The NXT United Kingdom Championship will officially be on the line at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
WWE has announced that WALTER will defend his NXT United Kingdom Championship against Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one. The match was made official after a challenge that was issued by Ciampa on NXT tonight.
WALTER and Ciampa’s feud began when Ciampa mentioned WALTER on NXT two weeks ago. After Imperium invited Timothy Thatcher to join them and said that he could bring Ciampa along too, Ciampa told Thatcher that he’s not interested in joining Imperium. But Ciampa said he was interested in facing Imperium’s general. Ciampa said WALTER was sitting safely across the pond holding onto the NXT United Kingdom Championship while the rest of Imperium did his dirty work.
On last week’s NXT, WALTER returned to the show for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. After Ciampa defeated Marcel Barthel, WALTER confronted Ciampa and then laid him out after Ciampa was attacked by Barthel and Fabian Aichner.
WALTER quickly defeated Drake Maverick by referee stoppage on NXT tonight. Ciampa then came to the ring and addressed WALTER. Ciampa said he misspoke when he said WALTER intrigues him. Ciampa said what actually intrigues him is WALTER’s NXT United Kingdom Championship. Ciampa challenged WALTER to a title match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, but WALTER initially dismissed him.
Ciampa then slapped WALTER as he was leaving the ring. Ciampa was held down by Barthel and Aichner but kept fighting back. The segment ended with WALTER chopping Ciampa and accepting his challenge for TakeOver.
Thatcher hasn’t appeared on NXT either of the past two weeks.
WALTER has been NXT United Kingdom Champion since April 2019. He also has a title defense against Rampage Brown that’s been announced for NXT UK: Prelude. That show will air the day after TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one.
TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one is airing live on the USA Network on Wednesday, April 7. On Thursday, April 8, night two will be live on Peacock in the United States and live on the WWE Network everywhere else. Here are the updated cards for the event:
TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one —
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai defends against Raquel Gonzalez
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER defends against Tommaso Ciampa
Triple threat match for the vacant NXT Tag Team titles: MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) vs, The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde)
Gauntlet Eliminator match to determine NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano’s challenger for TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two (a 12-man battle royal on next week’s NXT will determine the six participants for the Gauntlet Eliminator match)
TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two —
NXT Champion Finn Balor defends against Karrion Kross
Unsanctioned match: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Ladder match to determine undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion: Jordan Devlin vs. Santos Escobar
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano defends against winner of Gauntlet Eliminator match from night one
WWE has made four new match announcements for this week’s episode of NXT.
Karrion Kross vs. Oney Lorcan, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin vs. Kushida in a non-title match, NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER vs. Drake Maverick in a non-title match, and Bronson Reed vs. LA Knight have all been added to the card for this Wednesday’s NXT.
Kross vs. Lorcan and Reed vs. Knight were both set up by messages that were sent to NXT general manager William Regal. After Regal announced that the NXT Tag Team titles have been declared vacant due to Burch suffering a separated shoulder, Lorcan sent out a tweet blaming Kross for Burch’s injury. Lorcan told Regal to give him a match against Kross.
Burch suffered the separated shoulder while he and Lorcan were defending their NXT Tag Team titles against Kross & NXT Champion Finn Balor last week. Lorcan & Burch retained after Kross attacked Balor during the match. Right before being attacked by Kross, Balor had hit a dropkick on Lorcan that knocked Scarlett down. Balor is defending his NXT Championship against Kross at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two on Thursday, April 8.
Knight posted a video on Tuesday night telling Regal that he wants a match against Reed. Reed then responded and said he wants the match as well. Reed said Knight stuck his nose in Reed’s business first by costing him a match against Cameron Grimes three weeks ago. This will be the second match that Knight (formerly known as Eli Drake) has had in NXT. On last week’s episode, Knight made his NXT in-ring debut by defeating August Grey.
Devlin vs. Kushida was announced after Kushida answered an open challenge that was issued by Devlin. At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, NXT Cruiserweight Champions Devlin and Santos Escobar are facing off in a title unification match.
WWE uploaded video of an angle on Tuesday where Maverick was looking for Killian Dain and barged into Imperium’s locker room questioning them. WALTER took a weapon out of Maverick’s hands and asked him who he thinks he is. WALTER told Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner that he’ll take care of the problem with Maverick on Wednesday’s NXT.
Last week, WALTER returned to NXT for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. He laid out Tommaso Ciampa on the episode.
Here’s the updated lineup for this week’s NXT:
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon defend against Aliyah & Jessi Kamea
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai & Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai
Karrion Kross vs. Oney Lorcan
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin vs. Kushida in a non-title match
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER vs. Drake Maverick in a non-title match
Bronson Reed vs. LA Knight
NXT general manager William Regal will announce a solution for Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly’s issues and will declare the consequences for their recent attacks on each other
Regal will also give an update on the situation with the vacant NXT Tag Team titles
A special edition of NXT UK will be part of WWE’s WrestleMania week programming.
On today’s NXT UK episode, it was announced that NXT UK: Prelude will air at 3 p.m. EST/8 p.m. BST on Thursday, April 8. It was said that the event will showcase the wrestlers of NXT UK in matches that promise to be some of the most talked about in NXT UK history.
NXT UK: Prelude will be headlined by WALTER defending his NXT United Kingdom Championship against Rampage Brown. Tyler Bate vs. Noam Dar in a Heritage Cup rules match has also been announced for the show. The winner of Bate vs. Dar will become the number one contender to A-Kid’s Heritage Cup Championship.
Heritage Cup matches feature a British Rounds rules format.
WALTER made an appearance on today’s NXT UK episode and told NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint to find a worthy challenger for him. WALTER was then confronted by Brown. Brown said WALTER is a dominant champion, but he’s never faced Rampage Brown. WALTER and Brown started to get into it and Brown shoved WALTER down. Brown declared that he’s going to end WALTER’s NXT United Kingdom Championship reign.
WALTER has been NXT United Kingdom Champion since April 2019. Brown is undefeated since making his NXT UK debut in November of last year.
WALTER appeared on NXT last night, returning stateside for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. WALTER laid out Tommaso Ciampa on the show. WWE looks to be building toward a match between WALTER and Ciampa, but when it will be taking place hasn’t been announced.
A video with Saint announcing Bate vs. Dar for NXT UK: Prelude also aired on this week’s’ NXT UK episode. Saint said Dar has been pestering him for a Heritage Cup Championship match against A-Kid. Saint said Dar will have to earn the title shot.
A-Kid became NXT UK’s first-ever Heritage Cup Champion by winning last year’s Heritage Cup tournament. He defeated Trent Seven in the tournament finals. Since then, A-Kid has retained the title in matches against Bate and Sha Samuels.
NXT UK: Prelude will air on Peacock in the United States and on the WWE Network everywhere else.
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER made an appearance on NXT tonight and looks to be headed toward a match against Tommaso Ciampa.
After his Imperium stablemate Marcel Barthel lost to Ciampa on NXT tonight, WALTER came down to the ring to confront Ciampa. Ciampa was then attacked by Imperium’s Barthel and Fabian Aichner. He tried to fight them off, but WALTER then dropped Ciampa with a chop. WALTER laid out Ciampa with a powerbomb, then Imperium posed over Ciampa.
Ciampa had mentioned WALTER while speaking with Timothy Thatcher on NXT last week. Ciampa said he wasn’t interested in Imperium’s offer for Ciampa and Thatcher to join the group, but he was interested in facing Imperium’s general. Ciampa said WALTER was sitting safely across the pond holding onto the NXT United Kingdom Championship while the rest of Imperium did his dirty work.
A promo had aired last week where Barthel spoke about Thatcher’s history with the Imperium members. Aichner said that if Thatcher has to ask Ciampa for permission to join them, he could bring Ciampa along too. Aichner said that, out of respect for Thatcher, they’d make it work. Aichner said Imperium is taking over — no matter what.
Ciampa & Thatcher vs. Barthel & Aichner had originally been announced for tonight’s NXT, but Thatcher didn’t appear on the show. Ciampa said he assumed Imperium didn’t like Thatcher’s answer to their offer and took matters into their own hands.
Ciampa indicated on tonight’s NXT that he had attacked Imperium’s Alexander Wolfe before facing Barthel.
WALTER has been NXT United Kingdom Champion since defeating Pete Dunne for the title at NXT TakeOver: New York in April 2019. Tonight was WALTER’s first appearance on NXT US since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
An appearance by WALTER is set for this Thursday’s NXT UK episode. It was said that WALTER has requested the platform to make a statement on the show.
Next week’s NXT UK episode will include an appearance by NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER.
It was announced on this week’s NXT UK that WALTER has requested the platform to make a statement on NXT UK next Thursday. It will be the first time WALTER has appeared since retaining his NXT United Kingdom Championship against A-Kid this January.
WALTER has been NXT United Kingdom Champion since winning the title from Pete Dunne in April 2019. His two most recent title defenses were against A-Kid and Ilja Dragunov.
On this week’s NXT episode, WALTER was mentioned when Tommaso Ciampa told Timothy Thatcher that he isn’t interested in them joining Imperium. Ciampa said what does interest him is facing Imperium’s general. Ciampa said WALTER is sitting safely across the pond holding onto the NXT United Kingdom Championship while the rest of Imperium does his bidding for him. Ciampa & Thatcher are facing Imperium’s Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner on NXT next Wednesday.
A segment with Dragunov speaking has also been announced for next Thursday’s NXT UK. Since unsuccessfully challenging for WALTER’s title, Dragunov has been involved in a storyline where he’s been trying to rebuild himself but has been snapping during his matches.
On WWE’s The Bump next Wednesday, there will be a weigh-in for a potential Jordan Devlin vs. Trent Seven NXT Cruiserweight Championship match. Seven has been trying to drop weight so that he can challenge for Devlin’s version of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
With daylight savings time starting this weekend, next Thursday’s NXT UK has a special start time in the United States. It will premiere on the WWE Network at 4 p.m. Eastern time. The episode will still premiere at its regular time in the United Kingdom.
WWE has revealed when WALTER and A-Kid’s NXT UK Championship match will be taking place.
WALTER will defend his NXT UK Championship against A-Kid on the Thursday, January 14 episode of NXT UK. That announcement was made on today’s special New Year’s Eve edition of NXT UK.
The title match was set up by a challenge that A-Kid issued to WALTER earlier this month. NXT UK’s Sid Scala announced at the time that — if all parties were in agreement — WALTER would defend his title against A-Kid in the new year.
This will be WALTER’s first title defense since retaining against Ilja Dragunov in a Match-of-the-Year candidate on NXT UK in October. WALTER has been NXT UK Champion since winning the title from Pete Dunne in April 2019.
A-Kid is the holder of NXT UK’s Heritage Cup Championship. He defeated Trent Seven in the Heritage Cup tournament finals in November and made his first defense of the trophy by defeating Tyler Bate earlier this month.
Over the past week, the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve episodes of NXT UK have looked back at matches from 2020. NXT UK will kick off 2021 with a new episode next Thursday. It will feature Piper Niven and Jinny facing off in a number one contender’s match, along with Ben Carter making his first WWE appearance as the guest on Noam Dar’s Supernova Sessions talk show.
Ilja Dragunov is looking to start all over on is path to the championship
Levi Muir & Jack Starz beat Saxon Huxley in a handicap match; after the match, Huxley attacked them and was in turn attacked by Dave Mastiff
Piper Niven will face Jinny in a #1 contender’s match in three weeks
A-Kid called out WALTER and challenged him for the NXT UK championship; the match as later confirmed for 2021
Kenny Williams is seemingly still hurt and will support Amir Jordan as a single
Trent Seven seemingly will take a break from the ring
Rampage Brown beat Josh Morrell
Gallus beat The Hunt, when Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster interfered; also interfering were Eddie Dennis and Joe Coffey; after the match, both Pretty Deadly and Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter got involved
Report —
Non-title match: NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray pinned Isla Dawn (04:18)
Isla comes off a victory over Xia Brookside, who was distracted by Nina Samuels last week. This also was KLR’s first match since her brutal title defense in a falls count anywhere match against Piper Niven a few weeks back.
KLR dominated the early portion of the match, but Dawn took over with a knee strike into the ropes and a running meteora. Dawn scored a close near fall off the Saito suplex she beat Brookside with last week.
KLR came back with a Tornado DDT, then locked in a Koji clutch, which Dawn only narrowly escaped. KLR then hit a super kick and the Gory Bomb for the victory.
After the match, KLR cut a quick promo and said she’d be champion for a long, long time.
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A video highlighted NXT UK’s newest signee, Ben Carter.
William Regal, Nigel McGuinness, Ashton Smith, Gallus and Sid Scala all sang his praises. Clips aired of Carter, courtesy of SCWPro in Iowa.
Carter, 22 from Jersey in the UK, started out two years ago and went to the U.S. to train under Seth Rollins at his Black & Brave wrestling school.
He has had matches on AEW Dark, Impact, GCW and Beyond, and will make his debut on NXT UK soon.
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A tremendous video of Ilja Dragunov aired.
It was shot in black and white and saw Dragunov sit on a chair in an empty ring, talking about his match with WALTER. He called it probably the match of the year 2020 in WWE and that it was a lion fighting a tiger. He said he promised to redefine violence with this match and he did. But he lost.
He said now, he had to start all over again. The only thing shot in color in this video were his red contact lenses, which he then removed in a close up shot. This was just amazing from an emotional and cinematographic point of view.
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Handicap match: Levi Muir & Jack Starz beat Saxon Huxley (05:21)
Huxley attacked both men at the NXT UK Performance Center last week and left them laying.
Starz started out with Huxley, but got manhandled and looked worried. Muir was in next, who seemed to have the strength advantage, but got pounced out of mid-air off a leapfrog attempt. Starz hit a dropkick-assisted body press for a two count.
Huxley hit an impressive gorilla press slam on Starz, then smashed into both opponents on a run around ringside. Starz kicked out of a pin after a gutwrench powerbomb.
Muir briefly was on offense and the team even took Huxley off his feet with a double dropkick.
Starz hit a sunset flip on Huxley who held on to the top rope, but Muir slapped his hands away from the apron, allowing Starz to score the deciding pin for his team.
Huxley attacked both men after the match, but Dave Mastiff ran out to make the save and clotheslined Huxley over the top.
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Piper Niven stormed into Sid Scala’s office and demanded that he watch a video on her phone.
It looked like from a CCTV camera at the Performance Center. Niven was seen lifting some weights, then took a quick break, while someone wheeled a chest into the room. Niven looked into it and it contained a steel chair with a piece of paper attached to it.
She gave it to Scala and it looked like a signed contract. Niven demanded a match with Jinny (the chair seemingly was the one Jinny attacked Niven with to cost her the match against Kay Lee Ray a few weeks ago).
It was confirmed Niven and Jinny will meet in a #1 contender’s match in three weeks.
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Dave Mastiff was shown walking backstage when he met Rampage Brown. Brown asked him about his interaction with Huxley and Mastiff told him he doesn’t like bullies. This looked like a friendly encounter between friends.
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A-Kid in-ring segment —
A-Kid was in the ring with the NXT UK Heritage Cup trophy and talked about how he was the first-ever Heritage Cup champion, won the tournament and eventually even beat his mentor, Tyler Bate.
He said his next step was very clear, and he challenged WALTER for the NXT UK championship.
WALTER walked out and told A-Kid that the next time he stepped into his ring, he must wipe his dirty feet on the ring apron.
He said it was great watching A-Kid in the tournament and he can clearly see he is very proud to be a professional wrestler. But how dare he claim to represent the heritage of this great sport. He said A-Kid was nothing special and like everyone else, his fairy tale will end once he steps into the ring with WALTER.
He said one thing will never change, and that is that WALTER is the NXT UK champion.
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Kenny Williams was in the NXT UK Performance Center. He said his health update wasn’t too good.
Amir Jordan walked in all happy and asked him if he was good to go so they could go for the tag team titles eventually. Williams told him he’d support him in his singles career instead.
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Trent Seven did a sit-down interview, talking about the Heritage Cup. He said he thought he did enough, but he didn’t.
He was caught up in what the Heritage Cup meant and was looking backwards at all the great men that came before him, when he should have been looking forward.
He said he needed to become better and it sounded like he will be taking a break from active competition, as he stated that he will be gone for a while, but not forever.
Rampage Brown pinned Josh Morrell (03:12)
Brown hit a huge back body drop on Brown, then kicked him out of the ring. Brown kept dismantling Morrell, but the youngster briefly came back with a dropkick and a corkscrew plancha.
Seconds later, Brown hit a devastating clothesline, followed by a dead lift powerbomb and the Doctor Bomb for the victory.
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Sid Scala had a breaking news announcement and said if all parties agree, WALTER would defend his NXT UK championship against A-Kid in the new year.
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NXT UK Tag Team Championship: Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) w/Eddie Dennis to retain the titles (07:59)
The Hunt attacked Wolfgang right away and took turns beating him down. He eventually managed to pick up Boar and drive him into his corner, allowing Coffey to tag in.
Dennis briefly distracted Coffey, allowing his guys to take back over. The Hunt were firmly in control as Eddie Dennis played his part at ringside to ensure his team stayed on top of their opponents.
Coffey finally made the hot tag to Wolfgang, who ran wild on both opponents. Dennis freely interfered behind the referee’s back, until Joe Coffey ran out and drove him into the ring steps.
As Joe Coffey argued with the ref, The Hunt went to the top in order to deliver their double flying headbutts. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster then ran out and pushed The Hunt off the turnbuckles, allowing Gallus to hit their powerslam/head kick finisher on Wild Boar for the successful title defense.
As Gallus celebrated, Pretty Deadly walked out, looking to challenge the champions.
As the teams had words back and forth, Asthon Smith & Oliver Carter came out, attacked Pretty Deadly and threw them into the ring, where Gallus promptly beat them up and threw them to the outside again.
The tag team division in NXT UK certainly looks stacked going into 2021.
NXT UK Champion WALTER’s next challenger looks to officially be set.
Following a challenge that was issued on this week’s episode of NXT UK, it was announced that — if all parties are in agreement — WALTER will defend his NXT UK Championship against A-Kid in the new year. A date for the title match wasn’t announced.
A-Kid won NXT UK’s Heritage Cup tournament last month and retained the Heritage Cup Championship against Tyler Bate last week. A-Kid cut an in-ring promo on this week’s NXT UK, saying recent months have been amazing for him. He said Bate is his mentor and the last thing Bate taught A-Kid is that he belongs with the best. A-Kid then issued a challenge to WALTER for an NXT UK Championship match.
WALTER then came down to the ring and confronted A-Kid. He said watching A-Kid in the Heritage Cup tournament was great and he can see A-Kid is proud to be a professional wrestler, but how dare A-Kid act like he represents the heritage of this sport. WALTER said that, just like everyone else who climbed the ladder of success, A-Kid’s fairytale will come to an end when he steps into the ring with WALTER. WALTER said him being NXT UK Champion is the one thing that will never change.
WALTER has been NXT UK Champion since winning the title from Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver: New York in April 2019. Today’s NXT UK was the first time WALTER has appeared on the show since retaining his title against Ilja Dragunov on the October 29 episode of NXT UK.
Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster got attacked by The Hunt, who aligned with Eddie Dennis
Still billed as the NXT Cruiserweight champion, Jordan Devlin made his return, making quick work of newcomer Levi Muir
Sam Gradwell is back on NXT UK and will team with Pretty Deadly to take on Gallus next week
Rampage Brown is coming
in a match of the year candidate, WALTER successfully defended his NXT UK championship against Ilja Dragunov in a brutal war
Report —
A video highlighted today’s NXT UK title match of WALTER defending against Ilja Dragunov
Aoife Valkyrie pinned Dani Luna after a top rope legdrop (06:06)
Valkyrie is still undefeated in NXT UK while Luna is looking to prove herself.
Valkyrie showed her quickness and agility while Luna used power moves. Luna at one point hit a wheelbarrow slam on the outside, slamming Valkyrie face-first onto the apron. She also hit a number of impressive suplexes.
Valkyrie eventually won with her legdrop off the top rope.
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— A split-screen showed WALTER and Ilja Dragunov warming up for their match
— A video recapped the four first-round matches of the Heritage Cup;
— A video introduced Rampage Brown, a veteran of the UK scene, who will make his NXT UK debut soon
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Mark Andrews/Flash Morgan Webster/Eddie Dennis in-ring segment
A segment recapped previous attacks on Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster.
They were in the ring talking about the attacks when Eddie Dennis came out. Dennis accused Andrews of being a narcissist and using him on the independent scene.
Dennis suggested that Andrews had been the one attacking Webster, because he was afraid of what would happen in Webster broke out as a singles star. He said Andrews would profit if Webster was out and said “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
Webster looked unsure, but they told Dennis that they knew he would play this card. Pretty Deadly came out to stand by Dennis’ side. Webster said that they also had friends and The Hunt appeared in the ring by their side.
Dennis laughed and repeated his quote from earlier, when The Hunt suddenly turned on Webster and Andrews and viciously beat them down.
Pretty Deadly looked confused and left as Dennis joined The Hunt in the ring.
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— Piper Niven was asked about her future plans in NXT UK. She reiterated that Kay Lee Ray was still her main priority.
— Jordan Devlin returns tonight
— Sid Scala was asked about Eddie Dennis when Pretty Deadly walked up and he asked them about the situation.
Suddenly, Sam Gradwell walked up and said he was back in NXT UK.
Gallus also appeared and asked Scala if he planned to do something about the situation with Pretty Deadly or if they needed to do something about it. He said they would be in the ring next week
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— A segment hyped WALTER and Ilja Dragunov
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Jordan Devlin submitted Levi Muir with a Texas Cloverleaf (04:49)
Muir is a recent NXT UK signee and former powerlifter who has also competed in PROGRESS before. Devlin was still announced as the NXT Cruiserweight champion. Devlin also looked physically bigger and more bulky than before.
This was basically a squash and a Jordan Devlin showcase. Muir only got one small package in and at one point caught Devlin and lifted him up for a military press, which Devlin turned into a crucifix attempt.
Devlin hit all his signature moves, including the uranage/moonsault combo and Devlinside. He won by submission with a Texas Cloverleaf.
Devlin cut a short promo afterwards, talking about how he was the champion and would take on all comers.
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— Next week, Gallus, including the returning Joe Coffey will take on Pretty Deadly & Sam Gradwell
— Also next week, Noam Dar takes on A-Kid in the Heritage Cup semifinals
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— A video recapped last week’s contract signing and subsequent brawl between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov. Clips of both competitors talking about each other were interspersed between highlights from the brawl
NXT UK Championship: WALTER (c) beat Ilja Dragunov by referee stoppage when Dragunov passed out in a rear naked choke (25:10)
Those two had a number of brutal and legendary matches in wXw and PROGRESS over the past few years and this match more than kept up the promise of those previous encounters. This was an absolute war, the best match in the history of the NXT UK television show and on par or even better than the WALTER vs. Tyler Bate NXT UK TakeOver match from last year in Cardiff.
Words cannot do this match justice and you should go out of your way to see it. They showed a level of physicality almost never seen in WWE matches these days and this was something you would usually see in NJPW in an Ishii, Ibushi or Suzuki match.
They started out at full speed right away and brutalized each other. Dragunov went for Torpedo Moscow less than 90 seconds into the match, but WALTER caught him with a sleeper and hit a sleeper suplex. Dragunov got his neck whiplashed into the ropes seconds later and was stunned at ringside. This neck injury would play into the rest of the match.
They slapped and chopped the hell out of one another. Dragunov later hit three impressive German suplexes on WALTER before they killed each other some more. Dragunov hit a Gotch-style suplex on the champion. Dragunov hit the Konstantin Special for a very close near fall, then went for Torpedo Moscow once more but got slapped out of mid-air.
WALTER took Dragunov’s head off with a lariat, then hit the power bomb for a close near fall of his own. WALTER transitioned from a sleeper into a dragon sleeper, but Dragunov made the ropes. Dragunov hit a big top-rope shotgun dropkick for another near fall. Dragunov hit Torpedo Moscow to the back of WALTER’s neck as the champion was on his knees, but was unable to make the pin because of his neck. He tried another one, but collapsed as basically his neck gave out.
WALTER threw him to the outside and hit a sleeper suplex at ringside, followed by a power bomb on the apron. After a powerbomb in the ring and a big splash off the top. Dragunov somehow still kicked out at 2.99.
WALTER finally hit some stiff elbows and forearms from the mount, then pulled Dragunov up by then neck in a rear naked choke and locked in the body scissors. Dragunov gurgled and moaned, blood dripping from his mouth as he passed out and the referee stopped the match.
This was unreal and it’s a shame NXT UK basically flies under the radar, as this was one of the best matches of the year.
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Dragunov lay on the mat without moving for a long time and WALTER lay next to him, exhausted and even looked a bit concerned.
A ton of referees and other officials, among them John Moss came out and checked on Ilja, finally helping him to his feet as the show went off the air.
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Next week —
Noam Dar vs. A-Kid in a Heritage Cup semifinals match
After doing so for the untimely passing of Karsten Beck last week, I would like to dedicate my report to my grandmother, who sadly passed away at the age of 92 this week. Thankfully, she only had to suffer for a few days after living a heathy and happy life up until recently. She may also very well be the reason I encountered wrestling when I did as almost 29 years ago to the day, I spent a night at my grandparents’ apartment and zapped through the cable channels. I chanced upon wrestling (the 1991 Hogan/Warrior vs. Slaughter/Adnan/Mustafa SummerSlam main event), got hooked right away, and would subsequently spend each Friday night at my their apartment to watch WWF on German channel Tele 5 until we moved and finally got a dish. She would always stay up with me and watch along, including comforting me as I sobbed myself to sleep when the dastardly Undertaker cheated to beat Hulk Hogan a few months later at Survivor Series. She will be dearly missed.
Quick results:
The highlight of the show was the excellent main event angle with the contract signing for next week’s WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov NXT UK title match. The whole affair was super intense and they had a brutal brawl afterwards.
Trent Seven advanced to the Heritage Cup semifinals, beating Kenny Williams.
Eddie Dennis pinned Oliver Carter, a setup for Dennis to call out Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster for next week.
Nina Samuels pinned Amale and called out Piper Niven after the match.
After being suspended by WWE due to #SpeakingOut allegations, a Joe Coffey video promised he would return soon.
Show Recap:
Eddie Dennis pinned Oliver Carter (6:27)
Dennis last wrestled in January at the tapings following NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. He returned in the first episode from this set of tapings and talked to Pretty Deadly after their match with the contents of this conversation still being a mystery.
Carter looked great here and got to show off his athleticism, taking a large portion of the match and countering out of a lot of Dennis’ offense. Dennis eventually won with the Severed Bridge (basically a Razor’s Edge).
After the match, Dennis told Carter to get out of his ring and go back to the tag division. He said, speaking of the tag division, it was a shame what happened to Flash Morgan Webster (who got attacked backstage recently). “We all know who did it. Who profited the most from Webster being out?” But, he would not say who it was. He invited Webster and Mark Andrews to a mediation next week, a confrontation was made official later in the show.
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– A Joe Coffey vignette aired. He has been absent during this latest set of tapings, likely due to allegations brought against him during the #SpeakingOut movement as he was suspended by WWE in early July. WWE has decided to use him again as the end of the video read that he would “return soon”.
– Speaking of wrestlers seemingly being re-established after #SpeakingOut allegations, Jordan Devlin will return to action next week after his promo last week.
– NXT UK will air at 4 PM ET/8 PM GMT next week due to Summer Time ending in Europe this Sunday while it goes on a few weeks longer in the U.S., shortening the time difference between the UK and the East Coast to four instead of five hours.
Nina Samuels pinned Amale (5:37)
This match was set up when Amale and Samuels tagged two weeks ago as Samuels decided to abandon her partner because she wasn’t getting all the spotlight to herself. Later in that episode, they also brawled during Kay Lee Ray’s State of the Union address.
Amale started out very aggressively and had the advantage at times, but Samuels used some cheap tactics to gain the advantage and worked over Amale’s arm and shoulder with submissions. At one point, Amale got a near fall with a Northern Lights suplex. Samuels eventually thwarted another attack by Amale and hit the Final Act (a rolling neckbreaker) for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Samuels was interviewed backstage. She said a two person act was not what the audience wanted and called out Piper Niven, telling her she would be watching.
Next up was the final opening round match of the Heritage Cup. As a refresher, the Cup is an approach at traditional British Wrestling with a special set of rules:
All matches consist of six three minute rounds with 20 second breaks between each round.
All matches are 2-out-of-3 falls.
Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
The match ends once a wrestler has won two falls.
In the event of a disqualification or countout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
If all six rounds are completed, whomever is ahead on falls wins the match.
Heritage Cup opening round match: Trent Seven beat Kenny Williams in the fifth round, two falls to one
They wrestled back and forth in the first round with neither man getting a clear advantage. Seven missed a crossbody as the round came to an end. Williams hit a sunset flip for a two count near the end of round two and Seven picked him up for either a power bomb or shoulderbreaker briefly after the round ended and was visibly upset when the referee told him to stop.
With just three seconds left in round three, Trent hit the Seven Star Lariat and got a pin at 2:57 of the round. Williams got a pin at 0:37 of round four with a roll up after feigning a leap frog to tie Seven 1-1. Williams hit a stiff see-saw lariat early in round five for a near fall, followed by a DDT for another one.
Seven came back with an Emerald Frosion for a near fall of his own. Seven then rolled through on an impressive springboard top rope hurricanrana by Williams to score the winning pin at 2:22 of round five for the victory. The two shook hands and hugged afterwards.
Seven will face Dave Mastiff in the semifinals of the Heritage Cup while Noam Dar faces A-Kid in the other semifinal.
– WALTER was seen walking through the backstage area with Alexander Wolfe. He told him to stay behind and they shook hands.
NXT UK Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov contract signing
WALTER and Dragunov will face off for WALTER’s title next week. This, of course, ended in a brawl, but with an intensity rarely seen in WWE these days.
Both men came out and stood by the table and slowly got down in their chair, staring at each other while they signed the contract. WALTER declined to say anything when asked by Sid Scala. Dragunov, when asked, got up and started screaming “UNBESIEGBAR” (“unbeatable”, his catch phrase) but got slapped down hard mid-word. WALTER then ripped his shirt off and started turning the challenger’s chest into mincemeat with brutal chops.
He went to power bomb Dragunov through the table, but he escaped and attacked, sending WALTER to ringside. Dragunov jumped onto him from the top rope to the outside, but WALTER chopped him out of mid-air, then power bombed him on the apron, followed by a stiff lariat. He then beat him down some more. “The Mad Russian” came back and they ended up going through the barricade together as officials scrambled to separate them.
Dragunov then grabbed the title belt and threw it at WALTER as the show went of the air.
This, the tag match from last week, and the promos and videos leading up to the match were probably the best build for any title match in WWE this year. Go out of your way to see the match next week as it promises to be a brutal, hard hitting affair.
Next week:
WALTER defends the NXT UK Championship against Ilja Dragunov
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin returns to action
Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews confront Eddie Dennis
The first round of NXT UK’s Heritage Cup tournament is set to conclude next week.
In the Heritage Cup tournament’s final first round match, Trent Seven will face off with Kenny Williams on NXT UK next Thursday (October 22). Seven was among the first seven wrestlers announced for the Heritage Cup tournament. Williams qualified for the tournament as its final entrant by defeating Ashton Smith and Amir Jordan in a Wild Card triple threat match.
The winner of Seven vs. Williams will advance to face Dave Mastiff in the semifinals of the Heritage Cup tournament. Mastiff defeated Joseph Conners via knockout in a first round match on NXT UK this week. Noam Dar vs. A-Kid will be the other semifinal match. Dar advanced by defeating Alexander Wolfe in the first round, while A-Kid defeated Flash Morgan Webster in his first round match.
Heritage Cup matches have the following rules:
There will be six rounds for Heritage Cup matches. Each round will be three minutes.
There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.
The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules following the tournament.
WWE has also announced that next Thursday’s NXT UK will feature a contract signing for WALTER and Ilja Dragunov’s upcoming NXT UK Championship match. WALTER is defending his title against Dragunov on NXT UK the following week (Thursday, October 29). Dragunov & Pete Dunne defeated WALTER & Wolfe in the main event of NXT UK this week. Dragunov pinned WALTER to get the win. It’s the first time WALTER has been pinned in NXT UK.
Two matches have been announced for next week’s episode of NXT UK.
Ilja Dragunov & Pete Dunne will take on WALTER & Alexander Wolfe in a tag team match on NXT UK next Thursday (October 15). The Heritage Cup tournament will also continue on the episode as Dave Mastiff and Joseph Conners face off in a first round match.
Dragunov & Dunne vs. WALTER & Wolfe comes in advance of Dragunov challenging for WALTER’s NXT UK Championship on the Thursday, October 29 episode of NXT UK. Dragunov saved Dunne from WALTER and Wolfe at the end of last week’s NXT UK episode. Dunne had been the special guest referee for Noam Dar and Wolfe’s first round match in the Heritage Cup tournament. Wolfe blamed Dunne for his loss and went to attack him after, but Dunne fought him off. WALTER then came down and helped Wolfe until Dragunov made the save.
Dar and A-Kid have advanced in the Heritage Cup tournament and will face each other in the semifinals. The winner of Mastiff vs. Conners will face the winner of Trent Seven vs. Kenny Williams in the semifinals.
Heritage Cup matches have the following rules:
There will be six rounds for Heritage Cup matches. Each round will be three minutes.
There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.
The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules following the tournament.
After being delayed by months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE has set a date for WALTER and Ilja Dragunov’s NXT UK Championship match.
WALTER vs. Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship will air on the Thursday, October 29 episode of NXT UK. WWE had been building to Dragunov challenging for WALTER’s title in advance of NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin when that show was scheduled for April. Dragunov became the number one contender to WALTER’s title by winning a 20-man battle royal at a set of television tapings back in March, but NXT UK had to go on hiatus from running events due to the pandemic.
Dragunov and WALTER will also face off in tag team action on NXT UK next Thursday (October 15). Dragunov will team with Pete Dunne against WALTER & Alexander Wolfe. Dragunov saved Dunne from WALTER and Wolfe at the end of NXT UK last week.
WALTER has been NXT UK Champion since winning the title from Dunne in April 2019. Following Tyler Bate and Dunne, WALTER is the third wrestler to hold the championship.
The first round matches for NXT UK’s Heritage Cup tournament will be revealed next week.
On NXT UK’s return episode today, it was announced that the drawing for the tournament will take place on next Thursday’s NXT UK. Pete Dunne will appear as a special guest for the drawing.
Seven of the eight participants for the tournament have been revealed. They are: Flash Morgan Webster, Noam Dar, Alexander Wolfe, A-Kid, Dave Mastiff, Joseph Conners, and Trent Seven.
The Heritage Cup will have British Rounds rules:
There will be six rounds for tournament matches. Each round will be three minutes.
There will be 20-second breaks between each round.
All matches are two-out-of-three falls.
Falls can be won by pinfall, submission, or countout.
Once a fall occurs, the round ends.
Once someone has won two falls, they are declared the winner and they advance in the tournament.
If there’s a disqualification or knockout, the match ends without the need for two falls.
If a match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead on falls wins.
The Heritage Cup will be defended as a championship under the same rules after the tournament.
In his first match since the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to events in March, NXT UK Champion WALTER will be in action on NXT UK next Thursday. He’ll face Saxon Huxley in a non-title match. Ilja Dragunov, the number one contender to WALTER’s title, defeated Dar in the main event of this week’s NXT UK episode. WALTER’s Imperium stablemate Wolfe unsuccessfully tried to interfere near the end of the match. WALTER then came out to the stage and had a staredown with Dragunov to close the show.
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray will also defend her title against Piper Niven on next week’s NXT UK episode.
This was an episode featuring a lot of new content, looking at the upcoming title match between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov. This included a previously unaired match of WALTER vs. Ridge Holland in a true hoss fight, plus a tremendous personality piece on Ilja Dragunov, his upbringing, rough childhood and character.
There also was a cool video on various superstars talking about WALTER and the champion addressing his challenger.
NXT UK will go into a more storyline driven direction as new episodes of the show will start airing in two weeks.
WALTER beat Ridge Holland (previously unaired match)
Ilja Dragunov won a 20 Men Battle Royal to become #1 contender for the NXT UK championship (highlights of the match which previously aired on NXT UK)
Report —
Non-title match: NXT UK Champion WALTER pinned Ridge Holland after a lariat (09:03)
Taped at Coventry Skydome in Coventry, England on March 7, 2020
The two behemoths locked up and WALTER managed to push Holland into the corner. Holland evaded and attack and came back with a strike, then they traded blows. They ran into each other with neither man being able to get the other off his feet. WALTER briefly took over but Holland caught him in mid-air and slammed him.
They briefly wrestled on the outside, but WALTER picked Holland up and threw him on the apron to end his momentum.
WALTER locked in a chin lock, then applied an arm lock, which ended in a test of strength. WALTER got the better of the exchange as Holland bridged on the mat, earning him a kick to the throat by the champion.
Holland came back with strikes and kicks, but quickly was stopped again as WALTER returned the favor from before with a big body slam.
Holland ate a chop and asked for more, but WALTER would have none of his no-selling nonsense and began working over his arm. Holland hit a number of clotheslines and eventually took WALTER off his feet with a huge lariat.
WALTER kicked Holland in the head, but was thrown into the air for a big back body drop. Holland couldn’t capitalize as WALTER locked in the sleeper but got hoisted up into a Torture Rack instead, followed by an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for a two-count.
Holland followed up with a clothesline into the corner, but the champ came back with a big Shotgun dropkick.
WALTER tried for the power bomb but Holland powered out and went for the Northern Grit, which WALTER countered. Eventually, Holland escaped another Northern Grip attempt but ended up on the turnbuckle where Holland hit a power bomb, followed by a body slam into an Emerald Frosion for another near fall.
Holland hit a head butt, but WALTER came back with a Yokozuna-style lifting side slam for a narrow two-count of his own. WALTER clobbered Holland’s chest on the apron, but Holland eventually blocked the attack and returned the favor.
Holland ended up at ringside as Alexander Wolfe ran in but got disposed of by Holland. The distraction was enough for WALTER to kick Holland in the head as he re-entered the ring, followed by a big lariat for the pinfall victory.
WALTER and Wolfe briefly celebrated in the ring.
**********
— A look at WALTER
William Regal, Drew McIntyre, Adam Cole and Timothy Thatcher talked about the phenom that is WALTER as highlight clips from his matches aired. McIntyre said he first laid eyes on WALTER in wXw, where he stuck out due to his size. Cole said that when WALTER chops you, it’s like your soul is leaving your body. Thatcher said that now that WALTER had some time off to train even more, he will be even more unstoppable. The video is really fun and can also be seen here on NXT UK’s Twitter account.
**********
— A cool video aired, hyping the return of NXT UK on September 17
— Another video looked at the NXT UK tag team scene, calling it the “best kept secret in WWE”. It may just actually be that with Gallus, Imperium, The Grizzled Young Veterans, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster, Pretty Deadly, Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan, The Hunt and Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter delivering high quality matches on a regular basis.
**********
— Unbesiegbar – The Ilja Dragunov Story
As childhood pictures of him filled the screen, Ilja talked about how he moved with his mother and part of his family from Russia to Germany when he was five years old after the Soviet Union had broken down. Crime was high and a good and safe life was no longer possible for them, looking for a better life.
He said while he was just a child and adapted to the new life, his mother left her previous life in Russia. She had been a teacher, but her degree was not accepted in Germany so she had to re-acquire her degree at the university level and held numerous jobs to make things work. He said his mother was his biggest role model.
He said Germany was different and confusing, he didn’t speak the language and none of the other kids would play with him at kindergarten. He kept being an outsider in school and didn’t fit in. He said they had no money for sweets or chips.
He told a story where they lived at an immigration apartment, waiting to get their own place and one day as he was playing outside, he saw a package of Pringles in a trash can with a few left and ate them out of the trash. He felt awful afterwards, but it was the first time he tasted hope and had the taste of a better life.
Ilja walked through a rough part of Dresden, where he grew up and told a story where a couple of teenagers beat him up on his way home when he was ten years old because they overheard him talking Russian and told him to leave the country or his mother and grandfather would be next. He said this was the catalyst of him wanting to feel Unbesiegbar (“invincible”).
He said he still loves this part of town, as for him, because here he learned about simplicity and that it didn’t matter who you were or where you lived, but just your will to succeed. He said he couldn’t change the past, but had the chance to improve his future.
He said for 17 years of living in Germany, he never fit in and never could express himself. Then he discovered wrestling and things changed, as he could make people feel him when he was in the ring.
He said he was real in the ring, his act there was what he felt and was real madness. He celebrates his life there and that nothing was easy for him. He said he did this for all the people who felt like him – “you can beat us down, but you can’t beat our heart”.
This was a fantastic video and a great look at the man behind the character, probably once of the best personality profiles that aired on any WWE show over the past year.
**********
— WALTER on Ilja Dragunov
WALTER talked about Ilja. He said they grew up in the same system, shared history and he respects him a lot. He is an honest, hard working man who shares the same passion for the sport.
He said everyone they put in front of him was a great competitor, naming Trent Seven, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. But he said when they meet, it will be the greatest fight of Ilja’s life.
He said he made him and this time he would destroy him. He said one thing that will never change is him being the NXT UK champion and the one that was chose to protect and restore the honor of this great sport.
**********
Ilja Dragunov won a 20-men Battle Royal to become the #1 contender to the NXT UK Championship
Taped at Coventry Skydome in Coventry, England on March 7, 2020, previously aired on NXT UK on April 2,2020
They showed highlights of the battle royal, before joining the match in progress near the finish.
Tyler Bate, Joe Coffey, Alexander Wolfe and Ilja Dragunov were the final four and initially paired off but switched opponents a few times.
Coffey hit the Glasgow Sendoff on Dragunov and Bate in the corner, but got hit with a dropkick by Wolfe.
Wolfe threw him over the top and then threw Dragunov into him to bounce Joe Coffey off the apron for the elimination.
Alexander Wolfe beat down Bate, but Dragnuov eliminated him with a running clothesline to get down to the final two.
Bate and Dragunov battled it out with Dragunov hitting a running senton, followed with a few stiff chops to Bate’s neck. Bate lifted Dragunov up and looked to get him over the rope and then landed a punch to Dragunov’s jaw.
Bate caught Dragunov off a bodypress and then hit an overhead suplex on him. He followed with the running shooting star and Dragunov looked out of it. Dragunov escaped the airplane spin and hit a hard lariat, but Bate came back with a slingshot lariat seconds later. Dragunov was sent into the ropes and hit the Six One Line/Konstantin Special on Bate.
They traded offense until both men were on their knees. Bate ended up in the bottom rope on the outside and looked to suplex Dragunov over, but Dragunov also switched over onto the apron.
Bate went for another suplex, but Dragunov escaped and threw him back into the ring and then hit a top rope senton. Dragunov went for Torpedo Moscow, but got hit with a kappa kick.
Dragunov then back body dropped Bate over the top where the Big Strong Boi dangled for a few seconds before looking to skin the cat. Bate was then hit by Torpedo Moscow mid-move to be eliminated for the win.
Next week:
A huge announcement about the future of NXT UK
A look at the rivalry between Kay Lee Ray and Piper Niven and an announcement when the NXT UK Women’s championship would next be defended
