By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
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NXT UK TV Taping
Birmingham, England at NEC Birmingham
Report by Dot Net reader Luke Woodyatt
Me, my wife Sam and son Charlie went to the NXT UK taping at the NEC today, The tapings were in one of the halls so it was quite small but very good.
Dark Match: Killer Kelly beat Charlie Morgan. They exchanged holds and there was a bit of back and forth before Kelly took over and won with a dragon sleeper.
Xavier Woods came out (he was at the venue for the Insomnia gaming festival, which this event was co-branded with, he also won a Guinness book of records award for “up,up,down,down” but this wasn’t acknowledged). He talked about how NXT started, grew and evolved, and we have that opportunity with NXT UK. He (Woods, pronouns pal) called out Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne to announce that they will be playable characters in WWE 2K19. Woods and Bate then New Day danced and tried to get Dunne to join in but he blew them off.
Episode One
The participants for the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament (Toni Storm, Jinny, Xia Brookside, Isla Dawn, Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley, Nina Samuels, and Millie McKenzie) came out followed by Triple H and Johnny Saint. They unveiled the title belt.
1. Jordan Devlin defeated Sid Scala. There were chants of “your just a shit Finn Balor” for Devlin. Good work by both. Devlin has come a long way in the last 18 months and is arguably the best wrestler in the UK at the moment. Devlin beat Scala then cut a promo with an in ring interviewer saying he knows who he is, but theres a bloke in the back claiming to be a Luchador with a mask and a cape from Leeds, which made the crowd laugh.
2. Saxton Huxley and Joseph Connors beat Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan. Saxton wore tiger striped trunks so there were chants of “Tarzan Jesus”. The heels worked over Jordan until he got a hot tag to Williams, who then missed a dive from the tope rope to Connors but landed on his feet. Connors sunset flipped him into the middle turn buckle then hit his finisher for the win.
3. Tyler Bate beat James Drake. Chain wrestling at the start. Chants of “He’s got his face on his arse” to the the theme of “He’s got the whole world” to Drake and also Arse face, then Nickleback chants due to Drake’s likeness to Chad Kroeger. Bate hit his signature spots including a Bop and Bang on the apron. Bate won with the Tyler Driver ’97.
4. Wolfgang (w/Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey) beat Ashton Smith. Smith has a lot of offence, mainly arial, for a long time. Smith went for a DVD but couldn’t lift Wolfgang, who took over and won with his finisher. Afterwards, Wolfgang and the Coffeys posed in the ring.
Episode Two
1. Dakota Kai beat Nina Samuels to advance in the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament. Nina Over powered Kai at the beginning. Samuels botched a Gory stretch that had to be done again and will probably be edited out. Kai came back and won with a seated sunset piledriver looking move to advance.
2. Tyson T-Bone over Jake Constantino. Squash for T-Bone. Afterwards T-Bone got on the mic and asked if this the best competition the NXT UK can offer, which bough out Dave Mastiff, who walked past T-Bone on his way to the ring.
3. Dave Mastiff beat Dan Maloney. Mastiff wore a Vader-esque singlet with MASTIFF on the front and a small Black Country (yay) flag on the back. In what I believe was Maloney’s first match back from injury (my son had his picture taken with Dan in the ring a local promotion earlier this year), he was quickly squashed by Mastiff, who hit an impressive cannon ball. T-bone jawed at Mastiff from the ramp after the match.
3. Jinny beat Millie McKensie to advance in the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament. Chants of Primark Princess (Primark is a cheap clothes shop in the UK). A pretty even match until Jinny hit a kick in the corner on McKenzie then a Pele kick for the win.
4. Zack Gibson defeated Trent Seven. Gibson cut his usual (PG) promo to mega heat before being interrupted by Seven. There were chants of Shoes off if you hate Gibson, Stand up if you hate Gibson, Sit Down if you hate Gibson, and Gibson is a Wanker. A hard hitting match. Gibson tried to leave at one point before Bate cut him off. James Drake ran out at the end a held Seven’s leg while Gibson pinned him for the win. Moustache Mountain vs. The Grizzled Young Vets soon in NXT UK maybe? After GYV’s left the ring, MM were attacked by Wolfgang and the Coffey brothers.
Episode Three
1. Rhea Ripley defeated Xia Brookside to advance in the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament. Ripley dominated with her power moves. There was a small comeback for Brookside, but she was caught attempting a cross body blocked and got slammed before Rhea hit her finisher to advance.
2. Eddie Dennis over Jack Starz. Big size difference, Eddie won.
3. Mark Andrews beat Wild Boar. Boar used his power including some sentons, but eventually Andrews hit Slumdog Millionaire and the Shooting Star Press to win.
4. Toni Storm defeated Isla Dawn to advance in the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament. An even match that Toni won to advance. The tournament semifinalists then stood on the entrance next to the title belt and the semifinals match ups were announced for tomorrow: Kai vs. Ripley and Jinny vs. Storm.
5. Ligero beat Jordan Devlin. Even Steven for most of the match until Ligero won with a splash from the top.
6. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate defeated Wolfgang and Mark Coffey (w/Joe Coffey). The was the evening main event. I’m not sure if this is part of the tapings though. Both faces hit their signature spots. We also got a dual Bop and Bang. Dunne hit the Bitter End on Wolfgang for the finish. They both posed after the match, my son rushed down and high-fived Bate, which made him happy.
All in all, a good event with some decent matches. We were ate next to local wrestler Sean Devine from @nbwtweets Nothing But Wrestling (a great local wrestling promotion to West Bromwich and the Sandwell area).
Biggest Pops
1. Pete Dunne
2. Tyler Bate
3. Triple H
4. Toni Storm
5. Mark Andrews
Most Heat
1. Zack Gibson
2. Jordan Devlin
3. Wolfgang/Coffeys after laying out Moustache Moutain
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