By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed July 1, 2021 on WWE Network and Peacock
Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness were the broadcast team… Isla Dawn made her entrance to kick off the show. Emilia McKenzie entered…
1. Isla Dawn vs. Emilia McKenzie. The bell rang but Dawn remained in her corner. McKenzie charged at her but Dawn came to life and unleashed strikes to her back and jaw. McKenzie hit a neckbreaker and a back suplex. Dawn rolled under the rope. As McKenzie tried to pull her back into the ring, Dawn yanked her into the top rope. McKenzie blocked Dawn’s suplex attempt but “The White Witch” rolled her up with a small package for a two count. Dawn sent McKenzie to the outside. Dawn scored a soccer kick and sent McKenzie into the barricade. Dawn missed the knee strike and collided with the barricade.
Back in the ring, both women traded strikes until McKenzie hit the enzuigiri and a cutter for a close fall. McKenzie went for her somersault spear but Dawn blocked it with a knee. McKenzie reversed Dawn’s Call of the Quarters and hit the spear for a close fall.
Dawn landed a kick on McKenzie and then placed her hands onto her face and started to enter a trance. McKenzie rolled into an armbar and then hit the double knee strike for the win.
Emilia McKenzie defeated Isla Dawn in 06:05.
Gibbons’ Opinion: Dawn has been a thorn in the side of McKenzie since she returned to NXT UK. She surprisingly eliminated her from the No.1 Contenders gauntlet match and has been spooking her backstage. This win was just what McKenzie needed. But it was Dawn that stood out. Her mid-match witchcraft was certainly interesting. It seems like we can expect much more sorcery from her going forward. I feel like things may not be totally over between Dawn and McKenzie.
Backstage, Wolfgang and Mark Coffey said they were even after both winning their recent singles matches but that they had another plan to see who the better man was…
Jack Starz made his entrance for his Heritage Cup Championship shot. Tyler Bate made his way into the BT Sports studio accompanied by Trent Seven…
2. Tyler Bate (w/Trent Seven) vs. Jack Starz in a Heritage Rules match for the Heritage Cup Championship.
Round One: The two locked up and Bate worked the wrist lock. Starz rolled out. Bate put the arm lock on and Starz struggled to escape. Despite Starz’s agile attempts to escape, Bate held him in the submission for over a minute. Starz finally escaped and hit a dropkick. Bate scored a dropkick of his own and then the round ended.
Round Two: Starz came out strong with uppercuts. Bate rolled Starz up and scored the first fall in about half a minute.
Round Three: Starz again came out strong with a couple of shoulder blocks before sending Bate up and over. Starz nearly got a fall from a Butterfly suplex. Bate started the Airplane Spin but Starz rolled off the back and performed an Airplane Spin of his own. Starz rolled up Bate to win the round.
Round Four: Starz blocked Bate’s rolling kick and locked on a deep crab. Bate escaped and connected with Bop and Bang. Bate hit a clothesline and the rolling kick. He followed this with Tyler Driver 97 for the win.
Tyler Bate defeated Jack Starz two rounds to one in around 07.05 to retain the Heritage Cup Championship.
After the bell, Mark Coffey came out and raised Bate’s hand. Coffey clipped Bate on the chin and rolled out the ring…
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was an entertaining match. As with most Heritage Rules matches, there’s a real variety between the rounds. It was Jack Starz’s best match to date and I hope he can follow it up with something else meaningful. It looks like we will be seeing Bate defend his Cup against Mark Coffey, and then probably Wolfgang. A couple of wins there would do good to build him up. Not that he needs much building up.
Pretty Deadly were having a photoshoot backstage when Sid Scala said they would face Subculture in a title match next week. Pretty Deadly refused and said Subculture would have to earn a shot at their NXT UK Tag Team Championships. Scala agreed and said it would be Mark Andrews vs. Lewis Howley and if Andrews wins Subculture would get the title shot…
Meiko Satomura cut a promo in the ring saying how happy she was to be the new NXT UK Women’s Champion. Nina Samuels interrupted Satomura to congratulate her and Kay Lee Ray for their impressive title match. Samuels said NXT UK needs more Nina and Meiko Satomura needs more Nina. She said she could put Satomura on the map if she was her first title defense. Amale then jumped Samuels from behind and sent her into the steps. Amale said she was sick of seeing the same girls every week. She demanded a title shot from Satomura. “The Final Boss” hit Amale and accepted the challenge…
In footage from last week, we saw Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey backstage feeling the effects of their triple threat match. Coffey said the match settled nothing and they both laughed…
A vignette aired for Blair Davenport. The hooded Davenport said she had arrived in the hottest women’s division in the world. She then removed her hood to show her face. As suspected, Davenport is Bea Priestley…
3. Mila Smidt vs. Aoife Valkyrie. Valkyrie went for the kick but Smidt caught the leg. Smidt worked the arm drag to a takedown. Valkyrie put on a stiff arm lock of her own. Valkyrie hit the dropkick and another arm lock takedown. Smidt hit a big belly-to-belly suplex.
Smidt attempted the monkey flip but Valkyrie cartwheeled out of it. Jinny appeared on the entrance ramp. Valkyrie hit a spinning-heel kick and took to the top rope. She hit the Diving Split Legdrop for the win.
Aoife Valkyrie defeated Mila Smidt in 3:47.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a good showing for Smidt in her debut match. It was set last week when Smidt had been watching Valkyrie train. You can tell Smidt has an Olympic background as she performed some good throws.
The match worked well to set up an inevitable showdown between Valkyrie and Jinny. That should be a good match between two women that failed to defeat Kay Lee Ray when she was champion. The winner could stake a claim for a bout with Satomura…
A vignette aired for Kenny Williams in which he said that peacocks and lions don’t survive in the world. That the cockroach outlives everything else. He said he would survive against Nathan Frazer in their match next week because he was the “Scum of the Earth”…
Eddie Dennis interrupted a Trent Seven press conference and called him a constant loser. Seven got angry and Dennis backed away. We got confirmation the two would meet next week …
Jordan Devlin made his entrance. A-Kid made his entrance.
4. Jordan Devlin vs. A-Kid. Devlin went for a wristlock but A-Kid rolled away. Devlin took A-Kid down with the wristlock at the second attempt. A-Kid transitioned into the head scissors. The two men traded hold and counter hold with some mat-based grappling. Devlin finally managed to lift A-Kid from the mat and sent him flying over the top rope and to the outside. A-Kid just managed to get back into the ring at the referee’s count of nine.
Devlin took control of the contest. Devlin hit a backdrop, then a double stomp before applying a chin lock. A-Kid hit a massive dropkick. In the corner, he yanked the arm of Devlin over the top rope. Devlin scored a cutter out of nowhere. A-Kid hit a dropkick and then a Fisherman Buster which brought a close fall. A-Kid hit a suplex and went for a standing moonsault but Devlin got his knees up.
Devlin hit the standing Spanish Fly but as he went for the pin A-Kid locked on the armbar. Devlin got his foot to the bottom rope. With both men physically exhausted, they traded strikes until A-Kid knocked Devlin to the mat with a forearm. A-Kid hit two German suplexes. As he went for the third, Devlin turned and headbutted him. Devlin went to the outside and A-Kid hit the topé suicida. A-Kid sent Devlin into the ring but as he tried to get back in himself, Devlin flicked the bottom rope into his face. Devlin dropkicked the ring steps into A-Kid. “The Irish Ace” dropped A-Kid knees first onto the ring steps.
Devlin went for his Devlin Side but A-Kid countered it into a sunset flip. A-Kid went for a kick but Devlin countered that into a single-leg crab. A-Kid found a way out but Devlin then snapped his knee in a brutal submission, forcing him to tap out.
Jordan Devlin defeated A-Kid in 15:22.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a really good match. I think it is the best A-Kid has looked. He did lots of moves that I can’t explain or describe. Even Nigel McGuinness didn’t have a word for a lot of them. But despite all A-Kid’s inventiveness in the ring, he couldn’t avoid Devlin’s cerebral assault. He effectively targeted the knee and won with a submission that I don’t think anyone has seen before. This win will further fuel Devlin’s belief that he is above everyone else in NXT UK. I’m sure a few people will challenge his boasts over the next month or so. Then, I expect he will face the winner of Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov.
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