By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed February 3, 2022 on WWE Network and Peacock
The announce team was Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness… “Moustache Mountain” Tyler Bate and Trent Seven joined sat in on commentary for the opening tag match… Both teams made their way into the BT Sport Studios for the opening match…
1. Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith vs. Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff in a No.1 Contenders match for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. After an even opening few minutes Carter swung things in his team’s favour. Carter missed a springboard moonsault allowing Mastiff to hit the senton . Starz asked for a tag but Mastiff claimed to have things under control. Carter hit a rolling kick. Carter tagged in Smith and they hit double team moves on Mastiff and then a double hip toss on Starz and sent both men to the outside. Starz slapped the back of Mastiff to tag in.
Smith and Carter continued to use tandem offence to control Starz. Carter came close to a win from a cutter in the corner. Smith dominated Starz for a bit and then went for the Super Ace Cutter with his partner but Starz squirmed off his shoulders and hit a top rope suplex on Carter. Starz got the hot tag and Mastiff battered Smith for a few minutes. The two men then had a collision of heads. Mastiff again refused to tag in Starz. Mastiff missed the Into The Void cannonball and Smith tagged in Carter. Smith and Carter hit a double knees to clothesline and then put Mastiff away with the assisted standing moonsault.
Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith defeated Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff to become No.1 Contenders for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a decent tag match and a good pay off for the tournament. Trent Seven and Tyler Bate did well on commentary to put both teams over. The cohesion of Smith and Carter was the deciding factor here. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next after Mastiff and Starz failed to work as a team. A heel turn from Mastiff seems inevitable. Also inevitable will be Moustache Mountain successful defending the titles against Smith and Carter …
A-Kid gave Saxon Huxley some etiquette training in chess, mathematics and classical music… We had a recap of Dragunov vs. Devlin from last week…
Die Familie attacked Nathan Frazer in the parking lot in response to his claims last week that they weren’t a proper family… Isla Dawn made her entrance…
2. Myla Grace vs. Isla Dawn. Dawn took Grace to the corner but she fought out and hit a leg sweep and drop kick. Dawn attacked the leg of Grace. Dawn forced her foot into the back of Grace and pulled at her pigtails. She then knocked her down with a running knee. Grace rallied with a series of acrobatic offence. But this did little to deter Dawn who hit her swinging side slam for the win.
Isla Dawn defeated Myla Grace.
Gibbons’ Opinion: It seems like Grace is going to be on NXT UK full time as she’s getting a lot of matches. This did its job at continuing the push of Dawn.
Nina Samuels forced Amale to be a guest on The Nina Samuels Show and asked her how she felt about being hopeless. Amale challenged her to settle things in the ring…
Blair Davenport made her entrance. The NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura made her entrance…
3. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a Japanese Street Fight for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. Davenport charged at Satomura with a kendo stick but the champion took her down with a flurry of kicks to send her out the ring. Davenport sent Satomura into the ring post and the barrier. She sat her on a chair and kicked her off. Satomura grabbed the chair and rammed it into Davenport’s stomach and took things back in the ring.
Satomura then attacked Davenport with nunchucks in the ring and hit a high-angle backdrop driver. Satomura grabbed the chair but Davenport drop kicked it into her face to send her rolling back outside. Davenport beat on Satomura until the champion hit a overhead kick. Satomura then wrapped a chain around her leg and rained kicks to the chest. Davenport grabbed a kendo stick and attacked the leg.
Davenport sent Satomura and lots of hardware into the ring. She used a spare turnbuckle to bend back the hand. Satomura reversed a charge into the STF but her hand was too damaged to lock it on fully. Davenport reached for a kendo stick and cracked it around the head of Satomura to escape the hold. Davenport choked Satomura with the kendo until she managed to get to the rope. But with no rope break Davenport held on and then went up top. She hit a double stomp onto Satomura but injured her ankle in the process. The referee called for a stoppage.
Meiko Satomura defeated Blair Davenport via referee stoppage to retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a fun and fast-paced match that definitely lived up to everything you’d want for a Japanese Street Fight. I have to presume this is a worked injury to keep the title of Satomura whilst making Davenport look strong. If it is a real injury that’s a massive shame. I’d expect to see Davenport take some time off and come back for one final swing at Satomura. The champ might see off a few challengers in the meantime.
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