I’m baaaaaaack! And much how Eric Bischoff’s WWE theme goes, I am indeed better than ever. A much-needed mid-season break (and my first holiday in seven years) has recharged my batteries. And my first piece back is my NXT Inclination with the main event of Jordan Devlin against Dave Mastiff!
Before I start I would like to thank Marc Madison for keeping the seat warm and doing a fine job in my absence. I’ll sort you out with some cannolis next time I see you dude! 😉
That’s you all caught up and the niceties done, let’s crack on with the “Halloween” edition of this week’s NXT UK!
Jinny & Jazzy Gabert vs Piper Niven & Rhea Ripley
I can see why Jinny has Jazzy behind her as the hired muscle. Go look at her PROGRESS Wrestling work to see her House Of Couture stable to see more of the same. The problem I have is that since Jazzy has become associates with Jinny, they’ve never looked like they were going to be victorious in any contest.
As seen here in this match, the two (to me at least) don’t gel together at all. They’re heels that hardly do any heel actions. Jazzy is super strong but seems like an ordinary wrestler against both Rhea and Piper. She was Alpha Female in the indies, yet here she’s just female! Where’s the power and intensity?!?
That’s not to say that Ripley & Niven simply walked over their opponents, they didn’t. I am expecting more from the cunning Jinny and super strong and tough Jazzy that’s all. What’s the point of giving air time if within a month you’ve cooled them down so much that they’ve become a parody of what they should have been……Ugh!
The match itself was a per functionary match. It told a story (albeit in my eyes the wrong story) and was a good opening match. Ripley hit a great Tope Suicido onto Jazzy, who was then hit with a sweet looking Michinoku Driver from Piper for the win.
Where J&J goes from here I really don’t know. I have everything crossed that long term booking is in play here.
Winners – Rhea Ripley & Piper Niven
A-Kid vs Kassius Ohno
I’ve said before that I’ve seen A-Kid before in a few Brit promotions (RIPTIDE and Rev Pro being just two), so I knew what to expect from the Spanish native. What I wasn’t ready for was his opponent. Chris Her….sorry Kassius Ohno! One of my all-time greatest wrestlers ever?! Oh, I definitely sat up and took notice of this match!
Seems like I wasn’t the only one that’s enamored with Ohno, as the commentary team put over the fact that A-Kid felt exactly the same as me. Although he didn’t show it during the match. A-Kid (I’m gonna call him Kid from now on as typing the A- part is frustrating me) took him on with a technical style. All grapples and submissions. And surprisingly Ohno matched him rather than use his power/brawling game.
This was a pretty good match debut match for Kid, with a finish that sets up multiple ways forward for both himself, Ohno and Tyler Bate…..Oh did I forget to mention Bate?
The finish of the match was that Ohno had taken Kid to the outside, they brawl around ringside, and Kassius is looking very confident. All of a sudden a few quick strikes from Kid sends Ohno rocking, Kid slides into the ring with the referee’s count at 8, and Ohno is counted out! – A seriously pissed Ohno then storms the ring and begins to beatdown Kid, only to be stopped by a returning Tyler Bate.
Winner – A-Kid
Where does this all lead in the future? Could Kid and Bate team up against Ohno? Could it be Bate vs Ohno (yes bloody please!)? Could Ohno find a partner to take on the pair (Kings Of Wrestling!! Cesaro isn’t doing much!). I don’t know but I like where this could be going.
Killer Kelly is shown backstage. It’s announced that she has been medically cleared to wrestle once more. She immediately says she’s off to pick a fight.
“Big Wavy” Roy Johnson vs Joseph Conners
Another debut next as “Big Wavy” himself features on NXT UK for the very first time. Please don’t ask me what his moniker means…I literally have no idea. Google it, kids!
A quick match here that made Johnson look like a credible threat going forward, and made Connors look even more dangerous. Not a bad bit of booking for a four-minute match.
“Big Wavy” is very enigmatic (again see his PROGRESS Wasteman challenges for more of his mic work and crowd interaction) and over with the crowd. He’s a bigger guy too, and he can go in the ring. I see nothing but an upside for him going forward in NXT UK. Connors, on the other hand, seems to be stuck in a rut. He’s been playing this dangerous, sometimes out of control character for so long and it still hasn’t clicked. Could a gimmick change be on the cards as the fans still can’t see what NXT UK officials see.
Connors picked up the win with a rake of the eyes (a heel using heel tactics?!?!), a neckbreaker followed by his Don’t Look Down finisher. Not a bad little match, it did its job.
Winner – Joseph Connors
NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray appears and berates former champion Toni Storm. How today is better as she’s not here. How she took the one thing that really mattered to Toni – the title. And basically warning Xia Brookside about her request for a title shot. She could go down the same path as Toni, KLR warned. The champion is a woman, while Xia is a little girl.
Jordan Devlin vs Dave Mastiff
I don’t think I’ve ever seen these two BritWres stalwarts square off against each other before, so I was really looking forward to this. And it was worth the wait. A good match that had the potential to be a great match, if this feud continues.
Devlin was playing the smart game. Knowing he couldn’t match power with Mastiff, he kept ducking in and out of his reach while targeting certain body parts of the bigger guy. And for a portion of the match, it worked.
Devlin worked over the left arm of Mastiff and pretty much had free reign over him. Taking him to the canvas and wrenching back on the arm, making big Dave show some great facials which were caught on camera. But it didn’t keep him down for long as Mastiff got back to his feet and brought out his big guns…his strikes.
Bah Gawd he can hit can’t he?! And Devlin sold each and every strike like it was a gunshot. The match then swings in Dave’s favor, and he makes every move count. Power moves, sentons, more strikes. He really ragdolls Devlin around that ring!
But it’s all for naught as the wily Devlin maneuvers Mastiff to where he wants him…the top rope. From there he hits his Devil Inside finisher and it’s all over. As I said at the beginning, a good little match this.
Winner – Jordan Devlin
After the match, we head backstage to see The Axeman, Alexander Wolfe try once again to persuade Ilja Dragunov to join Imperium. You can see the frustration in Wolfe’s face as Ilja once again delays his decision. I’m liking this and the eventual match between the two. Could we see Dragunov work his way through Imperium to get to a mouth-watering match against his old wXw adversary Walter? I sure hope so!
To me, the show this week started off slow. It soon picked up traction and finished pretty well.
You know my thoughts on some of the booking decisions so I won’t go into them here, but one day soon I may have to vent about booking decisions across a lot of promotions. Something to look forward to huh?! 😉
So until next week, ta ta!
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