By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped January 17-18, 2020 in York, England at the York Barbican
Streamed March 5, 2020 on WWE Network
A video package was shown hyping the big main event between Walter and Dave Mastiff for the NXT UK Championship… The same music and same video opening. The broadcast team of Tom Phillips and Aiden English checked in while they hyped the matches for tonight…
Gleed’s Ramblings: A really well put together and made Dave Mastiff look like a credible threat.
1. Alexander Wolfe defeated Travis Banks. Wolfe came out without any fellow Imperium members. The announcers recapped how Alexander Wolfe interrupted a Banks promo backstage where he said that Banks had failed NXT UK at World’s Collide. The match started at a quick pace with Travis on the offence until Wolfe slowed the match down. Wolfe eventually won with a powerbomb…
Gleed’s Ramblings: A good match with probably the right person coming out on top. Whenever Imperium get beat it should be a big moment. And although this match had a storyline going in to it, it wasn’t a strong enough storyline to have Wolfe lose, especially when he’s in the process of being rebuilt following the feud loss to Ilja Dragunov. I have to feel sorry for Banks, who hasn’t really had the big push we was all expecting, but he’s starting to get into a flow of good matches, so it’ll only be a matter of time. They also managed to protect him somewhat when he hit finisher and Wolfe unfortunately landed outside.
An Eddie Dennis video package was shown where he said everyone’s always shocked that he was a principal of a high school to a professional wrestler. He said the more he spends in NXT UK he realises they are similar. He said he has an honours degree in math and in the classroom it was his job to manipulate the minds of his students. He said any wrestler can manipulate the body, but it takes something special to manipulate the mind…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Considering how hard I’ve been on Eddie Dennis, it’ll come as a surprise that I quite enjoyed this. With Eddie Dennis there has never been a problem with his speaking ability, it’s about putting his persona over in front of a crowd and in the ring, which still needs a lot of work, as it still feels like a square peg in a round hole. Still, an enjoyable video.
2. Ridge Holland beat Saxon Huxley. Holland bored the hell out of me…..oh and he also defeated Huxley.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Bad music, bad gimmick, winded walking to the ring, opponent basic offence, awkward transition when Saxon was on offence, squash, squash, victory, put the bad hat on, point the stick thing at the camera. Holland may be my least favourite wrestler in all of WWE. He’s getting good reactions on these shows, but that’s because he’s from the area. It’s going to be interesting to see how the crowds react when they are in a different venue.
A tale of the tap was shown for the main event… Jordan Devlin was shown outside Full Sail where he had a message for authority figures Johnny Saint and Sid Scala. He said he’s got all their messages and don’t worry, the Devlin American Tour is going global. Next week he returns to NXT UK…
3. Aoife Valkyre defeated Isla Dawn. Isla came out to her usual entrance sequence (this is one of my big pet peeves where wrestlers do exactly the same thing no matter what town they are in). Valkyre hit her finisher from the top rope for the victory…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Isla has come a long way since the beginning of NXT UK so this was a very well wrestled match. Some of the back and forth as well as the pace at times was top class. There was some sloppy moments, including a moment when Isla’s shoulder was up and the ref stopped counting but Isla still kicked out, but moments like that were outweighed by the good. The match did suffer by the fact we knew that there was no way Valkyre would lose, but the crowd were very appreciative to the skill shown in the match. Valkyre is slowly making her way through the division and is being built up nicely. I am looking forward to her first program.
Ligero was asked for his response on Noam Dar’s comments about him. He said he’s getting tired of people saying things about him when it’s not face to face. He said he’s just come from Johnny Saint’s office and next week he will shut up Noam’s face once and for all…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Ligero really should never be allowed to cut a “fiery” promo. This was setup via social media or was part of a show where it didn’t stick out as anything exciting. Either way, it’s not a good thing,
4. Walter defeated Dave Mastiff. After a stiff match with a lot of big moves and big shots, Walter picked up the huge 300 pound plus Mastiff in a powerbomb for the victory…
Gleed’s Ramblings: The match was exactly what you expect which is two huge powerful guys beating the crap out of each other. These matches are not usually for me when I see them on independent shows, but because it’s not something we see on a regular basis on NXT UK, it did benefit from the novelty of it. It was a very good match and one that I did enjoy.
The rest of the show was packed with three other matches but still the show felt like it dragged. The only backstage storyline development we got was a monotone promo from Ligero about a feud I had no idea was going on or had forgotten about it. The matches not involving Ridge Holland were not bad and certainly watchable but it would take a Bate vs. Walter Takeover style match to rescue a show that involved Holland. No matter how good Walter and Dave Mastiff are, there was no way that was going to happen.
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