By Laurence Gibbons, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@Gibbonsgob)
NXT UK TV
Taped in London, England at BT Sport Studios
Streamed August 19, 2021 on WWE Network and Peacock
Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness were the broadcast team and welcomed us to the show before hyping the NXT UK Tag Team Championship main event…
Stevie Turner made her entrance. The NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura made her way into the BT Sports Studio…
1. Meiko Satomura (w/Emilia McKenzie) vs. Stevie Turner for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. Satomura hit a couple of uppercuts to Turner before putting her in a wrist lock. The Champion took the challenger to the mat with a takedown and held an arm lock in place. Satomura continued to work the arm and stay on top.
Turner made it to the rope and forced the break. Turner landed a massive boot to Satomura’s face to swing the match momentarily. But Satomura regained control and fluidly moved between submissions and strikes. Turner rolled to the outside and when Satomura joined her, she sent the Champion into the barricade.
Turner landed multiple kicks to Satomura. She went for a pin but only got two. Turner locked the double-arm chin lock on but Satomura hit an overhead kick to escape. Turner responded with another big boot and went for an unsuccessful pin. Satomura hit her Death Valley Driver but Turner kicked out. Satomura forced Turner to tap out from the STF.
Meiko Satomura defeated Stevie Turner in 08:52 to retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
Gibbons’ Opinion: Satomura has been so well presented as NXT UK Women’s Champion and as a legendary wrestler in general. It makes sense that younger women on the roster would target her to make a quick name for themselves, as Turner did when she challenged her a few weeks ago.
Satomura welcomes women testing themselves against her. Turner claims to be fourth-dimensional but to me, her attack in this match was pretty one-dimensional and failed to evolve past big boots. It was a solid victory for Satomura. Her closer association with McKenzie could be interesting if it progresses into a McKenzie heel turn.
A hype package aired for Oliver Carter vs. Kenny Williams, who will meet in the first round of the Heritage Cup No1 Contender tournament…
A package also aired for the submission or knockout match between Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey which will take place next week…
Both Saxton Huxley and Eddie Dennis’s entrances were shown…
2. Saxon Huxley vs. Eddie Dennis. Huxley swung a kick at Dennis but the “Swansea Savant” dodged it. Dennis went for a shoulder block but couldn’t budge Huxley. Huxley did manage to put Dennis on his back with a shoulder block. Huxley missed a boot in the corner and went flying over the top rope. Dennis hit a big forearm on the outside.
Huxley went to roll Dennis in the ring but he rolled back and hit a clothesline on him. Dennis sent Huxley in the ring and took him to the mat and locked on a headlock and wristlock. Huxley hit an erratic Thesz Press and took things back outside. He planted Dennis on the barricade and hit the diving elbow from the apron. Back in the ring, Huxley missed a crossbody and hit the ropes. Dennis hit the side slam for a close two. Dennis went to lift Huxley but he rolled off the back. Huxley hit the crossbody and the running powerslam for the victory.
Saxton Huxley defeated Eddie Dennis in 05:46.
After the bell, T-Bone and Primate stormed the ring and beat down Huxley. Dennis and his team mates hit Severn Bridge for the win…
Gibbons’ Opinion: This was a big win for Huxley but Dennis will be annoyed he chose not to have his Symbiosis stablemates at ringside for help. The end of the match suggests there could be more to come. Huxley is someone that has looked better and better recently and who I feared would not get wins, so it is nice that his story includes this victory.
A package aired recapping Aoife Valkyrie and Jinny’s rivalry ahead of their no-DQ match next week…
Isla Dawn made her entrance. Dani Luna made her entrance with the rest of Subculture. Webster and Andrews ducked back to the dressing room…
3. Dani Luna vs. Isla Dawn. Dawn went to stroke Luna, as she had done backstage last week to antagonize Luna. Luna grabbed Dawn and took her to the mat with force. Luna used her power to take control of the early proceedings. Dawn grabbed the hair of Luna and pulled her onto the top rope. Dawn landed a couple of kicks and a leg sweep. Dawn put a submission on Luna and stared at her in her witchlike way.
Luna found a way out and dropped Dawn with a scoop slam and a fallaway slam. Luna got a close two fall from a suplex. Dawn kicked the leg of Luna and hit the double knee attack. Dawn hit the backdrop driver but it only put Luna down for two. Luna escaped Dawn’s Call of the Quarters attempt. Luna went for a superplex but Dawn physically ripped out her hair.
Enraged, Luna grabbed Dawn from the top rope on her shoulders and hit the sitdown powerbomb for the win.
Dani Luna defeated Isla Dawn in 6:42.
Gibbons’ Opinion: I love that this match came about because Isla Dawn kept stroking Dani Luna when she was giving an interview last week. I enjoy that people are reacting to Dawn as if she is a creep and not an actual witch with real powers. Dawn’s strategy to rip out Luna’s hair was ultimately her downfall as it provoked Luna to find the fire to win.
An incredible hype package aired ahead of Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship at NXT TakeOver 36…
Moustache Mountain made their entrance. Pretty Deadly made their entrance sporting new moustaches…
4. “Pretty Deadly” Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley vs. “Moustache Mountain” Tyler Bate and Trent Seven for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Stoker and Bate locked up to start the match. Stoker took Bate down with a wrist lock but the “Big Strong Boy” rolled out and reversed the hold. Seven tagged in and continued to work the wrist of Stoker. Seven controlled Stoker until he was forced to tag in Howley.
Despite Howley taking Seven down with a shoulder block, Seven rolled and hit a crossbody. Seven tagged in Bate and the two hit the shoulder assisted-senton. Howley gave Bate a dead leg and mocked his ‘zen’ persona. Seven came in and both members of Moustache Mountain ripped off the fake moustaches of Pretty Deadly. The champions acted in severe pain and rolled to the outside.
Pretty Deadly exploited quick tags to control Bate, until he crawled through Howley’s legs and leapfrogged Stoker to tag in Seven. Moustache Mountain hit tandem suplexes on Pretty Deadly. Howley and Seven hit the double crossbody on each other. Bate hit Bop and Bang on Stoker to send him to the outside. Bate threw Howley over the top rope onto his partner and took them both out with a senton. Bate hit Tyler Driver 97 on Howley but he kicked out. Seven held Howley but as Bate went for the rope-assisted lariat, Stoker pulled the rope down and he went flying to the floor.
Pretty Deadly double-teamed Seven. As the champs went for Spilt Milk, Bate pulled the rope down, sending Howley over the rope. Moustache Mountain hit the rope-assisted lariat but Stoker kicked out. Bate went for the Tyler Driver 97 but his knee gave way. Stoker hit an airplane spin into a one-legged crab. As Stoker held the move, Howley threw a towel into the ring. As the referee questioned if Seven had thrown in the towel, Howley hit Bate with the title belt and Stoker knocked Seven into the barricade. Pretty Deadly hit Spilt Milk for the win.
“Pretty Deadly” Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley defeated “Moustache Mountain” Tyler Bate and Trent Seven in 14:58 to retain the NXT UK Tag Team Championship.
Gibbons’ Opinion: The reference to Moustache Mountain having never held the NXT UK Tag titles had really thrown me. It took me a while to realise that it was the NXT Tag Team Championship they won and then dropped back to Undisputed Era a few years back. I absolutely adored the nod to that match with the involvement of the towel at the end of this contest. This was a phenomenal match that despite being 15-minutes long absolutely flew by. Pretty Deadly needed a win over Moustache Mountain to call themselves proper Tag Team Champions and now they have it. I was expecting a break-up of Moustache Mountain if they lost but we didn’t get it.
On a whole, this was a super NXT UK. Placed alongside the Walter vs. Dragunov NXT UK title match set for the weekend it shows that all is very much good in NXT UK. On a side note, my weekly audio reviews of NXT UK are available for Dot Net Members.
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