A new contender for WALTER’s NXT UK was decided as the contender’s tournament wrapped up with a four-way.
We open with a package showing how Travis Banks, Joe Coffey, Dave Mastiff and Jordan Devlin qualified for the main event. Cue titles, and the voices of Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph on commentary.
The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar) vs. Saxon Huxley & Tyson T-Bone
This was the Hunt’s first showing since a loss against Moustache Mountain a few weeks back, and this should be an easier test.
We start with a very grunty lock-up between Primate and Huxley, as the two North Easterners looked to show dominance. It’s the Geordie who edged ahead, taking Huxley into the corner as Boar tagged in, only for him to fall to a Thesz Press from the Hartlepool native. T-Bone’s in next as we’re not wasting much time, with T-Bone snapmaring and booting Boar on the mat. A gutwrench suplex drops Boar for a two-count as the crowd barely made a peep, before Boar ducks under a second Thesz press as Primate came back into play. A T-bone suplex took Huxley into the corner, while Boar chop blocked T-Bone on the outside… and that leaves Huxley prey for some double-teaming as a pop-up into a German suplex, and a pair of swandive headbutts put away the Muscle Cat. A fun, quick, TV match, but not one that Glasgow seemed to care for. **½
Post-match, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang attack the Hunt in the entryway, throwing Primate into the newly-minted NXT UK commentary table. It took them long enough to show us all that. A kid wanted the Gallus pair to kill the Hunt. I don’t think that’s PG.
There’s a Kay Lee Ray promo package, because she’s next. Well, after some ads, that is…
Next week: Ilja Dragunov vs. Joseph Conners… and we’re reminded of the announcement of NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff on August 31.
Kay Lee Ray vs. Kasey Owens
Kasey’s back after falling to Nina Samuels a few weeks back, but I don’t think the result will be any different this time out.
Kay Lee tries to work Owens’ arm early, only to get rolled up for a quick one-count as we get crowds of “IC-Dub”. They’re shrugged off as Kay Lee Ray avoids a hanging armbar in the ropes, and instead boots Kasey to the outside. Owens gets dropped on the apron as a forearm has her reeling, before Kay Lee went back to the arm. Kasey tries to fight back with a slap after getting free, but Kay Lee hits back, again going for the arm as she hammerlocked Owens and threw her into the turnbuckle. A second one’s reversed as Kasey tries to fight back with one arm, only to get caught with a superkick. Some running knees looked to get Kasey back in it, but a PK misses as Kay Lee quickly finished her with a Gory bomb. A perfectly fine squash. **
We’ve a video package for Imperium, opening with the words “die Matte ist heilig.” They’re here to bring “desperately-needed change” to NXT UK… and hey, I’ve seen that stylised font before…
Look, I’m not going to watch a “WrestleMania-equivalent” pay-per-view, okay? That probably means it going to be eight hours long and fizzle out badly.
They replay the debut of Jazzy Gabert from three weeks ago, before we’re thrown to Jinny and Jazzy walking backstage. Jinny says she had the option to fight or befriend Jazzy, and she picked the smart choice. Jazzy’s positioned as Jinny’s muscle here, which will only lead to an excellent feud way down the line when they turn on each other.
Zack Gibson and James Drake hit the ring in suits for promo time. Gibson hates his music and shouts for them to turn it off so they can whinge about having to defend the titles in front of “a bunch of sweaty Goths at Download”. Of course, that gets a chant. They’re angry at the prospect of walking through a muddy field to defend their titles… and rarely for a Gibson promo, I find myself bored and tuning out.
Hey look, Tyler Bate’s in the new issue of Men’s Health UK.
Next week: British Strong Style face Imperium in a trios match.
Joe Coffey vs. Dave Mastiff vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks
Winner gets a shot at WALTER down the road…
Coffey’s the home favourite, but we start with Banks taking down Devlin. To near silence. Coffey and Mastiff stay in the ring to charge into each other, but they bounce off each other with shoulder tackles and sail to the outside. Contrived?
They try again at ringside, charging into each other, before Travis Banks’ sneaky tope was caught, with Mastiff throwing him into the guard rail. Devlin tries the same, but he overshoots his plancha and hits the guard rails as all four men ended up on the floor. We have a switcheroo as Devlin and Banks resume their fight, again to silence, as Banks edges ahead with a Thesz Press and some chops. Coffey tries to break it up, but Banks kicks away at the Celtic pair, before a snap German suplex sent Devlin into the corner. Running elbows trap Devlin and Coffey in the corners, before he tripped Devlin, sending him sailing into Coffey’s groin. Mastiff returns to toss people around, throwing Banks and Coffey with German suplexes before Devlin came in to get his too.
Coffey looks to suplex Mastiff, but has to make do with a powerslam for a two-count, before he spun Devlin and Banks with a wheelbarrow giant swing/airplane spin combo. A wheelbarrow facebuster dropped Banks for a near-fall as the Glasgow crowd only seemed to care when Coffey was on offence… like a butterflied giant swing as they sang the tune to Iron Man. Devlin returns by throwing Coffey into the ring post, before he refocused on Banks again, taking him into the ropes for a back elbow. Mastiff returns, but he’s low bridged to the outside before a low dropkick from Devlin keeps him there. Banks takes a turnbuckle a la Bret Hart, before a cocky Devlin turned around into a up-risen Coffey, as the two big lads pinged the Irishman back and forth between punches and uppercuts.
Coffey popped up Banks into an uppercut, but gets sent into the corner as he tried to charge into the Kiwi… who then ended up leaping into a German suplex as Devlin tried to capitalise. He headbutts Mastiff, but ends up looking daft as he went for a Devlinside… as a brief Parade of Moves broke out, stacking up Coffey and Banks in the corner for a cannonball. A moonsault from Devlin has him land shin-first into Mastiff to break up the count. Another brief flurry led us to a Spanish fly by Devlin on Banks for a near-fall, before Coffey gets involved, with a double jump crossbody on Mastiff. Off comes the elbow pad as Coffey looked for Awra Best for the Bells, eventually decking Devlin with it, only for Mastiff to get involved with a back senton that was meant for the Scotsman.
A Cactus clothesline sent the big lads outside, as Banks comes in with a Slice of Heaven to a dazed Devlin, before the Kiwi Krusher gets the win. Well, this wasn’t who the crowd wanted to win, but at least they didn’t boo the (for them) anticlimactic finish. This was decent enough for a four-way, with some nice flurries of action, but the pace was all over the shop. It felt like perhaps Banks vs. Devlin ought to have been a tournament final, but they instead opted to just merge the semis together to keep the Scottish crowd happy. Travis Banks gets WALTER at some point down the line, and I’m guessing this ought to be more than a throwaway TV match at Download? ***
I don’t mind a bad wrestling show. Bland wrestling shows are almost more offensive. Like this one was threatening to be. It’s quite the feat to make Zack Gibson promos seem by the numbers, but that’s where we are. At least with a new Takeover scheduled, the next set of TV tapings will have something to aim for, but these Scottish tapings have gone from being red hot to almost Axxess-levels in terms of the crowd response… and you know what we say about how crowds effect a show!