Kay Lee Ray made her NXT UK debut this week, as Coventry saw two title rivals team up in the main event.
We start with Media Glen Joseph approaching Johnny Saint and Sid Scala as they an industrial estate. Johnny’s allowed to speak this week! Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph voiceover the opening, as it’s straight to the action.
Flash Morgan Webster vs. Wolfgang
The rest of Gallus do their usual “appear on stage then disappear” act, and Webster starts out hot, laying into Wolfgang with strikes and a knee as he tried to make the size difference a non-factor.
A Quebrada from Flash gets caught as Wolfgang turns it into a Snake Eyes before a lariat flipped Flash to the mat. Body blows follow as Wolfgang took Flash from corner to corner, before a front facelock keeps Flash grounded… at least until he managed to land a ‘rana to take Wolfgang outside for an eventual low-pe. A tope’s next, then a tope con giro, as Wolfgang rolled back in for cover, only to take a Shadows over Malice senton for a near-fall.
A gamengiri knocks Wolfgang to the floor as Flash was managing to stay ahead, only for him to leap into the Scotsman’s arms on the outside as he ended up getting posted. Twice, in fact, as a powerbomb on the apron continued to wind Flash, before the Caber Toss suplex concluded a rather emphatic win. Not one-sided, but this felt very short for what it was. Box ticked. **½
Post-match, Wolfgang roughs up Webster before he was shooed away by the ref.
There’s a Kassius Ohno exclusive… next! If by “next” you mean “after a promo video for a Coffeys vs. WALTER & Pete Dunne main event”…
That Kassius Ohno exclusive would be a pre-tape promo where he claimed to be coming to NXT UK to bring the “European style” to the brand. They play footage of him “quitting” NXT, as well as a sneaky clip from WCW Pro back in the day as he rattled off a list of names. “Is British wrestling a tribute act?” – is a very pointed question to ask, that’s for sure.
Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan vs. Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone
It’s been a while, but yes, we’re still getting Kenny Williams, the reluctant dancer.
Williams starts out with Huxley, but an early headlocks’ shoved off as Williams had to rely on his speed, rolling up Huxley for an early two-count. A leg drop to Huxley’s arm has the Hartlepool native on the back foot, as Amir Jordan came into try and keep up that momentum, only for him to be thrown aside as another roll through attempt was sat down on as the pair traded more two-counts.
T-Bone tags himself in… and gets caught with a couple of dropkicks before he struggled out of a sunset flip, eventually missing Jordan as he sat down. Jordan falls for some trash talking from Huxley, which just distracts as he eventually get caught with a knee from Saxon, then a much-laboured bodyslam for a near-fall. T-Bone’s back to drop Jordan with a suplex before a cobra clutch looked to force a submission, before he instead shoulder tackled him to the mat. Yep, it’s back to the cobra clutch, but Jordan counters with a roll through before he sidestepped another shoulder charge.
Jordan goes for a crossbody, but T-Bone catches him… and falls back to the mat as Amir finally got the tag out. A springboard dropkick brings the Scotsman into Huxley, who then avoided an O’Connor roll as Williams had to make do with a springboard back elbow. A back body drop dumps Huxley from the ring to the floor, before Williams hits a through-the-ropes dropkick to T-Bone on the other side.
Stereo topes keep the big guys down as a wheelbarrow facebuster from Williams plants Huxley in the ring, before a swanton bombay from Jordan got the win. A nice undercard win from these two in a match that, until the finish, felt very paint by the numbers. **¾
Media Glen’s back, interviewing Jinny “earlier today”. She takes offence that the first question was about Toni Storm, especially since she reckons she’s the only one who deserves the spotlight.
Holy crap, Nigel and Vic have a different green screen effect. They’re now in front of a crowd, like we’re really back to 1992 Superstars. Thumbs up from me… and we go to a promo from Eddie Dennis in the stands. He faces Ligero next week, and vows to take down Ligero as he continues to dismantle the roster. Eddie’s now the Malevolent Welshman, so we’re at least done with alliteration.
Next up, Noam Dar has an in-ring promo. Nigel McGuinness compares him to George Best, and for the first time in a long while, the crowd reacts for him. Dar’s back on NXT UK for good, before he mis-steps and gets the crowd on his back by saying that the brand’s going to “beautiful Scotland” next month. Well, the cheers were nice while they lasted. Apparently the NXT UK roster’s been doing an “okay job” in his absence, and unlike others who make special guest appearances on 205 Live, he’s here to stay. Dar took aim at Mark Andrews during this, which drew out the Welshman… who ducked a sucker punch and sent Dar packing. Well, there’s a first feud back.
There’s a promo from Xia Brookside in the Harry, where she addresses how being a Brookside got her bullied as a child. From the comfort of the NXT UK Performance Centre, she vows to go after the biggest bully on the brand: Rhea Ripley.
A vignette for the Hunt airs, as the team of Wild Boar and the Primate get a push next week.
Candy Floss vs. Kay Lee Ray
Candy Floss has been popping up a lot these days, often in enhancement roles. It’s almost like there’s nobody under contract they want to use…
Kay Lee Ray gets a somewhat soundalike version of her indy music, and instantly starts by working the arm and wrist of Candy Floss before decking her with a forearm. Candy gets thrown into the turnbuckles, shoulder-first, before Kay Lee Ray stretched the arm around the top rope.
Candy Floss ducks a chop, then tries for a roll-up… barely getting a two-count as Kay Lee Ray hit back with a dropkick. She’s showing a mean streak here with some boots, then with a chop, before a superkick and a Gory Bomb put away Candy Floss. Splat. Thanks for coming, Candy! A solid debut for Kay Lee Ray, but the crowd were hardly wild for her surprise debut.
Moustache Mountain get a promo now somewhere in an arena in America, talking about their semi-final in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. They’re still waiting for their rematch for the NXT UK tag titles, which apparently is on ice because Zack Gibson is hurt. I thought WWE binned automatic rematches?
Scala and Saint book next week’s main event: Tyler Bate vs. James Drake, before they walk off to watch this week’s.
Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey vs. WALTER & Pete Dunne
There may be a disparity in where these two teams are in the pecking order after Takeover… just saying!
Mark Coffey takes Dunne into the ropes from the off, as we’ve got a rather measured start to proceedings. An arm wringer from Mark forces Dunne to roll his way free, as he then stomped on the Scotsman’s elbow before he made a tag in to a rather obedient WALTER… who copies and pastes what Dunne did.
A chop from Mark sees him run away as Joe Coffey seemed to be getting thrown to the wolf that was WALTER… Shoulder tackles follow, but Joe can barely budge the Austrian, before he got caught in a brief Gojira clutch as WALTER eventually took him down. Dunne tags in, and goes back to the arm as he proceeded to stomp on Joe’s limb, before WALTER came in to chop away the Coffeys as the ring cleared.
Dunne and WALTER had a brief staredown, opening things up for the Coffeys to jump them as the match spilled outside, where chops from WALTER put the match back to the status quo, as the Coffeys got dumped on the apron. Another staredown between Dunne and WALTER followed, as the match then resumed, with a missile dropkick from Dunne to the knee of Joe Coffey, which seemed to set up a knee stomp from the NXT UK champ.
Mark blind tags in and catches Dunne’s leapfrog, turning it into a German suplex as the Scotsmen began to find the upper hand, as it as their time to pose for the crowd. Huh. Dunne finds himself isolated as the Coffeys keep him cornered… even when Joe misses a charge into the corner. A German suplex from Dunne manages to get him a break, but Joe rushes in to delay Dunne from making the tag out.
WALTER’s immediately going through the Coffeys with clotheslines and German suplexes, before Joe ate a sit-out splash for a two-count. Joe tries to fight back with wrist-clutch clotheslines, as he battered the Austrian ahead of a German suplex of his own, only for WALTER to counter Awra Best for the Bells into a Sambo suplex. Dunne’s begging for a tag as both men tag out, with Dunne charging through Mark Coffey before he swatted away a springboard crossbody from Joe.
That sent the Coffeys outside as Dunne followed with an Orihara moonsault. Back inside, a blind tag brings in WALTER for a shotgun dropkick, then a butterfly suplex for a near-fall on Mark, before Pete Dunne got sent into the crowd barrier as he tried to neutralise Joe Coffey. Joe comes in to try and break up WALTER’s Boston crab on his brother, but all he can do is provide a distraction as Mark… gets caught up top, only for Joe to help out as WALTER eats a Doomsday Back Elbow for a near-fall.
WALTER’s quickly back with a palm strike and another Gojira, dragging in Joe who’d tried to make a save as he eventually hit a stacked up German suplex on the pair for a near-fall. Dunne keeps up the momentum as WALTER was on the mat, catching Joe in a mounted Key lock while WALTER used a Gojira on Joe Coffey… but Mark just counters free with a suplex to break up the holds.
Heading outside, Joe takes Dunne into the crowd barriers as he then grabbed the NXT UK belt. Dunne enziguiris and clotheslines him to the outside before Mark Coffey’s teased belt shot was booted away as a slightly-bloodied WALTER then got the win with a powerbomb. There were some good moments here as we got the trope-y “partners who are bound to face each other may not get along” stuff, but this was a decent enough main event. ***¼
Post-match, WALTER stood on the NXT UK belt as Dunne tried to pick it up… then gave him the belt anwyay.
A somewhat paint-by-numbers episode of NXT UK this week, as a solid main event capped off a show that ticked plenty of boxes, but was again over-ridden by a crowd that was, at best, mild. You know the score: whenever they announce WALTER vs. Dunne, it’ll be a good match, but the rest of the card just seems to be floating around right now.