This week on NXT UK we see the final build for next week’s championship match between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov – plus more from the Heritage Cup.
Quick Results
Eddie Dennis pinned Oliver Carter in 6:27 (***)
Nina Samuels pinned Amale in 5:37 (**¼)
Heritage Cup Quarter-Final: Trent Seven defeated Kenny Williams by 2 rounds to 1 (2:21 of round 5) (***)
Going in, we had two matches announced: Eddie Dennis vs. Oliver Carter, plus Trent Seven vs. Kenny Williams in the Heritage Cup. Oh, and everyone’s favourite – the contract signing for WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov next week…
We’re back at the BT Sport Studios, and it’s straight to the action with Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness on commentary.
Eddie Dennis vs. Oliver Carter
Of course this is a first-time match, as it’s Eddie’s first real match since January after injury (and… y’know).
We open with a lock-up as Carter took Eddie to the mat, locking in a front facelock… but Eddie breaks the hold and works in a wristlock. A headlock takedown has him ahead, but Carter escapes with headscissors… only for Eddie to get free and stomp Carter in the gut. Carter’s right back with some punches, but Eddie goes back to the arm, yanking it before Carter caught him with another forearm and more punches. A back elbow in the corner stops Eddie, who tries for a back body drop… but Carter lands on his feet and came back with some headscissors. Those take Dennis into the ropes for a Bossman-like leap to the back as Carter built momentum… which ended with a slap.
Eddie takes Carter outside, and eventually follows him out to land a strike before throwing him back inside. The simple cover gets Eddie a two-count, before an Irish whip bounced Carter out of the corner. Dennis keeps on top of Carter with a cravat, but it’s broken out of as Carter tried to chop his way back in ahead of a wheelbarrow roll-up that almost nicks it. Carter’s throw back outside, but he skins the cat… and catches Eddie with a tornado facebuster to boot! Eddie rolls outside and eats a tope… only to come back by blocking a springboard 450 with his knees, following up with a version of the Next Stop Driver for a near-fall. Undeterred, Eddie picks Carter up for a Severn Bridge… but Carter flips out and hits a superkick, before a uranage and a Quebrada landed for a near-fall. That Quebrada almost went south in a hurry…
Carter tries to rush in at Dennis, eventually catching him with a spinning heel kick into the corner… but Eddie slips out of a superplex and hits a Severn Bridge crucifix bomb for the win. A really enjoyable TV match this, with Carter surprising in his role as a singles act, bit in the end it was the one-hit kill from Eddie Dennis that got the win. ***
Post-match, Eddie boots Oliver out of the ring “back to the tag division,” telling him “he’s dismissed.” Then we get the fake sadness over what happened to Flash Morgan Webster… as Eddie suggested someone had something to gain. He invites Flash and Mark Andrews to a “mediation” next week. Uh-oh. If they’re going down that path, they better make sure they check the tables…
Vignette time – this time for Joe Coffey… he’s “returning soon.”
Next week: NXT UK is on at 4pm ET (still 8pm for the UK), featuring Jordan Devlin in action. Yup.
Amale vs. Nina Samuels
They replay the angle front wo weeks ago where Nina Samuels walked out on Amale, and that’s why we have this match. At least there’s a story behind the progressive women’s second match…
We open with lock-ups as Amale took Samuels to the ropes… before Nina returned the favour. A takedown leads to Amale lashing out at Nina, following up with a charging clothesline into the corner… before Amale ran into Samuels’ boot. Nina kicks back, but ends up taking another clothesline for a two-count, before Amale locked in some Figure Four headscissors. Driving Nina’s head into the mat led to Samuels rolling to the apron, where she caught Amale with a hot shot to take over. Stomps follow, before Nina used headscissors to pull Amale into the middle buckle for an eventual two-count. Some bodyscissors trap Amale on the mat, with Nina rolling it into a pinning attempt… then a chinlock.
Amale pushes back to try and sneak a win, but Nina kicks out and rolls into a hammerlock armbar… but Amale overpowers her with a back body drop to free herself. Nina avoids a charge in the corner, but Amale’s back with a shotgun dropkick, then a face-washing boot into the corner for a two-count. Samuels makes a comeback, taking Amale back to the ropes before she got caught in a Northern Lights suplex for a near-fall. A whip into the ropes leads to Nina getting caught once more, but she’s back out of nowhere with the Final Act swinging neckbreaker. Decent enough for a TV match, but this felt like a definitive blow-off to end a short story. **¼
They confirm the Welsh Assembly between Flash, Andrews and Dennis for next week…
Backstage, Nina’s interviewed about her win. She doesn’t want to be part of a “double act”… and announces the relaunch of the Nina Samuels Show. Nina turns her sights onto Piper Niven, so that’s the next direction.
Heritage Cup Quarter-Final: Trent Seven vs. Kenny Williams
Winner faces Dave Mastiff in the semis… Trent was tagged as the “Bobby Moore of NXT UK,” which could be taken as a backhanded compliment.
Round 1: A lock-up ends with Trent taking Kenny to the ropes for a break, before we wash, rinse and repeat. Williams takes trent down in a wristlock, looking for a pin, but Trent gets up and wrestles Williams down in a Test of Strength, forcing a neck bridge before the Scotsman flipped up and armdragged Trent. A hiptoss from Trent has Kenny down, before a crossbody from Williams was caught and turned into a slam. A legdrop follows for a near-fall, brother, before a front facelock from Trent was broken as Williams was sent into the ropes to end the round.
I swear they’ve dubbed in the UFC wooden blocks to signal the final ten seconds this week…
Round 2: Williams rolls Trent to the mat for a pin attempt, before Seven went for a Japanese strangle hold. Williams powers out and rolls Trent away, before a back elbow stunned Trent ahead of a springboard back elbow for a near-fall. Seven sidesteps a charge and rolls Kenny down, but Williams comes back with a tijeras and a dropkick for another near-fall, then kept on Trent with a side headlock. Trent breaks free and shoves Kenny into the ropes for a headbutt to the gut… a second one’s countered into a sunset flip for a near-fall, before time ran out on the second round as Trent was going for a powerbomb.
Round 3: Kenny takes down Trent in a toe hold, pinning down Trent’s other foot as well… Trent gets free and kicks out of the hold, turning it into a side headlock takedown, with a quick headscissors escape. Trent gets back in with a side headlock that’s rolled out of, before Williams started a chop exchange. A faked-out chop led to a DDT which gets a near-fall for Seven, before Williams managed to pick the leg… but a Boston crab was powered out of. It’s back to a side headlock, but Trent gets free and hits a backfist, then a Seven Stars lariat to take the first fall with three seconds of the round left.
Round 4: Williams staggers out of the corner, but grabbed the ropes to avoid another Seven Stars, then tried to roll-up Trent to equalise, Seven kicks out, but was quickly spun into a backslide for a near-fall, before a double leg nelson off the ropes tied it up 36 seconds into the round.
Round 5: Williams charges into Trent with a wheelbarrow roll-up for a near-fall, before a selection of uppercuts forced Trent to chop back. A superkick knocks Kenny into the ropes for a rebound lariat, but it’s not enough to get the win. Kenny’s geed up and runs in for a satellite DDT that gets another two-count. Another wheelbarrow from Williams is countered into a snap Dragon suplex, before Emerald Flowsion almost got Trent the win as we headed into the final minute. Trent climbs the ropes, but Kenny heads to the apron, catching Trent ahead of a springboard ‘rana… but Trent rolls through and manages to snatch the match-winning pin.
They actually made decent use of the rounds format here, but again the disparate formats (this on the same shows as modern-day rules matches) make this stick out like a sore thumb. A great showing from Williams here though, in a relatively unfamiliar style. ***
Backstage, WALTER tells Alexander Wolfe to stay back as he’s heading to the ring… because next week, it’s WALTER defending the NXT UK title against Ilja Dragunov.
The Assistant to the General Manager is on hand for the Main Event Segment. Both WALTER and Ilja head to the ring, and someone’s going through that table. Poor Ilja.
Fake crowd noise is piped in as they sit down. WALTER signs the contract as Ilja stared a hole through him. A man of few words, is our WALTER. Ilja gets the contract and signs it too, before they have a stare down. Ilja barks “unbesiegbar”, but gets slapped by WALTER before he could finish as the champion proceeded to rip off Dragunov’s tee… then chopped him before going to powerbombing him through the table. Except Ilja slips out and kicks WALTER to the outside, throwing the table over instead as he went to leap onto WALTER outside. WALTER caught him in mid air with a chop, then powerbombed him on the edge of the ring before a barrage of chops followed to the front and back. A short-range lariat dumps Dragunov as finally bodies appeared from backstage, but to no avail as the Ilja ended up charging WALTER through the relatively pointless crowd barriers and into the wider BT Studio floor.
With WALTER down, Ilja grabs the NXT UK title and throws it at WALTER, who’s restrained by referees and James Mason to close out a pretty solid in-ring show, with the Heritage Cup format looking somewhat at home – but otherwise this was just a show that passed the time ahead of the big title match next week.