The show opened with a video highlighting Noam Dar and Wolfgang and their path to the tournament finals
Jinny defeated Emilia McKenzie (07:30)
McKenzie started by working over Jinny’s arm and showed some good aggression. Jinny eventually took over with a leg lock and held onto Emilia’s hair. McKenzie staged a comeback, but Jinny quickly took back over and locked on an octopus hold. She transitioned into a single-leg Boston crab, but Emilia made the ropes.
Joseph Conners looked to get physically involved, but Meiko Satomura ran out and kicked Conners down. McKenzie hit a German suplex and a butterfly driver, but Jinny kicked out at 2.9.
McKenzie missed a spear into the corner, allowing Jinny to hit a ripcord Liger kick for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Jinny cut a promo on McKenzie and Satomura, saying that she defeated Meiko’s protege. She then challenged Meiko to a title match and Meiko accepted.
*****
Sha Samuels gave Noam Dar a pep talk backstage.
Blair Davenport had a meeting with Sid Scala, claiming she was banned from competing, not having a meeting. Scala told her she was being reinstated next week at the request of her opponent, Stevie Turner. He also warned her that future misbehaving would not be tolerated. She told him good, but informed him that she always got what she wanted.
A video on A-Kid aired, he said he would beat Ilja Dragunov next week
*****
Sam Gradwell defeated Mark Andrews (08:47)
Gradwell dominated early, but Andrews wiped him out with a dropkick. Gradwell was sent to ringside, but evaded a dive by Andrews. Andrews slowed down, but still got slammed on the outside. Gradwell took over in the ring as well and hit a butterfly suplex for a near fall.
Andres came back with a wheelbarrow bulldog, a kick and a double foot stomp onto Gradwell’s back. Gradwell held onto Andrews’ leg as he ran the ropes and hit him with a forearm for another near fall. Gradwell caught Andrews in mid-air, but he turned it into Stun Dog Millionaire. Gradwell went to the outside and Andrews hit a moonsault off the second turnbuckle to the outside.
Andrews went for a springboard move from the apron, but Gradwell caught him and hit a fireman’s carry slam for the win.
*****
Flash Morgan Webster waited for Sha Samuels backstage. Samuels berated him and Webster slapped him and ran away
Wolfgang warmed up with the rest of Gallus backstage
A graphic plugged Ilja Dragunov vs. A-Kid for the NXT UK championship for next week. Dragunov was then shown doing some crazy workouts as he is wont to do. He reiterated that he would defeat A-Kid next week.
*****
NXT UK Heritage Cup number one contender tournament finals: Noam Dar (w/Sha Samuels) defeated Wolfgang (w/Mark and Joe Coffey) in Round 6 (15:48)
Round 1
Dar evaded Wolfgang early, then forced a break off the ropes. Wolfgang had Dar’s number, but Dar managed to hurt his arm when Wolfgang put him on the top rope. Dar kept working over Wolfgang’s shoulder but Wolfgang hoisted him up for a powerbomb just as the round ended.
Round 2
Dar dropkicked Wolfgang’s head, but Wolfgang came back with a crossbody in the corner and an axe handle off the top. Suddenly, Jordan Devlin ran out and attacked Joe Coffey. Officials ran out to break things up, but Wolfgang was distracted, allowing Dar to roll him up for the first fall at 1:26 of the round. Dar 1-0
Round 3
Wolfgang hit a spear right away and got the pin at 0:05 of the round. Wolfgang 1-1
Round 4
Wolfgang attacked early and Dar tried evading him. They went to ringside, but Dar whipped the middle rope into Wolfgang’s crotch as he entered the ring. The ended up outside again, where Dar kicked the ring post and Wolfgang speared the barricade just as the round ended.
Round 5
Wolfgang hit a running backbreaker for a near fall. Dar got an armbar on Wolfgang, then transitioned into a leg lock, but Wolfgang eventually escaped. Dar went for the Nova Roller, but Wolfgang hit a spear. The time ran out a second before the referee made the three count, so Dar was saved by the bell.
Round 6
Dar hit leg kicks early, but Wolfgang no-sold his offense and hit a suplex. Dar took out Wolfgang’s leg, then attacked it once more from the top rope. Dar got a near fall off a rollup, then another one after a head kick.
Dar hit the Nova Roller with one minute left in the round, but Wolfgang got back up. Dar hit a second one as Wolfgang was on his knees to gain the victory at 2:20 of the round. Noam Dar wins 2-1
After the match, Tyler Bate came out with the Heritage Cup trophy and posed with it as the show went off the air.
Final thoughts —
The McKenzie vs. Jinny match built to the next title match.
Andrews vs. Gradwell was nothing too exciting.
The Heritage Cup final was really good and may have been one of Wolfgang’s better matches. Dar winning surely will lead to an exciting match down the line.
Next week —
Ilja Dragunov vs. A-Kid for the NXT UK Championship
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) defeated Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter (09:57)
Carter and Bate started out. Carter surprisingly got the better of an early exchange, before Bate schooled him on the finer aspects of the British style. Both men utilized quick tags, which eventually led to Trent Seven getting worked over for a bit. Seven eventually tagged out, but Smith and Carter also held Bate at bay with some innovative double team action.
Bate came back with an airplane spin on Carter, culminating with a splash by Seven onto his dazed opponent. Carter evaded both the snap DDT and the Seven Star Lariat, but fell victim to a one-handed power bomb shortly after. He also got out of the way of a springboard lariat by Bate, who almost nailed Seven. In return, Bate escaped a Doomsday back elbow and almost scored a victory over Smith with a victory roll.
As Smith and Bate were down, Symbiosis walked down the aisle. Smith countered a Tyler Driver 97 with a back body drop to the outside, were Bate landed right at Symbiosis’ feet. They were about to attack, when Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff made the save. A huge brawl ensued, with a lot of referees trying to break up the melee.
Seven hit a snapdragon suplex on Carter on the outside, while Bate hit an impressive German suplex off the middle rope on Smith who was on the apron.
Moustache Mountain then hit a springboard lariat/snapdragon combo on Smith for the pinfall victory.
*****
Jinny and Joseph Conners were asked about their future. They insulted the interview lady and walked off, but encountered Meiko Satomura working out with Emilia McKenzie. Jinny told Emilia that she was pathetic and McKenzie told her she didn’t care about her opinion in return. Jinny said she’d make her care. So looks like they’ll have a match down the line.
Jack Starz and Dave mastiff walked in and were asked about why they got into it with Symbiosis. As Mastiff was answering, Nina Samuels rushed in with her own microphone and welcomed us to the Nina Samuels Show.
Mastiff asked what channel that was on, but played along and said Symbiosis stuck their noses were they didn’t belong, which Samuels took to segue into talking about how Amale did the same to her. Mastiff said they didn’t care about Amale. Samuels then talked about how Blair Davenport had attacked her. Mastiff and Starz walked off and Samuels concluded her show.
*****
Dani Luna defeated Xia Brookside (05:36)
Luna showed off her power early, while Brookside used some of her speed to counter and evade. Luna eventually hit an extended vertical suplex, then worked over her arm. Xia countered a second suplex into a small package for a two count.
Brookside came back with a series of dropkicks and some double knees to Luna’s head. Luna came back with a power slam, then deadlifted Brookside into a fall away slam. then hit a sit-down powerbomb off a fireman’s carry for the pin and the win.
After the match, Luna extended her hand to her and Brookside angrily slapped it.
*****
A video aired, recapping Blair Davenport’s attacks on fellow wrestlers and even Sid Scala in recent weeks. Scala then was interviewed about the situation, but Stevie Turner stormed in and demanded that Davenport be reinstated, so she could take care of her. Scala said he’d discuss the request with Johnny Saint.
Sam Gradwell was asked about his problems with Subculture. He said he was there since the beginning, just as Andrews, and he was sick of Subculture getting more attention. He said he was a better singer than Andrews and probably even a better skateboarder. An angry Mark Andrews then ran in and whacked him with a skateboard and a brawl broke out, with officials separating both men. Looks like another match soon.
*****
Charlie Dempsey defeated Josh Morrell (06:14)
Dempsey (Bailey Matthews, the son of William Regal) had his first featured match here (he appeared once before on NXT UK in February, losing to Tyler Bate).
Dempsey immediately showed off his submission wrestling and grappling background, attacking Morrell from all angles. They traded roll-ups before Dempsey hit a beautiful bridging pin off a backslide. He transitioned from a Fujiwara armbar into a kneebar. He then used a bridge as an offensive maneuver to drive Morrell into the turnbuckles.
He hit a textbook bridging German suplex, nose on the mat and all, for a near fall. He then applied another submission, where he hooked Morrel’s leg and neck, then locked his arms behind Morrell’s back for the submission victory.
Ilja Dragunov and A-Kid sit-down segment
They sat alone in a darkened room, with the championship on a table between them. A-Kid congratulated Ilja and said no one thought WALTER could be beaten. He said they were not just enemies and that he was the only one who could understand Ilja, to which the champion raised an eyebrow.
A-Kid elaborated that when he created the NXT UK Heritage Cup, every time he defended it, he felt the pressure, he felt the need to create a legacy, and the only way he could do that, was taking the title off Ilja. Ilja said A-Kid always seems very motivated but he just beat the most dominant champion of the modern era, who destroyed him once. He said A-Kid can’t compare himself to him.
Ilja said it was very, very easy and it wouldn’t matter which trick A-Kid pulled, he didn’t win the title with technical ability. The title needs pain, struggle, the will. You needed to be more than a human to hold this. In two weeks, Ilja said he really was sorry, but we would need to put A-Kid into his place because he was “the czar” and “you are just a kid.”
Ilja then got up, stared A-Kid down and they shook hands. This was tremendous.
*****
A very good video aired on Noam Dar and Wolfgang’s match in the finals of the Heritage Cup number one contender tournament aired. Wolfgang said he wanted to be an inspiration to young talent, such as William Regal, Fit Finlay or Johnny Saint had been to him. Dar said he was a wolf in sheep’s clothes, would eat Wolfgang alive and Tyler Bate was next on the menu.
*****
Joe Coffey (w/ Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Jordan Devlin (11:40)
They traded offense back and forth early. Devlin took over and got cocky, doing the cross-armed pose into the face of Gallus at ringside, then ran into a clothesline by Coffey. He also ate a tackle and got clotheslined over the top. He got up to find Gallus in his way before Joe hit him and rolled him back into the ring.
Joe looked for the double-jump crossbody, but Devlin pulled his legs out and hit a rope-assisted backstabber. Devlin took over with strikes and submissions, grinding down Coffey. He hit the uranage/standing moonsault combo, then once again did the cross-armed pose. Coffey rose behind him like a great white shark, then hit a forearm into the corner and a release German suplex.
Coffey hit the double-jump reverse crossbody off the top for a near fall, Coffey went for All the Best for the Bells, but Devlin countered it into a Spanish Fly for a close near fall. Mark Coffey then got on the apron, wearing Devlin’s sunglasses. Devlin was distracted, but still turned around and went for Devlinside on Coffey, who was by the ropes. Wolfgang held onto Joe’s arm from the outside though, so Devlin fell down off the attempt.
Coffey then hit the Glasgow Sendoff, followed by All the Best for the Bells for the pinfall victory.
Final Thoughts —
If you only got time to watch one thing from this show, watch the Ilja Dragunov and A-Kid sit-down segment. They do such a great job building up to their big matches with stuff that they don’t do on any other show on WWE television. It is effective storytelling without stupid gimmicks and makes you care about the match so much more than somebody just going through a table in a contract signing.
The tag team opener was fun and showed off Oliver Carter very well, who may be one of the most underrated guys in a major promotion right now.
The main event also was really good and Devlin is such a great and crisp worker.
The women’s match was short and mainly just there, but nothing wrong with it.
Next week —
Heritage Cup number one contender tournament finals: Noam Dar vs. Wolfgang
NXT UK Heritage Cup No. 1 Contenders Tournament semifinals: Noam Dar defeated Kenny Williams 2-1 in round 5 (14:46)
Round 1
They took each other down early in the round. Williams grabbed Dar’s hair as Dar tried to escape from a headlock. Williams attacked Dar’s arm as he head him in a wristlock after the bell.
Round 2
Williams hit a few elbows at the start of the round. He worked over Dar’s arm until Dar managed to kick his knee. Williams sold his knee, but it was a ruse as he rolled up Dar for a pin at 1:23 of the round. Williams 1-0
Round 3
Williams kept beating Dar down. Dar took back over and further attacked Williams’ knee. Williams got a small package for a two count, but got caught in a knee bar and was saved by the bell as the round ended.
Round 4
Dar rolled up Williams with his legs on the ropes, but the referee caught him. Williams speared Dar in the knee, then removed the turnbuckle. as the referee reprimanded him, Dar grabbed a water bottle and tossed it to Williams, then alerted the referee. He used the distraction to lock in the knee bar for the submission. Dar 1-1
Round 5
Dar scored a near fall off a back elbow. Williams got a near fall off a clothesline. Williams looked to finish him off, but Dar rolled to ringside. Williams followed him, but as he went to return to the ring, Sha Samuels popped out from under the ring and grabbed his leg.
Dar used that opportunity to hit the Nova Roller on Williams as he was trapped, getting the pin and the win at 2:27 of the round. Dar wins 2-1
*********
Gallus were warming up backstage when Jordan Devlin walked by and got under Joe Coffey’s skin
*********
Ilja Dragunov addresses the NXT UK locker room —
Sid Scala was in the ring and introduced Ilja Dragunov, who appeared on the video wall.
Ilja said he was happy for the very first time in a long time. He said he made the impossible possible and was absolutely unbesiegbar (invincible). He was looking forward to coming back to the UK and his most interesting question was who would be the person trying to take his championship away from him.
At that point Nathan Frazer walked out and said he wanted to take the initiative and asked “why not me?”. Rampage Brown then came out, talked about what he had done to Joe Coffey and how Ilja was a violent man. A-Kid finally appeared and said he should be getting the first title match.
Scala then made a three-way between them with the winner getting the shot.
Brown bumped into Frazer on his way out, who pulled him back in. They brawled and Brown was the last man standing.
**********
Jinny and Joseph Conners walked to their dressing room. Isla Dawn was in there, doing scary witch stuff. She had drawn a pentagram with lipstick on a mirror. Still scarier than Alexa Bliss and her doll.
**********
Moustache Mountain were backstage. Bate said it was exciting to have a new champion and he was keeping an eye on the number one contender situation and the Heritage Cup. Seven interrupted him and talked about the Tag Team title situation. Bate looked taken slightly aback, but quickly got on board.
**********
Emilia McKenzie defeated Stevie Turner (05:19)
Turner backed her into the corner, then shoved her, but McKenzie shoved her back and aggressively worked over her arm.
Turner came back with stomps in the corner, then kicked her head as she was in the ropes. McKenzie came back with clotheslines and a spear for another two count. Turner hit a side effect for another two.
McKenzie hit a rope-assisted German suplex, followed by running knees for the pinfall victory.
**********
Wolfgang and Teoman talked about their Heritage Cup tournament match next week. Wolfgang joked about the eye and suggested they leave their family members backstage for the match. Teoman said he learned on the streets you had to take out the biggest guy in the neighborhood to earn respect.
**********
A vignette on a new talent called Charlie Dempsey aired. Dempsey is Bailey Matthews, the son of William Regal.
It was in black-and-white and he was watching old British wrestling footage. He said that an inspiration of his once said the body was like a ladder and you had to work it up and down.
He said he was training in the British style and was going to show us things we never saw before. He is coming soon.
Dempsey wrestled Tyler Bate on NXT UK back in February.
**********
They showed what happened after the previous match; Blair Davenport ran in and destroyed Stevie Turner. She addressed Sid Scala and told him to reinstate her or bad things were going to happen.
**********
NXT UK Tag Team Championship: Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) defeated Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey) to retain the titles (14:23)
Howley and Mark Coffey started, with Coffey getting the better of their exchange. Both tagged out and Joe Coffey worked over Sam Stoker for a bit. Pretty Deadly eventually outsmarted Mark Coffey and wore him down. Joe Coffey had Stoker under control, when Pretty Deadly used some questionable tactics to gain the upper hand and hit a GTS/codebreaker combo.
Thy had Joe under control for a few minutes. Eventually, he made the hot tag to Mark, who ran wild for a bit. Some tags later, it was near falls galore, after which all four ended up at ringside where they took each other out.
Joe Coffey then hit a shotgun dropkick off the top on Howley for a close near fall. He followed with the Glasgow Sendoff into the corner, then hit All the Best for the Bells, but Stoker made the save from the pin. Joe crashed into the ring post and Mark almost got the win with a crucifix.
Pretty Deadly then hit Spilled Milk on Mark Coffey for the successful title defense.
Final Thoughts —
The Noam Dar/Kenny Williams match was fun.
Emilia McKenzie looked dominant against Stevie Turner and the Blair Davenport storyline adds intrigue down the line.
The three way to determine Ilja Dragnov’s first challenger should be tons of fun and hard-hitting. Each of the three would be great against him.
The tag match was really good and Pretty Deadly might be the best tag team signed with a major promotion nobody ever heard about.
Next week:
NXT UK Championship number one contender three-way: Nathan Frazer vs. Rampage Brown vs. A-Kid
NXT UK Heritage Cup number one contender tournament semifinals: Teoman vs. Wolfgang
NXT UK Heritage Cup number one contender’s tournament first round: Wolfgang defeated Sam Gradwell 2-1 in round 5 (11:45)
Round 1 —
Wolfgang overpowered Gradwell early. They brawled at ringside and Gradwell hit a flying forearm from the apron. Wolfgang was about to punch Gradwell in the mouth as the round ended.
Round 2 —
Gradwell had Wolfgang trapped in an armbar on the mat about halfway into the round, but Wolfgang powered out. Wolfgang hit an axe handle off the top and a running kick to retaliate. Gradwell slapped him, then escaped to ringside to catch his breath for the last few seconds of the round.
Round 3 —
Wolfgang started out wild, but Gradwell stopped a spear with his knee brace, then hit a flatliner for the first fall at 0:24 of the round. Gradwell 1-0
Round 4 —
Wolfgang’s left shoulder was hurt and he favored the arm, which Gradwell immediately focused on. Wolfgang fought back and eventually hit a front slam off a suplex to score a pin at 1:39 of the round. Wolfgang 1-1
Round 5 —
Gradwell hit a hard forearm for a near fall in the first minute. He evaded two spears by Wolfgang, but fell victim to the third one at 1:17 of the round. Wolfgang wins 2-1
**********
A video recapped Blair Davenport’s attack on Nina Samuels and Sid Scala last week.
Scala, still visibly upset, then announced that NXT management had suspended Davenport.
**********
Kenny Williams and Noam Dar talked about their match next week. Both are despicable heels and Dar said he was an elephant who would stomp the cockroach Kenny Williams out.
Pretty Deadly defending their NXT UK Tag Team Championships against Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey) was announced for next week.
**********
Gallus then celebrated Wolfgang’s win and loudly sang backstage, which drew the ire of the Irish Ace. Jordan Devlin came out of his locker room and said he was getting a massage. He then told Joe Coffey after he took care of his neck, he would take care of Coffey’s ego. Coffey got in Devlin’s face, who flinched and held his neck in pain.
**********
Oliver Carter, Ashton Smith & Saxon Huxley defeated Symbiosis (Eddie Dennis, Primate & T-Bone) (09:01)
Smith and Carter had new music and a new entrance screen.
Huxley and Primate started and Huxley threw Primate to ringside quickly. T-Bone was in next and attacked Huxley, but got wiped out with a Thesz Press. Smith was in next and ate a big overhead suplex. T-Bone and Primate worked him over and Eddie Dennis joined in.
Smith outsmarted Dennis and tagged Carter, who immediately hit a beautiful springboard moonsault on Primate. Primate punched him to ringside and Dennis took over. All three members of Symbiosis worked over Carter, who eventually managed to hot tag Huxley.
Huxley ran wild and wiped out Eddie Dennis with an elbow drop, then followed up with a clothesline off the top. Smith was in and they hit a double suplex on Dennis. Smith was in trouble quickly, as Primate attacked him from the outside. Smith almost fell victim to a flying headbutt by Primate, but Carter made the save.
Smith then impressively hoisted Primate on his shoulders with ease, and Carter hit a Doomsday Cutter for the pin.
**********
Stevie Tyler was asked about her match with Meiko Satomura. She said that she got a title match in only her fourth match and now had the blueprint to beating her.
Emilia McKenzie then walked up and said it was interesting that Tyler badmouthed Satomura when she had been beaten by her and that McKenzie would beat her too. After she left, Tyler pouted and called McKenzie two-dimensional.
**********
Pretty Deadly cut an entertaining promo, talking about how they would beat Gallus next week, just as they had six months ago.
**********
Replay from NXT TakeOver 36: NXT UK Championship: Ilja Dragunov defeated WALTER to win the championship
This was an incredible match, which Dave rated at *****¼ stars. The original report of the match can be found here.
Ilja Dragunov, Rhea Ripley, Cesaro, Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Toni Storm and Sheamus provided commentary and added insights for the match.
Final Thoughts:
The Wolfgang/Gradwell match was a fine hoss fight.
The six-man was fun and showcased Carter and Smith as a really good team.
The replay of the WALTER and Ilja match was outstanding of course. I’d have preferred to have just Ilja’s insights and maybe get some reactions from his peers in a separate segment. This was the best match in WWE this year by a country mile.
Next week:
NXT UK Heritage Cup number one contender’s tournament semifinals: Noam Dar vs. Kenny Williams
NXT UK Tag Team Championship: Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus
They first showed a recap of Webster slapping Wolfgang to set up the match this week.
Webster used his speed to his advantage early and agitated Wolfgang with some quick offense. Wolfgang used his size to finally cut Webster down, but then got sent to the outside and was hit by a tope by Webster. Wolfgang came back and eventually posed over a fallen Webster.
He caught Webster coming off the ropes and hoisted him on his shoulders, but Flash hit a poison rana, then hit an elbow for a near fall. Webster came off the top with a senton bomb but Wolfgang got his knees up, then speared Webster into oblivion for the pin and the win.
**********
Sid Scala announced that in two weeks, Joe Coffey will face Rampage Brown in the final match of their ongoing rivalry. The only way to win will be via submission or knockout.
**********
Dani Luna and Mark Andrews were asked about Webster’s match tonight. Isla Dawn crept up from behind and acted creepy. Luna told her to get lost.
**********
Moustache Mountain walked around backstage with some training equipment. Bate said he will become a Grand Slam champion by beating Pretty Deadly next week and Seven said ho they can call themselves the best team in NXT UK when they never beat Moustache Mountain.
**********
Sid Scala told Jinny and Joseph Conners that Jinny will have a rematch with Aoife Valkyrie in two weeks and it will be no disqualification. Also, Joseph Conners will be locked in a cage at ringside.
Jinny threw a fit, threw a chair, and Conners said this wouldn’t change the outcome.
Amale defeated Nina Samuels (04:52)
Samuels ran wild on Amale early on, attacking her and throwing her around by the hair. Amale came back with a lariat and some ground and pound, then hit a bulldog for a two count. Samuels took back over, threw Amale face first into the turnbuckle then hit her with double knees to the back.
Amale came back with stomps and a running kick into the corner, then scored a near-fall with a swinging neckbreaker. Samuels came back and hit two spinning backbreakers. Amale hit a northern lights suplex, followed by the Heartbreaker (a spinebuster variation) to pick up the victory.
**********
An amazing video about the upcoming WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov match aired.
Ilja talked about how WALTER had become his nightmare and now the nightmare was back. He said he was broken inside after their match but he is different now. He said that he lost all respect for WALTER. He said he will now become WALTER’s nightmare. His choice of words and delivery were much better than this synopsis, so go watch the clip yourself if you are looking forward to this match.
A video then recapped what happened between Dragunov, Pete Dunne and WALTER on NXT in the U.S. this week
**********
A video from two weeks ago was shown, as Symbiosis made their way backstage after their loss to Moustache Mountain.
As Dennis was about to cut a promo, Saxon Huxley stormed into the room with his chain, screaming “Better luck next time!” over and over again. Dennis asked if he was talking about them. He repeated screaming the phrase into Dennis’ face, then stormed off again, as Symbiosis looked on and were puzzled.
**********
Meiko Satomura talked about facing Stevie Turner next week. She said that Turner had to learn about respect and it was her role as a champion to teach her. Turner said she was the future of NXT UK and that she would win.
**********
Pretty Deadly were at a WWE Warehouse and said they were surrounded by history, but would have to make space for their own history. They threw down some pictures of Moustache Mountain and said next week, Moustache Mountain would be the best team that Pretty Deadly has ever beaten.
**********
Heritage Cup Number One Contender Tournament Round 1: Noam Dar defeated Mark Andrews two falls to one (15:30)
Round 1 —
They felt each other out and exchanged holds, with Andrews getting the better of things by holding on to a headlock
Round 2 —
Dar took over and beat Andrews down, then threw him to ringside and rammed him into the barriers. Andrews made a comeback just as the round ended.
Round 3 —
Andrews hit a sunset flip right at the bell, but got kicked off the turnbuckle and sold his leg. Teoman and Rohan Raja walked out at this point and looked on from the aisle. They went back and forth until Andrews hit Stun Dog Millionaire, then hit a dive to Dar on the outside. Andrews missed a springboard move, selling his leg but still went for the Pelè kick, but Dar caught his leg and applied the ankle lock for the submission win at 2:43 of the round. Teoman and Raja left again. Dar 1-0
Round 4 —
Andrews caught Dar’s leg on a kick through the ropes and hit a dragon screw on the leg in the ropes. Both men sold their legs at this point. Dar went for the ankle lock again, but Andrews rolled through for a rollup pin to pick up the fall at 1:38 of the round. Andrews 1-1
Round 5 —
Andrews almost picked up the win with another pinning combination. Dar hit a back elbow that almost got him a three count. Dar went for the Nova Roller but Andrews caught him with an enzuigiri. He went up top, but Dar kicked his leg away and sent him crashing to the mat. Dar hit a mule kick to the leg, then hit the Nova Roller to score the final fall at 2:38 of the round. Dar wins 2-1
**********
Next week:
NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura defends against Stevie Turner
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly defend against Moustache Mountain
In two weeks:
Rampage Brown vs. Joe Coffey in a submission or knockout match
Jinny vs. Aoife Valkyrie in a no disqualification match with Joseph Conners locked in a cage at ringside
The show opened with a great video narrated by Triple H and Shawn Michaels talking about the challenges of an Iron Man match. They had clips from all the great Iron Man matches in WWE history, along with voiceovers by A-Kid and Jordan Devlin, with clips of their previous match.
**********
Blair Davenport defeated Xia Brookside (4:21)
Brookside aggressively worked over Davenport’s arm early. She followed with a hurricanrana and a rollup for a two-count.
Davenport then countered a monkey flip attempt, lifted Xia over the top and sent her to ringside with a dropkick.
They went back and forth a bit, before Davenport hit a head kick, missile dropkick off the top and a V-Trigger for the win.
After the match, Davenport hit a falcon arrow on Brookside and posed over her.
**********
Scenes from after the tag team main event last week aired. Moustache Mountain had beaten Symbiosis when Pretty Deadly came out and applauded them. Moustache Mountain were elated about their win backstage and were confronted once more by the tag team champions, who said they wanted to embarrass the fans’ favorite tag teams. Bate was reluctant, since he is the Heritage Cup champion, but Seven asked him to give it a go and he agreed. He also called Pretty Deadly the Godwinns 2K21, because they wore overalls.
Sid Scala then announced while the match will take place, Bate is also the Heritage Cup champion and as he is a fighting champion, an eight-man tournament will take place to determine the number one contender. The first round matches are:
Mark Andrews vs. Noam Dar
Kenny Williams vs. Oliver Carter
Nathan Frazer vs. Teoman
Sam Gradwell vs. Wolfgang
**********
Video aired of Isla Dawn in the ruins of some castle or building in the woods. She uncovered a wooden box with some witch markings, put a watch into it and left it there. While this was going on, images of Emilia McKenzie flashed on the screen. All creepier than Alexa Bliss and her doll.
**********
Subculture were asked what was next for them as they encountered Wolfgang backstage. Webster told him he was a genius for getting a match with Tyler Bate by slapping him. Wolfgang said that’s all you had to do, when Webster slapped him and ran away. Wolfgang smiled, then went after them.
**********
Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz defeated Josh Morrell & Danny Jones (5:27)
Starz and Jones started out and Starz showed off his great fundamentals. Morrell and Mastiff were in next and Mastiff quickly pounced him to ringside. Starz briefly was in trouble after an enzuigiri by Jones and got worked over by both opponents. Morrell missed a flashy split-legged corkscrew senton, allowing Starz to make the hot tag.
Mastiff hit a rolling German, Starz added running, diving headbutt in the corner and Mastiff pinned Morrell after hitting Into the Void.
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Amale was in a chair getting makeup done. Nina Samuels stormed in and screamed at her for hogging the camera crew. They got into it, got separated and I guess we will get a heel vs. heel women’s match soon.
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Aoife Valkyrie talked about her match with Jinny last week, which she lost because of Joseph Conners. She had a big cage with her and said Conners would not be able to help her next time and that at some point, everyone feeds the birds. Looks like they will have a rematch with Conners suspended in a cage above the ring.
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Stevie Turner interrupted Meiko Satomura training at the UK Performance Center. She said she was wired differently. Meiko was not impressed and caught her arm, then threatened going after her.
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30-minute Iron Man match: A-Kid defeated Jordan Devlin two falls to one (30:00)
They traded holds and counters early on. A-Kid went for a crossface but Devlin quickly got to the ropes. Devlin got on a Stretch Plum, then transitioned it into a backslide. A-Kid impressively escaped, then got on an armbar but Devlin made the ropes once more. They traded more submission attempts with A-Kid locking in a neck crank. Devlin backed him into the ropes and slapped him, but A-Kid stayed calm.
Devlin trapped A-Kid’s legs in the ropes, then aggressively attacked A-Kid’s previously injured knee and locked in a Boston Crab, forcing A-Kid to tap close to the 10 minute mark. Devlin 1-0
Devlin further targeted A-Kid’s knee, A-Kid locked in a rear-naked choke but Devlin got to the ropes. He rolled to ringside and slammed A-Kid’s knee into the apron and the post, then locked in the Figure Four around the post. Devlin locked in another Boston Crab but A-Kid reached the ropes this time. They traded German suplexes, then Devlin suplexed A-Kid over the top and both men tumbled to the floor at the 15-minute mark. Devlin narrowly made it back into the ring at 9 as A-Kid immediately locked in a omoplata, but once more, Devlin made the ropes.
Devlin vaulted into the ring over the top but A-Kid caught him in a rear-naked choke but released the hold to hit a running soccer kick but Devlin kicked out at 2.9. Devlin hit some strikes but A-Kid countered, then locked in the armbar and Devlin quickly tapped at around 18 minutes. A-Kid 1-1
Devlin got some rest at ringside, but A-Kid quickly sent him to the outside again, then hit a running enzuigiri as Devlin was on the apron. A-Kid sent him to the outside once more and Devlin grabbed a chair. A-Kid kicked the chair into his face. Back in the ring, A-Kid hit a cross body off the top for another near-fall. Devlin recovered and went for the Clover Leaf, then went for a power bomb but A-Kid hit a hurricanrana, then scored a number of near-falls.
They traded strikes, including Devlin hitting a falling headbutt after bouncing off the ropes from a superman bunch by A-Kid. They fought on the apron and Devlin wet for Devlin Inside, but got dropkicked. He then hit the move on the outside after which both men were down. A-Kid made it back at 9.99, probably the closest I ever saw anyone make it in this spot.
A-Kid countered Devlin Inside into a Destroyer, then hit a running dropkick for a very close near-fall. A-Kid got the arm bar of the kickout, then ground and fought his way into an omoplata. Devlin eventually submitted with only about 90 seconds left. A-Kid 2-1
Devlin fought like crazy during the final minute. Devlin hit A-Kid square in the jaw with three seconds left but the time ran out at the two count, without A-Kid kicking out. So A-Kid won but the story was that Devlin would have take the match to overtime if he had been one second quicker.
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Devin glared at A-Kid as he celebrated and the show went off the air.
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Final Thoughts:
The main event was a fantastic match with a lot of drama and both men looked really good.
Blair Davenport continues to win, probably leading to a match with Meiko Satomura down the line.
Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff was an okay tag match and it will be interesting where they will go with them.
The rest was mostly evolving angles and storylines for the coming weeks.
Next week:
Heritage Cup number one contender’s tournament first-round match: Mark Andrews vs. Noam Dar
The show opened with a graphic dedicated to the late, great “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff.
Triple H then talked about how on October 29, 2020 the world had seen one of the best and most brutal matches in WWE history and how WALTER was the longest-reigning champion of the modern era, who defended his championship both in the UK and the US. He also called Ilja Dragunov one of the hardest working men in wrestling and an enigma and was proud to give us the rematch of that epic battle next week.
We then cut to the champion and his challenger sitting at a table in the ring alongside Sid Scala to sign the contracts for their match next week.
WALTER and Ilja Dragunov contract signing —
They actually had press in the front row to ask questions. WALTER was asked if he thought his reign was under threat. He said no, because he was in this for the greater good and the reputation and tradition of this great sport. He said every time he steps into the ring, he was proud to represent the sport. He called Ilja a one-of-a-kind athlete, like nothing he ever saw before, but said that Ilja lacked the mental ability to step up to his level. He said he will have to proof that when he wrestles him again.
Ilja was asked what he learned since his defeat against WALTER. Ilja said it had been some very dark days and a rough time. He said you learn and get better, but failures like this don’t hurt you like a strike, but they hurt your mind. You can’t forget and the memories haunted him and he lost control. He found himself again and was prepared.
Both were asked what to expect for the rematch next week. Ilja said brutality, violence, intensity. He said the match redefined violence and people had forgotten what the word meant. Ilja called WALTER arrogant and said he had a god complex. WALTER interrupted him and asked him about redefining violence. WALTER called him a fraud. He said Ilja was fantastic but not at WALTER’s level. He called Ilja a showman and told him he wanted to grab everyone’s attention.
WALTER screamed at Ilja in German to look at him and said that if it wasn’t for him, Ilja would still be a cashier at a German supermarket. Scala tried to calm WALTER down, but it was to no avail.
Ilja was close to tears and said that last time, he thought all his stamina, all his power might be enough, but it wasn’t. He said he had respect for WALTER. He said after all WALTER had done to him, all the respect is gone and all that is left is hate.
Ilja said next week in this ring, he would break WALTER. He said he would walk away with the NXT UK title or he would not walk away at all. WALTER dared him to do something right now and they went forehead to forehead. WALTER told him to keep himself calm and Ilja said that he was.
This was amazing and this recap cannot do it justice. If you can spare ten minutes, watch this segment.
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A Subculture video aired. Andrews and Webster talked about how Andrews won a singles match against one half of the tag team champions two years ago and then they won the titles and last week, he did the same thing again. Dani Luna said next week, they would become two-time champions
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Teoman & Rohan Raja beat Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter when Teoman submitted Carter (08:55)
Smith floored Teoman right away, then beat him down. Teoman finally tagged out to Raja, who wanted Carter and got him. Carter hit a superkick and almost got the pin, but Teoman ran interference and Raja hit Carter with a Black Hole Slam, then took over.
Teoman got back in and went for the crossface, then kicked Carter’s arm when he couldn’t quite get it. Carter finally got the hot tag and Smith ran wild on both men. Smith got a near fall off a Michinoku Driver. Teoman dropped him head-first into the turnbuckle, then blind tagged Raja who almost put Smith away.
Carter got back in and hit a German suplex and superkick on Raja, then followed up with a cutter on Raja who was on Smith’s shoulders. Smith hit a somersault dive on both men. Back in the ring, Carter went for a quebrada, but Teoman pulled his legs away mid-jump.
Raja then hit a jumping STO and Teoman locked in the crossface for the submission victory.
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Sid Scala was asked about A-Kid and said he had no update. A-Kid then walked in on crutches with his leg heavily taped and said the medical update was that he was sick and tired of Jordan Devlin. He said he wanted to face him again as soon as he was medically cleared and told Sid to talk to Mr. Saint. he wants 30 minutes with Devlin to punish him and demanded an Iron Man match. Scala told him to leave it with him.
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Aoife Valkyrie talked about Jinny. She said the best have short memories when it comes to failure, She said she was ready to fly while Jinny wasn’t even ready to take off her high heels. She said that Jinny only ever attacked people she thought were down, and with her, Jinny picked the wrong fight.
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NXT UK Women’s Championship: Meiko Satomura pinned “The French Hope” Amale (07:18)
Meiko caught a kick, hit a leg kick then took down Amale with a headlock. Amale turned it into a pin but Satomura held on to the move. Amale took over and grabbed Meiko’s hair. Amale dropped Meiko head-first into the bottom turnbuckle, then hit a shotgun dropkick and got a two count. Satomura quickly got back on offense and punished Amale with a number of kicks to the chest. Amale came back with a swinging neckbreaker for a two-count of her own.
They traded big moves until Meiko hit a handspring kneedrop to the back of Amale’s neck.
Meiko eventually hit Scorpion Rising for the pin and the win in her first title defense.
After the match, Meiko screamed for the next challenger.
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A graphic announced breaking news on WALTER and Ilja Dragunov. The announcers claimed that WALTER and Ilja had had a backstage altercation and that WALTER had suffered a severe injury to his left hand. They said that he had not been medically cleared to compete and the match next week was off. They said they would have more information next week.
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NXT UK Heritage Cup: Tyler Bate (w/ Trent Seven) beat Mark Coffey (w/ Wolfgang) 2-1 in round 5 (12:46)
Round 1
They did some British style exchanges early with Bate using some leverage to keep Coffey under control. Coffey lifted Bate over the top rope to the apron as the round ended.
Round 2
Coffey used a hammerlock for the first minute. Bate finally threw him to ringside. Bate picked up the first fall of the match at 1:35 of the round with a pinning combination. Bate 1-0
Round 3
Coffey was more aggressive as the round started. He caught Bate’s springboard clothesline and gave him a big back body drop. Bate briefly came back but got caught with an enzuigiri as he came off the ropes with a European uppercut. Coffey then scored a pin at 1:42 with a running forearm to tie things. Coffey 1-1
Round 4
Coffey wrestled with urgency and hit big moves but Bate countered him repeatedly. He hit an exploder on the bigger man, then followed with a running shooting star. Bate hit the airplane spin but Coffey eventually elbowed his way out. Coffey missed a bulldog off the turnbuckles and bonked heads shortly before the round ended.
Round 5
Bate went into the post shoulder first and got rolled up, but narrowly kicked out. Coffey evaded the Tyler Driver ’97, but got hit with the springboard lariat for a near fall. Bate then hit the Tyler Driver 97 at 0:58 of the round to win the match. Bate wins 2-1
All four men shook hands after the match.
Final Thoughts:
A good show with an awesome non-wrestling segment between WALTER and Dragunov. Whenever and however it happens, it will be tremendous.
The two title matches both were good, even though nobody believed that either challenger had a chance to win.
Amale especially is good and has a cool character, so hopefully she can be put in another meaningful program soon.
The Teoman/Raja team also is good and it will be interesting if they add more people to that stable.
Next week:
NXT UK Tag Team Championship: Pretty Deadly (c) vs. Subculture
Williams worked over Frazer’s left arm early, but Frazer eventually countered and repaid the favor. Frazer hit a somersault senton that was so fast that he over-rotated and actually landed on the ramp, but he fortunately seemed to be unharmed.
Back in the ring, Williams took out Frazer’s knee and worked it over for a while. Frazer went for a springboard move, but his knee buckled. Frazer then hit a springboard dropkick anyway, using only one leg and scoring a near fall.
They went back and forth some more until Williams, while on the apron, removed the padding off a turnbuckle and pulled Frazer’s head into it. Williams then hit the Headlock Driver for the pinfall victory.
– A video recapped Jordan Devlin’s win over A-Kid from last week and the gruesome submission that Devlin used to score the win.
– Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey went into Sid Scala’s office and agreed to talk privately.
– A video looked at the feud between NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and Amale. Amale said she has been overlooked all her life and it will not happen anymore.
Mark Andrews pinned Lewis Howley to earn Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster a shot at Pretty Deadly’s NXT UK Tag Team titles (9:17)
Howley dominated early, using his size to his advantage. Andrews eventually used his speed to fight back and landed a wheelbarrow bulldog for a near fall. He sent Howley to ringside and then followed with a dive.
Howley rammed Andrews’ shoulder into the ring post and took over from there. Andrews came back with a moonsault block off the top that he turned into a tilt-a-whirl DDT. He followed with an enzuigiri and a destroyer for another near fall.
Andrews had the match won with a springboard hurricanrana, but Howley’s Pretty Deadly partner Sam Stoker distracted the referee. The rest of Subculture then ran out to even the odds. Andrews then hit the Stun Dog Millionaire and a Shooting Star Press for the win.
With Andrews winning, he and Flash Morgan Webster earn a future NXT UK Tag Team title shot against Pretty Deadly.
– Jack Starz received a pep talk from Dave Mastiff at the UK Performance Center. Mastiff said if anybody came to NXT UK and was looking to prove themselves, they had to go through Starz. Mastiff said that was a “hell of a spot to be in.”
– Tyler Bate said that if Mark Coffey wanted a match, all he had to do was ask.
Blair Davenport defeated Laura Di Matteo (03:14)
Davenport (Bea Priestley) moved from England to New Zealand with her parents, then trained there and made her debut at 16. She moved back to England in 2016 and trained more at the PROGRESS “Projo,” also wrestling for PROGRESS, RevPro, Pro Wrestling: EVE, and other groups in the UK.
Priestley also competed for WCPW/Defiant and World of Sport, becoming champion for both groups, but she spent the majority of her time between 2017 and 2021 in Japan, where she was one of the top stars in Stardom. She won a number of different titles there, including the World of Stardom Championship. She also was signed to AEW from 2019 until August 2020, when she could no longer travel to the United States from Japan due to the pandemic.
Priestley also was part of real-life boyfriend Will Ospreay’s United Empire stable in NJPW until being kicked out of the group shortly before severing ties with NJPW and Stardom and moving back to the UK.
Davenport aggressively worked on Di Mateo’s arm and then slammed her. Di Matteo briefly fought back but ate a double foot stomp to the back for her troubles seconds later. Davenport hit a double-jump springboard dropkick, followed by a jumping knee as Di Matteo hung in the ropes. Davenport then hit a V-Trigger for the dominant victory.
After the match, Davenport cut a promo and put the women’s roster on notice.
– A video aired where Jinny talked about Aoife Valkyrie. She said Valkyrie tried to be a mystery but was beaten by Meiko Satomura. And once Valkyrie cracked, Jinny would be able to get into her psyche and destroy her. She called Valkyrie a little girl playing dress-up and told her she would not survive. Jinny’s delivery and choice of words is top-notch.
– Teoman and Rohan Raja sat at a dinner table. Raja thanked Teoman for taking care of him and his family. Teoman said that he was impressed when Raja had not given up in their match. They will face Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith in a tag team match next week, and Teoman said it was Raja’s turn to protect the family. Raja said he would forever be loyal to Teoman.
– On NXT UK in two weeks, NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov will face off in a rematch of their legendary bout from last year. There will be an in-ring press conference with WALTER and Dragunov next week.
Trent Seven defeated Eddie Dennis (11:35)
Seven came right out of the gates with an attack on Dennis, which he kept up until Dennis fled to ringside. Seven immediately wiped Dennis out with a dive, but he ate a lariat by Dennis seconds later. Dennis dominated the next stretch until Seven managed to eventually hit a DDT. Seven hit an Emerald Frosion for a near fall but then missed a twisting senton off the top.
Dennis hit a Severn Bridge on Seven, then hit another one into the turnbuckles. Seven evaded a lariat and hit a snap dragon suplex but fell victim to a lariat by Dennis right after that. They traded strikes until Seven hit the Seven Star Lariat for another very close near fall.
Seven had Dennis up for the Burning Hammer, but Dennis was able to escape. Primate and T-Bone then made their way out as Dennis hoisted Seven on the top. But Dennis ended up receiving a top rope Emerald Frosion from Seven. T-Bone got Dennis’ foot on the rope and then pulled Dennis to ringside. Seven hit a dive on everyone.
Back in the ring, Primate distracted Seven, allowing Dennis to roll-up Seven for a near fall. Seven then hit the Burning Hammer for the win.
Primate and T-Bone then attacked Seven right away. They beat him down until Tyler Bate ran out and made the save. Moustache Mountain cleaned house and then hit an assisted powerbomb on Dennis. Bate pulled a pair of nunchucks from his pants and performed with them. Primate got back into the ring and got hit with the weapon, sending Symbiosis packing for the time being.
Final Thoughts —
A fun show. With a win over Nathan Frazer, it looks like Kenny Williams is getting more of a push than I initially thought. Pretty Deadly vs. Subculture is also fine by me any day of the week.
Blair Davenport looked good in her debut. It will be interesting to see her against some of the more established women on the roster.
The main event was a fun match and will set up a Moustache Mountain vs. Symbiosis match, possibly making room for one more babyface to even the odds down the line.
Next Week —
In-ring press conference with NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov
Teoman & Rohan Raja vs. Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith
In Two Weeks —
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II for the NXT United Kingdom Championship. I repeat — WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II for the NXT United Kingdom Championship~!
The big hosses clashed right away, with Samuels getting the better of things. He eventually went for the Butcher’s Hook, but Coffey broke the hold. Coffey hit a few shoulder blocks and a bulldog off the second turnbuckle for a near fall, followed by a slam for another one.
After some more back and forth, Coffey stunned Samuels with an enzuigiri, then followed up with a diving European uppercut for the pinfall victory.
– Rampage Brown warmed up backstage.
– Emilia McKenzie was happy about Meiko Satomura winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship and said she was proud to call Satomura a friend. The lights flickered as Isla Dawn slowly crept into the frame. McKenzie said she didn’t know where Dawn crept under from, but they had unfinished business. Dawn laughed. Still better than Alexa Bliss being creepy.
– At the NXT UK Performance Center, someone named “Mila” (I believe Mila Smidt from France, who had a tryout in Germany back in 2018) was interviewed about her first week of training here. The lights turned out and Aoife Valkyrie stormed into the ring. Valkyrie started running the ropes and doing flips. Mila watched and Jinny walked up.
Jinny called Mila pathetic for watching someone else train, especially someone who watched others from a distance and didn’t know who was watching her. Mila said she’d like to face Valkyrie and thought she could beat her, “just like Meiko did.” Jinny told her to look at the floor and not her and didn’t care for what Mila thought.
– Video from after last week’s show aired. Subculture celebrated their victory backstage until Pretty Deadly walked up. The two teams had words and it looks like we’ll get an NXT UK Tag Team title match between them soon.
Stevie Turner defeated Laura Di Matteo (4:13)
This was Laura Di Matteo’s first match on NXT UK. The Italy native made her debut in 2015 as a product of the PROGRESS wrestling school and spent a good portion of her career in the UK, wrestling for PROGRESS and Pro Wrestling: EVE, as well as some other groups.
Di Matteo also appeared in Germany for wXw and the German Wrestling Federation, where she is the current Women’s Champion. Di Matteo has wrestled across Europe in France, Italy, Spain, Austria and other countries.
Turner locked in a cravat early but Di Matteo countered. Turner came back and choked Di Matteo on the ropes, then kicked her repeatedly. Turner locked in a straightjacket choke. Di Matteo fought back but was quickly stopped again. Turner then hit a cool looking rope-assisted flatliner for the win.
– Mark Coffey and Wolfgang talked about them each winning a singles match lately. Joe Coffey was warming up for his match later tonight.
– Nathan Frazer was working out at the UK PC when Kenny Williams interrupted and called him out.
– A video aired featuring an NXT UK branded briefcase on a table. A woman in a robe approached, unlocked it, and took some papers labeled “NXT UK confidential” out of it. She looked through them, then signed what appears to have been a contract. The signature line read “Blair Davenport.” It is unknown who this new signee is, but WWE filed a trademark for the name last month.
– A video aired focusing on next week’s NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship match between Tyler Bate and Jack Starz. Bate said Starz’s work ethic is unparalleled and he’s well-respected. Bate said that’s why he chose Starz as his first challenger.
Starz talked about Bate being one of the best in the world and how he was backstage in 2017 when Bate won the WWE United Kingdom Championship. They showed pictures of Starz in the ring celebrating with Bate. Starz said he initially felt unworthy and was still scratching and clawing to get a spot when Bate won the title.
Starz talked about coming up through the “summer camp circuit” (an annual six-week summer tour through various English summer camps with daily shows by All Star Wrestling, the UK’s oldest remaining promotion run by Brian Dixon) like many British wrestling legends had. Starz said he was proud of it.
Starz claimed that he had more tryouts than anyone else in WWE history and was told time and time again that he was not what they were looking for, but he refused to give up. Starz said his hard work would pay off when he faces Bate.
Teoman defeated Oliver Carter by submission (7:03)
A promo by Carter aired during his entrance. Carter talked about his partner Ashton Smith not being here because of family issues.
Teoman and Carter traded holds early, then avoided each other. Teoman slapped Carter, but he came back and ran wild for a bit. Carter threw Teoman into the steps outside, but Teoman played possum and evaded a kick. Teoman then took over once back in the ring.
Teoman went for the crossface but transitioned into a Fujiwara armbar that Carter broke on the ropes. Carter evaded a handspring back elbow and hit a quebrada instead. Carter got a near fall off a superkick, then followed with a scissors kick for another one. Teoman came back and hit a tornado DDT off the turnbuckles for a near fall, then immediately transitioned into the crossbar on the kickout for the submission victory.
Teoman locked in the crossface once more after the match until Rohan Raja ran to the ring and faced off with Teoman, who asked him in German if Raja wanted to punch him. Teoman backed away and almost left the ring, but then turned around and pointed to his eye. Raja then attacked Carter, pounded on him, and gave him a Codebreaker. Teoman and Raja then left together.
– Ilja Dragunov warmed up for the main event.
– A-Kid talked about losing his Heritage Cup Championship to Tyler Bate but said that defeat is part of every champion. He said Jordan Devlin became cruel after losing his Cruiserweight Championship and he would teach Devlin to respect defeat when they face off next week.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey in a triple threat match (16:16)
This was a tremendous hoss fight, so I’ll just list some of the highlights. Coffey paired off with both opponents early on, then got taken out briefly as Brown powerslammed Dragunov. Coffey hit an overhead belly-to-belly on Brown before Dragunov got back into the mix. Brown threw Dragunov into a German suplex by Coffey. Coffey had Brown in a Boston Crab when Dragunov returned from ringside and started punching Coffey, who held on. He then hit a running kick to break the hold.
Brown hit a double back suplex on both men. Dragunov hit a bridging Gotch-lift German suplex on Coffey. Brown hit a fireman’s carry drop on Coffey, then Dragunov followed with a senton. Brown gave Dragunov a spinebuster onto Coffey. Dragunov nailed Brown with the Konstantin Special.
Dragunov hit a Coast-to-Coast top rope dropkick on Brown, then Coffey nailed him with a Glasgow Sendoff that smashed Dragunov into Brown for good measure. Coffey hit a double-jump crossbody off the top to both opponents on the outside.
Coffey got a near fall on Dragunov after a missile dropkick from the top. Coffey nailed Dragunov with All the Best for the Bells, but Brown speared Coffey through the ropes and they fought on the outside. Dragunov had some sort of injury to his midsection and collapsed, but he willed himself to beat on Brown and hit two German suplexes on him. Brown then double German suplexed Dragunov and Coffey. Coffey dropped Brown with an electric chair.
Dragunov hit Torpedo Moscow on Coffey as he was in the middle of hitting All the Best for the Bells on Brown. Brown then hit the Doctor Bomb on Coffey, but Dragunov broke up the pin. Dragunov then hit a springboard Torpedo Moscow off the second turnbuckle on Brown to gain the hard-earned victory.
Dragunov celebrated his victory before NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER entered the ring. He nodded at Dragunov approvingly, asking him in German if he had his eyes on the title. WALTER then slapped him down hard, applied a choke, yanked Dragunov off his feet, and proceeded to choke him out, just as he had done in their legendary bout last year.
WALTER urged a semi-conscious Dragunov to look at the belt before posing over the fallen Russian with his foot on Dragunov’s chest.
Final Thoughts —
Another strong show. Mark Coffey vs. Sha Samuels was a fun brawl. Stevie Turner also looked good in her outing with Laura Di Matteo, who I hope we will see more of in the future. Teoman turning Rohan Raja to his side is intriguing as he slowly builds his NXT UK version of his previous EZEL stable. Those two against Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith will also be good.
They also really built up Jack Starz as a challenger for Tyler Bate’s Heritage Cup next week. The NXT UK video packages are so effective and great — it’s a shame they are seen by so few people.
The main event was a tremendous “mean guy match” between three hosses. As strong style as it gets in WWE with some super hard-hitting action. It is now certain that we will get a WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov rematch, hopefully in front of fans, who will scream, gasp, and cry bloody tears of joy once this epic encounter goes down one more time.
Next Week —
NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion Tyler Bate defends against Jack Starz
A-Kid vs. Jordan Devlin
NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura will address the NXT UK Universe
The show opened with a preview of the women’s number one contender’s gauntlet match. Nigel McGuinness stated that Xia Brookside had been injured when she was attacked by Amale last week and Sid Scala was searching for a replacement.
Heritage Cup rules match: Noam Dar defeated Nathan Frazer 2:1 in round five (12:25)
Round One —
They traded holds and mat-wrestled for most of the round. Dar slapped Frazer after the round ended.
Round Two —
After some back and forth and a long backslide spot, Frazer got the first fall with a small package at 0:58 of the round. Frazer took the lead 1-0.
Round Three —
Frazer hit a great dropkick and a running Shooting Star Press as Sha Samuels sauntered down to ringside and kicked Dar’s corner man out of the arena. Dar had the upper hand for most of the round after kicking Frazer from the turnbuckles. Frazer was on the top rope ready to hit a move when the time expired.
Round Four —
Frazer missed a top rope foot stomp early on, then nearly got pinned after an elbow strike. Frazer got a near fall by evading the Nova Roller. Dar applied an ankle lock and Frazer tapped at 1:13 of the round. Dar tied things up at 1-1.
Round Five —
They traded quick pinning attempts early on. Frazer was on the apron and managed to kick off Samuels, who grabbed his leg. Frazer missed a springboard senton and fell victim to the Nova Roller at 0:50 of the round, giving Dar the win 2-1.
Samuels and Dar teased Frazer after the match.
– The clip from last week that set up a future Rampage Brown vs. Wolfgang match aired.
– A video recapped Pretty Deadly winning the NXT UK Tag Team titles. Pretty Deadly said they’ll be on top for a very long time.
– Trent Seven talked to Jack Starz at the UK Performance Center. Sam Gradwell walked up and berated Seven, calling him over the hill and saying he could see through Seven’s “concerned dad act.” Seven decked Gradwell and they were pulled apart, with Gradwell repeatedly calling him an idiot and a stupid man.
Mark Andrews pinned Levi Muir (4:32)
Andrews had new music and gear. The screen also turns black and white and has “Subculture” scrolling at the border of the screen during his entrance. Andrews came out with his Subculture stablemates Dani Luna and Flash Morgan Webster, but they left ringside after the entrance.
Muir used his power early, but Andrews overwhelmed him with speed and hit a standing moonsault. They went back and forth, with Muir getting Andrews in a Torture Rack and hitting a rope-assisted suplex. Andrews hit Stun Dog Millionaire off another suplex attempt, then hit a dive through the ropes. He followed with a top rope Shooting Star Press to the back of a kneeling Muir for the pinfall victory.
– Sid Scala was asked about Xia Brookside’s replacement for tonight. Amale walked up and demanded to be in the match, but Scala said she would not be rewarded for her actions. Scala said Amale would face Brookside once she returns. Amale flipped her lid and berated Scala in French, then stormed off. Scala’s facials here were every bit of William Regal back in the day.
– A video recapped Kenny Williams defeating Amir Jordan in their Loser Leaves NXT UK match last week. They focused on Jordan crying after the match but showed more of what happened backstage with Jordan breaking down and being helped out of the arena
– A graphic plugged A-Kid and Tyler Bate’s Heritage Cup Championship match for next week. A-Kid and Bate then had a sit-down interview with Sid Scala.
A-Kid said winning the Heritage Cup showed him he was in control of his life. Bate said the Heritage Cup represented the hold-for-hold British style and was made for him, but A-Kid smiled and said it was his. Bate said it was A-Kid’s for now.
A-Kid said he beat Bate the last time they faced off for the Heritage Cup. Bate replied that A-Kid did, but he seems too sure of himself and this will be where he fails. Bate said A-Kid may be the master of the Heritage Cup rules, but Bate has the experience edge and has big matches under his belt.
A-Kid said he always looked up to Bate and watched at home when Bate won the NXT United Kingdom Championship. A-Kid said Bate was chasing him now, but Bate smiled and asked A-Kid if that was what he believed. He said A-Kid couldn’t see the bigger picture and that Bate was in his own league. They shook hands as Scala told them that may the best man win. This was a great segment.
– Ilja Dragunov will be the guest on Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions next week.
Number one contender’s gauntlet match: Meiko Satomura won the match over Emilia McKenzie, Dani Luna, Isla Dawn, and Jinny (16:34)
They did not announce who the fifth woman would be before the match.
Dawn and McKenzie started out. Dawn was in control early, but McKenzie came back and hit a spear for a near fall around the three-minute mark. Dawn pinned McKenzie after a bridging Saito suplex at 3:30.
Luna was in next and hit a deadlift suplex on Dawn. Luna hit an exploder and some other offense but crashed into the corner post and got rolled up around 5:30.
Satomura was the surprise replacement for Brookside. Dawn immediately attacked her and they briefly fought at ringside. Satomura came back and started dismantling Dawn. Satomura missed a handspring attack and Dawn kicked her leg and head. Dawn hit two Saito suplexes and got a near fall off a double knee attack. Satomura got an armbar and transitioned into a pinning combination to pin Dawn around 9:45
Jinny (with Joseph Conners) was in as the final participant. She attacked Satomura right away and they went back and forth for a few minutes. They traded submissions and Jinny hit a nice suplex from a seated position to escape. Satomura locked in an STF, but Jinny made the ropes. Satomura had Jinny on her shoulders when Conners got on the apron, but he caught a kick for his trouble. Satomura then pinned Jinny with Scorpion Rising to win the gauntlet.
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray walked out after the match and got in the ring, posing with her championship. She bowed to Satomura but laid her out with a superkick when Satomura bowed back. KLR screamed at Satomura and posed with the belt as the show faded to black.
Final Thoughts —
Another strong show. Nathan Frazer vs. Noam Dar was very good and fast paced. Dar getting the win tells a nice story of the veteran being able to beat the upstart rookie.
The match with Mark Andrews was mostly there to show off his tweaked gimmick I guess. The sit-down with A-Kid and Bate was fantastic and told a great story of the (maybe a bit too) confident young champion and the calm veteran, who may be a step ahead of him mentally.
The gauntlet match was fine but felt a bit rushed at times. KLR vs. Meiko Satomura will be good, but we already got the match a couple of months ago and I’m not sure where this will lead, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I thought they’d be putting McKenzie over stronger, but maybe they have a longer redemption storyline planned for her and she may eventually face her mentor Satomura for the title if Satomura wins it from KLR.
Next Week —
Heritage Cup Champion A-Kid defends against Tyler Bate
Coffey punched Dennis out of the ring and attacked him at ringside. Back in the ring, Dennis escaped through the ropes to stop another barrage by Coffey. Dennis came back with a judo throw and kravate. Coffey eventually escaped with a slam, but missed the Glasgow Sendoff into the corner.
Dennis caught a body press by Coffey and hit a slam for a near fall. They traded strikes and Coffey hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, followed by a running shoulder block and an elbow drop for another two count. Dennis caught Coffey on the turnbuckles, then hit the Severed Bridge for a another close near fall.
Coffey came back with a spinebuster and a Boston Crab. T-Bone and Primate ran in and distracted the referee, but Coffey disposed of them. Gallus ran out to brawl with T-Bone and Primate.
Back in the ring, Coffey hit the double-jump reverse body press, Glasgow Sendoff and All the Best for the Bells to pin Dennis.
Coffey got attacked immediately by Primate and T-Bone, but the rest of Gallus made the save and sent Dennis and his thugs packing.
**********
Ilja Dragunov sat at a laptop and watched clips of his match with WALTER, getting an incredulous look on his face as the match progressed. He then watched clips of his matches with Jack Starz, Sam Gradwell and others and how he would snap whenever he got chopped in the neck. His eyes grew bigger as he watched, before the screen faded to black.
**********
Gallus were excited as they came backstage. Joe Coffey encountered Rampage Brown and told him he’d watched him and WALTER and it was tough, as he’d been there himself. He reminded Brown that he had promised him a rematch and told him to give him a call.
**********
Sam Gradwell defeated “Bomber” Dave Mastiff (04:54)
Mastiff quickly backed Gradwell into the ropes and called him a “Yogurt”. They traded hammerlocks, before Gradwell got smacked in the mouth. Mastiff hit a judo roll over Gradwell, then followed with a fireman’s carry roll. Gradwell came back with a knee strike with his knee brace, hurting Mastiff’s back.
Mastiff eventually hit a running crossbody but couldn’t hit his cannonball senton into the corner because of his injured back.
Gradwell seized the opportunity, impressively hoisted Mastiff on his shoulders and hit a Falcon Arrow for the win.
**********
Aoife Valkyrie walked through a city at night and talked about this being her opportunity. She will face Meiko Satomura next week.
**********
A video profiled Emilia McKenzie.
**********
Jinny (w/Joseph Conners) defeated Dani Luna (04:03)
Dani took Jinny down with a waistlock takedown right away. Jinny slapped her, then escaped through the ropes and attacked Dani from behind when she turned away.
Jinny locked on an Iron Octopus but Luna powered out. Jinny locked it on once more from a seated position, but Luna lifted her up and threw her. Luna hit two consecutive rolling gutwrench suplexes, then followed up with another suplex.
They traded strikes and slaps and Dani followed with a running clothesline. Conners got on the apron, which distracted Luna and allowed Jinny to hit a kick to the knee, rolling Liger kick and pin Dani with a La Magistral cradle.
After the match, Jinny stomped away at Dani and locked her in a modified STF as Conners screamed into her face. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster ran out to make the save.
**********
Sid Scala was asked about the Amir Jordan-Kenny Williams main event from last week when Jordan stormed in and demanded a rematch.
Scala said that Williams was willing to give him a rematch under no DQ rules, but only under the condition that the loser will leave NXT UK.
Jordan was taken aback, but eventually signed the contract and said that nobody would be taking this away from him.
**********
A video aired on newcomer Rohan Raja (Tony Gill, the former Gursinder Singh of the Desi Hit Squad in Impact in 2018/19), who said he was 6’1″, British born, Australian raised, Canadian trained (by Lance Storm, nonetheless). He said he would make his NXT UK debut next week against Teoman.
He said Teoman had been making people tap out but that he does not quit and Teoman would have to bring his A game.
Teoman replied to Raja’s promo, saying he would die for his family and protect them with honor, respect and fear. He reiterated that he was the “Babo” (boss) Teoman.
Dar and Bate started the match. Bate had the early advantage with arm drags before Dar managed to tag in Samuels, who wanted Seven. Seven quickly hit a clothesline and leg drop. Bate was back in and hit a somersault senton, then worked over Samuels’ arm before Dar tagged back in.
Bate had Dar up for the airplane spin, but Samuels blind tagged back in and attacked Bate, who eventually tagged Seven. Dar and Samuels quickly tagged in and out and worked over Seven for several minutes. Seven finally hit a DDT and snap dragon suplex on Dar before finally making the hot tag.
Bate ran wild and hit an exploder on Samuels. Bate hit a Seven-assisted power bomb on Samuels and went for a bridging pin, but the referee was distracted and Samuels eventually kicked out. Samuels hit a spinebuster on Bate off a slingshot lariat. Seven and Bate hit subsequent dives on both Dar and Samuels.
Bate then hit a double foot stomp of the top into a Burning Hammer by Seven on Samuels and pinned him.
Final thoughts —
A decent show with a good main event.
Dennis vs. Coffey lead to the inevitable six-men tag, which should be a fun, hard-hitting brawl next week.
Jinny vs. Dani Luna also progressed the storyline and we should get some sort of mixed tag team match out of it soon.
Sam Gradwell picked up his first proper win since returning, and looked good in doing so.
The main event was a small redemption story for Trent Seven, who I still suspect will turn on or challenge Tyler Bate if/when he wins the Heritage Cup from A-Kid.
I like how they had short promos building up next week’s Rohan Raja vs. Teoman match, which felt like watching Superstars or Wrestling Challenge when I was a kid.
The episode had some nice storyline progressions, finished one long-building feud (Jordan Devlin vs. Trent Seven), and built up an intriguing challenge (WALTER vs. Rampage Brown). Nathan Frazer, the former Ben Carter, looked good in his match and Meiko Satomura picked up a win over newcomer Dani Luna.
The Devlin vs. Seven NXT Cruiserweight Championship main event was very good and told a good story of the aging underdog looking to score one final victory, which — in the end — he didn’t get.
Full Rundown —
The show opened with the weigh-in between NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin and Trent Seven from this week’s episode of WWE’s The Bump. Devlin weighed in at 195 lbs, while Seven narrowly made weight at 204.25 lbs. This means their Cruiserweight title match is official for later tonight.
Nathan Frazer pinned Ashton Smith after a frog splash (7:03)
Frazer of course is the former Ben Carter. Smith waltzed him down with a shoulder block early, but Frazer then took Smith down with a headlock takedown off a suplex attempt. Frazer used his speed advantage to further dominate Smith. Smith came back by working the arm and hit a lariat on Frazer for a two count.
Frazer hit a springboard crossbody, but Smith rolled through, stood up with Frazer, and hoisted him up for a suplex for another near fall. Frazer came back with a running dropkick and a coast-to-coast dropkick from one turnbuckle to the other corner. He missed a senton and ate a sit-down powerbomb for another close near fall. Frazer finally came back with a quebrada and a top rope frog splash for the pinfall victory.
– Ilja Dragunov was joined by a camera crew backstage as he requested some time to make a statement. Dragunov said he wanted to apologize for his recent behavior during his matches and said that was just not the way he was. He said he did not know what overcame him there. Suddenly, Sam Gradwell walked up to Dragunov and told Dragunov that he is what happened. Gradwell said he beat Dragunov (well, he didn’t) and that he would beat him in any kind of match.
Gradwell started rattling various match types off. As he came to “no DQ match,” Dragunov calmly told him that he agreed to that one. For once, Gradwell was at a loss for words.
– Isla Dawn was back in her spooky room with her Ouija board and tarot cards. The first word that flashed across the screen was “anhoiy”and then she saw the card of “The Devil” as “diabolis” flashed on the screen. She finally encountered the card for “The Death.” For some reason, this made her happy.
– WWE announced a special event called NXT UK: Prelude for WrestleMania week. It will air on Thursday, April 8 at 3 p.m. EST/8 p.m. BST. It was said there would be some matches with NXT UK superstars that would be some of the most talked about in NXT UK history.
– NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint announced one match for the NXT UK: Prelude special: Noam Dar vs. Tyler Bate in a Heritage Cup rules match, with the winner becoming the number one contender to A-Kid’s Heritage Cup Championship. Dar originally requested a match with A-Kid, but Saint said he would have to earn a title shot.
– A video recapped Seven’s preparation for tonight’s Cruiserweight title match.
Meiko Satomura pinned Dani Luna after Scorpio Rising (6:03)
Satomura started with leg kicks, but Luna quickly overpowered her. They traded holds on the mat, then Satomura took back over with kicks. Satomura used a judo throw off a test of strength and threw more kicks off an extended headlock.
Luna hit a superplex off the top, but she ate some head kicks afterwards. Luna hit a lariat for a near fall and then went for a German suplex, but Satomura blocked and hit a Pele kick. Satomura then hit Scorpio Rising for the win.
Satomura shook Luna’s hand after the match.
– Jinny and Joseph Conners cut a promo. They complained that Piper Niven & Jack Starz only won their mixed tag team match last week because of an illegal move (Niven hitting a Piper Driver on Conners, which is against mixed tag rules). Jinny considered the loss null and void and Conners said he’d face Jack Starz in a singles match next.
– A video recapped Devlin’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship reign, from winning the title at Worlds Collide to issuing and winning all his open challenge matches thus far.
– Dani Luna was interviewed backstage and said she lost, but Satomura is the best in the world. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster came up to Luna to talk as she left.
WALTER speaks
WALTER said he was standing here before us as the longest reigning NXT United Kingdom Champion in history. He said he’s dominated ever since his arrival and ran down the list of the wrestlers he’s defeated: British Strong Style, Joe Coffey, Dave Mastiff, Ilja Dragunov, and the list goes on and on. But WALTER said he’s still here for competition. WALTER told Johnny Saint to look the world over and find the next challenger for him. WALTER said he wants someone who is worthy.
At that point, the Ring General’s address was interrupted by the music of Rampage Brown, who walked down to ringside with a microphone in hand. Brown entered the ring and told WALTER that Mr. Saint didn’t have to search the world over — he just had to look into his own backyard. Brown told WALTER that he was a dominant champion, but he’s never faced Rampage Brown. Brown told WALTER to let him know when he was ready. WALTER smirked and turned away, but Brown shoved him.
WALTER told Brown not to touch him in German as he shoved back, but Brown shoved the big man down and told him that when they face off, his reign will come to an end. WALTER rolled out of the ring and backed down the ramp while staring Brown down and telling Brown (in German) that he wasn’t a champion.
– Xia Brookside and Nina Samuels were at the gym. Brookside made Samuels do all kinds of chores, then told her to get a chalk bucket and fill up her water bottle. Brookside told her the bottle was very wet and when Samuels mocked her, Brookside kicked over the chalk bucket. Brookside told Samuels to clean up and not to forget to work out herself.
– A graphic once more plugged tonight’s main event.
– Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams were at the UK Performance Center working out. Jordan still complained about Williams cheating, but Williams told him it was a knee-jerk reaction, which Jordan didn’t buy. Williams told him they’d face Pretty Deadly for the NXT UK Tag Team titles in two weeks. Jordan was overjoyed, but told Williams they would not have to cheat to win that match.
– Ilja Dragunov faces Sam Gradwell in a no disqualification match next week.
– At NXT UK: Prelude in three weeks, WALTER defends his NXT United Kingdom Championship against Rampage Brown.
NXT Cruiserweight Championship match: Jordan Devlin retained against Trent Seven after a 450 splash to the lower back (17:37)
Devlin attacked right away, but Seven blocked his attack, hit a number of chops, and threw Devlin to ringside. Seven then followed and threw Devlin on top of the barricade. Devlin briefly got the upper hand, but he quickly was overpowered again. Seven hit a snap dragon suplex on the outside and threw Devlin into the ring, but his cover only got a two count.
Seven was a house of fire, using a hip toss and leg drop. He went for a snap DDT, but Devlin escaped and hit the uranage/standing moonsault combo. Devlin then hit a Saito suplex-style backbreaker over the shoulder. He kept working over Seven’s back, bending it around the ring post from the outside. Devlin was in control for a few more minutes, grinding Seven down.
Devlin went for his Four Leaf Cloverleaf, but Seven slapped his way out of it. Seven then hit a DDT that had Devlin rattled. Seven hit a somersault stunner from the turnbuckle, then hit the Emerald Frosion for a two count.
Seven sent Devlin to the outside and then hit a dive that bent Devlin backwards over the barricade. Seven went for a twisting somersault senton from the top, but Devlin moved and locked in the Four Leaf Cloverleaf. Seven fought and grabbed the ropes, then rolled Devlin up in a small package for a near fall.
Seven went for a single-leg Boston Crab, but Devlin made the ropes quickly. Seven went for the Seven Star Lariat, but Devlin hit a vicious headbutt and held onto Seven’s arm, looking to hit the Devlin Side, but Seven grabbed the ropes. Seven hit a number of slaps and chops, but Devlin never released the wrist. Devlin hit some Kawada-style kicks and then went for Devlin Side, but Seven countered into the Seven Star Lariat for a near fall. Seven went for the Burning Hammer, but Devlin escaped and hit a suplex for a near fall of his own.
Seven stopped Devlin on the top rope and then hit a top rope dragon suplex. Seven hit a Burning Hammer, but Devlin got his foot under the rope at 2.5. Seven looked spent but forced himself up. He went for a Seven Star Lariat once more as Devlin was in the ropes, but Devlin thumbed his eye as the referee was out of position. Devlin hit Devlin Side, but Seven very narrowly kicked out.
Devlin then hit a 450 splash off the top onto Seven’s injured lower back for the pinfall victory and successful title defense.
Final Thoughts —
This was a fun show with a great main event. it will be interesting to see where Seven goes from here and if there maybe is a heel turn in his future to make things interesting for him again. Devlin seems to be on a collision course with Santos Escobar over at NXT to unify the Cruiserweight titles.
Nathan Frazer, the former Ben Carter, looked good against Ashton Smith and Meiko Satomura started her path of redemption after losing to NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray two weeks ago.
Next Week —
No DQ match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Sam Gradwell
In Two Weeks —
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly defend against Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan
In Three Weeks (NXT UK: Prelude) —
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER defends against Rampage Brown
Heritage Cup rules match: Noam Dar vs. Tyler Bate (winner becomes the number one contender to A-Kid’s Heritage Cup Championship)
In what was the best NXT UK match of 2021 thus far, Kay Lee Ray retained her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Meiko Satomura in a fantastic main event.
The story of Ilja Dragunov snapping and beating his opponents into oblivion continued as he defeated Sam Gradwell, while Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan returned as a team with a win over Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter. This was Williams’ return from a knee injury — and he played a little dirty to pick up the win. Tyler Bate also showed some of his zen on Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions talk show.
Full Rundown —
The show opened with a look at tonight’s Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura NXT UK Women’s Championship match. A number of women from the main roster and NXT — including Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Bayley, and Sasha Banks — weighed in.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Sam Gradwell by referee stoppage (8:06)
This further told the story of Dragunov snapping and beating his opponents into oblivion ever since losing to WALTER a few months back. Gradwell had been egging him on and even did so after being pummeled into la-la-land by Dragunov, so the transition of the Mad Russian to the dark side continues.
Gradwell slapped Dragunov early, but he quickly got taken down. They went back and forth and Gradwell ended up with a bloody mouth. Dragunov went to the top rope, but Gradwell stopped him and eventually slapped him, prompting Dragunov to topple to ringside. Gradwell was in control until he made the mistake of telling Dragunov that he let his family and his son down, which earned Gradwell a headbutt to the face. They traded chops and slaps until Dragunov hit two German suplexes, followed by a flying head kick.
Dragunov hit a top rope senton, but Gradwell evaded the Torpedo Moscow, sending Dragunov head-first into the turnbuckle. Gradwell hit a chop to the back of the neck, which infuriated Dragunov. Gradwell picked Dragunov up on his shoulders, but Dragunov hit elbow strikes and then transitioned to hit more elbow and knee strikes, prompting the referee to stop the match.
Dragunov proceeded to hit elbow and knee strikes on Gradwell until referees ran out to stop him. Dragunov started screaming in Russian, pushed one of the refs into the corner, and got close to hitting him but finally stopped and looked devastated at what he had done. Gradwell was smiling on the mat and taunted Dragunov by saying “well done, Ilja, well done.” Dragunov (literally) beat himself up over what he had done on his way to the back.
– Kay Lee Ray prepared backstage ahead of her match.
– The second part of a video about the former Lucky Kid/Metehan aired. He talked about how he had been that “lucky kid” from his story but asked if we could believe that this kid was the same man standing in front of us right now. Metehan said his family was the most important thing to him and he would die for them. It was not about how rich or poor you grew up, but about how hard you fought to make people honor you, how hard you were going to strike to make people respect you, and how far you were willing to go to make people fear you.
Metehan announced that his new in-ring name is Teoman. In Turkish, Metehan can mean leader. Also in some sources, Teoman was the father of Metehan, which is his given name. Teoman will debut next week.
– Xia Brookside was sitting with Aleah James in a backstage area. They had scones and James noted that they were dry and could use some tea. As James was about to go get some, Brookside called out for Nina Samuels to make them two cups, which she reluctantly did. Samuels added salt to one of the cups, but James left and Brookside grabbed the unspoiled one as Samuels seethed some more.
Supernova Sessions with Tyler Bate
Noam Dar read some fan mail that was mostly complimentary, but one note called him a loser. He sulked and introduced Tyler Bate.
Dar was confused by the concept of “zen” and asked Bate “Who is Zen?” Bate told him it wasn’t who is zen, but rather that he chose to be more in tune with his inner self, saying that mastery of oneself brought true power. Dar took that to mean that he could push Bate’s buttons without him reacting. Dar asked Bate how old he was now, 14? Bate said he’s 23.
Dar asked Bate about being a vegan and said Bate couldn’t enjoy the nice cupcakes or the “zen panda” he had prepared, but he had something for him. It was some broccoli (which Dar dropped and stepped on) and some leafy salad, which he dropped onto Bate’s lap. Bate ate one of the leaves and said they were delicious.
Dar said last time Bate was on his show, he lost to Heritage Cup Champion A-Kid after, so zen didn’t help him there. Bate replied by saying that he didn’t feel bad about that loss, claiming that “we only lose what we cling to.”
Dar brought up that Bate is facing Dave Mastiff next week and should be scared. Bate said that he’s had his eyes set on the Heritage Cup ever since coming back, but that one bump in the road would not stop him. Bate said he had talked to NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint about his match against Mastiff being contested under Heritage Cup rules. Bate added that “where fear ends, life begins.”
Bate got up and stared Dar down, then raised his arm to pose, which sent Dar scurrying away back on his couch. Bate said that he may be zen, but he’s nobody’s doormat. Bate concluded by saying this was our exclusive and added Dar’s closing catchphrase of “play that funky music, please” as he posed. Dar was livid, threw the cushions off the couch, and smashed the panda cake on the table.
– Ben Carter trained with James Mason at the UK Performance Center. Carter said that since he started his career in the United States, he never got to learn the British style, so he loved working out with Mason and life is good.
– A highlight video on Aleah James aired, showing some of her training and athletic ability. James said she idolized Mickie James and Melina growing up and was hoping to bring her athletic and exciting style to the NXT UK roster.
– Isla Dawn was in a dark room with a Ouija board and some other paraphernalia. The words “chaos” and “sceleratus” (Latin for wicked/accursed) flashed across the screen or maybe her mind. Dawn looked into a crystal ball and the tarot card for The High Priestess appeared as the screen turned to black and white. Weird — but somewhat intriguing too, as Dawn hasn’t played a major role on NXT UK in the past and it may be time to change that.
– Meiko Satomura was shown warming up.
Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan defeated Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter after a pin reversal by Jordan on Carter (8:10)
The story here was that Williams cheated to allow his partner to score the pin in this babyface tag team match. They have very carefully teased Williams not being totally honest and a bit of a jerk over the past few months, so this could lead to something.
This was Williams’ first match back since November of last year. Carter and Smith had new matching red/neon green gear.
Carter and Williams started out, with Carter getting the better of the early exchange before they countered and evaded each other. Smith fared better against the Luckian, bulldozing him with raw power. Williams tagged out and Jordan managed to hit a crossbody on Smith for a near-fall. Smith and Carter then took turns isolating and working over Jordan as Williams had to look on. Jordan finally managed to hit an enzuigiri on Smith and tagged out to Williams, who ran wild on Smith.
Smith and Carter went for their trademark move where Carter lands on Smith’s back on the apron and gets catapulted back inside, but Williams kicked them both to ringside and Williams and Jordan hit stereo dives. Williams hit a wheelbarrow facebuster on Smith and Jordan followed with a top rope senton, but Carter narrowly made the save. Carter hit an assisted 450 for another near-fall, then Smith got taken out by Williams with a plancha to the outside.
Carter went for a bridging pin on Jordan, but Williams pulled his leg out, allowing Jordan to counter the move for the deciding pin. Carter called Williams out on his cheating after the match, but Williams first grinned at him, then feigned innocence.
– A video recapped the story leading up to the first-ever mixed tag match in NXT UK history taking place next Thursday. Piper Niven & Jack Starz will face Jinny & Joseph Conners. Starz and Niven said they hated nothing more than bullies and spoke about how Conners and Jinny had underestimated them. Jinny told Niven and Starz that she and Conners pity people like them. Jinny said that while she and Conners are worthy, Niven and Starz are trash.
– Williams & Jordan were interviewed about their win and were ecstatic. They will face Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster next week and were hopeful that they’ll become contenders for the NXT UK Tag Team titles with a few more wins.
– A graphic plugged the Heritage Cup rules match between Tyler Bate and Dave Mastiff for next week.
NXT UK Women’s Championship match: Kay Lee Ray retained against Meiko Satomura after a Gory Bomb (16:46)
This was a fantastic, TakeOver-worthy match, with the champion going toe-to-toe with one of the best in the world and eventually overcoming her. The story was that they kicked out of each other’s finishers and other big moves and that KLR hurt her knee down the line, forcing her to overcome the odds even more, which she eventually did.
A tale of the tape compared champion and challenger. It was interesting that Satomura’s accolades included being a former Stardom champion. She also was noted to have wrestled on WCW Nitro at age 17.
KLR backed Satomura into the ropes early before getting her arm worked over. She came back briefly but quickly got thrown to ringside. Members of the NXT UK women’s roster were seen watching on the screens in the background as Satomura worked over KLR.
The champ came back with a dropkick and a roll-through snapmare, then followed with a stiff kick to the chest of Satomura. Satomura locked in an STF and KLR barely made it to the ropes to break the hold. Satomura worked over KLR’s legs, but she managed to come back with a face-first suplex and a Koji Clutch. KLR then followed with a kneeling abdominal stretch. After enduring some kicks in the corner, KLR reached a turning point in the match as she managed to take out Satomura’s legs, then hit a draping DDT off the apron onto the mats at ringside.
KLR went for the Gory Bomb on the apron, but Satomura escaped and instead hit a Death Valley Bomb onto the apron. KLR barely made it back into the ring at nine.
Satomura hit a cartwheel knee drop on KLR’s back, then hit a Saito suplex for a close near fall. KLR managed to come back with a tornado DDT out of the corner and then locked in the Koji Clutch once more, but Satomura turned the hold into a pinning attempt for two. KLR held on to the hold until Satomura got her foot on the bottom rope.
Satomura managed to kick KLR’s head as she headed to the top rope, then wrenched her up for another Death Valley Bomb for a very close near fall. After a brief struggle on the top rope, Satomura went for a frog splash from the top — but KLR got her knees up, which looked to also hurt KLR’s knee. KLR hit the Gory Bomb, but she was slow to make the cover and Satomura kicked out.
KLR looked to pick Satomura up, but her knees buckled under the stress. KLR literally dragged herself to the top, hurt knee and all, for a somersault senton, but Satomura evaded. KLR blocked Satomura’s Scorpion Kick and went for another Gory Bomb, but Satomura countered into a Destroyer powerbomb for another near-fall.
KLR escaped from another Death Valley Bomb. She hit a superkick but got wiped out with a Pele kick from Satomura a split second later. KLR turned another Death Valley Bomb attempt into a crucifix for a two count, then managed to hoist Satomura up into the powerbomb position, which she used to transition into a final Gory Bomb for the pinfall victory.
KLR helped Satomura to her feet, where the two women bowed to each other and hugged. Satomura was in tears over her loss.
Final Thoughts —
Go out of your way to watch the main event, which was a fantastic strong style joshi battle. Kay Lee Ray is in the upper echelon of female talent in WWE and basically has to turn babyface now as the fighting champion who beat all challengers, including the “Best in the World,” even overcoming injuries. The logical path for her next challenger seems to be undefeated Aoife Valkyrie, but we’ll see.
The rest of the show was mostly used to progress storylines, with Ilja Dragunov snapping getting more and more out of control. Kenny Williams is showing more and more heelish tendencies, with the question being if Amir Jordan is in on it or will eventually disagree with his partner’s methods. I’m still split on Tyler Bate’s zen/Jedi Master gimmick, but as long as he delivers in the ring, he can take the gimmick into a more wacky direction.
Next Week —
Heritage Cup rules match: Tyler Bate vs. Dave Mastiff
Mixed tag team match: Piper Niven & Jack Starz vs. Jinny & Joseph Conners
Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster
The debut of Teoman (formerly known as Lucky Kid/Metehan)
The first show from a new set of tapings saw NXT UK focus on the women’s division with the debut of Meiko Satomura, another women’s match with Piper Niven facing Amale, and promos and vignettes with Dani Luna, Aoife Valkyrie, and Nina Samuels.
NXT UK also set up a number of matches for the future, including A-Kid vs. Sha Samuels for the Heritage Cup, Rampage Brown vs. Joe Coffey, and Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly for the NXT UK Tag Team titles.
In the main event, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster finally got their revenge on Eddie Dennis and The Hunt.
Full Rundown —
– The show opened with a video recapping the feud between Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster and The Hunt. This led to a clip from earlier today where Andrews and Webster stepped out of a room with Sid Scala running up to them. Andrews and Webster said that they were tired of playing the numbers game and handed Scala Wild Boar’s mask. Boar was seen laid out on the floor. The main event street fight was thus changed to Andrews & Webster vs. Primate & Eddie Dennis.
Meiko Satomura pinned Isla Dawn after Scorpion Rising (5:26)
Satomura was shown walking through the backstage area where she was watched by Xia Brookside, Scala, and Piper Niven.
Satomura dished out some leg kicks early, then controlled Dawn with a headlock. Dawn briefly got on offense, but she was quickly wiped out. NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray was shown watching the match from behind a big glass window in the arena.
Dawn hit a Northern Lights suplex for a two count and followed with a running meteora. Dawn went to the top rope, but she got thrown back down to the mat by a superplex. Dawn hit a Saito suplex for another two count, but Satomura came back with strikes, a spinning kick, and a DDT. Satomura then followed with Scorpion Rising (a step-up axe kick) for the pinfall victory.
After the match, KLR posed with her title belt behind the glass as Satomura urged KLR to join her in the ring.
– Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey met in a meeting room with a television. NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint appeared on screen and said the only people who wanted to see a match between Brown and Coffey more than him and the fans were Brown and Coffey themselves. He made the match official for next week.
– A video on Dani Luna aired, showing her working out with weights. Luna said it was a good feeling to enter the ring and know you were the strongest there. Luna said she wanted to be a better version of herself and learned as a powerlifter that you had to push until you got what you wanted.
– A video on Aoife Valkyrie aired where she said she would fly.
– Satomura cut a promo backstage after her match in Japanese and concluded with “Kay Lee, I am ready for you.”
Supernova Sessions with Sha Samuels
Noam Dar introduced Samuels as his best mate. He would not let Samuels sit on the simple chair he usually has for guests, so they sat on the couch. Samuels talked about how he worked hard for 18 years to finally make it to the big stage and how half the NXT UK roster wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for his work. Dar told him he’d fulfill every wish Samuels had, which brought out Sid Scala.
Samuels called Scala “the help” and demanded to see Johnny Saint, but Dar quickly de-escalated the situation and told Samuels that Scala was in fact the assistant general manager. Dar then talked about how Samuels represented the heritage of the sport and told Scala they had to make up for the Ed Harvey gimmick that NXT UK initially gave to Samuels. Dar suggested a Heritage Cup match with Samuels challenging A-Kid. Scala said they would consider it.
– Nina Samuels sat in the backstage area and accepted Xia Brookside’s request for a rematch — with the added stipulation that Brookside would have to become her personal assistant for one month if she lost. Samuels said that Brookside would finally carry her bags.
– Trent Seven was shown working out at the UK Performance Center in order to drop to below 205 pounds to challenge Jordan Devlin for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
Piper Niven pinned Amale after the Piper Driver (2:19)
Amale slapped Niven, but she got slapped back, dropped, and wiped out with a running crossbody from a seated position. Niven kicked Amale in the corner, but Joseph Conners walking out allowed Amale to attack Niven. Amale looked for a suplex but got hit with a headbutt, followed by a somersault senton in the corner. Niven then hit the Piper Driver for the win.
Conners looked on from the entrance and slowly clapped. Niven was irritated.
– A video aired focusing on Gallus and Pretty Deadly. They will have their NXT UK Tag Team title match in two weeks.
– A highlight video promoted that Ben Carter will be in action next week.
– Also next week, A-Kid defends the NXT UK Heritage Cup against Sha Samuels and Rampage Brown faces Joe Coffey.
Tag team street fight: Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster defeated Primate & Eddie Dennis after a Shooting Star Press by Andrews on Primate (16:03)
Andrews & Webster’s music played — but they did not come out. The camera went backstage and found Primate and Dennis beating down on both men. Andrews had been put through a table and they drove a production box into him.
The heels dragged Webster to the ring and the bell finally rang. Primate crashed into the corner right away as Webster moved out of the way. Dennis hit a slam on Webster for a two count. Webster briefly ran wild but got beaten with Dennis’ belt to stop him in his tracks. Primate threw Webster over the barricade and held him for Dennis to slap around.
Andrews suddenly appeared on top of a huge production scaffold and hit a big moonsault on Dennis and Primate. Dennis and Webster squared off, as did Andrews and Primate. Webster hit a somersault senton off the apron on Dennis and Primate hit a springboard clothesline on Andrews from the barricade.
All four men had steel chairs as they finally met inside the ring. Dennis took out Andrews’ knee with a chair, but he got another shot blocked by Webster’s helmet, with Webster whacking the former headmaster with it. Dennis took out Webster with a kendo stick, but he ate an enzuigiri from Andrews. Andrews hit Stun Dog Millionaire and then went to the top, but Primate attacked his knee with a kendo stick.
The heels worked over Andrews’ knee in the ring, targeting it with chairs and submissions. Dennis went to Pillmanize the leg with another steel chair, but Webster took the chair from him and ran wild. Andrews hit a sunset flip over Primate as Primate was on the apron and held on for dear life. Webster hit a high running knee and Andrews completed the sunset bomb onto the floor.
Dennis was alone in the ring begging as Andrews and Webster destroyed him with kendo sticks. The backs of Webster and Dennis were filled with red welts from the belt and kendo stick attacks.
Andrews and Webster got a table from under the ring. They got Dennis on the table, but Primate was looking to get back in the ring. Andrews took care of him but got German suplexed out of the ring for his troubles. Dennis rolled off the table, but Webster hit a somersault senton onto his back.
Primate finally made the save and hit Webster with an exploder into the corner. Primate set a table up in the corner and Dennis went for the Severn Bridge, but Andrews made the save. Dennis went for a top rope Severn Bridge, but Webster turned it into a super hurricanrana. Primate then got put through the table off a missed spear.
Andrews and Webster went to the top, with Andrews hitting a Shooting Star Press on Primate while Webster hit a 630 senton on Dennis. Andrews then pinned Primate to get the win.
Final Thoughts —
The main event was a brutal and crazy street fight with some wild high-flying action thrown in. If you only watch one thing from this show, this is it. It was both violent and spectacular.
Meiko Satomura looked very good in her debut and they built to a number of matches for the weeks to come.
Next Week —
Heritage Cup Champion A-Kid defends against Sha Samuels
Jordan Devlin defeated 322-pound Dave Mastiff in an “open challenge,” as seemingly nobody under 205 pounds wants to face Devlin and/or Sid Scala is totally inept at his job. The rest of the matches were used to either shine a spotlight on talent (Jinny & Joseph Conners), build up future matches (Ilja Dragunov vs. Sam Gradwell and Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown), or enhance existing feuds (Xia Brookside vs. Nina Samuels).
Full Rundown —
Nina Samuels pinned Xia Brookside after a shot with her purse (4:54)
Samuels came out with a crew member who carried her bags again. That same thing distracted Brookside a few weeks ago and Samuels told her that Brooksides were only good enough to carry her bags.
Brookside was in control early until Samuels managed to lock in a number of subsequent submission attempts. Brookside came back with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and double knees to the back in the corner. They brawled on the outside, with Samuels grabbing one of her suitcases and throwing it into the ring. As the referee got the item out of the ring, Samuels hit Brookside with a (presumably loaded) purse and folded her up for the pin.
– As Sid Scala was being interviewed about when we might see Gallus defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles against Pretty Deadly, Jordan Devlin walked in. Devlin asked Scala who he would be facing tonight and Scala didn’t have an answer yet. Devlin ridiculed Scala and told him to find somebody.
– Jack Starz was being interviewed when Scala came into the room and asked to speak with him. They were shown talking through a door, but it wasn’t clear what the conversation was about. Scala looked concerned in the end.
Joseph Conners (w/ Jinny) pinned Josh Morrell after hitting a neckbreaker (5:40)
Conners had new, straight hair and a nice new outfit, so the story here was that Jinny was a big influence on him now.
Conners dominated early until Morrell threw him out of the ring. Jinny told Conners at ringside that he “was worthy and that little boy is nothing.” Back in the ring, Conners violently smashed Morrell’s head into the turnbuckles, then viciously beat him down.
Morrell came back and showed off his athletic prowess, including a number of aerial maneuvers. Conners eventually stopped him with a snap DDT and hit a Rude-Awakening-style neckbreaker for the pinfall victory.
– A video on Sha Samuels aired where he talked about being a legitimate butcher from the East End, like his father and grandfather before him. Samuels was shown wrestling in PROGRESS, wXw, and ICW and talked about being in the business for 19 years. Samuels discussed his NXT UK debut match against Joe Coffey. He said he didn’t want things to be easy.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Tyson T-Bone by referee stoppage (6:46)
T-Bone cut a promo on a split screen as he walked to the ring like this was WWF Superstars in 1991. He said he was not afraid of Dragunov.
T-Bone started out strong, beating down Dragunov with kicks and punches until Dragunov managed to block his offense and grind him down. As he had T-Bone in a submission, Sam Gradwell walked out and started talking trash to Dragunov.
T-Bone staged a comeback as Gradwell continued to provide running commentary on the outside and brought up Dragunov’s match against Jack Starz, where the Russian briefly snapped. Gradwell kept distracting Dragunov and told him to keep his composure. Dragunov finally came back with a flying head kick, but T-Bone hit a half-and-half suplex and sent him to the outside. Gradwell walked up to Dragunov and kept trash-talking him as T-Bone attacked.
Dragunov finally snapped and attacked T-Bone, then locked him up on the ground and rained down elbows to the head until the referee stopped the match, just as he had done to Starz.
Gradwell was all giddy but then berated Dragunov, telling him that he threw a tantrum like a three year old. Gradwell told Dragunov he was letting his family and his son down and that he needed to be in control of his emotions. Dragunov finally kicked Gradwell in the head through the ropes and went after Gradwell but couldn’t get to him. The announcers questioned Dragunov’s issues.
– Joe Coffey was shown backstage walking to the ring.
– Scala spoke to Amir Jordan backstage, seemingly still looking for an opponent for Devlin.
– A highlight video of Meiko Satomura aired, with Gallus, Dave Mastiff, Ashton Smith, and Jinny talking about her accolades. Satomura arrives in NXT UK next week.
– Brookside was livid and demanded that Scala give her a rematch against Samuels.
Joe Coffey pinned Danny Jones after hitting All the Best for the Bells (2:51)
Coffey dominated early with strikes, but Jones hit a flurry of offense and even locked in a sleeper hold that had Coffey struggling to escape. Coffey eventually managed to shake the taller man off and hit the Glasgow Sendoff, followed by All the Best for the Bells for the quick victory.
After the match, Coffey talked about crossing paths with Rampage Brown last week and how it got his wheels turning. Coffey said that on this brand, you need to knock someone down so hard that they don’t want to get up again. Coffey called himself the last man standing in NXT UK. Brown then came out and told Coffey he just needed to ask and he’d face him at any time, anywhere.
– A video aired highlighting Gallus and Pretty Deadly, who are the number one contenders to Gallus’ NXT UK Tag Team titles. Gallus said that they have been on top a long time and that will not change any time soon. Pretty Deadly promised it would be PDOT — Pretty Deadly On Top.
– A video highlighted the rivalry between The Hunt and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster. Their feud will culminate in a street fight next week.
– Also, Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions talk show will return with special guest Sha Samuels next week.
Non-title match: NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin defeated Dave Mastiff after hitting a 450 splash (12:07)
Devlin talked about how “Skid Sala” was looking for a contender but couldn’t find anyone. Devlin said if you want to have something done right, you have to do it yourself. He called out anybody under 205 pounds to face him.
Out came Dave Mastiff, much to Devlin’s disbelief. Devlin told Mastiff he wouldn’t even be allowed on 305 Live. Mastiff called him Captain Obvious and was glad Devlin was still sharp. Mastiff said Devlin is just keeping the NXT Cruiserweight Championship warm for Trent Seven. Mastiff said the only thing he was here for was to kick Devlin’s ass. Mastiff shoved Devlin to the mat, a referee entered, and the match was on.
Devlin managed to keep Mastiff at bay until Mastiff used a cartwheel to avoid Devlin and flattened him with a senton. Mastiff hit a German suplex for a near fall. Devlin flipped out of another attempt and went for the uranage, but he couldn’t get Mastiff up. He instead took out Mastiff’s knee and continued working over the much larger man’s leg. Devlin got Mastiff up on the turnbuckles and looked to go for Devlin Side (he defeated Mastiff this way in the past), but Mastiff blocked and hit a shoulder block instead.
Mastiff attacked Devlin in the corner, then violently whipped him to the outside over the turnbuckle. Mastiff stalked Devlin and followed him back into the ring, but Devlin managed to get on Mastiff’s shoulders and hit a victory roll over the top. Mastiff caught Devlin off a dive and slammed him to the mats. Mastiff made it back into the ring by eight but then broke the count and looked to hit the cannonball senton, but Devlin moved and Mastiff crashed through the barricades.
Mastiff made it back into the ring by nine and headbutted Devlin on the way. Mastiff went to the top and actually hit a diving headbutt for a two count. Devlin escaped a Finlay Roll attempt, then hit a dropkick to the knee, a rolling slingshot cutter, and a 450 splash off the top rope for the win.
Final Thoughts —
This was a fun show with a rare five-match card. The main event was good but somewhat illogical. Devlin is supposed to be the heel but wants to be a deserving champion taking on all comers and even said that Sid Scala could choose anybody he wanted. Scala then was bad at his job and allowed Dave Mastiff, who outweighs Devlin by more than 100 pounds, to take the match. Also, Trent Seven attacked Devlin last week for merely pointing out that he is above the weight limit as well (and patted his belly — but more in a friendly way). So I hope Devlin comes out a big babyface in the end.
The Ilja Dragunov storyline where he snaps is kind of intriguing and Sam Gradwell is great as the loudmouth bully. It will be interesting if the Dragunov story leads to him getting another NXT UK Championship shot down the line.
Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown should be a slobberknocker down the line, even though it will probably not be a technical masterpiece.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Meiko Satomura on the show and hope she will be able to bring out the best in all the women she works with.
Also, I greatly enjoy how everything in NXT UK makes sense and matches mostly have a reason for happening (even if it’s just some 30-second backstage segment setting them up). The booking is both linear and logical, something dearly missing from the other WWE brands.
Next Week —
Meiko Satomura debuts, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster face The Hunt in a street fight,and Noam Dar interviews Sha Samuels on Supernova Sessions.
