take place on NXT UK next Thursday. It’s being billed as a match between three people who are trying to prove that they’re the toughest wrestler on the brand.
On NXT UK two weeks ago, Coffey defeated Brown to even their record against each other in NXT UK at 1-1. Coffey and Brown then shook hands and Brown signaled that he wanted a third match against Coffey. But Dragunov then came out to the stage and stared them both down.
This week’s NXT UK featured a segment with Coffey, Brown, and Dragunov sitting down and talking ahead of their triple threat match next week. Coffey and Brown wanted to know why Dragunov got involved in their business. Dragunov said Coffey and Brown think NXT UK is their playground, but there are other people there — especially him.
Coffey, Brown, and Dragunov also discussed having similar upbringings in Glasgow, Leeds, and Russia.
On commentary, it was said that Coffey, Brown, and Dragunov all have title aspirations. All three wrestlers have previously unsuccessfully challenged for WALTER’s NXT United Kingdom Championship.
Teoman vs. Oliver Carter is also set for next Thursday’s NXT UK.
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.
**********
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.
**********
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.
**********
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.
**********
Aoife Valkyrie walked through a city at night and talked about this being her opportunity. She will face Meiko Satomura next week.
**********
A video profiled Emilia McKenzie.
**********
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.
**********
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.
**********
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.
The Hunt defeated Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster
Full rundown —
– The show opened with a graphic paying tribute to Pat Patterson.
– A graphic plugged tonight’s Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs. The Hunt match. A video then recapped the history of their feud.
Rampage Brown defeated Saxon Huxley
Huxley provoked Brown last week at the NXT UK Performance Center, leading to this match.
This was a clash of big men and Huxley looked good with a bunch of offense. In the end, Huxley came off the top but got caught with a powerslam and fell victim to Brown’s Doctor Bomb.
– During media day at the Performance Center, Joseph Conners was interviewed while Jinny also gave an interview in the background. Piper Niven stormed in and attacked Jinny until things were broken up by a bunch of officials.
– Another video looked at the Andrews & Webster/Hunt rivalry.
– Saxon Huxley came backstage where he was told “better luck next time, bro,” which he kept muttering to himself.
Aoife Valkyrie defeated Aleah James
After a fast opening sequence, James looked flustered. She used some creative offense, but Valkyrie hung with her and kept outwrestling her. Valkyrie won with a top rope guillotine leg drop.
– Pretty Deadly interviewed each other in a fun segment, talking about how they had victories over The Hunt and Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith. They challenged Gallus and said they would be the new NXT UK Tag Team Champions.
– Another video hyped Andrews & Webster vs. The Hunt for later.
Joe Coffey defeated Alexander Wolfe
The rest of Gallus and Imperium were banned from ringside for this match.
They traded holds and counters on the mat early on, with Wolfe getting the better of the exchange. Coffey came back with jabs and punching combinations. Wolfe worked over Coffey’s arm. Coffey hit a suplex, but he further injured his arm in the process.
They kept stiffing each other until Coffey launched himself over the top rope from the apron with a shoulder block, hit the Glasgow Sendoff into the corner, and followed with a lariat to the back of Wolfe’s head and All the Best for the Bells for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Gallus came out to celebrate with Coffey.
– Jordan Devlin cut a promo on why he wanted Sid Scala to find him challengers for his NXT Cruiserweight Championship. He quoted Ric Flair, saying “to beat the man, you got to beat the man.” Devlin said starting next week, he would offer an open challenge to all comers.
– A graphic announced the debut of Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions interview segment for next week.
The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) w/ Eddie Dennis defeated Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster
Webster & Andrews stormed to the ring and attacked The Hunt, then they brawled around ringside before the bell had even rung.
When it finally did, Webster and Andrews hit a double enzuigiri on Boar. Webster then wiped Boar out with a dive, followed by a moonsault onto his back by Andrews once Boar got back into the ring. Boar turned the tables and beat on Andrews. Andrews eventually tagged Webster, who ran wild on Boar, hitting a hurricanrana off the apron to the outside. Webster followed with a cannonball senton onto Primate. Webster and Andrews quickly tagged in and out and hit some creative offense on Primate.
Primate came back with a release German suplex, followed by Primate launching himself onto Webster in the corner. Andrews managed to tag in and hit a double DDT on both members of The Hunt. Webster and Andrews then hit stereo somersault dives onto The Hunt to the outside. Primate almost got pinned, but Dennis threw Boar into the ring to break it up.
Boar disposed of Webster and The Hunt began to dismantle Andrews. With some assistance from Webster, Andrews hit Stun Dog Millionaire on Primate. Andrews went to the top trying to finish the match off, but Dennis violently threw him off the top rope. Webster went to attack Dennis, but Boar took him out at ringside. Primate hit a vicious spear on Andrews, then The Hunt hit a Death Valley Driver/sit-down powerbomb combination for the victory.
Dennis celebrated with his team in the entranceway while Andrews and Webster were distraught in the ring.
Next week —
The Jordan Devlin open challenge begins and Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions debuts.
– The semifinals of NXT UK’s Heritage Cup tournament will kick off next week.
WWE has announced that Noam Dar vs. A-Kid in the semifinals of the Heritage Cup tournament will air on next Thursday’s episode of NXT UK. The winner will advance to face either Dave Mastiff or Trent Seven in the finals.
Dar advanced to the semifinals by defeating Alexander Wolfe in the first round of the tournament. A-Kid defeated Flash Morgan Webster in the first round.
Heritage Cup matches have the following rules:
There will be six rounds for Heritage Cup matches. Each round will be three minutes.
There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.
The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules following the tournament.
– It was also announced on today’s episode of NXT UK that Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) will face Sam Gradwell & Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) in a six-man tag match on NXT UK next Thursday. This is Joe Coffey’s first match since being suspended by WWE this June.
– A video that aired on this week’s NXT UK announced that Rampage Brown is coming to NXT UK. Brown is a former PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion and Atlas Champion. When he’ll be making his NXT UK debut wasn’t revealed.
While their mandatory conference call ended up being a reminder of company policy, WWE did take action against several additional UK talents Tuesday, a follow up to the Friday releases of Ligero (Simon Musk) and Travis Banks (Travis Bligh).
The company confirmed that referees Joel Allen and Chris Roberts were released while Joe Coffey (seen above) has been suspended, all due to allegations from #SpeakingOut.
As far as the conference call with UK talent, it was largely Paul Levesque telling them explicitly what the protocol was regarding sexual abuse allegations. He said that there would be zero tolerance on any charges, provided there was irrefutable evidence to the charges.
It was taken as more of a warning going forward than anything else, but there was no talk regarding any other changes with the UK brand which will continue to tape television as soon as it is once again feasible to do so in that market.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, WWE had to cancel plans for the NXT UK brand for the upcoming months.
NXT UK usually tapes at Axxess over WrestleMania weekend, which obviously did not take place this year.
Today they announced that both their May tapings following the scheduled NXT UK TakeOver in Ireland, as well as the Download Festival tapings had been canceled.
So it looks like we will be getting a series of specials looking back at the history of NXT UK, as announced by NXT UK Assistant GM Sid Scala.
What is weird about this decision is that during the last set of tapings in March, they taped at least six more matches which haven’t aired yet, including pretty major bouts like WALTER vs. Ridge Holland, Ilja Dragunov vs. A-Kid, Finn Bálor vs. Kenny Williams and Toni Storm vs. Isla Dawn as reported here and here on this site.
**********
The show opened with clips of Triple H announcing the original UK Tournament and the establishment of a WWE UK championship in late 2016.
After the opening, Andy Sheperd is our host and he isn’t allowed to address the pandemic or the virus by name either, and keeps calling it “unique times”. Well, I guess that makes Vince McMahon a unique individual.
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarter Final Match: Tyler Bate beat Jordan Devlin (6:06; January 15, 2017, WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament 2017 – Day 2, Blackpool/England)
Odd choice, as this was voted worst match of that particular night on the Observer poll for the show.
Bate looked very young and very deer in the headlights coming out. Both men taped brief, current cell phone videos talking about it but neither said anything of particular note and it was more sound bites like “The people got their first glimpse of the Irish Ace.”
Here’s Dave’s original recap of the match from that week’s Observer:
Bate hit a tope right away. He also did a power spot where he pressed Devlin overhead and followed with an airplane spin.
They played off the injury to Burch the night before when they put over Devlin’s enziguri on Bate. Bate won with a quick left jab and a Tyler driver 97. This match was sloppier than most but still got a good reaction and was all action. **½
**********
They then recapped the rest of the tournament, including Bate beating Pete Dunne in the finals.
**********
Next up was a look at the second WWE UK Championship tournament in June of 2018 in Royal Albert Hall.
WWE United Kingdom Championship #1 Contendership Tournament Quarter Final Match: Zack Gibson beat Gentleman Jack Gallagher (13:37; June 19, 2018, WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament 2018 – Day 2, London/England)
Dave, at the time wrote:
In the first of the quarterfinals of the U.K.. tournament, Zack Gibson beat Jack Gallagher with the Shankly Gates arm submission. It was notable that they used a newcomer to advance over a main roster wrestler, but Gibson should be a top heel on the new television show.
**********
After that, they recapped Zack Gibson winning the tournament, Moustache Mountain winning the NXT tag team titles over Undisputed Era and Triple H announcing the NXT UK brand.
Mark Andrews vs. Joe Coffey w/ Mark Coffey (7:38; NXT UK #1, aired October 17, 2018, Cambridge/England)
Here’s my original report on the match:
Coffey tried to use his strength to immobilize the smaller Andrews, but he managed to repeatedly flip out of some armlocks until Coffey overpowered him.
Andrews is back with some armdrags and a great-looking springboard huricanrana. Coffey hit a mean pounce, a seemingly very European kind of body check, as it’s also a popular tool for other Euro big men such as Avalanche and Dante (the former tag team partner of Aleister Black).
Coffey continued to show his brute strength by grabbing Mandrews by the neck, spinning him around a few times just for the heck of it and hitting a butterfly suplex. Nigel mentions that Joe Coffey actually was Kurt Angle’s opponent at the latter’s last singles match for ICW back in 2016.
While Mark Coffey distracted the ref, Joe takes Andrews out with a stiff clothesline, forcing Andrews out of the ring.
Back in the ring, Mandrews channeled his best inner football player and slid under a clothesline attempt on his knees and hit a quick enziguri. He followed with a very cool combination of some double knees in the corner, a lucha roll-up, double foot stomp and a standing, twisting moonsault for a near-fall.
Coffey quickly recovered and launched himself at Andrews with a running/diving headbutt into the corner, followed by a quick power slam that almost got him the win.
He went for a vertical suplex, but Andrews countered it into the Stuntdog Millionaire, before hitting he top rope.
Mark pulled his brother to ringside and assumed safety, but Andrews hit a big moonsault on both of them.
Andrews, grasping at victory went to the top again but Mark Coffey once more proved to be a major distraction as he grabbed at hs leg, leading to a Joe Coffey overhead belly-to-belly from the middle rope and a brutal lariat for the pin in 7:38.
Post-match, the Coffey Bros. once more went to attack Andrews but Flash Morgan Webster came out with his helmet in hand for the save.
A very fun mean guy/quick guy match that showcased the strengths of both guys.
**********
Up next, a look at Pete Dunne.
WWE United Kingdom Championship #1 Contenders Match: Pete Dunne beat Trent Seven (14:45; WWE United Kingdom Championship Special, May 7, 2017, Norwich/England)
Here’s the report on the match from this site:
They went back and forth off a collar-and-elbow tie-up before Dunne circled around to try and gain a good position on the damaged right arm of Seven.
Dunne took him down and tortured him for a bit, but Seven escaped and landed a series of chops. Dunne was pulled off the second rope and ate a left arm lariat to the gut for 1.
Dunne went behind, but Trent’s rope escape left the arm open for a hard shot to the arm. They brawled to the floor and Dunne landed a nasty forearm strike to the jaw. This allowed him to trap the arm in the steps and kick the arm into the post.
Dunne talked smack on the apron and ate a slap before kicking away, but opened himself up to a Dragon suplex on the apron! They were both down for a 9.5 count before rocketing back in. This got a well-deserved “this is awesome” chant and it’s easily the best match on TV in at least a month.
Trent went up top for a superplex, but Dunne attacked the hand. Trent still went for a Dragon suplex off the top, but Dunne flipped to his feet and landed a forearm before eating a backfist and then landing an enziguri.
Dunne ran off the rope, but ate a lariat for 2.5.
Trent tried for a Seven Star lariat, but a bodyscissors counter opened the door for the Kimura. Seven recovered and hit a Dragon suplex and a backfist.
Dunne avoided a wrist clutch burning hammer and landed the Bitter End to win it
**********.
They next looked at Dunne winning the championship from Tyler Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, then defending it against Joe Coffey at the first ever NXT UK TakeOver in Blackpool.
The show ended just as that show did, with WALTER coming out and facing off with Dunne.
In an in-set video, Dunne said that he knew the match needed to happen.
Taped at York Barbican in York, England on January 18, 2020
Quick results —
Tyler Bate pinned Joseph Conners in a very good match.
WALTER and Dave Mastiff were told they would face off in a title match in two weeks.
Jinny announced that Jazzy Gabert was no longer her associate.
Noam Dar defeated Joseph Morrell in a fun little match.
The Hunt challenged Grizzled Young Veterans for next week.
Also next week, Kay Lee Ray and Toni Storm will meet in an I Quit match for KLR’s NXT UK Women’s title. If Storm loses, she can’t challenge for the title again as long as KLR is champion.
Jordan Devlin said he’ll be back in NXT UK when he’s ready to be.
Ilja Dragunov’s “debt” is now paid after he defeated Joe Coffey in a good main event.
Full rundown —
The show started with Joe Coffey watching his loss to WALTER at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II, where Ilja Dragunov inadvertently bumped Alexander Wolfe into Coffey’s knee. A video package then aired to build up Coffey vs. Dragunov in tonight’s main event.
Tyler Bate pinned Joseph Conners after the Tyler Driver ’97 (11:40)
Conners repeatedly claimed he was TakeOver-worthy in the past and was critical of Bate. They got into it right away, with Bate getting the better of their encounter. Bate hit a hurricanrana and threw Conners to ringside. Conners grabbed a chair, but threw it down in frustration.
Back in the ring, Bate came back with arm drags and armbars, followed by a monkey flip out of the corner. As Bate sat on the ropes, Conners threw him to the outside this time. Conners then took over, repeatedly beating Bate down and scoring a number of pinfall attempts. Bate came back off a backslide attempt and hit a running uppercut.
Bate hit an overhead suplex and followed with the running Shooting Star Press. He got another near fall shortly after off a roll-up, even though Conners evaded an airplane spin in the process. Conners ducked the rebound clothesline, hit a slingblade for a near fall of his own, but then missed a moonsault.
Bate was on offense, but Conners caught him with a tilt-a-whirl slam. He followed up with a dive to the outside on Bate and then hit a slingshot flatliner. Conners kept stomping away on Bate in the corner, but Bate came back with a koppu kick and a dive over the top rope.
Conners hit a drop toe hold on the outside that saw Bate crash into the chair Conners had dropped earlier. Conners scored another close near fall and went for Don’t Look Down, but Bate countered into a DDT, then followed up with the rebound clothesline and finally hit the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win.
– A video package on next week’s Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm Women’s title I Quit match aired, featuring statements from both women. Storm said KLR was like the worst person you could know and said how this was her one final shot to win back the title.
– A video from earlier today aired. WALTER and Dave Mastiff sat down backstage with Johnny Saint and Sid Scala, with Scala announcing that WALTER will defend his NXT UK Championship against Mastiff in two weeks.
Mastiff thanked them both. WALTER accused them of doing “their guy” a favor and told Mastiff that — while Mastiff may think he’s the best heavyweight wrestler — WALTER is in fact the best heavyweight in Europe.
– Tom Phillips and Aiden English talked about the match but were interrupted by Jinny. She had English help her up on the announce table, mic in hand. She said that the queen of NXT UK would now address the crowd.
Jinny said that ever since she was a little girl, her commands had been carried out. So when her “previous associate” (Jazzy Gabert) disobeyed her, this was the end of her career. She said she doesn’t tolerate insolence or disobedience.
Jinny claimed that she gave Gabert an opportunity and a platform, but she wasted it. She said maybe in the future, she would give someone else that platform — if they were lucky enough to be associated with her. But until then, it was only about her — the queen of NXT UK — and no one would ever disrespect her again.
This was done to write off Gabert, who opted not to re-sign with WWE over the last set of tapings and had also been in a car accident leading up to the tapings, so was not cleared for anything physical either.
Noam Dar pinned Josh Morrell after the Nova Roller (5:30)
Dar repeatedly pushed Morrell into the corner until he pushed back. Dar went for some mat wrestling, then played some mind games with him. Dar slapped Morrell, but got slapped right back.
Morrell displayed some athletic ability, including landing on his feet off a standing moonsault attempt. He hit a triple-jump slingshot moonsault on Dar for a pinfall attempt, then followed with a cradle off a suplex attempt.
Dar came back by kicking Morrell’s knee. He locked in a sleeper on the mat, but Morrell made the ropes. Morrell evaded Dar with a corkscrew backflip off the ropes, but seconds later was hit by the Nova Roller for the finish.
– The Hunt found a chain link fence backstage to cut a promo behind. They took offense to what the Grizzled Young Veterans said about them last week. They claimed that they were The Hunt and the GYV were the hunted. A match between both teams was announced for next week, along with the KLR vs. Storm I Quit match for the NXT UK Women’s title.
– Due to Super ShowDown airing on the WWE Network next Thursday, NXT UK will air at 10 a.m. ET/3 p.m. GMT next week. Also, as announced during TakeOver: Portland, the next NXT UK TakeOver will take place in Dublin on April 26. We should get an idea of the card for that show over the upcoming set of NXT UK tapings in March.
– Jordan Devlin was interviewed earlier in the week. He said his phone had been blowing up, asking him to come back to NXT UK — but he would be back when he was ready to be.
Ilja Dragunov pinned Joe Coffey after Torpedo Moscow (14:52)
Coffey started off with jabs, but Dragunov mostly avoided them. They ended up on the mat, trading holds. They eventually came to a standoff and posed in front of each other. Dragunov hit a crossbody, then hit a kick that sent Coffey to the outside.
Dragunov then hit a jumping body press off the top to the floor and rolled Coffey back into the ring. He missed a double foot stomp and was hit by the Glasgow Sendoff in the corner. They ended up outside once more, where Dragunov was sent into the ring steps, then was clotheslined to the knee and off the apron.
Coffey kept targeting Dragunov’s knee, as Dragunov had inadvertently taken out Coffey’s knee at TakeOver. Coffey hit a second-turnbuckle kneebreaker, then went for a Boston crab, but Dragunov made the ropes.
Dragunov escaped an electric chair into a German suplex attempt and hit the Konstantin Special (previously called the Six One Line by the announcers on NXT UK), then evaded Best for the Bells and hit a hard left of his own. Dragunov hit his Russian suplex for a near fall, but his knee gave out on the bridge.
Dragunov followed up with a senton off the top rope, then tried to go for a Coast-to-Coast, but his knee buckled once more. They battled on the top rope until Coffey hit a top-rope overhead belly-to-belly.
Dragunov came back with a knee to Coffey’s face, but fell victim to a clothesline. Dragunov then side-stepped another Glasgow Sendoff, sending Coffey shoulder-first into the corner. Dragunov hit a DVD into the corner, then finally hit the Coast-to-Coast.
Dragunov set up for Torpedo Moscow. Coffey got back on his feet and went for Best for the Bells and screamed “My Kingdom,” but Dragunov hit his finish a split-second earlier and took out Coffey for the win.
The rest of Gallus then came to the ring, ready to attack, but Coffey held them back and told Dragunov that “he paid the debt” and they were now square.
Next week —
Kay Lee Ray defends her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Toni Storm in an I Quit match. If Storm loses, she can’t challenge for the title again as long as KLR is champion. The Hunt will also face The Grizzled Young Veterans.
NXT UK returns to the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England as the third TakeOver special in the brand’s history takes place today.
WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER will defend his title against Joe Coffey at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. It was one year ago that WALTER made his NXT UK debut, booting Coffey and confronting Pete Dunne after their main event at the first TakeOver: Blackpool.
The NXT UK Women’s and Tag Team championships will both also be on the line today. Kay Lee Ray defends her title against Toni Storm and Piper Niven in a triple threat match, while Gallus’ Tag Team titles will be up for grabs as they defend against The Grizzled Young Veterans, Imperium, and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in a fatal four-way ladder match.
Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin and Trent Seven vs. Eddie Dennis round out the announced lineup for today’s show. The card starts at noon ET/5 p.m. GMT, with the pre-show beginning a half hour earlier.
**********
Kickoff Show:
This was just recaps of all the matches scheduled for the show with no angles or promos beyond wha has been seen on the Prime Target Special or NXT UK weekly television. So it looks like no surprise matches either as they did on the first two UK TakeOvers.
Andy Shepherd, Tom Phillips and NXT General Manager William Regal are the hosts of the pre-show. Regal talked about what Blackpool means to him and said he had goosebumps. They ran down all the matches scheduled for tonight and then showed Piper Niven, Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray arriving at the arena earlier today. A video recapping how the three-way women’s title match came to be then aired. The hosts discussed the match, talking about how Toni challenged Rhea Ripley for Worlds Collide and questioning whether she had her mind truly set on the match tonight and how Piper Niven may be most focussed.
Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis then were shown arriving at the arena earlier today. Regal reminisced about his own career and said when he looks at Eddie Dennis, he looks into the devil’s eyes and this was what people had been saying about him in the past. Next up was a closer look at the match between Tyler Bate and Jordan Devlin and the panel stated that this might be the match of the night.
Another video aired on the four-way tag team ladder match between champions Gallus, the team they beat for the titles, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster, initial champs The Grizzled Young Veterans and Imperium, consisting of Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner. Regal talked about how sometimes as a GM you need to make brutal matches like this to end things and the one WWE ladder match he ever was in certainly was career shortening.
Imperium where shown entering the building. A video then aired of WALTER talking about being the WWE United Kingdom champion today and forever. They then ran down the story behind tonight’s main event. Tom Philips then talked about how Joe Coffey will bring a level of physicality to the match that WALTER might not have experienced yet. Regal also said that Coffey may lay a beating on the champion.
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II
The show opened up with the great video package that aired at the end of Prime Target, running down all matches.
Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness are our announcers for tonight’s TakeOver as they welcomes us at ringside.
1. Eddie Dennis pinned Trent Seven after hitting the Neck Stop Driver (8:16)
This was a fun opener and after some brief offense by Seven mostly was the Eddie Dennis comeback show. Dennis looked impressive here and won in just over eight minutes after first throwing Seven out of the ring with a Razor’s Edge and then hitting his finish. It looks like Dennis will move further up the card in the months to come.
Seven wore a nice, crimson coat with the Moustache Mountain logo on the back, while Dennis entered wearing a black and green dragon mask, since he is the Dragon of Wales.
Dennis tried attacking Seven at the bell, but got immediately caught in a one-armed powerbombed for a two-count, followed by a DDT and a clothesline in the corner. Seven went for a superplex, but Dennis ducked out and hit a Razor’s Edge out of the corner. Dennis took over at that point and beat down on Trent. He hit a vertical suplex for a two-count of his own, while the fans were solidly behind Trent Seven, who came back with a few chops and a snapdragon suplex, suicide dive and another suplex at ringside. Trent went for a reverse somersault senton from the top, but Dennis moved. Dennis hit a version of the End of Days for a near-fall.
Seven escaped another Razor’s Edge but got decked with a forearm. he still came back with an Emerald Frosien and went for the Birminghammer, but Dennis reached the ropes and managed to pull himself down. Dennis went to remove the turnbuckle, but first got caught by the ref and then a forearm from Seven, but the turnbuckle still came off without anybody but the announcers noticing. Seven then hit a superplex from the top. The ref then noticed the exposed turnbuckle, but just kicked it to ringside instead of putting it back on as Dennis pulled Dennis into the exposed steel. He went to hit another Razor#s Edge into the turnbuckle but the ref stepped between them. Dennis then nonchalantly tossed Seven over the top to the outside onto a plant.
Back inside, Dennis went for a pin, but Seven managed to somehow kick out. Dennis then hit the Neck Stop Driver for the victory.
— Gallus were shown warming up backstage
2. NXT UK Women’s Championship: Kay Lee Ray (c) retained over Toni Storm and Piper Niven, when she pinned Niven after capitalizing on a frog splash by Toni Storm (13:10)
This was a great match that was non-stop action. it wasn’t so much your typical WWE three-way where mostly two person wrestle while one is out of action, but mostly everybody vs. everybody. Lots of wild spots and hard hitting action. KLR retained the title when Toni hit a frog splash on Niven and KLR super kicked her and stole the pin.
A video recapped the history between these three women.
Toni came out first in a post-apocalyptic rock chick from the future outfit that was all steel spikes and black leather. Niven was out next, followed by the champion, Kay Lee Ray.
Storm immediately went after KLR, but Niven pulled her off as Kay Lee escaped to ringside. Niven then quickly hit a dive through the ropes, taking out KLR, then flattened both women with rolling cannonball sentons against the barrier and ring steps respectively. KLR recovered and pulled Niven off the apron. As Toni got to work on KLR, Niven came back in and hit a back senton on both women.
All three women fought each other until Toni looked to hit Storm Zero on KLR, but Niven flew in with a flying cross body, wiping out Toni. KLR then took out Niven, as Toni came back with a release German suplex on KLR. KLR recovered and hit a DDT for a near-fall, which was broken up by Niven.
KLR looked to go for the Gory Bomb on Niven but couldn’t get her up. KLR then escaped Niven’s Michinoku Driver, while Toni failed to get Niven up for a German. All three women then once more took each other out, with Niven finally hitting a backdrop driver on KLR. Toni and Piper traded shots. but KLR slammed into them.
KLR got a steel chair from under the ring and used it to choke both Toni and Piper. She looked to Pillmanize Toni’s neck, but Niven managed to put a stop to that plan. Toni then got the chair, but hesitated using it on Niven, who screamed at her to hit her. As KLR looked on with a smile, Toni dropped the chair and nailed her with a kick. Toni and Piper then briefly worked together (or at least did not attack each other), as Toni first hit a tope suicida on KLR, followed by a cannonball by Niven off the apron. As Toni and Niven recovered at ringside, KLR hit a top rope somersault dive on both of them.
Toni looked for a superplex on Toni from the top, but Niven launched her into a sit-down power bomb before KLR hit another senton on Toni. Niven then hit a big power bomb on KLR for a close near-fall. Niven looked to hit another Michinoku Driver, but KLR managed to escape and actually get Niven up for a Gory Bomb. Toni slid back into the ring and slammed into the referee to break up the pin. Niven hit a Canadian Destroyer on KLR, but Toni slid in and hit Storm zero on KLR. Niven managed to break up Toni’s pin a the very last split-second.
Storm then hit a Storm Zero on KLR onto the back of Niven. Toni went for another one on Niven, but couldn’t get her up, settling for a sort of Pedigree instead. Toni hit a frog splash off the top on Niven, but KLR super kicked her and stole the pin for the victory.
— Imperium were shown warming up, with Barthel and Aichner slamming into each other
3. Tyler Bate pinned Jordan Devlin after a top-rope corkscrew splash (22:22)
This was an incredible match between two of the best wrestlers in Europe, if not the world. Both should be much bigger superstars than they are on this level. They hit each other with everything but the kitchen sink and put on a technical masterpiece with everything looking crisp and stiff. Bate eventually won with a corkscrew splash from the top after a Tyler Driver ’97 wasn’t enough to put Devlin away. An early MOTY candidate in my book.
A video recapped the history between these two, starting with the original UK Tournament three years ago, where Bate eliminated Devlin. The difference between the Tyler Bate from early 2017 and today is mind-blowing (and the difference between that Bate and the one late 2014 when I first saw him in wXw was equally mind-blowing).
The crowd was going crazy for Tyler, singing his name and dancing in accordance. They started with an intense lock up with Devlin shoving Bate on a corner break. Devlin worked Bate’s arm that Tyler could not escape from until finally flipping out of it and turning the tables on Devlin. Devlin quickly looked to hit Devlinside, but Bate had him well-scouted and escaped via side-headlock takeover.
Bate hit a monkey flip and back body drop, then impressively military press slammed Devlin before sending him to the outside with a beautiful dropkick. as he went for a dive, Devlin jumped on the apron and hit an uranage from the apron on Bate in the ring, then hit a rope-assisted moonsault in a creative twist on his usual one-two combo with those moves.
Devlin hit an elevated belly-to-back suplex for a two-count, then choked Bate on the middle rope using his legs. Devlin hit a butterfly suplex and mockingly twirled his moustache. He grabbed bate’s arm and hit a number of Kawada kicks, then tried going for Devlinside, but Bate used his power to prevent the move, instead launching Devlin to ringside and launched himself over the top with a dive.
Bate went for a cross body, but Devlin caught him in mid-air with a Codebreaker, then hit a hard forearm to the back off a front whip to the ropes. Devlin hit a beautiful surfboard stretch and locked the chin for extra pressure. bate managed to hit a flash roll-up off another whip, before both men crashed into each other with simultaneous running cross bodies. Bate stopped Devlin on a corner charge, then hit a flying uppercut off the second rope, followed by an exploder and a standing shooting star for a near-fall.
After another brief scuffle, Bate got Devlin on is shoulders for a long airplane spin. Bate followed with a bran buster for another close near-fall. Bate went for Tyler Driver ’97, but Devlin turned it into a rana and hooked the legs, but Bate turned the cover around for another near-fall. Devlin then hit a vicious suplex for another near-fall.
Bate threw Devlin over the top, but Devlin rebounded with a rope-assisted cutter, then hit another one, this time from the ring onto the apron, as both men ended up dazed on the outside. At the count of eight, both men looked at each other and Devlin hit a head kick on bate, then slid back in the ring. bate dramatically followed him at about 9.9. Back in the ring, they traded stiff forearms that would have made KENTA and Goto cringe. They followed by trading fisticuffs, before Bate finally hit a rolling kappa kick.
Bate went for Tyler Driver ’97, Devlin escaped, went for Devlinside, but Bate flipped out. He went for his rebound lariat, but Devlin turned it into a Spanish Fly as both men were down. That sequence was tremendous!
Devlin went to the top for what looked like a moonsault, but Devlin shoved him off the ropes and looked to go for a superplex. Devlin grabbed his throat and hit a top-rope Avalanche Spanish Fly, then followed with Devlinside, but Bate kicked out at 2.9 as the crowd exploded in a frenzy. Devlin hit more kicks and stomps, then stepped in Bate’s fingers. he grabbed Bate by the beard, then hit a hard right . Devlin went for a Tyler Driver ’97 of his own, but Bate flipped out of the move and tried for one of his own, but Devlin flipped him onto the apron. bate came back with head-butt, then hit a spring-board DDT, followed by another Tyler Driver ’97, but this time it was Devlin’s turn to kick out at 2.9. Tyler then hit a top-rope corkscrew plancha and finally got the victory.
As Bate celebrated, Triple H, William Regal and Johnny Saint were shown on the balcony applauding and giving both men a standing ovation.
4. Ladder Match for the NXT UK Tag Team Championships: Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) (c) beat Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster and Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) (25:00)
Another very good match and a fun ladder match. They did tons of creative spots, but nothing too crazy and while everything looked good, it didn’t look ridiculously dangerous as some ladder matches from the past. It was mostly two teams in the ring at any time, with a few moments were everybody was in with each other. Gallus retained the titles in the end, after talking out Imperium. Some of the highlights included Webster and Morgan hitting a double Swanton on Wolfgang through a table on the outside and five ladders at the same time being used in the ring with everybody fighting on top of them.
A video recapped what led to this match.
In an untypical move for NXT (UK), Gallus, the champions, came out first. Also, Sid Scala is a liar, as he stated the next time any of the four teams would see the tag team titles, they would be suspended over the ring, yet Gallus were earing the belts. Andrews & Webster were out next, followed by Grizzled Young Veterans and finally, Imperium.
Gallus and Imperium paired off, as did the GYV and Morgan and Webster, who remained in the ring while the other foursome brawled at ringside. Grizzled Young Veterans remained standing, but quickly were taken out by Gallus as they celebrated. Imperium spoiled the party, taking out Gallus, but in turn were attacked by Webster and Morgan, who hit an assisted moonsault and standing moonsault on Aichner.
As the Welshmen regrouped in the ring, Gibson and Drake got steel chairs from under the ring and beat down Webster and Andrews. Gallus then came back in and relieved the veterans of the chairs. They looked to set up a conchairto on Drake, who was in a tree of woe, but got taken out by Imperium instead. Imperium got a ladder, but this time, Andrews and Webster beat them down and took the ladder, setting it up in the ring for the first time. Imperium spoiled the fun and both climbed the ladder, only to be knocked off by Gallus, wielding a bigger ladder.
Meanwhile, Gallus also came back in and Coffey choke slammed Gibson on another, before they hit slingshot Samoan Drop on Gibson on another ladder. Imperium then foiled a Gallus attempt at reaching the belts as they brawled on the outside. Webster and Morgan used the opportunity to climb the ladder once more. In the stupid move of the night, Webster was alone at the top of the ladder, but instead of going for the belts, he hit a shooting star off the ladder on Wolfgang, which McGuinness also questioned.
Next up, Imperium and Andrews were in the ring and Aichner hit a triple-jump moonsault on Andrews on another ladder. Imperium climbed the ladder, but got pulled off by the Veterans. Drake and Gibson set up a taller ladder next to a smaller one, that still h Barthel on it. Gallus then set up another ladder and everyone but Webster and Morgan climbed a ladder. Andrews then wedged another ladder between the three ladders and the rope and climbed that one. Webster then brought a fifth ladder in and just leaned it against the rest. The ring resembled some weird playground climbing structure setup, with all the various ladders. Gibson hit Ticket to Ride on Andrews, as Drake hit a 450 off one of the propped up ladders.
Gibson then took Drake on his shoulders and climbed the ladder with him, but Aichner attacked Gibson, before they hit the European Bomb on Drake. Imperium then smartly cleared the ring of all the ladders but one, then climbed the remaining ladder on each side, but Gallus tipped the ladder over. They squashed Aichner and Barthel between two ladders and hit both repeatedly. They hit a power slam/kick combo on Drake, before Wolfgang launched Coffey over the top on the Veterans and Imperium. Gallus hit another power slam/kick combo on Gibson on the ramp.
As Gallus looked to grab the ladder in the ring, Andrews and Webster pulled it out of the ring, then hit a double Stunt Dog Millionaire. The Welshmen got the tallest ladder from the outside and had a tug-of-war with Gallus over it. Gallus won the war and pulled out some tables from under the ring, which they propped up between the apron an the barricade. Gallus looked to slam Webster and Morgan threw the tables, but they escaped and Coffey went through one of the tables. Andrews and Webster then climbed a ladder and hit a double Swanton off the ladder on Wolfgang through the table on the outside.
Andrews and Webster then climbed one of the smaller ladders in the ring, but the Grizzled Young Veterans attacked them. Drake climbed the ladder as Gibson kept Andrews off, but Andrews somehow got hold of a kendo stick and beat down the Veterans. As Andrews climbed the ladder, Imperium slid back in the ring, and Aichner pulled off Andrews in a vertical suplex position before hitting a brain buster. As Barthel climbed the ladder, Mark Coffey came in to stop him, but Aichner pulled him up for a power bomb, as Imperium looked to hit a European Bomb onto a ladder. Wolfgang suddenly came back in and speared Aichner through a ladder. Coffey then tipped over the ladder with Barthel on it, who flew to the outside on everyone else.
Gallus then climbed the ladder and retrieved the belts to retain the championships.
— Ridge Holland was shown in the crowd; Travis Banks had been shown earlier between the matches. No new signees or surprises in the crowd tonight.
5. WWE United Kingdom Championship: WALTER (c) beat Joe Coffey by submission with a head-and-arm choke (27:31)
A very good world title match, that told the story of Coffey, the challenger being able to hang with WALTER blow for blow and gaining the upper hand for portions of the match, including some impressive power spots and at times even absorbing some big chops. At one point, the referee got taken out by WALTER and Alexander Wolfe interfered, causing Ilja Dragunov to come out and even the odds. A Torpedo Moskau by Dragunov on Wolfe inadvertently took out Coffey’s knee, which factored into the match. WALTER survived two Best for the Bells, while Coffey kicked out of both a power bomb and a big splash. WALTER eventually tapped out Coffey after a sequence of moves, culminating with a head-and-arm choke.
After the match, Undisputed Era attacked Imperium, leaving WALTER laying leading up to the match between the two factions at World Collide during Royal Rumble weekend on January 25.
A video recapped the angles leading up to this match.
Coffey with a boxing stance and he ducked under a clothesline by WALTER. They locked up and Coffey actually managed to turn Coffey into the ropes and slapped him. WALTER retaliated with a forearm and a sleeper, but Coffey hit a backdrop driver and WALTER rolled to ringside. Coffey hit a boot on WALTER as he re-entered the ring and then hit a dive off the apron.
WALTER came back with European uppercuts, then smartly rolled into the ring for a half-second to break the count. Coffey drove WALTER into the barricades, but WALTER back body dropped him over. Coffey landed on his feet, then hit a dive over the barricades on WALTER.
Back in the ring, Coffey hit a number of body shots against WALTER, who actually covered up in the corner. WALTER came back with a strike of his own, but Coffey hit a belly-to-belly coming off the ropes and WALTER looked to have landed awkwardly on his shoulder. Coffey followed with a DDT out of the corner for a two-count. Coffey repeatedly tried to get WALTER up for a suplex and after some tries, actually got it for another two count. Coffey actually had the temerity to hit a chop on WALTER and WALTER dared him to go for more. WALTER then caved Coffey’s chest in with a chop of his own. WALTER then punished the Scot with more chops and stood to order in the middle of the ring.
Another shot rang out throughout the arena, as WALTER hit another chop on Coffey on the outside, before rearranging his face with a boot. Back in the ring, Coffey came back with more chops, but WALTER hit a body slam, followed by a sit-down splash. He locked in a single-leg Boston crab, then transitioned into an STF, until Coffey reached the ropes.
More chops of WALTER sent Coffey crashing to the mat, before WALTER twisted Coffey’s neck between his boots. Coffey rolled to ringside, but WALTER pulled him back onto the apron, then hist a number of hard shots across Coffey’s chest. Coffey caught the last shot, then sent WALTER on his back with a stiff shot of his own. Coffey looked to got for a dropkick, but WALTER caught him in mid-air and locked in a Boston crab, then transitioned into the STF, hit a number of elbows, before locking his huge hands across Coffey’s forehead and pulling back. Coffey eventually made the ropes once more, but the submission looked to have drained a lot of his resources.
WALTER trapped Coffey’s arm and hit more chops, but Coffey came back with a shot and the two repeatedly slammed into each other. WALTER finally hit a big boot and looked to go for the power bomb, but settled for a suplex when he couldn’t get it. WALTER got a two-count, then looked to apply another sleeper, but Coffey lifted him and dropped back, breaking the hold. Coffey managed to get WALTER on his shoulders for an Electric Chair, but WALTER escaped and Coffey speared him into the corner from behind. Coffey then hit a dead lift German suplex that put both men on their back.
Coffey hit a double-jump moonsault in WALTER for another two-count, but then ran into a bog boot. He shrugged it off, hit a clothesline but then ran into a chop. WALTER hit the power bomb, but Coffey kicked out at two. WALTER once more looked for a sleeper, but got thrown off with a judo throw. Coffey hit the Glasgow Sendoff and WALTER looked to hit a running senton but took out the referee, who rolled to ringside.
Coffey hit a power bomb of his own and got a viusal pin on WALTER, but the referee still was out.
Alexander Wolfe ran out and hot a kick on Coffey, then looked to drag WALTER back on his feet. At this point, Ilja Dragunov ran out and hit Torpedo Moskau on Wolfe, but Wolfe’s momentum looked to have taken out Coffey’s knee. WALTER then hit a huge lariat on Dragunov and stalked Coffey at ringisde, big booting him into the steel steps, then threw him into the steps once more for good measure, before hitting a power bomb on the apron.
He hit another clothesline and got a visual pin on Coffey, but by the time the referee slid back into the ring, Coffey kicked out at two. Wolfe and Dragunov then brawled to the back, as WALTER climbed the rop rope. Coffey was back on his feet and stopped him, but his knee buckled and he slipped off. WALTER repeatedly chopped Coffey, who feel to the mat, but still made it back to the top before WALTER could hit the big splash and launched a belly-to-belly superplex on the champion.
Both men exchanged shots on their knees and eventually on their feet, with Coffey getting the better of WALTER, even stopping a chop and getting WALTER to cover up once more. WALTER waited for his chance to strike though and struck at Coffey’s knee, then went up top and hit the big splash (almost slipping in the process), the move that won him the title from Pete Dunne, for another close near-fall.
WALTER went for another power bomb but Coffey flipped out of the move, then hit two Best for the Bells spinning lariats, but WALTER kicked out of the move. He went for a third attempt, but WALTER ducked and applied another sleeper, transitioned into a headlock, back into the sleeper, then kicked Coffey into the back of the neck. Coffey reached the ropes, but WALTER hit a sleeper suplex, followed by a power bomb, a chop to the back of the neck, another power bomb and finally applied a head-and.arm clutch, forcing Coffey to finally tap out.
As Imperium celebrated in the ring and the show looked to go off the air, The Undisputed Era suddenly slid into the ring and attacked them. They took out Wolfe, Barthel and Aichner on the outside, before ganging up on WALTER, who initially faced off with Cole and fought back, but was outnumbered. They each hit moves on WALTER, before Adam Cole finally took WALTER out with the Last Shot. Undisputed Era posed in the ring, as the show went off the air. Cole, Strong, Fish and O’Reilly fired the first shots leading up to the war those two factions will have at Worlds Collide, but they sure will have to deal with the wrath of Imperium in the coming weeks.
Pre-Show Matches, Exclusives and Post-Show videos:
There were two matches taped before the event, which will probably air on NXT UK next Thursday. Spoilers for those can probably found on the front page soon.
A Q&A with Triple H, conducted by Alicia Taylor aired on YouTube and Facebook after the show concluded.
Some WWE.com exclusive videos with comments from Toni Storm and Tyler Bate, Gallus, plus a confrontation between Eddie Dennis and Trent Seven and Undisputed Era celebrating after their heinous attack on Imperium are available on WWE.com and YouTube. Toni said that she understands that rules are made to be broken, but bitterly added that this did not apply to her. She said that what happened tonight would make things worse for Rhea Ripley when they face each other at Worlds Collide, and that her headspace was worse than before this match. This looks like a heel turn might be coming up. Tyler jus thanked the fans and said Blackpool has a special place in his heart. Eddie Dennis provoked Seven backstage as he was being attended to by officials and Seven snapped and repeatedly tried attacking Dennis, so it looks like this feud isn’t over. Gallus just were happy that they won their match and Undisputed Era celebrated on the entrance and had the fans chant Adam Cole BAY-Bay.
Final Thoughts and Analysis:
Another great NXT UK TakeOver. Eddie Dennis and Trent Seven had a good match in what feels like will be an ongoing storyline over at least the next set of tapings.
The women’s match was very good and the way Toni got cheated out of her win, plus her emotional distress looks like a heel turn is coming up. This will probably play both into the match with Rhea Ripley at Worlds Collide (especially if she loses) and might also set up a match with Piper Niven on the UK home front once she completely snaps. Niven and Kay Lee Ray also might be a program going forward.
Tyler Bate and Jordan Devlin was a tremendous match and both deserve a bigger spotlight. The question is, what’s next for Bate, as the only way to go on the UK brand would be against WALTER again, and while those two are great, the story has been told, unless Bate is the one to finally beat him. He would be a great fit on any roster and maybe might be better featured on NXT. The same goes for Devlin, who might be a good fit to join his mentor Finn Balor on NXT,now that they are in the same universe and on the same side of the locker room.
The ladder match was crazy and Gallus retained, which was a surprise, but any other results might have drawn criticism of the tag team titles changing too much. The finish left the door open for a Gallus vs. Imperium program, and they can have matches with all the teams in the match, plus what other teams there are on the brand. The match itself was very good.
WALTER vs. Joe Coffey told a good story and was a solid match. It established Coffey as a top-tier star and the spot with Ilja Dragunov can lead both to a Joe Coffey vs. Ilja Dragunov, Wolfe vs. Coffey or even WALTER vs. Ilja program. Ilja vs. WALTER seems like a logical next step and those two more then deliver on a big stage, so this match can be built up all the way to the next UK takeOver special.
All in all this was a great show and well worth going out of your way to watch it, if you haven’t seen the show live.
In place of a new episode of NXT UK, a Prime Target premiered aired on the WWE Network tonight. I can not recommend watching this enough, as it was tremendous and really hyped all the matches for TakeOver, especially the WALTER vs. Joe Coffey WWE UK title match and the Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm vs. Piper Niven triple threat for the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
I was not too hot on the main event up to this point, but after seeing this, I really am looking forward to the match. They told a great story of Coffey losing against Pete Dunne one year ago and finally getting another chance. They also had great clips of WALTER in his home town of Vienna and the traditional wrestling grounds in the city and of Coffey hanging out in Glasgow, preparing with boxing training and being interviewed at Celtic Field stadium.
They also did a great story of hyping the Women’s title match, focusing on the real-life friendship between all three competitors. All three of them were great while being interviewed.
KLR came across as ruthless and like she would do anything to keep the title, while Storm came off almost obsessed and desperate about winning the title back, saying there was no one that it meant more to than her. The star of the segment was Niven, who was so sympathetic and also bewildered about what became of her two friends. She also got very emotional at one point, bringing up Lionheart, the British wrestler who died in June of 2019 and was her best friend, stating that she lived his dream too by competing in WWE.
There also were segments on the four-way ladder match for the NXT UK Tag Team titles, with Gallus also being featured during the WALTER/Joe Coffey clips, and the Eddie Denis vs. Trent Seven and Jordan Devlin vs. Tyler Bate matches. Between all of those, this could be the best NXT UK TakeOver yet.
The Prime Target special is available to watch below:
Full rundown —
The special opened with a number of NXT UK wrestlers and officials looking all the way back to the first-ever WWE UK Tournament in January 2017. Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Toni Storm, Nigel McGuinness, and William Regal all talked about the tournament and the city of Blackpool.
Joe Coffey then talked about being in the first NXT UK TakeOver main event in Blackpool and how fond his memories were, as he watched back clips from the match. He said he found respect for Pete Dunne that night.
The scene then switched over to the debut of WALTER at the end of that TakeOver and WALTER booting Coffey in the face. Coffey discussed becoming an afterthought of that match and how it nagged him that he couldn’t get the job done. He said he needed to prove himself and discussed how he might be able to sleep better once he lets the ghosts of that night behind himself.
The next scene then was of Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis grabbing his hand after a match at the recent set of tapings. Sid Scala talked about Dennis being an outsider and people not knowing what he was up to. The next clip was of Dennis decking Seven with a microphone.
Joe Coffey was filmed at an independent show in Glasgow and talked about first seeing wrestling at about four or five years old. He said the first match he ever saw was Nailz vs. Big Boss Man from Survivor Series 1992.
Coffey’s best friend, Jackie Polo, was then shown, talking about them being fans and Coffey once telling him he had a chairs match against Kane the night before when he was about eight years old. Coffey’s mother then talked about him breaking beds by trying wrestling moves on them. Graham McKay, the promoter for British Championship Wrestling, mentioned Coffey telling him he would be a WWE superstar one day.
WALTER was then shown at the SmackDown house show in Vienna last November, where he met some fans and signed autographs. He said he wasn’t emotional about competing in Vienna, but he was proud because of the rich history wrestling had there. He said he wasn’t just representing the UK but all of Europe. He said he would return to Vienna as the WWE UK Champion.
Next up was Piper Niven, who discussed her friendship with Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray and how much of their careers went in parallel all over the world. They ended up in WWE, and Niven said it looked like Storm and KLR drifted apart.
Storm then said she couldn’t trust KLR, so why should she trust Niven? All she had was herself. Niven said these two were not her friends anymore — she would be in the ring with two strangers.
Nigel McGuinness talked about the triple threat and how KLR got into Storm’s head when she won the NXT UK Women’s Championship from her. Niven said ever since Storm lost to KLR, she was not the same person anymore.
KLR said she didn’t have to do anything, as Storm and Niven took each other out. Storm said nobody needed this as much as she did.
Niven talked about how she at times wanted to quit, but then she thought about her best friend who passed away (“Lionheart” Adrian McCallum) and who’s dream it also was to make it to WWE. She now lived the dream for both of them.
Kay Lee Ray said the name plates on the title don’t read “Toni Storm” — they read “Kay Lee Ray” and they would never say “Piper Niven.” She said she would continue to cement her legacy on top of their broken dreams.
Gallus were shown walking around The Barras, a major market in Glasgow, and then working out together. Sid Scala talked about how they considered NXT UK their kingdom. Wolfgang talked about how they couldn’t wait to get their hands on Imperium. Mark Coffey discussed their recent attack and how it took weeks away from him and he was in physical therapy. They also talked about Ilja Dragunov stepping up and taking a beating by Imperium.
Scala discussed the tag team scene exploding and The Grizzled Young Veterans chimed in, talking about how they were the best tag team on the brand. They said the three-way tag match at TakeOver: Cardiff was an excuse by Scala and Johnny Saint to get the titles off them.
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster then discussed winning the titles, followed by Gallus talking about beating Andrews & Webster for them. They then cut to the announcement of the four-way ladder match and had clips from some of the classic ladder matches in WWF/WWE history and even a clip of Razor Ramon talking about “not just your precious gold being on the line, but your body and your career.”
Webster and Andrews said they would win the titles at any cost. Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner were next and Barthel said a ladder match had nothing to do with what they stood for, but if this was what they had to do to change the NXT Universe, so be it. It would just be a matter of time until they had all the gold.
WALTER next discussed going to the Heumarkt in Vienna the day after the house show. This is the famous open-air ice skating area in Vienna where wrestling tournaments took place during the summer months for decades. WALTER said he saw his first-ever wrestling match there.
Clips were shown of WALTER being at the ice skating rink and talking about his match with Joe Coffey. He said this was inspiring to him and reminded him what was important for him on a professional level.
WALTER said the wrestlers back in that day were gentlemen and not drunk hooligans. He said he didn’t care about being in street fights, as he is a professional athlete. He said Joe Coffey represented hooligan culture and WALTER said if he was a teenager and wanted to impress his friends, that’s what he would do. He said he couldn’t blame Coffey, as he had no idea of the rich history of the sport as WALTER did.
WALTER asked about famous historic figures in Scotland and came up with William Wallace, calling him a wild barbarian who ran around in a skirt. WALTER said he had been to Glasgow and the place was wild, so he really couldn’t blame anybody growing up there for acting the way Coffey did.
Coffey then was shown at the Celtic Park football stadium, being interviewed during a football match on the field with his Gallus brethren. They interacted with some of the players and the interview was shown on the big screen at the stadium.
Next up was Tyler Bate, talking about his WWE UK title match against WALTER at TakeOver: Cardiff. They showed clips of the speech he made at the tapings after the show, talking about how he felt he let the fans down.
This was followed by Jordan Devlin cutting a promo on Bate, telling him that Devlin was the only one who would be able to defeat WALTER. Devlin sang his own praises and said he would show the world how good he was at Bate’s expense.
William Regal then talked about how Devlin vs. Bate would be the match of the year. Bate said he was tired of letting the people and himself down. Devlin said he knew how good Bate was, but he was better. Bate said it was time to see if Devlin could live up to his own hype.
Joe Coffey was back for the next segment in his kitchen and talked about having a boxing match in preparation of his bout with WALTER. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang then once more talked about Joe’s match against Pete Dunne and how he needed a year to get another shot.
While Joe was shown warming up in the boxing gym, WALTER said Joe spent too much time thinking about how WALTER would react when he hit him, calling Joe naive for thinking he could dictate what would happen in their match. He then said Joe should rather worry about WALTER hitting him.
The special then concluded with a great video package running down all of the matches scheduled for Sunday’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II show, using highlight clips and quotes from all the performers.
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II —
TakeOver airs this coming Sunday, January 12 at noon ET/5 p.m. GMT on the WWE Network. You’ll be able to read my rundown, thoughts, and analysis on the front page, starting with the pre-show that begins 30 minutes earlier.
Card:
WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER defending against Joe Coffey
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray defending against Toni Storm and Piper Niven in a triple threat match
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defending against The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake), Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner), and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in a fatal four-way ladder match
Taped at Bonus Arena in Hull, England on November 15, 2019
Quick results —
Toni Storm defeated Killer Kelly in a quick match. Kay Lee Ray snuck up on Storm after and beat her down until Piper Niven made the save. Storm then told Niven she didn’t need her.
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster asked for a Tag Team title match.
The Hunt defeated NXT’s The Outliers (Riddick Moss & Dorian Mak) in a fun match that saw the Americans dominate.
Jazzy Gabert teased some dissension during a backstage promo with her and Jinny.
Joseph Conners defeated Ligero and Travis Banks in an excellent three-way match.
WALTER and Joe Coffey came to terms in the main event segment: Gallus will defend the NXT UK Tag Team titles against Imperium, Ilja Dragunov will face Alexander Wolfe in a no DQ match, and WALTER will defend the WWE United Kingdom Championship against Joe Coffey at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. After the segment, Imperium destroyed Dragunov and put him through a table.
Full rundown —
– The show opened with a split screen, showing Imperium and Gallus arriving at the arena.
Toni Storm pinned Killer Kelly after Storm Zero (2:05)
Kelly went to kick and slap Storm, but Storm caught her and hit a flurry of offense. Kelly came back with a modified Camel Clutch/chinlock, but Storm powered out and took Kelly down with a clothesline. She went for Storm Zero, but Kelly turned it into a bridging pin. Storm came back with a German suplex and then hit Storm Zero for the quick win.
Storm took the mic after the match, but Kay Lee Ray snuck up on her and beat her down before she could say anything. That prompted Piper Niven to run out for the save.
KLR fled the ring and slowly backed away down the ramp with a smile on her face. Niven went to help Storm up, but she got up on her own, slapped Niven’s hand away, and then got in Niven’s face, telling her she didn’t need any help.
– Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster were being interviewed backstage about the comments made by the Grizzled Young Veterans. Andrews & Webster asked to be given a title shot at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II.
– Storm and Niven were shown arguing backstage. Storm again told Niven she didn’t need her — she just needed the NXT UK Women’s title and told Niven to stay away.
The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) defeated The Outliers (Riddick Moss & Dorian Mak) after double diving headbutts on Mak (7:32)
Moss and Mak were making their NXT UK debuts, coming over from the US Performance Center.
Boar and Moss started out and Moss quickly gained the advantage, then The Outliers further double-teamed him. Mak deadlifted Boar off the mat and hit an impressive backbreaker. Boar eventually evaded a corner charge and tagged Primate, who went wild on both men.
Boar came back in and hit an exploder on Moss, then hit a springboard elbow off Primate’s back on Mak. The Hunt then took turns hitting diving headbutts on Mak, followed by double diving headbutts for the win.
Jordan Devlin pinned A-Kid after Devlinside (7:25)
Devlin trash-talked A-Kid, who took him down with a headlock takeover and applied some submission moves on the mat. He hit a standing dropkick and pushed Devlin over the top with his feet from his back. A-Kid went for a springboard move, but Devlin kicked his legs off the rope in mid-air.
Devlin followed with a knee-breaker and further worked over A-Kid’s left knee. Tyler Bate at that point walked out to cheer A-Kid on. A-Kid finally managed to power up, then jumped up on the top rope while still clutching Devlin’s hands and hit a moonsault DDT for a near fall.
A-Kid followed up with a dive and a top rope crossbody. He ducked a punch by Devlin and hit a Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. A-Kid evaded an attack by Devlin and threw him over the top onto the apron, but Devlin came right back with an over-the-top cutter.
Devlin went for Devlinside, but A-Kid turned it into a Canadian Destroyer, then hit a springboard moonsault to the outside. Bate talked to A-Kid on the outside and encouraged him. Devlin kicked A-Kid straight in the face as he entered the ring, then followed with Kawada kicks and the Devlinside for the pinfall victory.
Devlin then threw Bate a smug look as the Big Strong Boi was seething outside. After the match, Bate tended to A-Kid.
– A graphic plugged Joseph Conners vs. Ligero vs. Travis Banks next.
– Jinny cut a cell phone promo backstage, talking about her match with Piper Niven and how Jazzy Gabert got ejected from ringside. She said people wanted to talk about Jinny and Gabert but everything was fine between them.
Jinny repeated that everything was fine, but Gabert, who had been standing behind her looking mean, interrupted her as she was saying the line again. Gabert grabbed Jinny’s wrist and aggressively said “everything is fine” herself. Jinny looked concerned.
Joseph Conners defeated Ligero and Travis Banks in a triple threat match by pinning Banks after hitting Don’t Look Down (10:36)
Clips from three weeks ago aired, with Conners attacking both men in their match.
Ligero and Banks immediately double teamed Conners. They then one-upped each other, taking turns at beating Conners up and then double superkicking him. Ligero and Banks then started having a match with each other, trading quick near falls.
Ligero and Banks once more ended up in a sitting backslide, which resulted in a double pin in their first match, when Conners came in and turned them over, trying to score the win for himself. Ligero hit a double jaw breaker on Banks and Conners through the ropes.
Ligero hit a headscissors on Conners. Banks hit a double foot stomp on Ligero, then took out Conners with a dive. He hit a reverse foot stomp that mostly missed on Conners and was more like a seated senton. Ligero had Banks trapped with an O’Connor Roll, but Conners launched himself over the top with a DDT on Ligero.
Banks and Conners battled on the top rope, but Banks shoved him off, only for Ligero to run in and hit a superplex on Banks, wiping out Conners in the process. Banks and Ligero traded chops on the apron, then both tumbled to ringside off a blocked suplex spot.
Conners hit a double foot stomp on Ligero on the ring steps. He then went for a dive, but it looked like he went short due to his legs getting caught in the ropes, with Banks trying to make the catch. Banks hit Slice of Heaven and the Kiwi Crusher on Conners, but Ligero flew in with a splash and hit C4L on Banks. Conners hit Don’t Look Down on Ligero, but Banks flew in with a top rope double foot stomp to break up the pin.
Banks went for Slice of Heaven on Ligero, but Ligero turned it into a powerbomb. Conners then threw out Ligero and whipped Banks into him as he was on the apron trying to get back inside. Conners then hit Don’t Look Down on Banks for the pin.
– Kassius Ohno cut a selfie promo backstage and talked about his match with Tyler Bate. Ohno said he got livid and lost sight of why he was here — and that was to prove he was the best British wrestler. He said there would be no more rolling elbows or cyclone kicks but cravats and certainly the Kassius Clutch.
WALTER and Joe Coffey negotiation segment
Sid Scala and Johnny Saint were in the ring with a table and two chairs. They first introduced Joe Coffey, representing Gallus, who came out to a good pop, wearing a trench coat of sorts. WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER, representing Imperium, came out second.
Coffey immediately grabbed the mic and said he would not sit down for negotiations. WALTER cut him off and told him not to talk so much and asked him his terms, then sat down. Coffey said he had not forgotten WALTER entering the ring at this year’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool and booting him in the face. Coffey said he wanted the WWE UK title.
WALTER said he would not back down from the challenge, as challenges and competitions are what this great sport was all about, but he was not giving him anything for free. Coffey asked his terms and WALTER said he wanted Mark Coffey & Wolfgang to defend their Tag Team titles. Joe readily agreed.
WALTER then said he also wanted Ilja Dragunov to step up to Alexander Wolfe in a no DQ match, to which Joe replied he could not speak for Dragunov as Dragunov did not run with his crew. WALTER then told him “No Ilja, no deal.” At that point, Dragunov’s music played. He walked down the aisle mic in hand and told him to “Make the agreement.”
Scala then summarized: Gallus would defend the NXT UK Tag Team titles against Imperium next week, Ilja Dragunov would face Alexander Wolfe at a later date in a no DQ match, and Joe Coffey would challenge for WALTER’s WWE UK title at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II.
As Joe left the ring, WALTER called back Dragunov, calling him “his old friend” (in German) and saying that Dragunov had made a very bad decision. At that point, Wolfe grabbed Dragunov from under the ring skirt and Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel ran in and beat Dragunov down, with Aichner hitting a running knee into the steel steps.
Imperium then rolled Dragunov in the ring. WALTER booted him, then Wolfe powerbombed Dragunov through the table that was set up in the ring.
Next week —
Wolfgang & Mark Coffey will defend the NXT UK Tag Team titles against Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner.
