Hello my peeps! I’m hoping that we’re all good. I, on the other hand, am ecstatic! By the time you’re reading this, I shall be in Southern Italy “on assignment” for Pro Wrestling Post 😉 But fear not! Being in a different country will not alter my viewing of NXT UK,
Although I can’t promise that I won’t use some Italian lingo in my descriptions! Now, letsa go with thisa weeks NXT UK Inclination!…….I’m so sorry 🙂
Ilja Dragunov vs Saxton Huxley
Wow oh wow oh wow! Dragunov is over like rover! The crowd reception he receives as he walks out is insane! It’s amazing what a match with Cesaro can do for your career huh? Now if only Uncle Vince could see how damn great the Swiss Cyborg is……Sorry I went off on a tangent there.
Now, this was just a bog-standard enhancement match. As the same as last week, Huxley got in a decent amount of offense in but was still there to make Ilja look good. In actual fact, he made Ilja look bloody fantastic. Something European wrestling fans have known for quite some time due to his work in wXw.
Halfway through the match, Imperium’s Axe Man, Alexander Wolfe, came out to ringside to seemingly scout the Russian. After toying with Huxley, the finish came after a senton into Draunov’s Torpedo Moscow finisher.
Winner – Ilja Dragunov
After the match, as Ilja went to get in Wolfe’s face, the Imperium music hit and Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel walked out. All three men stood in the ring as Wolfe motioned to Dragunov to join them, which Ilja did.
I’m convinced that this will lead to a Wolfe v Dragunov match sometime soon, which will be a barnstormer of a match.
Imperium (Barthel/Aichner) vs The Hunt
A good eight-minute match here that highlighted the best of both teams.
The Hunt – Wild Boar & Primate – took the majority of the early match beating, with Imperium looking incredibly strong. But when The Hunt fought back, you really did believe that they could have a chance of overcoming the odds and picking up the win.
But the cooler heads of Aichner and Barthel prevailed as they overcome the mini onslaught from Boar and Primate to pick up the all-important tag team win and position themselves further up the ladder, looking for that tag team title shot.
Could we see Imperium grabbing the NXT UK Tag Team Championships and become the UK version of Undisputed Era (ie grabbing all the gold)? It’s certainly possible and you a betting man wouldn’t bet against it happening 😉
Winners – Imperium
Nina Samuels vs Xia Brookside
When your dad is British Wrestling legend and NXT coach Robbie Brookside, you’re always going to have a tough act to follow so to speak. And after floundering for quite some time, Xia has broken through. Here in this match, she looked superb. Her selling was on point, she showed technical prowess and is looking more and more like a star in the making each week.
Nina, on the other hand, has always been a good hand so to speak. Her character is pretty much spot on and her in-ring work has always been competent. I, personally feel, that she’s lagging behind some of the other NXT UK female talents in the ring. And that’s where I base all my opinions on.
This match was based solely on the canvas, hardly any high spots or leaving of the ring. Which makes a change, to be honest. How many matches now seem to leave the ring for a two-minute brawl outside?
I think it shows that Xia doesn’t have a fully formed finisher yet as she won this match via an inside cradle. But she’s still young and learning. In a year’s time, I would LOVE for her to face off against Millie McKenzie. BritWres dream match right there!
Winner – Xia Brookside
A promo video for the soon to be debuting A-Kid was shown. He’s someone I’ve seen on the UK circuit for quite some time as part of Team WhiteWolf. I have high hopes for him.
Jordan Devlin then comes out to the ring to set some things straight. He has heard that the fans and wrestlers alike think he’s too arrogant. But he replies by saying he can’t be arrogant as that implies he thinks he’s better than he actually is! He is hands down, the best wrestler in the Uk right now. Don’t believe him? Ask Tyler Bate and that fat loser Dave Mastiff!
That comment brings out Mastiff who walks straight up to Devlin and he snatches the mic from his hands. As he was about to speak, Devlin sucker punches him in the face! But as Jordan went to pick up Mastiff, Dave knocks him to the canvas and hits a standing senton.
The segment finishes with Mastiff standing over Devlin saying “There’s one thing you might not know about the Bomber is he likes a little flutter, and he’s happy to take on the ace…” I’m liking the build to in this feud.
NXT UK Tag Team Championship
Gallus (Wolfgang & Mark Coffey) vs SWSC (Webster & Mandrews)
Always nice to finish a show with a title on the line. And with WALTER away on a little jaunt in Orlando at the moment (time of taping), it left the South Wales Sub Culture to put their tag team titles on the line. Stood opposite them were Coffey and Wolfgang from Gallus, the promotions first stable.
The first half of this match really dragged. I’m not sure if it was the action in the ring or the lack of crowd support, but something really didn’t click for the first five or so minutes. It’s a shame as all four men were trying their hardest to make something here. It wasn’t going to be a classic like the Takeover: Cardiff match, but they wanted to end the episode on a high.
It wasn’t until the double down (or quad down I suppose) that the action picked up and the crowd looked more invested. The pace quickened with Flash and Andrews now on the offense and Gallus became bumping machines. Which is difficult when your men of their size.
The crowd – and myself sat at home – were shocked when Gallus hit the double powerbomb for the win and became the new NXT UK Tag Team Champions. Shocked as SWSC didn’t really have much of a run with the titles, and shocked that someone had finally pulled the trigger on Gallus. Where this leads I have no idea. I have always been a fan of seeing babyfaces chase for the gold so that could be one option. But where do Imperium go in all of this? Exciting times in the tag division.
Winners – And NEWWWWWW NXT UK Tag Team Champions, Gallus!
The show closes with the new champs proudly showing their titles to the shocked crowd.
This week is definitely a step up from last week. Not a lot in the way of promos and a few matches were allowed to breathe with the extra minutes. With the advent of people FINALLY seeing how good Dragunov is to the shocking finish of the tag titles switching, this was a solid 7/10 show for me.
And with Noam Dar vs Trent Seven announced for next week, along with the progression of the Devlin/Mastiff and Niven/Ripley/Jinny/Gabert feuds, NXT UK could be finishing the year strong….Hopefully 😉
So until next week, ta ta!
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