By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped September 1, 2019 in Cardiff, Wales at Motorpoint Arena
Streamed September 25, 2019 on WWE Network
The bad music and video package aired to start the show. Pete Dunne and Toni Storm are no longer featured in the video… Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness checked in as Oliver Carter was making his entrance…
1. Ligero defeated Oliver Carter.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Another good showcase for the young Carter against the veteran Ligero, but not to sound like a broken record but what was on the line in this match? Why should I invest in the match? The promising youngster hasn’t been defined as a character or an individual, and what exactly does Ligero winning the match mean for him? Unfortunately there was too many of these matches at these tapings.
During the match a graphic showed that NXT UK is moving to Thursdays from next week. Can’t say I understand why, I mean it’s not like there’s a lot of wrestling on Wednesdays…
Walter was shown at the UK Performance Center. He grabbed the cameraman and led him to where some youngsters were sitting on the ring laughing and joking. Walter started yelling at the youngsters to respect the mat. He climbed into the ring where some other youngsters were going through drills. He had seen enough and chopped one of the youngsters after he shook hands with his opponent. Walter roughed him up some more and yelled in his face that this is why he will be champion forever. He said it’s because no one is taking this seriously.
Gleed’s Ramblings: I loved this and it put over Walter’s heel side even more.
Tyler Bate made his entrance for a promo in street clothes. He high-fived the fans at ringside before doing his usual slow roll into the ring. Joseph and McGuinness talked about the phenomenal match at NXT UK Takeover. Although he didn’t have his towel, Bate made the motion and the crowd cheered along. The crowd chanted “Tyler Bate “and he said thank you. Bate said that Takeover Cardiff proved to be one of the hardest, toughest nights of his entire career. He said it wasn’t just the beating from Walter and the fact he couldn’t walk away with the title, but he said inside he felt that he had let the fans down. The crowd chanted no. He said as far as NXT UK goes, he is far from finished and there is a lot of fight left in this strong boy.
Jordan Devlin’s music played and he mockingly applauded Tyler. He said Bate had an incredible performance at Takeover Cardiff, a performance of a lifetime. He said he didn’t impress him. He moaned about NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint overlooking him for Tyler as the crowd gave him what treatment (my apologies to the world on behalf of my home country of Wales). Devlin said that he is the only one who can take down Walter and if he had been in the main event he would be standing there with a title. Devlin said you may Bate a big strong boy, but he is a man. Tyler asked won’t it be funny when this boy puts you on his ass? Bate climbed out of the ring and started walking down the aisle and Devlin walked to the back…
Tegan Nox was interviewed backstage in a video package and complimented the Welsh crowd as she was worried no one would know who she is. They showed a video of the Mae Young Classic from last year when Tegan was sidelined with another knee injury. She said there was times after surgery where she didn’t think she could come back, but she used it as motivation. They showed her rehabbing inside and outside the ring a the PC in Orlando. She said she’s come out of it fitter, stronger, faster, and shinier.
Gleed’s Ramblings: A great video package and I’m sure it’s something they will repeat when she wins the Mae Young Classic this year.
Noam Dar and Trent Seven were shown warming up in different locations of the building…
2. Nina Samuels defeated Dani Luna. Hometown girl Dani Luna got a great reaction from the Cardiff crowd and had some nice moments in the match, but NXT UK are really getting behind Nina Samuels at the moment so the result was no surprise.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Dani is about a year or two of working regularly away from being seen as a great talent in the industry so looking forward to seeing how she progresses over the next few years. Nina being spotlighted doesn’t offend me but she is definitely more personality than in-ring ability and there’s always room for that on a roster.
4. Noam Dar defeated Trent Seven via DQ. The DQ occurred because of a towel.
Gleed’s Ramblings: When I watched this live, the crowd had no idea of the build up to it which all happened backstage, so the atmosphere wasn’t as hot as it would have been if we had known what led to the match and the story in the ring of Noam Dar irritating Trent like he had backstage. So in the context of what the live crowd knew, the end of the match with the towel came across as really bush league and silly. Even in the context of the story it was silly, but it made a lot more sense. I am enjoying this mini-feud so I’m happy that it appears this will carry on for a bit longer, as they bounce off each other well personality wise. My money is on a towel on a pole match. Special mention to Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness on the call for this match, as they really played off each other with Nigel being the heel backing Bobby Heenan character and Vic being the Gorilla Monsoon character in reacting to him. Great stuff.
Overall, a better show this week than the last couple of episodes post NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff, but I’m still not firing on all cylinders like they were going into the special. I’m glad they are now building to a Devlin against Bate television feud and given the stuff we’ve seen backstage and the way the main event ended, I’m looking forward to seeing more from Dar and Trent. The video packages for Walter and Tegan Nox were also strong. However there’s still the feeling with the mid-card that there isn’t any reason to get invested in their matches, which brings the quality of the overall show down.
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