Hamilton’s NXT UK Review 04.14.22

Quick Results
Jack Starz & Dave Mastiff pinned Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey in 8:30 (**¾)
Eliza Alexander pinned Angel Hayze in 4:12 (**)
Teoman pinned A-Kid in 11:23 (***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.

We’re back at the BT Sport studios in London, with Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness commentating on a week that saw former NXT UK tag champions Pretty Deadly win the tag titles on their debut in NXT 2.0… and news that Nathan Frazer is also making the trip Stateside. There’s sure been a lot of folks going from Enfield to Orlando, huh…

Gallus (Mark Coffey & Joe Coffey) vs. Jack Starz & Dave Mastiff
The Gallus boys haven’t been coming out on top in recent weeks, and we’ve got the Coffey brothers here looking to get things back on course. Meanwhile, Starz’ cut has his name and a star sewn onto it, after weeks of fighting for it…

Mastiff and Joe Coffey start us off with a lock-up, which gets broken as shoulder tackles see the pair collide in the middle of the ring before a crossbody attempt was just pounced away by Mastiff. Starz comes in and runs into a hiptoss, while Mark helped with a double-team as he proceeded to keep Starz on the deck.

Joe’s back for a sidewalk slam that gets a near-fall, before Mark returned to work over the arm some more. Starz fought free with uppercuts, before a dropkick took Joe into the ropes as Starz was able to make the tag in to Mastiff. Joe’s whipped into the corner three times, then went for a slam… but Starz snuck in to dropkick Mastiff onto Coffey for a near-fall.

A forearm from Starz knocked Joe down as Mastiff returned with a bodyslam, and a back senton as Starz’s slingshot splash into the ring kept Gallus on the back foot. Joe tries to box his way free, but quick tags keep him isolated as Starz and Mastiff made him look rather ordinary.

Mastiff’s German suplex keeps Joe in the wrong corner… Joe goes up top for a missile dropkick, and eventually took down Mastiff, before both men made tags out. Mark Coffey clears house with clotheslines and shoulder blocks, before a facebuster out of the corner nearly put Starz away.

Mark’s back suplex is floated out of, but he’s able to catch Starz with a delayed back body drop… but Mastiff breaks up the pin, only to get knocked outside. Starz has to block a half-and-half suplex, eventually rolling free as a back body drop took Mark down. Mastiff’s back in, but eats a jumping high kick before he hit the ropes, with the ref judging that to be a tag out to Joe Coffey. Cue arguments from the Coffeys, allowing Mastiff to hit a Finlay roll to Joe, before Starz’s powerbomb got the win – with Mark Coffey coming in “accidentally” too late to get the win. **¾

Commentary hammed up this as a “life changing” win for Jack Starz, as the Gallus lads again stuttered. So much so they had a brief shoving match in the ring afterwards, prompting Wolfgang to run out and calm things down, only for Joe to walk off.

We’ve a video recap of last week’s Dragunov/Strong title match, before some post-match interviews saw an out-of-breath Ilja bump into Strong backstage, as they shook hands. Jordan Devlin interrupts, and we’re going back to those two it seems. Maybe it’ll be better this time…

Promo video time between Sam Gradwell and Kenny Williams, going over their mind games in recent weeks… Gradwell talks about his upbringing in the slums of Blackpool, and that’s apparently the inspiration for a “Back Alley Brawl” between the two next week…

Back in the studio, Meiko Satomura’s headed to the ring – sans her NXT UK Women’s title – as she’s here to call out Isla Dawn. But first, they recap Meiko beating Isla… who then stole her title belt. Meiko demands that her belt’s brought back, and what do you know, Isla’s cued and ready… with a mic in hand.

We get the cinematic spooky stuff like last time these two had an in-ring segment, and a lot of words to get to the meat of this: Isla wants a rematch, under her own “chaotic” rules. Hey, back-to-back segments where wrestlers pick their own stipulations! Isla leaves the belt in the ring, and I guess with Meiko picking it up, we get another wacky no DQ brawl on the cards… but not before Isla spit black mist at Meiko. Now black mist in wrestling means that you’re blinded for several weeks, so ideally this isn’t happening before May…

Backstage, Amale’s asked if she’s going to watch Eliza Alexander’s debut match. Luckily for her, it’s next…

During the break, the cameras pick up on Gallus arguing some more as Joe Coffey stormed out of their locker room…

Then backstage, Mark Andrews is with Wild Boar. Mark blames Eddie Dennis for interrupting his 15-year friendship with Boar… Boar speaks and peaks the mics, as Andrews says he’s going to help even the odds for Boar. Expect some tag matches before the ultimate clash with Eddie Dennis, eh?

Angel Hayze vs. Eliza Alexander
Alexander made her debut two weeks ago, attacking Amale and helping Xia Brookside. The duo came out with Xia running circles around Eliza, kind of like Martin Prince and Nelson Muntz…

We start with Alexander clubbing Hayze, before a side headlock was pushed out of. A spinning kick stopped Alexander, as did a dropkick to the side of the head, before a roll-up got a one-count on the former Lizzy Evo. Hayze’s waistlock’s broken as she’s thrown into the corner, then clotheslined down for a two-count.

More clubbing shots keep Hayze down, before a snapmare and a kick to the back kept things going. Hayze gets thrown face-first into the corner again, then got kneed in the ribs, as Alexander perhaps took too long to follow up, as Hayze managed to chain some strikes together to get back in it.

A Slingblade dropped Alexander for a two-count, but Alexander got back in it with a Scouse Line, then finished Hayze off with a running knee to the side of the head. **

Backstage, Emilia McKenzie’s interviewed about her first year in NXT UK… it leads to the expected interruption because Stevie Turner was in the background from the off. Stevie mocks McKenzie for her “happy to be here” attitude, and took a dig at McKenzie “not being a threat.” That’ll be next week’s match then…

We’ve a video package to hype up the Moustache Mountain vs. Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter match… Trent Seven openly says he’s got a trick up his sleeve because he “has to” retain the titles. Was there a retirement angle that I missed here? They recap the singles matches they’ve had lately, with Tyler Bate looking more and more bemused as Trent’s “win at all costs” attitude… are we finally getting that turn? It’s best two-out-of-three falls anyway, and that’s next week…

Teoman vs. A-Kid
Teoman had Charlie Dempsey and Rohan Raja with him… meanwhile, A-Kid was on his lonesome.

A tentative start saw A-Kid play keepaway, before things went to ground with A-Kid frustrating Teoman. A shot from A-Kid as Teoman was on the top rope annoyed the German, but A-Kid remains ahead with a headlock takedown, before headscissors got Teoman briefly free.

A-Kid stretched Teoman on the mat in a bow-and-arrow, eventually pulling back too far as Teoman nearly nicked the pin. Kicking out, A-Kid goes in with a toe hold, but Teoman got free and tied up A-Kid in a strait-jacket choke. It’s rolled out of as A-Kid came back with a springboard armdrag and a dropkick as Teoman just couldn’t get much offence going.

Charlie Dempsey pops up on the apron to distract, and it worked as Teoman threw him onto the apron as Rohan Raja pulled A-Kid down to the apron for a low dropkick… and just like that, the match turned around. A neckbreaker followed back inside for a two-count for Teoman, as he then chokes A-Kid in the ropes as shots to the neck looked to keep him on track. A-Kid tries to kick Teoman’s leg out of his leg, eventually doing so, only to get dumped with a slam.

Chops and forearms looked to get A-Kid back into it, before he took Teoman into the corner… only to get booted. A running forearm misses as A-Kid instead came back with a PK, then a Fisherman suplex for near-falls, before a mounted sleeperhold morphed into a guillotine.

Teoman fought free, then blocked a crossface attempt as a gut shot and a spin-out Falcon arrow nearly ended things. An over-the-knee brainbuster keeps A-Kid down, as did a sliding forearm… but A-Kid kicks out at two as we were deep into the main event commentary stylings. Elbows between the pair keep things going, before a handspring from Teoman landed into a rear naked choke from A-Kid, whose repositioning ends with the pair rolling into the ropes.

The pair move to the apron, where A-Kid’s knocked down to the floor… Teoman joins him for a running forearm… but ends up hitting nothing but the ring steps as Teoman’s obsession with that move backfired. A-Kid looked to follow-up with a springboard moonsault, but Teoman avoids it as Dempsey and Raja ate the dive, before a back suplex onto the apron led to Teoman picking up a near-fall on the Spaniard. From there, Nazar – the flip stunner – dumps A-Kid… and that’s enough for the win. You’d have to think this could be a farewell defeat for A-Kid, who’s now lost three in a row on this show – but also hasn’t been seen in the States since before WrestleMania weekend… ***¼

6.4

The final score: review Average

The 411

A so-so show, with the big “HUH?” moment being the sheer lack of mention of the big Cardiff show that got announced this week. Not a good omen for “our brand.”