By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped January 17-18, 2020 in York, England at the York Barbican
Streamed February 20, 2020 on WWE Network
Joe Coffey was shown walking around backstage and watching the main event at NXT UK Takeover, more specifically the moment Ilja Dragunov accidentally hit him. Joe said nothing happens accidentally. Ilja says that he doesn’t run with us so why did he get involved? Ilja said the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Joe said he’s definitely going to leave a mark on you.
Gleed’s Ramblings: I loved the video package and it recapped the feud well, but I question why this match for tonight wasn’t advertised more on last week’s show.
The usual NXT UK music and video aired, then Tom Philips and Aiden English checked in on commentary. Philips hyped the main event match that we had just seen the promo package for…
1. Tyler Bate defeated Joseph Conners.
Gleed’s Ramblings: So all of this build for Conners led to him losing to Tyler Bate?! I don’t get what they were going for with Joseph this whole time, and the fact that they fed him to Tyler makes it even confusing and feels like a giant waste of time. That being said, it was a good match but not great, it was about the level you would expect from an exceptional talent in Tyler and a good hand in the ring in Conners. Now we probably go back to not seeing Conners for a few months until just before NXT UK Dublin where he does the same gimmick all over again.
A video package was shown hyping the I Quit match between Kay Lee Ray and Toni Storm for next week. Interviews were shown of both women. Storm called Kay Lee selfish and the worst person in the world who always gets what she wants. Ray said that Toni is one push away and she’s going to be the one who pushes her over the edge…
Gleed’s Ramblings: A good hype video for next week’s match. They should have did something similar last week for tonight’s main event.
An advertisement was shown for WWE Shopzone. They now have an NXT UK England t-shirt…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Does nobody outside the UK understand that the UK is actually four different countries?! Is it really that difficult?!
A video from “earlier today” was shown where Dave Mastiff and Walter were sat opposite each other backstage. NXT authority figures Sid Scala and Johnny Saint were standing by and announced their match for two weeks time. Walter asked Mastiff if he thinks he’s the best heavyweight in Britain (well, Walter is the best heavyweight in Europe)…
Phillips and English were talking to camera when Jinny interrupted. She had a microphone and stood on the announcers’ table. She said the queen of NXT UK will now address them. She said ever since she was a little girl she got what she ordered. She said her former associate went against her wishes and now her career is over. Jinny said she gave her fifteen minutes of fame and now she’s gone. But now it’s only about the queen of NXT UK and no one will ever disrespect her again…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Great, so we now have a queen of NXT UK as well as the nonsense with Charlotte on the main roster. It’s interesting that they never mentioned Jazzy Gabert by name.
2. Noam Dar defeated Josh Morrell.
Gleed’s Ramblings: I continue to be impressed by Josh Morrell and he was allowed to look really good in this match at times, but this was a showcase for Dar eventually. Of the newer bunch of UK wrestlers, I think Morrell has a chance of becoming really popular.
The Hunt tag team was shown grunting inside a cage. They addressed the Grizzled Young Veterans. Wild Boar grunted they heard what they said last week. Primate threatened GYV. They grunted and banged the cage and walked out of camera shot (…….ok). A graphic hyped The Hunt against GYV for next week…
NXT UK next week will air for five hours earlier than usual next week only. They also hyped NXT UK Takeover Dublin…
Devlin was interviewed about his NXT Cruiserweight Title. He said that Johnny Saint and Sid Scala were begging him to come back to NXT UK, but he’ll be back when he’s good and ready…
3. Ilja Dragunov defeated Joe Coffey. The end of the match came when Coffey was setting up for Best For The Bells, but Draganov hit a surprise Torpedo Moscow to get the clean win.
After the match, the other members of Gallus came from backstage into the ring. Joe Coffey held them back while Ilja held a fighting pose. Joe Coffey said off mic that you’ve paid your debt and we are all square. Gallus left the ring (a nice bit of respect and storytelling at the end of the match.)
Gleed’s Ramblings: This was great. I thoroughly enjoy watching Dragunov wrestle but the reaction of the crowd after the match shows what a good match this was. It was a nice end to a mini TV feud where the story has been ongoing since November, which in the world of WWE is a lifetime feud. This clearly sets up Dragunov to be Walter’s challenger at Takeover Dublin. Not only will this be one hell of a match, but I can see Ilja taking the title considering how hot he is with the NXT UK crowd.
Last week was a missable show, but this week is a good show to get back into NXT UK with Takeover around the corner. A good match to open up with Bate and Conners followed by a potential glimpse of a new star in Joe Morrell against Noam Dar and a great main event. In between all that was a newsworthy-ish promo from Jinny and some great hype for the next couple of weeks of NXT UK. Good stuff! I will be back on Friday with my weekly members’ exclusive audio review of this episode.
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