Hamilton’s NXT UK Prelude Review 04.08.21

Quick Results
Heritage Cup Rules: Tyler Bate beat Noam Dar by 2 falls to 1 at 1:34 of Round 6 (***¼)
Emilia McKenzie & Meiko Satomura pinned Isla Dawn & Kay Lee Ray in 9:02 (***½)
WALTER pinned Rampage Brown in 13:44 to retain the NXT UK Championship (****¼)

— If you’re on Twitter, give me a follow over on @IanWrestling – and check out the GoFundMe that’s still open for Larry’s family.

Spoiler: WALTER retained his NXT UK title over Tomasso Ciampa last night, so our big main event tonight is on! Andy Shepherd runs down the card via video package – he’s on commentary with Nigel McGuinness as usual.

Heritage Cup Rules: Tyler Bate vs. Noam Dar
Winner gets a shot at A-Kid’s Heritage Cup… Trent Seven and Sha Samuels were out as cornermen to add some atmosphere. But first, A-Kid pops up on the video screen to tell us he’ll be watching…

Round 1: We open with a lock-up that ends with Dar in the ropes… he baits Tyler, who then went for a trip, before a spinning backslide as stopped as Dar backed into the corner. Bate tries to push free, but they keep swapping around before Dar kicks out at two from a backslide. Switcharoos lead to a roll-up, with Tyler Bate taking the first fall at 1:15 of the first round.

Round 2: Dar feints a kick early on, but Bate takes him down with a wristlock, only for Dar to come back by scissoring Bate’s leg on the mat. Bate tries to roll out for some pinning attempts, before trapping Dar in a cravat that the Scotsman had trouble breaking. Eventually Dar broke free and grounds Bate in a North/South choke briefly… they get back to their feet, with Bate back in with a cravat, but Dar escapes and looked to work over Tyler’s wrist… only to get caught with a dropkick. Dar bails into the ropes for respite, returning to test Bate with a knuckle lock that ended with Dar on the mat as time ran out.

Round 3: Bate’s caught with a kick to the chest early on, as Dar looked to work the arm… but Bate kicks out Dar’s knee almost out of desperation. Dar shrugs it off and goes back to the limbs, before a short-range uppercut almost levelled it up. A snapmare throws Bate into the ropes, before a back suplex earns Dar a two-count. Bate’s thrown into the corner, where he kicks away Dar ahead of an uppercut off the middle rope… but Bate’s knee stops him from making a cover, as he instead hauls up Dar for an airplane spin, winding down the rest of the round, rather than make a cover or anything like that.

Round 4: Dar’s still dizzy at the bell, not helped when Bate goes back to the airplane spin… Tyler lets go and goes for a rebound lariat, but Dar’s up at two as Sha Samuels was losing his mind at ringside. Dar picks himself up in the corner, and manages to throw Bate aside, before a sliding elbow to the back of the head caught Tyler off guard for a near-fall. Kicks to the back of Bate, described as “love taps,” are punched away by Bate… but Dar’s back with a kick to the knee before HE KICKED TYLER’S LEG OUT OF HIS LEG! Time’s running out on the round, and with Bate hitting a left hand, Dar’s left on the deck as the fourth round heads to a close.

Round 5: Dar’s ready to pounce at the bell, with Bate visibly hobbling… but Dar has to kick the knee as Bate boxes away. Bate slips out of a waistlock, before his rebound clothesline was pulled out of, with Dar countering into a kneebar for a submission at 0:40 of the round to tie it up. What-do-ya-know?! We’re going to end 2-1. As always.

Round 6: Dar goes to the leg again, but Bate ducks and almost nicks the win with a German suplex… Dar counters a Tyler Driver with a roll-up for a two-count, then gets caught with a Koppo kick. Bate heads up top, only for Sha Samuels to distract on the apron. Trent Seven pulls him down as the pair scrap… Dar’s thrown into the pair of them on the outside as Bate nails a tope that almost goes awry. Dar takes the opportunity to throw Bate into the ring steps, but back inside Dar runs into a punch… then is put away with a Tyler Driver. I really, really wish they gave us results other than 2-1 in these matches, but this was a good little match with Bate’s knee injury almost being too much for him to overcome, but Dar’s help at ringside ended up playing a part in his defeat. ***¼

WALTER and Rampage Brown are walking…

Earlier this week, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews are commiserating after their loss last week, and are training with Dani Luna as they look to get back in the winning books.

Ilja Dragunov vignette time – they recap his recent struggles with Sam Gradwell…

We then go back to the UK PC, as Jack Starz is slamming bags and doing push ups with Piper Niven. She reckons he’s ready… and next week he’ll be in action.

Jordan Devlin promo time. He’s promising to return to NXT UK with the cruiserweight title after his match on Takeover tonight…

Emilia McKenzie & Meiko Satomura vs. Kay Lee Ray & Isla Dawn
Going by the entrances, McKenzie and Ray is the teased direction…

McKenzie and Dawn start us off, with McKenzie landing some elbows early only for Dawn to grab a side headlock. It’s fought out of, with McKenzie rolling her to the mat for a delayed two-count, before an armdrag caught Dawn unawares. Another roll-up gets McKenzie a two-count, before tags bring us to Kay Lee Ray and Meiko Satomura.

Meiko’s caught in a side headlock and shoved into the ropes… shoulder tackles and kicks ensue for a two-count before Ray threw Meiko into the corner for some stomps. Dawn’s back to keep the kicks going, as the pair swapped rapid tags to wear down Satomura.

Satomura fights back, wrenching Dawn’s wrist ahead of some kicks and a legsweep… a knee to the gut gets her a two-count, with McKenzie tagging back in as more kicks leave Isla laying for a two-count. McKenzie escapes a Gory bomb, then returned with headscissors to take Ray into the corner… headscissors off the middle rope draw in Isla Dawn, who’s quickly dealt with with a suplex, before McKenzie went back up top… and rolled down to spear Ray for a two-count.

Isla Dawn pulls Satomura off the apron as McKenzie looked for a tag out… that allows Ray to blindside McKenzie with a clothesline for a two-count. Dawn’s back with kicks to take McKenzie into the ropes ahead of a Saito suplex for a two-count, before the pair tee off on each other with elbows.

McKenzie shuts the door on Dawn with a cutter… as tags bring us back to Satomura and Ray. Meiko fires away with right hands on the champion, then hit a head kick. An overhead kick drops Ray ahead of a backdrop suplex for a near-fall… with Satomura breaking the cover pre-emptively as Isla tried to come into the ring. Ray and Satomura trade shots, before Ray caught a kick and turned it into a Gory bomb for a two-count.

McKenzie makes the save, then dealt with Dawn with a German suplex as we had a mini Parade of Moves. Satomura kicks away Ray before she rolled her into a STF in the middle of the ring… Ray makes it to the ropes thanks to some help from Dawn, who came in with a running Meteora after Ray’s front suplex to nearly nick the win.

Ray and McKenzie fight on the outside, with Ray taking a German suplex on the outside, before making a blind tag in. Dawn nails a head kick to McKenzie, before a Fisherman suplex was countered into an inside cradle, with Kay Lee Ray opting not to dive in to break up the pin. A good tag match, with McKenzie having a fair amount of offence – while Isla Dawn continues to show great strides in her recent form. ***½

Post-match, Aoife Valkyrie’s watching in the aisle… and pulls a feather off of her ring costume. She lays it on the floor, and I guess that’s her way of challenging Meiko Satomura? I mean, commentary filled in the blanks, rather than let us guess…

A-Kid’s up next to talk about his next challenger… he’s excited to face Tyler Bate again, and looks forward to prove once again he’s the best mat wrestler in NXT.

Earlier this week… Amir Jordan storms into the UK PC hunting for Kenny Williams. The Assistant to the Regional Manager calms down Amir, and tells him he’ll face his former tag partner next week… Kenny’s then offers a response, saying he turned on Jordan because he was fed up of doing all the work in the team… Also next week, the Supernova Sessions return with Gallus.

Oh, also next week: Nathan Frazer vs. Saxon Huxley.

NXT UK Championship: Rampage Brown vs. WALTER (c)
Having beaten Tommaso Ciampa last night, WALTER’s likely to stretch his title run closer to 800 days with a win over Rampage tonight.

WALTER goes for Rampage early on, but the challenger escapes as he instead went for a side headlock, with the pair breaking in the corner. Rampage ducks a chop and hits one of his own, before shooting WALTER to the ropes for a shoulder tackle. Rampage charges through a chop before charging WALTER down… WALTER returns the favour, but Rampage kips up and charges WALTER to the outside.

Rampage heads outside to barge WALTER again, but WALTER responds by chucking Rampage with a back suplex onto the edge of the ring… then by taking things back inside for some crossface punches between the ropes. A boot from WALTER drops Rampage, whose early onslaught was becoming a distant memory, particularly as WALTER wore down Rampage… and then it’s off to the chops.

Returning with a kick, WALTER rolls down Rampage for a kick to the back, before a Boston crab wore down the challenger some more. Rampage tries to roll free, but WALTER just lets go and charges in with a knee to the back before he went for a suplex. It’s countered as Rampage lands his first, before we go back with the chops.

Rampage looks to wilt first, as he throws a forearm before WALTER caught him with another chop for a two-count. A big boot from WALTER stops the chop, before he got caught with a running slam from Rampage. The pair charge at each other with clotheslines before a rear naked choke from WALTER looked to lead to a powerbomb… but Rampage slips out and hits a clothesline as commentary begins to get shouty.

A flying shoulder tackle off the middle rope gets Rampage just a one-count, before WALTER slipped out of a Doctor Bomb attempt. He’s back with a shotgun dropkick to Rampage, before a powerbomb and a folding pin drew a near-fall. WALTER makes a rare trip up top, but he’s stopped by Rampage, who brings him down with an avalanche slam off the top for a near-fall with more shouting.

Rampage hits the ropes, but ran into a rear naked choke… a back suplex breaks that up, as Rampage then hoists up WALTER for a Doctor Bomb… only for WALTER to roll to the ropes before a cover could be made. WALTER’s rolled back in as Rampage lands some crossface punches, before a second Doctor Bomb was blocked. WALTER swipes away a clothesline, then chopped Rampage before a knee to the gut and a murderous lariat puts the challenger down again.

Not satisfied, WALTER slaps Rampage ahead of another lariat… but it’s not enough as WALTER adds in a chop to the back… then a rear naked choke. Rampage gets to the ropes, but it’s broken as WALTER hits a German suplex, then a powerbomb, folding on top of Rampage for yet another near-fall… before the Big Finish saw WALTER splash Rampage off the top rope for the win. Excellent stuff from WALTER, with Rampage rolling back the years here – but to me the result never really felt in doubt, as we’re left wondering who can end the longest active title run in the company. ****¼

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A no-nonsense, all-killer, no-filler show - back to what “our brand” is really capable of without all of the padding that we’ve seen in recent weeks to try and get air time for the entire roster. A somewhat boiled-down version of a Takeover - which is no bad thing - which set up some big matches for the future while leaving us wondering: who and where is next for WALTER?