‘NXT UK’ Review (April 2nd 2020)
Welcome to this week’s NXT UK review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the big Battle Royal for a UK Title shot, so let’s…are hush puppies just quiet dogs or lazy dogs?
Match #1: Kay Lee Ray & Jinny def. Piper Niven & Dani Luna
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the opening matchup, NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray joined forces with Jinny against Piper Niven and up-and-comer Dani Luna. In the final moments, The Fashionista neutralized Niven by hurling her into the steel ring steps. She then delivered a hard right to Luna from the apron and paved the way for The Scary Queen of Scots to hit the Gory Bomb on Luna for the victory.
My Opinion: 2.8 out of 5 – Overall, this wasn’t half bad. There’s some fine wrestlers in here, but the match…I don’t know. There’s nothing bad in here, but I wouldn’t necessarily call this a must-see. Hey, Niven did well and KLR was cool and…Daddy? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO…(gun-shot)! Daddy shot me…in my ass. Damn TalkTech was on, wasn’t it? Why does it always record me getting shot…in my ass? Well, at least these ladies got their whoop on alright.
Match #2: Xia Brookside def. Amale
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Come fly with Xia Brookside! After taking some time off to hone her skills at the Performance Center, the daughter of the great Robbie Brookside battled through an injury to her arm and overcame French newcomer Amale with Broken Wings in a hard-fought contest.
My Opinion: 2.7 out of 5 – This was okay for a few-minute match. This was almost a squash, but was mostly just a longer match stuffed into two or so minutes. Xia is getting good though…
Match #3: (Main Event) Winner: Ilja Dragunov – NXT UK Championship No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In the main event, 20 Superstars competed in a highly-anticipated Battle Royal to determine who would be the next competitor to challenge the NXT UK Champion. Competitors included Trent Seven, Tyler Bate, Joe Coffey, Ilja Dragunov, Ridge Holland, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin, Alexander Wolfe, Noam Dar, Tyson T-Bone, Dave Mastiff, Kassius Ohno, Travis Banks, Saxon Huxley, Flash Morgan Webster, A-Kid, Kenny Williams, Amir Jordan, Ashton Smith, Oliver Carter and Ligero. In a total free-for-all filled with great moments, it all came down to Bate against Dragunov. After countering the Tyler Driver ‘97 and flipping the first-ever United Kingdom Champion over the top rope, The Mad Russian hit Tornado Moscow on Bate as he was hanging onto the top rope for dear life and sent him crashing to the ringside floor. Dragunov reigned supreme and earned the right to battle the NXT UK Champion!
My Opinion: 3.5 out of 5 – This was pretty damn good, with some very creative spots and a final stretch that delivered some fantastic wrestling. IIja is a great choice to win, as he has an aura about him that really gets stronger when he gets a dominant victory like he got here. I said the word “he” so many times that you’d think I got it in bulk at Costco. Over-all, for a match that didn’t look like it was gonna be much, it ended-up being quite a thriller in its own right, while still crowning another worthy contender to the NXT UK Championship.
Final Verdict: 3.4/5
The Battle Royal was the big attraction here and, since it lived-up to it’s potential, I’d say that the show was pretty good because of it.
