NXT UK closed out a different 2020 with another clip show as the brand prepared for a bright new year.
Quick Results
From NXT UK TV – Mark Coffey & Wolfgang pinned Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan in 10:50 (***)
From NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool 2 – Tyler Bate pinned Jordan Devlin in 22:22 (****½)
The show opened with an “in memory of” graphic for Jon Huber/Luke Harper/Brodie Lee, and for one last time in 2020, we’re back in Andy Shepherd’s front room for a NXT UK clip show. This week he’s got a blinking Ultimate Warrior jumper as he fought an almost 8-bit rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Bet you don’t know the second verse.
Our first match comes from York as Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch paid a visit…
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
The NXT UK straps aren’t on the line, as we start with Coffey and Burch locking up and rolling into the ropes.
Coffey has more luck as he wore down Burch with an armbar, but the Londoner fought out as Oney Lorcan tagged in. Chops follow, and Burch is quickly back as a double-team atomic drop wore down Coffey some more. Another switcheroo brings in Wolfgang as Burch was cornered, then worn down with a chinbar… only to fight free as Lorcan tags in and cleared house with uppercuts. At least until Coffey held him in the corner, allowing Wolfgang to squash him with a charge as the tag team champions took over. Lorcan fought out of a full nelson, but couldn’t get free as Gallus cornered him, but eventually Oney fired back with chops… only to get dropped by Wolfgang.
Wolfgang misses a springboard moonsault though, allowing Burch to make the hot tag in as he unloads on Coffey with forearms and uppercuts. Elbows too, before a German suplex rolled into a ripcord beadbutt from Burch. Lorcan’s back in as they went for the 1-2 Plex, but Wolfgang’s in… and gets headbutted for his trouble. A running blockbuster from Lorcan drops Coffey, but things turned around when Burch came in as Coffey pulled him off the top rope, before Wolfgang game in to slingshot Burch. That’s countered as Burch went for a crossface, while Lorcan restrained Wolfgang with a half crab… but Wolfgang powered out to break the holds.
Wolfgang proceeds to charge Lorcan to the outside, while Burch ate a half-nelson slam… before an enziguiri-assisted slam gets the Scotsmen the win. A fun main event tag, as this week’s NXT UK wrapped up with a pair of Gallus wins. ***
Time for the batch of Happy New Year messages. A-Kid, Amir Jordan (still in the same place as last week), Aleah James, Dave Mastiff (this time not as Banter Claus), Kay Lee Ray and Mark Andrews are in this batch. After a break, Ashton Smith starts another batch of Happy New Years. He’s joined for this sequence by Amale, Gallus, Isla Dawn, Wild Boar and Noam Dar.
Sam Gradwell then sits down and reviews 2020. January: cold. February: warmer. March: lockdown. Apparently he learned to fish during lockdown, as NXT UK churned out clip shows. We skip a few months to WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, and then we’re wished a happy new year.
Andy’s back in his front room, as he throws to a video of Pretty Deadly together celebrating the new year. They try out some drinks, including one that has a strong smell of fear and staleness. It’s the Gallus cocktail. Aha! There’s another nasty one, “the Ashton and Oliver”, before Lewis Howley pours a third cocktail: of course it’s the Pretty Deadly because it looks and smells good.
More messages: Jinny tells us not to set any resolutions… Ilja Dragunov is more inspiring than that… Kenny Williams has a dog… Primate, Dani Luna and Joseph Conners are around too. They got Chris Sharpe in too as they represent the referees, alongside Jack Starz and Nina Samuels. Next week: the Supernova Sessions with Noam Dar return, as he welcomes the debuting Ben Carter to the set.
More messages: Saxon Huxley, Piper Niven, Levi Muir, Oliver Carter, Xia Brookside, Rampage Brown, Tyson T-Bone, Eddie Dennis. Eddie hopes our 2021 is as good as 2020. Harsh. They remind us that in two weeks, A-Kid challenges WALTER for the NXT UK title… while next week is Jinny vs. Piper Niven in a number one contender’s match. We then go to the hype package for our second match of the night, from NXT UK Takeover Blackpool 2 – it’s the Devlin/Bate rematch.
Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin
The pro-Bate crowd just pisses off Devlin before the bell, as they locked up and headed into the ropes as the crowd dug up three-year old chants against Jordan. They trade wristlocks and escapes, before a nice headlock takedown countered a Devlinside, as we worked towards some neat pinning attempts. Devlin headbutts away Bop & Bang, before he got monkey flipped into the ropes. A big back body drop follows, as does a gorilla press slam and a dropkick to take Devlin outside… but Tyler takes too long to follow up and gets caught with an Air Jordan back inside for a near-fall as the crowd was starting to shift. Devlin’s kitchen sink knee to the gut drops Bate for a near-fall, as the Irishman began to push ahead, booting Tyler in the head before a Devlinside was blocked.
An Irish whip from Bate launches Devlin to the outside, with a hard landing to boot, as Tyler followed with a sweet plancha. He rolls Devlin back inside, only for a delayed crossbody to get turned into a lungblower as Devlin caught Tyler unawares as more stomps to the back of the head followed. Jordan sets up Tyler for a Romero special, then pulled Tyler into a chinlock before popping the former champion free. The pair crash into each other as they went for crossbodies at the same time, but Bate’s back and in action first, hitting a diving uppercut off the middle rope before catching Devlin’s receipt, turning it into an Exploder. Another slingshot from Devlin’s caught and turned into a mighty airplane spin, as the crowd were lapping up Tyler’s greatest hits.
That airplane spin goes FOREVER, with Devlin finally being let go as he nearly lands on his head before a brainbuster made sure he did. It gets a near-fall, before a Tyler Driver’s turned into a ‘rana as near-falls lead to Devlin catching Bate with a half-nelson suplex for a near-fall. A slingshot cutter has Bate on the defensive, but he rolls onto the apron, where he’s caught with another one as both men went to the floor. A count-out tease almost saw Bate lose after he got kicked by the boards, but he dives in at 9, as Devlin again looked for a Devlinside, and ended up engaging in some short-range boxing, ending with a very un-boxing Koppo kick. Devlin counters a Tyler Driver with a headbutt before a Bate flips out of a Devlinside… but not a Destroyer as the pair traded more headbutts.
They head up top as Bate looked for a Spanish Fly… but Devlin switches around to hit his, then a Devlinside for a near-fall. Devlin looks to underscore things, trash-talking Tyler ahead of a punch of his own, before a Tyler Driver was a step too far as Bate flipped out, then came back with a headbutt off the apron. A flying DDT follows, before Bate came close with a Tyler Driver… then took the win with a Spiral Tap. Well, they lived up to the hype – and the danger was framing this as a “Match of the Year contender” was going to set expectations too high, but that was not the case. ****½
Same same but different. If you didn’t like the set up of last week’s clip show, you’d have been rolling your eyes at this week’s – but at least we got a better main event match this week.