Hamilton’s NXT UK Review 08.25.22

Quick Results
NXT UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Trent Seven submitted Oliver Carter in 12:00 (***¼)
NXT UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Tyler Bate pinned Joe Coffey in 9:14 (***½)
Heritage Cup Rules: Noam Dar defeated Joe Coffey by 2 rounds to 1 at 1:45 of round 6 to win the NXT UK Heritage Cup (***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 open with a recap of the first round of the NXT UK title tournament, then preview the Heritage Cup main event as we’re back at the BT Sport Studios in London as we’re going long this week. One hour, seven minutes on the VOD…

Nigel McGuinness again joins Andy Shepherd on commentary.

NXT UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Trent Seven vs. Oliver Carter
“Trent’s destroyed the reputation he’s built throughout his career” – feels more ominous given last week’s mass releases, eh?

Carter’s hobbled to the ring, and he’s limping from the off. He’s able to hit an enziguiri and take Trent outside for a plancha, but Carter lands badly on the leg. Heading back inside, Trent kicks Carter’s leg in the ropes before a Dragon screw brought him back into the ring, while a slam drew a two-count. Another slam dumped Carter into the ropes, following up with some stomps onto the bad knee, before Carter tried to sneak a win with a roll-up.

Trent’s out at two as he went to corner Carter with chops, then dropped his knee across the back of Carter’s knee in the ropes. A chop targeted the knee, as did a knee breaker, while a sunset flip gave Carter some more hope. Trent stops that comeback with a simple kick to the knee, before Carter pushed away what looked like a Sharpshooter set-up.

Carter pushes on with some leaping forearms, then a rolling Koppo kick, before a one-legged Quebrada nearly won it for him. A scissors kick misses, allowing Trent back in with a half-and-half suplex, before Emerald Flowsion only drew a near-fall. A Seven Star lariat’s fought out of as Carter headed up for a missile dropkick, landing it before the scissors kick dropped Trent for a near-fall.

Carter tries to follow-up, but collapsed as he charged into the corner… then snuck in a small package for a near-fall. Trent goes back to the knee with a chop, before a Figure Four left Carter in the middle of the ring forced Carter to drag himself to the ropes. Trent pulls him away, so Carter swings with slaps, only for retaliatory slaps to nearly lead to Trent pinning him in the hold… before he sunk in the hold some more and forced the stoppage. A good underdog match, but given the four left in the tournament, there’s only really one possible final… ***¼

Noam Dar’s warming up backstage…

…and so are the Coffey brothers.

NXT UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Tyler Bate vs. Joe Coffey
We open with a lock-up, and a plug for the Cardiff show (complete with a timely “there’d never be a better time to represent this brand as champion”), as Bate worked Coffey’s arm. It’s rolled through, but Tyler regains the wristlock.

Coffey rolls through for a Boston crab, but Bate powers out before his cravat was blocked. Shoulder tackles follow, eventually ending with a dropkick from Bate, who then outsmarted Coffey with some World of Sport stuff, tripping him up for a near-fall with a roll-up.

Out of nowhere, a Glasgow Send Off takes Bate into the corner for a near-fall, while a backbreaker added another two-count. A bear hug’s next, while Bate snuck out a Victory roll… only for Coffey to kick out and charge back with a crossbody. It’s back to the bear hug as Coffey takes Tyler into the buckles, before Tyler fought out and nailed an airplane spin.

Bate loses it and gets rolled up for a near-fall, then got caught in a Giant Swing after Coffey rolled through a sunset flip. Tyler manages to find a second wind, landing an Exploder and a standing shooting star press for a near-fall, before an airplane spin attempt ended with Coffey countering into a rebound belly-to-belly suplex.

Bate’s thrown into the corner from there, before his flying uppercut was caught and turned into a pendulum-like German suplex for a near-fall. Stomps from Coffey led to a Boston crab, which Bate eventually rolled out of. Coffey popped up Bate into the corner, but Joe’s pop-up crossbody’s rolled through as Tyler nearly snatched the win right there.

Dualling clotheslines follow, leading to Awra Best for the Bells from Coffey… but he couldn’t make the cover. A Koppo kick from Bate out of nowhere is next, before he countered a pop-up into a backslide to snatch the win. Probably the best TV match of the last few weeks on this show, and I tell you, I’m shocked at that final. Shocked. ***½

Trent Seven appears in the aisle after the match for the obligatory staredown, as we’re told the final takes place next week.

The assistant to the regional manager announces a four-way for a shot at Meiko Satomura’s title – Amale, Isla Dawn, Eliza Alexander and Blair Davenport. That’ll take place next week, and that makes something from NXT 2.0 this week make more sense in a twisted way.

After commercials, we’re given a video package heralding the launch of NXT Europe, featuring a load of tweets and a load of footage from wrestlers released last week. I remain cynical, least of all because they didn’t even have a mock logo to show here up against it all…

NXT UK Heritage Cup: Noam Dar vs. Mark Coffey (c)
Well, this is the last Heritage Cup match for now… so which Scotsman leaves with the trophy?

Round 1: Dar tried to snatch an early fall with a roll-up, before he took down Mark with a wristlock. It ends in the ropes, with Coffey then fighting out of another wristlock, grabbing a side headlock before Dar’s attempts to swing for Coffey came up empty handed. A waistlock takedown has Dar down, as he then blocked an O’Connor roll, before armdrags from Coffey took us to the bell.

Round 2: Dar’s out with armdrags to start, but Coffey countered with one of his own before Dar grabbed a side headlock on the mat. Coffey gets out and grabbed the wrist as he stayed a step ahead of Noam. Another side headlock ends with shoulder tackles as Coffey kept the former champion at close quarters, before Dar kicked out the leg and tried to swing with a head kick. The aggression nearly backfired though as Coffey went for a roll-up, before he missed an elbow drop as Dar’s sliding elbow to the side of the head drew a near-fall. A stomp to the arms followed as Dar wound down the clock doing his best Ronnie Garvin…

Round 3: Coffey’s taken to the corner, but bursts out with shoulder tackles and a shoulder throw. Dar sidesteps a charge, but gets thrown down again before a low superkick and a back fist nearly put Coffey away. Dar tries to set up for something, but eats a sliding elbow instead as Coffey pulled ahead at 1:31 of the round.

Round 4: Some awful officiating saw the round start with Dar still on the deck, seconds after they’d teased a KO stoppage. Dar collapses down again, shaking off the cobwebs, before a full nelson ended in the ropes. Dar’s looking to stay close to Coffey, but ends up in the corner as an uppercut landed… before Dar spilled outside to avoid something off the middle rope. Coffey rolls him back inside as the referee finally goes to check on the challenger, but Dar refuses a stoppage, and swung back with some right hands. Another stoppage tease ends with a roll-up for a two-count, before a Champagne Super Knee Bar forced Coffey to tap at 2:17 of the round.

Round 5: Coffey tries to charge at Dar, but finds more luck taking Dar to the corner… following up with a bulldog for a two-count. Coffey avoids a roll-up as a Gator Lock was rolled out of, with Dar looking for a cross armbar. It’s broken with a roll-up as Dar charged in with a back elbow for another near-fall. Dar puts Coffey’s leg on the ropes, but took too long to go up top for a stomp, only for Dar to escape and kick him down. We almost get that stomp to the bad leg anyway, but Coffey rolls away before another Champagne Super Knee Bar was blocked. Second time’s the charm, but Coffey holds on and escaped before the buzzer.

Round 6: Coffey retains if Dar doesn’t get a fall here… and Coffey comes out swinging, only for Dar to leap in with a guillotine choke. It’s broken, before Dar was spun down with a shoulder tackle… only for an inside cradle to nearly nick it for Noam. Dar rolls onto the apron to avoid a sliding forearm, but just gets knocked off the apron with it as Coffey hit it between the ropes. Coffey brings Dar back inside, but gets cheapshot by Sha Samuels who’s bought a new tracksuit… and hopped the rail to post Coffey. A Nova Roller followed after Coffey was thrown back inside, and that’s it! At 1:45 of the round, Noam Dar’s regained the title and his friend, as I assume Sha’s put the house on Dar regaining the title, but unless that’s touched on next week, we’ll never know. ***¼

Dar and Sha celebrate to close the show… next week: NXT UK – The Final. That’s “final episode”, as well as “tournament final.” Will we get a farewell video package, or will it be just the same show as usual?

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Removing the fluff for the final few weeks looks to have NXT UK going out on a relative high, but we shouldn’t forget the many weeks of wheel-spinning that left this show in the proverbial mud.