It’s back to Brooklyn as NXT UK continued their WrestleMania-week tapings with Moustache Mountain in the main event.
Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph are on commentary… and holy crap, is that a Schwinger Club t-shirt in the crowd?!
Ligero vs. Kassius Ohno
This one comes from the file “would have gotten a tonne of buzz three years ago on the indys”, but Ohno has been on a bit of a tear so far here.
Ohno pie faces Ligero from the off, before he just cracked the Leeds native with a big boot as Ligero tried to spring in from the apron. Ligero has to play keep away before headscissors takes Ohno into the ropes, following up with a canonball off the apron… but Ohno craftily continued the momentum and guided Ligero into the ring steps.
Back in the ring, Ohno continues to put the boots to Ligero, following up with a stretching chinlock that Ligero nearly fought out of, only to get a bell clapper as Ohno continued to rough him up with some knee drops. Another big boot drops Ligero as Ohno was clamouring for a TKO win, but he ends up going to the well too often as Ligero was able to avoid a back senton.
Ligero works his way back into a top rope splash for a near-fall, before he ducked a charge in the corner… then had to wheelbarrow Ohno for a near-fall. A Code Red’s next from Ligero for a near-fall, before a tope con giro outside has Ohno reeling… and the count-out nearly caught out Ligero, but the ref stopped the count as Ligero got to the apron.
Regardless, back inside, Ohno began to rip away Ligero’s mask, partially unsighting him… and that became a distraction as he clocked Ligero with a rolling elbow to the back of the head as his guard was down. A fun opener, but this was a match Ohno really had to win. ***¼
Backstage, Jordan Devlin’s unhappy because his match with WALTER next week is non-title… because management want to make sure they can do WALTER/Dunne 2 instead.
The Hunt are back in action next week… which was a nice surprise for me in that they both got flown out.
At Axxess, Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner are mocking fans who were at the “Champ Yourself” parade. There was an Undertaker cosplayer right there… but they were moaning about how you had to work hard and earn the right to be a champion, not turn up to a convention. The Mat is Sacred.
Toni Storm heads to the ring for a promo, welcoming the crowd to the show, before putting over Rhia Ripley and a few others on the roster. Storm vowed to be champion “for a long time”, and that’s the end of the promo… which led to a face-to-face in the aisle with Kay Lee Ray. Who wasn’t named in Toni’s promo… Is that our next feud?
Kay Lee Ray vs. Xia Li
This was another NXT UK vs. NXT match, which we seem to get a lot of on these US trips… I guess it saves on the fly ins…
Kay Lee Ray started with a wristlock on Li as utter silence fell in the venue. Li escapes and lands a headlock takedown, but it’s quickly escaped as Kay Lee went back to the wrist, only for Xia to get free and force Kay Lee back with a series of kick feints.
A dropkick from Li gets her back in it briefly, but Kay Lee’s back in control with a hammerlock to throw Xia into the corner with. An overhead armbar looked to force a submission, only for Xia to throw her way free as some punches and knees offered Xia a little hope… as did a PK to the back, but she could only get a near-fall out of a head kick before Kay Lee struck back and quickly took Li down with a Gory Bomb for the win. Your usual template here – some back and forth before a quick flurry and a finisher wins it. Perfectly acceptable TV graps, but not a match this crowd got into. **¼
Media Glen’s interviewing Piper Niven as a WrestleMania signing. She puts over Rhia Ripley, but calls her a bully before we fade away…
Backstage, Zack Gibson and James Drake are busy throwing Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan’s gear out of the locker room, saying that Kenny and Amir have to change in the corridor. If you guessed that all Drake did was mean mug and let Zack do the talking, you’d be right.
Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs. Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
Andrews and Bate get us going, with Tyler easily breaking free of a hammerlock before they rolled into a stand-off.
Flash Morgan Webster comes in to keep up on Bate with a wristlock, but a dropkick takes him away before Trent Seven tagged in to offer a little more resistance in the form of shoulder charges. After blocking a hiptoss, Trent gets taken down with a drop toe hold as Flash looked to keep him there… but a tag out to Andrews proved to be their downfall as Trent instantly found some momentum.
A DDT drops Andrews for a near-fall, before Bate returned to twist Andrews’ neck between his legs for another two-count. Bate flips off of Seven’s back with a senton for a near-fall, as Trent continued to wear down on Andrews with a cobra clutch-like hold. Bate’s back with a back elbow off the middle rope as Andrews remained in trouble, while Webster’s assistance only amounted to him getting an airplane spin while Andrews took the Giant Swing.
Webster manages to counter a Tyler Driver, but his tope to the outside’s caught… with Tyler spinning him right round on the floor before popping him onto the edge of the ring. Back inside, Andrews runs into an Exploder before a standing shooting star press nearly puts Andrews away.
Things turn around when Andrews knee slides past Trent and Tyler, sending them outside for topes con giro, before Flash took down Trent with a tornado DDT. Andrews is in for an assisted standing 450 for a near-fall… but Moustache Mountain survive and end up catching Andrews with a clothesline assisted Dragon suplex for a near-fall… thanks to Webster diving across the ring to break it up.
Andrews and Bate settle down in the ring, trading chops until bop/bang caught Andrews unawares. A blind tag to Webster led to Tyler eating a knee-assisted reverse ‘rana for a near-fall… Tyler bop/bangs Webster next, and they rush to a finish as a Dragon suplex from Trent and a flying knee/Burning Hammer combo puts Flash away. Some good stuff here, even if there were parts that didn’t quite hit the mark – but a really solid TV main event. Now, do Moustache Mountain get a title shot in the immediate future, or does the story continue while everyone holds out hope for a second Takeover? ***½
Another good episode, at least when it came to the in-ring product. While there are some storyline threads going on with the Drake/Gibson vs. Jordan/Williams feud, and of course the newly-set Niven/Ripley and Ray/Storm matches in the women’s division, there’s no escaping that until this brand gets into a routine of having regular Takeovers (or at least, regular specials like a Takeover), it’s going to remain a struggle to make this show feel important to more than the hardcore fans it’s attracting today.