By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped November 15-16, 2019 in Hull, England at Bonus Arena
Streamed January 2, 2020 on WWE Network
NXT UK General manager Johnny Saint and Sid Scala welcomed us to NXT UK. Scala said that due to recent events they can confirm that it will be Trent Seven against Eddie Dennis and Jordan Devlin against Tyler Bate at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool. Saint continued to stare like he had no idea where he was…
The usual music and video played. The broadcast team of Tom Philips and Nigel McGuinness talked about the show and hyped the main event as the No DQ match…
1. Dave Mastiff defeated Kona Reeves. Before the match, Kona had a microphone and he told everyone to shut up. He said he doesn’t have the patience to deal with the crowd tonight as they are all disgusting and disrespectful NXT UK, and blamed them and jet lag for his loss against Trent Seven last time he was on NXT UK. He called Dave Mastiff a monstrosity and said that rumour has it you used to be undefeated here in NXT UK but does he really think he belongs in the ring with a top tier talent. He said it’s Dave’s lucky night as tonight he gets to go home to his pathetic family and that he has the honour of losing to the finest Kona Reeves.
Gleed’s Ramblings: The match itself wasn’t anything special but it was a good heel promo before the match by Kona meaning the crowd were firmly behind Mastiff. Since Mastiff lost to Joe Coffey, he has been spinning his wheels so this was a good momentum gathering win for Darren Gutteridge’s favourite wrestler. Speaking of Darren Gutteridge, he and I will be recording our annual NXT UK roster evaluation audio over the weekend which will be available exclusively to the members so check into ProWrestling.net Membership if you want to hear us discuss every wrestler on the roster.
Toni Storm came out for a promo. Once in the ring she grabbed a microphone and said after she lost her NXT UK Women’s Championship she had to go away for a bit as she didn’t know herself anymore. The crowd chanted welcome back. Kay Lee Ray really got into her head and it sent her to a dark place and it made her go a little bit crazy. Because of that she owes someone an apology so right now she would like to talk to Piper Niven.
Piper Niven’s music played and out she came microphone in hand. Piper walked to the ring while both women stared at each other. Toni said she owes her an apology and she was stupid enough to let Kay Lee Ray drive a wedge between them and she’s sorry. She said before they move on she needs a favour. She said her issues with Kay Lee Ray are not over and she wants Viper to step aside. She promised her the first shot at the title, but right now she needs Piper to move away.
Piper said, Toni, you know that I love you and we’ve been through so much so she should know how hard she has had to work. She said she can’t let an opportunity like this slip through her fingers. She said Toni has had her opportunity and now her chance. She went to walk away but Toni grabbed her and spin her around and on instinct Piper headbutted Toni. This led to both women brawling and Kay Lee Ray coming down the aisle laughing at her two challengers. Referee’s finally separated the two babyfaces in the ring…
The official NXT UK Blackpool’s music played, which is possible the worst song of all time. It’s called I can DX What I Want by Scarlord. It’s unbelievable bad… Phillips and McGuinness ran down the card for NXT UK Blackpool II which on paper looks like a barn burner…
2. Kassius Ohno defeated Ligero This match was setup a few months back when Kassius Ohno and Ligero were fighting in New York and Kassius tried to take off Ligero’s mask. As Ligero tried to readjust his mask, Kassius smashed him from behind to win the match. They showed a video of this before the match began. They played up this story during the match with Ligero this time being wise to it. Kassius played up big time his technical ability playing into the best British wrestler aspect and eventually put Ligero away with a nice looking submission.
After the match, Kassius grabbed a microphone and told the crowd to be silent. He said when he said that he figured out why his match with Tyler Bate didn’t have a positive outcome. He lost sight of why he came to NXT UK which was to be the living embodiment of British wrestling. He said it makes him sick that no one in that dressing room no one about British wrestling. He said he might be the knockout artist but he doesn’t need to knock people out because he cane beat people with wrestling. He said he’s Kassius Ohno and he is the greatest British wrestler alive…
A-Kid was interviewed backstage. He started talking in Spanish until Joseph Conners came in, grabbed the camera, and proclaimed that he’s Takeover worthy. He made comments about A-Kid and walked off. Ok…
A video from during the break was shown with Kassius screaming into the camera to find someone better than him. Dave Mastiff walked up and said he’s not having that. He said when he’s ready to fight the best British heavyweight wrestler you know where to find him…
3. Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter defeated The Outliers.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Fair play, I was expecting this to be another match where the hugely underutilized babyface duo would put up a good fight, with the commentators talking about how they just needed one win to get the momentum going before eventually losing, but I’ll be damned they let them win. Despite Ashton Smith being in NXT UK since the first tournament three years ago, I think I’m right in saying that this is the first time he’s won a televised match. The key now is going to be the follow up.
A great video package was shown promoting the tag team ladder match for the tag team titles at NXT UK Blackpool…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Trust me, considering the people who are in this match, this will be insane.
4. Ilja Dragunov defeated Alexander Wolfe in a no DQ match. As Wolfe was making his entrance, Dragunov attacked Alexander, which led to a great visual of the two men fighting in silhouette form.
Gleed’s Ramblings: This was a pretty crazy no DQ match but at the same time didn’t feel too dangerous either. What I loved more than anything was the fact that because of their backstory a no DQ match was exactly what this feud needed. It wasn’t just a DQ match for the sake of it. This was an outstanding match with two guys who you had no idea who would win with the momentum swinging back and forth between the two.
The crowd were on their feet after the match applauding the Russian. Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner attacked Ilja from behind with Walter coming out from the back. With Imperium doing their usual pose, Joe Coffey ran down and hit a spinning lariat on Walter.
Gleed’s Ramblings: This again begs the question as to why he didn’t come out earlier to save the guy who was the reason he had a title match at NXT UK Blackpool but I digress. I’m more convinced than ever that it will be Ilja Dragunov taking the title from Walter down the line. The crowds love him, his intensity is infections and I would say the last 5-10 shows this guy has been on he’s either had an unforgettable moment or a great match. Outstanding stuff and I would recommend you go out of your way to watch this main event, especially with NXT UK Blackpool coming up.
The rest of the show was okay with some hits and misses. The action in the ring was okay but nothing special. The other highlight of the show though was the build for the women’s match at Takeover as well as the outstanding video package hyping the ladder match for the NXT UK Tag Titles at the same event. Don’t forget, Darren and I will be recording our roster evaluation for NXT UK coming up this weekend so be on the look out for that.
Hey Hayden, is there no NXT UK for the date Jan 9, 2020?
Hi Denny, there was a recap show which was essentially a pre show for UK takeover. I’ll be back tonight to cover the show from last night (work emergency has delayed it)