Tag: Pete Dunne

NXT UK results: Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch title match

Posted on by Markus Gronemann

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

Quick recap —

Pete Dunne defended his WWE United Kingdom Championship against Danny Burch in a hard-hitting strong-style affair that may have been the best match on NXT UK yet. The Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang took out Ashton Smith before his match, setting up a six-men tag team match in the main event next week against Smith, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews.

Eddie Dennis made his debut and looked good against Sid Scala, Ligero defeated James Drake in a fun match, and Dave Mastiff continues to look like a monster, squashing Damien Weir in under 90 seconds.

Full rundown —

The show opened up with a graphic of our main event: Pete Dunne defending his WWE UK title against Danny Burch. We then went straight to our first match.

“Bomber” Dave Mastiff pinned Damien Weir after a cannonball in 1:27

Weir is better known as Chief Deputy Dunne on the UK scene and often competes in a tag team, the Anti-Fun Police. He started out in 2010 and is a regular with Attack! Pro, Kamikaze Pro, Southside Wrestling, IPW:UK, PROGRESS, RevPro, and others. He’s also the current IPW:UK Tag Team Champion with Los Federales Santos Jr. and the current Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Champion in a mixed tag team with Millie McKenzie.

Mastiff beat his NXT UK record of disposing of Sid Scala on the first episode by 31 seconds here. Weir tried hitting a body press right away, but just bounced off the “Bomber.” Mastiff hit a senton, an impressive looking deadlift vertical suplex into a slam, dragged Weir into the corner, hit a cannonball, and picked up the victory.

**********

Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph recapped Wolfgang joining the Coffey Brothers last week after his match with Mark Andrews and beating down Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. We were promised a statement by the new trio later on.

There was a short highlight video on Ligero while he talked about being from Leeds and wearing a mask to stand out. This was followed by a video on James Drake, who said he had traveled around the world to make sure he became an elite sports entertainer and how he was a completely different man now. He was focused more than ever and if anyone stood in his way, he would go through them.

After a WWE Network promo, we got another video on Jinny. She said that she was the fashionista of NXT UK and had more money than all other wrestlers combined. Well, good for her, she might be able to give Brock Lesnar a few tips then.

We also saw Danny Burch warm up for his main event match.

**********

Ligero defeated James Drake in 5:48 after a springboard DDT

Drake started training at 14 and made his debut in 2010. He teamed with Axl Rage as The Blackpool Blonds and Blond Jovi early on. He currently teams with Zack Gibson as the Grizzled Young Veterans, mostly in PROGRESS and Future Shock Wrestling. They’ve held the Tag Team titles in both promotions before.

Drake competed for All Star Wrestling earlier in his career on a regular basis and was a regular for Grand Pro Wrestling as well. He’s also known as “Mr. Mayhem” — and we were being told he adopted more of a “grit your teeth” mentality recently. He might consider asking Pete Dunne about wearing a mouth guard then.

They started off with a good old-fashioned lock up, jockeying for position early on. Fans chanted “He’s got his own face on his ass” at Ligero, who has a picture of his mask on the back of his trunks.

Drake took things to the mat with a smooth headlock takeover. Ligero hit a spinning heel kick and eventually threw Drake to ringside. Back in the ring, Ligero hit a Code Red Bomb for a near fall and after trading some reversals, followed it up with a springboard spinning DDT off the middle rope for the victory in a good match.

**********

Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Toni Storm backstage and asked her how she prepared for Dakota Kai, as the two will meet in the next episode. She said that she went into the match with the intention to win. Well, duh! She said Kai and her had similar goals, as far as the NXT UK Women’s Championship is concerned, but that it was just not going to happen for Kai.

Kai showed up and interrupted the interview, stating that she respects everything Storm has done, but as good as she was going to be, Kai was just going to be a little bit better. Storm replied that in that case, the best woman may win. They shook hands on it.

An Ashton Smith video aired. He talked about how there wasn’t a person that he couldn’t beat.

Zack Gibson did a short promo, announcing that he would be back to face the debuting Amir Jordan on the next episode and was soon to be Number One.

**********

Ashton Smith vs. an unannounced opponent never took place

Smith came out for a match, but we never found out who he was supposed to face. He was wiped out by the Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang, who unceremoniously threw him to the back. Joe Coffey was on the mic and said that since Royal Albert Hall, they have been imposing their will on anyone and everyone, no one liked them and they didn’t care.

At Royal Albert Hall, Joe Coffey had an epiphany, he liked surrounding himself with people who had the same mentality, whether it was blood or someone who took pride in doing things his way, like Wolfgang. He said the mantra for this brand was “We are NXT UK,” but he believes that there’s a hierarchy and if you’re not on their level, they will dispose of your weakness. There would be no more British Strong Style and certainly no more “big strong bois” in the future.

Joe closed by saying “No one likes us, we don’t care, from now on, it’s a pack mentality, divide and conquer, this is our kingdom!”

**********

A graphic said that Eddie Dennis would debut next.

Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews were backstage in front of NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint’s office and said they’ve had problems with the Coffeys for a long time now, now they got Wolfgang involved and they were sure that the Coffeys also had attacked Travis Banks. Ashton Smith showed up and wanted to join them in seeing Saint.

**********

Eddie Dennis defeated Sid Scala in 3:30 with the Next Stop Driver

“The Pride of Wales,” Eddie Dennis stands 6’5″ and started wrestling 10 years ago. A teacher by trade, he went on to become the youngest headmaster in the UK at the time, but left his position to wrestle full-time. He started out with Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, but focused on his original career while they had some more international success earlier on.

A regular in PROGRESS, RevPro, Attack! Pro, Kamikaze Pro, Pro Wrestling Chaos, and others, Dennis is a former ATTACK! and ATTACK! 24/7 Champion, as well as a former PROGRESS Tag Team Champion with Mark Andrews as FSU (Friends Stand United or F**k S**t Up).

Dennis started strong, kicking his smaller opponent and had him in a cravat, from which he hit some vicious knees. He hit a knee drop for a near fall, but Scala kicked out. Scala came back with some offense, hitting a few slaps and a high crossbody, but couldn’t keep Dennis down for the pin. Dennis hit a buckle bomb and the Next Stop Driver for the quick victory.

**********

We saw Pete Dunne walking to the ring backstage, followed by a WWE Story Time ad.

A graphic announced Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai for next week. There also was a tweet by Johnny Saint, announcing a six-man tag team match for our main event of the next episode, pitting the Coffey Brothers & Wolfgang against Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith.

**********

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Danny Burch in 16:14 by submission to retain his title

This was a stiff, hard-hitting, strong-style match that also had a lot of submissions and overall told a great story. Burch was portrayed as the grizzled veteran last week who suffered numerous setbacks throughout his career and now finally was on his way to win his first major title from the young up-and-comer, who wrestles a similar style as the one he helped establish over the past 15 years.

They locked up and traded submissions attempts early, but neither man could get the clear advantage. Dunne hit a stiff kick on an early exchange, and received retribution in the form of a hard slap to the neck a few seconds later. Dunne started working on Burch’s fingers and wrist early on, which would be an ongoing story of the match.

Burch hit a nice overhead toss in the early minutes and also took Dunne down brutally from a leapfrog attempt. Dunne rolled to ringside, checked a kick by Burch, and pulled him to the outside, where he hit an X-Plex to the apron that looked like no fun at all. Dunne continued working the arm and Burch came back with an enzuigiri and a missile dropkick from the middle rope for a near fall.

Dunne came back with a stiff forearm that knocked the veteran halfway across the ring. Dunne did his backflip off the middle rope off a reversal, hit a kick to Burch’s jaw, and then jumped on his left arm from the middle ropes, causing further damage. They spilled to ringside and Dunne slammed Burch’s hand on the ring steps, but missed a stomp, causing Burch to pull his feet out so Dunne took a face-first bump onto the steel, followed by a German suplex by Burch on the outside.

Back in the ring, Dunne went for a triangle but trapped the right arm instead of the left one he had been working on, causing Burch to power out and hit a buckle bomb. Burch went for a top rope German suplex, but Dunne managed to bend his fingers to escape, only for Burch to hit it anyway. Dunne tried flipping over in mid air, but still landed hard on his face and knees, which led to a near fall.

They had another striking battle, which Dunne ended by hitting an enzuigiri and an X-Plex. He immediately transitioned into an armbar. Burch countered out into a cross face, which Dunne managed to counter into a pinning attempt. Burch went for another German suplex, but this time Dunne managed to flip through it and hit a kick to the back of Burch’s head.

A lariat by Burch turned Dunne inside out, but Dunne came back with kicks and proceeded to stomp a mud hole into Burch. Dunne was signaling to end the match, but Burch suddenly popped up, hit a headbutt to Dunne’s shoulder, and his draping DDT that won him his last NXT UK match. Dunne kicked out at 2.9.

Burch locked in the crossface once more and even managed to roll back into the middle of the ring as Dunne was inching closer to the ropes. In desperation, Dunne gouged Burch’s face to finally break the hold and hit the Bitter End, but Burch kicked out of that one too, which got a big pop.

Dunne locked in a triangle, this time trapping the left arm. He rolled over on top of Burch’s head and proceeded to his finger-breaking spot and twisted the injured fingers and wrist with the triangle still locked in, forcing Burch to tap out.

Burch looked devastated but acknowledged Dunne on leaving the ring while the champ posed with his title as the show went off the air.

WarGames participants set for NXT TakeOver

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Note: This article contains spoilers from tonight’s NXT tapings.

The participants for this year’s WarGames were announced at tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail University.

This year’s match will be a 4 vs 4 bout. It will pit the team of Ricochet, Pete Dunne and the War Raiders against the Undisputed Era: Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong. The Undisputed Era have attacked their opponents for weeks now, including interfering during a match between Pete Dunne and Ricochet that was for both the North American and United Kingdom titles.

The match announcement came during the tapings when the Undisputed Era were cutting a promo backstage. The War Raiders interrupted and attacked, destroying the set. It ended up spilling into the back lot of Full Sail where both Ricochet and Pete Dunne eventually joined in. Regal then made the announcement.

Later during the tapings, a match was made to determine who will have the advantage inside WarGames. After a ton of interference between both teams, Kyle O’Reilly defeated Hanson after a belt shot to score the advantage for the Undisputed Era.

NXT TakeOver: WarGames will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on November 17, the day before Survivor Series.

NXT UK premiere results: Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar

Posted on by F4W Staff

By Markus Gronemann for F4WOnline.com

Some background on the writer: “I’ve been following wrestling in Europe ever since I first saw the likes of Fit Finlay, Tony St. Clair, Franz Schuhmann and, yes, even Otto Wanz of the olf CWA at the famous “Heumarkt” back in 1994 and have been a regular for wXw in Germany since 2010 where I first got to enjoy many of the fine men and women now part of this roster. I’ll do my best to keep these reports both informative and entertaining and am looking forward to any feedback or thoughts on both the reviews and NXT UK in general on Twitter.”

We open up with a very nice montage of some of the highlights from WWE’s past in the UK with clips from SummerSlam 1992 in Wembley, including Lennox Lewis coming to the ring with the British flag, interspersed with clips of some of the current NXT stars and with Triple H announcing the start of the NXT UK brand.

Joseph Vic and Nigel McGuinness welcome us and inform us about tonight’s main event which will see WWE UK champion Pete Dunne defending his title against Noam Dar, who made his surprise return from injury at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall back in June.

We go to the ring for our very first match (remember this kids, as it may become the answer to a trivia question one day). The Cambride Corn Exchange looks small but very cool and the taping looked quite a bit darker than other WWE products, giving the show a sort of an individual, underground character right away. It reminded me of one of the early Raws from the Manhattan Center back in the day with a very intimate setting.

Joe Coffey (w/ Mark Coffey) pinned Mark Andrews (7:38)

As both competitors enter the squared circle, we take a look back at the UK Championship Tournament at Royal Albert Hall from June 19 where the Coffey Brothers attacked the three non-winners of a no. 1 contender’s four-way for the WWE UK title after that match had concluded. The men in question were Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, and Travis Banks.

The Coffey Brothers are two massive dudes from Scotland and have been around for almost 10 years and have been regulars for ICW, who, of course, have a working relationship with WWE. Andrews also is a veteran of 11 years and has competed all over the world like for PROGRESS, Impact, and ATTACK Pro, Pete Dunne’s UK promotion.

Coffey tried to use his strengh to immobilize the smaller Andrews, but he managed to repeatedly flip out of some armlocks until Coffey overpowered him. Andrews hit some armdrags and a great-looking springboard huricanrana. Coffey hit a mean pounce, a seemingly very European kind of body check as it’s also a popular tool for other Euro big men such as Avalanche and Dante, the former tag team partner of Aleister Black. Coffey continued to show his brute strength by grabbing Mandrews by the neck, spinning him around a few times just for the heck of it, and hitting a butterfly suplex.

Nigel mentions that Joe actually was Kurt Angle’s opponent at the latter’s last singles match for ICW back in 2016. While Mark distracted the ref, Joe takes Andrews out with a stiff clothesline, forcing him out of the ring. Back in the ring, Mandrews channeled his best inner football (soccer to the non Euros) player and slid under a clothesline attempt on his knees and hit a quick enzuigiri, followed by a very cool combination of some double knees in the corner, a lucha roll-up, double foot stomp and a standing, twisting moonsault for a near-fall.

Coffey quickly recovered and launched himself at Andrews with a running/diving headbutt into the corner, followed by a quick powerslam that almost got him the win. He went for a vertical suplex, but Andrews countered it into the Stuntdog Millionaire, before hitting the top rope. Mark pulled his brother to ringside and assumed safety, but Andrews hit a big moonsault on both of them. Andrews, grasping at victory, went to the top again but Mark once more proved to be a major distraction as he grabbed at hs leg, leading to a Joe overhead belly-to-belly from the middle rope and a brutal lariat for the pin.

This was a very fun mean guy/quick guy match that showcased the strengths of both guys. Post-match, the Coffeys went to attack Andrews, but Flash Morgan Webster came out with his helmet in hand for the save.

Next, we saw Mustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) entering the arena with their gear bags, followed by a non-UK WWE Shop commercial.

Next was a video package on Eddie Dennis, who told us he was longtime friends with the likes of Andrews and Dunne and how, when they all started out together, it wasn’t about wrestling in front of thousands but who had the best stories to tell. He closed by saying he had some good stories.

Mustache Mountain promo

The “Big Strong Bois” came out to a great ovation and lots of chants once they got in the ring. Trent Seven thanked Cambridge and, channeling his inner Tony Schiavone, called this day the greatest day in British wrestling history which was, of course a lie, as everyone knows that day will be the day that Big Daddy finally gets voted into the Observer Hall of Fame. Of course, he meant everybody witnessing the birth of NXT UK which, granted, is a pretty big deal. He said how at the sold out Royal Albert Hall, he and Tyler Bate won the NXT tag team titles and while they may no longer be the champs, Triple H mentioned the NXT UK tag team titles and wondered if there even were any teams in NXT UK beside themselves.

Seven said that Bate was the youngest ever WWE UK champion and Bate, to a good pop, joked how maybe Seven could become the oldest. Seven said that they want opposition and how the people in the back should buddy up and find a partner so that they’d get some challengers. He closed by saying that this was their NXT UK.

We saw Dunne backstage, preparing for his match with Dar later on. This was followed by a quick video package on Dave Mastiff, who called himself the best heavyweight wrestler in the world today. He said he was read to show the world what he was made of.

We got a SmackDown UK tour promo for shows this coming November, followed by Vic and Nigel back in the studio, talking about the return of Dar. We saw Dar warm up for his match backstage as well.

Dave Mastiff pinned Sid Scala (1:58)

“Savvy” Sid Scala has been around since 2013 and was, among others, trained by NXT Performance Center coach Robbie Brookside and Johnny Kidd. He wrestled for IPW:UK and PROGRESS and a bunch of smaller UK indies. Mastiff is actually a veteran of the scene, debuting in 2002 and has been wrestling for PROGRESS, IPW:UK, RevPro, ICW, wXw, and Preston City Wrestling among many others in Europe. He also originally was part of the new World of Sport promotion for their New Year’s Eve show last year.

Scala was not very savvy here as this was mostly an impressive squash. Crowd chanted “Mastiff’s gonna kill you” right from the get-go and, well, they were just about right. Scala tried some forearms, which were nonchalantly no-sold by the 23 stone (which Nigel was nice enough to explain were 322 lbs and I am nice enough to explain are 146 kilogram for any non-UK Euro readers) beast. Mastiff smashed him into a corner, threw him halfway across the ring and smashed his elbow into the side of Scala’s neck just for the heck of it.

Scala made the mistake of trying a comeback, only to get shot down by a shotgun dropkick by the big man. He picked Scala up from the map for an impressive deadlift release German suplex and then hit a cannonball in the corner to pick up the win in just under two minutes. 

We got an Evolution promo but no mention the NXT UK women’s title would be defended there, probably because it hasn’t been introduced on this show yet. We also were informed that “Dusted” by the Astroid Boys was the opening theme for NXT UK.

Nina Samuels was interviewed backstage before her match. She wants to win the NXT UK women’s title (which is the first and I believe the only time it was mentioned here) and wants to do so at the expense of Toni Storm.

Toni Storm pinned Nina Samuels (4:10)

Samuels was wearing pink and black which we were told was as a tribute to Bret Hart. She debuted in 2014 and has been wrestling for Pro-Wrestling EVE, PROGRESS, RevPro, and Preston City Wrestling among others. Storm technically made her debut at age 13 for IPWA in Australia before moving in with her grandmother in the UK to improve her wrestling. She also spent a few months with then-boyfriend Tyler Bate to train at the wXw Academy in Germany in 2016, before getting into Stardom in Japan where she honed her skills even more and even held the SWA and the World of Stardom title. She also collected women’s world titles in PROGRESS and wXw and was/is part of both editions of the WWE Mae Young Classic. She also is a huge fan of Mötley Crüe if you’re not enamored with her enough at this point.

Storm lost no time and went straight for a side headlock takeover, which Nina countered into a headlock of her own, but Toni, in a display of athleticism, spun and bridged out of it. They traded some strikes but Storm once more prevailed with some palm strikes, slaps, and a spin kick to the midsection, but crashed face-first into the corner. Samuels applied a unique looking chin bar, leaning into Storm’s neck and pulling her chin with the other hand.

She followed it up with a tilt-a-whirl-backbreaker, which didn’t quite look crisp. Storm came back from that with a beautiful snap German suplex, a running hip attack into the corner, and the Storm Zero (a Celtic Cross into a neckbreaker onto her knee) for the win in just 4:10. I guess she wasn’t allowed to hit the Strong Zero, her usual snap piledriver finish.

We had a promo for Raw in Manchester this November, advertising a bunch of matches that will probably not happen, but also Ronda Rousey’s UK television debut. We will also see Tyler Bate take on Wolfgang in the main event next week. 

NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne pinned Noam Dar (11:35)

Johnny Saint, the NXT UK General manager, is in the ring for the main event. A fun fact as told by Jim Smallman of PROGRESS during his stand-up show during wXw’s World tag Team League weekend recently: Johnny Saint, age 77, lives in a mean part of England that has a big heroin problem and lots of shady characters on the streets. He still goes for a run every morning and when asked by Smallman if he ever got mugged, he replied “No, but I am very much looking forward to the day somebody tries.” What a beautiful man!

Dar, of course, has been in WWE for a few years now, appearing in the Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016, and in 205 Live. Before that, he was a regular with ICW, Preston City, Premier British Wrestling, and British Championship Wrestling among others. Dunne, at only 24, has been wrestling since he was nine, runs his own promotion, and has been wrestling on a regular basis for PROGRESS, Fight Club: Pro, RevPro, wXw, OTT, ICW, and pretty much ever other major European promotion as well as PWG and other U.S. indies, Michinoku Pro in Japan, and MCW in Australia. He’s won titles in PROGRESS, OTT, wXw, and of course, WWE’s UK title, which he has held for almost 17 months now.

Both men are in the ring to big “Bruiserweight” chants for Dunne, but then again people would chant “Dar-Dar-Dar Dar-Da-Dar-Dar-Da-Dar” to the sound of the Imperial March from Star Wars later on.  When the ref held the belt up, Dunne threw his coat at Dar as he is wont to do. Dunne taunted Dar with his own “pinky finger” gesture. The crowd sang happy birthday to Dar, who turned 25 that day.

They started out with a roundabout to get into position for a backslide, which Dar eventually got. A hard clothesline by Dunne turned the Israeli-Scot inside out and the Bruiserweight stepped into a mean submission, half surfboard, half a way to bend some of Dar’s fingers, which would be a repeated theme here. Dunne ran into the corner and looked for a back flip off the top/middle ropes, but Dar scouted him well and clipped his knee, forcing Dunne to crash and burn. Dunne recovered and hit his Ex-Plex and succeeded wih his back flip out of the corner on the second try, but Dar kept targeting his knee and hit a nice German suplex.

Dunne hit a nice Liger-Bomb-style sitdown power bomb for a two count but went on to twist Dar’s nose. It came down to Dar repeatedly working over Dunne’s knee while Dunne was looking to attack and bend Dar’s fingers every chance he got. The were fighting on the apron when Dar hit a sick-looking release snap fisherman’s suplex, which catapulted Dunn onto the apron and Dar to ringside. They both were exhausted and only made it back to the ring at nine to a dramatic pop. Dunne once again snapped Dar’s fingers but he come back with a European uppercut, thrown with the other arm.

They did a cool exchange of submission with Dunne going for a triangle, which Dar countered into a half crab. Dunne reversed that into an armbar attempt, but Dar turned that into an ankle lock which Dunne turned into a pinfall attempt. They both went for a stiff forearm and both men went down. Dunne got a standing double-wristlock, but Dar reversed it and once more took out Dunne’s knee. Dunne tried for the Bitter End, but Dar got a kneebar on and had Dunne at the verge of defeat, but the Bruiserweight reached the ropes. Dunne then bent Dar’s pinky finger to a sick degree and bent a few more fingers and stepped on them before hitting the Bitter End for the pin in 11:35.

Post match, Dunne offered his hand but when Dar was about to grab it, he pulled it away and gave Dar his own pinky finger salute which Dar did back and the show went off the air.

**********

All in all, this was a pretty fun first episode and a great showcase for Joe Coffey, Mark Andrews, Dave Mastiff, Noam Dar and of course, Pete Dunne. The women’s match was good but very short and Toni Storm can do a lot more when she’s in with the right opponent and has enough time to deliver. I’m very much looking forward to next week and am very curious how this brand develops for WWE and how it might change the European wrestling landscape. Also, it will be interesting to see how NXT and NXT UK talent will interact in the future and if UK talent will be a part of TakeOvers in the future or if they even get their own TakeOver style event at any point.

Pete Dunne currently dealing with foot injury

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Pete Dunne is currently dealing with a foot injury, though the extent of the injury isn’t known at this time.

It isn’t known when exactly the injury went down. He last wrestled on September 30, when he took on Ilja Dragunov at the Hello Wembley show from PROGRESS Wrestling. He was noticeably limping during the match, picking up the win. The injury isn’t expected to keep him out of action at next weekend’s NXT tapings, according to Dave Meltzer.

Destiny Wrestling, a independent promotion out of Canada, said that he pulled out of wrestling there this coming weekend. He was also set to wrestle CIMA before the 9/30 PROGRESS show for the second night of Fight Club Pro’s Project Mayhem on 9/29. The match did not take place as scheduled, but did appear on the first night in a non-wrestling capacity.

The next set of NXT UK television tapings will take place at The Plymouth Pavillions in Plymouth, England on October 13 and 14.

Undisputed Era vs. Ricochet & Dunne announced for NXT TV tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced one of the matches that will be taking place at tonight’s set of NXT television tapings.

During last night’s episode of NXT, it was revealed that Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong will be taking on Ricochet & Pete Dunne in what appears to be a non-title match at the tapings. The match will air on NXT TV next Wednesday.

The tag match was set up in an angle where O’Reilly and Strong interrupted Ricochet during a post-TakeOver: Brooklyn interview. Dunne came to Ricochet’s defense and asked if they had a problem, but he told Ricochet that he isn’t his friend and just doesn’t like the Undisputed Era. Dunne said he wants Ricochet’s NXT North American Championship.

Ricochet won the North American title from Undisputed Era member Adam Cole in Brooklyn. Dunne defended his United Kingdom Championship against Zack Gibson on the pre-show tapings.

Tonight’s tapings at Full Sail University will feature the fallout from TakeOver: Brooklyn.

NXT TV taping spoilers: UK title match, Belair vs. Purrazzo

Posted on by F4W Staff

Two matches were taped for Wednesday’s episode of NXT TV prior to TakeOver: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center tonight.

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne retained his title against Zack Gibson, and Bianca Belair defeated Deonna Purrazzo. Dunne vs. Gibson was a rematch from June’s UK-brand shows at Royal Albert Hall. Dunne retained in that match as well after Gibson won this year’s United Kingdom Championship tournament on night one.

On the most recent episode of NXT, it was mentioned that Belair would soon be returning from a storyline injury. This will be Purrazzo’s first televised match in NXT since signing with WWE. She was also one of the participants in the Mae Young Classic earlier this month.

In addition to the two matches, Wednesday’s episode will feature fallout from TakeOver with video packages and post-match interviews. The next set of NXT tapings will take place at Full Sail University on Thursday.

UK title match set for pre-NXT TakeOver TV tapings

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A WWE United Kingdom Championship match is set for Saturday’s pre-TakeOver television tapings.

During tonight’s episode of NXT, it was announced that Pete Dunne will defend his United Kingdom title against Zack Gibson at the Barclays Center before TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. The match will then air on next week’s NXT.

Dunne successfully defended his title against Gibson on night two of WWE’s UK shows at Royal Albert Hall in June. That was after Gibson won the United Kingdom Championship tournament on night one 

The TakeOver: Brooklyn main card will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Here’s the lineup for the show:

  • NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defending against Johnny Gargano in a last man standing match
  • NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defending against Kairi Sane
  • NXT North American Champion Adam Cole defending against Ricochet
  • NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong defending against Tyler Bate & Trent Seven
  • Velveteen Dream vs. EC3

NXT UK TV taping spoilers: Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch

Posted on by F4W Staff

Here are results from the second set of NXT UK tapings which took place in Cambridge, England. If you missed night one’s results, here you go. 

– Dark Match: Killer Kelly def. Millie McKenzie

Kelly won with a Dragon Sleeper.

– Ligero def. Mike Hitchman

Ligero won with a springboard tornado DDT.

– Moustache Mountain def. Saxon Huxley & Sam Gradwell

Tyler Bate got the pin after the springboard into a clothesline.

– Isla Dawn def. Nina Samuels

In a backstage segment, Travis Banks was found laid out after an attack.

– Mark Andrews def. Wolfgang

Andrews won with a Stundog Millionaire which was followed by a shooting star press. Post match, the Coffey Brothers attacked Andrews. Flash Morgan Webster ran out to help, but Wolfgang turned heel and attacked him instead.

– Jordan Devlin def. Tucker

– Zack Gibson def. Amir Jordan

Gibson submitted him with the Shankley Gates. Post match, Trent Seven confronted Gibson and challenged him. However, Gibson just ignored him and walked away. 

– Dave Mastiff def. Chief Deputy Dunne

Mastiff won following a cannonball in a short squash.

– Ligero def. James Drake

Ligero won after a springboard tornado DDT.

– Ashton Smith came out for a match, but the Coffey Brothers & Wolfgang attack him. This set up a six-man tag for later on.

– Eddie Dennis def. Sid Scala

During the match, the crowd chanted “We want Andrews”.

– Jordan Devlin def. Kenny Williams

– Toni Storm def. Dakota Kai

Post match, Jinny ran out and attacked Kai.

– The Coffey Brothers & Wolfgang def. Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith

Joe Coffey pinned Webster after a discus lariat.

– NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne submitted Danny Burch

NXT UK TV taping spoilers: Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar

Posted on by F4W Staff

Here are results from the first set of NXT UK tapings which took place in Cambridge, England:

– Dark match: Ligero defeated James Drake

Ligero won after a springboard DDT.

– Joe Coffey defeated Mark Andrews

Coffey pinned Andrews after a spinning lariat. Mark Coffey, who seconded his brother, got involved after the match. Flash Morgan Webster came in and made the save.

– Toni Storm defeated Nina Samuels

Storm won the match with a backbreaker.

Moustache Mountain came out for a promo. They want the NXT UK tag team titles, but need other teams to come in first. 

– Dave Mastiff defeated Sid Scala

Mastiff won after a rolling turnbuckle backflip.

WWE UK GM Johnny Saint came out to introduce the next match…

– Pete Dunne defeated Noam Dar to retain the WWE UK title

Dunne pinned Dar with the Bitter End to retain.

– Kenny Williams and Joseph Conners went to a no contest

The match was stopped when Conners was knocked out by a William head kick over the top rope. He did get up and walk out with the help of officials.

– Dakota Kai defeated Killer Kelly

Kai won after a sunset flip pin following some turnbuckle kicks. After the match, she made clear that she wanted a shot at the NXT UK women’s title.

– Ashton Smith defeated Tucker

Smith defeated Tucker after a DDT.

– Trent Seven defeated Saxon Huxley

Seven pinned Huxley after the Seven Stars lariat.

– Flash Morgan Webster defeated Mark Coffey

Webster won with an armbar pin. Mark Andrews and Travis Banks came in for the save after Joe Coffey got involved.

– Tyler Bate defeated Wolfgang

Bate picked up the win after the Tyler Driver.

– Danny Burch defeated Sam Gradwell

Burch defeated Gradwell after the Tower of London. He then challenged Dunne to a title match.

– Zack Gibson defeated Noam Dar

Gibson defeated Dar by submission with the helter skelter.

WWE UK tournament night two live results: Four title matches

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The second day of live to tape UK action this afternoon on the WWE Network will feature a mix of UK and NXT talent, including yesterday afternoon’s UK title tournament winner.

Zack Gibson will get a chance to take out current United Kingdom champion Pete Dunn at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. After defeating Travis Banks in the finals of the United Kingdom tournament yesterday, he’ll ride that momentum into the title match that he’s earned today. 

Most interestingly, there will also be another number one contender’s match tonight to determine the next challenger for the championship. Travis Banks, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster will compete to see who will step up to the challenge next.

Other matches set for this afternoon include a women’s championship match, with Toni Storm earning a shot to face champion Shayna Baszler. Moustache Mountain will get a NXT tag team title shot against Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong while Wolfgang will face Adam Cole for the NXT North American championship.

Join us this afternoon at 3 p.m. EST for live results.

**********

Moustache Mountain defeated Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly to win the NXT tag team titles

Things start off hot for the challengers, but O’Reilly cuts off Trent Seven and works on him with strikes. Seven manages to eliminate both Strong and O’Reilly but right as he’s about to tag in Bate, Strong on the outside takes him out. Bate finally comes in with the hot tag and clears house.

Bate airplane spins both guys but O’Reilly hooks in a sleeper to break it up. While in the sleeper, Bate grabs Strong and hits a German suplex, taking out both men. Moustache Mountain hit a double back suplex on O’Reilly but Strong breaks it up. They focus on Bate as they go for a double move, but Bate dodges and sends them both reeling.

Bate hits a giant dive to the outside on Strong then goes to the top rope. With an assist from Seven, Bate hits a knee from the top rope and Seven connects with a burning hammer on O’Reilly, pinning him to win the titles. Great match with a hot crowd.

Charlie Morgan defeated Killer Kelly

Both start off with some good chain wrestling. Kelly gets the advantage, locking in a dragon sleeper. Morgan escapes, but Kelly strikes Morgan with a boot that sends her to the outside. 

Morgan strikes Kelly with a superkick but Kelly comes back and goes for a straightjacket suplex. Morgan powers out and blocks a suplex attempt with a cradle, which gets her the win. Good, simple match that gets Charlie Morgan over. 

Before the match starts, NXT UK GM Johnny Saint comes out and makes it a fatal four way match. Noam Dar comes out, returning from a knee injury after six months on the shelf.

Noam Dar defeated Flash Morgan Webster, Mark Andrews and Travis Banks

Everyone exchanges knee strikes as people try and recover. Webster meets Andrews on the top rope and goes for a hurricanrana but Andrews gets on his feet, then strikes Webster with a reverse rana. Dar comes in and takes Andrews down with a kneebar. 

Banks hits the slice of heaven but is still favoring his arm. Andrews takes him out but doesn’t connect with a shooting star press. Dar attacks the injured arm of Banks on the apron then hits a knee strike for the win. That makes him the next contender for the UK title.

After the match Joe and Mark Coffey run down and attack the other three competitors. Noam Dar made his exit, not interested in what was going on.

Adam Cole defeated Wolfgang to retain the NXT North American title

Wolfgang starts out on the offensive, striking Cole with a forearm, then follows with a double knee gutbuster. Being the bigger of the two, Wolfgang had no problem taking down Cole again and again. Cole tries to build some momentum, but is taken out with another gutbuster. 

Wolfgang went to do something on the top rope, but Cole met him with a superkick then follows with a backstabber. Wolfgang hits the forward slam and goes for a moonsault but Cole rolls out of the way. He repeatedly kicks Wolfgang until he first back with a lariat.

Heading to the top rope, Wolfgang launches off with a swanton bomb but Cole gets the knees up. He follows with what was originally the last shot, then hits the new last shot (running knee strike on the ground) for the win. Good match, weird dynamic. Cole is usually the heel, and here he was a total babyface. Crowd absolutely loved him too. Solid stuff regardless.

Backstage, Moustache Mountain were happy that they won the titles here tonight.

Aleister Black and Ricochet defeated Velveteen Dream and EC3

Dream demanded Black to be tagged in. Ricochet is soon in, however, and clears house. Dream takes Ricochet on the apron and drags him down, throwing him into the barricade.

Both Dream and EC3 work over Ricochet until he makes the hot tag to Black, who takes them both out with a double springboard moonsault. Dream takes out Black and goes to the top rope, but Dream hurts his knee and is unable to hit the purple rainmaker.

EC3 lands a DDT on Black as Ricochet comes in to lay his opponents out, with Black coming in to help. Dream hits a DDT of his own on Black, but he kicks out. Ricochet is tagged in but eats a rolling death valley driver by Dream. EC3 comes out and goes for the TKO but Ricochet fires back with a standing shooting star press. EC3 takes him out again, but when he goes to tag in Dream, he bails on EC3, tending to his injured leg instead.

Meanwhile, Black recovers and strikes EC3 with black mass, scoring him the win. Pretty good match, but felt a little long. Dream is still really green, but I think he’s improving in regards to in-ring work.

Ricochet takes the NXT title from the referee after the match and hands it to Black, perhaps a sign that soon he’d like a title match.

Cathy Kelly talks to Toni Storm, who says she’s been a champion all over the world. Baszler knows what she’s about. She promises to win the title tonight.

Shayna Baszler defeated Toni Storm by count out to retain the NXT Women’s title

They start off with some chain wrestling, with Baszler getting the upper hand until Storm escapes. More chain wrestling ensues until Storm is able to send Baszler out of the ring and scores a dive to the outside. Baszler avoids a running boot to the guardrail, with Storm catching her foot in the rail. Baszler pounces, attacking the prone Storm.

Baszler chop blocks the leg of  Storm as she begins to work it over. After some ground and pound, Baszler focuses on the leg some more. Storm manages to build momentum regardless. They both meet on the top rope, where Baszler plants Storm with a gutwrench suplex. Baszler follows with a kneebar. She escapes, strikes Baszler with a headbutt and hits the air raid clash, but Baszler kicks out. 

Storm bridges Baszler but is still unable to get the pinfall. Baszler catches Storm in the kirifuda clutch but Storm rolls over and grabs the bottom rope. Bazler latches it on again on the outside. Storm struggles to get to her feet as the referee eventually counts to 10, giving the win to Baszler. Really good match, Baszler is improving and is really good at what she does. Storm has a ton of potential, especially at such a young age.

Baszler jumps Storm after the match, putting her in the kirifuda clutch once again.

Pete Dunne defeated Zack Gibson to retain the WWE United Kingdom title

Dunne outwrestles Gibson to start things off. They travel to the outside, where Gibson trips Dunne on the apron and shoves him into the barricade shoulder first. Gibson works over Dunne until he strikes with a headbutt. He follows with a running knee to the corner and an x-plex.

Dunner latches on to Gibson and applies a wrist lock submission Gibson escapes, but Dunne counters and lays him out, then goes to the top rope and flies off with a moonsault.

Gibson starts to mount a comeback, driving Dunne to the corner and pummeling him with strikes, his mouthpiece falling off. Dunne calmly puts it back on and starts attacking, soon leaving them both on the floor. The two trade headbutts with Dunne getting the better of it. He plants Gibson with the Bitter End, but Gibson kicks out.

Gibson lays out Dunne and hits the ticket to ride. Dunne kicks out, but the Shankly Gates is immediately put on by Gibson. Dunne manages to get to the ropes.Gibson takes him to the top rope and hits a big helter skelter off the top rope. Gibson puts on the Shankly Gates again, but Dunne still finds a way to make it to the ropes.

Dunne is completely out of it at this point. He plays possum , grabbing one of Gibson’s fingers and breaks it. Gibson uses his feet to make it to the top rope, but Dunne meets him on the ground with a punch and lays him out with the Bitter End a second time to retain the UK title. Excellent main event match. Gibson will likely be a big deal on this brand.

Triple H and the rest of the WWE UK come out. Hunter says this is the next chapter of UK wrestling. This is your time, this is your brand, and we are NXT.

WWE UK Championship tournament live results: A contender is set

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The first day of WWE UK tournament action begins this afternoon with the tournament that will crown the next number one contender to Pete Dunne’s WWE United Kingdom championship.

The taped-to-live event, which took place Royal Albert Hall in London, England last week will include all of the tournament action starting with the quarterfinals. Flash Morgan Webster, Dave Mastiff, Zack Gibson, Ashton Smith, Travis Banks, 205 Live star Jack Gallagher, Joe Coffey and Jordan Devlin will compete tonight for a chance to challenge the United Kingdom champion on the show that will be broadcast tomorrow afternoon. 

There will also be appearances by Triple H, Shawn Michaels and the new General Manager for the WWE United Kingdom brand, Johnny Saint. More action from the UK will also be broadcast live to tape tomorrow, featuring a number of NXT superstars as well as the UK championship match.

Join us for live coverage this afternoon at 3 p.m. EST on the WWE Network.

**********

Quarterfinals: Zack Gibson defeated Jack Gallagher

Gibson refused to shake hands before the bell. He takes control early, grinding down Gallagher with holds, focusing on his left arm. Gallagher cuts him off and makes a comeback takes him to the corner but Gibson strikes back with a lungblower on the second rope.

Gibson takes down Gallagher with a powerbomb but Gallagher traps him with a triangle. Gibson counters with a buckle bomb, but Gallagher grabs Gibsons arm smashes it over the top rope then traps Gibson in a sleeper. 

Gallagher takes out Gibson with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Gison posts Gallagher and strikes with the ticket to ride (the lungblower). Gallagher counters and goes for a headbutt but Gibson gets both feet up. Gibson follows with the Shankly Gates (wristlock submission) for the win. Very good, hot back and forth opener.

Quarterfinals: Joe Coffey defeated Dave Mastiff

They test themselves early with some power spots. They trade shoulder blocks in and out of the ring as Mastiff throws him back into the ring after taking him out. Coffey, however, takes him down with a missile dropkick. Mastiff meets Coffey with a forearm then lands a giant senton.

Coffey hits a giant German suplex, a giant crossbody then connects with a discus lariat for the win. Pretty fun match while it lasted.

Cathy Kelly is in the ring to interview Coffey. He says he came here to win. He’ll take on Pete Dunne and win the title. This is opportunity, and he’ll do what he needs to do by any means necessary. 

Quarterfinals: Flash Morgan Webster defeated Jordan Devlin

Devlin attacked Webster twice after clean breaks, but Gibson takes him down with some arm drags. Devlin laid out Webster with a uranage and a standing moonsault as he took Webster down on the mat.

Webster makes a comeback with a hurricanrana and a running knee to the corner. He dragged Devlin outside to the floor and hit two suicide dives and a tope con hilo. They go to the top rope where Devlin launches off with a spanish fly. A moonsault doesn’t connect for Devlin which allows Webster to strike with the Eton Rifle for the win. Another fun, fast-paced match.

Quarterfinals: Travis Banks defeated Ashton Smith

Some back and forth early. Banks injured Smith’s ribs, but Smith made a comeback. Banks dodges, sending Smith flying into the turnbuckle. Banks then connected with a big flying dropkick to the back of Smith.

Smith flies off to the floor with a giant tope con hilo then takes down Banks with a superkick. Banks fights back with forearms then pins Smith with a sitout fisherman’s buster. Good, short match.

Toni Storm defeated Isla Dawn and Killer Kelly

This was short, but pretty good while it lasted. Storm was taken out, allowing Killer Kelly and Isla Dawn to go at it. Storm came back in as everyone struck one another with some stiff shots.  Storm took out Kelly with a kick to the outside then hit the air raid clash on Dawn for the win. She’ll face Shayna Baszler tomorrow for the NXT Women’s title.

Triple H came out for a big announcement. He talked about how a year ago they came here and changed wrestling in the UK. He listed some of the talent from last year’s shows. They’ve made names for themselves all around the world. He feels that they’re just scratching the surface in the UK. We’re going to give you more.  Triple H brings out Johnny Saint, the GM of the UK brand.

Saint announces the formation of the NXT UK brand. Triple H says we’ll be starting a tag team and women’s divison soon. He also gives a list of dates: July 28 and 29 in Cambridge, August 25th and 26th in Birmingham, October 13 and 14 in Plymouth and Nov 24 and 25 in Liverpool. Triple H closes the announcement with a “are you ready”.

Semifinals: Zack Gibson defeated Flash Morgan Webster

Webster jumps Gibson early, brawling with him around the ring until he goes for the Eaton Riffle. Gibson cuts him off with the snake eyes and grinds him down. 

Webster took out Gibson with what can only be described as a moonsault into a clothesline. Another suicide dive by Webster, but Gibson catches a second and plants him with a the helter skelter (spinning suplex) on the ramp. 

Webster is able to make it back to the ring, but Gibson latches on the Shankly Gates and immediately taps out. Short, frenetic match.

Semifinals: Travis Banks defeated Joe Coffey

The two went at it, with Coffey lighting up Banks in the corner with chops. Banks tries to build some momentum but Coffey grinds him down with submissions. Banks comes alive, taking out Coffey with a kick on the outside then connects with a running knee. 

Coffey spears Banks into the corner but Banks connects with a knee, only for Coffey to counter with a powerslam. A deadlift German follows. He goes for the discus clothesline but Banks fires back with a flurry of offense. 

Coffey attacks the back as he goes for a crossbody but Gibson cuts him off and catches him in a roll up, pinning him to advance to the finals. Another good match.

As Banks’ hand was raised, Coffey jumps Banks from behind and posts him shoulder first into the turnbuckle, eventually planting him with the discus clothesline. That leaves him questionable for the main event.

Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven defeated The Undisputed Era

Seven and Strong grapple for a bit before Strong and Dunne tag in. Dunne lays out Strong as everyone comes in. The UK contingent lays everyone out with strikes big enough that everyone’s sent to the outside. 

Cole works over Seven, but no sells chops and begins to take out all of Undisputed. Strong drops Seven outside on the guardrail as they all work on him inside the ring. Cole misses a charge in the corner, and despite O’Riley taking out Bate, Seven tags in Dunne who runs wild on Strong.

Bate is tagged in as he actually grabs both Strong and O’Riley and does a airplane spin/swing combo that was really cool. Cole hits the last shot on Dunne as O’Riley comes in and goes for the armbar. O’Riley traps Dunne in a guillotine, but he’s able to tag in Bate, who plants O’Riley with a foot stomp.

Seven lays out Strong, but Adam Cole distracts Seven long enough for him to be taken out. Lots of craziness ensues, with everyone being laid out. Dunne hits a moonsault that takes out Cole and Strong. 

Back in the ring, Seven hits a lariat on O’Riley as he and Bate connect with a dragon suplex/springboard clothesline combo for the win. Excellent tag team match, easily the best thing on the show so far. The UK contingent has excellent chemistry with one another.

Shawn Michaels comes out. After the crowd were finished singing his song, Shawn mentions that he wrestled here way back in 1991, before most of the people in the audience were born. He hyped up the NXT UK brand, saying that the new brand is for you, the UK audience. He sets up the crowd for the finals, which are about to commence…

Finals: Zack Gibson defeated Travis Banks

This was a very good main event. I think the six man tag team match was better, but this was a good finals bout that showcased both men well. Gibson could be one of the top heels on the brand if pushed right, and based on this result I think that’s the direction they’re going in.

Gibson refused to shake Banks’ hand before the match, The two brawled out of the ring, but Gibson immediately preys on Banks’ shoulder injury that he suffered at the hands of Coffey. Gibson grabs and throws Banks shoulder first into the stairs. The two fight, with Gibson able to send Banks into the post.

Banks starts to build momentum with a running knee and a double stomp to the back of Gibson. Gibson cuts him off and lands the lung blower. They head to the apron where Gibson tries for a suplex but Banks fights him off and misses a charge. Gibson grabs him and throws him into the barricade, but Banks jumps on top and counters with a clothesline.

They exchange palm strikes as Gibson falls to the ground. Banks connects with some knee strikes, then grabs him and stomps. Banks misses a springboard clothesline, allowing Gibson to sink in the Shankly Gates, but Banks manages to escape.

Banks connects with a running stomp and connects with the slice of heaven but Gibson is able to kick out. Gibson rolls up Banks and uses the ropes, but the referee notices and stops the count. Gibson hits the fisherman’s buster, but still doesn’t get it.

Banks goes for  a suicide dive, but Gibson blocks it, throws him in the ring and lays him out with the helter skelter for a nearfall. Shankly Gates is applied again, and this time Banks doesn’t have an answer, submitting.  This means tomorrow it will be Zack Gibson vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom title.

Triple H, Johnny Saint and Shawn Michaels came out and posed with Gibson. Gibson was about to cut a promo when Dunne came out. He headed to the ring and the two had a stare down as the show closed.

WWE UK tournament night two spoilers: UK, NXT titles on the line

Posted on by F4W Staff

Results via Ian Hamilton

Here are results from the second night of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament tapings at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England:

– Ligero defeated Wild Boar

– Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) defeated Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly to win the NXT tag team titles

Moustache Mountain won the titles after a stomp assisted burning hammer.

– Charlie Morgan defeated Killer Kelly

Morgan pinned Kelly after reversing a suplex into a small package.

– Noam Dar defeated Travis Banks, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews to become the number one contender for the WWE UK title

UK GM Johnny Saint came out and made the match a fatal four way, adding Dar who is returning from a knee injury. Andrews hit Banks with a stundog then missed the shooting star press. Dar came in and pinned Banks with a leg lariat.

Joe Coffey and Mark Coffey ran in after the match and lay everyone out except Dar.

– Adam Cole defeated Wolfgang to retain the NXT North American title.

Cole pinned Wolfgang with a knee trembler to retain.

– Ricochet and Aleister Black defeated Velveteen Dream and EC3 

Black pinned EC3 following Black Mass.

– Shayna Baszler defeated Toni Storm by countout to retain the NXT Women’s title

The two went to the outside, with Baszler winning by countout after choking Storm. Baszler returned to the ring after the match and laid out Storm with the Kirifuda clutch.

– Pete Dunne defeated Zack Gibson to retain the WWE UK title

Dunne retained the title after pinning Gibson with the Bitter End. This would mean the next UK title match is Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar.

The show ended with Triple H cutting a promo saying this is the next chapter in UK professional wrestling, this is your brand and this is NXT.

NXT Belgium live results: Aleister Black teams with Dunne & Gargano

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Robbert Goey from NXT’s house show in Antwerp, Belgium yesterday

– They advertised Ricochet and Steffanie Newell, but neither wrestled on the show. Ricochet looked like he may have been hurt at Monday’s show in Paris but celebrated with Johnny Gargano after teaming together.

He tweeted about the tour today and was still hyping his match against Velveteen Dream at TakeOver: “On the plane about to head back to the states. An amazing and my first overseas tour for @WWENXT is all wrapped up! Thanks to all who came and made it possible! Now time to get ready for my spotlight at #NXTTakeOverChicago.”

Newell suffered what appears to be a minor knee injury at one of NXT’s Download Festival shows.

– Heavy Machinery defeated Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner

This was a nice opener to get the crowd going. Barthel was doing a good job playing the crowd by talking in German. The Belgians/Dutch understand the German language pretty well, so the interaction between him and the crowd kept going almost the entire match.

– Wolfgang defeated Steve Cutler (w/ Wesley Blake)

They had a pretty basic match. Cutler mostly tried to use holds on Wolfgang, but Wolfgang overpowered him with ease.

– Candice LeRae & Dakota Kai defeated Lacey Evans & Bianca Belair

Kai got the pin on Evans after hitting her sunset flip backstabber finisher. It was a decent tag match, with Evans and Belair dominating LeRae for most of it. Kai used all of her signature kicks after getting the hot tag.

– An interview with Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong played on the video screen, with them getting booed for trashing the Belgian soccer team ahead of the World Cup. Nikki Cross then crashed the interview and announced her vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship.

– NXT North American Champion Adam Cole defeated Zack Gibson to retain his title

A pretty good match and the longest one so far. Cole is so over — his name (including the “Bay-Bay”) got chanted almost the entire match. You could see Cole loved it. This guy has so much charisma, he’s bound to be one of the top guys in WWE. He almost put up the Too Sweet gesture as well

 Gibson worked the left arm of Cole during most of the match and had some nice suplexes. Cole sold the arm nicely. Cole also had some good offense, hitting his signature fireman’s carry neckbreaker twice on Gibson and winning with the Shining Wizard

– NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch to retain their titles

Undisputed Era retained after a double-team leg sweep by O’Reilly and clothesline from Strong. It was a pretty good tag team match and was given a fair amount of time.

Even though the Undisputed Era were the heels, they were still over as faces. Strong and O’Reilly worked on one of their opponents until the hot tag. Lots of great moves were done and they picked up the pace until the finish. After the champions left, Lorcan and Burch still got some applause.

– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Nikki Cross to retain her title

Baszler won by submission. This was an okay, short match. Cross was over as a face and got some offense in, but a few knees from Baszler and the Kirifuda Clutch made Cross tap out after a minute or longer in the move. The finish was unfortunately a bit underwhelming due to random “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks” chants being done by the crowd.

– NXT Champion Aleister Black, WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne & Johnny Gargano defeated Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream & Tommaso Ciampa

Gargano submitted Ciampa with the Gargano Escape for the finish. This was an odd pairing since they were all advertised for singles matches until Ricochet not wrestling changed the card. The crowd was expecting those and hated the six-man tag idea at first, but with the names in the match, this couldn’t be messed up.

They had a good long main event where everybody got plenty of offense — even a table was used. Dream and Gargano had the most time in the ring, but everyone showed some great moves. There were lots of chants for the faces and for Dream. Ciampa was booed a lot. They actually teased not doing Ciampa vs. Gargano for five-10 minutes until Ciampa tagged himself in when Gargano was down.

The finish was Sullivan going through the table after a Black Mass, Dream getting superkicked by Dunne and Gargano, and then Gargano submitting Ciampa.

Black talked a bit to the crowd in Dutch after the match, telling us we are NXT and asking if they should come back next year. The show ended after some post-match celebration.

WWE NXT results: Undisputed Era vs. Dunne, Lorcan & Burch

Posted on by Arya Witner

The Big News: Danny Burch pinned Kyle O’Reilly, winning the six-man tag team main event for his team over the Undisputed Era.

The Medium News: Lars Sullivan laid claim to the number one contender status, destroying both Ricochet and Velveteen Dream during their match.

The Little Beaver-sized News: Candice LeRae slapped Tommaso Ciampa, but Ciampa still declared victory in his war on Johnny Gargano.

**********

The show began with the biggest heel in wrestling, Tommaso Ciampa, coming out to Johnny Gargano’s music. The fans popped for Gargano’s music and went crazy in anger upon seeing the bearded visage of Ciampa.

Ciampa said Gargano may have won the battle, but Ciampa would always win the war — and that’s why Gargano’s sitting at home in a neck brace. Piece by piece, Ciampa has broken him. He’s broken his mind, body, and spirit and now Johnny Wrestling is gone and Ciampa has won.

Candice LeRae walked out, snatched the mic out of Ciampa’s hand, and asked Ciampa who he was. She thought she knew Ciampa but doesn’t recognize what he’s become. He’s obsessed with ruining their lives and she doesn’t know why. LeRae stated that she is done trying to figure him out. He is a monster that LeRae will never forgive. While her husband’s future may be uncertain, Ciampa will know that Johnny Gargano was better than him.

Ciampa said maybe he is better, but that boy is not half the man Ciampa is. That’s why Gargano sent his cute, precious wife out to confront him instead. He said LeRae has always been more of a man than Gargano. Ciampa dared her to “mess him up” and was about to wonder how she could marry such a loser when LeRae slapped the taste out of his mouth.

Ciampa smiled at her and slithered away. As LeRae walked away, Ciampa mouthed “I win.”

**********

Lacey Evans defeated Brandi Lauren

Lauren is also known by Kayci Quinn and Ava Storie and has wrestled for both Shine and Impact Wrestling. Evans has new theme music and wasn’t very lady-like as she literally stepped over Lauren before hitting a middle rope moonsault. Evans then won with The Lady’s Right, which was literally just her punching Lauren in the face with her right hand.

Kairi Sane appeared out of nowhere (just off stage right) with a forearm to attack Evans as revenge for an Evans sneak attack from a few weeks ago. Sane threw her back in the ring and went up top for the Insane Elbow, but Evans rolled out of the ring and ran for her life.

**********

Aleister Black was walking around Full Sail University earlier and talked about potentially facing both Ricochet and Velveteen Dream for the NXT Championship. We’re supposed to believe, if this was real, that Black flew all the way from home to walk around an empty college campus before flying home.

**********

Dakota Kai was doing her weekly interview about being scared of Shayna Baszler. Kai said that Nikki Cross, who was cackling nearby last week, was crazy. She started talking about her strength and conditioning programming when Cross came flying into the picture and demanded to know when Kai was going to challenge Baszler.

Kai was scared of Cross in a different way as Cross ordered her to face her fear.

**********

Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream ended in a no contest

An unofficial number one contender’s match if there ever was one. It would have been hard to believe one year ago when this gimmick debuted that Velveteen Dream would be as over as he is.

This match was five minutes of Dream proving he was at Ricochet’s level, as he matched The One and Only move for move and they set up what was promising to be a good match. They collided head-to-head in the corner, but before either man could get up, Lars Sullivan ran in for the attack!

Sullivan squashed both men before laying them out with separate Freak Accidents. Sullivan made motions that he wants the NXT Championship and is the true top contender.

**********

Kona Reeves defeated Raul Mendoza

Reeves was back to take on Mendoza this week and has now added a necklace with a giant “K” on it. He threatened the ring attendant about what would happen if something were to happen to his jacket. He didn’t care about his alleged 24-karat gold necklace, but the jacket you could buy at almost any store, that was important.

Reeves has been watching his Ted DiBiase tapes as he used both a fist drop and the falling elbow from the middle rope before slapping on the Million Dollar Dream. Mendoza made a hot comeback but did a springboard right into a boot to the face and Reeves won with the Hawaiian Drop.

**********

Cathy Kelley was trying to get comments from Mr. William Regal when Ricochet and Velveteen Dream both showed up and stated they were both going to ask for a match with Sullivan. They went into Regal’s office together.

It was announced later that Sullivan will face Ricochet & Velveteen Dream in a two-on-one handicap match next week.

**********

Earlier today, Heavy Machinery talked about taking their mothers out for Mother’s Day when TM61 walked up wanting to go out drinking. Heavy Machinery didn’t want to drink with cheaters. TM61 made a fat joke and a match was made for next week.

**********

Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch defeated The Undisputed Era

Dunne started the match by angrily stalking Strong, so Strong wisely tagged out as the match got underway. I am sure this will come as a shock to you, but this was as fine of a six-man wrestling match as you will see.

Undisputed Era got the heat on Burch until Strong began openly mocking Dunne, so Burch grabbed him in a waist lock until Dunne could tag in and hit an amazing punch to the face. Dunne had his way with his former temporary tag team partner until Cole and O’Reilly distracted him long enough for Strong to take over.

Lorcan got the second hot tag and lit into the heel trio. Burch tagged in and we had a double team on Strong. Dunne hit Cole and Cole flew into space as this broke into a six-way brawl. Strong threw Lorcan into Dunne, sending those two crumbling to the floor. Burch then had to fight the Undisputed Era three-on-one.

Burch more than held his own and we ended up with a triple submission. That led to Strong booting Lorcan out of his single leg crab, sending Lorcan into the standing crucifix that Dunne had on Cole and they fell onto the crossface that Burch had on O’Reilly. Got all that?

Strong and O’Reilly ended up doing their own miscommunication spot and, almost shockingly, Burch pinned O’Reilly with a wheelbarrow DDT. It was so unexpected that no one reacted until the referee counted three. I honestly think they have won maybe one tag team match in the year they have teamed, so no one recognized their finish.

So, that does it for this week. We are on the road to TakeOver: Chicago and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.

First round of WWE UK tournament to take place at Download Festival

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The first round of the WWE United Kingdom championship tournament will take place during next month’s Download Festival.

WWE made the announcement earlier this afternoon on their website. The matches will take place during NXT’s annual excursion to the festival, as they will be running shows all three nights starting on June 8 through June 10. WWE also announced that competitors for the tournament will be announced on Wednesday and Friday.

One competitor already set for the tournament is Jack Gallagher. He defeated Drew Gulak at a recent NXT television taping to advance.

The tournament will continue at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on June 18 where a winner will be crowned. That winner will face Pete Dunne the next day, also at Royal Albert Hall for the United Kingdom championship.

The last time there was a tournament in the United Kingdom, it was to crown the initial champion back in January of 2017. It was there that Tyler Bate defeated Pete Dunne to win the title and become the first champion. Dunne defeated Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago on May 20 of last year to win the championship and has held it since.

The Download Festival will take place at Donington Park in Derby, United Kingdom.