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NXT UK TV REPORT (Ep. #71)
NOVEMBER 28, 2019
TAPED IN HULL, ENGLAND
STREAMED ON WWE NETWORK
Note: This was aired on America’s Thanksgiving holiday
-Show started off with an extended recap of the Gallus/ Imperium rivalry.
(1) PIPER NIVEN vs. JINNY (w/Jazzy Gabert)
After a few seconds of keeping herself away from Niven, Jinny attempted several running attacks, only to be caught on each one. She slammed Jinny to the ground and attempted to hit the ropes but saw that Jazzy was ready to protect her friend. That stall gave Jinny a moment to retaliate for a few moments. A sloppy somersault over the top rope gave her a pinfall attempt. Jinny hit the ropes and jumped on the massive back of Niven in yet another poorly executed move- this time an octopus hold. Niven powered out as Jinny kept trying to keep her grounded. Niven rolled out of the ring, right in front of Jazzy. The ref kicked Jazzy out after he noticed that she touched Niven. Niven made it back to the apron, where Jinny was waiting for her, punched her and dropped an elbow for the two. Both of them made it to their feet and Jinny laid in a bunch of strikes to Niven, which looked a lot like Pete Townshend windmilling his guitar. A fist from Jinny and headbutt by Niven put both of them to their backs. Niven got up first at an eight-count from the ref. The two exchanged horrible strikes. Niven was met with a boot to the face while running at her in the corner. While she was selling the blow, Jinny went to the top rope, jumped, but was caught. Niven got her up for an electric chair, followed by pinfall attempt, but Jinny’s foot made it to the bottom rope.
Back in the middle of the ring, Jinny kneed Niven in the face, grounding her. Two count. Jinny went to the corner, proclaimed it was “her NXT”, ran at Niven, was met with a dropkick into the corner, and followed by a cannonball. A Michinoku driver planted Jinny for the win.
WINNER: Piper Niven at 7:28 via pinfall
(Koenig’s Analysis: I went into this really wanting to like it, knowing how green both of the athletes are. Horrible match though. Maybe it was a bad night at the office, or they just don’t have chemistry, but many moves were botched and/or sloppy. I am optimistic for both acts. I really like Niven and think that she will be the face of the women’s division very soon, especially since Rhea Ripley is essentially American WWE property now. And I think Jinny and Jazzy are very good with each other. Alas, this match was painful to watch. I really enjoy both acts and with some reps, they will both be just fine.)
– After the match, Kay Lee Ray was called out by Niven, saying that she is coming for her championship. Ray comes out and slaps Niven. Niven rebuttaled. After being unceremoniously injected back into the picture during this past Survivor Series weekend, Toni Storm ran out and continued an attack on Ray. This was the first time Storm has been seen on NXT UK since Takeover: Cardiff, where she lost the strap to Ray.
-NXT UK Live Tour Date commercial
(2) DEREISS GORDON vs. EDDIE DENNIS
Note: Commentary mentioned that the new act of Dereiss Gordon was trained by Marty Jones, Ligero, and Trent Seven.
It seems like the story going into this match was to connect the dots between the fact that Eddie Dennis gave an aggressive handshake to Trent Seven after a recent NXT UK match and that Dennis is a pupil of Sevens.
They start the match with some armholds and counters, with Dennis using his strength and Gordon using his agility. This was pretty much a match of the two trying to play catch with each other for the most part until Dennis caught Gordon’s legs and tossed him over the top rope. Dennis went out and played around with him a bit and rolled Gordon back into the ring and tossed Gordon into the turnbuckle. A two count followed. Dennis applied a cravat and eventually sent Gordon to the mat. A seven star lariat followed from Dennis and a next stop driver finished Gordon off.
WINNER: Eddie Dennis at 4:04 via pinfall
(Koenig’s Analysis: It was a match used to introduce Gordon, and re-introduce Dennis. Nothing special. I think I’ve already forgotten the match. I assume it will start a feud between he and Trent Seven.)
– Radzi Chinyanganya backstage introducing the main event. Joseph Connors interrupted saying that he was worthy of competing at Takeover in January, asking for a triple threat match against Ligero and Travis Banks.
– NXT UK commercial
(3) ASHTON SMITH vs. NOAM DAR
Smith displayed his strength from the get go, tossing Dar around the ring and landing a dropkick right before Dar rolled out of the ring. Smith went right out and rolled him back in. The two get into a bit of a striking battle inside, with Dar taking down Smith by going after the leg. Dar attempted a suplex but was countered with a tremendous stalled vertical suplex. Dar went back out of the ring to refresh and as Smith came over, Dar pursued but ended up being grounded again into in the barricade. Smith wasn’t pleased so he tossed Dar back into the ring, but he bounced back from the apron and rope (a cool move that was a bit hard to explain), followed by a lariat to Smith, laying him out.
Back in the ring, Dar went after each limb while Smith was grounded. Smith powered back a bit but was taken down again and attempted to submit Smith. Elbows to the face broke the hold. They made it back to their feet again and Dar kicked away at a teetered Smith, but he gained some strength back and executed a Death Valley Driver for a pinfall attempt. Dar was in the corner and Smith ran at him as Dar moved and countered with a pump kick. Dar ran at him but was caught and met with a blue thunder bomb for two. Dar connected with a Nova Roller and ended it.
WINNER: Noam Dar at 7:45 via pinfall
(Koenig’s Analysis: Two great athletes put on a fine match. Good match of opposing styles.)
-WWE Shop commercial
– Jordan Devlin vs. A-Kid and Joseph Connors vs. Ligero vs. Travis Banks in a Triple Threat next week.
(4) IMPERIUM vs. GALLUS
Wolfe and Wolfgang start the match. They start with a lock up and Aichner got tagged in. Wolfe held Wolfgang so Imperium could double team on his arm. Aichner grounds it and continues working the arm. Back to their feet, Barthel tags himself in and gets Wolfgang into an arm drag on the mat. Wolfe tags himself back in. Wolfgang brings him to Gallus’ corner and gets a tag from Mark Coffey. They hit a double shoulder and double chop before Joe Coffey tags in. Backbreaker to Wolfe before he gets slammed to the mat and struck in the back of the neck. Two count. Tag to Dragunov, giving us a taste of last weeks great main event. Dragunov hit the ropes a bit and landed a strike, taking Wolfe down long enough for a near pinfall. Dragunov connects with a bunch of lighting fast strikes to again bring Wolfe down for another attempted pinfall. A punch stunned Dragunov enough for him to be brought to Imperium’s corner, where Aichner tagged himself back in. Aichner brought Dragunov into an empty corner and pummeled him with some terrific looking uppercuts before countering and sending him to the opposite corner. A slap to the chest put Aichner to the mat and Dragunov followed that with a standing senton.
As Dragunov stood tall in the ring, Walter jumped to the apron and Dragunov slapped him square in the face. As Walter came in, Joe Coffey jumped in as well and got face to face with the big man. All of the wrestlers in the match jumped in for an 8 man stand off. The ref cleared the proverbial smoke and left the two legal men- Dragunov and Aichner, back in the ring. The two continued to battle and when Dragunov hit the ropes, Walter held the top one down, sending him out of the ring for Imperium to pray on. Walter rolled the beaten Dragunov back into the ring, as the ref saw nothing due to a distraction. Walter gets tagged in and grounds Dragunov, torturing him with his superior strength. Pinfall for two. Tag made to Bartel as Imperium torture Dragunov. Barthel keeps Dragunov in an empty corner and lays in slaps and kicks. Tag made to Aichner. Two backbreakers to Dragunov puts him down but only for a two. Tag to Barthel. A clothesline from Dragunov put both competitors to the mat and both moved to their respective corners. Aichner tagged Wolfe as Dragunov was still crawling. Wolfe put a stop to a potential tag by knocking Joe Coffey outside of the ring. Wolfe turned around in time to meet a suplex from Dragunov. Both parties crawled to their corners again and both tag in- this time Aichner and Mark Coffey.
Coffey cleared house, knocking down all members of Imperium. Coffey tagged in Wolfgang to double team on Imperium. Wolfgang lands a senton onto Aichner. Wolfe broke up the pinfall. Imperium jump in to take out the Coffeys. Wolfgang takes half of Imperium down with a double spear. Joe Coffey and Walter are in their respective corners, mouthing off to each other as Aichner and Wolfgang slowly go for the hot tag. Coffey and Walter are tagged in and start pounding away at each other. Coffey connects with a belly to belly, corners Walter and throws a flurry of fists. They hit the ropes and Walter hit Coffey with a hell of a dropkick. After that, all 8 wrestlers just started attacking each other all around the outside and into the crowd. The official called for the bell and the match is thrown out.
Imperium and Gallus went to a no contest at 15:27
(Koenig’s Analysis: This was a fantastic eight-man tag match that ended in a great walking brawl. The rivalry between these two factions should not be ended in one night so I am content with the finish. It seemed like they will inevitably move to Joe Coffey and Walter soon. They continued the great storyline that involved Dragunov. I look forward seeing where this goes.)
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