By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed September 9, 2021 on WWE Network and Peacock
The broadcast team of Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness welcomed us to the show and hyped the matches…
Wolfgang made his entrance whilst we saw an updated graphic of the Heritage Cup No.1 Contender tournament. Sam Gradwell made his entrance whilst cutting a promo on Wolfgang…
1. Wolfgang (w/Mark Coffey) vs. Sam Gradwell in a Heritage Cup No.1 Contender Tournament first-round match.
Round One: Wolfgang put the headlock on but Gradwell made it to the rope and demanded the referee get him off him. Wolfgang controlled the first half of the round with a wrist lock. Wolfgang sent Gradwell to the outside with a shoulder block. Gradwell baited him outside and then ran back inside. Gradwell hit a shoulder block off the apron on Wolfgang and hoped for a count-out fall.
Wolfgang made it back in time and the round ended.
Round Two: Wolfgang stayed on top with a succession of European uppercuts. Gradwell took Wolfgang to the mat and put him in a shoulder lock. Wolfgang worked his way out and turned the tide back his way with a top rope elbow strike. Wolfgang took his time and toyed with Gradwell. He sent him to the outside and the round ended.
Round Three: Wolfgang came out with more urgency but Gradwell hit him with a knee to the shoulder. He followed this up with a clothesline/ leg sweep for the win.
Round Four: Gradwell continued to target the shoulder of Wolfgang whilst mocking him by howling like a wolf. Gradwell went for his finish again but Wolfgang reversed it into his fisherman twisting suplex known as the Caber Toss for the win.
Round Five: Wolfgang hit his spear for the win.
Wolfgang defeated Sam Gradwell 2 rounds to 1 in 09:41 to advance in the tournament.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a good victory for Wolfgang as he fought through an injured shoulder and going one fall down to get the win. I can’t see Wolfgang getting past Teoman in the next round as I fully expect “The Babo” to win the whole tournament.
Following a recap of Blair Davenport’s attack on both Nina Samuels and Sid Scala, Scala announced that NXT UK Management had decided to suspend Davenport…
A hype package aired for Kenny Williams and Noam Dar’s Semi-final match in the Heritage Cup No.1 Contender tournament, next week… We got the announcement that Joe and Mark Coffey of Gallus will challenge the NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly, next week…
Gallus sang songs in the hallway to celebrate their recent luck. Jordan Devlin came out of the treatment room and told them to be quiet as they were disturbing his massage… Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith made their entrance. Saxton Huxley made his way into the BT Sports Studio. Symbiosis made their entrance…
2. Ashton Smith, Oliver Carter and Saxton Huxley vs. “Symbiosis” Eddie Dennis, Primate and T-Bone. Primate and Huxley started. Huxley sent Primate flying through the middle rope. An enraged Primate tagged in T-Bone. T-Bone and Huxley wrestled for control but neither man could budge the other. T-Bone hit a couple of shoulder blocks but as he went for a third Huxley hit the Thesz press.
Smith tagged in and was quickly dominated by T-Bone. Primate tagged in and hit the double axe handle to Smith whilst T-Bone held him over the rope. With Carter and Primate in the ring, Carter scored the first close fall from a springboard moonsault. Primate sent Carter into the corner and he went flying over the top rope and to the outside. Dennis came in and picked at the bones of Carter. Symbiosis worked quick tags to beat down Carter in their corner. Carter eventually hit a superkick on T-Bone and got the hot tag to Huxley at the same time Dennis tagged in.
Huxley controlled Dennis and scored a close fall from an elbow drop. T-Bone tagged in and sent Huxley to the outside. T-Bone hit the Powerslam on Smith and Primate hit the diving headbutt which looked to give them the victory but Carter made the save. Smith and Carter hit the doomsday springboard cutter for the win.
Ashton Smith, Oliver Carter and Saxton Huxley defeated “Symbiosis” Eddie Dennis, Primate and T-Bone in 09:03.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a decent and fast-paced multi-man tag match. There were some good double-team moves from Primate and T-Bone. But, in the end, it was Carter and Smith’s really fun finish that was the deciding moment. Dennis will be angry that he now has another loss to Huxley on his record. This could result in the feud continuing.
Stevie Turner was cutting a scathing promo on Meiko Satomura when she was interrupted by Emilia McKenize who challenged her to a match…
Pretty Deadly cut a promo on Gallus claiming they came out on top the last time they met and would do the same next week…
A full recap of Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter for the NXT UK Championship from NXT TakeOver 36 aired whilst. Dragunov added commentary at the start of the match and discussed how he felt going into the contest. The watch-along-style match replay also included in-match commentary from Dragunov, Rhea Ripley, Drew McIntyre, Cesaro, Finn Balor, Sheamus and Toni Storm…
Gibbons’ Opinion: It was really enjoyable to rewatch this match with the added talking head comments from the wrestlers. The brutality of the contest was highlighted by wrestlers, particularly Balor and Sheamus. Dragunov discussing his mistakes during the match and recoiling at painful moves Walter inflicted on him was a great addition. Dragunov described this victory as the birth of his legacy and said it was the greatest moment of his life, alongside the birth of his son. I’d imagine most people watching NXT UK on either the WWE Network or Peacock had seen the match before. It is a great idea to replay with though as casual TV viewers may be flicking through the channels and would 100 percent be drawn in by this match.
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