Hamilton’s NXT UK Review 06.09.22

Quick Results
Mark Andrews pinned Kenny Williams in 9:46 (**½)
Primate & T-Bone pinned Tate Mayfairs & Oli Blake in 4:32 (*½)
Eliza Alexander pinned Amale in 6:51 (**¼)
Meiko Satomura pinned Ivy Nile in 10:26 to retain the NXT UK Championship (***)

— 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.

Opening with a recap of last week’s tag title win for Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter – again, with focus on Trent Seven’s threatened retirement, amplifying the volume when he said “I am done” after walking out last week. Anyways, we’re back at the BT Sport studios in London once again… Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness are on commentary.

Mark Andrews vs. Kenny Williams
This one’s got some history, with Williams taking credit for Andrews’ injury a while back.

Williams powders outside at the bell, so he can look under the ring for masked men. He’s going a little overboard on the nerves, which allowed Andrews to dropkick him off the apron, then chop him around ringside. Back inside, an armdrag led to an armbar, only for Williams to take it to the ropes as he went for Andrews’ nose.

A knee slide and leaping enziguiri got Andrews back in it… he’s slapped by Williams in the ropes, but Andrews is able to finish off his Dragon screw anyway. Williams sneaks back in with an arm whip against the side of the ring, before some bouncing stomps back inside allowed the Scotsman to build up confidence.

Andrews flips out and hits a back suplex to keep him in the chase, but Williams goes back to the arm, wrapping it around the ropes, then throwing it into the mat, as a roll down got Williams a one-count. More stretching of the arm stops when Andrews wheelbarrowed Williams into a stomp…

Another knee slide ends with Williams going for a chicken wing, before Andrews hit the Stundog Millionaire. Andrews tries to kick and chop his way back in, eventually kicking Williams’ leg out of his leg before another stomp led to an attempted uranage. It lands at the second attempt, as a Side Effect, but doesn’t get the win, before the ante got upped. A roll-up from Andrews is good for a near-fall, as was Williams’ second crack at a rebound lariat.

Williams takes it up top, but he’s knocked down by Andrews… only to roll outside to avoid a shooting star press. Andrews gets dragged across the top rope as Williams slid back in to hit a spear tackle to the knee… before the masked man popped up on the apron to distract. Of course it’s Tiger Turan, and he stops Williams from hitting the headlock driver, before Andrews snatched the win with a roll-up. Technically this was fine, but dear God, the WWE Distraction Finish added to just how stale Andrews feels… made this duller than the week-old water trapped in my broken-down dishwasher. **½

ANOTHER video package on Trent Seven teasing retirement through the months. At this point the focus is absolutely not on “who won the belts” but squarely on the former champions, which I’m not happy with. They catch Trent backstage last week, but he refused to elaborate on what he meant… and next week, he’ll speak more.

Earlier this week, Mark Coffey’s looking out of the window at the UK Performance Centre, as if he were waiting for his brother Joe to return. His phone rings, and we get the return of crystal clear audio from another room.

Tate Mayfairs & Oli Blake vs. Symbiosis (Primate & T-Bone)
It’s a debut for Blake, while Mayfairs has had a couple of matches – and a win – under his belt here. Meanwhile, Eddie Dennis looked none the worse for wear after his dog collar match…

Primate and Mayfairs start us off, with Tate getting backed into the corner early on. He bounds out for a side headlock, but Primate flips free before he ate a dropkick. Blake tags in, but ran into an armbar from Primate, then got clotheslined in the corner, as a back elbow took the newcomer down.

Blake’s stomped for good measure, while T-Bone’s suplex dropped Oli awkwardly. Primate’s back for a springboard double-sledge to Blake’s back, while forearms and a back suplex led to a double-team stomp as Symbiosis maintained control. A fallaway slam from T-Bone is next for a two-count, but Blake rolls free and tagged in Mayfairs, who finds a way through with some jabs.

A running knee drops T-Bone for a one-count, before a lariat folded Tate back on himself. From there, a slam from T-Bone, and a swandive headbutt from Primate gets the win. A squash, but not much to write home about. *½

Until the post-match that is, when T-Bone and Primate stared down Eddie Dennis’ celebrations… then clubbed away on him. Eddie gets the slam and headbutt treatment, and that’s Eddie on his own.

Ilja Dragunov is backstage… he’s here to watch Meiko Satomura. Ilja wants himself and Meiko to show that NXT UK is the strongest brand. O-kay…

Another recap of the tag title match from last week, FINALLY focusing on the winners. They show the new champions returning backstage to some cheers, along with some headlines… and then Ashton returning home to celebrate with his daughter. Some balance, at least…

Amale vs. Eliza Alexander
This is the continuation of Amale’s feud with Xia Brookside…

Opening with a lock-up, Alexander backs Amale into the corner. Amale returned with a shoulder charge, only for Eliza to kick her away ahead of a running neckbreaker. Xia tries to distract from the floor, but a dropkick sees Amale get a two-count, before we had a chase. Xia again distracts Amale, allowing Alexander to capitalise with a kick through the ropes.

Alexander boots Amale into the corner for some choking… Amale’s taken outside, but rolled back in as Alexander picked her spots. Slaps led to a modified camel clutch from Alexander. Amale gets free and begins to trade strikes, before Alexander ran some boots in the corner… then some clotheslines and back elbows.

Amale’s whipped into the corner, but she sidesteps a charge and bulldogged Alexander out of it for a near-fall. A uranage keeps the pressure up, as did a face-washing kick in the corner, before another boot knocked Xia off the apron. Alexander tries to take advantage, but ends up getting rolled up for a two-count… before a kick and a sliding knee gets Alexander the win. Decent for the time it had, but the crowd didn’t seem that much into it… even if the result perhaps puts Alexander further up the queue for a title shot. **¼

Wolfgang interrupts Damon Kemp’s warm-up so we can segue into his version of a work-out… some pints. Kemp has trouble understanding Wolfgang at first (I can relate), as they sink those pints… which Damon has trouble keeping down as they stumble back to wherever they are staying. They’ve got a week to sober up.

Earlier this week, Lash Legend’s asked about her match with Emilia McKenzie… then gets interrupted by Myla Grace, who looks to talk her way into a match.

Next week: Noam Dar & Sha Samuels vs. Wolfgang & Damon Kemp… plus Trent Seven speaks.

NXT UK Women’s Championship: Ivy Nile vs. Meiko Satomura (c)
Nile got her title shot by politely asking, which is nice…

Meiko resists the opening lock-up as she took the challenger into the ropes… but Nile rolled them to the mat, then grabbed a toe as she looked for a half crab. It’s escaped though, as Satomura locked up with a knuckle lock, looking to bridge Nile back, before a wristlock helped take the challenger to the mat.

Nile manages to escape with a release Northern Lights-ish suplex, before she looked to take Meiko’s back… but a cradle’s blocked, as Meiko grabbed a side headlock. A drop toe hold takes Meiko into place for a front facelock, where knees and a leaping forearm in the corner kept Nile on the back foot.

A gutwrench suplex followed for a two-count, while a grounded abdominal stretch was stopped… so Meiko could kick her in the back. Nile responds with a headlock takedown, then a headstand out of a headscissors counter, before a shoulder tackle from Satomura took her down.

Nile rolls through a crossbody, going through into a fallaway slam and a STO-like takedown as the challenger built up for a modified surfboard. Satomura tries to return with a double wrist lock, while kicks from Satomura were returned in kind by Nile for a near-fall. An armbar from Satomura’s blocked, so she throws some uppercuts instead, then a spinning heel kick for a two-count.

Nile’s jumping kicks corner Satomura ahead of a Diamond Dust out of the corner… but Meiko kicked out in the nick of time. An enziguiri gets Nile another near-fall, before a head kick from Satomura turned the proverbial lights out. A DDT keeps it going, then the cartwheel knee drop, before Nile resisted a death valley driver.

Satomura’s forced to defend a Dragon sleeper, which nearly put her out… before Satomura managed to push back and trap Nile on the mat for a three-count. This was better than you’d expect, even if you didn’t buy a title change here. A match to give Nile experience, and if they were to run this back in (say) a year, it’d be interesting to see how she’s developed. ***

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

The current story in NXT UK is around Trent, which they made sure to put a lot of focus on… but my word, virtually the remainder of this show feels cold.