By Laura Mauro @LauraNMauro
(If you’re not already aware of the results of the WWE UK Championship Tournament, then note that the below review contains copious spoilers. You have been warned.)
Prior to the commencement of WWE’s two-night tenure at London’s Royal Albert Hall, there had been a degree of concern over whether the UK tournament would attract a decent audience, given that the clever clogs in WWE’s tour scheduling department (assuming that’s a thing) booked Night One to coincide with England’s first World Cup group match. Reports of somewhat lacklustre attendance appear to have resonated with the company, because on Night 2 I was pleasantly surprised to be offered a free ticket upgrade; no longer seated up in the gods, I found myself a few rows back from the ringside area (unfortunately facing the cameras – so when the show airs next week, keep an eye out for my gurning mush dissolving in pure joy at Aleister Black’s entrance.) The sparsely-populated seats soon filled out, though, and just in time for the dark match:
Ligero def. Wild Boar
The artist formerly known as ‘El’ Ligero saw off Wild Boar in a short, snappy bout. I’d previously been unfamiliar with Wild Boar, but despite the relative brevity of the match I thought both performers came across pretty well. Ligero planted Wild Boar with a springboard tornado DDT for the win.
Then onto the real festivities…
NXT Tag Team Title Match: Moustache Mountain def. Undisputed Era
A fairly equal reception for both teams, though I’d say the Brits just about pipped Roddy and O’Reilly, particularly once the match got underway. And it was a hell of a match; watching Trent Seven get repeatedly pasted, denied the tag over and over, and you might have been forgiven for thinking that the Undisputed boys were obviously going to get the job done. O’Reilly’s jelly-legged selling is always a joy to witness, while Seven and Tyler Bate have tremendous chemistry as a team – if the crowd were equally split early on, the vast majority were fully behind Moustache Mountain by the end. A flurry of near falls culminated in a surprise win for Seven and Bate, securing the NXT Tag Team titles to a rapturous reaction from the home crowd. I’d be very surprised if they hold the titles for long – it feels suspiciously like a ploy to win us over, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t work, at least on the night. Still, it’s nice to feel, even for the short-term, that NXT UK matters enough to earn a significant title change, and it’s hard to be cynical when everyone’s favourite wrestling dad Trent Seven is smiling from ear to ear.
Next, a brief interlude in which WWE legend Christian was shown to be in attendance – chants of ‘One More Match’ abound, and it’s clear that his popularity has not waned in the intervening years. Then, onto the next match:
Charlie Morgan def. Killer Kelly
Charlie Morgan was an unexpected treat; I’d heard rumours of her signing a tryout contract, but hadn’t thought we’d see her in action so soon. The Ace of Eve squared off against Portugal’s Killer Kelly in a short bout, which felt more like a dark match than part of the taping, ending with Morgan reversing Kelly’s suplex into a small package for the win. Charlie’s repertoire seemed somewhat truncated, but that’s hardly a surprise as she adjusts to the WWE ‘house style’ – I don’t suppose we’ll be seeing her pulling out any more Ibushi-esque balcony dives like the one at WrestleQueendom. Still, it’s a genuine pleasure to see her performing in front of a sizeable audience and – my mixed feelings on WWE’s UK expansion notwithstanding – I hope she’s in for a successful future.
Triple Threat to decide the NXT United Kingdom Championship #1 Contender: Flash Morgan Webster v Travis Banks v Mark Andrews
But wait! Out comes Johnny Saint, who decides that a triple threat is insufficiently exciting and orders the match upgraded to a Fatal Four Way (or, as Saint put it, a ‘Four Man Fatal’). But who could the mystery fourth man be? None other than Noam Dar, back from injury and, quite frankly, in incredible shape. (He’s ditched the Lego man hair cut too – a vast improvement.)
Triple Threat Fatal Four Way to decide the NXT United Kingdom Championship #1 Contender: Noam Dar def. Flash Morgan Webster, Travis Banks & Mark Andrews
Once Dar was added, it was really only going to go one way, and the returning Scotsman looked fresh and fired up; it’ll be interesting to see whether he’ll be ditching 205 Live for a permanent spot on the NXT UK roster, but he looked very comfortable indeed, and the crowd had no trouble getting behind him. Chants of ‘Four Man Fatal’ rang out as the four men collided. Webster, Andrews and Dar traded fast-paced high spots, though Travis Banks perhaps came across the strongest; his drive and aggression translated well to the NXT ring. Dar took advantage of a missed Mandrews shooting star press to secure the win. After the match, Joe and Mark Coffey ran in to lay waste to the three men left behind, while Dar did the smart thing and beat a swift retreat.
NXT North American Championship Match: Adam Cole def. Wolfgang
There was no question as to who the crowd was behind here. Cole received a rockstar’s reception and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand (quoth the woman behind me: “YOU’RE ALL SYCOPHANTS!”) Wolfgang, on the other hand, was treated largely as a nonentity, despite a perfectly entertaining performance – he pulls off a beautiful moonsault. Honestly, I felt quite bad for him…
A brutal-looking Shining Wizard to the back of the head was enough to secure Cole’s victory. No surprises to be had here, but Cole is red hot right now, and works the crowd with such casual ease that it’s hard to begrudge him success.
Aleister Black and Ricochet def. Velveteen Dream and EC3
My most anticipated match of the night, with three of my NXT favourites in the same ring. And EC3. (A word on EC3: he is enormous. His muscles have muscles. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a terrifyingly tanned, shredded man. Vince McMahon must love him.)
Velveteen Dream exudes charisma; Meltzer can dismiss him as overrated til he’s blue in the face, but the Dream is the real deal. Like Cole, he has total command of the crowd – teasing an elbow drop to the outside only to dismiss us as unworthy of the spectacle. It’s hard to believe he’s only 22 and, by rights, will only get better and better as he gains experience. His chemistry with Aleister Black is still intact, and the two of them traded intense stares as Dream tore off his shirt to reveal a tastefully modified Aleister Black shirt beneath – which he promptly removed and threw at a typically sanguine Black.
Black and Ricochet worked well as a team, and all four men impressed in what was ultimately a high-standard but typical WWE style tag match. A healthy dose of high-risk spots and well-paced back-and-forth culminated in Dream leaving EC3 high and dry, claiming a knee injury. In came Aleister with a perfectly executed Black Mass, and it was over. A brief but intriguing interaction post-match hinted Ricochet’s interest in Black’s NXT title…it’ll be interesting to see if anything comes of it, but Ricochet/Black is definitely high on my list of anticipated matches.
NXT Women’s Championship Match: Shayna Baszler def. Toni Storm
It speaks highly of Toni Storm that, despite ultimately losing out to Baszler, she came across as legitimate competition for most of the match. Baszler was typically dominant, but had to work hard to keep Storm down; the pint-sized Aussie escaped the Kirifuda clutch, and ultimately lost via count-out after Shayna choked her outside the ring. As with Dream, 22 year old Storm has all the right qualities to be a future megastar, and it doesn’t hurt her chances that she’s got the ‘WWE Look’ (for all the advances WWE has made in women’s wrestling, let’s not pretend that being an attractive blonde isn’t a distinct advantage.) Still, that’s a minor quibble, because Storm unquestionably has the in-ring ability to back up WWE’s clear faith in her. As for Baszler, she’s come on leaps and bounds and is as effective a glowering heel as you might hope for, post-match beatdowns and all; her distinctly MMA-flavoured ring style may not be dynamic, but watching her stomp out Toni’s joints elicited a chorus of audible wincing.
WWE UK Championship Match: Pete Dunne def. Zack Gibson
Zack Gibson seemed a strange choice to win the UK Championship Tournament right up until he made his entrance; the instantaneous wall-to-wall booing suddenly made WWE’s decision perfectly clear. Pete Dunne is unbelievably popular and Gibson – already a heat magnet – was the ideal foil. The crowd were invested in Dunne’s victory from the outset. As in football, you can successfully gauge the investment of a UK crowd by the volume and frequency of its chants, and the Royal Albert Hall did not disappoint – the highlight was a ‘Shoes off if you hate Gibson’ chant which successfully divested at least half the crowd of their shoes; there’s something wonderfully surreal about several thousand people standing up, shoe in hand, in service of their dislike. All credit to Gibson: he’s a proficient technical wrestler, physically imposing, and plays the part of the obnoxious Scouse heel to perfection. The outcome of the match felt legitimately up in the air at times, not least when Gibson kicked out of the Bitter End; a second, perfectly executed Bitter End finally saw him defeated, and Dunne’s victory was the high point of a quality show. I’m unconvinced Dar will be the one to end the Bruiserweight’s reign, but at this point whoever his successor might be should prepare to be very unpopular, at least for a short while. Dunne’s potential is huge, and while there’s every chance that WWE might catastrophically mishandle him going forward, I live in hope that Dunne might go on to become the international face of British wrestling.
After the show, HHH led the tournament competitors out onto the stage (notable for the spectacle of Ligero in a suit and gold sparkly mask) and announced that NXT UK was ‘our’ brand. Briefly putting aside my cynicism, I’ve marginally more faith in HHH to deliver a quality product, and assuming, just for a moment, that NXT UK isn’t just a flash in the pan designed to squash World of Sport Wrestling in its infancy, it’s possible that we might actually get something both highly watchable, and instrumental in raising the profile of BritWres performers on the world stage.
