By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed October 21, 2021 on WWE Network and Peacock
Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness were the broadcast team… Entrances for the opening match took place…
1. Xia Brookside vs. Aleah James. Brookside worked the wrist but James cartwheeled out to reverse the hold. Brookside went behind to put the hammerlock on. James escaped the hold and took Brookside to the mat with a headlock. James put the wrist lock on but this time Brookside acrobatically flipped out to reverse the hold and take James to the mat.
James put the head scissors on but Brookside got out the hold with a headstand. Brookside looked to make James tap with a shoulder lock. James went for a DDT but Brookside countered into a neckbreaker. Brookside hit the double knees in the corner. She took James to the top rope and went for the Brookside Bomb but James reversed into a sunset bomb to score the win.
Aleah James defeated Xia Brookside in 4:11.
After the bell, James went for the handshake but Brookside slapped it away.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This match was made last week on The Nina Samuels Show – the show that definitely isn’t a show. Samuels attempted to belittle Brookside for her recent 0-3 losing streak and said she couldn’t even beat James. Well, Brookside is now at 0-4 and James has her first win in NXT UK. James has everything to be a massive babyface star in NXT UK and now that she has her first win under her belt we could see her build some momentum. A Brookside heel turn seems inevitable. Brookside and James worked really well together, it was a solid and fluid match.
A vignette aired for Kenny Williams…
Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff made their entrance. Symbiosis made their entrance … The NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly joined Shepherd on commentary…
2. Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff vs. “Symbiosis” Primate and Tyson T-Bone (w/Eddie Dennis). Starz started on the front foot against T-Bone. T-Bone soon used his strength to take control with a fallaway slam. Primate tagged in and worked the jaw, wrist and shoulder of Starz.
Starz used a dropkick and an arm drag to swing momentum his team’s way. Pretty Deadly referred to the team of Starz and Mastiff as the Ugly Bettys. Mastiff and Starz utilised quick tags to control Primate. T-Bone tagged in but was subjected to the same fate of quick tags by Mastiff and Starz. T-Bone sent Starz to the outside and Primate hit a cheap shot on him.
Back in the ring, T-Bone and Primate now utilised quick tags to dominate Starz. T-Bone turned the usually pale face of Starz red with a huge stalling suplex. T-Bone again chucked Starz to the outside. Primate again went to attack Starz but he hit him with a scoop slam. Starz came off the top rope to take out T-Bone and got the tag to the fresh Mastiff. Mastiff hit the rolling fireman’s slam and Into the Void cannonball in the corner. Eddie Dennis grabbed a chair and hit Starz.
Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff defeated “Symbiosis” Primate and Tyson T-Bone (w/Eddie Dennis) via disqualification in 8:29.
Primate and T-Bone hit the beatdown on Mastiff. Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith came out to make the save…
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was an OK tag match. I enjoyed the DQ finish as we don’t see many of those and it makes perfect sense for Dennis to resort to illegal measures if his team is about to lose. It looks like we are heading for a three team tag match soon. Pretty Deadly are so entertaining on commentary, some of their putdowns are superb.
A vignette aired for Amale in which she revealed she would return to action next week…
Charlie Dempsey gave an interview saying he was enjoying his time with NXT UK and looking forward to carving out his legacy. Wolfgang and Mark Coffey interrupted him and told him not to get in their way. The Gallus lads then bumped into Teoman and Rohan Raja and a brawl broke out…
Noma Dar, who had Sha Samuels with him, welcomed us to Supernova Sessions and said he was looking forward to winning the Heritage Cup Championship from his guest Tyler Bate. Bate entered the BT Sport Studios along with Trent Seven. Dar said Seven wasn’t invited and was just there to ride Bate’s coattails. Dar offered Bate the opportunity to relinquish the Heritage Cup Championship to him now to avoid the embarrassment of him taking it from him next week.
Bate jokingly offered Dar the Cup. Dar said Bate’s focus was in the wrong place as he was wasting his time in a tag team with Seven. Bate said every time they meet in the ring the result is the same with Dar lying on his back and Bate’s theme song playing. Bate added that Dar would fail next week. Dar attacked Bate. Seven and Samuels pulled their respective buddies apart.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was an entertaining segment that did well to build towards the Heritage Cup Championship match. It was interesting for Dar to mention that Bate could be preoccupied with Seven and the Tag Team Championship. I wonder if that could play into the match next week. It seems too early for Bate to lose the Cup but if it is part of a larger story with Seven and Bate I wouldn’t be against it.
We saw Jordan Devlin working out ahead of the main event and Gallus snuck behind him and stole his ring jacket…
We got the announcement that Rohan Raja will fight Mark Coffey next week…
Joe Coffey made his entrance wearing Jordan Devlin’s jacket. Devlin jumped him from behind and stomped on Coffey. The Two battled back and forth on the outside of the ring. Devlin sent Coffey into the ring and hit a corkscrew body attack. The referee rang the bell.
3. Joe Coffey vs. Jordan Devlin. Devlin remained on top for the opening moments of the match. He went for a diving attack but Coffey ducked to get back into things. Coffey hit a diving crossbody and then a sideslam. Coffey worked the wrist and shoulder of the “Irish Ace.”Devlin looked to roll out of the shoulder hold but Coffey wouldn’t let go. Devlin managed to ram Coffey into the corner. He hit a dropkick and then wrapped the ribs of Coffey around the ring post. Devlin landed a chop on Coffey in the corner and then targeted the ribs with a knee strike.
The fans looked to encourage Joe Coffey back into the match (I guess Gallus are faces now). The chants did little to diminish the dominance of Devlin, who rained down strikes to Coffey. He then put Coffey in an abdominal stretch and worked into the body scissors. Devlin used his legs to transition from the body scissors to the pin. Coffey managed to kick out. Devlin went for an attack from the top rope but Coffey caught him with a forearm.
Coffey hit a flying shoulder charge and went for the pin but Devlin kicked out. Coffey planted Devlin with the pop-up slam but Devlin again kicked out. Devlin hit a uranage and a standing moonsault. Devlin went to the top but Coffey came and hit him with a forearm. Coffey hit the springboard crossbody. More ‘Joe’ chants from the audience. Coffey charged at Devlin but the “Irish Ace” hit the cutter. Coffey rolled to the outside.
Devlin sent Coffey into the ring and went up top. Coffey leaped to the top rope and hit the overhead belly-to-belly. It broke out into a full on fist fight. Coffey hit the Glasgow Send Off. Devlin hit a headbutt and went up top. This time, Devlin hit the 450 Splash but Coffey kicked out. Devlin hit the Devlin Inside for the win.
Jordan Devlin defeated Joe Coffey in 14:42.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a really entertaining match to finish an enjoyable show. The build to get us to this match had been fun and it was good that Coffey got one final prank in by stealing Devlin’s jacket. From the start the intensity was good and I didn’t feel fatigue at all during the match – which says a lot, as I watched Crown Jewel and then went almost straight into NXT UK.
Nigel McGuinness mentioned that Johnny Saint would be watching this match with a view on who should get the next shot at Ilja Dragunov and the NXT UK Championship. Devlin has a clean win over Coffey and the latter only has a cheap victory, so I don’t feel like we need a rubber match to get our No.1 Contender. But we will have to wait and see.
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