Blair Davenport makes her NXT UK debut on this week’s show, while Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis renew acquaintances once more.
Quick Results
Kenny Williams pinned Nathan Frazer in 9:02 (**¾)
Mark Andrews pinned Lewis Howley in 9:16 (**½)
Blair Davenport pinned Laura di Matteo in 3:14 (**)
Trent Seven pinned Eddie Dennis in 11:34 (***)
We’re back at the BT Sport studios in London, with Nigel McGuinness and Andy Shepherd on the call…
Nathan Frazer vs. Kenny Williams
This one was set up a few weeks back when Williams interrupted a training session…
Williams works an armbar early, but Frazer flipped free before he dug out some World of Sport-style stuff en route to an armdrag. The hold’s broken in the corner as Williams threw in a cheapshot… but a floatover from Frazer and a leapfrog leads to a shotgun dropkick as the Scotsman was forced to powder to the outside. Frazer keeps Williams on the outside for a rapid tope con giro that gave me flashbacks to Edge and Jose Estrada Jr. back in ‘98. Google it. Back in the ring, Williams takes out Frazer’s knee as he looked to ground the Jersey native. A toe hold helps, but Frazer escapes and lands a sunset flip… only for Williams to go back to the leg.
A kick drops Frazer for a two-count, before Williams tied him up in the ropes for a dropkick to the knee. An elbow drop to the bad knee followed, with Williams going for a half crab… but instead he goes for, and misses, a second knee drop as Frazer built anew with some right hands. A twister suplex surprises Williams, as did a missile dropkick as that bad wheel began to bother Frazer. Williams blocks the Eye of the Hurricane and returned with a wheelbarrow facebuster for a two-count, only to get caught with a roll-up for another near-fall. Frazer misses a Quebrada, but eventually hit the Eye of the Hurricane as Williams rolled onto the apron to avoid the follow-up frog splash.
Williams crawls to the corner and removes the pad that covers the turnbuckle iron… then pulled Frazer head-and-arm-first into it before finishing him off with a Snapmare Driver. The self-professed Cockroach cheats to the win as Frazer was taken out of his game. **¾
They replay A-Kid having his knee torn apart last week…
The tail end of an interview with Rampage Brown’s shown, as he wanders off to chase Joe Coffey. They wander into the Assistant to the Regional Manager’s office to banter, then chase out the camera crew.
Promo video time – Meiko Satomura reminds us she beat Kay Lee Ray… but then we fade to Amale telling us she’s looking to grab her opportunity at the title, and show her worth. I mean, in another promotion, Amale has beaten Meiko before…
Mark Andrews vs. Lewis Howley
If Andrews beats Howley, SubCulture get a shot at the NXT UK tag titles…
According to Cagematch, this was Howley’s first singles match in over two years. Yikes. He starts by taking Andrews into the corner, before a side headlock was pushed away… only for Howley to come back with a shoulder block. An armdrag followed as Andrews struggled to get out of the blocks, before Andrews finally landed one of his own. Headscissors from Andrews keep him ahead, as did a wheelbarrow bulldog, before Howley got dropkicked to the outside. Andrews followed up with a dive, before Sam Stoker distracted, allowing Howley enough time to throw Andrews into the ring post. A Hogan-ish legdrop gets Howley a two-count, before a wacky tiltawhirl led to Andrews landing a crossbody instead.
Dropkicks again take Howley outside, but Howley responds by taking Andrews into the barriers, then into the edge of the ring. Back inside, a chinlock keeps Andrews down, before Howley took things to the corner, looking for a Razor Ramon-ish back superplex… but Andrews clings on and moonsaulted down for an eventual satellite DDT. Andrews builds with right hands, before a knee slide and an enziguiri stunned Howley… a Code Red nearly nicks the win. A springboard ‘rana from Andrews lands… but Sam Stoker distracts the referee. Cue Dani Luna and Flash Morgan Webster to neutralise Stoker, before Andrews came close with a roll-up on a distracted Howley.
Another satellite DDT from Andrews gets blocked, so he countered it into a Stundog Millionaire, before a shooting star press gets the win. This was fine, but there’s not much I’m going to recall about this until the distraction and run-in… **½
“Earlier this week,” James Mason’s chatting with Jack Starz, trying to give him a pep talk after his loss last week. Dave Mastiff comes up to Jack and reminds him he’s the sorta gatekeeper of NXT UK, before getting mad at the cameraman. He’s right, there IS no privacy around these parts.
Tyler Bate’s interviewed about what happened with Mark Coffey last week. Tyler watches the show so knows that Coffey and Wolfgang are having a friendly rivalry, but gives Coffey his match.
Laura di Matteo vs. Blair Davenport
I’m a little surprised they didn’t just say last week that Blair was debuting this week… I mean, that is such an open goal to just tack “NEXT WEEK” onto the promo they aired, but I guess a lot of NXT UK booking right now is “a segment last week leads to a match on the next”.
So anyway, this was the former Bea Priestley’s big debut, and it’s the third time (according to Cagematch) that these two have met one-on-one. Something tells me that di Matteo isn’t making it 3-0 here though… We start with a lock-up as Davenport threw down di Matteo for an armbar, then kicked it ahead of a bodyslam on the Italian. Di Matteo manages to strike back with a clothesline, taking Davenport into the corner, but Blair’s right back with a vicious double stomp off the middle rope.
Clubbing forearms wear down di Matteo, as did a neckbreaker, before Davenport blocked a suplex attempt. A DDT from di Matteo nearly gets the win, before Davenport’s double jump missile dropkick and almost a V-Trigger in the ropes left di Matteo down for… Kamigoye? They don’t brand newbies moves on this show for some reason, but that’s as squashy as you’ll get around these parts, save for di Matteo’s brief offence. **
Post-match, Davenport announced her arrival, and put everyone backstage on notice as we’ve not seen anyone who wrestles like her, apparently. I’ll save the obvious reference about using other’s moves.
Promo video time to hype up Aoife Valkyrie vs. Jinny. They’ve made a throne for Jinny and put the NXT UK badge on it, because… branding. Jinny makes a dig at how Meiko beat her, and how that gave her a chance to get under Valkyrie’s skin.
Another promo video. Teoman’s with Rohan Raja at the dinner table… we’ve got Raja and Teoman vs. Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter next week.
The Assistant to the Regional Manager announces in two weeks: WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK title. So they’re not waiting for fans?
Trent Seven vs. Eddie Dennis
We’ve an inset promo from Trent about how both men nearly ended the other’s career in the past…
Trent starts by chucking his towel at Eddie Dennis as he attacked… but the Welshman shrugged it off and grounded Trent with a headlock takedown. Trent escapes and came back with a slam, then a legdrop, as that’s now two Hulk Hogan-ish leg drops for two-counts tonight.
A low-pe from Trent caught Eddie as he powdered outside, but Dennis rebounds off the bottom rope as Trent tried to roll him in, returning with a clothesline. Back inside, a slam gets Eddie a two-count, as stomps kept Trent down until he managed to get free with chops. Trent faked out a third chop, eventually hitting a DDT instead… but he can’t keep the upper hand as a slam has him down again, with a cravat from Dennis eventually being fought out of. Trent’s snap Dragon suplex and an Emerald Flowsion nearly got the win, before Seven missed a senton off the top rope. Eddie headed up top, but got caught… Dennis manages to get free and drop Trent with the Severn Bridge powerbomb… then a second one into the turnbuckles. A Seven Star lariat from Eddie’s ducked, but lands at the second attempt as both men looked spent, throwing shots as they got back to their feet.
A spinning backfist from Trent rocks Dennis, but he doesn’t follow up as Eddie went for a scooping reverse DDT… Trent escaped and hit the Seven Stars as he almost won the match. From there, Trent pulls up Eddie for a Birming Hammer, but Eddie grabs the ropes for safety as he took Trent down again while T-Bone and Primate wandered out to ringside. Just the ten minutes late, lads. Eddie heads up top for a superplex, but Trent countered with an Emerald Flowsion off the top… only for T-Bone to put Eddie’s foot on the rope to save the match. A lowpe wipes out the rest of the Symbiosis lads, before Primate’s distraction led to a roll-up for a near-fall. Trent goes back to the backfist, then the Birming Hammer, and that’s your lot. This was fine for a TV match, but as a match on one-week’s build, I really couldn’t get into the quickly reheated storyline. ***
T-Bone and Primate swarm Seven after the match, only for Tyler Bate to make the save as Moustache Mountain fought off Symbiosis 3-on-2. Well, three-on-two-plus-nunchucks. Which Tyler used on Primate as he hit the ring. Thanks for coming, Symbiosis, I guess, as we fade to black…
They’re really trying to load these shows with big matches – as seen with WALTER/Ilja 2 weirdly happening before the return of fans. Are there bigger plans afoot, or is the trilogy the match they’re saving for the first Takeover back with fans, whenever that may be? This week felt a little flat, but at least they’re keeping the conveyor belt rolling…