By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped July 19-20 in Plymouth, England at Plymouth Pavilions
Aired July 31, 2019 on WWE Network
The show opened immediately with the terrible music and video introduction package and we were in Plymouth for the first show from the tapings. Vic Joseph and the returning Nigel McGuiness were on the call. We immediately we were told that we would have a sit down face to face interview with Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray…
NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint and Sid Scala were in the ring and welcomed everyone to the show. Sid noted that NXT UK Takeover Cardiff is a few weeks away. Saint took the microphone and said on August 31 they take over (while trying to wave his arms in a Triple H “you look to The Kliq” way). Scala started talking again but Imperium came out with Marcel Barthel holding a microphone.
Barthel claimed that since Imperium arrived, Saint and Scala are no longer in charge and are no longer needed. Marcel demanded that they leave and step off the mat that is so sacred to them. They surrounded Sid and Johnny. Alexander Wolfe took the microphone from Sid and passed it to Walter. He claimed that they had proved they are the number one force in NXT UK. He said considering he’s destroyed everyone in front of him he wants to know who is left to challenge the ring general in Cardiff.
While Saint and Scala chatted, Tyler Bate’s music hit. Wolfe, Barthel, and Fabian Aichner went up the ramp to meet him, but he snuck in from behind and took down the champion. As the other members of Imperium tried to get in the ring, Bates knocked them to the outside. Finally, Robbie Brookside, various officials, and members of the roster including Ashton Smith and Kenny Williams came out to separate the two men. Sid took the microphone and said you wanted a challenger Walter, well, now you’ve got one. Tyler Bate smiled.
Gleed’s Ramblings: With the reaction of the crowd and with his new rugged look and his facial expressions, Bate really came across as a star here.
1. “Gallus” Mark Coffey and Wolfgang defeated “Pretty Deadly” Lewis Howley and Sam Stoker via pinfall. Mark Coffey grabbed a microphone afterwards and he said since the start of NXT UK they had said this is their kingdom, but a kingdom is built on riches. They are setting out to make their biggest score yet and called out Grizzled Young Veterans and laid a claim on the NXT Tag Titles…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Pretty Deadly are not a well known tag team on the UK indie scene, but I’ve seen them wrestle in IPW quite a bit this year and they definitely have something, but there was no doubting the result here. Gallus are being re-established and they need wins.
Jordan Devlin was shown backstage before he grabbed Sid Scala. He was not happy that Sid had booked Walter against Bate. Sid said Devlin would get a chance to impress tonight in the main event against Alexander Wolfe.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Two big time heels in the main event? Hmmmm.
Dave Mastiff was asked for his thoughts on Joe Coffey. Dave said Joe has a big mouth and he’s not hard to find. He said he had spoken to Johnny Saint and next week Joe Coffey will be battered…
2. Rhea Ripley defeated Dani Luna via pinfall.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Luna is from Cardiff, South Wales and is amongst the exciting female prospects in the UK, but similar to the first match, Rhea has lost a number of matches recently and needed this dominant win to re-establish herself. Even more important is that Tegan Nox made her return at a NXT house show in the United States over the last wee. Nox could be NXT UK bound, and it could come at her home city of Cardiff to confront Ripley, who she was in the ring with when she suffered her latest knee injury…
A video package was shown on Kay Lee Ray and Toni Storm. They both were interviewed separately and they talked about their history, and a number of personal photos from their times together wrestling all over the world were shown. Toni said that she looked up to Kay Lee Ray as a big sister. She said that when she turned up in NXT UK she was so happy, as it’s what they dreamed about together.
Ray said things changed over the years and Toni knows what she’s done. Toni said she’s not the same Kay Lee and it makes her sad. Ray said that in Cardiff they face each other for the title and Toni followed up by saying that Kay Lee knows her better than anyone. Ray said in Cardiff she knows she’s taking that championship from Storm.
Gleed’s Ramblings: An excellent video that really put that match over the top.
Eddie Dennis was outside a hospital and talked about an injury that he suffered. An MRI was shown of the injury and he talked about how people can blame him for the injury for not training correctly, but he puts it down to the style of wrestling changing over the last ten years. A video was shown of him post operation and he said the surgeon told him that he cobbled his shoulder back together. He said he retracts his statement that no one was to blame because he blames the fans, the ones who dare to boo him.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Another great video and a good performance from Dennis. The audio wasn’t great but that gave the video more of an edge.
3. Alexander Wolfe defeated Jordan Devlin via pinfall.
Gleed’s Ramblings: This was a good TV main event match and certainly a statement win for Wolfe and by default Imperium. There was a strange atmosphere with two heels in the match, but the crowd rallied behind Devlin, which the announcers smartly framed as the crowd not liking Devlin, yet simply hating Imperium more.
Tyler Bate was interviewed backstage and said he got exactly what he came here for. He looked straight down the camera and said you thought you could take liberties with him and put him on the shelf? Bate said the big strong boy will take you down and make you look like a novice, and he will walk out of Cardiff as the NXT UK champion.
Gleed’s Ramblings: This was literally the first time that I’ve been impressed with a Bate promo. Another good episode of NXT UK with strong build for the two NXT UK Takeover matches that were focused on. The Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray video package was great in terms of giving a real personal feel to the feud as well as highlighting the importance of the NXT UK Women’s Title. The opening segment with Walter and Tyler Bate was a strong first step for presumably the main event of Takeover. If they can replicate what they did at the Wembley Progress show from a year ago, I guarantee you it will be a treat. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Eddie Dennis video. Although two of the three matches were more about making the regular roster members, the main event was strong and included good performances from both men.
Be the first to comment