Rampage Brown makes his NXT UK debut this week, as we also find out who’ll face A-Kid in the Heritage Cup finals.
Quick Results
Primate & Wild Boar pinned Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams in 9:26 (**½)
Rampage Brown pinned Jack Starz in 2:21 (NR)
Xia Brookside pinned Nina Samuels in 5:48 (**)
Heritage Cup – Semi-Final: Trent Seven defeated Dave Mastiff by 2 Falls to 1 (1:30 of Round 5) (**¾)
We’re back at the BT Sport studios, with Nigel McGuinness and Andy Shepherd on the call.
The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) vs. Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams
The Hunt now get a smoky floor for their entrance, almost like the Ascension of old. Eddie Dennis accompanies them to pull the strings from ringside. I fear for Kenny and Amir here…
Boar and Williams start us off, as Boar clubbed away on Kenny. There’s a quick tag as Primate leaps off the top with a double sledge on the Scotsman, but a whip into the corner sees things go wrong as Kenny rolled back and came in with a headlock. Some arm work sets up for a tag to Amir Jordan, whose leaping elbow drop gets a two-count, before he went back to the left arm with a wringer. A flying elbow off the top to the arm brings Kenny back in, before he flipped over Primate… and took him down with a ‘rana. Kenny keeps going with a dropkick, as Primate tags out to Boar, who had to push out of a headlock, then kick out of a wheelbarrow roll-up as the Hunt were faltering.
Williams hits a back elbow to Boar, sending him outside as Primate also joined them ahead of a tope from Jordan. Kenny’s dive finds its mark too, before Amir heads up with a crossbody to Boar for a two-count – everyone but those ringside missed the tag. Not to worry, Kenny’s back in quickly to boot Boar onto the apron, but Boar just pops up Williams off the apron with a pancake to the floor. Primate picks up the pieces, rolling Kenny back inside for a two-count, following up with a suplex from the apron for another two-count. Boar’s back to wear down Kenny with a headlock suplex as Eddie Dennis began to bark orders… that leads to a Boar slam and an assisted back senton for a near-fall for Primate, as the Hunt continued to isolate Williams.
Quick tags keep the Hunt fresh, but Williams tries to chop back into things, only for a back elbow and some clubbing blows to keep Kenny down. Boar’s back with stomps and a chinlock, but Kenny breaks free and tags in Jordan, who ran wild with clotheslines and a neckbreaker to Boar. There’s a nice back body drop to a rushing Primate as the pace perhaps goes too quick, ahead of a slingshot Flatliner from Jordan, who followed up with a senton bomb off the top for a near-fall. Jordan had his pin broken up by Primate, who drags Boar to the corner so he could tag in. Williams is back too, and lands a bulldog out of the corner for a two-count on Primate, before a satellite DDT was blocked, with Primate tagging in Boar… but they both fall to a springboard back elbow as Amir Jordan returned.
Jordan goes for another slingshot Flatliner, but he’s swatted down with a clothesline as the Hunt then headed up top for duelling swandive headbutts for the win. A pretty solid re-establishing for the Hunt, but that first offence on the Williams was threatening to drag on before they hit the next “part” **½
Is it just me, or does that fake Thunderdome crowd not react much? There’s an easy joke to be made here, but that feels way too cheap of a joke to make.
Vignette time for the main event, as Trent Seven brings up an old text message where he asked Mastiff to train him… and that leads full circle to the WWE, where they’re in a Heritage Cup semi-final.
Jack Starz vs. Rampage Brown
Holy crap, I was kidding last week when I said this was the match. For my next guess, they’ll do Rampage vs. WALTER soon…
Sadly, Rampage doesn’t get Hatebreed, or anything close to a knock-off of it. We start with a lock-up as Starz gets thrown aside… but Jack’s back up for a side headlock, but he’s shoved off and bounces off of Rampage, who just knocks him back down. A slam’s escaped as Starz went for an O’Connor roll, but it’s blocked as Rampage then deftly turned his leapfrog attempt into a powerslam. They replay that slam, as Rampage hits a back elbow off the ropes to Starz for just a one-count. A charge takes Starz into the corner, but Starz fires back with dropkicks, before a crossbody was caught and turned into a Samoan drop. A Doctor bomb’s next, and that’s all folks. Pretty squashy, and kinda underlined my point from a few weeks back as to why Starz didn’t need to go 50-50 with Saxon Huxley if he’s still going to be doing these introducing losses…
Earlier this week, the Assistant to the General Manager is in the UK Performance Centre worrying about flags. Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith hijack his cameraman for “investigative journalism,” as they play hyperactive journalists interviewing Pretty Deadly. They ask them what’s up with them and Eddie Dennis, which they blow off… and it descends into threats as the Assistant to the General Manager splits them up, and I guess this sets up a match next week.
We get a video package on the long story between Kay Lee Ray and Piper Niven in NXT UK, starting with what’d be Toni Storm’s departure from NXT UK and then the jump to the match between Niven and Ray from two months ago – interspersed with Niven showing a vicious side to herself last week, as we build up to a Falls Count Anywhere match for the title between these two next week.
During the break, a new interviewer asks Rampage how he’s feeling… he tells us he’s just getting started.
Xia Brookside vs. Nina Samuels
Nina’s promised to bring the spotlight back to her, and was last seen beating Amale.
We start with Brookside working a wristlock on Samuels, but Nina reverses it, only for Xia to flip her way free in the ropes, with Nina cartwheeling her way into a dropkick. Brookside’s back with a monkey flip, then a rope-assisted headlock takedown, before some headscissors looked to get Nina free. Xia flips her way into a half crab, then lets go so she could drop a leg onto Samuels ahead of an Indian deathlock. It turns into a pinning attempt, but Samuels kicks out, then pushes away another bulldog before she powered Brookside into a backbreaker. Stomps follow as Nina then ties up Brookside in a chinlock, before knees and stomps had the Liverpudlian down.
Samuels mouths off, saying it’s “her spotlight”… which fires up Brookside with some forearms before an Irish whip was reversed. Xia gets a boot up in the corner, then hits headscissors out before another monkey flip was blocked. Nina takes her up top, but Xia comes back out with a crossbody for a near-fall, before Nina clung onto the rope and the apron to force some distance. A boot from Nina takes down Xia for a two-count, before a Nina-goroshi was countered into a roll-up for a near-fall. Xia keeps going, countering another tiltawhirl into a Codebreaker, which nearly gets the win. A running double knees from Xia misses in the corner, allowing Nina to head up top… but she’s caught by Xia, who went for an Iconoclasm… but Nina pushes away, then had a nasty spill as she cartwheeled off the top rope. They keep going, despite playing it as a ruse, and the match ends seconds later as Brookside wins with an inside cradle. **
Nina’s helped to the back afterwards… but of course it’s a con, as she pushes away the referees and attacks Xia afterwards, hitting a Ninagoroshi on the floor. Losing a match to hit a move outside afterwards? Figures…
We then cut to Sam Gradwell being grilled by Media Jim about his appearance last week. Gradwell’s annoyed at being put into a “gang war,” then tried to talk around the loss by saying he’d get a different result in a singles match. Alexander Wolfe walks in to mock Gradwell, and I guess those two are having a match soonish.
Heritage Cup Semi-Final: Trent Seven vs. Dave Mastiff
Winner faces A-Kid in the finals…
Round 1: We open with a lock-up as Trent’s taken into the corner, before a second tie-up ended with Trent being backed into the ropes for another break. They lock-up again, this time with Trent grabbing a side headlock, but it comes to nought. Another lock-up, another side headlock… and again, but this time it’s Mastiff who gets a headlock takedown off, clinging onto the hold as Seven fights free… then applied one of his own. Trent gets pushed off, as he bounces off the ropes into Mastiff with shoulder tackles, before the pair hit crossbodies into each other as the round came to a close.
Round 2: Mastiff comes out with a knee to the gut, before a whip into the corner and a back body drop had Trent down for a two-count. Some clubbing blows keep Trent down, before a whip back into the corner didn’t lead to another back body drop… so Mastiff does it again, but this time Trent counters with a sunset flip. Mastiff avoids a sit-down splash, but gets rolled up in a Magistral for a dodgy-looking pin as Trent goes 1-0 up.
Round 3: Trent comes in with a side headlock early on, but he’s shoved off as Mastiff came back with a knee to the gut. A back senton follows for a two-count, before Mastiff hauled him into a Fireman’s carry… but Seven wriggles out and lands some chops, then faked out for a DDT. Trent heads up top, but he took too long and got caught as Mastiff joined him for a superplex… eventually landing it for a delayed two-count. Trent nails a Seven Star lariat, but it doesn’t take Mastiff down… a second one’s blocked, before a third one is countered with a forearm as time ran out… but was that a KO or just time-out?
Round 4: The latter. Trent slumps in the corner at the bell, so Mastiff pulls him up. A dropkick knocks him back down, with a powerbomb and a nasty looking cannonball squashing Trent to make it 1-1.
Round 5: For some reason the lower third’s jumped from Round 4 to Round 6. Trent’s still slumped in the corner as the bell goes, but he avoids a second cannonball, and rolls outside. Mastiff’s back up to try and superplex Seven back in, but Trent blocks it and leaps over for a sunset bomb. Mastiff blocks it, so Seven chops out the leg, then pulls him into a Birming-Hammer, which is enough for the win. Not sure if they chopped out round five or what happened here, but that’s a gutsy win for Trent, who’ll take on A-Kid in two weeks in the final. **¾
A-Kid and Trent Seven shake hands by the trophy as a solid, if not spectacular episode of NXT UK comes to a close. They’re at least putting parts in motion, but it’s astounding how just two weeks on, no mention was made of WALTER/Ilja – not even in passing. I get not “living off the past”, but for neither man to be referenced is just odd.