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The Honky Tonk Man says he’s still “The Greatest IC Champion of All Time!” on X.
Sean Ross Sapp on X: “Piper Niven is fine. We’re told a short term illness, and she’s expected back soon!”
Ricochet was interviewed by FanNation, who talked about his role in WWE. “Even if I’m not the main event, I plan on becoming the main attraction,” he said. “That’s where Ricochet belongs. I’m working to show everyone that. I’m capable of it, and that is what I am trying to manifest.
Jackie Redmond, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor have been announced as guests for tomorrow’s episode of The Bump.
The Cavinder twins spoke to GQ in a profile about their WWE aspirations. When asked about the prospect of being punched in the face, Hanna said “We’ve had pressure our whole lives, so we’ll definitely adjust.”
WWE’s social media showed Damian Priest putting his contract in his new Money in the Bank briefcase.
John Cena commented on participating at Superstar Spectacle on X. “I cannot express how grateful I am to the @WWE & #WWEUniverse for this opportunity. #WWESuperstarSpectacle will be an experience that means the world to me, excited to get to @WWEIndia!”
Hangman Page on Instagram Stories: “please do not harass other wrestling fans on the internet, i would be very disappointed in you and you should say sorry.”
According to PWInsider, Teddy Hart is scheduled for a 9/21 hearing in Titusville, Florida on charges of possession of MDMA (ecstasy) and possession of a controlled substance without prescription.
Piper Niven has declared herself one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, becoming Chelsea Green’s new tag partner.
On Raw Monday, Green was upset that Adam Pearce had suggested she vacate the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles due to Sonya Deville’s ACL tear. Green said she would call human resources and instead suggested she hold auditions to determine her new tag team partner. After Kayden Carter and Katana Chance came in to claim a title match, Chance was laid out by the returning Niven, who grabbed one of the titles and declared herself Green’s new partner.
TMZ announced last week that Green’s former tag team partner, Sonya Deville, had torn her ACL and would be out for the foreseeable future. Deville suffered the injury in a tag match with Green against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair on SmackDown the day before SummerSlam.
Niven has not been seen on WWE television since defeating Dana Brooke in a match on Main Event back in May. Her last match in WWE was a loss against Becky Lynch at a WWE house show in Newcastle, England on June 30.
It had been announced that Marie would be facing Naomi on Raw this week, but Marie instead came out with Niven and Niven took her place in the match. Niven quickly defeated Naomi but was never identified by name. The announcers reacted like they didn’t know who she was. The ring announcer also didn’t know what to announce her as after her win.
Marie instead announced herself as the winner, taking credit for Niven’s win. Niven excitedly hugged Marie, but Marie didn’t seem too enthused by that.
Several weeks of videos hyping Marie’s return had aired leading into Marie’s arrival. Marie spoke about wanting to be a role model and inspire others.
Niven (real name Kimberly Benson) made her WWE debut as a participant in the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017. She signed with WWE in 2019 and joined NXT UK. Niven also formerly used the in-ring name Viper outside of WWE.
Heading into their WWE Championship Hell in a Cell match on Sunday, Drew McIntyre pinned Bobby Lashley in the main event of last night’s Raw.
A six-man tag match with McIntyre & The Viking Raiders facing Lashley, AJ Styles & Omos was made after Lashley caused McIntyre vs. Styles to end in a disqualification. Near the end of the six-man tag, Lashley was caught off guard when Styles went for a tag in the corner and tagged him in. McIntyre capitalized on that by hitting the Claymore on Lashley and pinning him.
Lashley and McIntyre’s Hell in a Cell match on Sunday also has the stipulation that — if McIntyre loses — he won’t be able to challenge for the WWE Championship again while Lashley is still champion.
Rhea Ripley is defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair on Sunday. Last night, they got into a pull-apart brawl that officials had to attempt to break up multiple times.
Charlotte lost to Nikki Cross by countout earlier in the night due to having her attention turned to Ripley. When Charlotte attacked Cross after the match, Ripley laid Charlotte out with Riptide. Charlotte later attacked Ripley and brawled with her after Ripley won a match against Asuka.
A new match was also added to Hell in a Cell last night, with Alexa Bliss set to face Shayna Baszler on Sunday.
Plus, Eva Marie made her return to Raw last night but didn’t compete in her announced match. It had been announced that Marie would be facing Naomi, but Marie instead came out with the debuting Piper Niven. Niven took Marie’s place in the match and quickly defeated Naomi.
Niven wasn’t identified by name and the announcers reacted like they didn’t know who she was. Marie announced herself as the winner of the match, taking credit for Niven’s win. Niven excitedly hugged Marie, but Marie didn’t look too enthused when she did that.
Eva Marie made her return to WWE television on Raw tonight — but she wasn’t in action on the show.
It had been announced earlier today that Eva Marie vs. Naomi would be taking place on tonight’s Raw. But Marie instead entered with NXT UK’s Piper Niven. Niven replaced Marie in the match. Niven was dominant against Naomi and won with the Michinoku Driver.
Niven wasn’t identified by name on Raw tonight and the announcers reacted like they didn’t know who she was. The ring announcer also didn’t know her name. Marie instead announced herself as the winner, taking credit for Niven’s win.
Niven excitedly hugged Marie after the match, but Marie didn’t seem too enthused when she did.
Tonight was Marie’s return to WWE after departing the company in 2017. Weeks of videos hyping her return aired leading into tonight, with Marie talking about wanting to be a role model and inspire others.
Dave Meltzer had confirmed last week that the plan was for Marie “to have a bodyguard with her with Mercedes Martinez and Piper Niven’s names both being thrown out.”
Niven made her WWE debut as a participant in the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017. She signed with WWE in 2019 and joined NXT UK. Prior to her WWE career, Niven went by the name Viper.
Eva Marie is set to make her return to WWE Raw next week.
A new vignette aired during tonight’s Monday Night Raw featuring Eva Marie. At the end of the vignette, it was revealed that she would make her return next week.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed a WrestleVotes report from earlier today reporting that when Eva Marie returns, she will be accompanied by someone in a bodyguard-type ‘muscle’ role. Names mentioned include Piper Niven of NXT UK and Mercedes Martinez, who appears regularly on NXT television and is currently feuding with Tian Sha. However, Meltzer notes it is unclear who will eventually be in the role.
After leaving the WWE for three years, Eva Marie re-signed with the company last October. Vignettes started to air last month showing Eva Marie as someone who wants to help other people, promoting the “Eva-Loution”. Marie previously was a part of WWE from 2013 through 2017, when she began persuing other interests outside of WWE.
The next contender for Kay Lee Ray’s NXT UK Championship will be decided on the first NXT UK episode of 2021.
On this week’s NXT UK, it was announced that Piper Niven will face Jinny in a number one contender’s match on the Thursday, January 7 episode of NXT UK. Jinny had cost Niven during a title match last month when it appeared that Niven could have been on the verge of getting the win.
KLR and Niven faced off in a falls count anywhere match for the NXT UK Women’s Championship on the November 19 episode of NXT UK. Jinny attacked Niven during the match and yelled at Niven for disrespecting her. Niven fought Jiny off, but she returned near the end of the match. Niven looked like she was going to slam KLR off a production crate and through a table. But Jinny hit Niven with a steel chair. Niven and KLR both fell through the table, with KLR landing on top of Niven and the referee counting the pin for KLR to retain her title.
There was an angle on NXT UK two weeks ago where Niven attacked Jinny at the NXT UK Performance Center and they had to be separated by officials. On this week’s show, security footage of Niven working out at the UK Performance Center aired. Niven briefly left and came back to find that someone had wheeled a production crate to where she was working out. Inside of the crate was a steel chair with a piece of paper attached to it.
The piece of paper was a contract. Niven brought it to Sid Scala and told him that if Jinny wants a fight, she’s got one. Their number one contender’s match was then announced for January 7
KLR has been NXT UK Women’s Champion since winning the title from Toni Storm at UK TakeOver: Cardiff in August 2019. KLR defeated Isla Dawn in a non-title match on NXT UK this week. KLR cut a post-match promo where she mentioned Niven and Jinny, saying they’re too busy fighting between themselves and no one can stand up to her.
WWE has announced that next week’s NXT UK will be a special Christmas Eve episode of the show.
Joe Coffey pinned Sam Gradwell. Later, as Coffey and Gallus celebrated backstage, he drew the ire of Alexander Wolfe.
Pretty Deadly defeated Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith.
Saxon Huxley squashed Levi Muir.
in a brutal falls count anywhere match for the NXT UK Women’s Championship, Kay Lee Ray retained against Piper Niven after Niven was attacked with a chair by Jinny. Both Niven and KLR crashed through a table and KLR landed on top of Niven. They used all kinds of weapons and probably had one of the most brutal women’s matches in WWE history.
Full rundown —
Joe Coffey defeated Sam Gradwell
Gradwell was pinned by Coffey two weeks ago in a six-man tag match and has run his mouth and made excuses ever since.
Coffey worked over Gradwell’s surgically repaired knee. Gradwell valiantly fought back and they traded stiff shots throughout the match. Coffey picked up the win with his Best for the Bells spinning lariat.
– Sid Scala was backstage with Jordan Devlin and announced that he and Johnny Saint had sanctioned title defenses for Devlin’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Devlin said he didn’t need them sanctioning his matches and said they should be thankful he won the title and brought it to NXT UK. Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan walked up and Jordan challenged Devlin for the title. Williams gave his blessing.
– A tremendous highlight video of the WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov battle aired. It was narrated by Dragunov.
– Alexander Wolfe was backstage and cut a promo about Imperium. Gallus celebrated Coffey’s victory in the back and repeatedly disturbed Wolfe’s train of thought. He screamed at them to shut up and got into a war of words with Joe Coffey. Coffey challenged him to fight at any place, any time. Coffey said that Wolfe cost him his title match against WALTER back in January.
Pretty Deadly (Lewis Howley & Sam Stoker) defeated Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith
These two had words at the NXT UK Performance Center last week, leading to this match.
Smith ran wild early on but was cut off by Pretty Deadly’s teamwork. They then worked over Carter for a bit until he finally made the hot tag. Smith had a fiery comeback and Smith & Carter almost had the match won after an assisted 450 splash by Carter on Howley, but Stoker put Howley’s foot on the ropes.
Smith rolled up Howley, but he pushed him off and Stoker hit an uppercut from the outside, allowing Howley to roll up Smith for the win.
– In a video from the NXT UK Performance Center, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster were furious. Andrews talked about Eddie Dennis, saying he knew all along how selfish Dennis was and that he didn’t care who he hurt along the way. Webster said he had known “Mike” (Wild Boar) since they were 12 years old and Boar had thrown away 15 years of friendship.
– A highlight video of Rampage Brown’s debut aired, featuring some of the NXT UK roster commenting on it.
Saxon Huxley defeated Levi Muir
This was basically a squash as Huxley destroyed Muir. Jack Starz came to ringside to cheer Muir on, but it was to no avail. Huxley won after hitting a lariat.
– A video aired hyping up A-Kid and Trent Seven’s paths to the finals of the NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament. Seven said he needed to win this to cement his legacy. A-Kid said he needed to win to kick off his career. The finals happen next Thursday on NXT UK.
– Jordan Devlin will also defend his NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Amir Jordan on NXT UK next week.
NXT UK Women’s Championship falls count anywhere match: Kay Lee Ray defeated Piper Niven to retain her title
Niven attacked KLR as she walked out, even before the bell rang. Once they were in the ring and the match started, Niven threw KLR to ringside and dove through the bottom and middle rope with a crossbody for a two count.
Niven grabbed a chair, but KLR kicked it out of her hands. They fought around ringside and KLR hit a sunset flip over the barricade for a two count of her own. KLR grabbed the ring bell and went to smash Niven’s head, but Niven moved and the bell bounced off the ring steps.
Niven hit KLR’s previously injured knee with a steel turnbuckle. Niven brought a trash can into the ring, but KLR superkicked her. KLR then went for the Gory Bomb, but she couldn’t get Niven up. KLR hit Niven with a kendo stick and applied a chain-assisted Camel Clutch, but Niven powered up to her feet and threw KLR backwards onto the trash can. Niven went for the Piper Driver onto a chair, but KLR escaped.
Jinny ran out and attacked Niven, but Niven disposed of her. KLR went for another Gory Bomb, but Niven countered into a backslide for another two count.
They brawled into the backstage area and KLR hit Niven in the head with a traffic sign. Niven returned the favor by breaking a picture frame over KLR’s head. KLR smashed a guitar over Niven’s back for another near fall. KLR set up a chair and went for another Gory Bomb, but Niven escaped and hit the Piper Driver through the chair for a close near fall.
Niven smashed a huge steel pipe into KLR’s knee. KLR survived, superkicked Niven, and threw Niven face-first into some production crates. Niven back body dropped KLR onto some of the boxes and got another two count.
Niven then dragged KLR on top of the box and seemingly looked to go for a Piper Driver off the boxes through a table set up at the bottom. As she picked KLR up, Jinny reappeared and hit Niven with a steel chair to the back, prompting both Niven and KLR to topple through the table to the floor. KLR somehow landed on Niven and had her arm draped over her, which allowed her to score the pinfall victory and retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
KLR and Jinny glared at each other as the show went off the air.
Next week —
A-Kid vs. Trent Seven in the Heritage Cup tournament finals
Jordan Devlin defends his NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Amir Jordan
The NXT UK Women’s Championship will be on the line in a falls count anywhere match later this month.
During this week’s NXT UK episode, it was announced that NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray will defend her title against Piper Niven in a falls count anywhere match on the Thursday, November 19 edition of NXT UK. This will be the second title match between KLR and Niven since NXT UK returned with new episodes in September. KLR retained her title against Niven in the main event of the September 24 episode of NXT UK.
Niven appeared on this week’s NXT UK after being mentioned in a promo by Jinny. Jinny defeated Aleah James and then cut a post-match promo saying that she’s the queen of NXT UK because she has something none of these other women will ever have — a killer instinct. Jinny said people like Niven walk around thinking they’re untouchable and believing they should be at the top of the division.
Niven confronted Jinny, but they were then interrupted by KLR. KLR said she likes to talk just as much as Niven and Jinny, but she has one important thing to back it up — the NXT UK Women’s Championship. KLR said Niven and Jinny will never be champion.
KLR slid a steel chair into the ring. She said she knows Jinny would do anything to get a shot at the title, but she doesn’t think Niven has what it takes. KLR said Niven had the perfect opportunity to take everything but threw it away. After being slapped by Jinny, Niven responded by giving Jinny a headbutt. Niven hit Jinny with the chair and gave Aleah James a Michinoku Driver when James tried to get her to stop. Niven then gave Jinny a Michinoku Driver onto the chair.
Niven attacking KLR backstage during a commercial break and them having to be separated by officials was later shown.
KLR has been NXT UK Women’s Champion since winning the title from Toni Storm in August 2019.
WALTER defeated Saxon Huxley in a hard-hitting affair. Huxley got a lot of offense in, but in the end he was no match for the NXT UK Champion.
The first round matches for the Heritage Cup were drawn. After Noam Dar was disrespectful, Pete Dunne got into it with him.
Pretty Deadly defeated The Hunt in a decent tag match.
Kay Lee Ray retained her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Piper Niven. KLR injured her knee as she ran into the ring steps and Niven looked to capitalize on the injury — only to fall victim to an exposed turnbuckle herself, causing her to get pinned.
Full rundown —
– The show opened with a tribute graphic for Joe “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis.
– A quick video recapped last week’s episode before taking a look at this week’s lineup: Pete Dunne presides over the drawing of the Heritage Cup and Kay Lee Ray looks to defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Piper Niven.
– We saw that Sid Scala was meeting with the seven announced participants for the Heritage Cup earlier today, telling them to behave and be respectful. Noam Dar kept playing on his phone, so Alexander Wolfe slapped it out of his hands.
Non-title match: NXT UK Champion WALTER pinned Saxon Huxley after a powerbomb (6:09)
Huxley looked to hit a big boot, but WALTER immediately went for the sleeper. Huxley came back but quickly was disposed of and sent over the top rope. WALTER refused to let Huxley re-enter the ring. Huxley picked up the ring steps and threatened to throw them in the ring, but the referee would have none of it. Huxley kicked WALTER in the head and hit a body slam, then followed with a clothesline off the top rope for a two count. He followed up with an elbow drop after which WALTER rolled to ringside, but Huxley followed with a Thesz Press on the outside.
Huxley went for another running boot, but WALTER moved and Huxley got caught on the ringside barrier and ate a chop for his defiance. Huxley sent WALTER into the chairs, but the champion came back with a running kick to Huxley’s back. WALTER picked Huxley up and threw him back-first on the barrier, then hit a powerbomb to the edge of the apron. The referee started to count and Huxley made it back into the ring by the count of nine.
WALTER hit some chops, but Huxley answered with strikes of his own. WALTER locked in the sleeper, then as Huxley started to fade, hit a huge German suplex. WALTER then hit some more strikes and put Huxley on the top for a big butterfly superplex.
WALTER screamed at Huxley in German to get back on his feet, then struck him down again with a chop to the neck and followed with a powerbomb for the pinfall victory.
After the match, WALTER shouted at the camera in German, telling Dragunov that he destroyed Huxley tonight and would do the same to Dragunov.
– We saw a clip from the break with Huxley stumbling down some stairs, where he met Jack Starz. Starz told him he’d get him next time and Huxley pounded a locker and screamed “Next time!”
– A video ran down the rules of the Heritage Cup.
Heritage Cup Drawing
All seven announced participants, sans the mysterious wildcard entrant, were in the ring with Scala. After being introduced by Scala, Pete Dunne came out to his music with a microphone in hand. He said the Heritage Cup was for those who paved the way, like William Regal, Johnny Saint, and Rollerball Rocco. Dunne said he showed the world what British Wrestling was all about and now it was their turn. Scala started drawing the numbers and announced the matches:
Joseph Conners vs. Dave Mastiff
Wildcard entrant vs. Trent Seven
Flash Morgan Webster vs. A-Kid
Alexander Wolfe vs. Noam Dar
Before Wolfe vs. Dar was announced, Dar said there was no need to draw and got into Wolfe’s face. Wolfe, in German, told Dar in no uncertain terms that he would kick his ass. Dar went for a cheap shot, but Dunne caught his hand, snapped his fingers, and threw him to ringside, protecting the integrity of the Heritage Cup.
– Piper Niven was backstage with a few babyface members of the NXT UK women’s division, getting ready for her match later.
Pretty Deadly (Lewis Howley & Sam Stoker) defeated The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) when Stoker rolled up Boar for the win (8:00)
Boar and Stoker started and Stoker flipped out of an arm drag attempt, but he got hit with another one right away. Primate tagged in and Stoker managed to tag out. Primate ran wild for a bit, hitting a back elbow and a slam before Boar tagged back in. Pretty Deadly distracted the referee, then used some cheap tactics to pull Boar into the rope, gaining the upper hand.
Boar hit a sit-down powerbomb on Stoker, but he quickly got cut off again and was isolated by the heels. Howley went for some submission attempts, but Boar grabbed his hair to escape. Boar rolled through on a reverse body press by Howley, but he was slammed to the mat once more. Boar finally hot-tagged Primate, who ran wild on both members of Pretty Deadly for a bit. After some brawling with all four men, Boar hit a flying headbutt on Stoker, who kicked out. Boar speared Howley through the ropes, allowing Stoker to roll-up Boar for the win.
After the match, Eddie Dennis turned up near the entrance and talked to Pretty Deadly.
– Wild Boar & Primate went backstage during the break and encountered Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews, who tried cheering them up.
– Scala talked to Dunne and said that next week’s match with Wolfe vs. Dar could get out of hand. Dunne offered to be the special guest referee and Scala made it official.
– A graphic also announced a triple threat match for next week. The participants weren’t revealed, but the winner will become the wildcard entrant for the Heritage Cup tournament.
NXT UK Women’s Championship match: Kay Lee Ray retained against Piper Niven after Niven missed a cannonball senton into an exposed turnbuckle (14:24)
They locked up and Niven threw KLR into the corner. The champ quickly fled to ringside to regroup. KLR kicked Niven in the stomach, then started working over her arm, locking in a standing double wristlock. Niven finally escaped and got on offense, throwing KLR across the ring. She followed up with a headbutt, then locked in a choke and a bodyscissors, but KLR escaped and started working Niven’s leg.
Niven finally escaped and sent KLR to ringside. She followed KLR out and went to send her into the steps, but Niven got hit with a superkick instead, followed by a tornado DDT off the apron. KLR went for a running kick, but Niven moved and the champ smashed her knee into the steps. The referee held Niven back while he called for help and had people check on KLR’s knee. Niven was livid at the idea of the match being ruled a no contest. Two referees looked to help KLR to the back and Niven told her she did not want to win the title this way.
KLR slapped Niven and told her she’d never win the title, then Niven hit her back and dragged her back into the ring. Niven went to lock in a half crab on KLR’s injured knee, but KLR made the ropes. KLR came back with a superkick right on the point of Niven’s chin. KLR then made it to the top rope and hit a somersault senton for a close near fall. KLR picked up Niven, who kicked her injured leg out from under her, then hit a senton for a two count of her own. Niven looked to pull KLR from the corner, but she held onto the turnbuckle and ripped it off, prompting the ref to fix it.
Niven locked in the half crab once more until KLR escaped. KLR went for the Gory Special but couldn’t get Niven up and was hit with a Michinoku Driver. KLR got her feet on the ropes, then got her knees up on a Vader Bomb attempt by Niven. The referee pleaded with KLR to stop the match while she was in the corner, but Niven went for a running cannonball. KLR moved and Niven’s back hit the exposed turnbuckle, allowing KLR to score the pin and retain her title.
After the match, Jinny came out and watched KLR celebrate as the show went off the air.
Next week —
The Heritage Cup kicks off with Pete Dunne serving as the special guest referee for a first round match between Alexander Wolfe and Noam Dar. A triple threat match with three mystery participants will decide the wildcard entrant for the Heritage Cup tournament.
In place of a new episode of NXT UK, a Prime Target premiered aired on the WWE Network tonight. I can not recommend watching this enough, as it was tremendous and really hyped all the matches for TakeOver, especially the WALTER vs. Joe Coffey WWE UK title match and the Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm vs. Piper Niven triple threat for the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
I was not too hot on the main event up to this point, but after seeing this, I really am looking forward to the match. They told a great story of Coffey losing against Pete Dunne one year ago and finally getting another chance. They also had great clips of WALTER in his home town of Vienna and the traditional wrestling grounds in the city and of Coffey hanging out in Glasgow, preparing with boxing training and being interviewed at Celtic Field stadium.
They also did a great story of hyping the Women’s title match, focusing on the real-life friendship between all three competitors. All three of them were great while being interviewed.
KLR came across as ruthless and like she would do anything to keep the title, while Storm came off almost obsessed and desperate about winning the title back, saying there was no one that it meant more to than her. The star of the segment was Niven, who was so sympathetic and also bewildered about what became of her two friends. She also got very emotional at one point, bringing up Lionheart, the British wrestler who died in June of 2019 and was her best friend, stating that she lived his dream too by competing in WWE.
There also were segments on the four-way ladder match for the NXT UK Tag Team titles, with Gallus also being featured during the WALTER/Joe Coffey clips, and the Eddie Denis vs. Trent Seven and Jordan Devlin vs. Tyler Bate matches. Between all of those, this could be the best NXT UK TakeOver yet.
The Prime Target special is available to watch below:
Full rundown —
The special opened with a number of NXT UK wrestlers and officials looking all the way back to the first-ever WWE UK Tournament in January 2017. Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Toni Storm, Nigel McGuinness, and William Regal all talked about the tournament and the city of Blackpool.
Joe Coffey then talked about being in the first NXT UK TakeOver main event in Blackpool and how fond his memories were, as he watched back clips from the match. He said he found respect for Pete Dunne that night.
The scene then switched over to the debut of WALTER at the end of that TakeOver and WALTER booting Coffey in the face. Coffey discussed becoming an afterthought of that match and how it nagged him that he couldn’t get the job done. He said he needed to prove himself and discussed how he might be able to sleep better once he lets the ghosts of that night behind himself.
The next scene then was of Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis grabbing his hand after a match at the recent set of tapings. Sid Scala talked about Dennis being an outsider and people not knowing what he was up to. The next clip was of Dennis decking Seven with a microphone.
Joe Coffey was filmed at an independent show in Glasgow and talked about first seeing wrestling at about four or five years old. He said the first match he ever saw was Nailz vs. Big Boss Man from Survivor Series 1992.
Coffey’s best friend, Jackie Polo, was then shown, talking about them being fans and Coffey once telling him he had a chairs match against Kane the night before when he was about eight years old. Coffey’s mother then talked about him breaking beds by trying wrestling moves on them. Graham McKay, the promoter for British Championship Wrestling, mentioned Coffey telling him he would be a WWE superstar one day.
WALTER was then shown at the SmackDown house show in Vienna last November, where he met some fans and signed autographs. He said he wasn’t emotional about competing in Vienna, but he was proud because of the rich history wrestling had there. He said he wasn’t just representing the UK but all of Europe. He said he would return to Vienna as the WWE UK Champion.
Next up was Piper Niven, who discussed her friendship with Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray and how much of their careers went in parallel all over the world. They ended up in WWE, and Niven said it looked like Storm and KLR drifted apart.
Storm then said she couldn’t trust KLR, so why should she trust Niven? All she had was herself. Niven said these two were not her friends anymore — she would be in the ring with two strangers.
Nigel McGuinness talked about the triple threat and how KLR got into Storm’s head when she won the NXT UK Women’s Championship from her. Niven said ever since Storm lost to KLR, she was not the same person anymore.
KLR said she didn’t have to do anything, as Storm and Niven took each other out. Storm said nobody needed this as much as she did.
Niven talked about how she at times wanted to quit, but then she thought about her best friend who passed away (“Lionheart” Adrian McCallum) and who’s dream it also was to make it to WWE. She now lived the dream for both of them.
Kay Lee Ray said the name plates on the title don’t read “Toni Storm” — they read “Kay Lee Ray” and they would never say “Piper Niven.” She said she would continue to cement her legacy on top of their broken dreams.
Gallus were shown walking around The Barras, a major market in Glasgow, and then working out together. Sid Scala talked about how they considered NXT UK their kingdom. Wolfgang talked about how they couldn’t wait to get their hands on Imperium. Mark Coffey discussed their recent attack and how it took weeks away from him and he was in physical therapy. They also talked about Ilja Dragunov stepping up and taking a beating by Imperium.
Scala discussed the tag team scene exploding and The Grizzled Young Veterans chimed in, talking about how they were the best tag team on the brand. They said the three-way tag match at TakeOver: Cardiff was an excuse by Scala and Johnny Saint to get the titles off them.
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster then discussed winning the titles, followed by Gallus talking about beating Andrews & Webster for them. They then cut to the announcement of the four-way ladder match and had clips from some of the classic ladder matches in WWF/WWE history and even a clip of Razor Ramon talking about “not just your precious gold being on the line, but your body and your career.”
Webster and Andrews said they would win the titles at any cost. Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner were next and Barthel said a ladder match had nothing to do with what they stood for, but if this was what they had to do to change the NXT Universe, so be it. It would just be a matter of time until they had all the gold.
WALTER next discussed going to the Heumarkt in Vienna the day after the house show. This is the famous open-air ice skating area in Vienna where wrestling tournaments took place during the summer months for decades. WALTER said he saw his first-ever wrestling match there.
Clips were shown of WALTER being at the ice skating rink and talking about his match with Joe Coffey. He said this was inspiring to him and reminded him what was important for him on a professional level.
WALTER said the wrestlers back in that day were gentlemen and not drunk hooligans. He said he didn’t care about being in street fights, as he is a professional athlete. He said Joe Coffey represented hooligan culture and WALTER said if he was a teenager and wanted to impress his friends, that’s what he would do. He said he couldn’t blame Coffey, as he had no idea of the rich history of the sport as WALTER did.
WALTER asked about famous historic figures in Scotland and came up with William Wallace, calling him a wild barbarian who ran around in a skirt. WALTER said he had been to Glasgow and the place was wild, so he really couldn’t blame anybody growing up there for acting the way Coffey did.
Coffey then was shown at the Celtic Park football stadium, being interviewed during a football match on the field with his Gallus brethren. They interacted with some of the players and the interview was shown on the big screen at the stadium.
Next up was Tyler Bate, talking about his WWE UK title match against WALTER at TakeOver: Cardiff. They showed clips of the speech he made at the tapings after the show, talking about how he felt he let the fans down.
This was followed by Jordan Devlin cutting a promo on Bate, telling him that Devlin was the only one who would be able to defeat WALTER. Devlin sang his own praises and said he would show the world how good he was at Bate’s expense.
William Regal then talked about how Devlin vs. Bate would be the match of the year. Bate said he was tired of letting the people and himself down. Devlin said he knew how good Bate was, but he was better. Bate said it was time to see if Devlin could live up to his own hype.
Joe Coffey was back for the next segment in his kitchen and talked about having a boxing match in preparation of his bout with WALTER. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang then once more talked about Joe’s match against Pete Dunne and how he needed a year to get another shot.
While Joe was shown warming up in the boxing gym, WALTER said Joe spent too much time thinking about how WALTER would react when he hit him, calling Joe naive for thinking he could dictate what would happen in their match. He then said Joe should rather worry about WALTER hitting him.
The special then concluded with a great video package running down all of the matches scheduled for Sunday’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II show, using highlight clips and quotes from all the performers.
NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II —
TakeOver airs this coming Sunday, January 12 at noon ET/5 p.m. GMT on the WWE Network. You’ll be able to read my rundown, thoughts, and analysis on the front page, starting with the pre-show that begins 30 minutes earlier.
Card:
WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER defending against Joe Coffey
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray defending against Toni Storm and Piper Niven in a triple threat match
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defending against The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake), Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner), and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in a fatal four-way ladder match
This is a gigantic weekend for major shows, maybe the busiest of the year:
Smackdown tonight in Milwaukee
ROH Final Battle at 8 p.m. Eastern from Baltimore on Honor Club and PPV headlined by Rush vs. PCO for the ROH title, Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham for the tag titles ad Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee for the TV title
Warrior Wrestling tonight at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago on FITE TV at 8 p.m. with Will Ospreay & Rocky Romero & Amazing Red vs. Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel, Brian Cage vs. El Phantasmo for the Warrior title, Minoru Suzuki vs. Tom Lawlor, Lance Archer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. and many others including Michael Elgin, Drago, Black Taurus, Jake Atlas, Ace Austin and Templario. This is one of the most loaded indie shows of the year.
Tonight at 9:30 p.m. has CMLL at Arena Mexico on the CMLL You Tube Page headlined by Caristico & Negro Casas & Valiente vs. Soberano Jr. & Euforia & Ultimo Guerrero
UFC 245 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas:
Prelims at 6:15 p.m. Eastern
Oskar Piechota (186) vs. Punahele Soriano (185.5)
Jessica Eye (131) vs..Viviane Araujo (126)
Kai Kara France (125.5) vs. Brandon Moreno (125.5)
Chase Hooper (144.5) vs. Daniel Teymur (145.5)
ESPN 2 at 8 p.m.
Matt Brown (171) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
Omari Akhmedov (185.5) vs. Ian Heinisch (185.5)
Irene Aldana (135.5) vs. Ketlen Vieira (136)
Geoff Neal (170) vs. Mike Perry (170.5)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Urijah Faber (135.5) vs. Petr Yan (135.5)
Jose Aldo (136) vs. Marlon Moraes (135.5)
Amanda Nunes (136) vs. Germaine de Randamie (134.5) for the women’s bantamweight title
Max Holloway (145) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (144.5) for the featherweight title
Kamaru Usman (170) vs. Colby Covington (170) for the welterweight title
*Eye missed weight by a full five pounds. She was fined 30 percent of her purse. On Twitter, Eye said she had no excuse and was thankful the fight was still happening.
NWA at 6:05 p.m. Eastern on PPV from Atlanta with Nick Aldis vs. James Storm for the NWA title 2/3 falls with Tim Storm and Brian Hebner as referees plus Rock & Roll Express vs. WildCard for the NWA tag titles.
Guerra de Titanes from AAA in Ciudad Madero will be on the AAA Twitch channel featuring Big Mami vs. Lady Maravilla in a hair vs. hair match, plus a no DQ main event with Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Drago vs. Blue Demon Jr.& Bestia Del Ring & Rush, Pentagon Jr. & Fenix defend the AAA tag titles in a three-way against Australia Suicide & ? and El Hijo del Vikingo & ?, and Brian Cage & Puma King & Murder Clown & Pagano vs. Killer Kross & Black Taurus & El Texano Jr. & Chessman.
WWE TLC from the Target Center in Minneapolis:
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin TLC match
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch TLC match for women’s tag title
Bray Wyatt (not The Fiend) vs. The Miz non-title
Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev tables match
New Day vs. Revival Smackdown tag titles in a ladder match
Viking Raiders open challenge for Raw tag titles
Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy
As for other stuff, A.J. Styles vs. Randy Orton hasn’t been announced but was on the lineup earlier in the week. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Braun Strowman was scheduled but has been pulled since Strowman hasn’t been cleared unless something changes today. Bayley vs. Lacey Evans was listed last week but as of earlier today it was called not expected and they were not planning to hold that match off until the Royal Rumble. As of earlier today, a kickoff match was being added and that would be the only other match, but this is WWE and they could add matches on Sunday.
We’ll be taking polls this week for the ROH, NWA, UFC and WWE big shows, thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re also looking for reports on these weekend shows:
Warrior Wrestling tonight from Chicago
Smackdown tonight from Milwaukee with the dark matches
NXT tonight in Visalia, CA
WWE Saturday night in Cedar Rapids, IA which is a joint branded show with Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bray Wyatt and others.
Raw on Monday will be from Des Moines, IA. They will be doing a five plus hour taping with all the matches for the 12/23 Raw also being taped. Smackdown will be live every week but they aren’t running a live show between Friday 12/20 and the return on 12/26.
WWE took a step forward this past weekend by resolving their situations with a few wrestlers who wanted out of the company.
In quick succession on Sunday, WWE announced that Luke Harper, Sin Cara, and The Ascension had been released: “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara, and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson (Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Harper’s release saga was nearly eight months long. He went public with his request via a statement he posted online on April 16. He spent the next five months off of television before then returning in a pretty significant angle at Clash of Champions, helping Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns in their no disqualification match.
Our biggest issue of the year, the 2019 Hall of Fame issue is out with complete balloting results, breakdowns by category, bios of the new entrants, comparisons with how everyone did last year, as well as who will be on next year’s ballot who will be removed from next year’s ballot, breakdowns on how each new inductee did in different groups and a look back at a lot of stellar careers. We also talk about the future of the Hall of Fame.
Feature on the development of pro wrestling in France at the turn of the previous century and the wrestler generally considered most responsible for establishing pro wrestling in that country.
The two Tokyo Dome shows, as well as New Japan’s last three events of 2019. We look at the good and bad aspects of the lineups and the comparisons with last year. We look at the retirement of Jushin Liger, the signing of Dragon Lee and his change to Ryu Lee and talk about the different titles at stake.
Drug test suspensions of Robert Roode and Primo Colon and why guys can look the way they look with drug testing and how WWE’s testing greatly differs from others, a look at the releases of Luke Harper, The Ascension and Sin Cara, major change for Miz & Mrs., WWE star hints leaving, Canadian ratings, signing of Oney Lorcan, Tribute to the Troops coverage, Lana death threats, Ronda Rousey talks potential return, current plans for holiday shows, celebrity training for a WWE stint, a rundown on the different people at the last tryout camp including a former MMA champion, the boyfriend of a reality show star and a number of high level women athletes including a former WNBA player, an incident at a house show, value of WWE stock, most-watched show on the WWE Network as well as a rundown of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week with business notes , results and highlights.
2019 Tokyo Sports awards, including what wrestles historically have had the most MVP trophies and the most match of the year trophies.
TLC PPV including the changes in the show and the ticket demand.
Next Wednesday ratings battle and why it is the most interesting in several weeks.
Dave Bautista’s career, the NWO, and look back at the program that made Bautista’s career and the good and the bad of the NWO.
New Japan tag team tournament, whether the changes in format worked, the business of the final night, standings, match-by-match coverage and star ratings of the last night.
Saturday’s UFC show from D.C. with the business notes on the show and match-by-match coverage.
Look back at the life of Andy Robin, a U.K. star who was one of the greatest performers in the history of pro wrestling in Scotland.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
We will have shows for the next four nights with tonight’s show on Smackdown and the ROH show, plus Hall of Fame, Wednesday ratings, and UFC preview and a lot more.
Regarding the ratings, the actual final numbers for same day were NXT at 778,300 if you include the overrun and 771,400 head-to-head. AEW did 778,000. Head-to-head in the numbers the TV industry cares, which is 18-49, NXT had 367,000 viewers and NXT had 301,100, and if you factor in the overrun, 306,300.
Piper Niven (Kimberly Benson) aka Viper of WWE U.K. noted today that she had a case of Bell’s Palsy, a facial paralysis malady best known in wrestling because of Jim Ross’ repeated issues with it over the last 25 years. She seems to be in good spirits.
WWN has announced it will be holding its WrestleMania week events in Tampa at the Brian Glazer Family JCC, which is the former location of the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, which had all those incredible matches every Tuesday night in the 60s and 70s with every major wrestling star of that era. There will be a multi-promotional tournament, Progress, WNN Supershow, Shimmer Kaiju Big Battel, Evolve and wXw shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Mania week.
The New Day, The Usos and Naomi will be appearing on season 14 of Nick Cannon’s Improv comedy show “Wild N Out” on VH-1. The first episode is 1/7 at 8 p.m.
Some odds for Sunday from BetOnline.ag
Bray Wyatt -1500 vs. The Miz +575
Kabuki Warriors -200 vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch +150
Roman Reigns -500 vs. King Corbin +300
Rusev -150 vs. Bobby Lashley +110
Aleister Black -500 vs. Buddy Murphy +300
A web series about the Japanese food culture in New York had Asuka this week talking about sushi, how she started wrestling and eating on the road.
BT is launching a new monthly sports pass for £25 per month in the UK. Its includes 4K HDR streaming for Premier League, Champions League games, WWE and other sports. (thanks to Jose Gonzalez)
UFC
UFC has announced a 2/29 show in Norfolk which goes head-to-head with AEW’s Revolution PPV show.
UFC is working on a big heavyweight bout where the winner will almost surely get a title shot between Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Francis Ngannou for 3/28 in Columbus, OH. Another fight being worked on is Cody Garbrandt vs. Raphael Assuncao.
UFC has reached a deal with Snapchat where UFC will have at least 200 pieces of content to the Discover page including UFC Pulse three times a week, Embedded before the biggest shows and other story shows revolving around the major events.
Tickets for the 2/8 PPV show from the Toyota Center in Houston went on sale today with Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes for the light heavyweight title and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Katlyn Chookagian for the women’s flyweight title.
MISCELLANEOUS
A final promo piece for the Nick Aldis vs. James Storm NWA title match tomorrow.
The movie “Mob Town” which features David Arquette premiers today in select theaters along with Video on Demand, Amazon Prime and more. NEW promoter Michael Lombardi also had an appearance in the movie.
Eve runs tomorrow at the Resistance Gallery in London with Rhia O’Reilly vs. Jetta for the Eve championship in the main event.
MLW returns to Chicago on 4/18 at Cicero Stadium. They also have tickets on sale for a 7/16 return to New York at the Melrose Ballroom.
Cheeseburger from ROH is taking bookings through Bill Behrens at [email protected] Behrens also noted that he no longer represents Ryback or Flip Gordon on bookings.
Future of Honor tomorrow night in Joppa,MD at the MCW Arena with Rhett Titus vs. Jonathan Gresham as the main event.
MCW on 12/27 in Baltimore at Perry High School with Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson and Private Party.
Evolve has announced a recruitment camp 1/3 to 1/5 in Port Richey, FL. Guest coaches will include Terry Taylor, Steve Corino, Norman Smiley, Sean Hayes, Jeremy Borash, referee D.A,. Brewer and Gabe Sapolsky who all work for WWE. There will also be NXT roster members coaching and those in the camp will get to on the last day do a PPV like show. For more info go to www.WWNLive.com and look for the Seminar/Tryout section.
559 Fights tomorrow night in Fresno at the Rainbow Ballroom.
IPW in New Zealand at 1 a.m. Eastern ha an iPPV on FITE featuring Toa Henare.
PWA/Fale Dojo on Saturday in Sydney has Jushin Liger & Robbie Eagles vs. Jack Bonza & Bad Luck Fale plus Mick Moretti, Madison Eagles, Jessica Troy, Michael Richards and others on OvoPlay.
AAW Windy City Classic on 12/28 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL with Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu for the AAW title, Jessicka Havok (Impact) vs. Kris Statlander (AEW) for the women’s title, Paco vs. Hakim Zane for the Heritage title, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Good Brother #3 in a dog collar chain match and Eddie Kingston & David Starr vs.; Curt Stallion & Jake Something in a street fight.
Combate Americas on 1/25 Arena Coliseo in San Juan, PR featuring boxing champion Amanda Serrano (37-1-1 with 27 knockouts in boxing, 1-0-1 in MMA) vs. boxing rival Dahianna Santana (36-12, 15 knockouts in boxing, 0-0 in MMA) in a 130-pound fight under MMA rules. Serrano beat Santana in 2017 at the Barclays Center.
Combate Americas runs tonight on AXS TV from Stockton, CA headlined by Horacio Gutierrez (6-3) vs. Marlon Gonzales (15-4).
Maki Itoh, Tokyo Joshi Pro International champion, faces Session Moth Martina for Eve on 1/1 in London at Wrestle Queendom 3.
WrestleRock from today in Melbourne, Australia: Hartley Jackson b Ritchie Taylor, Xena b Nick Bury to win the women’s title, Caveman Ugg b Mitch Waterman, Ritchie Taylor won Rumble, Toni Storm b Avary (this got a real good reaction), CK Dowie b Mad Dog to keep WrestleRock title, Ritchie Taylor b CK Dowie to win WrestleRock title (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Taped at The Brentwood Centre in Brentwood, Essex, England on October 4, 2019
Quick results —
Tom Philips is Nigel McGuinness’ new broadcast partner, with Vic Joseph moving on to Raw.
The Hunt defeated Pretty Deadly, but they got called out by Imperium after the match. The Hunt initially had the upper hand in the ensuing brawl, but Alexander Wolfe helped out his Imperium brothers to turn the tides.
Jordan Devlin defeated Jack Starz, then was called out by Dave Mastiff. Devlin backed off, and Mastiff then beat Kenny Williams.
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews addressed the fans and were interrupted by Gallus, who told them they would win the titles next week.
In the main event, Piper Niven defeated Jazzy Gabert. Niven got the win after Rhea Ripley attacked Gabert at ringside when Jinny interfered. Ripley and Niven look to have put their past issues behind them.
Full rundown —
Tom Philips and Nigel McGuinness are our new announce team, as Vic Joseph is now on Raw. Philips was excited to be there and they announced that next week, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster would defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles against Gallus.
The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) defeated Pretty Deadly (Lewis Howley & Sam Stoker)
Wild Boar and Howley started off. Boar tripped him up off a whip, then hit a back senton and tagged out Primate, who drove Howley into the canvas and gave him a hard suplex slam. He tagged Wild Boar back in and threw him on top of Howley.
Stoker was tagged in and pounded on Boar, then smashed him into the turnbuckle. Pretty Deadly briefly took over with quick tags and some double-team effort. Howley laid into Primate on the apron, but he got distracted and ate a high-angle German suplex by Wild Boar.
Primate tagged in and ran wild on both members of Pretty Deadly. The Hunt then hit double flying headbutts from the top on Stoker for the win.
As The Hunt celebrated, Imperium’s music played and Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner walked out. Barthel said that all he saw was animals defecating on that mat that was so sacred to them. Primate rushed Barthel and Boar joined in, with them briefly getting the upper hand on Imperium.
The tables were quickly turned when Alexander Wolfe joined his brothers and they beat down The Hunt, sending Boar and Primate head-first into the steel steps. Imperium stood victorious over their victims as their music played again.
– With Jinny looking on, Jazzy Gabert was seen shadow boxing backstage in preparation for her match against Piper Niven later tonight.
– A hype video promised Ilja Dragunov would return on NXT UK next week.
Jordan Devlin defeated Jack Starz
Devlin tripped up Starz right away and kept him in a wristlock, but Starz kipped up and spun out of the hold, then slammed Devlin to the mat. Devlin sent Starz into the ring post shoulder-first and punched him, but got caught in a gorilla press coming off the ropes.
The Irish Ace came back right away, stomping Starz in the corner and hitting a shoulder breaker. Devlin hit the uranage/standing moonsault combo, then smashed his elbow into the top of Starz’s head. He hit a high-angle drop, then locked in a top wristlock on Starz and repeatedly stomped him.
Starz fired up and came back with European uppercuts, but got taken out again with a cutter and some Kawada-style kicks. Devlin then hit Devlinside for the win.
Devlin cut a promo after the match, asking how often he had to do this until people realized he was the star of the brand. As he talked himself up against people such as Tyler Bate, Joe Coffey, or WALTER, Dave Mastiff’s music played and he walked out.
Devlin rolled out of the ring and wanted none of The Bomber. Mastiff said he was about to have his match right now, but could make time for another match with the so-called greatest superstar of the company. Devlin walked off.
Dave Mastiff defeated Kenny Williams
Mastiff threw Williams halfway across the ring, then easily resisted a whip-in attempt. Williams tried to use his speed, but got caught off a crossbody attempt. He managed to turn it into a crucifix and then hit a springboard back elbow that rattled Mastiff.
The Bomber still launched Williams over the top rope and Williams rolled his ankle. He tried going to the top back in the ring, but his ankle gave out. Mastiff initially backed off, but then attacked Williams as he went to continue.
Mastiff locked in a modified Cobra Clutch on the mat, but Williams made it back to his feet. Williams got back body dropped from the corner into the middle of the ring, but Mastiff missed a senton when Williams rolled out of the way. Williams tried to hit a springboard stunner. He couldn’t get a hold on it and hurt his ankle some more, but still hit a slingblade for a two count.
Williams went for a wheelbarrow-style takedown, but got launched into the corner and squashed with the rolling cannonball senton for the win. Mastiff and Williams shook hands after the match.
– Backstage, Xia Brookside was speaking into the camera to her followers when Nina Samuels interrupted and mocked her. Brookside then challenged Samuels to face her in the ring.
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in-ring promo
The NXT UK Tag Team Champions came out to a good reaction, and McGuinness reminded us about their upcoming title defense against Gallus next week.
Andrews addressed the fans, said they won because of each and every one of them, and thanked them for their support. Webster said they wanted to make the brand’s tag division the best in the world and would defend their titles anytime, anywhere, against anyone.
Gallus’ music interrupted them and Mark Coffey and Wolfgang appeared behind the announce desk. Coffey told them to stop sucking up to everyone before Gallus took their titles next week. He said the only reason Gallus didn’t come to the ring was because they wanted to have something left from the champions in their title match. Webster then told them he and Andrews would kick both their asses next week.
– NXT UK backstage reporter Alicia Taylor was with Noam Dar, talking about his match with Trent Seven. He said he was moving on, but Seven interrupted him and a number of referees separated the two. Sid Scala was also in the middle of the melee, and Dar sucker-punched Seven. Scala told them they’d settle their issues in the ring next week.
– A clip of Piper Niven’s backstage interview from last week aired. She was interrupted by Jinny and then attacked from behind by Jazzy Gabert. Niven was then seen preparing for her match backstage.
– A video hyped next week’s Tag Team title match between Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster and Gallus. Taylor talked to the champions backstage, but they were interrupted by The Grizzled Young Veterans. Zack Gibson & James Drake said that — no matter who won next week — they’d take their titles back.
Piper Niven defeated Jazzy Gabert (w/ Jinny)
Gabert stood in the center of the ring with her arms folded, waiting for Niven to walk up. They locked up with neither getting an advantage. They separated, then Niven ran into Gabert and eventually sent her to her knees and through the ropes on her third attempt.
Jinny got involved on the apron, distracting Niven as Gabert attacked her from behind. She worked Niven over with hard punches to the neck and back. Niven came back with a few elbows out of the corner, but Gabert picked up Niven and slammed her to the mat, then went for some ground and pound. She stepped on Niven’s spine, then applied a surfboard submission hold. Niven made it back to her feet and powered out of the move, but Gabert kept being in control.
Niven finally hit a few headbutts and a body slam of her own, then hit a diving crossbody splash on a sitting Gabert. Jinny got involved once more, but Niven pulled her into the ring and took her out with a headbutt. As the referee was distracted, Rhea Ripley ran down and hit Gabert with a running boot to the head at ringside, then rolled her back into the ring.
Niven used the opportunity to hit a running senton on Gabert for the pinfall win.
Niven joined Ripley at ringside. She smiled at Ripley, who briefly smiled back. Jinny and Gabert licked their wounds in the ring as Niven walked to the back.
Next week —
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster defend their NXT UK Tag Team titles against Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey). Also, Ilja Dragunov will appear.
Taped August 31 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales
Quick results —
This was mostly a highlight show with clips from UK TakeOver: Cardiff and had just two matches. In the opener, Rhea Ripley, fresh off issuing a challenge to Shayna Baszler on NXT US television, avenged her previous loss to Piper Niven by beating her clean with Riptide.
Kassius Ohno was supposed to face Jack Gallagher in another rematch from a few weeks back, but Gallagher wasn’t able to wrestle. Johnny Saint decided on a surprise replacement who turned out to be his assistant GM, Sid Scala. Scala showed some heart, but Ohno easily beat him.
Full rundown —
The show opened with an NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff highlight video running down all the matches and results.
A graphic plugged a rematch between Kassius Ohno and Jack Gallagher for later tonight.
Rhea Ripley defeated Piper Niven after hitting Riptide (8:34)
They locked up right away and tried getting each other down, with Niven eventually tackling Ripley to the mat. Ripley came back by repeatedly shouldering Niven in the corner, then kept working over her back.
Ripley locked Niven in a modified Camel Clutch while simultaneously cranking her neck, then followed up with her inverted clover leaf. Niven was on the brink of submission until she managed to trip Ripley’s leg and locked in a leglock.
Ripley followed up by slamming Niven’s head into the mat, then went back to her previous submission hold. Niven managed to power out, get on her feet, and fall backwards on Ripley. They traded chops, then Niven hit a belly-to-back suplex and followed with her cannonball senton into the corner. She went to the second turnbuckle and hit a Vader Bomb for a near fall.
Niven went to slam Ripley but her back gave out, allowing Ripley to come back and go for Riptide, but Niven powered out. Niven then hit a headbutt and a crossbody on a seated Ripley for another two count.
Niven tried to go for another move, but Ripley elbowed her in the back of the head in the ropes. Ripley hit Riptide to score the victory.
– Radzi Chinyanganya was talking to Sid Scala, who announced that Jack Gallagher was not medically cleared to face Kassius Ohno tonight. Ohno interrupted Scala and told him to find him a suitable replacement so the main event would not fall through. Ohno said he’d go to the ring now. Johnny Saint whispered something into Scala’s ear and he asked if Saint was sure.
– A clip aired of Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster winning the NXT UK Tag Team titles at TakeOver. Zack Gibson and James Drake walked up to Saint’s door and asked him for a rematch. Gibson said they were a throwback to an era where Saint made his name. Saint said he’d think about it. A graphic then announced the rematch would take place next week.
– Another highlight video with clips from TakeOver aired.
– Footage aired from Joe Coffey and Gallus talking after Coffey’s match against Dave Mastiff from TakeOver. Then another clip aired of Dave Mastiff talking to The Hunt backstage. Both men were being comforted by their friends.
– Next was a clip of Kay Lee Ray winning the NXT UK Women’s title and video of Trent Seven comforting Tyler Bate after his close loss to WALTER after their tremendous match.
– A graphic plugged the return of Tegan Nox to the ring and said she’d debut on NXT UK next week.
Kassius Ohno pinned Sid Scala after hitting the Dream Crusher (7:14)
Ohno came out first, then Scala’s music played and he came to the ring while taking off his tie and jacket. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and was ready to compete against Ohno wearing dress pants, a shirt, and dress shoes.
Ohno took Scala down with a wristlock. He easily prevented a cravat by Scala, but Scala rolled out of Ohno’s path. Scala used his speed to evade Ohno, then hit a sunset flip off the second turnbuckle for a near fall.
Ohno kept manhandling Scala. He ripped Scala’s shirt off, wrapped it around Scala’s leg, and dragged him around. Ohno grounded Scala on the mat and stepped on his ankle, but Scala once more managed to roll up Ohno for a two count.
Ohno attacked Scala more in the corner, but Scala snapped Ohno’s neck over the top turnbuckle. Scala tried following up by launching himself onto Ohno at ringside, but he got taken down in mid-air by a spear.
Scala tried going for a tornado DDT, but Ohno caught him again mid-move and gave him a knee breaker and an outside dragon screw. As Scala limped back onto his feet, Ohno followed up with the Dream Crusher to the back of the head for the win.
Next week —
Tegan Nox makes her NXT UK debut. The Grizzled Young Veterans will also get their NXT UK Tag Team title rematch against Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster.
Piper Niven and Rhea Ripley are set to face off on next week’s episode of NXT UK.
WWE had Johnny Saint post a tweet confirming Niven vs. Ripley for next week: “I can’t ignore the fights that @RheaRipley_WWE and @viperpiperniven have gotten into over recent weeks; so if they want it, they got it! Next week it will be Niven vs Ripley II on #NXTUK!”
Niven and Ripley have had one singles match against each other, with Niven getting the win. On the NXT UK episode from three weeks ago, there was an angle where Niven and Ripley brawled to the back while Niven & Xia Brookside were facing Jazzy Gabert & Jinny.
Ripley confronting NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler aired on last night’s NXT US episode.
Next week’s NXT UK episode is the post-UK TakeOver: Cardiff edition of the show. The matches for it will presumably be taped prior to Saturday’s TakeOver special. NXT UK also has tapings in Cardiff on Sunday.
Video of a promo from Jack Gallagher on yesterday’s NXT UK also set up Gallagher vs. Kassius Ohno for next week.
