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Kevin’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II Review

January 12, 2020 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II
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Kevin’s NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II Review  

NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II

January 12th, 2020 | Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire

I feel like I’m one of the few people who consistently watch NXT UK. I’ll be reviewing the episodes weekly over at https://www.patreon.com/the_kevstaaa going forward along with weekly reviews of AEW, NWA, and other WWE shows. Anyway, it’s TakeOver time and the card looks pretty good.

Eddie Dennis vs. Trent Seven

Interesting call for the opener. I’d have probably put this on second and started with Bate/Devlin or the Tag Titles. This is Dennis’ first real NXT UK match in months due to injury. He came out charging but was quickly stopped in his tracks. A lot of this seemed built around Dennis going for his Razor’s Edge finisher. Seven continually had it scouted and would follow up a counter with a big offensive move. I loved Dennis removing the turnbuckle pad. It’s such an old school heel move that we don’t see often enough now. I also liked how Seven hit it inadvertently, only for Dennis to want to do a Razor’s Edge into it. When the referee stopped him, Dennis hit the Razor’s Edge to the outside. It looked sick and should have been the finish. Dennis hit the Next Stop Driver to win right after in 8:16. That was a good sprint that worked well within the feud. The spot at the end was pretty great. [***¼]

NXT UK Women’s Championship: Kay Lee Ray [c] vs. Piper Niven vs. Toni Storm

As much as I enjoy the NXT UK women’s division, I’m still waiting on them to have a TakeOver banger. Rhea/Toni and KLR/Toni both underwhelmed. I’ve enjoyed the story of this so far. Their friendship, Niven’s desire for a big opportunity, KLR pulling the strings, and Toni’s obsession with the title. It all works. Those concepts played into the match. Toni attacked KLR at the bell to set up a hot start, though Niven quickly took control. You got the sense that Toni was being the aggressor, KLR was willing to lay back and let them beat each other up, and Niven kept coming in to try and steal the show. I loved the moment of Niven saving her friend, despite their differences, from KLR injuring her with a chair. Again, it fit the roles they had coming into this, especially with Toni possibly using the chair on Niven right after. Down the stretch, they started in with the bigger spots and this got better as it went on. Toni stopping the refereeing from counting three was another perfect moment for her. The Destroyer from Niven was insane and Toni trying to immediately steal it with Storm Zero after made for a fantastic near fall. Toni resorted to a frog splash late, only for KLR to superkick her and steal the pin, retaining in 13:11. They delivered. That was fantastic. I loved the way it played into their characters coming in, it had great action, and phenomenal late drama. My only real issue is that the finish is overdone in this kind of match. [****¼]

Jordan Devlin vs. Tyler Bate

Pumped for this because they’re two of the best wrestlers on the roster. Right from the start, this was simply about proving who the best wrestler on the brand is. Devlin had Bate well scouted, blocking Bop and Bang in the opening minutes. The target became Bate’s midsection. He risked it on a plancha that worked but then went too high risk again and came crashing down on Devlin’s knees. Devlin honed in on that body part. I loved the game of tit-for-tat they played. For example, after Bate landed on Devlin’s knees, his next shooting star press attempt saw him fake out Devlin, who indeed got his knees up. He added more offense before hitting it, learning from his mistakes. Then, it progressed to something more heated and the slugfest was fantastic. The fans ate it all up. Devlin not falling for Bop and hitting his own Bang was a great spot. The late exchange that led to the Tyler Driver ’97 featured one of the best near falls I can remember. Bate immediately hit the Spiral Tap in frantic fashion to win in 22:23. Another tremendous match. The exchanges they had were ridiculous and the battle of trying to constantly one up each other made for a compelling story. Phenomenal stuff from two great wrestlers and I’m glad Devlin got to have his breakout performance in NXT UK. [****½]

NXT UK Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: Gallus [c] vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs. Grizzled Young Vets vs. Imperium

Time for a good old fashioned clusterfuck. And I man that in a good way. This was wild from the start. Lots of big spots and all came at a ridiculous pace. I dug how each team had their purpose and their spots worked with it. Drake and Gibson were the jerks bringing chairs into play. Gallus were the monsters throwing people around. Webster and Andrews flew all over the place. And Imperium kind of blended all of those aspects together. They’re that good. Some of the spots were contrived but some of what they did was cool. Drake busting out a 450 splash was sweet. Webster leaning the ladder on Gibson and using that to climb was creative, too. There was Andrews and Webster’s absurd double somersault senton through ladders that was the highlight of the match. Gibson was great here, not wanting to climb much and protecting Drake as he did that part. The final spots were pretty great. Mark Coffey diving aside so Wolfgang could put Aichner through a ladder was great, followed by Barthel being knocked off the ladder and onto everyone else. From there, Gallus retrieved the titles to retain in 24:58. This was very good with plenty of great spots and worked at a fun pace. Not a classic ladder match but one that was very enjoyable. [***¾]

WWE United Kingdom Championship: WALTER [c] vs. Joe Coffey

I still don’t get why Joe Coffey keeps being booked as a top NXT UK guy. He has never really impressed me. That didn’t change here. For the second time in three NXT UK TakeOvers, Joe Coffey main evented and it was the worst thing on the card. This match had some good ideas in there and there were some quality moments of a good big man battle. It was just overbooked like hell. And I’m not someone who is overly against that. Under the right circumstances, it can work. Rock/HHH at Backlash 2000 is a classic and it’s overbooked. Here, it took away from the match. WALTER needing so much help is counterproductive to who he is. He beat Tyler Bate in an all-timer and it was a straight up match. This also dragged on for 27:33, which is far longer than it needed to be. WALTER ultimately retained with a crossface. This was a disappointment and it’s not like I had huge expectations for it in the first place. [**¾]

Post-match, Imperium posed together until the Undisputed Era ran in through the crowd. The invasion angle was great as the crowd ate it up and it built towards the big tag at Worlds Collide.

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
We were on our way to a phenomenal show before that main event tripped it up a bit. It wasn’t enough to make it bad as this is still a great show. It’s just one that ends on the worst note of the entire runtime. The opener is good, it is followed by two fantastic matches, and a damn good spotfest of a ladder match. Just get Coffey out of his featured position and NXT UK will be better for it.
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