Trent Seven and Noam Dar locked horns once more on this week’s NXT UK!
We’re still in Brentwood, with Nigel McGuinness and Tom Phillips on the call. The opening ballyhoo shotscare at least a little more varied this week… and we open with Imperium. One week they’ll botch the names and the entrances… By the way, next week NXT UK starts at 11am Eastern. It’s been bumped up the schedule to avoid clashing with Crown Jewel. Hmm.
Marcel Barthel takes the mic to say that Imperium is the dominant force, then passed the mic over to WALTER, who got big “Pete Dunne” chants. He’s quickly interrupted by Gallus, and the laughter’s coming from the Scotsmen, not the crowd. Eventually the crowd join in, initially with pity laughs, then in response to Joe Coffey’s digs about their “cheap tracksuits”. Joe tries to thank Imperium for getting rid of British Strong Style, before he told WALTER that Imperium aren’t top boys…
Mark Coffey calling WALTER “Big Jolly Wally” got a laugh, as this is the most I’ve heard out of an NXT UK crowd in seemingly forever. Gallus claim NXT for themselves, and I guess we’re heading to Gallus vs. Imperium… and from the spoilers, this has a wacky twist.
In the Harry in Enfield, Xia Brookside is vlogging. She steals DDP’s catchphrase talking about her wins, and talks about gunning for Kay Lee Ray’s NXT UK women’s title shot.
Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
Do you reckon this’ll be the week Oliver Carter gets his first win? Perhaps, if his partner’s better at wrestling than timing raising his arm in time to his music…
Smith and Drake start off, and it’s Smith who worked over the arm to start as the crowd chanted one of the more derogatory songs towards Zack Gibson. He’ll not be getting his P45 any time soon… Drake tries to go for a tag, but Smith pulls him in for a suplex, not too dissimilar to Jordan Devlin’s Devlinside, getting a near-fall out of it.
Oliver Carter’s in to try and snatch a win with a sunset flip, before he teased the One Winged Angel and instead hit an ushigoroshi on Drake. Gibson provides a blatant distraction to march Drake into the corner for a tag, but Carter struck first as the newcomer seemed to have the former tag champions’ numbers. A blind tag from Drake undoes Carter as some quick double-teams has the Ghanaian on the back foot, as does a backbreaker from Drake that forced Carter to the outside.
Another backbreaker followed on the floor, complete with Drake’s slingshot, before Gibson grounded Carter with a chinlock. Drake’s back in to level him with a forearm, but Carter gets free after a miscommunication and brings Smith back in… and Ashton’s a house afire! A leaping forearm drops Drake, before Gibson pulled his partner outside “to safety”… which was ruined via a Smith tope con giro. Back inside, a Blue Thunder Bomb almost put Drake away, but a blind tag again makes Smith come unstuck, as Gibson comes in and nearly ate a superkick from his man. Drake stops himself and dropkicks Carter off the apron, before a lariat to the back of the head had Smith on the deck. From there, a Ticket to Mayhem follows, and it’s the B-finish that gets the former tag champs the win. More competitive than you’d have expected, but I don’t see Drake and Gibson near the tag titles anytime for the foreseeable. ***
Post-match, Drake and Gibson continue the beatdown until Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster ran in for the save, attacking their fellow former champions. So I guess they’re facing each other again?
“Earlier today”, Tyler Bate’s asked about his future in NXT UK. He’s non-committal, but he wants to challenge A-Kid when he debuts soon. That should be good.
Backstage, the Grizzled Young Veterans bump into Gallus, and demand a title shot…
Ligero vs. Travis Banks
A year ago, Banks would have blazed through Ligero, but the first year of NXT UK hasn’t been kind to his star.
Banks goes for roll-ups early, as did Ligero, but there’s a quick stare-down before a double knuckle-lock was escaped, with Ligero going back to the pinning attempts, coming close with a crucifix as the crowd… seemed distracted. Oh good. Banks escapes a side headlock, but Ligero just reapplies it, before more pinning attempts drew two-counts, including a Victory roll from Ligero.
Tom Phillips quits on air at Nigel McGuinness’ puns. I fully sympathise with him. We quit pinning attempts as Banks takes Ligero down into an armbar, but again there’s an escape before a double-chop stopped Banks’ leapfrog. Ligero’s suplex got countered into a small package for a near-fall, before more roll-through pins drew near-falls, until Banks changed tactics and dove in with a knee for a near-fall.
Chops come next, as Banks belted Ligero, but Ligero eventually fought back to his feet and retaliated, eventually decking Banks with an enziguiri. Banks avoids a springboard from Ligero, and came back with a shotgun dropkick as we got back to pinning attempts, before a missed Slice of Heaven allowed Ligero to take the long way around to a pinning attempt. Duelling backslides follow for yet more two-counts, before they trapped each other on the mat at the same time… and we’ve a double cover! Both men pinned each other, and the ref counted it… Ligero knew the score, while Banks celebrated like he’d won. It’s a draw, ending a really sound match, but one that the crowd seemed tepid to at times. Especially that guy on hard cam with crossed arms. Live a little! This’d have done better had the crowd known the story going in, but I guess these NXT UK tapings are literally “just matches”. ***
Banks and Ligeor shake hands after that, and I’d not be shocked if we had the natural rematch to get a decisive winner as commentary played this as yet more stalling for both men.
They recap the Jordan Devlin/Dave Mastiff story so far, including Devlin sparking out Mastiff before he got caught out… and laid out with a back senton.
Next week… NXT UK’s start time is wrong. In more ways than one. 11am ET is 3pm UK time as our clocks have gone back. Also next week, A-Kid debuts, while we get Devlin/Mastiff…
Noam Dar vs. Trent Seven
Dar’s out with Trent’s towel that he’s drawn on, and it must be Trent’s only towel judging by his entrance.
Smartly, Dar attacked Trent with a low dropkick as Seven was doing his log roll thing, and the jump start continued as Trent got thrown into the ring steps. Dar ties Trent to the ring post with his towel (ha!), before a drive-by dropkick sandwiched Trent’s arm and the ring post as we still weren’t officially started.
Trent rolls back in as the bell sounds, and he wallops Dar with a lariat at the bell for a near-fall. Christ! Dar’s in the ropes, but Trent jumps on him before he went to town with arm drags, slams and a Hogan-ish legdrop for a near-fall. Dar tries to pratfall Trent, but he’s just stomped on before a Burning Hammer was escaped, allowing Dar to drop Trent’s arm across the top rope.
That switcheroo led to nought as a standing uranage took down Dar in the corner… but Trent then went up top and was caught with a chop block as he crashed down to earth with a bump, with a Fisherman suplex almost getting Dar the win. Trent’s back on the defensive, getting thrown into the ropes for a near-fall as Dar began to work over the leg, throwing in a modified STF with some Pete Dunne-like finger tweaking. Remember the match they had way back when?
Dar looks to hang up Trent on the top rope, but some lost balance led to Trent falling awkwardly to the outside, forcing him to beat the count back in. Of course, Dar pounces, then looked for more British Strong Style trolling, only for Dar to fail with a Tyler Driver as Trent found a second wind. Chops looked to lead into a DDT, but Dar sweeps the legs and goes in for an ankle lock that’s quickly escaped.
Trent took Dar outside for a tope, before going up top again… and this time he has to pause before crashing and burning on a Whisper in the Wind. Out of nowhere though, Trent hits an Emerald Fusion on Dar after blocking the North Sea Fisherman Driver, before a Seven Star lariat’s blocked. Dar’s quickly back with a Flatliner for a two-count, then quickly turned into an ankle lock that had Trent rolling instantly into the ropes for a break. Trent’s back with a chop on the apron, suckering Dar into a DDT on the edge of the ring, which was good for an eventual two-count, but Trent’s knee is causing him more problems, as he limped back in to pick up Noam. A Seven Star lariat misses, but a Dragon suplex didn’t, nor did the spinning backfist as Trent finally lands the lariat for a near-fall. There’s a few cheeky kicks from Trent on the deck, as both men traded rights, only for Trent to miss a kick, hanging his leg in the ropes.
Dar pounces again with a stomp to the bad leg, before he shrugged off a superkick and rolled Trent back down into an ankle lock, throwing kicks with his good foot until Trent’s resolve took him to the bottom rope. From there, Dar retrieves the towel to troll Trent with some more, but a roll-up nearly got Trent the win, before a thrust kick from Dar led to another near-fall… but Trent’s back with the British Strong Style favourites… bop/bang, the finger snap, and a Burning Hammer as Trent finally snatched the win! This told a really good story of Trent overcoming the whippersnapper Dar, but if Pete and Tyler are done in NXT UK, then Trent needs to be kept away from tribute spots. If you usually skip NXT UK… watch this main event! ***¾
All in all, this was one of the best episodes of NXT UK in recent history, with a trio of solid (at worst) matches. The only downside was, aside from the Xia Brookside vignette, the women’s division wasn’t represented at all, which will irk some… much like the change of timeslot, which I’m sure will get hammered home on show day next Thursday. Just like the card, which mysteriously never gets announced until hours before airing…