Piper Niven and Jinny continue their rivalry on this week’s NXT UK as they lock horns in the show’s first ever mixed tag team match.
Quick Results
Heritage Cup Rules: Tyler Bate beat Dave Mastiff by 2 falls to 1 at 2:32 of Round 5 (**½)
Teoman submitted Danny Jones in 3:33 (**)
Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan pinned Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in 10:55 (***)
Jack Starz & Piper Niven pinned Joseph Conners & Jinny in 9:42 (**½)
It’s back to the BT Sport studios in London, as Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness are buzzing over the mixed tag main event.
Heritage Cup Rules: Tyler Bate vs. Dave Mastiff
Tyler Bate’s still looking to find himself, so we’re getting the Heritage Cup format again… I bet Tyler wins 2-1!
Round 1: We get going as Mastiff takes Bate to the ropes, before a wristlock’s held onto as Tyler tries to escape. Mastiff overpowers Bate to the mat as Tyler’s forced to bridge up… and hold as the big man tries to break the bridge, before a sunset flip came to nought. Bate hits some shoulder charges, but Mastiff hits an arm whip to break free as the round closed out.
Round 2: Another lock-up sees Mastiff having to defend a wristlock as Bate tries to throw him down to the mat. Mastiff counters with a wristlock of his own, and rolls with Bate to the mat… Tyler rolls free and comes back with a side headlock, throwing in some boots to the head before Tyler’s rebound sunset flip out of the corner makes it 1-0 at 1:33 of the second round.
Round 3: Bate tries to sting Mastiff with kicks to start, but Mastiff cuts him off with elbows. Tyler replies with elbows of his own, then with a diving uppercut off the middle rope before an Exploder’s blocked. Instead, Tyler hauls up Mastiff, but ends up taking a crucifix bomb as Mastiff levels it at 1:27 of the third round. Yep.
Round 4: Bate’s got a bad back, not helped with a Mastiff slam… nor with a Beele throw across the ring. But Mastiff isn’t staying on top of Tyler, and continues to play with his prey, hitting a series of slams before a powerbomb almost got the win. Tyler gets a shoulder up, so Mastiff hauls him up for a Finlay roll, with Tyler rolling to the outside for a breather. Mastiff follows him outside to whip Bate between the ring apron and the guard rails. Bate beats the count, but gets squashed with a back senton for some near-falls, as Bate held on til the end of the round.
Round 5: Mastiff gets caught with a boot as he went for Bate, following up with some Danielson elbows. Bate kicks those away, then came back with a crossbody off the ropes, only for Mastiff to catch him. That back’s healed up a little as Tyler tries a German suplex, but Mastiff is too big, and Dave responds by throwing Bate into the corner. Mastiff chucks Bate with a release German suplex, but gets caught with a Koppo kick as he went for a cannonball as Tyler again tries to muscle up the big man. The back gives out again, before we got an airplane spin… then a diving right hand before Bate went up top for a Spiral Tap to win it 2:32. These Heritage Cup rules are getting very patterned – would it kill to have someone win 2-0? Mastiff not pouncing on Bate at the end continues a trend that sees him continue to lose from winning positions. **½
Promo time: Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster, and Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan want to spin tonight’s tag match into a top contender’s match. The “Kenny Williams is Turning” sign looks like it’s still flashing…
Next week: NXT UK starts an hour later in the States. Blame daylight savings!
Video time. Aoife Valkyrie’s fighting a battle from within as her own self-confidence is apparently sabotaging herself. She’s still undefeated, remember.
Danny Jones vs. Teoman
Teoman’s using the replacement RISE music that he’s had since wXw went all stock-music…
Teoman takes down Jones in an armbar, then keeps him there with a wristlock as Jones tries to back into the corner. There’s no clean break as Teoman slaps him, then lands a low dropkick on the Welshman. Jones tries to mount a comeback, but Teoman hits him in the ribs, then lands a running forearm that looked to KO Jones. Rather than pick him up, Teoman rubs his boot into Jones, then stretched him with a double armbar surfboard… Jones fights to his feet, and reverses the hold, but Teoman’s straight into the ropes. An elbow breaks it up, but Jones hits a back cracker to keep himself in it, before a low dropkick spins Jones down.
Teoman heads up top and hits a missile dropkick to the back. A stomp to the back follows too, then another, before a crossface forces the quick submission. Very brief, but it established Teoman as someone who had a gameplan – work the back, then wrench it with a crossface. **
Nina Samuels is called upon by Xia Brookside to clean her hotel room and wash the dishes. Even though Xia had a dishwasher. I mean, they’re at least doing stuff with the stipulation, even if the comedy is, erm, light?
Eddie Dennis vignette time. He’s mad at Wild Boar for “weakening the pack,” and forcing Eddie to face the consequences. Eddie’s replaced him with Tyson T-Bone as the Hunt has a substitution to the pack. Boar’s had knee surgery, which explains all this from a non-storyline perspective…
Vignette time: they’re putting the spotlight on Amale this week. I get the feeling they’re planning something big given how much they’re reminding us of who they’ve got signed.
Gallus are at a closed snooker hall, because covid. They’re licking their wounds now they’re no longer on top.
Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster
Webster and Jordan are heavily taped up, as we start with Williams and Webster.
An opening lock-up goes nowhere, so Webster goes after WIlliams’ arm and wrings it. The wristlock takes down the Scotsman, frustrating Williams, who comes back in with an ankle pick. Webster breaks that in the ropes, as Williams then resumes with a snapmare before a blind tag brought in Andrews ahead of a step-up dropkick off of Webster’s back. Amir Jordan comes in but gets dropkicked to the outside as the pair regroup. Jordan tags in, but gets taken down in a wristlock by Andrews as they quit being subtle about Williams’ mannerisms, shaking his head at Jordan being on the defensive. Jordan counters out and works over Andrews’ arm, but Andrews flips free, while Jordan cartwheels away… with Webster blind-tagging in to spark some double-teaming.
Assisted and standing moonsaults get Webster a two-count on Jordan, who’s kept in the wrong corner as frequent tags isolate him. A snap suplex from Webster gets a two-count, before Jordan fought free with a running neckbreaker for a two-count. Williams tags himself in and stays on Webster with headbutts for a two-count, then with crossface punches before Webster pushed him away. Jordan tags back in and drops Webster with a forearm for a two-count… a chinlock keeps Webster down, but Webster gets free and brings in Andrews, who knee slides past Jordan and Williams before hitting a backflip kick. A 619 from Webster drops Williams, while Jordan takes a moonsault off the apron… Stomp 182 drops Williams before Webster tagged in to eat kicks in the corner, then an assisted Shiranui.
Webster’s imploding senton nearly wins it, while Jordan’s slingshot neckbreaker’s countered with a roll-up for a near-fall by Andrews. Amir stays on Andrews with a superkick, but falls to a Stundog Millionaire before a senton bomb off the top gets Webster a near-fall, with Williams barely breaking it up in time. Williams takes Andrews outside for a dropkick through the ropes, then tagged in to hit a springboard back elbow to Webster. Webster tries to cut him off, but counters and counters lead to Jordan getting knocked off the apron by accident, before a hand’s up headbutt from Webster and a rebound lariat from Williams left both men down. Williams gets frustrated at Jordan not being there to tag in, and almost loses to a small package… Williams then heads into the corner and unsights the referee, allowing him to hit a mule kick before a snapmare driver got the win. A solid outing as Webster and Andrews look to be heading away from the tag title scene for the time being – but all is not well with Jordan and Williams either. ***
Ilja Dragunov video time, recapping him “losing it”. He speaks next week.
Then, Trent Seven tells us his cruiserweight title weigh in is going to be on WWE’s The Bump next week. He’s got Tyler Bate helping him with the training, but with Jordan Devlin on “full fat” NXT talking up a match with Santos Escobar, have they perhaps tipped off the result of all this here?
Vignette time. Ben Carter’s getting a new name: Nathan Frazer. He’s got new gear too, and purely poking fun, I’m guessing he was a big fan of Viscera?
Next week: WALTER makes a statement.
Jinny & Joseph Conners vs. Piper Niven & Jack Starz
The entrances start with six minutes left in the hour, so this has to be going into overtime…
Jinny and Niven start… but of course, Jinny’s not doing anything, so she tags in Conners. That means Starz automatically comes in, and he’s taken down for a one-count before a cravat kept Stars at bay. Starz escapes and works over Conners’ wrist ahead of a takedown. A scissored short armbar has Conners in trouble, before a dropkick brought Niven in. Jinny’s forced to come in, but she rolls past Piper before attacking from behind as Conners distracted. A leg sweep and a back senton flattens Jinny for barely a one-count, and Jinny tags out from there.
Starz rushes in on Conners, hitting a shoulder tackle off the ropes, then an uppercut before a nice back body drop. Conners turns it around though, landing some suplexes for a two-count, before a tiltawhirl slam gets another near-fall as Starz was forced to be resilient – primarily because Jinny was avoiding anything to do with wrestling Niven. Right hands knock Starz into the corner, but Starz breaks free and… misses a crossbody, sending himself to the outside. Conners stays on Starz, going for a backslide, only for Starz to spin out and drop Conners with an uppercut. A tag brings in Niven, but Jinny starts a Benny Hill chase and… gets charged down by Niven.
Piper throws Jinny around and lands a diving splash for a two-count, but Jinny comes back with some right hands… then gets decked with a headbutt. That knocks her back into the corner, with Conners tagging back in. He mouths off and gets slapped by Niven, who then throws him into an Exploder from Starz, setting up for a pair of cannonballs before Conners was fed into a Piper Driver. Niven press slams Starz onto Conners from there, and there’s the win – Jack Starz wins a main event. Two rarities in one match! **½
“Starz and Pipes” celebrate as we go off the air… and they didn’t mention last week’s women’s title match once.
NXT UK is a nice, WWE-style 90 minute show… that they’re cramming into an hour. They’ve absolutely got too big a roster for the current format, with some wrestlers only appearing these days in vignette form, which perhaps shows that something needs to change. I’m not clamouring for a second hour, but names need to move on or else this show – while still fresh – risks bleeding together into one “crash TV” flavoured lump.