By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed March 11, 2021 on WWE Network
Tyler Bate made his entrance whilst the broadcast team of Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness recapped the rules for the match. Dave Mastiff made his way to the ring.
1. Tyler Bate vs. Dave Mastiff in a Heritage Cup Rules match.
Round 1: Both Bate and Mastiff looked to prove their strength but neither man gained the advantage in an even first round that ended in a draw.
Round 2: The round started in a similar ilk to the previous one with both men switching between wrist locks. Bate went for a sunset flip but couldn’t find the strength to get Mastiff off his feet. He did enough to unsteady the big man and roll him up for the fall in 1:24.
Round 3: Bate came out the gates with more confidence hitting a number of heavy strikes. He looked to lift Mastiff up for an airplane spin but “The Bomber” reversed this into a Crucifix Pin to tie the contest.
Round 4: Mastiff was the more confident now, hitting a number of slams on Bate. He scored a close two-count from a powerbomb and then sent Bate to the outside. Mastiff tossed Bate into the steel barricade and ring apron multiple times and looked to get a count-out victory. Bate beat the count at nine. Mastiff looked for multiple pins but the clock ran out to end the round.
Round 5: Mastiff continued on the offensive. Bate struggled to lift Mastiff a number of times before finally getting him up for the airplane spin. Bate followed this up with a top rope corkscrew senton bomb for the win.
Tyler Bate defeated Dave Mastiff two rounds to one in 11:31.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a really fun and engaging opener. It felt like five mini matches and Bate failing to lift Mastiff throughout was a nice little story. This was one of the more entertaining Heritage Rules matches we’ve had so far. Mastiff does always seem to lose matches against the upper mid-card roster. It would be nice to see him get a big win soon.
We saw a hype package ahead of Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster with both teams saying how important the win would be for them …
An Aoife Valkyrie promo showed her talking into the mirror and challenging herself …
Teoman made his debut entrance into the BT Sport Studios …
2. Danny Jones vs. Teoman. Teoman started quickly working a number of wrist locks and head locks. He proved to have speed and aggression when he hit a massive slap across Jones’ face. The German took Jones down with a diving forearm. Teoman arrogantly stood on the ear of the Welshman as he relished being in control of the match. Teoman hit a missile dropkick to the lower back of Jones, followed by multiple double stomps to the spine. Teoman then locked in the crossface for the quick tap out.
Teoman defeated Danny Jones in 3:33.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a very impressive debut from the speedy and aggressive Teoman. He is the latest in a long line of former WXW standouts to join NXT UK. He was a massive star on the European indies under his previous personas of Lucky Kid and Metehan and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Teoman. Matches with Dragunov or Walter will be given classics. If you can’t wait for your next showing of Teoman, I’d definitely recommend checking out his match with Cara Noir from WXW Catch Grand Prix 2020, which is on the WWE Network.
Xia Brookside forced Nina Samuels to tidy her hotel room. She’s really making the most of having a personal assistant. ..
In a much darker place, we saw Eddie Dennis hand down ‘consequences to Wild Boar’ for getting injured and forcing him to compete in the street fight a few weeks ago. Primate and a mysterious man took Wild Boar out. We saw vignettes for Amale and Gallus…
3. Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. Webster and Andrews had the better of the early going, exploiting fast tags and hitting acrobatic double team moves on both Williams and Jordan. Williams turned the tide for his team when he got in the match, hitting a number of stiff forearms on Webster.
Andrews took out Jordan with a moonsault from the apron to the outside. Back in the ring, Andrews hit the Stundog Millionaire on Jordan and tagged in Webster, who hit his senton. Williams made the save as the referee was about to hit the three count. Webster had the waistlock on Williams, who ran into the ref. With the referee distracted, Williams hit an axe kick low blow on Webster, followed by his finisher, for the win.
Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan defeated Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in 10:55.
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a very entertaining tag match that started slow and built. It was a big win for Williams and Jordan. I’m pleased that the finish kept both teams looking good and helped continue the momentum of Williams and Jordan. There’s a nice story developing of Williams using underhand tactics to pick up victories to the chagrin of Jordan. It’ll be interesting to see if Jordan continues to accept Williams going against his morals if it keeps giving them wins.
We got an update on Trent Seven’s weight loss challenge and found out that the weigh-in will take place on The Bump, next week. Jordan Devlin vs. Trent Seven for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship is scheduled for next week as long as Seven has dropped the necessary weight…
A vignette aired for Ben Carter in which he revealed he was changing his name to Nathan Frazer. We also got the announcement that Walter will make a statement next week…
Jinny and Joseph Conners made their entrance, followed by Piper Niven and Jack Starz for the first ever NXT UK mixed tag team match…
4. Jinny and Joseph Conners vs. Piper Niven and Jack Starz. Jinny teased Piper Niven into thinking she would start the bout but immediately tagged out, allowing the men to kick the match off. Conners trash talked Niven, whilst he took control of Starz. Straz eventually worked away from Conners long enough to tag in his partner and force Jinny to square up with Niven.
Niven was barely able to get her hands on her foe before Conners cleverly made the blind tag to force her out of the ring. A cheapshot to Starz by Jinny helped Conners stay on top of Starz. Conners looked impressive and well in control of Starz but struggled to put him away. Starz got the tag but Jinny had no intention of coming in the ring. Niven chased the “Fashionista” around the ring and then into it, taking her down with a shoulder block.
Piper hit a big head but that sent Jinny into her corner and allowed Conner to tag in. Niven and Starz hit stereo-cannonball sentons in each of their opponents in the corners. Niven hit the Piper Driver on Conners and then lifted Starz on her shoulders and slammed him onto Conners for the victory.
Piper Niven and Jack Starz defeated Jinny and Joseph Conners in 09:41.
Gibbons’ Opinion: Jinny and Conners are just fantastic heels. Despite the every effort of their opponents, they kept managing to find a way to prevent Niven getting to Jinny for most of this match. It was a really fun finish and was satisfying to see Conners get his comeuppance from Niven for all his baiting of her over recent weeks. I’d like to see Jinny and Conners add more bodies to their alliance to help them get their own back on this new team.
It was another enjoyable hour of NXT UK this week. Teoman is definitely a new star to the roster and I’ll look forward to seeing more of him. With the Cruiserweight Championship match and Walter’s announcement set for next week we could be in-store for an even better hour next week. NXT UK will air next Wednesday at 8pm GMT for everyone in the UK, but will air an hour later than usual 3CT/4ET in the U.S.
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