There’ll be no disqualifications as Ilja Dragunov and Sam Gradwell lock horns on this week’s NXT UK.
Quick Results
Joseph Conners pinned Jack Starz in 6:52 (**)
Primate & T-Bone pinned Danny Jones & Josh Morrell in 6:27 (*½)
Isla Dawn pinned Aleah James in 4:16 (*¾)
Ilja Dragunov defeated Sam Gradwell via referee stoppage in 14:47 (***½)
So… WWE’s announced WALTER vs. Tomasso Ciampa for the NXT UK title on night one of NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver… with WALTER then (kayfabe) flying back to the UK to defend it against Rampage Brown on the NXT UK Prelude special. I get “stacking up Mania week,” but that seems like it’s almost begging for something to wreck continuity, does it not?
Of course, we’re back at the BT Sport Studio in London, with Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness on the call for a stuffed show… which opens with…
Supernova Sessions
Dar reminds us he faces Tyler Bate in two weeks to decide the next contender for the Heritage Cup… he promises failure for Bate, and speaking of which, here’s Trent Seven. Dar’s got a plastic chair for Trent Seven, and a lot of mockery too.
Dar has some positivity for Trent, but it turns into comedy as Trent tries to tell us what he went through to drop the pounds for his ill-feted Cruiserweight title shot. Things turn as Dar tells us he’s been with WWE for five years (bloody hell) and that he’s been on almost every brand they’ve had… and that makes Dar mad he’s not had a title shot. Bickering. Dar signals for someone – here’s Sha Samuels to calm things down. I guess Dar and Sha are a partnership around these parts, and it looks like we’ve got some cornermen for that Heritage Cup match at the not-named Prelude show. You’d think they’d hammer that name home…
The Assistant to the General Manager is backstage – Joseph Conners walks on by, with Jinny. Jinny’s told that her and Piper Niven’s banned from ringside tonight, and of course she’s not thrilled.
They plug NXT UK Prelude – by name – for two weeks’ time, talking it up like it’s a Takeover. WALTER vs. Rampage Brown is of course confirmed for that, and that gives way to a video package for the match, featuring talking heads like William Regal, Fit Finlay and Robbie Brookside. Hey, Dave Taylor too, and some heavily filtered footage of the WALTER/Rampage segment that made the match too… just because.
Jack Starz vs. Joseph Conners
From the main event a few weeks back, to the opener for Jack Starz then, as Conners looked a little like WCW-era Lord Steven Regal with some of his entrance mannerisms here.
Conners works over Starz with a Corning hold, then a cravat before he got rolled away. Wash, rinse, repeat, before Conners took down Starz in a wristlock.. The pair trade pinning attempts for a bunch of two-counts, before Conners misses an elbow drop. That opens the door for Starz to hit uppercuts and dropkicks to take Conners outside for a plancha. Starz rolls Conners back inside and hits a crossbody off the top for a two-count, then charged Conners into the corner. The referee forces a break, as Conners returned with a push-down stomp out of the corner. A floatover out of the corner looked to give Starz hope, but he’s caught with a backbreaker before a roll-up neck snap nearly gets Conners the win.
Conners keeps going for covers, but only gets twos as we fade out and back in for a fake ad break. When we return, Starz reverses a suplex as he begins to fight back, landing a shoulder block off the ropes, then a diving uppercut to the back before a back body drop. A second one lands for a near-fall, before Conners slipped out of a DDT… he’s caught with a roll-up though, then a backslide, but Conners rolls out and snapped back with a DDT of his own before a neckbreaker gets Conners his win back. A perfectly fine TV match – and one that restored parity after Starz’s win a few weeks back. **
Pretty Deadly vignette time – they talk with some synchronisation as they brag about winning the tag titles. They’re going to defend the titles next week against Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan.
During the break, Piper Niven consoles Jack Starz on his loss… and vows to help him back to success by doing more drills.
Danny Jones & Josh Morrell vs. The Hunt (Primate & T-Bone)
It’s a new-look Hunt, and a thrown-together entrance video by the look of it for their first outing.
Morrell and T-Bone start us off, but Josh is taken to the corner as T-Bone boxes away on him. A Beele chucks him across the ring, with Primate then tagging in to throw T-Bone into the cornered Morrell. An Exploder tosses Morrell into the corner as we have a fake break, as we return to an overhead belly-to-belly from T-Bone to toss Morrell in for a tag. Danny Jones doesn’t fare much better, taking a back suplex for a two-count, before Primate’s springboard double sledge to Jones kept things going. A back body drop throws Jones across the ring for a two-count, as T-Bone returns for some clubbering punches. The quick tags keep coming as Primate returns to hit a double-team press slam for a two-count, before Jones slipped out of a suplex and hit a back cracker.
Morrell’s back in to run into a powerbomb attempt… he flips out as he eventually lands a dropkick, then a corkscrew splash for a near-fall. Morrell looks to work the arm, but he’s lifted up and eventually decked with a back elbow from Primate.
T-Bone has to tag twice because he forgot to hold the tag rope… when he’s in, he hits a fallaway slam on Morrell for a near-fall, before he corkscrewed Morrell to the outside, over the top rope. Primate adds insult to injury with a slam on the floor, before taking Morrell back inside for a delayed two-count. Another tag brings in Danny Jones for another comeback attempt, catching T-Bone with an enziguiri, but T-Bone kicks back then tagged Primate back in for a scoop slam/swandive headbutt that gets the win. An elongated squash that did its job, but would have been more impactful had it been more of a blitz. *½
Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams are training at the PC, practising side headlocks ahead of their tag title match next week… they’re hyped up for it, but I still reckon Kenny’s turning.
Aleah James vs. Isla Dawn
Commentary brings up the BBC news story on how Aleah got signed during lockdown… while they also ponder what Isla’s learned after her loss to Meiko Satomura a few weeks back. We open with a tie-up as Dawn works the arm, but James reverses into an armbar before dropkicks took Isla into the corner. A missed charge opens the door for a head kick for Dawn, then a knee to the gut and a PK as Dawn was looking to shut the door on the newcomer.
James kicks out at two, but can’t avoid some clubbing forearms as she tries her luck with an inside cradle. Dawn kicks out at two, then knees James ahead of a Saito suplex, before a standing butterfly hold stretched James… who breaks the grip and began another fight back. Aleah’s springboard dropkick drops Dawn for a two-count, before a springboard crossbody from the apron in almost gets the newbie the win. Dawn blocks a wheelbarrow from James and throws her into the ropes – that turns things around as some mudhole stomping and boxing in the corner led to a second Saito suplex, before a bridging half-nelson suplex gets the win. A strong win for Dawn, who seems to be getting a push this time around. It must have been in those cards… *¾
Nina Samuels is celebrating not being Xia Brookside’s PA… but Xia reckons there’s still some time left, so she tries to get her to clean the men’s toilet. The comedy’s because Nina finishes up, somehow having toilet paper in her hair. I have no idea why she was cleaning the mens room, other than Xia has descended into being unlikeable?
“Backstage” Isla Dawn’s got a headache. No, it’s the supernatural stuff coming into play as Kay Lee Ray walks by to tell Isla that if she’d been like that sooner, she may be champion. Cue spooky lights and camera tricks.
They plug Prelude for two weeks’ time – but no word on whether it’s the usual one-hour show or longer.
No Disqualification: Sam Gradwell vs. Ilja Dragunov
Gradwell jumps Ilja as he hit the ring, throwing his jacket into Ilja’s face before throwing some punches.
Gradwell stays on top of Dragunov, but a forearm and a Fireman’s carry put Ilja ahead, ahead of a snap suplex as a leaping front kick takes Gradwell to the outside. Gradwell grabsd a chair, which Ilja snatches… wash, rinse repeat as Gradwell goes for another, but Ilja kicks it away as they return to the ring.
A punch to the gut looked to weaken Ilja, but he’s back with a Konstantin-Spezial 619/lariat, before he dragged Gradwell into the corner. Gradwell cowers into the corner for “safety”, but ends up eating a Coast to Coast. Rolling outside, Gradwell grabs the ring bell and bounces it off of Ilja’s head, making a satisfying DING while doing so, as it’s now time for the plunder. Some cable’s used to whip Dragunov as jeer.mp3 is played for crowd noise. The cable’s used to pull Dragunov down to the floor too, before they return to the ring as Gradwell jabs the chair into Ilja ahead of a suplex onto it for a two-count. Gradwell removes some turnbuckles to expose a corner of the ring, but Ilja blocks an attempt to throw him there, as he instead rolls Gradwell to the mat for some elbows ahead of a front chancery.
Gradwell escapes by lifting Ilja into the buckles, but Dragunov just hits a front suplex to throw Gradwell down to the mat before he got whacked with a turnbuckle pad. Ilja bumps like a mad man onto the corner buckle, before he’s shoved off the apron and into the guard rails as Gradwell continued to take the upper hand. Dragunov ducks a punch and throws Gradwell into the side of the ring ahead of a big lariat that left both men laying. Ilja’s up first as he grabs the ring steps and threatens to squash Sam with them… Gradwell apologises, but then grabs a chair as Dragunov showed mercy. Ilja Matrix’s away from a chairshot and drops Gradwell with a German suplex, then another as he rolled those suplexes on the floor, before a teardrop suplex was blocked like it was a fate worse than death.
Instead, Ilja hits some chops to the neck of Gradwell before some knees left him laying. Again, Gradwell begs off, and this time he trips Ilja into the steps before hitting a death valley driver onto the ring steps. That sounded loud. Eventually Gradwell rolls Dragunov in to get a two-count, before he stacked up some chairs in the ring as he looked to put Ilja away. Gradwell picks up Ilja in a Fireman’s carry, but Dragunov elbows free and spins back in with a knee lift, before throwing him into the exposed corner. From there, a backbreaker ragdolls Gradwell onto the chairs, before Ilja headed up top for a back senton… only to crash and burn as Gradwell rolled away. Ilja barely gets up as Gradwell covered him, before Gradwell chopped away on Ilja in the corner. Eventually they wake up Dragunov, who flicked a switch as he returned elbows before a spinebuster dumps Gradwell into the chairs.
Ilja PUNTS Gradwell to stop a chair shot, before a series of chairshots led to a pumphandle driver onto the chairs before some punches from above forces the referee stoppage. So not a clear win, but a stoppage, and I have a feeling they could well eke out a third match in this feud – perhaps a Last Man Standing deal – after this entertaining main event. Gradwell’s being buoyed by his performances here against Dragunov, and I can only hope this leads to something after the feud winds up. ***½
Ilja celebrates as referees eventually come out to help tidy up things as the show closes. After last week’s show was deflated by a meh main event, this week’s one-match show lived up to expectations in another segment-heavy hour (or so) of TV that crams a LOT in. At least we know what the big matches for Prelude are, even if the whole “WALTER wrestles on Wednesday and Thursday” is stretching kayfabe a little much!