From Sunday’s TV tapings in Glasgow, Scotland at The Garage
Kez Evans defeated Leyton Buzzard
This was an excellent opener. There’s a lot of buzz around Buzzard (pardon the pun) given his recent wins at Shug’s Hoose Party (SHP), but it was a well-deserved win for Evans after his SHP loss to BT Gunn. Both are to be watched in the coming months.
Aivil defeated Angel Hayze
Hayze was very impressive in her ICW debut but was overcome by Aivil in a very good outing for the ICW women’s division.
ICW Zero G Champion Liam Thomson defeated Gabriel Kid
This was a great technical match. The title wasn’t originally on the line, but after some jaw jacking before the bell, it was on.
Iestyn Rees defeated Kieran Kelly
Kelly did his best against the much larger Welshman. Rees overpowered him too many times and picked up the win. Rees loves waving at the crowd but Kelly has what it takes. There were lots of “underdog” chants during the match.
Carmel Jacobs was announced as the new ICW commissioner, much to the chagrin of Christopher Toal, the Wee Man and Coach Trip.
Ravie Davie defeated Grado
Grado used a more serious entrance, not letting the usual Madonna sing along anthem belt out. Davie had a bit of time on the mic before the bell and ended up with the win after interference from Kez Evans. Stephen Purdon got involved on behalf of Grado and cleared house to the adulation of the crowd.
Sha Samuels & Jack Jester defeated The Nine9 (Dickie Divers & Jack Morris)
The crowd went home happy when the “Kinky Party” picking up a win after a spike pildriver. We got double crowd surfing celebrations for those willing to hold Jester and Samuel up.
Andy Wild defeated Power Forward in a gauntlet match
After the bell, Wild challenged NXT UK’s Mark Coffey to a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Fear & Loathing XI.
Aaron Echo defeated Alexander Dean
Echo answered the challenge once it was announced Ricky Knight Jr. couldn’t make it due to injury. The match was in a bit of a bad position given the time and placing, but both did well in a great match.
Wolfgang, Stevie James & Krobar defeated Stevie Boy, Aspen Faith & Lewis Girvan
This was a great main event, reminiscent of the Von Erichs and Contra Unit from MLW. The action was everywhere and Rudo Lightning got involved towards the end. Written words can’t do it justice but this was an amazing six man brawl live, capped off with a sequence of near falls that could match any live competition today. Wolfgang ended up with the decisive pinfall but top marks go to all involved as it was great to cap off a top night of action with.
Ilja Dragunov quickly defeated Ashton Smith. NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Candy Floss in a non-title face vs. face match, then Kay Lee Ray made her presence felt. Trent Seven said Tyler Bate was in the hospital and challenged WALTER.
In the main event, Gallus defeated The Hunt & Dave Mastiff
Full Rundown —
The show opened with a recap from last week’s Grizzle Young Veterans vs. Moustache Mountain match and Imperium interfering. Still shots showed the aftermath of Tyler Bate & Trent Seven getting taken to the back.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Ashton Smith with Torpedo Moscow (4:42)
Smith used a headlock early, but Dragunov escaped and hit a crossbody on a charging Smith. Dragunov followed up with a senton. Smith worked over Dragunov’s legs, but he didn’t have much success.
Aiden English said “Unbesiegbar” was Russian for invincible, but it’s German for invincible. Dragunov hit a Gotch-style powerbomb. Smith came back with a fisherman’s suplex, but Dragunov hit a dropkick, then the Konstantin Special and Torpedo Moscow for the win.
– A graphic plugged the six-man tag main event.
– A video recap of Xia Brookside’s history with Jazzy Gabert and Jinny aired. Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Brookside about their history. She said she’d face Jinny next week.
– Nina Samuels did a skit where she interviewed fans at Download Festival. One said Samuels was his favorite.
Non-title match: NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Candy Floss with Storm Zero (5:55)
Storm outwrestled Candy Floss early. They one-upped each other with poses on the mat, then Candy Floss tried a quick pin. Storm showed approval for Candy Floss when she went for another one.
Candy Floss worked Storm’s arm and shoulder, but she got taken out with a kick. There was more offense from Candy Floss, but Storm hit a clothesline and Storm Zero for the win.
As Candy Floss walked to the back, Kay Lee Ray came out and attacked her. Storm came to her aid and KLR left.
– Another Ligero promo video aired, focusing on him losing his latest matches.
Trent Seven speaks
Seven talked solemnly and said usually he doesn’t speak alone. He said Bate was hospitalized and injured, but Seven’s here and always has been. He said this was built on British Strong Style.
Seven said Imperium claimed the mat was sacred — but “this is our mat.” He said he’d cut the head off the snake and was coming for WALTER, and it would be for Pete Dunne, Bate, and the Trent Seven Army. He got intense and started screaming “this will be for us!”
– Mark Andrews accepted Kassius Ohno’s call-out, saying he had been a “Hero” of his. They’ll face off next week.
Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Dave Mastiff & The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) when Joe Coffey pinned Wild Boar after a lariat (12:25)
All six guys brawled right at the bell, with Gallus being beaten to ringside. The Hunt worked over Mark Coffey with some unique offense until he tagged in Wolfgang. The heels isolated Primate and Joe Coffey put him in a submission.
Primate finally tagged Wild Boar, who ran roughshod on Mark Coffey. Mark hit a chokeslam and tagged Wolfgang. Boar was the face in peril for a while and got beaten up. He finally tagged Mastiff, who beat up Gallus on his own, including hitting a big German suplex on Mark and an overhead suplex on Joe.
Mastiff hit a Finlay roll with Mark onto Wolfgang. Joe turned things around for a bit, but Mastiff took back over. He hit the somersault senton onto Mark in the corner as The Hunt hit stereo dives to the outside.
Primate hit a top rope splash on Joe, but he wasn’t the legal man. Wolfgang rolled Boar back inside — and Joe hit his rolling lariat for the win.
Taped April 19, 2019 at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland
Quick results —
Piper Niven squashed the debuting Jaimie Hayter in just under two minutes. Ilja Dragunov made his NXT UK debut, quickly beating Jack Starz and giving the fans a glimpse of what is to come from the Mad Russian.
Killer Kelly and Xia Brookside went to a no contest when Jinny came out and introduced “The Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert, who went on to destroy Brookside.
Jordan Devlin and Dave Mastiff both won qualifiers and advanced to the fatal four-way match to decide a challenger for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. Mastiff was beaten down by Gallus after his match.
Full rundown —
– The episode opened with two graphics, announcing tonight’s two WWE United Kingdom Championship number one contendership qualifying matches. Joe Coffey was the first wrestler to qualify for the match last week.
Piper Niven pinned Jamie Hayter after a Michinoku Driver (1:48)
Hayter, 24, is from Southampton and has been active since 2015. She is a regular with Pro Wrestling:EVE and Revolution Pro (where she held the Women’s title for about six months) and also started doing tours with Stardom in 2018. She has wrestled all over the UK and regularly appears for the German Wrestling Federation out of Berlin.
Hayter started out aggressively, immediately grabbing Niven’s arm and trying to get her to the mat. Niven worked her way out of the move and received a slap, which didn’t sit well with her. A headbutt, flying body press, cannonball into the corner, and a Michinoku Driver later, Niven picked up the win.
– Toni Storm was interviewed by the press. She was asked about Nina Samuels talking about her leaving her family. She said if you mess with her head, she becomes dangerous.
Storm now wants the match worse than Samuels — and if Samuels wants her 15 minutes of fame, she will get that.
– Sid Scala was being interviewed as he entered the building. They asked him about WALTER vs. Pete Dunne and he talked about the qualifying matches, then Kassius Ohno entered and called Scala “Psycho Sid” and was being all amicable.
Ohno asked why he was overlooked and wasn’t in a qualifying match. He asked Scala what he would do about it. Scala said he’d talk to Johnny Saint and get back to Ohno next week.
Qualifying match for number one contender’s fatal four-way: Jordan Devlin pinned Ligero with Devlinside (10:30)
Devlin looked to work over Ligero’s arm and shoulder right away, but Ligero used his athleticism to escape. Devlin took back over, but again, Ligero managed to get a sunset flip powerbomb in for a two count, following up with a plancha over the top and a dropkick to Devlin’s face.
They fought back and forth until Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault combo for a near fall and followed up with a modified kneeling abdominal stretch and armbar.
Ligero, with his ribs hurt, got a second wind and came back with a dropkick off the top, but it was obvious that he was hurt and a tad slower than usual. Still, he got in an impressive pinning combination for another close two count. Ligero came off the top with a splash, but Devlin pulled his knees up, hurting Ligero’s ribs even more.
Devlin hit a beautiful moonsault, but this time, Ligero got his feet up, prompting Devlin to tumble to ringside. When coming back, Ligero took a bump onto the top rope but still managed to gain the upper hand as he followed up with a running sit-down powerbomb and another splash, but it wasn’t enough to put Devlin away.
As Ligero went for the tornado DDT, Devlin hit him with an enzuigiri to the back of the head, then hit Devlinside for the win.
– Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Devlin after the match. Devlin said this match didn’t need to happen, as he already was the number one contender. He said whatever way you shuffle the deck, you always fall short of the Ace.
– A video on WALTER aired. WALTER said he’s the Ring General and usually, there’s pressure on the champion, but he isn’t a normal guy and he never feels pressure. He said he appreciated Pete Dunne and liked the match with him and granted him a rematch because he was the first one to step up and ask.
WALTER said it’s good Dunne was training hard and will be prepared, but he will be prepared too.
– We saw Ilja Dragunov hyping himself up for his debut, which is next.
– Moustache Mountain were interviewed about WALTER vs. Dunne next week, which is being called the greatest rematch in NXT UK history. Trent Seven said that the greatest rematch would be Moustache Mountain taking on the Grizzled Young Veterans for the NXT UK Tag Team titles.
Ilja Dragunov pinned Jack Starz after the Torpedo Moscow (3:07)
Dragunov, 25, was born in Russia and moved to Dresden, Germany with his mother as a child. He started wrestling in 2012 and was trained by Axel Tischer (Alexander Wolfe) and Rick Baxxter in Dresden. He appeared for Next Step Wrestling and the German Wrestling Federation, before debuting in wXw in 2013.
Dragunov became wXw’s first Shotgun Champion, then also won the promotion’s Tag Team and World Unified Wrestling Championship (in one of the most emotional surprise returns of the past decade), along with the 2017 16 Carat Gold tournament, beating none other than WALTER in the finals.
After focusing on Germany for the first few years of his career, Dragunov made his debut for PROGRESS and PWG in 2018 and became a regular for PROGRESS, wrestling Dunne at their big Hello Wembley show in October 2018.
Dragunov’s career almost ended in 2013, as he broke his skull during a WWE tryout in November of that year and was kept out of action for almost a year after that. He brings a unique intensity and almost a desire for punishment to the ring and has immense charisma and good promo skills, which makes him work well both as a heel and a babyface.
Dragunov came out to a sort of Russian hymn, which sounded okay for his character. It sadly didn’t have the intensity of his usual music (which, since it stems from a computer game, can’t be used here).
Dragunov immediately started out with great intensity, grabbing Starz arm, driving him into the corner with a lariat, and proceeding to beat Starz down from one corner of the ring to the other. Starz briefly got his feet up on a corner charge and hit a few uppercuts, but Dragunov just smiled and enjoyed the pain.
Dragunov hit a number of lariats into the corner, then finished up with another one in the ring. He then flipped into the ring backwards and hit another lariat. He enjoyed some offense by Starz, then hit a standing senton. Dragunov did his UN-BE-SIEG-BAR (invincible) chant and put Starz away with the Torpedo Moscow for the win.
– Radzi interviewed Mark Andrews and Noam Dar backstage. They said they were not happy with how their last match ended and were looking forward to meeting in the ring. They shook hands and vowed that the best man would win.
Killer Kelly vs. Xia Brookside ended in a no contest (3:30)
Kelly worked over Brookside’s arm, but Brookside managed to escape repeatedly — only to be taken back down to the mat over and over. Brookside got a headlock takeover, but quickly found herself in some headscissors, which she escaped from by way of a headstand.
Kelly then escaped some headscissors of her own. They shook hands as a way to show respect, then suddenly the lights went down and Jinny’s music played.
Jinny stood in the aisle, then another theme played and “The Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert came out. Brookside and Kelly bumped fists and made a pact to fight together, but Kelly left just as Gabert entered the ring. Brookside tried fighting Gabert, but quickly got disposed of with a Dominator. Jinny and Gabert then posed in the ring together.
– Johnny Saint announced via Twitter that Toni Storm would defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Nina Samuels
Qualifying match for number one contender’s fatal four-way: Dave Mastiff defeated Wolfgang with a running cannonball into the corner (4:36)
The two big men locked up and Mastiff quickly tackled Wolfgang down, then followed up with a running body press for a near fall. Wolfgang quickly came back with some offense in the corner and a shoulder block off the second turnbuckle, then went to lock in a full nelson, but Mastiff briefly powered out of the hold before getting caught again.
Mastiff eventually managed to flip Wolfgang over and hit a huge senton on the Scotsman.
Wolfgang came back with a double ax handle off the top and a huge slam, but then missed the Howling Senton off the top. Mastiff hit a release German suplex into the corner, then followed up with the running cannonball into the corner for the pin.
– Radzi entered the ring to interview Mastiff, but the Coffey Brothers ran out and Gallus proceeded to beat down Mastiff three-on-one. Joe and Mark held Mastiff down as Wolfgang hit the Howling Senton on him. Gallus’ music played as the show went off the air.
Next week —
In what is being billed as the biggest rematch in NXT UK history, WALTER will defend his WWE UK Championship against former champion Pete Dunne.
Taped January 25-27 at Royal Rumble Axxess at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona
Quick rundown —
Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley had a confrontation in the ring, with Storm getting the better of it leading into their NXT UK Women’s Championship match next week.
205 Live’s Noam Dar beat Jordan Devlin with some help from Travis Banks, while Jinny defeated NXT’s Mia Yim. In the main event, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne beat Wolfgang in a non-title match.
Full results —
– Toni Storm came out with the NXT UK Women’s Championship and talked about how she beat Rhea Ripley at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool and would kick her ass again.
This brought out a very angry Ripley, who said that Storm had merely gotten lucky. Ripley brought up that she was the first-ever NXT UK Women’s Champion. She was sick and tired of being compared to Storm — people should compare Storm to her.
Ripley said she hated Storm’s stupid hair, face, and — most of all — that Storm has her championship. Storm asked if they had talked enough, took Ripley down, and started beating on her. Ripley quickly retreated to ringside.
– A graphic announced Noam Dar vs. Jordan Devlin was next.
Noam Dar pinned Jordan Devlin in 10:17 with a roll-up
They traded offense early on until Dar took over with a takedown and a headbutt. Devlin came back with his uranage/standing moonsault combo. Devlin hit a high inverted backbreaker and started working Dar over with forearms.
Devlin stayed on the offensive and hit a suplex for a two count. Moments later, he missed a reverse body press off the second turnbuckle, allowing Dar to take over and follow with a release Northern Lights suplex. He caught an enzuigiri by Devlin and turned it into an ankle lock, but Devlin escaped and hit the Irish Ace Cutter for a near fall.
Devlin managed to hold on after being thrown over the top, but Dar kicked his legs from under him, sending him to ringside. Dar hurt his ankle when trying to kick Devlin against the ring steps, prompting Travis Banks to come out. That allowed Dar to send Devlin into the steps.
Devlin rolled up Dar and put his feet on the rope, but Banks was there to push them off. Devlin decked Banks but was distracted enough to allow Dar to roll him up for the victory.
After the match, Devlin attacked Dar and hit his pull-up backdrop driver on him. Banks then pulled Devlin out of the ring and they brawled to the back.
– A graphic announced a match between WALTER and NXT’s Kassius Ohno airing in two weeks. Storm defending her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Ripley will air next week.
Jinny pinned Mia Yim with her feet on the rope in 7:57 after hitting a kick to the face
They traded submissions early with Jinny slightly gaining the upper hand. Yim followed up with a number of roll-ups for some near falls. Jinny hit a running hurricanrana, but Yim cartwheeled out of it.
Yim went for an armbar, but Jinny reached the ropes before any real damage could be done. Jinny repeatedly slapped Yim and rammed her face into the mat. Jinny caught Yim in a seated wheelbarrow surfboard, but Yim managed to get her fingers on the bottom rope.
Yim then took over with strikes, kicks, and a cannonball in the corner for another near fall, then followed up with a German suplex into the corner, sending Jinny to the outside. As Jinny came back into the ring, she managed to hit a kick on Yim and pinned her with her feet on the rope.
– A graphic announced The Coffey Brothers taking on Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews for next week.
Non-title match: WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne submitted Wolfgang with an armbar in 10:43
Wolfgang threw his jacket at Dunne as the match started. They battled for position until Dunne shoved Wolfgang to the mat. After some stalling by Wolfgang, he hit Dunne with a stiff forearm that knocked the champ down.
After some back and forth, Dunne came back with an attack to Wolfgang’s knee from the turnbuckle. He went for a heel hook, but Wolfgang escaped. They ended up at ringside as Wolfgang further beat down Dunne. Dunne came back with attacks on Wolfgang’s fingers and arm and went for a double wristlock but ate a stiff gutbuster for his trouble.
Dunne finally came back with a rope-assisted release German suplex and a striking combination. He backflipped over Wolfgang and hit an X-Plex for a near fall.
Dunne stomped on Wolfgang’s head. He locked in a triangle and started bending Wolfgang’s fingers but got picked up and powerbombed into the corner. Wolfgang followed up with a suplex but couldn’t quite get the victory.
Wolfgang went to the top but got dropkicked in the face and then superplexed by Dunne. Dunne looked to snap Wolfgang’s fingers, but the big Scot escaped and hit a gutbuster. As Wolfgang went for the Howling (his somersault senton off the top), Dunne caught him in mid-air with an armbar and forced him to tap out.
Next week —
Toni Storm looks to defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley in a rematch from NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. The Coffey Brothers also take on Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews.
Episode 24 (taped November 25, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)
Quick results:
Ligero beat Joseph Conners. Travis Banks beat Tyson T-Bone in a short match, marred by Jordan Devlin coming out during the match. Banks won anyway and then sent Devlin packing. Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) beat British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate).in a tremendous 25 minute match, leading up to Dunne and Coffey facing each other for Dunne’s WWE UK Championship this Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Blackpool.
Full rundown:
A video of the Gallus/British Strong Style rivalry and tonight’s six men tag main event match opened the show.
Ligero beat Joseph Conners in 5:21 after a springboard tornado DDT
Conners for weeks talked about the “shiny new toys” of NXT UK, mentioning guys like Ligero vowing to break them. Ligero started out strong, hitting Conners with a number of quick moves. Conners eventually managed to take over by pushing him into the ring post on the apron, then hit a hard clothesline in the ring for a near-fall. Conners continued to aggressively work Ligero over. Ligero finally came back with a fireman’s carry and kick to the head, but was quickly stopped again. Conners started to tear at Ligero’s mask, but Ligero eventually hit his springboard tornado DDT for the win.
Radzi interviewed Zack Gibson and James Drake backstage about their upcoming NXT UK tag team title match at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. Gibson reiterated that they were undefeated and said they were so confident that they cleared a space on their mantelpieces and would take to Facebook Live for an early celebration. He said they were “sssssoon to be recognized the NXT UK Tag Team Champions”.
British Strong Style and Gallus were shown preparing for their match backstage.
A Dave Mastiff/Eddie Dennis aired. Mastiff talked about their rivalry, stating that he was the only undefeated monster in NXT UK and that Dennis was jealous and he would be the victor in their no disqualification match.
Travis Banks beat Tyson T-Bone in 2:08 with A Slice of Heaven
T-Bone was aggressive from the start, rag dolling Banks around and hitting him with some hard strikes, but Banks came back with strikes and a running shotgun dropkick, followed by a double foot stomp into the corner. 90 seconds in, Jordan Devlin’s music played and he came out, dressed like Banks. As this was not RAW, Banks only briefly was distracted, but took right back over, eventually hitting a Slice of Heaven for the pin.
Devlin then entered the ring and attacked Banks, but Banks quickly hit a Slice of Heaven on him and sent him packing.
A recap video of the Toni Storm/Rhea Ripley rivalry aired, featuring the NXT UK Women’s Championship finals between them, followed by Ripley’s dominant title reign and Toni winning the Mae Young Classic and challenging for the title.
A segment ran down the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool card, including a breaking news announcement of Travis Banks facing Jordan Devlin
Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) beat British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) in 25:29 when Joe Coffey pinned Tyler Bate after a spinning lariat
Bate and Joe Coffey started things off to massive Tyler Bate chants. Bate got forced into a bridge off a test of strength, with Coffey going for a number of pin attempts before fighting his way back to his feet. All six men briefly faced off before the referee could restore order. Seven and Wolfgang were in next and Seven hit a cross body before chaos between all six men broke out again. Now Dunne and Mark Coffey were in. Dunne quickly hit a hard clothesline before another melee broke out, this time ending in a big brawl with Gallus ending up at ringside.
Back in the ring, Dunne started stretching Mark Coffey and British Strong Style quickly tagged in and out, working over Mark Coffey until Bate crashed into Wolfgang and the heels got the advantage, working over the Big Strong Boi. At one point, Bate took a great Bret-Hart-style chest-first bump into the corner before managing the hot tag to Trent Seven. who took over like a house of fire on all three men, prompting Wolfgang and Mark Coffey to hi each other inadvertently a number of times. This ended when Joe Coffey smashed him shoulder-first into the ring steps on the outside to turn the tables once more.
Gallus worked over Seven for a few minutes before he finally managed to hit a big superplex on Joe Coffey and make the hot tag Pete Dunne. He hit an X-Plex on Mark Coffey and locked in a knee bar on Wolfgang, who eventually managed to tag Joe Coffey. Dunne immediately locked Coffey in a triangle, and then, as Coffey tagged Wolfgang who came off the top rope, Dunne caught him in an arm bar.
Wolfgang eventually suplexed his way out and Dunne tagged Bate. Bate and Coffey had a few great spots, ending with Coffey missing a springboard body press and Bate hitting a running shooting star. Bate escaped a wheel barrow spin by Coffey, then picked him up for a long air plane spin. Coffey escaped a Tyler Driver ’97 attempt and then both men went down after trading strikes.
Both tagged out to Seven and Mark Coffey with Seven hitting a ripcord DDT before all three members of British Strong Style hit a triple power bomb on Mark. Bate then hit a dive on Wolfgang. Dunne and Mark Coffey were in the ring, but Dunne got distracted when Joe Coffey has his WWE UK title on the apron. Joe Coffey hit a big power bomb on Dunne for a very close near fall, with Bate breaking up the pin.
After some more chaos, Dunne and Joe Coffey ended up together in the ring, doing the Frye-Takayama exchange of strikes. Dunne stomped on Coffey fingers but ate a spear in return. Dunne thwarted a second attempt with a hard knee to the head. Dunne broke Coffey’s fingers and hit the Bitter End, but didn’t see Wolfgang getting tagged in. Dunne tagged Bate, who hit a corkscrew senton on everybody on the outside. Bate hiot a rolling kick on Wolfgang who managed to tag out to Joe Coffey. Bate went for his springboard lariat, but Coffey caught him with the spinning lariat for the pin in the finish to a great match,
Pete Dunne faced off with Gallus from the apron as the show went off the air.
Next episode:
The fallout from the first ever NXT UK TakeOver special, probably with matches being taped this coming weekend.
Also, don’t miss NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool this coming Saturday at 2 PM ET (7 PM BST, 8 PM CET) on the WWE Network (pre-show starts half an hour earlier).
Episode 21 (taped November 24, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England)
Quick recap:
Travis Banks quickly defeated Jamie Ahmed but was called out by Jordan Devlin afterwards. The new team of Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner beat Kenny Williams & Jordan Devlin, and Jinny defeated Candyfloss.
In the main event, Moustache Mountain advanced to the NXT UK Tag Team Championship tournament finals by beating Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang). Both Pete Dunne and Joe Coffey got involved in the finish. The two teams brawled as the show went off the air, but not before Dunne accepted Joe Coffey’s challenge for a WWE UK Championship match at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.
Travis Banks defeated Jamie Ahmed in 1:40 with Slice of Heaven
Banks took him down early until Ahmed escaped. Banks tried to get a submission, but Ahmed made the ropes. Banks hit a dropkick to the back of Ahmed’s head and followed with a German suplex. He then hit a shotgun dropkick, a double foot stomp off the middle ropes, and Slice of Heaven for the quick win.
Jordan Devlin came out after the match to trash talk Banks. He talked about how Banks left his native New Zealand to wrestle and, while Devlin cashes his check and goes home to his family after the matches, he wondered if Banks’ mum even remembered his voice. He dared Banks to shut him up.
– Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph talked about the NXT UK Tag Team title tournament and recapped the history between Moustache Mountain and Gallus, leading into tonight’s main event. A graphic plugged the next match with the debuting team of Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner.
– A recap of the recent Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis angles aired, and a rematch between the two monsters was announced for the next episode.
Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner defeated Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams in 7:31 with a powerbomb/Saito suplex combination
Williams wouldn’t dance with Jordan as they came out. Williams and Barthel traded arm locks early on. Jordan received a thrust to the throat for his dancing antics by Barthel, who tagged out to Aichner. Aichner dominated Jordan until he escaped to hit a body block but got caught and then destroyed by both heels, who proceeded to beat the heck out of him and quickly tagged in and out.
Williams made the save after a spine buster/running kick combo. Barthel then hit a butterfly suplex and transitioned into a chinlock. Jordan finally made the hot tag to Williams — who ran wild.
Williams hit a plancha to the outside and even saved Jordan from certain defeat by Barthel’s Landungsbrücken. Aichner and Barthel put an end to that tomfoolery by hitting a powerbomb/Saito suplex combo on Jordan for the win.
– A segment from earlier today aired, where Radzi Chinyanganya caught Toni Storm and Deonna Purrazzo agreeing to a match for Storm’s title shot at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. A graphic promised Jinny would be in action next
– Sid Scala and Johnny Saint were talking about TakeOver when Joe Coffey interrupted and demanded a title match against Pete Dunne at that event. Scala said they’d take it under consideration. Saint dismissed him and told Scala they would talk.
Jinny defeated Candyfloss in 4:23 with A Touch of Couture
To her dismay, Candyfloss hugged Jinny early. They traded submissions until Candyfloss mocked Jinny by lying down next to her. Jinny locked in a double wristlock and rammed Candyfloss’ head into the corner. Candyfloss hit two dropkicks but couldn’t capitalize as Jinny hit a Japanese arm drag into the corner, followed by A Touch of Couture for the victory.
– Gallus were shown backstage preparing for their match.
NXT UK Tag Team title tournament semifinal match: Moustache Mountain defeated Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) in 14:37 after a springboard lariat/dragon suplex combo on Coffey
Coffey and Bate started, with Bate hitting a big dropkick right away. Bate also hit a somersault splash off Seven’s shoulders for a quick cover shortly after. The heels took over after a distraction by Wolfgang. They worked Bate over for a while — until he managed to hit a hurricanrana and make the hot tag.
Seven hit a DDT and a Falcon Arrow for a near fall on Coffey. Some more cheating led to the heels back on offense as Wolfgang hit a number of sentons on Seven. Coffey hit a stiff forearm on Seven that almost knocked him out, and he kept being the face in peril for a few more minutes. After a lengthy bear hug, Wolfgang threw Seven to the outside — where Coffey preyed on him but ate a suplex for his troubles.
Seven finally managed to tag in Bate, who immediately hit a dive to the outside and ran wild on Wolfgang, then hit another dive to the outside. Bate hit an impressive exploder, followed by a running Shooting Star Press on Wolfgang for a near fall. Bate did the airplane spin on Wolfgang, then turned around to repeat it in the other direction. A deadlift suplex attempt went awry and Wolfgang managed to tag out.
In a super impressive spot, Bate hit a German suplex on Wolfgang while Coffey was piggybacking on his back. Seven took out Wolfgang with a dive as Bate went for the Tyler Driver ’97. Coffey back body dropped Bate, Bate flipped over and went for his springboard lariat, and he got caught with Coffey’s forearm as both men were stunned.
Gallus called for help by Joe Coffey. He came out, but Pete Dunne was at his heels and the two brawled around ringside. In the ring, Bate and Seven hit their combined springboard lariat/dragon suplex on Mark Coffey for the win.
As the faces celebrated, Joe Coffey attacked Pete Dunne once more and Gallus proceeded to beat down British Strong Style until the faces made their own comeback to dispose of their mortal enemies.
Dunne grabbed the mic and accepted Joe Coffey’s challenge for a WWE UK Championship match at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool. Gallus then hit the ring and the two teams brawled once more as the show faded to black.
Next episode:
Toni Storm faces Deonna Purrazzo with Storm’s NXT UK Women’s Championship shot at TakeOver: Blackpool on the line. Eddie Dennis also faces Dave Mastiff in a rematch from a few weeks ago.
Episode 16 (taped October 14 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)
Quick recap:
The two undefeated monsters of NXT UK clashed, as Dave Mastiff met Eddie Dennis in the main event, with the Bomber reigning victorious in a fun hoss fight. Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) were victorious over Ashton Smith & Ligero in a quest to qualify for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship Tournament. Jinny managed to beat Xia Brookside, while Joseph Conners squashed Jack Starz in a quick match. Rhe Ripley will make her first NXT UK Women’s Championship defense next week, facing the “White Witch of NXT UK”, Isla Dawn.
Full rundown:
– The show opened up with a split screen of Dave Mastiff and Eddie Dennis warming up for their match backstage, while Vic and Nigel talked about the main event
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) beat Ashton Smith & Ligero in 5:37 when Coffey pinned Smith after an enzuigiri
Ligero and Wolfgang started out, and the Leeds Luchador frustrated the bigger man with a spin kick and a drop kick but got caught on a body press attempt. He quickly tagged out to Smith and both men hit a double drop kick on Wolfgang. Ligero got himself caught on a spinning DDT attempt but managed to escape until Mark Coffey distracted him and a forearm to the back of the head sent him to ringside.
The heels worked Ligero over until he managed to throw Wolfgang out of the ring and made the hot tag to Smith. Smith ran wild for a bit and hit a springboard back elbow on Coffey, but Wolfgang eventually pulled him out of the ring. Ligero then hit a somersault senton to the outside onto Wolfgang, jumping over Smith who was hanging in the ropes.
Back in the ring, Smith tried and O’Connor Roll on Coffey but he managed to kick out, hit a double hammer to the chest followed by an enzuigiri for the win.
– We took a look back at Isla Dawn challenging Rhea Ripley last episode. Both women were backstage with Johnny Saint and Sid Scala, who announced the match for next week. The women had a stare down, with Rhea saying “See you next week” and walked off
– A graphic announced Joseph Conners to be in action next, followed by a TLC promo.
– Radzi was backstage with Gallus after their match. They said that they set a standard and were the team to beat. Joe Coffey said that he was concerned with Pete Dunne and was going to rip the WWE UK Championship from his mouth. But first, he would meet Travis Banks and squash him like a bug.
Joseph Conners beat Jack Starz in 2:16 with Don’t Look Down
This was basically a squash. Starz refers to him as the Self Made Machine, but Conners wasn’t impressed, grabbed his ear and yanked him down to the mat. He sent Starz into the ropes and hit a backbreaker as Starz came bouncing back. Conners worked him over, went to ringside and pounded on Starz who was on the apron.
Starz got a brief hope spot in and hit some European uppercuts, but that was ended quickly. Conners then hit a sunset bomb into the corner and followed up with Don’t Look Down fpr the quick win.
– Radzi was backstage with Xia Brookside, who said while she may not be the most experienced wrestler in NXT UK, Jinny better get read to “fly with Brookside”. Jinny then turned up, looked at Xia, turned away with a disgusted look on her face and walked off.
– There was a commercial for the Royal Rumble Axxess shows; no word on if any NXT or NXT UK talent would be on those events.
– A video package for Saxon Huxley and Tyson T-Bone aired, where Huxley said that T-Bone was violent, destructive and almost as twisted as he was. He also talked about his shadow being rooted in hell, channeling his best inner Undertaker from the 1990s. T-Bone and Huxley concluded that they would be the NXT UK tag team champions.
Jinny beat Xia Brookside in 4:13 after hitting her with A Touch of Couture
Xia wanted to shake Jinny’s hand, but she kicked it away. Xia went for a headlock and took her down, but Jinny quickly locked on a head vice with her legs, from which Xia escaped via head stand. Jinny kept working Xia’s arm, but Xia came back and eventually hit a huracanrana from the corner, followed by a dropkick and a cross body from the second turnbuckle.
Jinny came back with the Fashion Disaster, which is her STO into the corner. Jinny went to bend Xia’s arms backwards, working over her back until Xia managed to roll through on the move and escape. She hit a chin breaker, followed by a bulldog and a head scissors takedown.
As Jinny was propped up in the corner, Xia hit a running double knee to the back of the head and went for a surfboard variant, but her back gave out and Jinny rolled through on the move, sending Xia into the ropes. As she got back up, Jinny hit A Touch of Couture, her rolling kick, for the win.
– A Dave Mastiff video package aired, and a graphic announced Mastiff vs. Eddie Dennis next, followed by a WWE Custom Tees ad.
– Zack Gibson and James Drake came out for a short in-ring promo. Gibson said that people got a tiny glimpse of what they could do when they beat Jordan and Williams and that they would soon be recognized as the NXT UK tag team champions.
– An Eddie Dennis video package aired, where he said that NXT UK meant everything to him as he could apply his trade here; this was followed by a WWE Network commercial.
– A graphic announced Rhea Ripley defending against Isla Dawn next week.
“Bomber” Dave Mastiff beat Eddie Dennis in 11:47 after a cannonball into the corner
Mastiff pushed him into the corner early. Dennis tried for some shoulder blocks, but Mastiff wouldn’t budge. Dennis tried some striking but was stopped by a drop kick by the big man. Mastiff trapped Dennis’ arms and rained down some elbows on his jaw. Dennis was back on offense a little later but got mowed down by a running cross body block by Mastiff.
Mastiff missed a senton, allowing Dennis to recover, hot a running boot, followed by a kick to the jaw that sent “the Bomber” to ringside. Dennis kicked him off the apron as he tried to re-enter the ring, but a second kick showed no effect, so Dennis slid out of the ring and pulled Mastiff off the ring.
When they came back to the ring, Dennis applied a cravat but Mastiff eventually powered out, hit a head butt and eventually a big superplex. After exchanging some more strikes, Mastiff hit a Finlay roll and a senton for a near fall. Mastiff stepped things up with a bridging German suplex for another close two count.
Mastiff tried to hit the cannonball into the corner, but Dennis got up, caught him in mid-air and hit a black hole slam for a near fall. He tried to get the big guy up for his Severed Bridge into the corner, but Mastiff back body dropped out of it. Dennis was on the apron and put his upper body through the ropes, but Mastiff pulled him back into the ring and into the ropes.
Mastiff set Dennis up for another superplex attempt, but he escaped and got Mastiff up for the Severed Bridge. Mastiff escaped the move. A hard clothesline by Dennis led to another near-fall. Mastiff cut him off, hit a snap mare followed by a head butt, a release German suplex and eventually the cannonball senton into the corner to end Eddie Dennis’ undefeated streak and pick up the win.
Next week:
Rhea Ripley will defend the NXT UK Women’s championship against Isla Dawn and more tag teams will be in action.
Travis Banks returned from his shoulder injury, making his NXT UK TV in-ring debut against Wolfgang and defeating the big man in a match marred by interference from both Gallus and Moustache Mountain.
Joseph Conners beat Dan Moloney in the opener, while Dave Mastiff tamed the “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman. Ligero managed to defeat Tyson T-Bone, and NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley made short work of the debuting Candy Floss. In other news, Eddie Dennis stalked Dave Mastiff backstage and Sid Scala promised more on the NXT UK Tag Team titles for next week.
Full rundown:
– The show opened with the same graphic and scrolling message as the last episode, remembering the Dynamite Kid.
– Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness were in studio and talked about our main event, Wolfgang vs. the returning Travis Banks.
– We were also told that Rhea Ripley would be in action tonight.
Joseph Conners defeated Dan Moloney in 4:51 after hitting Don’t Look Down
We took a look at Conners turning against Saxon Huxley a few weeks back and him beating his former partner three episodes ago.
They locked up and Moloney actually hit a judo hip toss, taking Conners down, then hitting a back body drop. Conners came back and actually attacked Moloney’s ear, I guess because he still is mad for losing half of his in a bar fight. He went to ringside and actually attacked Moloney from there, raining forearms across the back of his head on the apron. He took Moloney down with a clothesline and applied a chinbar.
Conners drove Moloney into the corner, but Moloney came back with a spinebuster. Conners managed to turn the match around once more, hitting a sunset powerbomb that drove Moloney into the turnbuckles, then hit Don’t Look Down for the win.
– Joseph and McGuinness talked about Banks and Wolfgang some more and then mentioned the women’s division.
– Radzi Chinyanganya was backstage with Isla Dawn, asking her if who she was as a person would help her rise. Dawn said that who she is and everything she does comes from a place of good, a place of honesty. Truth and spirit are the qualities she needs to send her on her journey for the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
Rhea Ripley interrupted the interview and said that last week she told Johnny Saint and Sid Scala to find her suitable competition, not just competition — and that while she found someone for tonight, she suggested that Dawn watch her match closely.
– A graphic announced Dave Mastiff would meet the “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman tonight.
– We saw Moustache Mountain arriving at the building earlier today where they were confronted by Gallus. The two factions almost got into a brawl, but a number of officials, including Scala and Saint kept them apart. Saint commanded Gallus “Away with ya, away!” Johnny Saint is the best.
“Bomber” Dave Mastiff defeated “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in 4:09 after the cannonball into the corner
They briefly locked up and Hitchman attacked right away, but Mastiff sent him to the mat with a hard forearm, then trapped both of his arms behind his back and rained down some elbows that had the Boar dizzy. He had Hitchman in a waist lock — but he escaped and Mastiff missed with a charge following that.
Boar hit a running senton onto Mastiff in the corner, then tried for an armbar and actually fish hooked Mastiff’s mouth. Mastiff came back with a headbutt, forearm strikes, and a running senton of his own. Boar came back with a couple of shoulder blocks that had the big man wobbling, then hit a running spear into the corner, which took Mastiff down.
As Hitchman came flying in with another hurled senton, Mastiff got his shotgun dropkick into the corner and finished things off with his cannonball for the victory.
– We took a look at Travis Banks being taken out backstage from the first set of tapings (he actually had a legit shoulder injury at the time) as the announcers talked about tonight’s main event.
– A graphic informed us that Ligero would meet Tyson T-Bone next.
– Radzi was backstage with Mastiff, asking how he felt, since he still was undefeated. Mastiff said he felt great, that people shouldn’t underestimate the Wild Boar, but that he was the better man tonight and was going all the way to the top. As he talked, a figure was seen in the background, but the camera was out of focus.
As Mastiff walked away, the camera focused on the person in the background, and it was Eddie Dennis peeking at Mastiff from the doorway. I’m sure headmaster Dennis suspended kids for less than creepily spying on other kids.
Ligero defeated Tyson T-Bone in 6:32 after a springboard splash
Ligero hit some leg kicks early, trying to attack the larger man’s base and ducking his attacks. This worked well for a while. Ligero even hit an enzuigiri from the apron to T-Bone in the ring. A right hand by T-Bone sent the Leeds Luchador to the outside and T-Bone got a few punches in as Ligero was leaning into the steel steps.
Back in the ring, the big man hit a fallaway slam, then locked in a rear chinlock. Ligero came back with more leg kicks and another enzuigiri, a dropkick, and a top-rope assisted Sliced Bread. T-Bone recovered and hit an exploder, then a running kick and a running hip attack into the corner, leading to a near fall.
T-Bone missed his knockout punch and tumbled to ringside. Ligero hit a running somersault from the apron and followed up with a springboard splash for the pin.
– A highlight video of Rhea Ripley aired, showing her way to winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Candy Floss in 2:49 after Riptide in a non-title match
Candy Floss at just 19 (I believe she still was 18 when this was taped) already has three years as a pro under her belt. She was trained at the PROGRESS Projo by Darrell Allen and had her debut in 2016. She wrestled for PROGRESS, Riptide Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling: EVE in the UK, before embarking on her first tour of Japan for Stardom in April of 2018.
Ripley was out first and cut a promo in the ring. She said she was all about opportunities and took her opportunity to become the first-ever NXT UK Women’s Champion. She said she had hand-picked someone from the back to have the opportunity of a lifetime.
Candy Floss came out and Ripley, while seemingly amused by the young woman with the pink hair, offered a handshake and even broke a lock-up off clean as Candy Floss got to the ropes. That was about as nice as Ripley would get, as she started working Candy Floss’ arm.
Candy Floss managed to escape the armlock and hit a running dropkick that had Ripley staggering. The champ quickly came back with a dropkick of her own and applied a rear-naked choke. Candy Floss managed to power out eventually, but a knee to the gut stopped her offense dead in its tracks. Ripley hit a few shoulder charges into the corner and quickly hit Riptide for the victory.
Afterwards, Ripley helped Candy Floss up and even raised her arm, but then quickly attacked her with a forearm to the back of the head. She hit some ground and pound and stomps for good measure and finally threw Candy Floss out of the ring.
– Flash Morgan Webster got interviewed by a number of anonymous journalists backstage. He talked about himself and Mark Andrews teaming up, then Fabian Aichner showed up and Webster confronted him about his match with Andrews earlier. Aichner told him to do something about it next week, if Webster didn’t like how he conducted himself in the ring.
Webster accepted the challenge and the match was confirmed in a graphic.
– Scala and Saint were backstage and teacher’s pet Scala told us that Saint had allowed him to make his first few announcements. He said that Trent Seven would meet Joe Coffey next week and there would also be an update on the NXT UK Tag Team titles.
Saint looked around somewhat bewildered in the background, but I am not sure if this was legit or planned. Still, Johnny Saint is the best. He always looks like the nice grandpa that would give you candy and then simultaneously stretch you if you ate them all at once.
“The Kiwi Buzzsaw” Travis Banks defeated Wolfgang in 4:16 after turning a suplex attempt into a pin when Trent Seven held on to Wolfgang’s leg
Banks, from New Zealand, started out in 2009, wrestling for New Zealand Wide Wrestling early on and supposedly lived in an abandoned train carriage in New Zealand for two years. He eventually went to Japan and wrestled with ZERO1 and first wrestled for AAW in the U.S. in 2013.
He started appearing on a regular basis in the UK in 2016, wrestling for PROGRESS, ATTACK! Pro, Fight Club: PRO, Defiant (WCPW), Southside, RevPro, IPW:UK, Preston City Wrestling, and numerous others. He also first appeared for wXw in 2017 and was part of this year’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. He wrestled at WrestleMania Axxess in 2017 and 2018 and also was part of PWG’s BOLA in 2017 and appeared for EVOLVE a few times.
Banks teamed with TK Cooper as the South Pacific Power Trip and is part of CCK with Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos. He is a former PROGRESS World Champion, a title he actually defended at WrestleMania Axxess this year, won PROGRESS’ Super Strong Style tournament in 2017, and has also held singles and tag team titles in Defiant, RevPro, Fight Club: PRO, and ATTACK!
Wolfgang mocked Banks’ shoulder injury at the start of the match, but Banks hit a forearm as Wolfgang did his howl, then followed up with a few kicks. Wolfgang eventually threw his injured shoulder into the post. As they went to ringside, Mark Coffey provided some distraction to allow Wolfgang to take over and throw Banks into the steps.
Back in the ring, Wolfgang applied a nerve hold. Banks fought back with his injured shoulder, which prevented him from throwing hard punches. He eventually hit a dropkick into the corner. As Wolfgang went outside once more, Banks hit a nice running double foot stomp off the apron onto his opponent. He followed that up with another jumping kick off the second rope back in the ring.
Mark Coffey once more provided a distraction, allowing Wolfgang to hit a running kick, followed by a running back senton and a spear for a near fall. Banks hit Slice of Heaven from the second turnbuckle but couldn’t capitalize as the rest of Gallus once more was on the apron, distracting him.
Moustache Mountain ran out and pulled them off, then Banks hit a suicide dive on the heels. Wolfgang came back with a forearm and went to suplex Banks back inside the ring, but Trent Seven pulled his leg away and Banks managed to land on Wolfgang for the pin and the win in mid-move.
Moustache Mountain celebrated with Banks as the heels avoided another confrontation.
Episode twelve (taped October 13 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England)
Quick recap
Fabian Aichner made his NXT UK debut, defeating Mark Andrews and looking good in the process. Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in a quick match, while Edie Dennis basically squashed Tucker. Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in a good main event match.
Also, Travis Banks returned from injury to confront Gallus, the new official name for the group of Wolfgang and the Coffey Brothers. In other news, Sid Scala officially was appointed assistant to NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint.
Full rundown
The show opened with a graphic about Tom “Dynamite Kid” Billington passing away. A scrolling message at the bottom of the screen also wished his family, friends and fans the best.
This was the first show from the third set of NXT UK tapings and saw a number of debuts and returns, the first of which happened in the first segment. Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang came out and Joe Coffey cut a promo in the ring. He said people had been calling them “ruthless”, then asked his brother for what other word they had been called. “Devious”, was the answer.
He asked Wolfgang for another term. “Underhanded”, was what Wolfgang told him. He said that this was absolutely right, he said that this was their kingdom and that they would be known as Gallus, which, according to Wikipedia means is a Lowland Scottish word for self-confident, daring, cheeky or stylish, impressive,
He said that this was their kingdom now and that there was no such thing as Big Strong Bois anymore. At that point, Travis banks came out and stood in the aisle. Joe Coffey asked him how he felt and that they had put him on the shelf. he dared Banks to get in the ring, noting that there were three of them and just one of him.
He then told him they could go one on one. Banks stormed the ring, but as he took Joe down, the rest of Gallus interfered and beat him down. Moustache Mountain ran out to make the save, sending the heels packing.
Nigel and Vic were in studio, talking about the last segment and then threw it to a backstage interview where Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Fabian Aichner, who made his debut here. He said that there were some of the best competitors in the world here and he was looking forward to mix it up with them, just as he had done in NXT.
A graphic informed us that Aichner would do battle with Mark Andrews next.
A TLC promo aired.
Radzi was back with Jordan Devlin. Devlin asked if he had seen how far he had pushed Pete Dunne in his own home town and that he was confident another title opportunity would not be too far away for him.
He said that he was the Irish Ace and he looked at the NXT UK roster like a deck of cards and when he shuffles that deck and pulls out Flash Morgan Webster, he sees the Joker. He threatened to rip off Webster’s anorak, throw his helmet in the fifth row and said that the Ace always trumps the Heart. (which makes basically no sense in any kind of card game, but I digress)
Fabian Aichner beat Mark Andrews in 9:19 after a spinning sit-out power bomb
Aichner of course is the current EVOLVE world champion. He hails from South Tyrol which is a German speaking autonomous province in northern Italy, which originally belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian empire (there, you learned something). He started in 2011 and trained in Germany with former WCW “Wunderkind” Alex Wright and his English father, Steve Wright.
Aichner and Andrews shook hands for the start of the match. After some back and forth, Aichner showed his power by easily gorilla pressing Andrews, but Andrews reversed out of the move. He tried his somersault over the top rope from the apron, but Aichner once more caught him in mid-move, even though Andrews managed to turn the move into a lucha arm drag and followed with a huracanrana. Andrews followed this up with a topé.
Back in the ring, Aichner stopped Andrews, threw him high into the air and caught him for a backbreaker, which looked impressive. Nigel talked about Aichner’s trainer Steve Wright once wrestling Tiger Mask, in a similar display of strength and technique versus high flying. Andrews hit a standing corkscrew senton for a near-fall and turned a power bomb attempt into a huracanrana.
He once more tried his somersault over the roped but this time it ended in a hard face slam for him. Aichner turned him inside out with a clothesline and went for a brain buster which got turned into the Stunt Dog Millionaire. Andrews went up top but Aichner caught him mid-air and gave him a brain buster for a near fall.
Aichner then showed his athleticism with a spring board moonsault which missed. Andrews went for a moonsault of his own which got caught, but managed to turn it into a tornado DDT for a near fall of his own. He tried for a shooting star press but impressively managed to land on his feet as Aichner rolled to ringside.
Aichner pulled Andrews out and drove him into the steps, then followed with a running knee into the steel for good measure. This was a turning point, as Aichner supposedly embraced the dark side here. Andrews managed to get back in at 9 but got caught in a spinning sit-out power bomb for the pin.
This was a very good match and a great NXT UK debut for Aichner.
Vic and Nigel talked about the NXT UK Women’s championship tournament, which concluded last week.
A promo looked at Isla Dawn, the White Witch of NXT UK. She went by some ancient buildings and talked about her powers. A graphic announced Isla Dawn would meet Nina Samuels next.
A commercial for the AJ Styles WE 365 documentary aired.
Radzi was with Johnny Saint, asking him how he handled all the chaos going on in NXT UK right now. Johnny said that he knew he needed some help, so he had appointed Sid Scala as his assistant. At that point, Rhea Ripley walked up to them and towered over Scala.
She said they should be talking about her and find her some competition. Scala assured her that they were looking into it. Rhea at that point pinched him in the cheeks and mockingly stated tha the little assistant would be finding her an opponent. She walked off and told Johnny that she didn’t think much of his hired help.
Isla Dawn beat Nina Samuels in 3:20 after a gutwrench powerslam
They locked up and Isla managed to pull out of a head lock. Samuels took over with a chin lock and we were told that she had run the London marathon four times, so she had stamina. That was of little use, as Isla moved out of the way of a charging Samuels and hit some kickboxing kicks, a back drop driver and eventually her gut-wrench power slam for the quick win.
Some Eddie Dennis highlights aired and we were told that he would be in action against Tucker next
A WWE Shop commercial featuring the New Day aired; apparently there is a Book of Booty-Os. Sounds thrilling!
We saw highlights from last week’s tournament final between Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm. Toni talked about the crucial moment when her back got hurt off a spot of being thrown onto the edge of the apron (originally there was fear she would be out for a while with a back injury). She said that while Rhea was the first NXT UK Women’s champion, she herself would be the best champion and the the injury just made her stronger.
Eddie Dennis beat Tucker with the Next Stop Driver in 2:27
Denis was in control from the start with punches and hard whips. He hit his Black Hole Slam into a backbreaker on his knee, then locked Tucker in a cravat. Tucker briefly managed to come back with a back elbow from the second turnbuckle and a clothesline in the corner, but Dennis took his head off with a hard clothesline.
He hit the Severed Bridge into the corner and ended the match with the Next Stop Driver.
We were informed that Jordan Devlin would be in action next
A WWE Network promo aired
Johnny Saint announced via Twitter that Travis Banks would have a chance for retaliation against Gallus next week when he gets to face Wolfgang
Jordan Devlin beat Flash Morgan Webster in 12:04 after Ireland’s Call
Webster early on flipped out of some arm locks and they traded counters back and forth. Devlin eventually took over and kicked Webster into the corner. He hit his uranage/standing moonsault combination and taunted Webster. He picked the smaller man up and hit a backbreaker on his own shoulder, which looked impressive.
After a near fall, he locked in a sitting abdominal stretch. He threw Webster to ringside and smashed him into the apron before rolling him back inside. He taunted Webster some more and answered Webster’s comeback with a face rake. he screamed that Webster didn’t belong on his level nor into his ring.
Webster his the Modern Knee and consecutive dropkicks, followed by an enzuigiri into the corner and followed up with a huracanrana off the top rope. Devlin then did his pull-up by the arms into a backdrop driver spot, which always looks cool. Webster came back with a head-butt that sent Devlin to the outside. Webster followed him with a baseball slide and managed to avoid getting rammed into the steps and hit the Rude Boy Block off the steps on the outside.
He went for a somersault senton but Devlin got his kneed up and eventually landed Ireland’s Call for the victory.
Episode twelve (taped August 26 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Quick recap
Rhea Ripley was crowned the inaugural NXT UK Women’s champion, beating Toni Storm in a hard-fought battle. Story of the match was Toni injuring her back early on, so she couldn’t hit Storm Zero and fell victim to Rhea’s Riptide in the end. In other matches, Tyler Bate (replacing Sid Scala) beat Joe Coffey by DQ when Mark Coffey and Wolfgang interfered, leading to a brawl between Gallus (the new name for Wolfgang & the Coffey Brothers) and British Strong Style. Ligero beat Dan Maloney in a fun match and Zack Gibson & James Drake beat Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams.
Full rundown
The show opened with a recap of the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament, leading down to the two final participants. Nigel and Vic talked some more about the tournament in the studio, as we saw Rhea Ripley and Ton Storm warm up for their match backstage.
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Tyler Bate (replacing Sid Scala) beat Joe Coffey by DQ in 9:47 due to outside interference
Coffey was supposed to face Sid Scala, who came out in a suit and with a microphone and said he had not been medically cleared to compete. He said Johnny Saint had given him permission to introduce his replacement, who was Tyler Bate.
Bate got right down to business, attacking Coffey with strikes and a punching battle ensued. A dropkick by Bate sent Coffey to the outside and Tyler followed up with a tope and after some back and forth on the outside, hit a flying European uppercut off the ring steps. At that point, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang came back out which distracted Bate and he got smashed into the ringside barriers.
He couldn’t lift up Coffey for the airplane spin and Coffey took over, hitting a butterfly swing into a butterfly suplex, before applying a double arm stretcher submission. Bate eventually reversed out of it, but got backed into the corner and ate a high belly-to-belly overhead suplex for his troubles.
A striking battle was won by Bate, as he hit a huracanrana and a standing shooting star press for a two-count, Mark Coffey got on the apron, which distracted Tyler Bate and Joe went for a pop-up power slam. Trent Seven came to the ring at that point to even the odds somewhat. Coffey missed a reverse body press off the top and Bate hit his neck-and-shoulders springboard lariat and managed to pick up Coffey for an airplane spin, even doing a squat in the middle of it, before spinning him some more in the other direction.
Coffey briefly got a few more shots in, but was wiped out with a rolling kappa kick. Bate set up the Tyler Driver ’97 but Wolfgang and Mark Coffey interfered for the DQ.
Trent Seven got in the ring to help out his mate, but the heels took over, until Pete Dunne’s music hit and he stormed out to a big pop and evened the odds. The heels were sent to ringside, briefly tried to come back into the ring but were finally driven off by British Strong Style.
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A graphic announced Dan Maloney facing Ligero next
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Ligero beat Dan Maloney after a springboard swinging DDT in 5:13
Maloney slapped Ligero right away and received a leg kick in return. He then picked up Ligero for a suplex and put him down on the apron, but Ligero flipped back into the ring and hit a dropkick for a quick cover. He went for a huracanrana but Maloney caught him and held him in position, but before he could capitalize, Ligero escaped and hit a flying huracanrana off the middle rope for a near fall.
A spine buster briefly stopped Ligero and a submission slowed the match down. Maloney briefly took over but missed a leg drop off the second turnbuckle. Ligero came back with a Rey Mysterio style seated senton off the top, followed by an enzuigiri. Ligero hit an assisted Sliced Bread, bouncing off the top rope and Maloney rolled ot the outside.
Ligero kept pushing, hitting a somersault senton on the bigger man and finally back in the ring, hit a springboard swinging DDT for the win.
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A graphic announced the upcoming tag team match, pitting Zack Gibson and James Drake against Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams. This was followed by a WWE Shop commercial
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Zack Gibson & James Drake beat Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams in 8:26 when Gibson pinned Williams after hitting Ticket to Ride
“Shoes off, if you hate Gibson” chants could be heard immediately, as the fans held their shoes into the air. Gibson and Williams started out and Gibson locked in a cravat and a side headlock right away and tagged his partner in crime. Williams rolled up Drake and hit a springboard back elbow before tagging out himself. Jordan hit a high hip toss and a drop kick and did his dance.
After being hit by a cross body and a drop kick, Drake was blind tagged by Gibson on a whip-in and the Grizzled Young Veterans hit a double chop to Amir’s throat.
Gibson locked in his seated cobra clutch variant and Drake tagged back in, while Amir was still in the hold. Amir played face in peril for a while, as the heels tagged in and out in quick succession. Gibson slammed Drake on top of Jordan for a two count. After some taunting and more beat downs, Drake finally missed a running dropkick into the corner and Amir managed the hot tag to Williams, as Drake tagged in Gibson.
Williams ran wild for a bit, hitting a dropkick on Gibson and taking out Drake on the apron. He hit a lucha-style roll-through into a face buster on Gibson for a near fall.
Gibson managed to tag back out and the heels went for a double back suplex on Williams, but Jordan pulled him down and hit a dropkick on Gibson as Williams hit a superkick on Drake, which sent both men to the outside. Williams hit a running dropkick through the ropes, but held on to the top rope and skinned the cat back inside, before hitting a double topés with Jordan.
Williams went to the to rope, but Gibson rammed Amir into the steps on the outside, distracting Williams and giving Drake a chance to push him off. With Amir being take out, the heels hit Ticket to Ride, a throw from a tombstone position by Drake into a codebreaker by Williams for the win.
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A split screen saw Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm walk to ringside for the main event.
Johnny Saint’s music hit and he came out carrying the NXT UK Women’s championship, followed by a WrestleMania ticket commercial.
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NXT UK Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley pinned Toni Storm in 9:28 after hitting Riptide to become the inaugural champion
This really was the battle of music styles, as the 80’s rocker, Toni Storm faced the Mosh Pit Kid, Rhea Ripley.
Ripley shoved Storm right away and hit her double arm sign of the horns pose. Toni retaliated with a firearm, slap, spin kick and running boot, sending Rhea crashing into to corner, where she promptly got hit with a hip attack by Toni and rolled to ringside. Toni followed up with a plancha between the middle and lowest rope.
Rhea recovered quickly and whipped Storm into the barriers back first, then briefly rolled back into the ring and stomped hard into Toni’s back on her way back out. This started telling the story of the match, which was Toni not being able to hit some of her signature moves due to her lower back being injured.
Toni came back with some knee strikes and forearm smashed and went for Strong Zero on the apron, but couldn’t lift Ripley up and got back body dropped on the apron. Toni barely made it back into the ring at 8 and Ripley was onto her right away with some ground and pound. Toni came back into the match, but quickly got stopped again with a knee breaker off a headlock attempt.
Ripley locked in her modified clover leaf, putting further pressure on Toni’s knees and lower back. Storm eventually made the ropes for a break, but Ripley kicked her left wrist hard, which still was clutching to the ropes.
Storm came back with some right hand slaps and went for the German suplex, but couldn’t lift Ripley due to her back problems. Ripley went for a back suplex, but Toni escaped and finally hit a snap German and picked Ripley up for a second one. Ripley eventually countered an attempt for a third one, but Toni hit a head butt and finally hit the third German suplex into a bridge for a near fall. She followed up with a running kick, a hip attack into the corner and flying double knees into the corner for another two count.
Ripley briefly took over but missed a corner charge and crashed into the post. Toni tried a bridging pin, but her momentum actually helped Ripley kicking out. Toni went for the Storm Zero, but got back body dropped over the top to the outside. where Ripley threw into the barriers a few more times and managed to get another two count back in the ring. She went for Riptide but Toni managed to escape the move and went for Storm Zero, but again, couldn’t get Ripley up due to her injured back.
Ripley tried for Riptide again, finally hit the move and pinned Toni Storm for the win and the championship.
Johnny Saint and Triple H entered the ring to congratulate Ripley and hand her the title. Rhea hugged both men and they celebrated in the ring together as the whole NXT UK roster came out on the stage to applaud the new champion as the show went off the air.
In a WWE.com exclusive video, Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Rhea Ripley in the ring. She said that this was so unreal and that she really wished she could catch her breath, but she couldn’t. She said Toni, you are a legend and I love you so much. She thanked everyone for coming out and said that it meant the world to her. The fans chanted “you deserve it” and she smiled and said, she was not going to lie, she might.
She thanked all the women who fought so hard for this and said that they were finally making history. This prompted chants of “British Wrestling”. She said she sould continue to rip everyone apart and then went to the top of the stage to pose with Johnny Saint, Triple H and the whole NXT UK roster.
Episode seven (taped August 25 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England)
Quick recap
Triple H and Johnny Saint announced the NXT UK Women’s championship tournament, which begins next week. Wolfgang beat Ashton Smith in the main event, further establishing himself and the Coffey Brothers as a force to be reckoned with. Tyler Bate beat James Drake in the match of the show, while Jordan Devlin looked good in beating Sid Scala and we had Saxon Huxley & Joseph Connors beat Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams. A fun show, especially the Bate match, but really not a must-see episode.
Full rundown
Triple H and all the women of NXT UK – Dakota Kai, Nina Samuels, Toni Storm, Isla Dawn, Rhea Ripley, Xia Brookside, Jinny and Millie McKenzie – were out on the stage to open the show. The way this was shot, Ripley, who really only is 5’7″ looked huge compared to the other women, both in height and massiveness. Triple H called out Johnny Saint, who unveiled the new NXT UK Women’s championship. The tournament for this new title will begin on the next episode.
There was a look back to when Wolfgang and the Coffey Bros. attacked Ashton Smith a few weeks back. A graphic announced that Smith and Wolfgang would face off in tonight’s main event. Also announced was Tyler Bate vs. James Drake. After a promo announcing WrestleMania 35 tickets going on sale, we went to our first match.
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Jordan Devlin beat Sid Scala in 3:13 with the Island’s Call
Devlin locked up right away and backed Scala into a corner, screaming “you don’t belong here” at him. Scala briefly fired back, but was hit with Devlin’s uranage/standing moonsault combination. Devlin kept working Scala over and launched himself over the ropes from the apron with a beautiful somersault cutter. He went for the Island’s Call, but Scala turned it into a sunset flip. Devlin kicked out but Scala hit a jumping neck breaker and went for a body press off the top. He jumped into a dropkick by Devlin, which looked to have missed by a mile. This set up a successful Island’s Call for the victory for the Irishman.
Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Devlin in the ring post-match, telling him that this was a dominant performance and if we had seen the real Jordan Devlin yet. Devlin fired back to not make him laugh and that the last thing concerning him was having those people here know who he was. Whenever he’s backstage, he’s asking himself who all the people back there think they are, especially the guy running around as a luchador, even though he is from Leeds, so who does Ligero think he is? I have a feeling these two will square up in the coming weeks.
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After a look at Moustache Mountain’s promo from a few weeks back, Nigel and Vic talked about the upcoming NXT UK tag team titles and how we’d be seeing some teams form. In fact, two of those teams would have a match next, when Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams face Saxon Huxley & Joseph Connors.
After a WWE Network promo, we got a video introducing us to Tyson T-Bone, who said he’d been traveling up and down the country, beating people and that he was the biggest, baddest and meanest WWE UK (he didn’t say NXT UK) wrestler. He’ll debut next week.
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Saxon Huxley & Joseph Conners beat Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams in 4:46 when Connors hit Don’t Look Down on Williams for the pin
We saw everyone but Conners on NXT UK before, because he got injured in a match with Kenny Williams during the first day of the July tapings and the match was stopped, never making air. He started out in 2006 and was trained by Robbie Brookside, among others. He’s a mainstay at Southside Entertainment Wrestling and competes for other promotions such as Defiant, PROGRESS, ICW, IPW:UK and Preston City Wrestling. He’s a 3-time former SWE Heavyweight champion and three-time SWE tag-team champion and also was Defiant champion, back when it was WCPW.
Williams came out wearing old-school red and blue 3D glasses and we were told that Jordan chose wrestling over an arranged marriage by his mother. Oh well, good for him I guess. Huxley and Amir started out and Amir escaped some take down by flipping out, kipping up and doing his funny foreign man dance, because stereotypes. He tagged in Williams who quickly got distracted for the heel advantage. Conners tagged in and we were told that he lost part of his left ear in a bar fight years ago, where he was “left for dead”.
Amir was face in peril for a while, until he managed to hit an enzuigiri and made the hot tag. Williams hit a cool spot where he hit a shotgun dropkick onto Conners on the outside, then skinned the cat back into the ring and hit a suicide dive on Huxley on the other side of the ring. He missed a DDT from the top rope and was hit by a brutal sunset bomb by Conners into the corner, followed by Don’t Look Down for the victory for the heel team.
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After another graphic for Bate vs. Drake and a promo for the NXT UK tapings in ten days we were shown the brackets for the NXT UK Women’s championship tournament and got nice graphics for everybody, including when they made their WWE/NXT debuts.
This was followed by an interview with Trent Seven by what looked like a number of journalists. He was asked his opinion on Zack Gibson and said that while it was impressive how Gibson won the UK tournament at Royal Albert Hall, he couldn’t get the job done against Pete Dunne and had been calling out the other members or British Strong Style ever since. When asked if he was challenging Gibson, he said that he was a pro wrestler and a sports entertainer and told Gibson to have a go. Those two will face off on the next episode.
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Tyler Bate beat James Drake in 8:30 with the Tyler Driver ’97
Drake has a picture of his face on his trunks, so he received the “he’s got his own face on his arse” chant from the UK crowd here. They traded arm twisters early, which Bate flipped out of, followed by a dropkick and a suplex escape over the top rope onto the apron and hit a big chop. Drake punched Bate off the turnbuckle to the outside. Bate escaped a lengthy chin-lock sequence by backing Drake into the corner and hit a beautiful standing huracanrana, followed by a spinning elbow off the second turnbuckle.
Drake charged into Bate in the corner, but got caught and received an overhead suplex for his troubles, followed by a running Shooting Star Press. Drake flipped over the ropes onto the apron but when Bate teased a suicide dive, Drake jumped to ringside, and Bate launched himself back into the ring with the top rope between his neck and shoulders spot, before hitting an actual dive.
Back in the ring, Bate hit a backdrop driver for a near fall. The first attempt at the Tyler Driver ’97 got turned into a back body drop and Drake hit a running dropkick into the corner for a near fall. A second attempt at a dropkick failed though, as Tyler moved, hit his springboard lariat off the ropes and finished his night with a Tyler Driver ’97 for the victory.
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After a WWE Shop commercial, we had another look at all the women in the tournament, which will start next week.
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Wolfgang (w/ Joe & Mark Coffey) defeated Ashton Smith
Wolfgang won in 5:29 after a modified fisherman’s suplex. The crowd was behind Smith all the way, chanting to his entrance and generally being very cheerful. Smith hit things off with a cravat, but ate some punches from “The Last King of Scotland” for his troubles. He came back with a nice dropkick, head scissors and a springboard tomahawk chop, but then jumped right into a gut buster as he went for a body press off the top. Wolfgang dominated the back and forth exchange that developed from there and stopped Smith in his tracks with a bear hug.
Smith eventually fought out, hit a clothesline, then leapfrogged Wolfgang as he charged out of the corner, landed on the second turnbuckle and hit a reverse enzuigiri for some momentum. This didn’t last long, as Wolfgang launched Smith into the air, then launched himself at a stunned, seated Smith with a running senton and finally hit a modified fisherman’s suplex into a slam for the victory.
Wolfgang and the Coffeys posed in the ring as the show went off the air.
Episode six (taped July 29 at Cambridge Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England)
Quick recap —
The new heel trio of Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang stood victorious against Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith in a strong main event. Toni Storm beat Dakota Kai to establish herself for the upcoming NXT UK Women’s title tournament in the best women’s wrestling match on NXT UK thus far. We also saw the arrival of Jinny, who attacked Kai after the match was over.
Zack Gibson defeated the debuting Amir Jordan and again drew a tremendous amount of heat in his post-match promo, setting up a match against Trent Seven down the line. Jordan Devlin once more looked impressive, beating another NXT UK debutant, Kenny Williams.
This episode concludes the tapings in Cambridge from July 28 and 29 and we will move on to matches taped August 25 and 26 next week.
Full rundown —
Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph opened up the show, talking about the chaotic main event we would be getting tonight as a graphic of the participants in the match was shown. We also got a graphic announcing Toni Storm as the winner of the 2018 Mae Young Classic and a highlight video of her match against Io Shirai from Evolution. We were told Storm would be in action next.
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Toni Storm defeated Dakota Kai in 7:16 with Strong Zero
They brought up Storm’s match against NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler at Royal Albert Hall and also mentioned that Storm actually had a victory over her in Japan. They started out with a headlock jockeying for position, but neither woman got the advantage. They shook hands, but both went for a kick immediately after, which both caught respectively and then proceeded to carefully set their opponents’ leg down again.
Kai took Storm down and hit a running kick, but Storm came back with strikes and a running kick of her own. Storm hit a nice snap suplex and applied a modified STF, wrapping her arm around Kai’s neck in the process. Kai eventually reached the ropes for a clean break.
Another striking battle was won by Kai and she hit a stiff head kick. A second kick was thwarted by Storm with a headbutt, but she couldn’t capitalize on it, as Kai hit her with another head kick on a charge. Another kick attempt was caught by Storm, who hit a snap German suplex.
Kai came back with a running kick into the corner but missed a second one. Storm went for her hip attack, but was hit by another kick. She managed to check the follow-up one and hit a beautiful release snap German suplex, followed by double knees into the corner and the Storm Zero (Air Raid neckbreaker) for the win. They shook hands and hugged afterwards.
There also seems to be some confusion still about what move the Storm Zero is supposed to be, as the announcers called her Tiger Driver the same name before. On the indies, she usually uses a snap piledriver, which is being called the Strong Zero there, but obviously is banned in WWE.
As Kai was on her way up the ramp with Storm still in the ring, Jinny came out and attacked her and called out Storm. Storm then helped Kai up and accompanied her to the back.
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Zack Gibson was shown backstage on his way to the ring, followed by a promo for the November NXT UK tapings in Liverpool.
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Zack Gibson defeated Amir Jordan in 4:24 via submission with the Shankly Gates
Jordan originally hails from Pakistan and started wrestling in 2015. He trained with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy as well as the PROGRESS wrestling school. He’s a regular in IPW:UK and 3 Count Wrestling, where he also was the North East Champion.
Gibson tried for a double wristlock right away, but Jordan escaped and hit the big man from Liverpool. Gibson worked over his arm until Jordan escaped a wrist lock and proceeded to do his dance, mocking Gibson. The fans were fully behind him and hated Gibson with a passion.
Jordan got a crossbody and a sunset flip, but Gibson just wouldn’t go down and instead grabbed Jordan’s arm for an arm ringer and hit a keylock driver for a near fall next. Jordan got a dropkick from the middle rope and even a high crossbody from the top, but it wasn’t enough to put Gibson away. Gibson came back with a double palm strike and a stiff lariat followed by Helter Skelter. He locked in the Shankly Gates for the submission victory.
After a Road to Evolution hype video, we were back in the ring with Gibson, who proceeded to cut another promo to thunderous boos and “Zack Gibson is a wanker” chants. His delivery was really good. Here is what he said verbatim: “I am Liverpool’s number one; soon to be recognized as the world’s number one; soon to be recognized as NXT UK’s number one.
I stand here once again victorious! I entered the UK Championship tournament and I won! I challenged the superstar of 205 Live, Noam Dar and I won! Every single day that I step into this ring is another step closer to becoming your NXT UK Champion. This brand, this movement, NXT UK is already the benchmark in British Wrestling. The very best talent from up and down this country flocked to NXT UK because they wanted to be part of something special. But they, the locker room, the punchers have another thing coming, if they think I’m going to share the top spot, I’m the guy to build this brand around.
The NXT UK locker room is full of talent so ready to ride my coattails, I’m Liverpool’s number one, I’m the man who’s going to elevate this brand, not the Bruiserweight Pete Dunne, not Danny Burch, not Mark Andrews, not…”
At this point, Trent Seven came out to partake in the fun and said this: “Are you completely delusional? Seriously though, I have no idea what goes on in that shiny, sweaty head of yours, because I remember, not too long ago, in the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool it was those names and me that kicked this whole thing off in the start.
Good point though, where were you? I didn’t see you in any of the promotional material, I didn’t see you on any of the social media, you were not in the back, did you buy a ticket to watch? No, you were sat upright in bed, with a nice cup of tea, with your mum’s laptop, watching us make history on the WWE Network!
Fair play, I gotta give you your dues, you were the 2018 UK tournament winner — but you couldn’t get the job done on night two, could you? However, you know what you did do that was pretty cool? You made every single person in the Royal Albert Hall take off their shoes!”
This prompted another chant of “Shoes off, if you hate Gibson.” Seven got into the ring at this point and continued: “Now you mentioned some very, very talented men earlier, but you failed to mention me. So how’s about you and me right now in Cambridge, Gibson, let’s go!” Gibson got into as fighting stance but then left the ring to another round of loud boos.
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McGuinness and Joseph talked about Jordan Devlin and we got a recap video of his debut match. This was followed by a Kenny Williams video, where he talked about being on 205 Live in the past and explaining why he was being called “The Luckian.”
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Jordan Devlin defeated Kenny Williams in 4:23 with the Island’s Call
Kenny Williams started in 2013 and is a regular with ICW, Defiant, Premier British Wrestling, and British Championship Wrestling, among others. He is the current Pro Wrestling Elite Champion and a three-time former ICW Zero-G Champion. He also teams with Noam Dar as the Champagne Superbollocks. He appeared on 205 Live from London back in May, competing in a four-way with Tyler Bate, Kalisto, and TJP.
This was a fun match while it lasted and both men got to show off their talents. Devlin started with a wristlock and Williams hit a lucha-style arm drag off the ropes early on, which Devlin flipped through. Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault sequence and soon after put on a neck crank, which Williams countered out of with a chinbreaker.
Williams got on the apron and they traded counters, then Devlin hit a hard forearm to the back of Williams’ head, sending him to the outside. He tried for a running soccer kick on the apron, but Williams caught his foot and put Devlin face-first on the apron. Williams was back in the ring and hit a Wrecking Ball dropkick and a suicide dive on Devlin.
Back in the ring, he followed that up with a flying back elbow off the top rope for a near fall. After a series of roll-ups and counters, Devlin finally hit the Island’s Call for the victory.
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We saw Ashton Smith, Flash Morgan Webster, and Mark Andrews backstage, preparing for their match.
There also was a graphic that there would be a huge announcement by Johnny Saint next week.
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Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey & Wolfgang defeated Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith in 14:56 when Joe Coffey pinned Webster after a lariat
Webster and Wolfgang started off, which made sense, as Wolfgang attacked him last week. Webster tried, but Wolfgang had the upper hand. Andrews and Joe Coffey tagged in next and Coffey took advantage of Andrews trying to go for a lucha-style DDT, holding on to his legs and spinning him around a few times before dropping him on his face.
Mark Coffey tagged in next and Andrews flipped out of a back suplex attempt. Smith tagged in on the face side and hit some chops and a flying clothesline but only managed to get a one count. Everybody got in the ring at that point, but the referee had things under control again after a few seconds.
Mark Coffey hit a big double fist blow and tagged in his brother, who knocked down Smith with a hard left. He also spun Smith around a few times, this time from a double underhook position, before hitting a nice butterfly suplex. Finally, Smith managed to hot tag Andrews as Wolfgang came in for the heels. Andrews, who beat Wolfgang last week, went for an enzuigiri and a hurricanrana off the middle rope.
In a nice display of teamwork, Mark Coffey distracted Andrews, Wolfgang threw him out of the ring, and Joe Coffey attacked him at ringside. Andrews at this point was the face in peril and got worked over by all three opponents in quick succession — until he finally managed to turn a suplex attempt by Mark Coffey into the Stunt Dog Millionaire and get to Webster for the hot tag while Coffey tagged Wolfgang.
Webster cleaned house on the big guy, hit a jumping knee on Joe Coffey, and used a twisting moonsault from the second rope on Wolfgang for a near fall. Smith tagged in and hit a high knee in the corner, but his attempt to hit the Ashcloud DDT on Wolfgang was countered as the “Last King of Scotland” launched him into the air. Wolfgang tagged out again and both Coffey brothers were in, hitting a 3D variation with an uppercut instead of a cutter on Smith for another near fall.
Smith hit a desperation superkick on Mark Coffey and managed to tag Andrews, who hit an enzuigiri on Joe Coffey but got caught on a moonsault attempt by Wolfgang, who had tagged back in. Andrews managed to turn it into a DDT and Wolfgang rolled to ringside. Andrews tagged Webster, and then he and Smith hit double suicide dives on the Coffeys.
Back in the ring, Wolfgang decapitated Webster with a brutal lariat and tried to powerbomb him to the outside, but Webster managed to counter the attempt into a headscissors, sending Wolfgang to the outside again. Webster at that point hit a somersault senton onto everyone on the outside from the top rope.
Back in the ring, the Coffeys pulled Smith and Andrews off the apron as Wolfgang hit a big spear on Webster, tagged in Joe Coffey, and whipped Webster into a spinning lariat by Coffey, which sealed the fate of the babyface team. The heels were being portrayed as an unstoppable unit here, so it remains to be seen who can step up to stop them down the line.
We got a graphic announcing Travis Banks vs. Wolfgang for our main event.
Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) defeated Sam Gradwell & Saxon Huxley in 6:02 after a Lariat/Snap Dragon Suplex combo
We were told that Gradwell and Huxley decided to form a team on WWE.com, so now we have mini-angles on the website for this show too. However, as of this writing, there wasn’t a trace of it on either the website or YouTube. On a trivia note, Gradwell beat Huxley back at the WWE UK title tournament in 2017.
Bate and Huxley started so this was a mini-rematch from the previous episode. Huxley learned something as Bate’s faint chop into a DDT didn’t work this time around. Gradwell attacked Seven at ringside, tagged in, and Seven was in peril for a while. Seven managed to throw both bigger guys out and tagged in Bate, who went crazy with a plancha on both men, worked them over back in the ring and even caught a corner charge by Huxley in mid-air and turned it into an exploder. He is one Big Strong Boi. He followed up with a running Shooting Star just for good measure.
Seven tagged back in and was caught in an assisted backstabber by the mean guys and got his leg twisted into a single leg Boston by Gradwell. Bate went for the save, but Huxley stopped him and got rammed into his partner for the trouble, breaking the hold. Bate blind tagged back in as Seven locked a full nelson on Gradwell and Bate hit his neck-and-shoulders springboard lariat into a snapdragon suplex by Seven for the victory.
***
Backstage, we saw Banks down among some chairs, apparently injured as Johnny Saint stormed in, demanding to know what happened. In storyline, it looked like an attack, but Banks actually suffered a shoulder injury days before this taping, prompting WWE to tell their UK wrestlers “no matches for one week before our tapings”. Vic and Nigel wondered if the main event might be in jeopardy now.
We got a video package on Isla Dawn, emphasizing on her strikes, followed by a SmackDown in the UK promo. Next was another Jinny video, promising to intimidate us.
Saint was being interviewed about the status of the main event, when Mark Andrews stormed in and claimed he knew that the attack had been facilitated by the Coffey Brothers. He asked Saint to put him in the main event against Wolfgang instead.
Isla Dawn defeated Nina Samuels in 3:22 with a suplex into a slam
Dawn, 24, from Glasgow, Scotland, started out in late 2013 and was trained by Damian O’Connor (aka Killian Dain) who saw her in a play and asked her if she had interest in becoming a wrestler), Mikey Whiplash, and Tommy End (Aleister Black, who she also dated for a few years). She has a kickboxing background and considers herself a modern day witch and a modern feminist and wrestled in Scotland, for ICW and the Scottish Wrestling Alliance, before going on her first tour of Japan for Stardom in 2016.
She also competed for End’s farewell show in wXw in 2016 and had matches for Pro Wrestling EVE the same year and in PROGRESS in 2017. Starting in 2016, she also wrestled for some indies in the U.S., the most prominent being SHINE, CZW, WSU, and Queens of Combat. She actually already has an appearance on the main roster under her belt, quickly losing to Asuka on RAW on November 6, 2017, before joining NXT UK in June of this year, first appearing at the Download Festival, the 2018 UK Championship tournament, and the Mae Young Classic. She is also close friends with fellow NXT UK superstar Killer Kelly.
Samuels had the early strength advantage, but Dawn showed off some of her kicks early. Samuels escaped to ringside but not before snapping Isla’s neck on the top rope. She came back with a suplex for a near fall and then twice brutally rammed Dawn’s head into the turnbuckle, the second time on a reversal off a corner whip-in. Dawn countered a suplex attempt into a small package for a near fall, dodged a kick by Samuels, and hit a head kick to the back of the head before hitting a suplex into a slam for the pin.
***
Nigel and Vic throw it to a sitdown interview that Radzi Chinyanganya conducted with UK Champion Pete Dunne. He said that he was on top and no one had been successful on taking his belt away. When asked how prepared he was for Danny Burch, he said not to worry about how prepared he was but how prepared Burch would be and that he has been the champion for over a year, so let’s see if Burch can step up. Radzi asked if Burch’s experience intimidates him: “No. He might have invented British Strong Style, but I perfected it, I put the UK on the map.”
When asked what the Bruiserweight would do to retain, he said that Burch asked for his attention and now he was going to get it, that he would beat him up, hurt him, snap his fingers, and walk out the UK champion. This was a very good and effective interview that made me more interested in seeing this match.
***
We got confirmation that Mark Andrews would replace Travis Banks against Wolfgang tonight.
We got a Jordan Devlin video where he asked if we saw what he could do and that he has the power of a nation behind him.
This was followed by a WWE 2K19 ad and another Eddie Dennis video package. He said that the last time, he asked how we thought seeing Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews succeed made him feel. He said he had to do something about it, that he was the youngest principal in the UK, but decided to quit his job to wrestle. We saw some newspaper articles about him. He said when he dedicates himself to something, he can accomplish great things. Four months into his career, he had his first WWE tryout. 10 months in, he got signed to a contract, even though he was injured for most of that time. He said his friends laid the foundation, but the brand gets built around him. He’s Eddie Dennis, he got everything to prove and he debuts next week.
***
Jordan Devlin defeated Tucker in 4:10 with a fireman’s carry into a Falcon Arrow
Devlin was trained by Finn Bálor and Paul Tracy, starting originally at age 12. He made his debut at NWA Pro Wrestling ZERO1 of Ireland in 2006 and stayed with ZERO1 in Japan in 2011 and 2012. He wrestled for ICW and RevPro in 2013 before joining the newly formed OTT promotion in his native Ireland in 2014, winning the OTT No Limits title and eventually the OTT World title, which he defended against the likes of Angelico, Zack Sabre Jr. and Mark Haskins before losing it to WALTER. In 2018, he became a regular for ICW, PROGRESS and RevPro, among others. He made his debut at the inaugural WWE UK title tournament in early 2017.
Tucker started strong and hit a step up enzuigiri, but Devlin kicked out at one. Devlin hit a high uranage and a standing moonsault, followed by a quick dropkick to show of his athletic ability. Tucker hit a beautiful spinning flatliner through the ropes from the outside for a near fall. Devlin worked over Tucker’s left arm which he sold when going to the top for a double foot stomp, causing him to be a tad slow and miss when Devlin got his knees up. Devlin picked him up on his shoulders like for a Go To Sleep or F5, but transitioned into a Falcon Arrow for the win. Both looked good here, Devlin in particular.
***
We got a graphic for Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai in two weeks, followed by a Crown Jewel video (which still had Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles but already had Roman Reigns and John Cena out and Lashley in).
We had another sit-down interview with Radzi Chinyanganya and Danny Burch. Burch asked the audience if they ever tried hard for something, like applying to a sports team, and being told “you’re not good enough”, then tried out again and being told the same thing? That was basically the story of his career. He said some people would have walked away, but not him; he was ready to be on NXT UK. When asked how he prepared for Dunne, he said Dunne was an interesting animal, flawless at anything he did, all he himself could do was be the best he could and make sure Dunne didn’t get a head start at going to the things he’s good at.
When asked what it would mean to become WWE UK champion, he said, “Come talk to me in two weeks when I got the UK title around my waist.” This was another effective interview that told the story of the grizzled veteran trying to beat the young upstart.
Mark Andrews defeated Wolfgang in 8:40 after a Shooting Star Press
Wolfgang howled and pushed Andrews into a corner, using his size, strength, and weight advantage. Andrews used some lucha to escape and countered Wolfgang’s offense into an arm drag. He hit a dropkick that sent Wolfgang staggering into the corner, followed by an enzuigiri from the apron and a huricanrana from the top rope, sending Wolfgang to ringside. A topé attempt got caught effortlessly by Wolfgang though and he picked the smaller Andrews up, press slammed him and threw him into the apron.
Back in the ring, Wolfgang tried for another press slam to throw Andrews back out, but Andrews escaped and eventually hit a 619 against Wolfgang’s back. Andrews flipped over Wolfgang’s back in the corner and then hit his Stomp 182 and a standing twisting moonsault for a near fall. A reverse cross body by Andrews off the middle rope missed its target as Wolfgang countered it into a big gut buster and followed with a brutal gore for a near fall.
Wolfgang went up for a middle rope moonsault, which looked impressive, but missed. Andrews hit one of his own, which got caught, but Andrews managed to turn it into a DDT. Andrews went for another DDT but Wolfgang tried to turn it into a suplex only for Andrews to counter it into the Stuntdog Millionaire. Andrews hit a beautiful, very high Shooting Star Press for the victory.
Post match, Andrews offered his hand which Wolfgang shook after some consideration. As he left the ring, the Coffey Bros. ran out and beat down Andrews. Wolfgang watched on, unsure what to do, when Flash Morgan Webster ran in for the save, but he also got overpowered. Wolfgang finally had seen enough and hit the ring, sending the brothers packing. Wolfgang helped up Webster, but then killed him with a lariat. The Coffeys slid back in, picked up Andrews, and whipped him into Wolfgang who hit a powerslam on the smaller man.
As the credits roll, we witnessed the formation of a new powerful faction in NXT UK.
Ligero, “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman, Dakota Kai, Killer Kelly, Ashton Smith, Tucker, Tyler Bate, and Wolfgang all made their regular NXT in-ring UK debuts. Ligero got to show his athleticism and experience in a quick match while the women only scratched at the surface of showing what they are capable off. Smith looked fine and Bate and Wolfgang had a very good main event match, built around their respective sizes.
We also had a strong promo by Zack Gibson, leading to a match with Noam Dar next week. The UK women’s title keeps getting teased but nothing specific is being announced. In all, we had just under 24 minutes of wrestling on this 60 minute show, which might get better once the tapings get into a regular groove and the undercard matches are being given more than five minutes.
Note that the show was taped on July 28-29 at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in Cambridge/Cambridgeshire, UK. The first match was taped on the second day of tapings while all other matches were from the first day.
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Show Recap:
Nigel McGuiness and Vic Joseph introduce the show and hype us up for our main event: the “Big Strong Boi” Tyler Bate taking on the howling Scotsman, Wolfgang.
Ligero pinned “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman in 4:52 with a springboard tornado DDT
Ligero was beloved by the fans and was wearing a horned mask with a Union Jack design. The veteran from Leeds has been around since 2003 and is only 33 now, having wrestled for pretty much every European under the sun: PROGRESS, RevPro, ICW, IPW:UK, Southside, Defiant, All-Star Wrestling… you name it, he’s been there. We were told that in 2016, he had 288 matches and wrestled for “200 different promotions” in 17 countries (well, maybe take that one with a grain of salt). But, he probably legit is one of the most experienced journeyman wrestlers in Europe in the past 20 years.
Hitchman, from South Wales, is no newbie either, having been around since 2009, he’s been a regular for ICW, ATTACK! Pro, Dragon Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Chaos, among others. He also is the current ATTACK! Champion, beating out Morgan Webster, who he also is teaming with as The 198 and currently holds the Dragon Pro tag team titles with. His entrance gear also sports teeth and other body parts from boars, so he looks bad-ass. We are told he lost his own teeth breaking up a bar fight between four other dudes.
“The Boar” attacked right away, but Liegero escaped and hit a beautiful huracanrana, standing moonsault, and missile dropkick from the middle rope. Hitchman came back with an exploder and kind of a GTS without using a knee but just the mat to break Ligero’s fall. An inverted Tumbleweed by “The Boar” got him a near fall as did a pop-up power bomb. In the end, Ligero jumped over a corner charge, hit a stiff kick to Hitchman’s knee and a nice looking springboard tornado DDT for the win in just under five minutes. Both looked good here and I can see Ligero being a hit with fans seeing him for the first time and especially being marketable to kids as the never-say-die underdog in a kind of El Generico kind of role.
Before the next match, we got short video packages on Daktoa Kai and Killer Kelly. Dakota’s package focused on her past appearances in NXT and the Mae Young Classic, her quick style, and hard strikes. Kelly also got a short introduction, also based around her striking ability.
There also was a promo for the next round of NXT UK tapings at the Olympia in Liverpool on November 24-25. Moustache Mountain, Toni Storm, Zack Gibson, Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne were announced, so I guess we’ll find out more about how tight WWE and wXw really are, as Storm is scheduled to wrestle Melanie Gray for the wXw Women’s title at Broken Rules XVIII in Dresden on November 17 and as reported in the August 13 edition of the Observer, talent isn’t allowed on any shows up to seven days prior to WWE tapings.
Dakota Kai defeated Killer Kelly in 4:11 with a sunset flip/inverted backstabber
The fans adored Kai, who sat on the barrier and slapped hands with fans during her entrance. She can be considered almost a veteran as she started out 10 years ago with Impact Pro Wrestling in her native New Zealand and Pro Wrestling Australia before making her way to the U.S. with SHIMMER and SHINE before wrestling with Stardom and Sendai girls in Japan and PROGRESS in the UK. She also was part of the Mae Young Classic and has been a regular on NXT since June of last year.
Kelly, on the other hand, has come really far, really fast. A graphic designer by trade, she started out in her native Portugal in 2016 and mostly wrestled men as there weren’t many female trainees around. While she trained some martial arts and MMA, she basically was a rookie and when she first came to Germany to train at the wXw Academy in early 2017 for a week and was so enamored by the experience that she and her then-boyfriend RAFA moved to Germany full-time in October of 2017. She was part of the tournament to crown the wXw women’s champion during the fall and a number of injuries and other circumstances led to her actually becoming the first-ever champion one day before Christmas Eve.
By early 2018, she had debuted for PROGRESS, Pro Wrestling EVE, and RevPro. While she lost the wXw title to Toni Storm in January, WWE came calling and she took part in the UK Championship Tournament back in June, was in this year’s Mae Young Classic, and is now a roster of NXT UK.
Nigel told us that Dakota follows other New Zealand wrestlers such as the Bushwackers, Tony Garea, and Pat O’Connor. The announcers also mentioned how she had suffered an injury at the hands of NXT’s Shayna Baszler. They started with an intense lock up sequence before Dakota did a cool sequence in the corner, jumping out of a charging Kelly’s way, landing on the ropes and horizontally spinning down into a roll up before she went for a quick takedown and a double foot stomp.
Kelly showed some of her striking ability with a number of kicks, big boots, and some nice ground and pound from the mount. She applied a surfboard into a dragon sleeper and Dakota ate the mat after she tried to counter out of it. Daktoa then countered a German suplex attempt into a roll up, but Kelly hit her with a stiff release German on the second try. For the finishing sequence, Dakota hit two stiff facewasher kicks into the corner, and then hit a cool looking sunset flip into an inverted backstabber for the pin. This was a good match but way too short as both of these women are able to do more when given the chance.
Radzi Chinyanganya conducted a post-match interview with Dakota who said that nothing compared to wrestling before the UK fans and that she wants the NXT UK women’s title.
Vic and Nigel take us back to the Royal Albert Hall in June where Zack Gibson beat Travis Banks for a shot at Pete Dunne’s WWE UK title. We also got another WWE Shop commercial.
We got another Eddie Dennis video package where he again talked about coming up with Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, but him being older than them, and while he had to make money and had a career as the principal of an elite boy’s school, Dunne and Andrews lived at home and got to live their dreams of becoming wrestlers, going to the U.S. and Japan. Then in January of 2017, he watched them perform for WWE the first time without him and how they lived their collective dream without him and how they thought that made him feel.
Zack Gibson in-ring segment
Gibson came out to massive boos. He said that soon he would be the world’s no. 1 and more importantly, NXT UK’s no. 1. He beat Flash Morgan Webster, Jack Gallagher, and Travis Banks to win a title shot and with no rest and no time to prepare, faced Dunne and took him to his limit. He said that a fresh Zack Gibson can beat a fresh Pete Dunne on any night, but it wasn’t just him versus Pete, it was him versus Pete and the fans, who put him off every chance they got.
The officals didn’t give him the rematch he deserved, but gave a title shot to Noam Dar, who let the title slip “through his poor dislocated fingers”. He told Dunne that the next time they face, things will be very different, that he is the future, and will lead the brand into the future as he has the face to build a brand around. He said that Dar was an embarrassment in the Cruiserweight Classic, on 205 Live and in NXT UK and when you search for Dar on the Internet, you find him doing one of his rotten poses. At that point, Dar came out to a big pop.
Just as he was about to enter the ring, NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint came out and told them to “not even think about it” and ordered both men into his office. Saint is great and the difference between he and Stephanie McMahon emasculating talent is that even at age 78, you can believe that Saint will go into the ring and stretch the living hell out of everyone not complying with his orders.
We got a video package on Ashton Smith from Birmingham, who talked about his style being pure aggression and fire, that he was a roughneck brawler, and had more fight than anybody else in him and would do whatever he had to. This was followed by a video on Story Time.
Radzi Chinyanganya was backstage with Travis Banks, who talked about how his martial arts training got him to NXT and how at Royal Albert Hall, he was attacked by the Coffey Brothers and was looking for revenge now.
Ashton Smith beat Tucker in 4:14 with the Ash Cloud
Smith started out in 2007 and wrestled for ICW, Preston City Wrestling, and FutureShock Wrestling among others. He held the FutureShock title for almost one year, beating Zack Gibson to win it. We were told that Drake Maverick took Ashton under his wing. Tucker, from Belfast, was a fighter literally from birth, being born eight weeks premature and only given 26 hours to live by doctors. He came up in 2006 and mostly wrestled in Northern Ireland and Ireland for Pro Wrestling Ulster and is also a regular for OTT.
Ashton looked crisp early on with snapmare, an effortless arm drag, and a high sunset flip. After a super kick by Tucker, they traded pinfall attempts. Ashton hit a beautiful dropkick and a high belly to back suplex. For the finishing sequence, Ashton hit a high knee into the corner, followed that up with another kick, and hit his Ash Cloud ripcord DDT for the win. Ashton looked good here and got to show his natural athletic abilities.
We got a video package for Danny Burch who had quite the journey in the UK and the U.S. He said that he didn’t come from much, nothing came easy to him, and that he fought, scratched and clawed for any opportunity. They showed his lariats and he mentioned he had a mean streak, spent 15 years in the business, and had experience, training and knowledge. He said that people in London would know he was one of their own. He debuts next week.
There was another package hyping the Evolution PPV. Stephanie McMahon mentioning 50 women on the card was still left in. They then showed Saint announcing via Twitter that Gibson and Dar would wrestle next week.
Tyler Bate beat Wolfgang 10:23 with the Tyler Driver ’97
Bate, at only 21 years old, is already a seven-year veteran. Trained by Dave Mastiff and Trent Seven, he started out in 2012 and honed his skills throughout the UK. By 2014, he also traveled to Germany for wXw and in 2016, he and then-girlfriend Toni Storm had an extended stay at the wXw Academy, living and training under WALTER in Germany for a few months. His career really took off from there and he soon wrestled on a regular basis in PROGRESS, RevPro, ICW, Attack!, Southside, and many more.
He appeared at the first UK Championship tournament in January 2017 and promptly was crowned the inaugural WWE UK champion, beating Pete Dunne in the finals. He became a semi-regular mainstay on NXT and had some of the best matches in WWE in 2017 and 2018, both in singles and tag team competition. He also is a former wXw Shotgun champion and a two-time PROGRESS tag team champion with Trent Seven.
Wolfgang is a 16 year veteran, starting out with British Championship Wrestling and ICW in Scotland where he also spent most of his career and was known as “The Regulator”. A phone call by Jake Roberts got him into wrestling and he trained with Drew McIntyre early in his career. He is both a former ICW world champion and ICW Zero-G champion.
Wolfgang started out with power moves and mocked Tyler with a howl. Bate applied a headlock but Wolfgang just picked him up and put him down on the apron and mockingly howled again. Bate went for a test of strength and initially looked like he was losing, but came back and eventually managed to use the mat to escape. He hit a beautiful kip up, dropkick, kip up sequence and mocked Wolfgang, twirling his moustache. After some back and forth, Wolfgang dropped Tyler onto the ropes from a vertical suplex position, injuring his ribs, which he promptly worked over some more with kicks. Tyler sold the ribs well and was caught in a bear-hug but managed to escape.
A striking combination cut Wolfgang down to size and a flying European uppercut from the middle rope added some more damage. Bate tried for an exploder, but Wolfgang blocked it and was looking to throw Bate to ringside, but the smaller man catapulted himself off the ropes, leaping into them by his beck and shoulders and using the momentum for a lariat. He repeated this twice more and got the big man to his knees and managed to pick him up for the airplane spin and followed that with a beautiful running shooting star press for a near-fall. Wolfgang reversed a Tyler Driver ’97 attempt, but Tyler flipped out of that and landed on his feet.
Wolfgang hit a huge release German that spun Tyler by 270 degrees and Wolfgang followed that up with a spear that also looked like a running uranage for a near-fall of his own. After a failed superplex attempt, Wolfgang missed a big back senton off the top, allowing Bate to hit a rolling capo kick and the Tyler Driver ’97 for the clean pin. He posed as the show went off the air.
Conclusion:
This was a fun show but not quite as good as the debut which had a stronger opener with the Coffey/Andrews match. While both main events were excellent, the title match had more drama, and more charisma by Dar. The women keep underwhelming, which isn’t their fault but the little time their matches are given. I’d still recommend you watch if you have the time as the video packages are generally good and insightful and the Gibson promo was pretty good, both from the heat he got and his staccato-like, huffing and puffing delivery.
Adam Cole has an opponent for his NXT North American Championship defense at Royal Albert Hall.
WWE announced today that Wolfgang would be challenging for Cole’s title on night two of this week’s shows in London. Wolfgang, who is one of WWE’s United Kingdom division-contracted wrestlers, didn’t appear in this year’s UK Championship tournament. He lost to Tyler Bate in the semifinals of the 2017 edition.
There will also be three other title matches at Royal Albert Hall tomorrow. Pete Dunne will defend the WWE United Kingdom Championship against the winner of today’s tournament, Toni Storm vs. Jinny vs. Killer Kelly vs. Isla Dawn is taking place today to decide a challenger for Shayna Baszler’s title, and Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong’s Tag Team titles will be on the line.
Cole, O’Reilly & Strong are teaming against Dunne, Bate & Trent Seven today.
The Royal Albert Hall shows will air on the WWE Network at 3 p.m. Eastern time on June 25th and 26th.
