The WWE announced today that the debut of the WWE United Kingdom show will be a special airing on Friday, not Thursday night as was originally reported, this week.
Because the top two matches on the show have to do with the NXT TakeOver special on Saturday, they had to air earlier. The show will debut at 3 p.m. Friday Eastern time, which makes sense because that would be prime time in the U.K., the key market. There will be an 8 p.m. replay on Friday night.
Jim Ross and Nigel McGuinness will be doing studio voice overs of the matches taped on May 7th in Norwich, England.
Announced for the show is Tyler Bate vs. Mark Andrews for the U.K. title, and Pete Dunne vs. Trent Seven for the top contender position. WWE has already announced Bate vs. Dunne as the match for TakeOver: Chicago on May 20th. Reports were that both of these matches were excellent.
The other matches that will air will be Rich Swann & Dan Moloney vs. Brian Kendrick & TJP, and Wolfgang vs. Joseph Conners.
– Before the show started, PROGRESS Wrestling co-owner Jim Smallman cut a promo for the live crowd. He said 2017 is the year for British wrestling and acknowledged the chants from last night and made a joke of them. He interacted with those in the crowd who weren’t there at night one.
TV taping results —
– Wolfgang defeated Joseph Conners
This was a lengthy match and Conners controlled most of it. He repeatedly ignored the ref’s requests during the match. Wolfgang caught Conners coming off the second rope with a gut check at one point. The story of the match was Wolfgang selling his ribs after being worked on, but he eventually won with a Swanton Bomb.
– Brian Kendrick & TJP defeated Dan Moloney & Rich Swann
Moloney was over with the crowd after last night, with the audience again chanting “Dan, Dan, Dan.” TJP was taunting the crowd during the early part of the match and thought he was attacking the arm of Moloney over the rope, but turned around to realize that he was doing it to Kendrick. The crowd was very pro-Kendrick during the match as well.
Swann got a hot tag to Moloney after a short time and the crowd chanted “Dan” to each move Moloney hit before he was cut off again by TJP. Kendrick pinned Moloney with a cradle and a handful of tights. Swann and Moloney danced for the crowd after the match.
– Tyson T-Bone defeated Saxon Huxley
T-Bone started the match trying to box with Huxley. The match was short and not very good at all. T-Bone won with a top rope draping DDT.
– Akira Tozawa defeated Tony Nese
This was a very good match. The crowd loved Tozawa and did his battle cry chant during his entrance. After some early offense from Tozawa, Nese took over and tried to submit him with a torture rack. Tozawa escaped but was cut off again and Nese did a springboard moonsault off of the second rope from the outside and into the ring.
There was a really good sequence late into the match with them trading kicks and counters. Nese got the better of it with a double foot stomp to Tozawa on the mat. Nese eventually missed a 450 and Tozawa hit a Saito suplex for two before winning with a senton off the top rope.
– Triple H came out for a promo. The crowd chanted “We want Mania” at him. He acknowledged some of the crowd. He thanked the UK fans for making the shows possible. He said WWE will continue coming back if the fans keep coming to the shows.
– Sam Gradwell defeated James Drake
They had a basic match, with the crowd chanting multiple different things at both. Gradwell won with a diving headbutt.
– Pete Dunne defeated Trent Seven in a number one contender’s match to earn a UK title shot at NXT TakeOver: Chicago
Dunne was introduced as the PROGRESS Wrestling Champion and came out with the belt. He worked on Seven’s arms early in the match. He trapped Seven’s bandaged arm in the steel steps and kicked them while on the outside. He continued working over Seven when they were back in the ring until Seven fired back with chops, a DDT, and a suicide dive.
Dunne countered Seven’s offense, with them eventually brawling on the outside and trading shots on the apron before Seven gave Dunne a German suplex on it. After some more back and forth action, Dunne won with the Bitter End.
He got on the mic after the match and told us people would get hurt and that he’ll win the title at TakeOver “by any means necessary.”
– United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defeated Mark Andrews to retain his title
This was a really good main event. It had lots of counters and “This is awesome” and “British wrestling” chants throughout.
They felt each other out in the early part of the match before having a lot of good back and forth. Andrews went for a shooting star press near the finish, but Bate countered with two knees and followed up with a rolling kick and the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win.
Dunne attacked Andrews on the ramp after the match, which brought out William Regal. Dunne and Bate had a staredown in the ring with Regal watching on as well. Bate posed for the fans and Regal raised his hand, then left while clapping and bowing out of respect to Bate. Bate waved to the crowd and left.
– We were thanked for attending. They announced that the shows will be on the WWE Network later this month.
Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne will once again be facing off with the WWE United Kingdom Championship on the line.
It was announced at yesterday’s UK TV tapings in Norwich that there would be a UK title defense at NXT TakeOver: Chicago on May 20th. The participants for the match were then confirmed today, with Dunne set to challenge for Bate’s title.
Dunne defeated Trent Seven in a number one contender’s match and Bate successfully defended his title against Mark Andrews at today’s tapings. Bate previously defeated Dunne in the finals of WWE’s UK tournament to win the championship.
Bate and Dunne are stablemates as part of British Strong Style outside of WWE.
WWE also confirmed that the shows the company filmed in Norwich this weekend will be making their way to the Network later this month.
TakeOver: Chicago will take place at the Allstate Arena prior to the venue also hosting SmackDown’s Backlash pay-per-view the next night.
This was a loud UK crowd with some very non-PG chants at times. Some chants were irrelevant and took away from the matches occasionally. It was a solid show, with the main event being by far the best match.
Dark match —
– Roy Johnson defeated HC Dyer
This was short and not very good.
TV taping results —
– William Regal came out to a loud ovation, thanking the fans and saying that we’ll be first to witness what they’re doing. He announced Mark Andrews vs. James Drake. The winner will face whoever is champion tomorrow.
– Mark Andrews defeated James Drake
The crowd was very quiet for the start, but soon warmed up with a “let’s go Jesus, Jesus sucks” chant. That was followed by “let’s go Andrews, Jesus sucks” chants. There was a “power of Christ compels you” chant as well.
Andrews reversed a suplex into a stunner, then followed with the shooting star press for the win. The match had a good closing stage with stiff shots from both.
– Saxon Huxley & Akira Tozawa defeated Brian Kendrick & Tony Nese
Huxley was over as the “real Jesus” and Tozawa got a big pop as well. Tozawa got a hot tag and ran wild, including an impressive Sick Kick. Tozawa and Huxley won after Tozawa used a top rope senton splash.
– Pete Dunne defeated Sam Gradwell
Dunne worked over Gradwell’s arm/fingers for a lot of the match. They traded stiff slaps during the middle portion. Dunne caught Gradwell coming off the top rope with a forearm and followed with the Bitter End for the win.
– TJP defeated Rich Swann
Swann was on offense early before TJP started working over his leg. Swann made a short comeback, trading hard kicks with TJP after escaping a kneebar attempt. After exchanging pin attempts, TJP locked in the kneebar for the win. This was a standard 205 Live match.
– Tyson T-Bone defeated Dan Moloney
The crowd chanted “Dan, Dan, Dan” in the cadence of the “10” chant. This was nothing special. T-Bone won with a draping DDT off the top turnbuckle.
– Trent Seven defeated Wolfgang
This was a good, hard-hitting match. Wolfgang “injured” Seven’s arm, which played into the match later when Seven couldn’t properly apply a single-leg crab. Wolfgang tried a Swanton, but Seven countered with two knees and won with a Burning Hammer.
– WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defeated Joseph Conners to retain his title
Excellent match. Conners used some unique offense, including a backdrop into a front slam combination. Bate fired back with a flurry of punches to the crowd’s delight.
Bate did a Fosbury flop where he caught the top rope on the way over but still managed to adjust and hit the move. He hit a second rope fireman’s carry and the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win.
– Dunne will face Seven on tomorrow’s show. The winner will challenge for the UK title at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
The Big News: Tyler Bate defeated Jack Gallagher to retain the WWE UK title.
The Medium News: Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot brawled all over creation on multiple occasions.
The Little Beaver-sized News: The new backstage interviewer, Christy St. Cloud, introduced herself, which stunned me to the point that I didn’t realize she never actually asked Ruby Riot a question.
**********
The show started with Nikki Cross running into the ring during the opening theme song, looking out of control. She left the ring and went to the ring announcer and called out Ruby Riot to “come out and play.”
This brought out Riot, who cautiously got in the ring. The fans chanted “fight” as the two women gave them what they wanted. They went clobbering on each other, with referees finally interfering when Cross threw Riot into the ring steps outside the ring. Riot didn’t stay down and they continued to slug away on each other. Every time they seemed to part, Cross would dive off the ring steps onto Riot.
The fans wanted them to keep fighting as the referees finally succeeded in dragging Cross to the back.
**********
We were reminded of last week’s angle where Hideo Itami returned and laid out the glorious NXT Champion, Bobby Roode, with a Go to Sleep.
Fast forward to today and Kayla Braxton tried to interview Roode, but she was cut off by the champion. Roode said things have changed and this is his NXT. Itami can challenge him all day long, but if he wants a championship opportunity he is going to have to earn it.
**********
Drew McIntyre defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
This match was set up last week when Almas was bullying McIntyre at the WWE Performance Center. Thankfully, Heavy Machinery was filming it because we may not have believed such shenanigans and not had this match because of it.
Almas was all about the shenanigans again, but McIntyre was having none of it. The early highlight was Almas laying in the ropes, as he’s prone to do, but McIntyre gave him a running boot.
McIntyre exploded from there, punching Almas down in the corner and coming off the top rope with an elbow to his standing foe. Almas got in some chops, but McIntyre caught him and dropped him with a powerslam before picking up the win with the running boot.
**********
Mr. William Regal announced Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross for later on tonight.
**********
We had part one of a series of video packages, asking the question “Who is Roderick Strong?” He’s been on NXT for over six months and we’re finally getting introductory videos for the guy.
As always when they do these videos, this was very good and worth going out of your way to see:
**********
Aleister Black defeated Kona Reeves
The former Noah Kekoa and Noah Pontjes was back to square off with the undefeated Aleister Black. Reeves attacked at the bell, and it was pretty much downhill for him from there. Black blocked his attempt at a turnbuckle smash and kicked him in every part of his body before winning with Black Mass.
**********
A new announcer, Christy St. Cloud, literally introduced herself before interviewing Ruby Riot. That was so shocking I didn’t even notice that she didn’t actually ask Riot a question. Anyway, Riot said that she rebels against the norm, like SAnitY, but the difference is SAnitY wants everyone else to conform.
**********
Braxton was running out of the arena to try to ask Almas about losing to McIntyre earlier, but Almas (who showered and dressed in 15 minutes) was leaving the arena with a plethora of women.
Being the person he is, he did offer Braxton a chance to be part of his groupies, but Braxton ignored him the same way Almas ignored her question.
**********
The match between Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot never actually started
Riot was walking to the ring when she was attacked by Cross. They resumed their crazy brawl from earlier, but this time got to do it by the stage. Finally, a bunch of referees ran back out in an effort to throw them in the ring. Well, this is why you don’t use referees as lumberjacks.
Riot dove off the stage onto Cross, which was as much as the officials would allow, as Riot was dragged away and then Cross was literally carried away by four people.
This might be the first time in wrestling history that you need a cage match just to keep the two of them in the ring.
**********
Mr. Regal talked to Asuka backstage and told her that we will have a battle royal next week to determine her next challenger. Asuka completely blew it off and walked off.
**********
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defeated Jack Gallagher to retain his title
This is Bate’s second official title defense. I know he defended it at Axxess and I know he defended it on non-WWE shows. I am literally just repeating what was said to me on TV.
As expected, these two put on an excellent wrestling exhibition. These two, almost mirror images of each other, reversed each other’s moves and holds and then reversed their reversals. Back from commercial, Gallagher had taken over with an armbar. Bate tried to fight out of it, but Gallagher held onto that armbar for an extended period of time.
Bate was somehow able to turn it into a test of strength that neither could get the advantage of, and they both had to bridge out of a double pin. Bate got a near fall with the hesitation German suplex, but ended up in another armbar when he went for a suplex.
Bate took over and sent Gallagher to the outside, but when he went for a suicide dive, Gallagher met him with a headbutt and then another one inside the ring for a two count. Can people stop using headbutts? Seriously. Anyway, Bate hit his rolling kick and the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win.
We saw several of the UK wrestlers in the front row after the match. The only one not clapping was Pete Dunne. Instead he just stared a hole through Bate’s head.
Before we go, I just want to say that WWE Network needs to work on their buffering issues. This show went off the air at 8:52 and it took me until 9:14 to watch the whole thing with the constant buffering. I never have issues with other streaming services or with anything in WWE’s on-demand section.
Let’s hope they clear things up, but that will do it from here. I want to thank everyone for reading, and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Good Friday was the beginning of a breakout weekend for Fight Club: PRO. In front of the largest crowd in the promotion’s history (having swapped its cozy Fixxion Warehouse venue for the more spacious Diamond Banqueting Hall), they successfully presented a genuine contender for Show of the Year with Elite Friday.
As the name suggests, this was the latest stop on Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks’ tour of the British Isles. The previous two days had seen them perform in Scotland and London, while the following day will see them cross the Irish Sea to wrestle for Over the Top Wrestling.
But it’s Wolverhampton that managed to secure the highest profile opponents for them. Fight Club: PRO is co-owned by WWE UK wrestler Trent Seven, with his WWE UK colleagues Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne also being regular fixtures for the promotion. So Wolverhampton saw a unique matchup: one of the biggest acts in New Japan going up against the three men soon to be the centerpieces of a WWE television program.
The pro wrestlers involved didn’t ignore the promotional politics. After a start that was dominated by the crowd demanding the different wrestlers stop to give them a wave (a common chant in English sporting events), The Elite got on the microphone. After mocking the Brits for signing such low-figure deals with the WWE compared to what they make independently, they went to deliver three superkicks, only for Dunne, Seven, and Bate to counter with stereo Pedigrees.
What was impressive was that was the moment when the match shifted gears as they upped the intensity of their work. The men involved didn’t need to do that, the crowd was having a good time with the comedy and chanting, but they all clearly wanted to have a great match.
There were far too many impressive spots to mention, with Bate diving over the ring apron to deliver stereo Meltzer Drivers a particular highlight. What it lacked in intensity in terms of fans caring which of the two monster babyface teams would win, it more than made up for with the sheer scale of the spectacle.
Omega would ultimately get the win, hitting the One Winged Angel on Dunne. It can’t be stressed enough, if The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are among the best in the world, then so are the members of British Strong Style. The two teams were equal participants in a great match, with the Brits matching the New Japan stars, step for step. Omega put over the three Brits afterwards, noting how far the three had developed since he first toured the UK in 2008.
As The Elite prepared to move onto their next stop, Fight Club: PRO was also heading out. Because, for the first time, the promotion is leaving its Wolverhampton base for a national tour, with stops in Manchester and London.
Co-owner Martin Zaki spoke to us about the logistics involved: “In 2015 and 2016 we teamed up with CHIKARA and assisted them in conducting what had been an ever elusive desire of coming to the UK. Following the success of these, and also fan requests for us to return to places like Manchester and London it seemed like something we just had to do. Logistically it’s not too difficult. I really think it helps that our home is located centrally and therefore travel anywhere within the country is relatively easy. That being said, moving 30 – 40 people around the country is never going to be the simplest task.”
The gamble has more than paid off with all three shows selling out. Indeed so large was the crowd on Friday that the queue literally went around the block.
The heart of the tour is the Dream Tag Team Invitational Tournament. All three shows feature matches as part of the tournament with the promotion bringing in internationally renowned talent to supplement their regular roster.
Zaki explained the idea behind the tournament: “For as long as I have loved independent wrestling, tag team wrestling has been a passion. However, I believe it is something that promoters generally shy away from when it comes to international teams as let’s face it, they are double the cost. We looked at the idea and just said ‘let’s do it’ but if we are going to then let’s make it ridiculous. The result is DTTI and judging by people’s reactions we certainly achieved the ridiculous.”
We saw the first two matches of the tournament on Friday. In an upset, Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr. lost to The Hunter Brothers. I say an upset, but it would be fair to say that the promo work of The LDRS telegraphed the result. Both men began by berating the crowd, telling them how much they preferred wrestling in America, and promising that the forthcoming match would be over in ten seconds.
It was the perfect setup for the veteran team, who have been wrestling for over 11 years without achieving the international acclaim that younger Brits have gained, to be the underdog babyfaces. There was a lot of comedy early on, with Sabre and Scurll doing an elaborate chain wrestling sequence to prevent themselves from falling over after they had been spun around by the brothers.
The subtle-heel technical wrestling of Sabre and Scurll made for a good contrast to the high flying of The Hunter Brothers, a dynamic that played into the finish of Lee Hunter diving into a Sabre triangle choke but managing to reverse an attempted armbar into a cradle.
While the match was well-worked, it was slightly hurt by the fact that the crowd was getting tired. The promotion called an astute audible to bring forward the intermission to give the crowd a break.
The other tournament match saw Mark Andrews & Eddie Dennis defeat Jack Evans & Angelico in a fun, fast-paced match. As is to be expected from the men involved, there was plenty of high-flying action, most notably both Andrews and Angelico diving from the balconies on either side of the building in quick succession.
One of the side effects of booking a tag team tournament over three days is that you have to find things for the international competitors to do in the days they’re not competing. Rey Fenix & the former Pentagon Jr. will be facing Pete Dunne & Sami Callihan in Manchester, but in Wolverhampton the Lucha Brothers fought each other.
This was everything that you would hope for from the two, with Pentagon winning a match that successfully combined high flying and intricate matwork as only the best lucha libre can. Pentagon’s star quality and ability to work the crowd is something to see. If he can ever fully escape his Lucha Underground contract, he could easily be the breakout star that WWE is looking for.
Speaking of Callihan, he won an enjoyable three-way dance against Shane Strickland and Lio Rush, pinning the latter with a package piledriver. Surprisingly, considering that Callihan is something of a regular for the promotion, it was Rush that got by far the biggest reaction of the three.
The match was cleverly constructed, with all three clearly going out of their way to avoid the cliched format of one person laying down in a corner for a prolonged period while the other two wrestle. Instead they successfully performed intricate three-way exchanges without ever getting lost despite wrestling at a quick pace. That said, as the match built to its finish, it did begin to conform to follow the standard format more.
Of course, not every month will see Fight Club: PRO bring the world’s hottest indie wrestlers to Wolverhampton. With this in mind, the promotion shrewdly used the shows to showcase their new champion, Travis Banks, in a series of spotlight matches.
I feel that Banks is a future superstar, and Zaki agrees. “His intensity, his drive, his passion is incredible,” Zaki said. “He truly deserves every success that comes to him. He has played a huge role, possibly bigger than he realizes, in Fight Club: PRO achieving the recognition it does right now.”
One of the most impressive things about Banks is how he shrewdly manages his career. I spoke to him for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and a key thing he stresses to young wrestlers is the need to build contacts. One of those contacts helped him enter Fight Club: PRO.
“Prior to Trav coming to the UK we were contacted by Kyle O’Reilly, vouching for him and asking if we could look to perhaps book him at some point,” Zaki said. “Right here we knew he would be good. It did not take him long to prove that he wasn’t just good, he was great.”
He had a superb match on Friday with Will Ospreay, proving himself equal to one of the best in the business. The story of the match was simple but effective, with “The Aerial Assassin” landing several spectacular moves on the champion before wilting in the face of the onslaught from “The Kiwi Buzzsaw.”
Banks’ work has genuine physicality, and is a world away from the more junior heavyweight style that we often see from Ospreay. His fiery comebacks were particularly impressive, with his facial expressions and strong style offense conveying real intensity. He would win by submitting Ospreay with the crossface.
His next defense will be against Mark Haskins, who cemented his (previously announced) contender status by winning the show’s opener. Although there was no ladder, this was very much in the style of the multi-man ladder matches that often open WrestleMania.
This was all action, with the wrestlers’ ability to deliver big spot after big spot with no transitions enhanced by there being so many people involved. What had been billed as a four-way dance was supplemented by two surprise additions: Jimmy Havoc and Nixon Newell. The latter was a genuine surprise considering that the promotion’s last two shows had been built around celebrating her career before she goes to NXT.
Newell is yet another example of how the argument that hardcore fans refuse to accept clean-cut babyfaces is nonsense. Much like Bayley, she’s a girl next door who likes pop music but is adored by the predominately male crowd because she’s great at what she does. I’m not a fan of intergender matches, but there’s no denying that she was every bit the equal of the men in the crowd. She not only moves around the ring incredibly smoothly, but has genuine aptitude for delivering high-flying moves. She should become a huge star over in America.
Fight Club: PRO Elite Friday was one of the best shows you are likely to see this year. It was a deep card, with genuine superstars of either the British or international indie scene in every match, and they all pushed themselves to deliver great action.
As Zaki explained to me: “We never stress this but I feel it is subconsciously known and understood, if you come to Fight Club: PRO then we expect your best and we expect you to give it all for that crowd, in return you will be given the freedom to express yourself as you wish with our full trust and support.” Everyone involved sure made the most of that freedom.
Will Cooling writes for Fighting Spirit Magazine, the UK’s biggest and best full-color pro wrestling and mixed martial arts newsstand magazine. This month, he looks at how pro wrestling has failed to participate in Television’s Golden Age and why the bloom has come off the rose for NXT.
A WWE title will be defended on another promotion’s show during WrestleMania weekend.
PROGRESS Wrestling co-owner Glen Joseph announced on Facebook Live today that Tyler Bate would put his WWE United Kingdom Championship up for grabs against Mark Andrews on March 31st at PROGRESS: Orlando.
The match is based on an angle where Bate and Trent Seven previously interfered to help Pete Dunne retain the PROGRESS title over Andrews. Joseph read a letter that was supposedly from William Regal referencing the interference and announcing that Bate vs. Andrews would now be for the title.
The UK title match won’t be the only collaboration between WWE and PROGRESS in Orlando, with PROGRESS wrestlers also featuring in matches at WrestleMania Axxess.
PROGRESS: Orlando will be part of WWN Live’s week of events in Florida and will take place on Friday at 12 p.m. ET. It will be available as a live iPPV on WWNLive.com and the matches involving wrestlers under contract with WWE will air on the stream.
The card for the show is:
PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne defending against Mark Haskins
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defending against Mark Andrews
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jimmy Havoc
Atlas Champion Matt Riddle defending against Trent Seven
Sami Callihan & Shane Strickland vs. The South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper & Travis Banks)
The Big News: Tyler Bate successfully defended the WWE UK Championship in the main event, defeating Trent Seven.
The Medium News: The Authors of Pain, DIY, and The Revival continue down their path towards an eventual three-way collision.
The Little Beaver-sized News: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce improved to 250-2 in their ongoing feud with Liv Morgan, this time winning a tag team match.
********
NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defeated Garrison Spears & Lance Anoa’i
The new champs attacked their foes from the start and it was a complete squash match. They debuted a new move where they both used a Death Valley Driver into the turnbuckles and picked up the win with The Last Chapter.
Akam and Rezar gave their fallen foes the Super Collider after the match. I couldn’t understand Nigel McGuinness’ introduction of the opponents. I thought he called Anoa’i “Ron Senoa,” but according to closed captioning, it was Lance Anoa’i.
********
We got the Tyler Bate video package that they have aired at least four times already.
********
Shinsuke Nakamura is training to come back from his knee injury.
********
Billie Kay & Peyton Royce defeated Ember Moon & Liv Morgan
The ongoing feud between Liv Morgan and the evil Australian ladies continued in this tag match. Morgan beat Billie Kay last week in spite of interference by Royce. Morgan was challenged to find a partner and she did in Ember Moon.
The heels got the heat when Moon was on the middle rope, but due to shenanigans the referee was distracted by Morgan, so Kay and Royce yanked Moon off the ropes. The heat on Moon didn’t last too long, as she was able to make the tag to Morgan, who ran wild on Royce.
A Pier Six brawl broke out. Kay booted Moon off the apron, and pinned Morgan after a double team knee to the head.
********
We got a recap in the ongoing saga between Tye Dillinger and SAnitY, which covered the entire show last week.
Andrea D’Marco interviewed Roderick Strong and No Way Jose about why they sided with Dillinger. Strong and Jose basically said they are behind Dillinger because a four-on-one beatdown is not fair, and if SAnitY isn’t stopped they won’t settle with just beating Dillinger and will go after the entire roster.
********
The former NXT Tag Team Champions, DIY, were out next for a promo. They thanked the fans for naming them Tag Team of the Year before turning their attention to The Authors of Pain. Gargano said in San Antonio they saw doubt in AOP’s eyes, and on that night DIY may have been beaten, but they weren’t broken. Now they want their title rematch.
Paul Ellering came out and said their match would be in two weeks. DIY wanted it now, so The Revival ran in from out of nowhere and took out DIY! Revival laid them out with the Shatter Machine and ran away before AOP ran in to the ring.
********
Next up was the Trent Seven video package we have seen three or four times.
********
A video package aired for the returning Kassius Ohno.
********
William Regal announced that next week will be a triple threat match with Liv Morgan, Ember Moon, and Peyton Royce. The winner will face Asuka in two weeks for the Women’s Championship.
Afterwards it was also announced Pete Dunne would wrestle Mark Andrews next week.
********
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defeated Trent Seven to retain his title
This was a battle between regular tag team partners. Bate, of course, won the United Kingdom Championship tournament, while Seven went down in defeat in the quarterfinals to Wolfgang.
The match started with a series of lock-ups. The first time Seven backed Bate into the ropes and twirled Bate’s mustache. The second time Bate backed Seven into the ropes and twirled Seven’s mustache. The match started slowly and built up into a very good match.
Nigel McGuinness encouraged them on commentary to start taking risks and, almost as if they heard him, the match picked up from there. Bate did a beautiful dive over the top rope and Seven came back with a falcon arrow.
Seven went for the Seven Star Lariat (Rainmaker), but Bate ducked it and used his airplane spin. Seven hit a powerbomb, which turned into a single leg crab when Bate kicked out. The champ got out of that, but got hit with a Seven Star Lariat for a near fall.
Bate came back with an exploder suplex off the top rope, but Seven kicked out. Seven hit a spinning back fist, but Bate hit a rolling kick and the Tyler Driver ’97 for the win. The tag team partners shook hands and embraced after the match.
This was an excellent match and more than worth checking out on the Network. That does it for this week. Thank you all for reading, and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
– Wolfgang defeated Aaron Solow in a squash match after hitting a moonsault. Wolfgang was from the UK tournament
TV Taping:
– Ember Moon defeated Aliyah with the Eclipse (off the top stunner) in a short match. Moon is originally from Dallas, so she got a nice reaction.
– WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate defeated Oney Lorcan with the Tyler Driver ’97 (sit-out double underhook powerbomb). Bate’s airplane spin was over with the crowd, getting them to chant to 10.
– No Way Jose defeated Elias “The Drifter” Samson after hitting the fastball punch. Samson was the only person to get a good heel reaction this far while Jose was loved as he cut off Samson’s pre-match promo.
Other Notes:
– On the pre-show, it was announced that Nigel Mcguinness will take over for Corey Graves on the NXT announce desk after tonight.
More WWE contracted wrestlers in the UK have had a change in their schedules, with German promotion wXw the most recent to be affected by talent being pulled from appearances.
wXw announced in a press release on Monday that Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven are off of their show in London on January 28th. That’s the same day that Dunne, Seven, and Mark Andrews were scheduled to appear on a live episode of the “Working a Resthold” podcast before WWE contractual obligations left them unable to participate.
From wXw’s press release:
“We received information that Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Pete Dunne are unable to compete for wXw in London on January 28th due to WWE commitments.”
“We have received numerous inquiries regarding the future situation of the three wrestlers in question. We have contacted WWE about this matter and are currently waiting on their response. Once we have received further news, we are going to update you on this subject.”
Bate & Seven have been replaced by the London Riots in a tag title match against A4. Jody Fleisch will now face Travis Banks instead of Dunne.
In what could be related to the wrestlers being pulled from their appearances this weekend, Dave Meltzer reported that some of the UK tournament competitors are being flown by WWE to San Antonio for Royal Rumble weekend.
PROGRESS Wrestling has yet to announce if their show on January 29th will be affected by the changes. Dunne has been set to defend the PROGRESS Championship against Jimmy Havoc in the main event, while Bate & Seven are the promotion’s tag team champions.
