Pantoja’s WWE NXT UK Review 5.12.22

NXT UK

May 11th, 2022 | BT Sports Studio in London, England

No, you are not mistaken. I am actually reviewing NXT UK. It has actually been WWE’s most consistent show (unless you count Raw being consistently bad, AM I RIGHT?) for a while now. Plus, it’s the 200th episode, so that’s a neat milestone. I hope to keep this up, though I will admit that when the Best of the Super Juniors begins, that will be priority over these shows.

Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter vs. Joe and Mark Coffey

Carter and Smith are a fun tandem, while the Gallus boys have been on the brand since day one. In fact, Joe Coffey was in the first ever match on this brand against Mark Andrews. Hey, I pulled that up before commentary mentioned it. The winner here would earn a spot in a Tag Title Three-Way coming up. This felt like a classic bout of speed against size. Gallus could dominate when they slowed the pace but Carter and Smith retaliated with quick bursts and athleticism. Joe Coffey swung the tide when he came in, hitting a splash and a sweet backbreaker though it tweaked his knee, which flared up again moments later. That led to Joe getting isolated and his knee became a target. The offense from Smith and Carter was smooth and engaging. Mark got the tag and cleaned house for a bit. Gallus came close to winning on a high/low combo but the pin was broken up. Joe was the legal man and his knee gave out again, allowing his opponents to hit a monkey flip assisted moonsault to win in 10:23. A solid match to start things and I liked the story of the knee giving out on an offensive move. [***]

A-Kid cut a promo saying that he was granted a match against Charlie Dempsey in two weeks under Heritage Cup rules.

A video package on the first 200 episodes of NXT UK aired. It focused on the Heritage Cup, Moustache Mountain, Alba Fyre, WALTER, and other big names.

Lash Legend interrupted Emilia McKenzie in the back. Emilia was annoyed that Lash is all talk and I’m guessing that match will happen soon.

Ivy Nile vs. Nina Samuels

Hey, Nina Samuels was also in the first NXT UK women’s match on the debut episode. Her opponent was Toni Storm by the way. I dig the presentation of Samuels’s entrance. Ivy’s little gimmick where she raises herself up on the ropes in the corner looks cool and oddly impressive. Ivy quickly impressive more with some headscissors action that saw her roll through and do some push-ups in the middle. Nina has the veteran edge here and used it to get in control for a bit. Her antics clearly got under Ivy’s skin, who responded with a series of kicks and strikes before running her over a few times. Nile used a Dragon Sleeper up top that she turned into Diamond Dust and rolled into a sweet cravat of sorts that made Samuels tap at the 4:41 mark. That was a good debut for Nile. Samuels wasn’t totally squashed and Nile did some cool stuff in there. [**]

Backstage, Damon Kemp cut an awkward and pretty bad promo calling out Sha Samuels.

We now got a weird Godfather parody of sorts with Dave Mastiff, Jack Starz, and what seemed to be a mop with Dempsey’s face on int. I didn’t like nor get any of this.

Joe Coffey was shown leaving the arena, disappointed because he wasn’t good enough.

Now we got a video package to hype Wild Boar vs. Eddie Dennis in a Dog Collar match next week.

A seemingly deranged Kenny Williams was obsessed and watching clips of Tiger Turan, who might be the “masked bozo” who has been after him.

NXT United Kingdom Championship Loser Leaves Town Match: Ilja Dragunov [c] vs. Jordan Devlin

Their first match missed the mark for me (**½). I have faith in Ilja though. Dragunov targeted the arm but a few minutes in, this broke down into a fight with some stiff shots. Devlin changed the game by hitting a buckle Brainbuster that commentary sold like it was unheard of. That took Dragunov out and allowed Devlin to get in the driver’s seat. He cockily held serve there and kept stopping Dragunov’s momentum with a counter or something like that. Of course, Dragunov got going with German suplexes and kicks. Dragunov always looks like he’s involved in the most legitimate of fights possible. The Devlinside led to a three count but Dragunov got his foot on the ropes. The referee missed it and Devlin celebrated with the title until Johnny Saint (he’s still GM?) showed up. He demanded this match be restarted, though he said rematch as if Devlin’s win countered and he now must immediately defend the title. They did a great close call after this on a Devlin Brainbuster that looked like it could’ve been a legitimate three. He missed a 450 splash and Dragunov capitalized with Torpedo Moscau to end this after 16:14. The false finish actually worked here and I thought the entire match was some really good hard hitting stuff that never went too long, nor tried too hard to be epic. [***¾]

Dragunov’s theme is awful.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

I’m glad I checked this episode out. I have been following the show and the last few weeks were rough but this was good for the 200th episode. A good opener, solid debut for Nile on the brand, and a banger of a main event.