Hamilton’s NXT UK Review 09.02.21

Quick Results
Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz pinned Dan Moloney & Andy Wild in 5:48 (**½)
Emilia McKenzie pinned Amale in 6:42 (**¾)
Heritage Cup Contender’s Tournament – First Round: Teoman beat Nathan Frazer by 2 falls to 1 at 2:43 of Round 5 (***)

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Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness are live on tape from the BT Sport Studios in London, running down the card to start with…

Blair Davenport vs. Nina Samuels
Blair continues to work her way up the totem pole…

Davenport jumps Samuels during her entrance, knocking her off the apron before throwing her into the rails. A Falcon arrow in the ring lays out Samuels, as Blair’s music and light show looked to lead to a Kamigoye… but out comes referees and the Assistant to the Regional Manager, who takes the Kamigoye and a Falcon Arrow. So… we don’t get the match!

They recap Aoife Valkyrie and Jinny from last week… focusing on the sunset bomb that looked to have injured Valkyrie. Jinny gets a rebuttal via a video package, saying that “to be the best, you have to handle the worst”, and apparently wins and losses don’t matter?

Art-Attack NXT logo time… then we’ve a wacky mind-bending promo with flat cap Eddie Dennis and Symbiosis. They’ve got a trios match soon with Saxon Huxley and two TBAs.

Dan Moloney & Andy Wild vs. Jack Starz & Dave Mastiff
Dan and Andy got the “in the ring” treatment…

Mastiff and Wild start us off with a lock-up. It’s pushed off as Mastiff came back with a shoulder block and a Northern Lights suplex before Starz came in to land some strikes. We’ve quick tags, but Wild blasts Starz with a forearm before Dan Moloney came in to try and nick a win with a backslide.

Moloney works the arm of Starz, using a Corning hold before Starz returned with a dropkick. Mastiff’s back in to slam Dan, with a back senton from Mastiff and a slingshot splash in from Starz nearly ending things. Starz tries for an O’Connor roll, but Moloney grabs the ropes as Wild distracted… and now they take over.

A nerve hold from Wild keeps Starz down… but not for long as Starz frees himself, hits a dropkick, then tagged in Mastiff, who squashes Moloney with a Finlay roll. A splash in the corner and a back body drop flings Moloney, then Wild across the ring, as Starz then came back to hit a running headbutt to Moloney in a Tree of Woe.

Mastiff follows up with a cannonball, and that’s the lot for Dan as we continue Mastiff and Starz’s slow build to a title shot. **½

We get a clip from Pretty Deadly’s TikTok. This isn’t for me. Their TikTok dance is interrupted by Gallus, because of course it is. Mark Coffey shoves Lewis Howley into the water feature they were dancing by, and we have the comedy swim to fade us out. Gallus have just passed the six month mark without those belts, for what it’s worth…

They replay Ilja winning the NXT UK title… and they’re going to replay that next week with “added insight.”

Amale vs. Emilia McKenzie
Amale’s got to go through McKenzie to get another shot at Meiko Satomura, it seems…

Amale takes McKenzie to the corner from the bell, but gets tripped down for a toe hold as McKenzie tied up the French woman. McKenzie rolled Amale down for a one-count, before a swinging neckbreaker nearly ended things. The momentum stayed with McKenzie, sidestepping Amale in the corner, only to get caught with kicks and knees in the ropes to take her to the floor.

On the outside, McKenzie’s met with forearms, before kicks in the corner and a whip back into the buckles put Amale ahead. A chinlock’s next, but McKenzie fights free ahead of a back suplex for a two-count. Amale’s clothesline keeps her in it though, before McKenzie elbowed out of a cobra clutch… only to be charged down again.

McKenzie nearly nicks a win with a small package, but Amale kicks out and hits another shoulder tackle, before a backslide from McKenzie, then a Magistral cradle added more two-counts. A cutter from McKenzie’s pushed off, as Amale pushes McKenzie out of the corner for a shotgun dropkick.

From there, a running boot knocks McKenzie in the corner, only for her to shrug it off and snatch the win with a roll-up. This was a good little TV match, even if the finish felt way too “out of nowhere” for my taste… **¾

They replay Blair Davenport’s pre-match attack from the top of the show, and then we go to the Assistant to the Regional Manager getting checked over with Vince McMahon’s neck brace.

“Earlier this week” Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith walk in on Saxon Huxley wrecking the place… they’re going to team with him against Symbiosis next week.

Sam Gradwell gets a promo for his Heritage Cup match… he’s facing Wolfgang next week. They’ve got form against each other, so this ought to be a pretty decent match, assuming the rounds rules doesn’t mess up the flow.

Next week: Symbiosis vs. Huxley/Carter/Smith, plus Gradwell vs. Wolfgang, and that Director’s Commentary replay of WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov. Was that the original plan?

Heritage Cup Contender’s Tournament: Nathan Frazer vs. Teoman
Winner of this gets Gradwell or Wolfgang in the semis…

Round 1: We open with a lock-up that went nowhere before Teoman wrestled down Frazer with a wristlock. Teoman works the arm, levering it as he tries for a submission in the first round, before Frazer got up and charged Teoman into the corner. Forearms and chops have the German in the ropes, but Teoman fought back before he took a dropkick at the bell.

Round 2: Teoman goozles Frazer early on, but the grip’s broken as Frazer came back with a leaping forearm to knock Teoman to the outside. Frazer goes for a dive, but Rohan Raja takes the impact for Teoman, who leaps on Frazer, throwing him into the steps before a diving forearm led to the first fall at 1:03 of the round.

Round 3: Frazer’s on the defensive to start, taking a kick to the arm as Teoman nearly wrapped it up early. Headscissors from Frazer take Teoman outside, but his baseball slide sees Teoman trap him in the ring apron a la Finlay. They beat the count-out, with Teoman delivering a gut punch, then a stomp to the back… but Frazer avoids another and came right back. A springboard dropkick caught Teoman in the corner, but Frazer can’t follow up, and ends up hitting a ‘rana out of the corner just too late as Teoman’s saved by the bell.

Round 4: Teoman looks like his neck’s bothering him, but he started trading forearms with Frazer. Uppercuts to the arm looked to set up for a crossface, but Frazer pushes into the corner, only for a missile dropkick to the back from Teoman to land for a near-fall, before a snap small package from Frazer levels it up at 1:50 of the round. Because these almost always have to end 2-1.

Round 5: Frazer charges out with a Slingblade, then hits a Twister suplex for a near-fall. Teoman tries for a handspring back elbow, before he countered an Eye of the Hurricane into a spin-out butterfly suplex for a two-count, before Frazer charges Teoman to the outside. He followed up with a tope, as Rohan Raja couldn’t be the human shield this time… before a springboard elbow drop back in drew another near-fall for Frazer. From there, Frazer moves Teoman as he went up top for a Phoenix Splash… and whiffs as Teoman came back with Nazar – the flip stunner – for the win.

Like a bad dog walker, wrestlers in Heritage Cup matches have a hard time holding their lead. It was no different here, but at least Teoman managed to grab it back in the end, even if him getting the win did surprise me a little given the relative pushes. ***

6.4

The final score: review Average

The 411

A pretty flat episode of the show, as Ilja Dragunov remains away from the show - or at least, the BT Sport Studios. Some good “TV matches” on deck, but right now they’re struggling to make anything feel close to important.