It’s Subculture against fashion culture on this week’s NXT UK as Flash Morgan Webster and Dani Luna face Joseph Conners and Jinny.
Quick Results
Wolfgang pinned Sam Gradwell in 6:13 (**)
Kenny Williams pinned Danny Jones in 4:11 (**)
Nathan Frazer pinned Rohan Raja in 6:50 (**¾)
Flash Morgan Webster & Dani Luna pinned Joseph Conners & Jinny in 8:09 (**¾)
We’re back at the BT Sport studios in London… but first, we’ve the obligatory recap of last week’s stellar main event. Complete with all of your favourite shouty commentary lines! After the titles, Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness are on the call as usual.
Wolfgang vs. Sam Gradwell
Gradwell’s got a three little piggies-inspired promo on his way to the ring as he continues to show why those watching this show call him one of the better parts of it…
When we get going, Wolfgang’s shoulder block has Gradwell down, before a side headlock looked to restrain the Scotsman. An overhead wristlock countered that, as did an armdrag, before Gradwell’s forearm to Wolfgang drew the omnipresent whistle-dot-mp3 from the ground. Wolfgang fought back, taking Gradwell to the corners… but Wolfgang’s trip up top was stopped as Gradwell knocked him to the floor. A flying clothesline off the apron’s good for a whistling one-count, before a cobra clutch had Wolfgang down on the mat. Gradwell’s caught out with a back body drop as Wolfgang fought back, hitting the leaping splash into the corner before landing a double sledge off the top.
Gradwell’s on the defensive, taking a suplex/slam for a two-count, but he sneaks back in with a STO… but couldn’t capitalise as his ribs had taken a beating earlier. Wolfgang responds by knocking Gradwell to the outside, but the brief Benny Hill chase ends with Gradwell back inside looking for a suplex, only to get pulled into the ropes. A headbutt from Wolfgang followed, as he slingshotted back into the ring for a spear tackle… and that’s the win. Somehow Wolfgang bloodied his eye in the middle of this… They’re doing Gradwell dirty here with these results, and from the sound of commentary, I wouldn’t be too shocked if they were going for Wolfgang vs. WALTER in the long run… **
Kenny Williams gloats about being a scumbag… and still looks odd without the facial hair.
Video time as we’ve talking heads going on about Meiko winning the title last week, featuring Raquel Gonzalez, Xia Brookside, Dakota Kai, Ember Moon, Amale and Beth Phoenix. Amale wanted the first shot at Meiko, accusing her of taking “her spot” in the gauntlet match…
Backstage, Subculture, Jinny and Joseph Conners are trash talking as Pretty Deadly wander in. They’re commentating again, just because.
Danny Jones vs. Kenny Williams
Danny got the “in the ring” treatment…
Commentary’s painting Williams as having a killer instinct, while dancing around Amir Jordan’s name. A side headlock from Williams is pushed off, but he just kicks out Jones’ leg. Jones catches Williams, but can’t do much as the Scotsman powders to the outside… and pulled Jones into the ropes. Back inside, stomps keep Jones down, before crossface punches in the ropes and nonchalant kicks continued to keep the one-way traffic going. A dropkick in the ropes is good for a two-count, as he then went to stretch Jones’ arms some more. Eventually, Jones escaped to hit an enziguiri, then threw Williams into the corners as a big boot took Williams down… with a clothesline landing for a two-count.
Williams cuts him off with a chop block to the knee, then swiftly put Jones away with a headlock driver. Your run-of-the-mill TV squash, with Jones barely getting a sniff. **
Next week: Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown… but it’s not billed as a top contenders match or anything.
Instead, we go somewhere as the three are having a chinwag about who’s the toughest, and why Ilja got involved in things. They talk about hard upbringings, which makes me flash back to how everyone got that default character in the early days of the UK tournament… before Joe and Rampage tried to get under Ilja’s skin by hinting he’s not what he used to be. I mean, they’re getting their mileage out of that black curtain and table set, eh?
Mark Coffey’s in the UK PC being interviewed… he goes wandering and finds Sha Samuels picking his horses again. Coffey mocks Sha’s mannerisms and that’s leading to a match next week probably. Coffey even mocks the whole “how easy is it to get a match” shtick they have around here.
Supernova Sessions
Jordan Devlin’s the guest. Noam Dar’s got his first shirt framed, just because. It took them five years to get around to him. It’ll take another five years to wipe the fingerprints that were left on there… Dar presents Devlin with the shirt, complete with footballer-holding-a-scarf style flashbulbs that I’m sure won’t cause any issues. They joke about how “America sucks,” before Dar claimed that Devlin was “robbed” of the Cruiserweight title in a ladder match. Dar then lets Devlin drop some news: he’s he’s back and isn’t going to be hard to find. Wait, Devlin, in kayfabe, demanded this segment to say that??
We get a recap video to build to the announcement of Teoman vs. Oliver Carter next week.
Back in the PC, Dave Mastiff is watching some sparring. The big question about his training takes time to answer because he’s more fussed in Tyler Bate and Jack Starz doing spots. Bate’s apparently been impressed with Starz, and offers him a Heritage Cup match… but Starz rejects it. Maybe Tyler wanted to hop on the Starz Shuttle to the States, given what happened to the last person Jack was aligned with?
Nathan Frazer vs. Rohan Raja
Christ, Frazer’s appearing a LOT eh? Nathan’s averaging a match every 2-3 weeks at the moment…
Raja gets an inset promo as he’s back from an injury at the hands of Teoman a few weeks back… with commentary hinting he came back too soon. Raja’s rolled up early by Frazer, then returned the favour before a Slingblade from Frazer took Raja into the corner. A springboard goes over Raja, who returned with a big Black Hole Slam for a two-count, before he just flung Frazer into the corner. A wheelbarrow roll-up from Frazer turned the match on its head… but Raja’s right back in with a dropkick for a two-count. Frazer buys him time by throwing Raja into the buckles, but can’t follow up initially, as he had to backflip over Raja before hitting a flying forearm. A little El Matador there!
Frazer pops back up to hit some clotheslines, then a neckbreaker as he built up a head of steam… leading to moonsault off the top. Frazer lands on his feet, repositions, then hits a standing moonsault, before taking so long to follow up, Raja pulled him into a cross armbar. Frazer manages to roll free, but runs into a Sky High for a two-count. Another turnaround sees Frazer score a twisting suplex for a two-count, before the Eye of the Hurricane landed. He can’t make the cover at first, so he rolls to the outside, but got caught in the turnbuckles as Raja instead goes for a suplex… Frazer fought free, knocking Raja down before going back up top. Again, Frazer’s caught, but he headbutts Raja down and finished him off with a frog splash for the win. Some rough moments scattered around here, but otherwise a decent enough TV match as Frazer leaves with a win. **¾
An eye pops up on the video wall after the match. I have flashbacks to Lucky Kid in wXw before he became Metehan… he’s watching for someone.
Jordan Devlin’s interviewed, but he despises the media. A-Kid’s apparently walked into his dressing room (cough staff room cough) and is looking for a match.
Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Dani Luna) vs. Jinny & Joseph Conners
Mark Andrews accompanies Webster and Luna… to the stage, then buggered off to the back. Pretty Deadly are on commentary again, which makes me think we’re getting Subculture vs. Pretty Deadly for the titles?
We’re under mixed tag rules, with Conners and Webster starting us off, trading wristlocks before Conners’ short knee drop had Webster in the corner. A floatover from Webster leads to a quick two-count, before he avoided another knee drop and made a tag out. We get Luna and Jinny, trading wristlocks and waistlocks before Luna flung Jinny around with an Exploder suplex. Conners runs in, but gets caught by Webster as his plan backfired badly. Conners tried to tag in, but wasn’t in the corner… his distraction allowed Jinny to take some pot shots as she turned the match around, taking Luna to the corner for some mudhole stomping. Jinny maneuvers Luna into an Octopus stretch, but Luna gets free and made the hot tag to Webster.
Conners is in too, but gets bounced around by Webster… getting thrown onto the apron for a springboard dropkick. Luna tags back in to help propel Webster for a back body drop into Conners on the floor. A backbreaker awaited Jinny in the ring, then a deadlift gutwrench suplex… with a deadlift suplex and a clothesline following for a two-count on Jinny. Webster’s running knee took out Conners to spark a Parade of Moves, leading to Jinny’s DDT on Luna for a two-count. Conners tags back in and ran in for a backbreaker and a flapjack on Webster for a two-count. Conners picks up another two-count as the pace rose, with Jinny sneaking in a cheapshot, but Webster’s headbutt leaves both men down, with Jinny and Luna stalking each other on the floor.
Cue a Benny Hill chase to distract the ref, with Luna breaking free to powerbomb Conners out of the corner, allowing Webster to snatch the win with a 630 splash. These mixed tags have the tendency to feel clunky, but there were some good flashes (pun not intended) out of Webster and Luna here. **¾
Subculture and Pretty Deadly have an across-the-studio staredown to close out the show…
Remember how the last few weeks, this show felt hot? Like important stuff was happening? This wasn’t one of those weeks, save for the main event stuff that set up for a Subculture/Pretty Deadly title match by… having Pretty Deadly do commentary.