Hamilton’s NXT UK Review 05.13.21

Quick Results
Heritage Cup Rules: Noam Dar beat Nathan Frazer by 2 falls to 1 at 1:50 of Round 5 (***¼)
Mark Andrews pinned Levi Muir in 4:32 (**¼)
Meiko Satomura wins a gauntlet match in 16:33 (**¾)

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Last week’s NXT UK was full of STUFF that was thrown out at a breakneck speed, while somehow also running short compared to its usual timeslot. Is that going to be the new normal? If so, like the show’s theme says, it’s “making my brain decay”

We’re live on tape from the BT Sport studios in London to find out, with Andy and Nigel on the call…

We’ve a black hole in the graphic for tonight’s main event as Xia Brookside’s not been cleared to compete. A replacement’s going to be announced in due course…

Heritage Cup Rules: Nathan Frazer vs. Noam Dar
Ooh, I wonder if this’ll finish 2-1?

Round 1: Nigel starts off with a bold faced lie, saying that Peacock pursued WWE so they could get the Supernova Sessions… Frazer grounds Dar early on, working the wrist before Dar escaped and returned the favour. They stay on the wrists, before an armdrag allows Frazer to follow with an armbar… which ends in the ropes as Frazer switched it up. Dar baits Frazer into the ropes, before another even exchange ended with headlock takedowns and escapes before Dar snuck in an uppercut in the ropes after the first round ended.

Round 2: Dar throws another uppercut early on, then tripped up Frazer ahead of a spinning backslide attempt… but Frazer hits it instead before a small package puts the Jersey lad 1-0 up at 59 seconds of the round.

Round 3: Dar shoos away his assigned second to start, as he ends up running into a dropkick. A running shooting star press gets Frazer a two-count as Sha Samuels came out to corner Dar, which of course distracted Frazer. Dar kicks Frazer off the top rope, and nearly equalises with a pin, before he began to stomp over Frazer a la Ronnie Garvin. Kicks from Dar get caught, but Frazer misses an enziguiri before he hits a Quebrada into an Eye of the Hurricane… but rather than go for a cover, Frazer heads up top and gets distracted by the mouthy Sha, allowing Dar to meet him up top. Frazer knocks him down, but the round ends before he could leap… and so he’s frustrated.

Round 4: A shotgun dropkick catches Dar at the bell as Frazer scoots up top for a frog splash… it’s aborted, as Dar gets up for some kicks. A back elbow gets Dar a two-count as he nearly levelled with the Judas Effect. Dar sizes Frazer up for the Nova Roller… but Frazer ducks out and nearly snatches the win with a roll-up. Frazer goes for the Eye of the Hurricane again, but Dar blocks it and grabs a knee bar, quickly getting a submission to level at 1:13 of the round.

Round 5: Frazer’s quick tap helped him as he’s back up trading shots to start off here…. They trade roll-ups for two-counts, before a spin-out suplex gets Frazer another near-fall. Frazer baseball slides to the outside, but Sha interferes to prevent a springboard… but Frazer gets it off anyway as a springboard crashes and burns before a Nova Roller gets the win at 1:50 of the round. Frazer looked good here, but fell into the usual “good guy falls for distraction” traps, while we continue to wait for someone to sweep these matches 2-0. ***¼

We cut to the pretape we saw last week of Rampage Brown catching Gallus’ ball… it’s leading to that match with Wolfgang in the not-too-distant future.

Then it’s a Pretty Deadly segment – it’s the Brian Elliott edit, coming without all of the press corp quotes. They cover Pretty Deadly’s title win last month, and claim they’ll be champions for a while.

Back at the PC, Jack Starz is broken hearted. Kindly Granda’ Trent Seven’s looking after him as Sam Gradwell approached to have a word, calling Trent “over the hill.” Trent slaps him as a referees and officials in masks separate them.

Levi Muir vs. Mark Andrews
Muir’s still looking for his first win, and we’ve a new entrance theme and general production for Andrews, Webster and Dani Luna… kinda ruined by them having the lower third in colour over it. Go all in, lads. It’s pretty damn cool aside from that though.

Muir has to defend an armbar early on, then a side headlock, before his snapmare was floated out of. Andrews goes for a roll-up, then trips Muir ahead of a standing moonsault for a two-count, before right hands had Levi in the ropes. Muir reverses a whip and finds a way through with a scoop slam for a two-count, before uppercuts trapped Andrews in the corner.

Andrews is staggering by the ropes as Muir pulls him into a torture rack… but Andrews slips out and returns with right hands. A shot to the gut stops him, with Muir hitting a rebound suplex off the ropes for a two-count, before a sunset flip’s blocked with Andrews fighting back again, knee sliding past Muir ahead of an enziguiri. A 619 to the arse knocks Muir down, ahead of a springboard that goes nowhere, with Muir then catching Andrews’ crossbody ahead of a second rebound suplex that’s turned into a Stundog Millionaire.

Andrews follows Muir with a tope to the outside, before a shooting star press to the back of Muir back in the ring gets the win. A fun TV squash, as they reintroduce Andrews and co with the new Subculture gimmick. **¼

“Earlier today,” the assistant to the regional manager is asked about Xia Brookside’s replacement. Amale walks up and demands the spot, but she’s told she’ll not be in the gauntlet match. Instead, she’ll get Xia Brookside when she’s cleared. Cue angry French ranting, which I choose to believe was directed at the assistant…

They replay Amir Jordan’s farewell from NXT UK last week – apparently he’s needing shoulder surgery, which explains the rushed nature of it. There’s backstage footage of Jordan sobbing as he’s helped towards the medics’ room… and then a sudden cut to “USO!” – a plug for SmackDown tomorrow.

Next week: A-Kid vs. Tyler Bate for the Heritage Cup… as we then segue into a sitdown interview with the pair of them. They at least got better cameras than when they did this with WALTER and Rampage. A-Kid talked about how important the Heritage Cup is to him, while Tyler and his cardigan said that the Heritage Cup represented “raw, technical wrestling” as they bantered about self-assurance and experience.

Next week: Ilja Dragunov on the Supernova Sessions. That’ll be wacky.

Gauntlet: Isla Dawn vs. Emilia McKenzie vs. Dani Luna vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Jinny
Isla Dawn and Emilia McKenzie start first, building on their recent feud…

They open with a lock-up into the ropes, but McKenzie takes Dawn down for a front chancery as she tried to roll the Scotswoman down for some pin attempts. A right hand from McKenzie, then a kick has Dawn rocked, with a swinging neckbreaker leading to a two-count. Dawn charges to the corner to break a waistlock attempt, as stomps keep McKenzie down… a running kick follows, as Dawn begins to build her offence.

Back-and-forth strikes lead to an enziguiri from McKenzie, then a dropkick, before McKenzie headed up top and rolled back in for a spear… which nearly eliminated Dawn. Isla returns with a head kick, then a bridging half-and-half suplex… and that’s McKenzie eliminated at 3:30.

Dani Luna’s out with the black-and-white entrance, quickly throwing Dawn around with suplexes for a near-fall after thirty-seconds. A fireman’s carry is elbowed out of, with Dawn going for another head kick, only to take a clothesline as Luna gets another near-fall. An Exploder follows, as does a shoulder charge into the corner before a second Exploder keeps the two-counts coming.

Dawn elbows out of another suplex, then charges into the corner, hitting the ring post as Dawn gets the next elimination with a roll-up at 5:32. Instantly we hear Meiko Satomura’s music, she’s the replacement… and Dawn took a while to notice and react, being too busy celebrating. She dropkicks Meiko in the ropes, then took her outside and into the guard rails. Back inside, Meiko fought back with right hands, dropping Dawn with kicks in the corner… but Isla’s back to trade elbows until a Pele kick dropped her for a near-fall. More kicks from Meiko soften up Dawn, but the cartwheel knees miss, as head kicks from Isla have Satomura in the ropes.

Satomura’s caught with a backdrop driver out of the ropes, before a second one leads to a running Meteora for another near-fall. More knee drops from Dawn eventually miss, allowing Meiko to hit a spike DDT, then the cartwheel knees… before Dawn rolled up out of a death valley driver for a near-fall. Meiko comes back with an armbar, then rolled up Dawn for the pin at 9:40.

Last out is Jinny, who has Joseph Conners with her. The final fall starts with a staredown, before a lock-up sees Jinny take Satomura into the ropes, as Jinny then grounds Satomura for an armbar. Jinny slows down the pace with front facelocks as she looks for pins on Satomura, with a Magistral almost doing it.

Kicks from Satomura get her ahead, but headscissors from Jinny keep things even. Meiko escapes and shrugs off some right hands as Jinny tried to break a leg spreader. It didn’t work as Satomura breaks out more kicks, knocking down Jinny ahead of a spinning heel kick and a STF, but Jinny’s able to claw her way to the rope.

Jinny pulls Satomura into the ropes, then threw her to the mat for a two-count, as camera cuts greeted some mounted punches. Conners pops up on the apron to distract as Satomura went for a death valley driver… she kicks him off the apron, then hit the move on Jinny anyway, before a Scorpion kick gets the win. Meiko earns a title shot against Kay Lee Ray with that win, after a match that was literally two halves – a somewhat rushed build to the Jinny/Meiko portion, which didn’t do much for me, it must be said, thanks to those rapid eliminations. **¾

Kay Lee Ray’s out immediately after for the obligatory staredown. They bow to each other, but Ray catches out Meiko with a superkick and ends the show standing over her future contender.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

A much better-paced show than last week, as everything was given time to breathe - rather than being part of a barrage of non-stop segments. The first three falls in the women’s gauntlet felt particularly rushed at times, while those who like to overanalyse results may feel that certain new names on the roster are now starting to get slotted with their results today.