The Heritage Cup is on the line in this week’s NXT UK as Tyler Bate went up against A-Kid.
Quick Results
Rampage Brown pinned Wolfgang in 6:19 (***)
Amale pinned Xia Brookside in 4:41 (**¼)
Tyler Bate beat A-Kid by 1 fall to 0 at 0:58 of Round 6 to win the NXT UK Heritage Cup (***½)
We open with a video package based on last week’s sit-down interview… highlighting Tyler Bate and Noam Dar’s two prior matches, including one with a crowd, along with A-Kid’s run as the Heritage Cup champion so far.
Of course, we’re back at the BT Sport studios in London, with Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness voicing the action.
Rampage Brown vs. Wolfgang
Rampage’s search for another match with Joe Coffey led to this, after he, erm, interrupted a kickabout with Gallus…
We opened with a lock-up, but it’s Wolfgang who’s goes ahead, rolling down Rampage from a snapmare. Rampage gets back up for some chops, only for Wolfgang to cut him off with a dropkick, before hurling Rampage into the corner. A missed splash into the corner sends Wolfgang onto the apron, where he’s booted to the floor as crowd_whistle.mp3 plays for the third time in the match. The pair scrap on the outside, with Wolfgang backing Rampage into the ring post from a Fireman’s carry. Wolfgang breaks the count-out, but rolls Rampage back in as he wore him down with some bodyscissors. Grinding his elbow into Wolfgang’s knee, Rampage fought free, but ends up getting caught with a Shadows Over Hell for a near-fall.
A spear follows for a near-fall as Wolfgang keeps up the momentum, but his grounded abdominal stretch is countered out with a hiptoss. Rampage throws Wolfgang into the corner, then followed up with a clopthesline and a Doctor Bomb… and that’s your lot. A perfectly fine TV match, which could have done with a few more minutes in my mind. ***
Tyler Bate is jogging on the spot backstage…
“Earlier this week,” at the Performance Center, Ashton Smith is throwing medicine balls. He’s randomly asked about being a new father, when Teoman interrupts him to talk about family. He brings up Oliver Carter, who’s been MIA for a while, and suggests that he’s forgotten about his family…
Aoife Valkyrie gets a solid vignette as she’s rebuilding herself after her first loss against Meiko Satomura a few weeks back. At least she’s not had a crisis of confidence…
Backstage, Rampage is icing his ribs as he walks into Gallus. Joe Coffey still wants that match, but only when Rampage has healed…
Amale vs. Xia Brookside
This was Amale’s first appearance on the show in over three months – and earned herself this match by attacking Xia Brookside two weeks ago, taking her out of the gauntlet match for a shot at Kay Lee Ray’s title last week. And hey, Amale’s back with her wXw music, which is a big upgrade…
Brookside charged at Amale at the bell, working over the arm to start with before Amale charged into the ropes. She pulls Xia to the outside, then charged her into the side of the ring… then tossed her into the barriers for good measure. In the ring, Amale stays on top of Brookside, stomping a mudhole in her before a face-washing boot almost got the French native her first win. A whip takes Brookside back into the corner, but Xia fights back, sidestepping a charge before a dropkick took Amale down. Headscissors keep Amale down, as did a running neckbreaker, but Amale’s back with a forearm and a Northern Lights suplex for a near-fall.
Brookside kicks Amale down out of the corner, but Amale pulls her back off the top rope… then snatched the win with a modified spinebuster. That’s Amale’s maiden win on NXT UK, and a good showing after a few months off. **¼
A-Kid is flexing with resistance bands backstage…
Sha Samuels is picking his horses… as Nathan Frazer walks in to steal his cuppa. Frazer snatches the paper as he gets his wish of a match next week…
They replay Meiko Satomura winning last week’s gauntlet, and the post-match altercation with Kay Lee Ray… then some of angry Meiko backstage afterwards.
Supernova Sessions
Cue the TV chat show muzak… Ilja Dragunov’s the guest, but he doesn’t seem to be in the mood. Perhaps it’s the Colin the Caterpillar cake?
Noam’s making things a little serene with tealights and waterfalls, like it’s a spa. He’s got a wacky bath robe for Ilja, as Dar then plays amateur psychologist over Ilja’s anger issues. Dragunov tells us he felt pain after losing to WALTER, and was taking it out on everyone who was in his way. Apparently Ilja’s “not that person anymore,” but Dar brings up how Ilja broke Dave Mastiff’s nose… then gave him a gift – a stuffed “therapy” dog for his trip back to Wigan. They even bought a personalised harness for it – and from experience, I know those aren’t cheap.
Dragunov tries to laugh it off, and said that he could hurt Noam… Dar says that Ilja’s a “fake” and pokes the bear before they signed off. Ilja comes back to take his therapy dog, which somehow wound up Noam…
“Earlier this week,” Sam Gradwell is in the Performance Center looking for the Assistant to the Regional Manager. Who has flags. Gradwell accuses them of having a hazardous work environment, and wants a match with Trent Seven…
After a break, the Assistant to the Regional Manager has some announcements. Noam Dar vs. Ilja Dragunov is in two weeks… with Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown, also for two weeks’ time.
Heritage Cup: Tyler Bate vs. A-Kid (c)
This is the rubber match between the two, with Tyler having lost in December with the cup on the line… and yes, I’m still noticing how NONE of the eight panels on the bottom of that trophy have been engraved with A-Kid’s name, months after the trophy was first won.
Round 1: Wristlocks and headscissors prove to be the early teases, as crowd_whistle.mp3 gets a few more airings. Bate has luck with a wristlock, taking down A-Kid… who rolls free and applies one of his own as Bate unsuccessfully tried to monkey flip free. Eventually Bate gets free, rolling A-Kid away as the round closed out evenly.
Round 2: A side headlock on the mat from A-Kid is rolled out of as Bate tried to nick the opening fall. Bate gets back to his feet, then pushed A-Kid to the ropes before he got caught in a wristlock… again, A-Kid holds firm, before Bate broke free. Headlocks and headscissors have the pair on the mat, with Tyler looking to add some torque with his headscissors, before A-Kid rolled free – but held his neck as a sign that Bate’s tactics had worked. A modified Cattle Mutilation’s quickly rolled through into a surfboard stretch by A-Kid, who resists escape attempts before Bate kicked his way free, before the round closed out with Bate throwing A-Kid into the ropes.
Round 3: Crowd_whistle.mp3 plays to start the round, as A-Kid looked to close in on Bate with a waistlock, before some more back-and-forth on waistlocks ended with Bate going all World of Sport… until A-Kid locked in a sleeperhold to stop Bate from scooting between his legs. The pace quickens as they start going for pins, but A-Kid counters out of a backslide, then dove in with a punch for a two-count on Bate. Bate tries to slow things down in the ropes as the match descended into a brief flurry of strikes, knocking A-Kid to the outside. A-Kid’s back with waistlock takedowns, before a blocked O’Connor roll sees A-Kid kip up into a punch, as the pair then flung each other to the outside. Despite there being over ten seconds left when they went out, the ref didn’t start his count until way later, as the round closes out with the count only just starting.
Round 4: Bate charges at A-Kid into the corner, boxing the Spaniard around the ropes before Bate ran into a mule kick. A Fisherman suplex from A-Kid nearly gets a pin, as did a backslide counter to a diving European uppercut, before Bate pulls up A-Kid into an Airplane spin. Somehow, A-Kid slips out and applies a sleeperhold… he lets go so he can hit the ropes for a PK, which gets a near-fall. A-Kid reapplies the sleeper, but Bate backs into the corner to break it. An uppercut cuts off a leap from A-Kid, who then counters a suplex into a guillotine, dragging Bate down… only for Tyler to power out with a brainbuster… but time ran out as he made the cover at the bell.
Round 5: Commentary’s starting to get a little shouty as the pair feint kicks to open the round. A knuckle lock leads to A-Kid’s springboard out getting countered into a German suplex for a two-count, before a Northern Lights suplex was bridged out of by Bate, countering it into a Tyler Driver for another near-fall. Bate goes up top for a Spiral Tap, but misses as a cross armbar from A-Kid looks to force a stoppage, but Tyler punches free… then dove into an omoplata as A-Kid looked to beat the clock… but Bate held on to end the round as we’re still at nils apiece.
Round 6: It’s now sudden death, so we won’t have a 2-1 result… Tyler demands that Trent not throw the towel on him in a touching exchange… we start with A-Kid missing a dive into the corner, then a dropkick, before his toe hold was kicked away. A rebound lariat from Bate surprises A-Kid, who then ‘rana’s out of a Tyler Driver for a near-fall. Bate’s Koppo kick misses, but the punch didn’t… nor did A-Kid’s superkick… but Tyler sits down on a roll-up and scores the winning fall to win the Heritage Cup. A flash finish – going about a minute from Tyler begging Trent not to throw in the towel before he win… which makes me wonder, what’s next for A-Kid after six months with the cup? ***½
Post-match, A-Kid hands over the trophy as Bate celebrated with Trent Seven as the show went off-air…
They packed a lot into NXT UK again this week, without it feeling particularly break-neck – but the first ever title change for the Heritage Cup should give Tyler Bate some focus after feeling particularly directionless on the roster since the return from lockdown.