By Haydn Gleed, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
NXT UK TV
Taped October 5-6, 2019 in Brentwood, England at Brentwood Centre
Streamed October 24, 2019 on WWE Network
The bad music in the video opening played and we were back in Brentford. Play-by-play voice Tom Phillips irritated me straight away just by talking and Nigel McGuinness checked in next to him…
All four members of Imperium made their entrance (considering how much Walter was on NXT around this time and the fact he doesn’t like to travel too much, I’m surprised he made the journey back for these tapings). All four men climbed into the ring and struck their pose. A graphic touted that next week’s NXT UK will start at 11am ET and 4pm in the UK, presumably due to Crown Jewel airing the same day.
Gleed’s Ramblings: Excellent I can watch NXT UK instead of the blood money show now.
Marcel Barthel said Imperium continues to prove they are the most dominant force in the brand. He said speaking of dominant, he said Walter wants to address his kingdom. Walter said that there is no man or group that can compete with Imperium. The Brentford crowd gave him the What? treatment (shame on you Essex!). He started to talk again and the Gallus music hit.
Joe Coffey and the new tag team champions Mark Coffey and Wolfgang came out mock laughing. Joe said so the champion wants to address his kingdom. He said he gets it and mocked his accent and said the mat is sacred. Joe Coffey went full Glaswegion with his patter about their tracksuits (funny). He said he was going to come out and congratulate them on getting rid of British Strong Style but they have to realize they are not the only group in NXT UK. Mark Coffey said since day one before jolly wally set foot in the company, they said this was their kingdom and they just let them live in it. With that their music hit…
Gleed’s Ramblings: Good stuff and interesting that the two heel factions confronted each other and the Coffey Brothers displayed the charisma that made them huge hits in ICW. I’m not 100 percent sure people who have never lived in Glasgow would really understand some of the humour, but I certainly enjoyed it.
Xia Brookside provided a video update from the UK Performance Center. She said her name and then a little graphic appeared, sigh. She said so far in NXT UK she’s had a lot of ups and down’s, maybe more down’s, but after beating Nina Samuels she’s on the up again. She said she was really close to getting a title opportunity, but she’s coming after Kay Lee Ray…
Gleed’s Ramblings: A bit too cutesy cutesy for my liking but it was well delivered.
1. “Grizzled Young Veterans” Zack Gibson and James Drake defeated Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter. After the match Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster came out to make the save after Gibson and Drake started attacking Smith and Carter.
Gleed’s Ramblings: This match was setup by the confrontation between the Grizzled Young Veterans and Ashton Smith when the former champions interrupted an interview with Smith last week. I really enjoyed this match and I think all four men came out of this being memorable for anyone who had never seen or heard of them before. Carter and Smith in particular produced some nice spots that had the crowd oohing and aahing. I don’t have a problem with The Grizzled Young Vets winning as they are on the way back to the top of the division, but they keep teasing Ashton Smith and Carter getting a win to kick their start their careers and it’s not going anywhere. Eventually, when they pull the trigger, nobody will care if they drag it on too much.
Tyler Bate was shown backstage “earlier today.” He said that he’s happy to go with the flow in NXT with whatever opportunities comes his way, but in NXT UK he’s looking forward to A-Kid coming in and is sure their paths will cross…
During the break we saw The Grizzled Young Vets were backstage complaining. They were confronted by Mark Coffey and Wolfgang. Gibson said make sure you get pictures with their friends and family with the belts cause they will be back with them soon enough. He warned them to stop worrying about Imperium and instead worry about them.
Gleed’s Ramblings: I’m liking how everything so far on this match is weaving together storyline wise.
2. Travis Banks fought Ligero to a double cover and the match was declared a draw.
Gleed’s Ramblings: An interesting finish, but the crowd really shat all over it. Clearly, both babyfaces shoulders were down, but it felt like a copout in the sense that they didn’t want either to lose. This is a biproduct of what I’ve been saying that the mid to upper card wrestlers get no character development so the only thing we know is they talk a big game but don’t deliver when they get the opportunities. So a loss here would have pushed either guy down a level. As for the match, I thought it was a lot of fun and deserved better than the lack of reaction the crowd gave it. Again, though, this is a biproduct of NXT UK not giving the fans any reason to care about either guy.
A video package was shown on the Jordan Devlin and Dave Mastiff TV feud….
A reminder of the change of time for next week was shown, as well as advertising the NXT UK debut of A-Kid, and Mastiff against Devlin…
3. Trent Seven defeated Noam Dar.
Gleed’s Ramblings: I have thoroughly enjoyed this feud between the really irritating heel Dar and the charismatic fun Seven. Even with that in mind, I didn’t expect the blowoff match to be anything memorable, however this was NXT UK Takeover quality. Hell, it was NXT Takeover worthy. They didn’t hold back on any level and it was the best match that I’ve seen Dar have since he was on 2015 on the independent scene. If you want to know why there was such a buzz about Dar before the WWE Cruiserweight Classic all those years ago, this is a match I would strongly recommend watching. His use of both Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate’s moveset was great considering the “RIP British Strong Style” comments in the build up to the match. Seven isn’t the most elegant wrestler, but here he really put his body on the line and it made for a great match.
Overall, another good episode of NXT UK with some newsworthy moments, especially the interaction between the top heels in the division with Imperium and Gallus, then Grizzled Young Veterans and Gallus. Xia Brookside’s cutesy cutesy promo with the princess style graphics isn’t for me but it was well done for what it was. The show wasn’t perfect, as I have reservations with how they are handling Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter, as well as the lack of development for the mid-carders in Travis Banks and Ligero, but there wasn’t a bad match on the show and everything felt like it had a reason to be on it.
I can’t finish without giving another rousing recommendation of the main event. This was potentially the best TV match we’ve had on NXT UK. Go out of your way to watch it.
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