Tag: Mark Andrews

NXT UK results: Kassius Ohno vs. Mark Andrews

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Taped June 16, 2019 at Download Festival in Leicestershire, England

Quick results —

Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) defeated Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone in impressive fashion. Jinny defeated Xia Brookside, with Jazzy Gabert helping her out by distracting Brookside.

Toni Storm talked about Kay Lee Ray, who announced that she would cash in her title shot at NXT TakeOver: Cardiff on August 31. In a very good main event, Mark Andrews withstood a good deal of punishment and pulled off the win against the larger Kassius Ohno.

Full rundown —

– Sid Scala opened the show and ran down this week’s card. He also announced Toni Storm would have something to say.

Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) defeated Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone when Barthel pinned Huxley after a powerbomb/uppercut combo (4:53)

Aichner immediately took down the bigger T-Bone and made it look easy. T-Bone came back with a right and a clothesline but got caught in mid-air by Aichner and dropped with a powerslam.

A double tag later found Huxley at the receiving end of a running soccer kick by Barthel. Barthel kept attacking Huxley relentlessly in the corner. Huxley took a lot more punishment and crawled for the hot tag, but Aichner also tagged in, sneaked around ringside, and pulled T-Bone off the apron and kneed him into the steps.

Aichner and Barthel then finished Huxley off with a combined powerbomb/European uppercut off the second turnbuckle.

– Radzi Chinyanganya talked to Travis Banks, who said he was disappointed about losing to WALTER but will come back strong

Jinny (w/ Jazzy Gabert) defeated Xia Brookside with a roll-up (4:35)

Aiden English compared Jinny and Gabert to Cersei Lannister and The Mountain from Game of Thrones. Brookside started strong with a roll-up and a dropkick, then followed up with a crossbody a minute later. Jinny missed a running charge into the corner and got double knees to the back of the head, then found herself tied up in a tree of woe, but escaped.

Jinny fled to ringside and Brookside faced off with Gabert, but Jinny used the distraction and pulled Brookside up by the hair from the ring. Gabert then briefly attacked Brookside and threw her back into the ring. Jinny took over and locked in a version of a surfboard, but Brookside made the ropes.

Brookside hit a hurricanrana off the ropes, but Jinny and Brookside collided and Jinny was thrown into the ref, who briefly was distracted, allowing Gabert to grab Brookside’s legs. Jinny rolled her up for the win.

– A cameraman went into Imperium’s trailer, and they were not amused. Barthel said they disposed of British Strong Style and took out Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate and all that was left was Trent Seven.

Alexander Wolfe said Seven better be careful what he wished for and that WALTER accepts his challenge. WALTER said in German that he would break Seven and repeated the same in English, saying he would snap Seven’s back. They then threw out the cameraman.

– Kenny Williams talked about Noam Dar, saying he’d snap off the wing Dar wanted to take him under.

– They showed clips from after last week’s main event, where Dave Mastiff dared Gallus to step back into the ring with him. A reporter went into Gallus’ trailer and Joe Coffey said they tamed The Hunt and that he would take down Mastiff as well.

Toni Storm in-ring promo

Storm came out to the crowd chanting her name. She said she thought Kay Lee Ray was one of her best friends and mentioned how KLR helped her out when she first moved to the UK. She said KLR didn’t need to get her attention, she got it and was ready whenever KLR was. Storm said she was sick of her mind games, but was then interrupted by KLR’s music.

Kay Lee Ray said she was more prepared than Storm and teased having their match right now. Storm prepared, but KLR said this was not going to happen. KLR said she was going to make Storm wait until the biggest show they’ve ever had — NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. KLR said until then, she would make Storm’s life a living hell.

– Scala said this would not mean Storm and Kay Lee Ray would not be in action until TakeOver. He announced Storm, Piper Niven & Xia Brookside vs. Kay Lee Ray, Jinny & Jazzy Gabert for next week.

– Kenny Williams vs. Noam Dar and WALTER vs. Trent Seven were announced for next week.

Mark Andrews defeats Kassius Ohno (13:05)

Ohno showed off his mat prowess early, then locked Andrews in a cravat. Andrews eventually countered it into a front facelock, but quickly found himself back in the hold. Andrews showed off a few cartwheels, then hit a few dropkicks and a dive to the outside, but Ohno caught him mid-flight and slammed him throat-first into the exposed part of the turnbuckle.

Ohno took over and beat down Andrews for a while, including choking him in the ropes and locking in a another variation of the cravat. 

Ohno sat on Andrews in the corner, then shoved Andrews off the second turnbuckle, sending him tumbling to ringside. He screamed at Andrews that he didn’t belong in the ring with him and that Ohno was a wrestling genius. Ohno threw Andrews back into the ring, but got hit with three enzuigiris and a somersault plancha into a hurricanrana on the outside.

Back in the ring, Andrews hit another top rope hurricanrana and a standing moonsault for a near fall. Andrews slid under an Ohno strike, then went to hit the Pele kick, but got elbowed into the back of the head for a close near fall.

Andrews ended up on Ohno’s shoulders and got smashed face-first onto the mat. Ohno chopped Andrews, who was trapped in the ropes, but Andrews powered up and hit a number of strikes. Eventually, Andrews landed an inverted rana for a close two count.

Andrews managed to hit the Stun Dog Millionaire, then turned a moonsault block that got caught into a spinning DDT, but it still was not enough to beat Ohno. Andrews hit a Shooting Star Press, but on impact, got caught in a cravat and ate a nasty cravat slam, followed by a spinning big boot.

Ohno got cocky and didn’t got for the pin, but rather wanted to hit a tombstone piledriver. As he had Andrews up for the move, Andrews rolled through and got the pin. Ohno was shocked in the ring as Andrews celebrated on the stage.

Next week —

Toni Storm, Piper Niven & Xia Brookside face off with Kay Lee Ray, Jinny & Jazzy Gabert, Kenny Williams wrestles Noam Dar, and WALTER takes on Trent Seven.

Matches announced for next week’s WWE SmackDown, 205 Live

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced the first few matches for next week’s SmackDown and 205 Live television tapings in London, England.

On SmackDown, Asuka & Kairi Sane will team against Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville. Rose & Deville defeated Ember Moon & Carmella on last night’s episode. Paige then appeared with Asuka & Sane and announced the tag team match for next Tuesday.

Members of the NXT UK roster will be appearing on next week’s 205 Live. Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese will face Ligero in a non-title match, which comes in advance of Nese defending his title against Ariya Daivari at Money in the Bank on May 19.

A fatal four-way match between Jack Gallagher, Humberto Carrillo, Mark Andrews, and James Drake is also set for next week’s 205 Live. Andrews and Drake are both on the NXT UK roster. Drake & Zack Gibson are the current NXT UK Tag Team Champions.

Next week’s Raw and SmackDown are both being taped at the O2 Arena in London.

NXT UK results: Moustache Mountain vs. Andrews & Webster

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Image: WWE.com

Taped on 4/7 at WrestleMania Axxess in Brooklyn

Quick results:

Kassius Ohno beat Ligero after trying to tear off his mask and hitting the rolling elbow. Kay Lee Ray beat NXT’s Xia Li, but not before staring down Toni Storm, who was out to cut a promo before the match. Moustache Mountain beat Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in a great, fast-paced main event.

Full rundown:

Nigel and Vic talked about tonight’s main event, before we went straight to our first match.

Kassius Ohno pinned Ligero in 10:08 after a rolling elbow to the back of the head

The story here was that Ohno was the bigger and stronger guy and decided the action in the ring for a long time. As Ligero was looking to finally gain the advantage, Ohno resorted to unfair tactics to take the victory. The crowd hated Ohno and were into Liger, but not as much as back in the UK.

Ohno told Ligero to show him what he got and slapped him a few times. Ligero tried a few spots, but Ohno countered, avoided or overpowered Ligero. The Leeds Luchador finally got the advantage off a head scissors that sent Ohno to the outside and followed up with a somersault senton off the apron. He miscalculated on the follow-up though and Ohno once more took over. Finally, Ligero, who was almost out on his feet, managed to catch a kick by Ohno and came back with leg kicks and a running knee to the face and hit a splash from the middle of the top rope for a near-fall.

Ligero went for Sliced Bread off the top but Ohno turned it into tombstone attempt, but Ligero rolled through for another near-fall. As Ohno fled to the outside, Ligero hit a somersault over the top rope, then hit Sliced Brea off the ring steps. Both narrowly made it back into the ring, but as Ligero went for a cutter through the ropes, Ohno caught him, started to tear his mask off and as Ligero was looking to put it back on, Ohno hit the rolling elbow to the back of the head for the victory.

— Jordan Devlin was pissed off that his match with WALTER next week was a non-title match, because Johnny Saint wanted to protect WALTER for “the rematch of the century” against Pete Dunne

— A highlight video for “The Hunt” aired; they’ll be in action next week.

— Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner walked through WrestleMania Axxess and complained about fans thinking they could be champions and how back in the day, you had to work for the privilege of winning a title. They repeated once more their mantra of “The Mat is Sacred” (identical to RINGKAMPF’s motto of “Die Matte ist heilig”).

Toni Storm came out to cut a promo in the ring. She said it was awesome to represent the NXT UK brand on the most important weekend of the year. She talked about all the great women on the brand and said she’s be the champion for a very long time. As she was ready to walk backstage again, Kay Lee Ray’s music hit and she stared Toni down as she made her way to the ring.

Kay Lee Ray pinned Xia Li in 5:25 after the Widow’s Peak

Xia Li got to show off some good offense, but this pretty much was the Kay Lee Ray showcase, as she clearly is being groomed for a title match against Toni Storm.

Li made her NXT UK debut here and Nigel talked about her background as a practitioner of kung fu and how she defended her family back in China after her father’s death when she was in her teens.

Both women traded offense right away but Kay Lee got the better of it quickly. Kay Lee Ray kept the upper hand after some mind games backfired, but Li got to show off some of her kicks, Ray hit a crescent kick and drove Li into the post, then followed up with kicks and strikes in the corner. Li eventually got to show some offense, hitting a snap mare off an atomic drop attempt, a kick to the back and a hard kick to the chest. She missed a double foot stomp though and Kay Lee Ray picked up the win with the Widow’s Peak.

— Piper Niven was signing autographs and was asked about Rhea Ripley, She said that while Rhea was a great athlete, she was looking forward to how she would react to someone a little too big to push around.

— The Grizzled Young Veterans were upset backstage, throwing Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams’ gear out into the hallway, raging on about how they were locker room leasers and Jordan and Williams could get dressed in the hallway.

Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) beat Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 12:28 when Seven pinned Webster after a combined Burning Hammer/flying knee drop

These two teams had a tremendous, fast paced match that had great aerial offense, mat wrestling and a good amount of drama. The crowd was into both teams and it was a great showcase for all four men,

Bate and Andrews started out with Andrews gaining the upper hand off an arm bar but Bate worked his way out of it and they traded holds and counter-holds. Both men tagged out and Webster tried tackling Seven off his feet, but failing miserably. He switched tactics and used his athleticism to take Seven down. Seven feigned a chop and as Webster ducked, he hit a quick DDT. After tagging again, Bate hit a somersault senton off the top onto Andrews and Seven worked him over some more, doing a good job of isolating him from being able to tag out.

Finally Webster made it back in, immediately hitting a springboard dropkick on Bate and a springboard moonsault on Seven. The offense didn’t take long though as Bate staged his own comeback, culminating in a double airplane spin/giant swing,. Bate got thrown tot he outside, but caught Webster off a plancha and did another airplane spin on the outside. An exploder later, Seven was back in, but Mark Andrews slid under Moustache Mountain and hit a double Pelé kick on both men, then Andrews and Webster hit stereo somersault planchas to the outside. Andrews then hit an assisted 450 onto Seven for a near-fall.

Moustache Mountain hit a combined slingshot lariat/dragon suplex on Andrews, but Webster came off the top with a somersault senton to break up the pin. Bate missed a slingshot lariat when Andrews slid under him, then hit a reverse rana, assisted by a running knee from Webster. Seven quickly tagged back in and hit a Burning Hammer, assisted with a flying knee drop by Bate on Webster to pick up the win.

Both teams shook hands after the match.

Next week:

WALTER faces Jordan Devlin in a non-title match and The Hunt will be in action.

Daily Update: WWE injury notes, David Finlay, Champion Carnival

Posted on by Bryan Rose

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News

Latest Audio

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: WWE takes first steps toward WrestleMania 35 triple threat

It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.

An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.

WON NEWSLETTER: February 25, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review

The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.

The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.

All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.

The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.

FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.

“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.

Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.

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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Dave Meltzer has sent in the following in regards to injuries that took place over the weekend:
    There was an injury scare last night as Drew McIntyre seemed to have suffered a knee injury during a house show in Tupelo, MS. The match had to go home early, but he is believed to be fine.
    Noam Dar suffered what could possibly be a serious knee injury suffered in a match against Mark Andrews during the NXT UK tapings yesterday. He is to be examined in the US when he comes back.
    Mark Andrews was knocked out during the match with Dar. It may be a concussion, but the belief is that it wasn’t too serious.
  • Aleister Black said his goodbyes to NXT during a house show in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend. He along with the other call-ups will still be part of the NXT TV tapings at least through the next TakeOver.
  • Matt Riddle made his debut on UpUpDownDown playing A Nightmare on Elm Street.
  • Dave Schilling, who has written in the past for Bleacher Report, VICE and The Guardian says that he will be joining the WWE creative team next month.
  • The Rock surprised moviegoers who were watching Fighting With My Family in Atlanta, appearing at a screening of the movie.
  • Nikki Bella won the WIN award this weekend for best actress in a reality series.

Pro Wrestling

  • David Finlay wrote on Twitter yesterday that he dislocated his shoulder during the ROH tag team title match on 2/23, writing “Thanks to everyone for all the positive vibes! I did dislocated my shoulder last night but it’s back in now. I’ll see a doctor when I’m home to see what the damage is but hopefully it’s nothing too serious. Thanks again to everyone. See you in the mountains!”
  • All Japan announced the blocks for this year’s Champion Carnival, which starts on April 4 and runs through April 29.
    Block A has Kento Miyahara, Kengo Mashimo, Yuma Aoyagi, Zeus, Gianni Valletta, Ryouji Sai, Dylan James, Shuji Ishikawa,Yuji Okabayashi
    Block B has Joe Doering, Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura, Yoshitatsu, Daichi Hashimoto, Sam Adonis, Suwama, Takashi Yoshida, Joel Redman
  • WALTER vs. David Starr, Fenix vs. Rey Horus, Axel Dieter Jr. vs. Maris Al-Ani, Pentagon Jr. vs. Mark Davis, Timothy Thatcher vs. Lucky Kid, Ilja Dragunov vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, Chris Brookes vs. Shigehiro Irie, and Jurn Simmons vs. Avalanche in a falls count anywhere match are the first round matches in this year’s wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament. The tournament is taking place from March 8-10, with those first round matches happening on the first night.
  • Starrcast LLC has applied a trademark for the term “Dead Man Talking.”
  • This week’s MLW Fusion episode is available on YouTube. It has Aerostar vs. Rey Horus, Mance Warner making his debut against Jimmy Yuta, and Rich Swann vs. Lance Anoa’i.
  • NWO Sting (Jeff Farmer) will be an entrant in the Clusterf*ck match at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3, part two in Jersey City, New Jersey on Saturday, April 6.

UFC/MMA

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW WrestleWar 1991

Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):

  • Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
  • Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!

CONTACT INFORMATION

NXT UK results: Aichner & Barthel vs. Andrews & Webster

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool Plus – Episode 25 (taped January 12, 2019 at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England)

Quick recap: 

Just four days after NXT UK TakeOver:Blackpool, a new episode with matches taped before the actual TakeOver event aired on the WWE Network in somewhat of a surprise (it wasn’t announced until today). In the opening match, Ligero beat Saxon Huxley. Isla Dawn could not get revenge on Jinny, as The White Witch lost to the Fashionista. The European Connection of Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel beat Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in the main event.

Full rundown:

The show opened with a highlight video of Saturday’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, culminating with the debut of WALTER who walked to the ring to stare down Pete Dunne, who had just successfully defended his WWE UK Championship against Joe Coffey.

Ligero pinned Saxon Huxley in 5:22 after hitting the C4L

Saxon started with a kick but Ligero quickly started evading him and hit a number of dropkicks and other offense until Juxley caught him off a body press and slammed him down hard. Huxley took over for a while and put on a straight jacket submission after hitting a nice Thesz Press. Ligero eventually staged a comeback, culminating in a beautiful top rope missile dropkick. After a stunner through the ropes, Ligero hit the C4L, his springboard Tornado DDT for the win.

Jinny pinned Isla Dawn in 6:42 after an X-Factor off the second turnbuckle

Jinny started with strikes but Isla quickly hit a gut wrench suplex and double knees for a near fall before progressing into a series of hammerlocks that Jinny had trouble escaping. She eventually escaped to ringside and snapped Isla’s neck on the top rope. After a quick hurricanrana, she locked in an abdominal stretch but Isla managed to hip toss her way out of the move.

Jinny hit a flatliner into the turnbuckle for a near fall and locked in a cobra clutch. Isla came back with a back drop driver then got Jinny into a Gory Especial, which Jinny hit a victory roll attempt out of but ended up on the bottom for a near fall. As Isla went to the top rope, Jinny drop kicked her legs out and hit an X-Factor off the middle rope for the victory.

Nigel and Vic talked about Travis Banks, who was attacked by Jordan Devlin before their match could officially start. Banks then challenged Jordan Devlin for a match next week. The match later was confirmed by NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint.

A graphic plugged the upcoming tag team match.

A clip on the the upcoming NXT UK tapings on February 22 and 23 aired.

The European Connection (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) beat Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 9:37 when Aichner pinned Webster after a combined spinning power bomb/flying European uppercut

Aichner and Barthel had new matching gear with their monograms on the front and the flags of the European Union and Germany/Italy respectively on the rear. Aichner and Andrews started out and Aichner quickly demonstrated his power. After some power moves by Aichner, Andrews hit a hurricanrana and dropkick. Barthel and Webster were in next and Webster used his quickness for the advantage but quickly got overpowered by the two bigger men and got rag dolled by Aichner for good measure. Webster eventually managed to hot tag Andrews while Barthel also tagged out. Webster helped Andrews do an assisted 450 for a near fall. The two mainlanders quickly put a stop to Andrews’ tomfoolery and double teamed him mercilessly.

Webster managed to break up a pin that would have meant certain defeat. Andrews managed to hurricanrana Aichner out of the ring and the faces hit stereo somersault dives over the rop to the outside. Back in the ring, Barthel impressively tossed Andrews right into a brain buster by Aichner for another close fall. Andrews managed to come back, slid under both heels and hit a double Pelé kick. Webster was in and this time, Barthel barely saved the match for his team on a pin fall attempt.

Andrews hit Stunt Dog Millionaire on Barthel but as he went for a dive, Aichner trapped his legs and smashed him into the barriers a few times, effectively taking him out of the match. Webster then was easy prey to Aichner and Barthel and they finished him off with a combined spinning power bomb/flying European uppercut.

Next week:

Travis Banks will finally get his hands on Jordan Devlin and a number of other matches from the post-TakeOver tapings will air.

NXT UK results: Tag Team title tournament finals set for TakeOver

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode 23 (taped November 25, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)

Quick results —

Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams defeated Dan Moloney & Jamie Ahmed, and Isla Dawn defeated Xia Brookside in an even match. Jordan Devlin beat Damien Weir in an impressive squash. Travis Banks then came out — and Devlin fled to the back instead of facing off.

James Drake & Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in a great, fast-paced match and will face Moustache Mountain for the NXT UK Tag Team titles at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool this Saturday.

Full rundown —

The episode started with Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph talking about NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, saying that the show would feature three title matches — and the final participants in the Tag Team title match would be decided in our main event on this show.

Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams defeated Dan Moloney & Jamie Ahmed in 3:59 when Jordan pinned Ahmed after a Swanton Bomb

Jordan and Ahmed started out. Williams quickly tagged in and worked Ahmed’s arm over. Things turned around when Moloney distracted Jordan on the top rope and Ahmed took him down.

Moloney did a Three Amigos spot, using butterfly suplexes. Jordan got worked over until he finally made the hot tag. Williams took over and ran wild, hitting a suicide dive, two springboard back elbows, and his spot where he dives feet-first through the ropes and hits one guy, then skinned the cat back into the ring.

Jordan hit a Swanton Bomb on Ahmed for the win.

– A recap video of last week’s contract signing between Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey aired, ending in Coffey powerbombing Dunne through a table. A graphic plugged that Gallus would state their mind next.

– Gallus came out and entered the ring. Coffey responded to the fans booing by stating that no one liked them and they didn’t care. He talked about Gallus vs. British Strong Style on the next episode, stating that they would get what was coming to them. And at TakeOver, Dunne would be lucky to walk out of the ring alive. Coffey will be the UK champion and the Iron King.

– McGuinness and Joseph talked about that match and the NXT UK Women’s Championship match at TakeOver.

– A press conference with Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Johnny Saint, and Sid Scala aired next. Storm channeled her inner Session Moth Martina, wearing a leopard coat, while Ripley had her feet up on the table. Ripley wouldn’t give away her strategy when asked. Storm talked about all the women she defeated in the Mae Young Classic, but Ripley said she didn’t beat her.

As Ripley laughed at her, Storm said she would take the title. Ripley got all aggravated when someone implied that she was just a Toni Storm ripoff. Ripley told Storm she had no chance and started shoving her, but Saint got between them and quickly broke them up. Ripley left and the press conference was over.

– A video with statements and highlights from Joseph Conners and Ligero aired. They will face each other on the next episode of NXT UK.

Isla Dawn defeated Xia Brookside in 5:06 after countering a victory roll into a pin 

They shook hands at the start of the match. Brookside escaped some of Dawn’s submission attempts early on and eventually took her down with a headscissors. Dawn escaped and started working over her legs. Dawn locked in a straight jacket hold and they countered in and out of the hold a number of times until Dawn finally managed to back Brookside into the corner.

They transitioned into a number of pinning combinations until Brookside went for a victory roll and Dawn sat down on the move (just like in the Bret Hart/Owen Hart match at WrestleMania X) for the pin. The two shook hands after the match once more.

– McGuinness and Joseph talked some more about TakeOver, this time focusing on the no disqualification match between Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis. A highlight video recapping their feud aired. A hipster-looking Dennis talked about being the killer, despite Mastiff thinking he was one.

– Isla Dawn was shown being attacked by Jinny backstage during the break. Jinny told her this was the difference between a witch and a queen

Jordan Devlin defeated Damien Weir in 4:50 after Ireland’s Call

Devlin toyed with Weir early on, working over his arm. He hit the uranage/standing moonsault combo, then bent Weir backwards over his knee. When Weir briefly started fighting back, Devlin picked him up for an over-the-shoulder-backbreaker.

Weir briefly managed to turn an Ireland’s Call attempt into a victory roll, but he got kicked in the head on a suicide dive attempt. Devlin then hit a cutter, his pull-up snap belly.to-back suplex, and Ireland’s Call for the victory.

After the match, Devlin grabbed the mic for a promo, but Travis Banks hit the ring and scared Devlin off. He challenged Devlin for a match right there, but Devlin backed off.

– A video recapped the previous match between Zack Gibson & James Drake vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster, which was won by the heels after interference by Fabian Aichner. This week, Aichner and Marcel Barthel are banned from ringside

– Radzi Chinyanganya talked to Moustache Mountain backstage. They vowed to win the Tag Team titles at TakeOver.

NXT UK Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinals: James Drake & Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 9:19 after hitting Ticket to Ride on Webster 

Andrews and Drake started out. The heels quickly attacked both men and started working over Andrews, quickly tagging in and out and almost getting the victory just 45 seconds in. They hit their backbreaker/elbow drop to the outside of the ring spot on Andrews, who was the face in peril for a few more minutes.

Andrews finally made the hot tag to Webster, who quickly hit a quebrada on both opponents and hit a number of high spots, including a somersault plancha to the outside and a Baba O’Riley Buster. Andrews was in and hit a somersault plancha into a hurricanrana to the outside of his own.

Andrews escaped the Shankly Gates but ate a Ticket to Ride for a near fall. He then managed to turn a Doomsday Device attempt into a top rope hurricanrana on Drake, then hit a reverse rana/superkick combo on Gibson. Gibson finally managed to catch Andrews on a dive and turned it into Helter Skelter onto the ramp.

Gibson and Drake hit another double-team Ticket to Ride on Webster for the victory.

Next episode —

British Strong Style meet Gallus in a six-man tag team match leading up to NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.

NXT UK results: Ripley vs. Purrazzo, Marcel Barthel debuts

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode 20 (taped November 24, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)

Quick recap —

James Drake & Zack Gibson beat beat “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman & Primate in a fun opener. Eddie Dennis destroyed Dave mastiff’s opponent before the match could start, sending a message to his rival. Marcel Barthel made his NXT UK debut and looked tremendous against Mark Andrews. Rhea Ripley defended her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Deonna Purrazzo in an excellent main event; when she attacked Purrazzo after the bell, Toni Storm came out for the save. 

Full rundown —

We kicked the show off with a split screen, showing Rhea Ripley and Deonna Purrazzo preparing for their match backstage

James Drake & Zack Gibson beat “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman & Primate in 4:55 after hitting Ticket to Ride on Hitchman

Primate, who also wrestles as Jason Prime is a former six year veteran of the British Army, and served in the household cavalry for the Royal Family. He chose his ring name because his father, who passed on since, used to say that wrestlers in the ring looked like gorillas. He started in 2014 and was trained by Rampage Brown. He wrestled mostly for Defiant/WCPW, but also other groups such as ICW and PROGRESS among others. He is a former Defaint/WCPW Hardcore and tag team champion.

Gibson and Hitchman started out. There were light Gibson chants. Hitchman escaped from a wrist lock and took over with an arm lock but got thrown on his head. Drake came in but was hit by a senton by Hitchman, who tagged in Primate. Primate hit a clothesline in the corner. Gibson blind-tagged Drake and threw Primate to the outside, then picked him up and Drake launched himself onto Primate over the top to the outside. Gibson locked in his sitting cobra clutch, then tagged Drake who struck him down with a forearm.

They worked over Primate for a while until he managed to throw Gibson over the top and suplex Drake to make the quick tag. “Wild Boar” ran wild for a bit, including a senton on Drake and a pop-up power bomb. Hitchman missed a senton into the corner when Gibson pulled Drake out of the way. They hit Ticket to Ride, their finish where Drake throws the opponent into Gibson’s codebreaker for the win.

Afterwards, Gibson cut a promo in the ring to a mix of boos and light chants. He said the NXT UK tag team titles were right around the corner and he knew a thing or two about winning tournaments. He said he loved his city but he absolutely hated the people of Liverpool. He said not to blame this on him, as the fans turned on him as soon as he got some success. He was the only one to represent Liverpool as no body else in the arena could. He said they were the top tag team in the world, soon to be recognized as the NXT UK Tag Team champions.

A graphic announced Marcel Barthel vs. Mark Andrews; this was followed by a WrestleMania commercial

Moustache Mountain were interviewed backstage about their match with Gallus next week and NXT TakeOver in Blackpool. They said they would become the first-ever NXT UK Tag Team champions.

Dave Mastiff vs. Josh Morrell never got started

Morrell is also known as “Turbo” Josh Terry and previously wrestled Lio Rush on 205 Live. He was trained by current NXT assistant coach Johnny Moss and made his debut at just 16 years old and wrestled for Discovery Wrestling and target Wrestling among others. 

Mastiff came out first, followed by Morrell, who immediately got attacked by Eddie Dennis and slammed into the lights on the entrance ramp. mastiff was furious in the ring but the referee held him back. Dennis smiled and went backstage.

Joseph Conners was in a video segment, talking about how there was a mod, a time traveler and a luchador in NXT UK and how they were all just new, shiny toys. He knew how that felt like, because two years ago, he was just one of these news toys as well before he got bad, scratched and discarded. So if he can’t be any of these toys, he’d make sure they would be as bad and scratched as he was. 

Marcel Barthel beat Mark Andrews in 9:48 after hitting the Landungsbrücken

Marcel Barthel, 28, is a  second-generation wrestler from Germany and the son of legendary German wrestler Axel Dieter, who wrestled all over Europe from 1955 to 1987 and passed away in 2015 at the age of 81. He joined NXT in mid-2017 and has been a regular on their Florida house show loop and also appeared a few times on NXT television.

They locked up and Barthel took him down immediately with a wrist lock. Barthel continued to school Andrews on the mat, locking in a hammerlock. Andrews from the bottom got Barthel into a headlock while still in the move, but Barthel did a head stand into a neck bridge to escape. Andrews eventually managed to escape and hit a few arm drags and a hurricanrana. Barthel came back with a punch to the gut and showed his striking prowess, being a former boxer.

Barthel caught Andrews on a whip, picked him up on an roundabout slam onto his face, then followed up with a knee to the face for a two-count. Barthel locked in a head lock on the mat, transitioning into a chin lock. Andrews escaped, but got his head slammed into the mat for his troubles. Barthel hung Andrews face-down off the second rope then hit a baseball slide right to Andrews’ face, then stopped for a Ringkampf pose on the second rope. Andrews hit a few strikes, but ate a running European uppercut into the corner in return. Barthel locked in a head-and-arm submission and screamed “Nein!” as Andrews tried to escape. Andrews eventually tried to roll through for a two-count.

Andrews followed up with a few chops, slid under a clothesline and hit an enzuigiri that put Barthel down. He followed with double knees into the corner, a roll through and Stomp 182, then tried for a standing moonsault, but Barthel again screamed “Nein!” and rolled out of the ring. Barthel avoided a plancha but Andrews finally hit a somersault body block off the ring steps. As Andrews rolled Barthel back into the ring, Fabian Aichner came out and distracted him, leading to Barthel cradling Andrews once he was back inside for a near-fall.

Barthel went for another European uppercut in the corner but Andrews got up for an enzuigiri. Barthel then hit a slam for another near-fall. Barthel went for a suplex but Andrews turned it into Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went up for the shooting star press, but Barthel rolled out of the way and Andrews landed on his knees. As Andrews hit another enzuigiri from the apron and went for a springboard, Barthel pushed him off the rope to the outside. Aichner at the point hit a running knee on Andrews against the barricade.

Barthel then hit a modified “Landungsbrücken” (fisherman release belly-to-back suplex; the original ends with him bridging) for the victory. Aichner got into the ring after the match and he and Barthel shook hands.

In a WWE.com exclusive, Mark Andrews said that he didn’t lose to Marcel Barthel but to Barthel and Fabian Aichner and is sick and tired of Aichner constantly interfering in his matches

A video on Toni Storm aired, focusing on her Mae Young Classic victory and her then demanding an NXT UK Women’s title match during the last episode; she talked about moving to the UK to get better opportunities and the UK meant everything to her

Doomsday by the Architects is the official NXT Uk TakeOver: Blackpool theme song

A video on Travis Banks aired.

WWE NXT UK Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley (c) defeats Deonna Purrazzo in 11:22 after Riptide

Deonna Purrazzo started out in 2013 and was trained by Rip Rogers and the D2W Wrestling Academy. She appeared on NXT TV as early as 2015 and was part of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. She also wrestled for Ring of Honor, Stardom, Impact, SHIMMER, WSU, RISE, RevPro, GCW and numerous others and held some indy women’s titles.

Rhea Ripley’s previous theme song Final Straw seems to have been replaced by a new one called Brutality, which can’t hold a candle to the old one.

Purrazzo started ff string with a running boot to the head and a head scissors take down, then began to work over Ripley’s arm. Rhea came back with hard forearm strikes, but Deonna got a two-count with a poor woman’s version of a La Magistral cradle. She followed this up with a dropkick to the hip of Ripley which sent the champ to the outside. As she followed, she ended up on Ripley’s shoulders and got her face planted on the apron, then got thrown into the barricade.

Ripley got her opponent down to the match with strikes and kicks, then posed with on foot on top of her fallen opponent, before picking her up for a vertical delayed suplex and another two-count. She locked on body scissors and continued to taunt Purrazzo. Deonna briefly managed to transition into a pin but only got a one-count, before eventually managing to pry Rhea’s legs apart and escape the hold. Rhea followed that with some ground and pound. Purrazzo went for a sunset flip but Rhea rolled through, stomped her in the chest and locked in her reverse Clover Leaf.

Deonna eventually reached the ropes, then managed to evade a clothesline into the corner and pull Rhea’s leg out for a quick pin. Ripley came back with a drop kick to the head and Purrazzo rolled gto ringside while Ripley posed in the ring. Ripley went for a suplex but Purrazzo escaped to the apron mid-move, then hit a kick and a somersault plancha. Purrazzo hit an STO and transitioned into a Koji clutch right away. Ripley tried to escape and managed to turn the hold into a pin, forcing Purrazzo to release the hold.

They traded strikes and chops until Ripley managed to throw Purrazzo on her face off a whip-in. Ripley put her up on the top for a superplex but Purrazzo held on and tried going for a sunset bomb, but this time Ripley held on to the rop ropes. She tried punching down onto Deonna who moved and used Rhea hurting her hand and releasing her grip into a German suplex off the middle turnbuckle, leading to both women being down. Purrazzo kept hitting strikes, then followed with a takeover STO for a near-fall. Purrazzo went crazy on Ripley in the corner, but her aggression was out of control as Ripley managed to pull her head-first into the turnbuckle. She followed up with Riptide for the win.

As Purrazzo got up, Ripley hit her with a kick to the face, then managed to beat her down in the corner until Toni Storm came out to make the safe, sending Rhea packing. Rhea posed with her title on the ramp as Toni stared her down from the ring. Toni and Deonna bumped fists as the show went off the air.

In a WWE.com exclusive interview, Radzi asked Rhea Ripley is she was concerned about Toni Storm. She said he should ask Toni is she was concerned about her, then asked “How dare you?” and sprayed water in his face

Next week:

Moustache Mountain face Gallus in the semi-finals of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament.

NXT UK results: Joe Coffey vs. Travis Banks, Toni Storm returns

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

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

Quick recap:

Toni Storm made her return to NXT UK after being injured in her title match with Rhea Ripley and beat Charlie Morgan. James Drake & Zack Gibson managed to beat Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews with some outside assistance by Fabian Aichner in an attempt to qualify for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament.

In another women’s match, Nina Samuels beat Killer Kelly. Joe Coffey managed to beat Travis Banks, further cementing his status as a legitimate contender for Pete Dunne’s WWE UK Championship. For some reason, the sound mix was off for this episode, with the music too loud and the commentary too silent on any segments involving the announcers and background music.

Full rundown:

Toni Storm defeated Charlie Morgan in 3:56 after Storm Zero 

They briefly shook hands, then locked up but neither woman could get the advantage. Morgan slapped Toni, but she came back with slaps of her own, followed by a big boot and a low dropkick for a one count. Toni got on a cross between an Indian Deathlock and STF, but Morgan made the ropes. Morgan managed to fend off Toni’s attack in the corner and hit a step-up enzuigiri for a quick cover.

She kept being on offense, working over Toni with kicks and locked in a camel clutch in an attempt to break Toni’s back and make her humble. Toni managed to escape and flip Morgan over, then followed up with forearm strikes and a release German suplex. Toni hit the hip attack in the corner, then followed up with Storm Zero for the win.

In the studio, Vic and Nigel talked about Toni being back and threw it to a music video about Gallus. The sound mix was off here and it was hard to understand them.

A video hyping up Gallus aired, with highlights of the destruction they caused over the past few weeks.

Joe Coffey and Travis Banks were shows warming up backstage in a split screen; this was followed up by a WrestleMania hype video.

James Drake & Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 8:49 when Gibson submitted Andrews with the Shankly Gates

The sound mix still was off during the entrances, making it nearly impossible to understand the announcers while the music was playing.

Gibson and Andrews started, with Gibson using his size advantage early on but Andrews being the quicker man and countering most of his offense. Andrews tagged out and they hit a double hip toss combined moonsault/reverse shooting star onto Gibson. Morgan locked in a guillotine but Gibson backed him into his own corner and Drake tagged in.

Drake briefly took over but Webster hit the Rude Boy Block off the second turnbuckle. As he went to the top again, Gibson took off his wrist tape and threw it at Webster, distracting him enough for Drake to attack and send him to the outside. Gibson picked him up for a backbreaker to the outside and Drake jumped over the ropes and hit a knee onto Webster.

The heels continued working over Webster in and outside the ring. The fans were livid at this point with “shoes off if you hate Gibson” chants and virtually everyone waving their shoes into the air, prompting Nigel to complain about the smell in the arena. Drake hit a forearm for a near-fall and applied a chin lock. Webster finally managed to push Drake into Gibson and reach for the hot tag. Andrews came in with a springboard huracanrana on Gibson right away, then slid under a double clothesline and hit a double Pelé kick on both heels.

Andrews got caught on a moonsault attempt, but managed to turn it into a swinging DDT. Gibson finally managed to thwart another aerial attack by Andrews, kicking his legs off the ropes and following with a forearm, leading into a missile dropkick by Drake and Grit Your Teeth (a running Codebreaker) by Gibson for a near-fall.

Andrews managed to escape a Doomsday Device attempt, make the tag to Webster who sent Gibson to the outside, hit Drake with an enzuigiri from the apron and followed up with an inverted huracanrana from the second turnbuckle, but Gibson managed to make the save. Webster manged to hit a head-butt, sending Gibson staggering, but Gibson managed to pick up Webster and throw him into Andrews who was on the top rope.

The heels tossed Webster out of the ring and grabbed Andrews, but he managed to turn a double suplex attempt into a double Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went to the top to hit the Shooting Star Press on Drake but Fabian Aichner ran out and threw Webster into the steel steps, prompting Andrews to hit a plancha onto him. Meanwhile, Drake tagged out to Gibson without Andrews noticing, so when Andrews finally hit the Shooting Star Press, Drake wasn’t the legal man anymore. Gibson slid into the ring and locked in the Shankly Gates.

After the match, Aichner got back into the ring and attacked Andrews, picking him up for his spinning power bomb but Webster pulled Andrews down at the last second and they managed to send Aichner packing.

A highlight video hyped up Killer Kelly and Nina Samuels, who we were told would be competing next; this was followed by a WWE Custom Tees commercial.

Nina Samuels defeated Killer Kelly in 4:30 after Hell to the Knee-na

Problems with the sound mix continued. Samuels managed to avoid Kelly a few times, before slapping her and getting caught in a wrist lock, but managed to escape to the ropes. Samuels kept teasing Kelly, but only drew the ire of Kelly, who hit a series of forearms and a big boot for a two-count.

Samuels ducked a right hand by Kelly on the apron and snapped the her neck on the top rope. Samuels locked in a sitting full nelson on the mat. Kelly briefly powered out but Samuels locked it back in and hit a snap mare and a a somersault neck snap for another near fall. Kelly was tied up in the ropes and Samuels hit a running dropkick to Kelly’s back for yet another two count.

Samuels locked in another full nelson, but Kelly managed to slide out of the move and roll Nina up. Kelly suplex her into the corner and hit a running basement dropkick for a close near-fall. Kelly tried for a fisherman’s buster but Samuels grabbed one of her pigtails and rammed her into the corner. She followed up with Hell to the Knee-na for the win.

A graphic for our main event was shown followed by a commercial for the AJ Styles 365 special.

Radzi interviewed Fabian Aichner backstage, talking about Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster getting the last laugh. Aichner said that if they thought they could mess with him, they got another thing coming. Webster and Andrews won’t win the NXT tag team titles because Aichner would find himself a partner and win the titles himself.

Joe Coffey defeated “The Kiwi Buzzsaw” Travis Banks in 11:13 after a discuss lariat.

Coffey came out on his own, without his Gallus brethren. Both guys charged each other but Banks started out with strikes and kicks. They had a striking battle early, until Banks hit a shotgun dropkick followed by a swinging kick on the apron. They battled on the outside until Coffey rolled Banks back into the ring, but Banks came flying right back with a topé to the back of Coffey.

Coffey then hit a slingshot on Banks, sending him into the barricades shoulder-first to take the lead. Back in the ring, Coffey started working over Banks’ still injured right shoulder, including locking in a full nelson, which he kept on despite some brief attempts of Banks to escape.Coffey continuously attacked the shoulder with a number of strikes, yanks, and submission holds.

Banks finally hit a few kicks, but Coffey wouldn’t let go of Banks’ arm, until a big knee strike that sent something from Coffey’s mouth flying. He evaded a corner attack by Coffey and hit a dropkick to the back of his head, followed by a Shining Wizard for a near-fall. After a failed attempt at a fisherman’s buster, Coffey took over again with more attacks of the shoulder and a big power slam. Coffey caught him in a spinning bear-hug and hit an overhead belly-to-belly for another near-fall.

They battled on the top rope until Banks hit a head-butt to send Coffey to the mat, followed by a double foot stop to Coffey’s neck and then another double stomp in the corner from the second turnbuckle. Banks hit a fisherman’s buster for a near-fall, hit a hard elbow on Coffey on the apron, sending him to the floor.

Banks followed that one with a suicide dive and rolled Coffey back inside. Banks hit yet another double foot stomp onto Coffey’s back for a close two-count. As Banks missed an aerial attack and rolled through, Coffey hit him with a spear (although it was more a flying shove) into the corner and went for his discuss lariat. Banks blocked it, but Coffey spun around again and successfully hit the discuss lariat for the win.

Next episode:

They didn’t announce anything, but we are heading into the November set of tapings next week, including the start of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament and the debut of a few new faces in NXT UK.

NXT UK results: Jordan Devlin vs. Flash Morgan Webster

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode twelve (taped October 13 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)

Quick recap

Fabian Aichner made his NXT UK debut, defeating Mark Andrews and looking good in the process. Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in a quick match, while Edie Dennis basically squashed Tucker. Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in a good main event match.

Also, Travis Banks returned from injury to confront Gallus, the new official name for the group of Wolfgang and the Coffey Brothers. In other news, Sid Scala officially was appointed assistant to NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint.

Full rundown

The show opened with a graphic about Tom “Dynamite Kid” Billington passing away. A scrolling message at the bottom of the screen also wished his family, friends and fans the best.

This was the first show from the third set of NXT UK tapings and saw a number of debuts and returns, the first of which happened in the first segment. Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang came out and Joe Coffey cut a promo in the ring. He said people had been calling them “ruthless”, then asked his brother for what other word they had been called. “Devious”, was the answer.

He asked Wolfgang for another term. “Underhanded”, was what Wolfgang told him. He said that this was absolutely right, he said that this was their kingdom and that they would be known as Gallus, which, according to Wikipedia means is a Lowland Scottish word for self-confident, daring, cheeky or stylish, impressive, 

He said that this was their kingdom now and that there was no such thing as Big Strong Bois anymore. At that point, Travis banks came out and stood in the aisle. Joe Coffey asked him how he felt and that they had put him on the shelf. he dared Banks to get in the ring, noting that there were three of them and just one of him.

He then told him they could go one on one. Banks stormed the ring, but as he took Joe down, the rest of Gallus interfered and beat him down. Moustache Mountain ran out to make the save, sending the heels packing.

Nigel and Vic were in studio, talking about the last segment and then threw it to a backstage interview where Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Fabian  Aichner, who made his debut here. He said that there were some of the best competitors in the world here and he was looking forward to mix it up with them, just as he had done in NXT.

A graphic informed us that Aichner would do battle with Mark Andrews next.

A TLC promo aired.

Radzi was back with Jordan Devlin. Devlin asked if he had seen how far he had pushed Pete Dunne in his own home town and that he was confident another title opportunity would not be too far away for him.

He said that he was the Irish Ace and he looked at the NXT UK roster like a deck of cards and when he shuffles that deck and pulls out Flash Morgan Webster, he sees the Joker. He threatened to rip off Webster’s anorak, throw his helmet in the fifth row and said that the Ace always trumps the Heart. (which makes basically no sense in any kind of card game, but I digress)

Fabian Aichner beat Mark Andrews in 9:19 after a spinning sit-out power bomb

Aichner of course is the current EVOLVE world champion. He hails from South Tyrol which is a German speaking autonomous province in northern Italy, which originally belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian empire (there, you learned something). He started in 2011 and trained in Germany with former WCW “Wunderkind” Alex Wright and his English father, Steve Wright.

Aichner and Andrews shook hands for the start of the match. After some back and forth, Aichner showed his power by easily gorilla pressing Andrews, but Andrews reversed out of the move. He tried his somersault over the top rope from the apron, but Aichner once more caught him in mid-move, even though Andrews managed to turn the move into a lucha arm drag and followed with a huracanrana. Andrews followed this up with a topé.

Back in the ring, Aichner stopped Andrews, threw him high into the air and caught him for a backbreaker, which looked impressive. Nigel talked about Aichner’s trainer Steve Wright once wrestling Tiger Mask, in a similar display of strength and technique versus high flying. Andrews hit a standing corkscrew senton for a near-fall and turned a power bomb attempt into a huracanrana.

He once more tried his somersault over the roped but this time it ended in a hard face slam for him. Aichner turned him inside out with a clothesline and went for a brain buster which got turned into the Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went up top but Aichner caught him mid-air and gave him a brain buster for a near fall.

Aichner then showed his athleticism with a spring board moonsault which missed. Andrews went for a moonsault of his own which got caught, but managed to turn it into a tornado DDT for a near fall of his own. He tried for a shooting star press but impressively managed to land on his feet as Aichner rolled to ringside.

Aichner pulled Andrews out and drove him into the steps, then followed with a running knee into the steel for good measure. This was a turning point, as Aichner supposedly embraced the dark side here. Andrews managed to get back in at 9 but got caught in a spinning sit-out power bomb for the pin.

This was a very good match and a great NXT UK debut for Aichner.

Vic and Nigel talked about the NXT UK Women’s championship tournament, which concluded last week.

A promo looked at Isla Dawn, the White Witch of NXT UK. She went by some ancient buildings and talked about her powers. A graphic announced Isla Dawn would meet Nina Samuels next.

A commercial for the AJ Styles WE 365 documentary aired.

Radzi was with Johnny Saint, asking him how he handled all the chaos going on in NXT UK right now. Johnny said that he knew he needed some help, so he had appointed Sid Scala as his assistant. At that point, Rhea Ripley walked up to them and towered over Scala.

She said they should be talking about her and find her some competition. Scala assured her that they were looking into it. Rhea at that point pinched him in the cheeks and mockingly stated tha the little assistant would be finding her an opponent. She walked off and told Johnny that she didn’t think much of his hired help.

Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in 3:20 after a gutwrench powerslam

They locked up and Isla managed to pull out of a head lock. Samuels took over with a chin lock and we were told that she had run the London marathon four times, so she had stamina. That was of little use, as Isla moved out of the way of a charging Samuels and hit some kickboxing kicks, a back drop driver and eventually her gut-wrench power slam for the quick win.

Some Eddie Dennis highlights aired and we were told that he would be in action against Tucker next

A WWE Shop commercial featuring the New Day aired; apparently there is a Book of Booty-Os. Sounds thrilling!

We saw highlights from last week’s tournament final between Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm. Toni talked about the crucial moment when her back got hurt off a spot of being thrown onto the edge of the apron (originally there was fear she would be out for a while with a back injury). She said that while Rhea was the first NXT UK Women’s champion, she herself would be the best champion and the the injury just made her stronger.

Eddie Dennis beat Tucker with the Next Stop Driver in 2:27

Denis was in control from the start with punches and hard whips. He hit his Black Hole Slam into a backbreaker on his knee, then locked Tucker in a cravat. Tucker briefly managed to come back with a back elbow from the second turnbuckle and a clothesline in the corner, but Dennis took his head off with a hard clothesline.

He hit the Severed Bridge into the corner and ended the match with the Next Stop Driver.

We were informed that Jordan Devlin would be in action next

A WWE Network promo aired

Johnny Saint announced via Twitter that Travis Banks would have a chance for retaliation against Gallus next week when he gets to face Wolfgang

Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in 12:04 after Ireland’s Call

Webster early on flipped out of some arm locks and they traded counters back and forth. Devlin eventually took over and kicked Webster into the corner. He hit his uranage/standing moonsault combination and taunted Webster. He picked the smaller man up and hit a backbreaker on his own shoulder, which looked impressive.

After a near fall, he locked in a sitting abdominal stretch. He threw Webster to ringside and smashed him into the apron before rolling him back inside. He taunted Webster some more and answered Webster’s comeback with a face rake. he screamed that Webster didn’t belong on his level nor into his ring.

Webster his the Modern Knee and consecutive dropkicks, followed by an enzuigiri into the corner and followed up with a huracanrana off the top rope. Devlin then did his pull-up by the arms into a backdrop driver spot, which always looks cool. Webster came back with a head-butt that sent Devlin to the outside. Webster followed him with a baseball slide and managed to avoid getting rammed into the steps and hit the Rude Boy Block off the steps on the outside.

He went for a somersault senton but Devlin got his kneed up and eventually landed Ireland’s Call for the victory.

Next episode:

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

NXT UK results: Women’s tournament first round concludes

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode nine (taped August 25 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)

Quick recap —

Ligero and Jordan Devlin had a very good main event match. Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley advanced in the NXT UK women’s tournament, joining Dakota Kai and Jinny in the second round. Eddie Dennis and Mark Andrews also were victorious and Ashton Smith challenged Dennis to a match.

Full rundown —

A graphic informed us about tonight’s main event of Ligero taking on Jordan Devlin. We got a quick recap of the NXT UK women’s title tournament and went to Xia Brookside taking on Rhea Ripley.

Rhea Ripley beat Xia Brookside in 4:13 after the Riptide

The “Mosh Pit Kid” Rhea Ripley at just 22 years old (21 when this was taped) has a football (soccer) background and hails from the land Down Under, where she started out at Riot City Wrestling at just 16 years of age, where she eventually won the women’s title twice.. She moved on to Japan in 2015, competing for Diana and REINA and eventually participated in the Mae Young Classic in 2017 and returned again in 2018.

Xia Brookside is the 20-year-old daughter of NXT trainer Robbie Brookside and started out in 2015 with All Star Wrestling. She wrestled for IPW:UK, ICW, RevPro, GWF (in Germany), Defiant and Southside among others and first went to Japan to wrestle for Stardom in 2017. She is a former IPW:UK women’s champion and part of the current Southside tag team champions with Sean Kustom in a mixed team and also competed in the 2018 Mae Young Classic.

Ripley pushed Xia away as she went to shake her hand and proceeded to power the smaller woman down. Xia went for some head scissors in the corner, but Ripley picked her up and buckle bombed her into the turnbuckles before hitting a delayed vertical suplex. Rhea then applied a variation of the clover leaf, using just her hands and picked Xia up almost completely from that position which looked both cool and impressive.

Xia eventually managed to counter and dive between Ripley’s legs and threw Rhea into the turnbuckles head-first in the process. Xia hit a bulldog, tilt-a-whirl head scissors and double knees into the back of Ripley’s head. She went for a body press, but Rhea caught her and transitioned into the Riptide, a pump-handle power bomb for the win.

**********

We saw Toni Stom and Isla Dawn backstage, preparing for their match.

A graphic informed us that Eddie Dennis would be in action tonight, followed by a NXT UK taping commercial.

Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed James Drake and Zack Gibson backstage, asking about why Drake helped Zack against Trent Seven last week. Gibson stopped him, told him he had known Drake for 13 years and this was just a friend helping a friend. He then threw their names into the hat for the NXT UK tag team title tournament and stated that no team could come close to beating them and nonchalantly ended the interview.

Nigel and Vic discuss the interview and throw it to a WWE.com Exclusive video of the Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang continuing their attack on Moustache Mountain backstage last week, seemingly injuring Seven’s hand in the process.

**********

Eddie Dennis beat Jack Starz in 3:16 with the Neckstop Driver

Starz is a Robbie Brookside and Dan Collins trainee, who started in 2012 and wrestled for All Star Wrestling, Kamikaze Pro and Preston City Wrestling, among others. He also is a former Kamikaze Pro tag team champion. 

This was a glorified squash, with the much taller Dennis toying with his much smaller opponent, patting him on the head to start the match. Starz came back but got caught when attempting a body press, which Dennis turned into a back breaker. A series of European uppercuts actually got the big man down to one knee before Starz missed a dropkick when Dennis stepped out of the way. Starz received a big buckle bomb out of a splash mountain position for his troubles and was pinned after a Neckstop Driver.

**********

After a WWE Shop commercial, we got another WWE.com Exclusive, this time showing a backstage confrontation between Dave Mastiff and Tyson T-Bone ffrom last week. A Tweet by NXT UK GM Johnny Saint conformed a match between the two behemoths for the next episode.

**********

Mark Andrews pinned “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in 5:28 after a shooting star

Boar hit an amateur-style suplex takedown early and worked over Andrew’s arm. Andrews kipped up and eventually flipped out of the hold using the top rope and used some arm drags and a huracanrana for his comeback. Boar escaped to ringside, Andrew hopped the ropes and attempted a moonsault body block, but Boar wasn’t where Andrews expected so he landed on his feet on the floor and got dropped face first on the apron for his troubles.

Hitchman used his body as a weapon with a number of senton variations and a jumping head butt into Andrews’ back. Andrews slid on his knees beneath an attack by the Boar, hit an enzuigiri that sent Hitchman to the outside and this time hit his moonsault body block off the apron perfectly. Back in the ring, he hit a nice springboard somersault seated senton for a two count.

They traded full nelsons until Boar flipped Andrews over with a half-and.half suplex. Hitchman eventually missed a frog splash but still managed to turn Andrews inside out with a stiff clothesline. A suplex attempt got turned into the Stunt Dog Millionaire by Andrews, who finished things off with a beautiful shooting star press.

**********

Nigel and Vic threw us to an interview with Eddie Dennis. Radzi talked about Dennis being undefeated to which he replied that Starz didn’t even knock him off his feet once. Ashton Smith interrupted, telling Dennis he watched his match last week. Dennis freaked out, telling Smith not to touch him, asking if he knew who he was and telling Smith he’d destroy him.

After a commercial for the Dean Ambrose documentary, we took a look a the women’s title tournament again.

**********

Toni Storm beat Isla Dawn in 4:07 with the Strong Zero

Isla started strong, hitting a running dropkick into the corner at the bell, followed by a backdrop driver and double knees for a near fall. SHe followed with stomps and kicks, a running knee and then transitioned into the Rings of Saturn, from which Toni eventually escaped. Storm came back with strikes and kicks of her own and took Isla down with a big left boot, followed by a hip attack.

She got stopped by a head kick from Isla though that got her down on her knees, but she quickly transitioned into a release German suplex and quickly hit the Strong Zero (the tiger driver variant this time) for the win. Afterwards, she helped up a devastated Isla Dawn.

**********

After a WWE 2K19 promo, graphics informed us that both Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai and Toni Storm vs. Jinny would be on the next episode.

**********

Jordan Devlin beat Ligero in 11:45 with the Island’s Call

This was a very good match, with both guys looking impressive again. They traded arm locks early and Ligero managed to get a two count early on. Ligero escaped to ringisde as Devlin was charging at him, so Devlin bumped into the ropes and Ligero swept his legs. Ligero hit some head scissors and a side kick before falling victim to Devlin’s uranage/moonsault combination. Devlin went for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Ligero turned it into a body block, followed by a running kick and a Code Red for another close call.

Devlin came back with a running knee into the corner and then, in an impressive spot, pulled Ligero up into the air and hit a backdrop driver in one swift motion. Devlin then escaped to ringside when Ligero was on the top rope, so Ligero tried a baseball slide, charged Devlin who moved, jumped up and did a hand stand on the apron, bounced back off the ropes and took Devlin down with another pair of head scissors.

Back inside Ligero went to the top again, but Devlin hit an enzuigiri and got on the ropes as well. Ligero eventually threw him down and tried a splash but got caught in Devlin’s knees. Devlin hit a beautiful standing Spanish Fly for a near fall and went for Island’s Call, but Ligero turned it into a victory roll. They battled up on top once more, but this time Ligero managed to throw Devlin off and hit the splash for another near-fall.

They battled on the apron and on top of the steps, but Devlin kicked Ligero’s legs way and he took a dive onto the steel steps. Devlin hit a moonsault off the second turnbuckle to the outside and back in the ring followed things up with a running knee and the Island’s Call for the victory.

Afterwards, Devlin screamed into the camera that Pete Dunne was on his radar as the credits rolled.

NXT UK results: Six-man main event, Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode six (taped July 29 at Cambridge Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England)

Quick recap —

The new heel trio of Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang stood victorious against Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith in a strong main event. Toni Storm beat Dakota Kai to establish herself for the upcoming NXT UK Women’s title tournament in the best women’s wrestling match on NXT UK thus far. We also saw the arrival of Jinny, who attacked Kai after the match was over.

Zack Gibson defeated the debuting Amir Jordan and again drew a tremendous amount of heat in his post-match promo, setting up a match against Trent Seven down the line. Jordan Devlin once more looked impressive, beating another NXT UK debutant, Kenny Williams.

This episode concludes the tapings in Cambridge from July 28 and 29 and we will move on to matches taped August 25 and 26 next week.

Full rundown —

Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph opened up the show, talking about the chaotic main event we would be getting tonight as a graphic of the participants in the match was shown. We also got a graphic announcing Toni Storm as the winner of the 2018 Mae Young Classic and a highlight video of her match against Io Shirai from Evolution. We were told Storm would be in action next.

**********

Toni Storm defeated Dakota Kai in 7:16 with Strong Zero

They brought up Storm’s match against NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler at Royal Albert Hall and also mentioned that Storm actually had a victory over her in Japan. They started out with a headlock jockeying for position, but neither woman got the advantage. They shook hands, but both went for a kick immediately after, which both caught respectively and then proceeded to carefully set their opponents’ leg down again.

Kai took Storm down and hit a running kick, but Storm came back with strikes and a running kick of her own. Storm hit a nice snap suplex and applied a modified STF, wrapping her arm around Kai’s neck in the process. Kai eventually reached the ropes for a clean break.

Another striking battle was won by Kai and she hit a stiff head kick. A second kick was thwarted by Storm with a headbutt, but she couldn’t capitalize on it, as Kai hit her with another head kick on a charge. Another kick attempt was caught by Storm, who hit a snap German suplex.

Kai came back with a running kick into the corner but missed a second one. Storm went for her hip attack, but was hit by another kick. She managed to check the follow-up one and hit a beautiful release snap German suplex, followed by double knees into the corner and the Storm Zero (Air Raid neckbreaker) for the win. They shook hands and hugged afterwards.

There also seems to be some confusion still about what move the Storm Zero is supposed to be, as the announcers called her Tiger Driver the same name before. On the indies, she usually uses a snap piledriver, which is being called the Strong Zero there, but obviously is banned in WWE.

As Kai was on her way up the ramp with Storm still in the ring, Jinny came out and attacked her and called out Storm. Storm then helped Kai up and accompanied her to the back.

**********

Zack Gibson was shown backstage on his way to the ring, followed by a promo for the November NXT UK tapings in Liverpool.

**********

Zack Gibson defeated Amir Jordan in 4:24 via submission with the Shankly Gates

Jordan originally hails from Pakistan and started wrestling in 2015. He trained with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy as well as the PROGRESS wrestling school. He’s a regular in IPW:UK and 3 Count Wrestling, where he also was the North East Champion.

Gibson tried for a double wristlock right away, but Jordan escaped and hit the big man from Liverpool. Gibson worked over his arm until Jordan escaped a wrist lock and proceeded to do his dance, mocking Gibson. The fans were fully behind him and hated Gibson with a passion.

Jordan got a crossbody and a sunset flip, but Gibson just wouldn’t go down and instead grabbed Jordan’s arm for an arm ringer and hit a keylock driver for a near fall next. Jordan got a dropkick from the middle rope and even a high crossbody from the top, but it wasn’t enough to put Gibson away. Gibson came back with a double palm strike and a stiff lariat followed by Helter Skelter. He locked in the Shankly Gates for the submission victory.

After a Road to Evolution hype video, we were back in the ring with Gibson, who proceeded to cut another promo to thunderous boos and “Zack Gibson is a wanker” chants. His delivery was really good. Here is what he said verbatim: “I am Liverpool’s number one; soon to be recognized as the world’s number one; soon to be recognized as NXT UK’s number one.

I stand here once again victorious! I entered the UK Championship tournament and I won! I challenged the superstar of 205 Live, Noam Dar and I won! Every single day that I step into this ring is another step closer to becoming your NXT UK Champion. This brand, this movement, NXT UK is already the benchmark in British Wrestling. The very best talent from up and down this country flocked to NXT UK because they wanted to be part of something special. But they, the locker room, the punchers have another thing coming, if they think I’m going to share the top spot, I’m the guy to build this brand around.

The NXT UK locker room is full of talent so ready to ride my coattails, I’m Liverpool’s number one, I’m the man who’s going to elevate this brand, not the Bruiserweight Pete Dunne, not Danny Burch, not Mark Andrews, not…”

At this point, Trent Seven came out to partake in the fun and said this: “Are you completely delusional? Seriously though, I have no idea what goes on in that shiny, sweaty head of yours, because I remember, not too long ago, in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool it was those names and me that kicked this whole thing off in the start.

Good point though, where were you? I didn’t see you in any of the promotional material, I didn’t see you on any of the social media, you were not in the back, did you buy a ticket to watch? No, you were sat upright in bed, with a nice cup of tea, with your mum’s laptop, watching us make history on the WWE Network!

Fair play, I gotta give you your dues, you were the 2018 UK tournament winner — but you couldn’t get the job done on night two, could you? However, you know what you did do that was pretty cool? You made every single person in the Royal Albert Hall take off their shoes!”

This prompted another chant of “Shoes off, if you hate Gibson.” Seven got into the ring at this point and continued: “Now you mentioned some very, very talented men earlier, but you failed to mention me. So how’s about you and me right now in Cambridge, Gibson, let’s go!” Gibson got into as fighting stance but then left the ring to another round of loud boos.

**********

McGuinness and Joseph talked about Jordan Devlin and we got a recap video of his debut match. This was followed by a Kenny Williams video, where he talked about being on 205 Live in the past and explaining why he was being called “The Luckian.”

**********

Jordan Devlin defeated Kenny Williams in 4:23 with the Island’s Call

Kenny Williams started in 2013 and is a regular with ICW, Defiant, Premier British Wrestling, and British Championship Wrestling, among others. He is the current Pro Wrestling Elite Champion and a three-time former ICW Zero-G Champion. He also teams with Noam Dar as the Champagne Superbollocks. He appeared on 205 Live from London back in May, competing in a four-way with Tyler Bate, Kalisto, and TJP.

This was a fun match while it lasted and both men got to show off their talents. Devlin started with a wristlock and Williams hit a lucha-style arm drag off the ropes early on, which Devlin flipped through. Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault sequence and soon after put on a neck crank, which Williams countered out of with a chinbreaker.

Williams got on the apron and they traded counters, then Devlin hit a hard forearm to the back of Williams’ head, sending him to the outside. He tried for a running soccer kick on the apron, but Williams caught his foot and put Devlin face-first on the apron. Williams was back in the ring and hit a Wrecking Ball dropkick and a suicide dive on Devlin.

Back in the ring, he followed that up with a flying back elbow off the top rope for a near fall. After a series of roll-ups and counters, Devlin finally hit the Island’s Call for the victory.

**********

We saw Ashton Smith, Flash Morgan Webster, and Mark Andrews backstage, preparing for their match. 

There also was a graphic that there would be a huge announcement by Johnny Saint next week.

**********

Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey & Wolfgang defeated Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith in 14:56 when Joe Coffey pinned Webster after a lariat

Webster and Wolfgang started off, which made sense, as Wolfgang attacked him last week. Webster tried, but Wolfgang had the upper hand. Andrews and Joe Coffey tagged in next and Coffey took advantage of Andrews trying to go for a lucha-style DDT, holding on to his legs and spinning him around a few times before dropping him on his face.

Mark Coffey tagged in next and Andrews flipped out of a back suplex attempt. Smith tagged in on the face side and hit some chops and a flying clothesline but only managed to get a one count. Everybody got in the ring at that point, but the referee had things under control again after a few seconds.

Mark Coffey hit a big double fist blow and tagged in his brother, who knocked down Smith with a hard left. He also spun Smith around a few times, this time from a double underhook position, before hitting a nice butterfly suplex. Finally, Smith managed to hot tag Andrews as Wolfgang came in for the heels. Andrews, who beat Wolfgang last week, went for an enzuigiri and a hurricanrana off the middle rope.

In a nice display of teamwork, Mark Coffey distracted Andrews, Wolfgang threw him out of the ring, and Joe Coffey attacked him at ringside. Andrews at this point was the face in peril and got worked over by all three opponents in quick succession — until he finally managed to turn a suplex attempt by Mark Coffey into the Stunt Dog Millionaire and get to Webster for the hot tag while Coffey tagged Wolfgang.

Webster cleaned house on the big guy, hit a jumping knee on Joe Coffey, and used a twisting moonsault from the second rope on Wolfgang for a near fall. Smith tagged in and hit a high knee in the corner, but his attempt to hit the Ashcloud DDT on Wolfgang was countered as the “Last King of Scotland” launched him into the air. Wolfgang tagged out again and both Coffey brothers were in, hitting a 3D variation with an uppercut instead of a cutter on Smith for another near fall.

Smith hit a desperation superkick on Mark Coffey and managed to tag Andrews, who hit an enzuigiri on Joe Coffey but got caught on a moonsault attempt by Wolfgang, who had tagged back in. Andrews managed to turn it into a DDT and Wolfgang rolled to ringside. Andrews tagged Webster, and then he and Smith hit double suicide dives on the Coffeys.

Back in the ring, Wolfgang decapitated Webster with a brutal lariat and tried to powerbomb him to the outside, but Webster managed to counter the attempt into a headscissors, sending Wolfgang to the outside again. Webster at that point hit a somersault senton onto everyone on the outside from the top rope.

Back in the ring, the Coffeys pulled Smith and Andrews off the apron as Wolfgang hit a big spear on Webster, tagged in Joe Coffey, and whipped Webster into a spinning lariat by Coffey, which sealed the fate of the babyface team. The heels were being portrayed as an unstoppable unit here, so it remains to be seen who can step up to stop them down the line.

WWE 205 Live TV taping spoilers: Buddy Murphy vs. Mark Andrews

Posted on by F4W Staff

After SmackDown and Mixed Match Challenge, this week’s 205 Live episode was taped at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

– The Lucha House Party (Kalisto & Lince Dorado) defeated TJP & Mike Kanellis

TJP tried to take off Dorado’s mask, but it was revealed that Dorado had another mask under it.

– Lio Rush defeated an enhancement wrestler

Rush cut a promo on Cedric Alexander and set up an upcoming match between them.

– It was announced that Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy will defend his title against Mustafa Ali at Survivor Series. Ali won a number one contender’s match against Tony Nese in the main event of last week’s episode.

– WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defeated Mark Andrews in a non-title match

Murphy won with his pumphandle Death Valley Driver finisher.

The episode will air on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow (Wednesday, November 7).

NXT UK results: Mark Andrews vs. Wolfgang

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

Episode 4 show recap:

We got a graphic announcing Travis Banks vs. Wolfgang for our main event.

Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) defeated Sam Gradwell & Saxon Huxley in 6:02 after a Lariat/Snap Dragon Suplex combo

We were told that Gradwell and Huxley decided to form a team on WWE.com, so now we have mini-angles on the website for this show too. However, as of this writing, there wasn’t a trace of it on either the website or YouTube. On a trivia note, Gradwell beat Huxley back at the WWE UK title tournament in 2017.

Bate and Huxley started so this was a mini-rematch from the previous episode. Huxley learned something as Bate’s faint chop into a DDT didn’t work this time around. Gradwell attacked Seven at ringside, tagged in, and Seven was in peril for a while. Seven managed to throw both bigger guys out and tagged in Bate, who went crazy with a plancha on both men, worked them over back in the ring and even caught a corner charge by Huxley in mid-air and turned it into an exploder. He is one Big Strong Boi. He followed up with a running Shooting Star just for good measure.

Seven tagged back in and was caught in an assisted backstabber by the mean guys and got his leg twisted into a single leg Boston by Gradwell. Bate went for the save, but Huxley stopped him and got rammed into his partner for the trouble, breaking the hold. Bate blind tagged back in as Seven locked a full nelson on Gradwell and Bate hit his neck-and-shoulders springboard lariat into a snapdragon suplex by Seven for the victory.

***

Backstage, we saw Banks down among some chairs, apparently injured as Johnny Saint stormed in, demanding to know what happened. In storyline, it looked like an attack, but Banks actually suffered a shoulder injury days before this taping, prompting WWE to tell their UK wrestlers “no matches for one week before our tapings”. Vic and Nigel wondered if the main event might be in jeopardy now.

We got a video package on Isla Dawn, emphasizing on her strikes, followed by a SmackDown in the UK promo. Next was another Jinny video, promising to intimidate us.

Saint was being interviewed about the status of the main event, when Mark Andrews stormed in and claimed he knew that the attack had been facilitated by the Coffey Brothers. He asked Saint to put him in the main event against Wolfgang instead.

Isla Dawn defeated Nina Samuels in 3:22 with a suplex into a slam

Dawn, 24, from Glasgow, Scotland, started out in late 2013 and was trained by Damian O’Connor (aka Killian Dain) who saw her in a play and asked her if she had interest in becoming a wrestler), Mikey Whiplash, and Tommy End (Aleister Black, who she also dated for a few years). She has a kickboxing background and considers herself a modern day witch and a modern feminist and wrestled in Scotland, for ICW and the Scottish Wrestling Alliance, before going on her first tour of Japan for Stardom in 2016.

She also competed for End’s farewell show in wXw in 2016 and had matches for Pro Wrestling EVE the same year and in PROGRESS in 2017. Starting in 2016, she also wrestled for some indies in the U.S., the most prominent being SHINE, CZW, WSU, and Queens of Combat. She actually already has an appearance on the main roster under her belt, quickly losing to Asuka on RAW on November 6, 2017, before joining NXT UK in June of this year, first appearing at the Download Festival, the 2018 UK Championship tournament, and the Mae Young Classic. She is also close friends with fellow NXT UK superstar Killer Kelly.

Samuels had the early strength advantage, but Dawn showed off some of her kicks early. Samuels escaped to ringside but not before snapping Isla’s neck on the top rope. She came back with a suplex for a near fall and then twice brutally rammed Dawn’s head into the turnbuckle, the second time on a reversal off a corner whip-in. Dawn countered a suplex attempt into a small package for a near fall, dodged a kick by Samuels, and hit a head kick to the back of the head before hitting a suplex into a slam for the pin.

***

Nigel and Vic throw it to a sitdown interview that Radzi Chinyanganya conducted with UK Champion Pete Dunne. He said that he was on top and no one had been successful on taking his belt away. When asked how prepared he was for Danny Burch, he said not to worry about how prepared he was but how prepared Burch would be and that he has been the champion for over a year, so let’s see if Burch can step up. Radzi asked if Burch’s experience intimidates him: “No. He might have invented British Strong Style, but I perfected it, I put the UK on the map.”

When asked what the Bruiserweight would do to retain, he said that Burch asked for his attention and now he was going to get it, that he would beat him up, hurt him, snap his fingers, and walk out the UK champion. This was a very good and effective interview that made me more interested in seeing this match.

***

We got confirmation that Mark Andrews would replace Travis Banks against Wolfgang tonight.

We got a Jordan Devlin video where he asked if we saw what he could do and that he has the power of a nation behind him.

This was followed by a WWE 2K19 ad and another Eddie Dennis video package. He said that the last time, he asked how we thought seeing Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews succeed made him feel. He said he had to do something about it, that he was the youngest principal in the UK, but decided to quit his job to wrestle. We saw some newspaper articles about him. He said when he dedicates himself to something, he can accomplish great things. Four months into his career, he had his first WWE tryout. 10 months in, he got signed to a contract, even though he was injured for most of that time. He said his friends laid the foundation, but the brand gets built around him. He’s Eddie Dennis, he got everything to prove and he debuts next week.

***

Jordan Devlin defeated Tucker in 4:10 with a fireman’s carry into a Falcon Arrow

Devlin was trained by Finn Bálor and Paul Tracy, starting originally at age 12. He made his debut at NWA Pro Wrestling ZERO1 of Ireland in 2006 and stayed with ZERO1 in Japan in 2011 and 2012. He wrestled for ICW and RevPro in 2013 before joining the newly formed OTT promotion in his native Ireland in 2014, winning the OTT No Limits title and eventually the OTT World title, which he defended against the likes of Angelico, Zack Sabre Jr. and Mark Haskins before losing it to WALTER. In 2018, he became a regular for ICW, PROGRESS and RevPro, among others. He made his debut at the inaugural WWE UK title tournament in early 2017.

Tucker started strong and hit a step up enzuigiri, but Devlin kicked out at one. Devlin hit a high uranage and a standing moonsault, followed by a quick dropkick to show of his athletic ability. Tucker hit a beautiful spinning flatliner through the ropes from the outside for a near fall. Devlin worked over Tucker’s left arm which he sold when going to the top for a double foot stomp, causing him to be a tad slow and miss when Devlin got his knees up. Devlin picked him up on his shoulders like for a Go To Sleep or F5, but transitioned into a Falcon Arrow for the win. Both looked good here, Devlin in particular.

***

We got a graphic for Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai in two weeks, followed by a Crown Jewel video (which still had Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles but already had Roman Reigns and John Cena out and Lashley in).

We had another sit-down interview with Radzi Chinyanganya and Danny Burch. Burch asked the audience if they ever tried hard for something, like applying to a sports team, and being told “you’re not good enough”, then tried out again and being told the same thing? That was basically the story of his career. He said some people would have walked away, but not him; he was ready to be on NXT UK. When asked how he prepared for Dunne, he said Dunne was an interesting animal, flawless at anything he did, all he himself could do was be the best he could and make sure Dunne didn’t get a head start at going to the things he’s good at.

When asked what it would mean to become WWE UK champion, he said, “Come talk to me in two weeks when I got the UK title around my waist.” This was another effective interview that told the story of the grizzled veteran trying to beat the young upstart.

Mark Andrews defeated Wolfgang in 8:40 after a Shooting Star Press

Wolfgang howled and pushed Andrews into a corner, using his size, strength, and weight advantage. Andrews used some lucha to escape and countered Wolfgang’s offense into an arm drag. He hit a dropkick that sent Wolfgang staggering into the corner, followed by an enzuigiri from the apron and a huricanrana from the top rope, sending Wolfgang to ringside. A topé attempt got caught effortlessly by Wolfgang though and he picked the smaller Andrews up, press slammed him and threw him into the apron.

Back in the ring, Wolfgang tried for another press slam to throw Andrews back out, but Andrews escaped and eventually hit a 619 against Wolfgang’s back. Andrews flipped over Wolfgang’s back in the corner and then hit his Stomp 182 and a standing twisting moonsault for a near fall. A reverse cross body by Andrews off the middle rope missed its target as Wolfgang countered it into a big gut buster and followed with a brutal gore for a near fall.

Wolfgang went up for a middle rope moonsault, which looked impressive, but missed. Andrews hit one of his own, which got caught, but Andrews managed to turn it into a DDT. Andrews went for another DDT but Wolfgang tried to turn it into a suplex only for Andrews to counter it into the Stuntdog Millionaire. Andrews hit a beautiful, very high Shooting Star Press for the victory.

Post match, Andrews offered his hand which Wolfgang shook after some consideration. As he left the ring, the Coffey Bros. ran out and beat down Andrews. Wolfgang watched on, unsure what to do, when Flash Morgan Webster ran in for the save, but he also got overpowered. Wolfgang finally had seen enough and hit the ring, sending the brothers packing. Wolfgang helped up Webster, but then killed him with a lariat. The Coffeys slid back in, picked up Andrews, and whipped him into Wolfgang who hit a powerslam on the smaller man.

As the credits roll, we witnessed the formation of a new powerful faction in NXT UK.

NXT St. Augustine, FL, live results: Andrews teams with Ohno

Posted on by F4W Staff

By @FLWrestlingFan

– War Machine defeated TM61

This was a real solid opener, with Hanson pinning Nick Miller after Thor’s Hammer. TM61 continue to do their tweener heel gimmick. War Machine’s music isn’t known by the entire state, but they’re getting monster pops when they come through the curtain at Florida house shows.

– Buddy Murphy defeated Dijak

Murphy pinned Dijak (announced as that) with his spinning Death Valley Driver. This match was a sprint with a ton of amazing strikes by both guys. Murphy did two near-10 counts, which the crowd almost bit on. Really good match for six or seven minutes.

– Dakota Kai & Jessie Elaban defeated Vanessa Borne & Aliyah

Kai pinned Borne after debuting a modified Canadian Destroyer Backstabber as a new finisher. The crowd went nuts for the move. Borne could not have taken it any better.

– Ricochet came out and cut a promo about how he’s going to win the NXT North American Championship. Long way to go on the mic, but the crowd appreciated him appearing.

– Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Fabian Aichner

Babatunde won with a pop-up lariat. The intensity he brings with his limited move set is very over with the audience in terms of being a monster heel with power moves and aggression.

– The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeated The Street Profits

Blake pinned Montez Ford after Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss interfered and Sabbatelli pushed Ford off the top rope as he was going for a frog splash. This was The Street Profits’ first match since losing to The Authors of Pain at Full Sail and their first real match since Ford got hurt.

This had the most heat of any match on the show with the crowd hating Cutler and Blake. The entire crowd just kept calling The Forgotten Sons chickens the entire match. It was so bizarre, but Ford took it to another level by making chicken sounds every time he grabbed a headlock. Very entertaining match.

– Kairi Sane defeated Taynara Conti

Sane won with the top rope elbow, which is the first time in she’s used it on a house show in a while.

– Aleister Black defeated Kona Reeves

They did the match they’ve been doing the past three weeks where the bell rings and Black stands still in the ring for minutes. Meanwhile, the heel cuts a promo, goes back and forth several times to the outside to argue with fans, then after three times of going to the outside, the heel charges at Black and gets hit with the Black Mass.

Much like the previous two times this match was done (March 17th vs. Reeves in Largo, March 23rd vs. Marcel Barthel in Lakeland), Zelina Vega came out and sat in front of Black. She cut her typical promo about NXT TakeOver: New Orleans and left the ring.

– Mark Andrews & Kassius Ohno defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss

Andrews pinned Moss with a roll-up after countering the assisted Gory Bomb finisher Moss and Sabbatelli do. Andrews got beat up for most of the match before getting the hot tag to Ohno. Decent bout.

After it was over, Blake and Cutler made it four-on-two and beat down Ohno and Andrews. This brought out The Street Profits to get their revenge on their opponents from earlier, as well as Sabbatelli and Moss. Ford and Andrews hit their finishers.

Ohno danced with The Street Profits and did a reverse worm to a massive pop. He then asked for the mic and said him and Angelo Dawkins were in NXT five years ago and where they’re at now compared to then is night and day. He said that the fans are what makes NXT what it is and the brand would be nothing without the fans.

WWE 205 Live update: Next week’s matches, HHH reportedly in charge

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Wrestlers from outside of 205 Live’s regular roster appearing has been a theme of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament, and that’s set to continue next week.

Mark Andrews, who is part of WWE’s planned United Kingdom division, will be wrestling on next Tuesday’s episode as he faces Akira Tozawa in a first round match. In the show’s other tournament match, Drew Gulak will take on Tony Nese.

Tyler Bate appeared in the first week of the tournament, losing to TJP. Roderick Strong defeated Hideo Itami last night to advance to the second round.

A reboot for 205 Live began when Rockstar Spud (now known as Drake Maverick) was announced as the show’s general manager and a renewed focus on in-ring action was indicated. PWInsider reported today that the reboot extends to what’s going on behind the scenes as well, with Vince McMahon stepping aside and “no longer personally putting 205 Live together” as of last week’s episode.

PWInsider noted that Triple H is now overseeing 205 Live after McMahon made the decision to allow him to take over as showrunner two weeks ago.

Cedric Alexander, TJP, Kalisto, and Strong have advanced in the Cruiserweight title tournament so far. After Andrews vs. Tozawa and Gulak vs. Nese, there will be two more remaining first round matches. The bracket for the tournament hasn’t been revealed, but the new champion will be crowned at WrestleMania.