NXT UK is a brand that was in desperate need of excitement. The weekly show is fine, but there is nothing too compelling. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) are always fun, and the rise of Jordan Devlin as a legitimate threat has been cool. Other than that, there is not too much to draw casual fans in.
When the full card for Takeover: Blackpool at the Empress Ballroom was announced, it looked good, but again, not too exciting.
In execution, this was a brilliant show, full of exciting moments, new talent, and, most importantly, great matches. Let’s get into it.
Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) vs The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) – NXT UK Tag Team Championships
Bate and Seven made their entrance, and the crowd was immediately electric. The crowd was super hot for this, mainly due to their love of Moustache Mountain, and their disdain for GYV, especially Gibson.
The only reason I say this match was not too exciting on paper is because these teams have faced off so many times in the past. In reality, their history added to their chemistry. Both teams were the best versions of themselves on this night, and it led to a brilliant match.
Moustache Mountain started off hot, fending off both Gibson and Drake and hitting a bunch of cool double-team moves. Eventually, Gibson and Drake cut off Seven, and beat the hell out of him for the longest time. Seven is so great at being a sympathetic babyface, and Bate always comes out like a house of fire when he tags in.
The biggest spot of the match for Bate was when he got both of his opponents on his shoulders and managed to spin around a few times before Drake fell off. The crowd chanted “big strong boy” whenever Bate did anything exciting.
Gibson and Drake make their comeback and hit a ton of big moves in order to isolate Seven in the ring. They hit a diving doomsday device on Bate to take him out of the action, then hit Seven with Ticket to Mayhem (a double-team face-buster) and won the titles.
The crowd was appalled, letting Gibson know how much they hated him.
Next, a video plays of Jordan Devlin attacking Travis Banks as Banks entered the Empress Ballroom earlier in the day. Banks injured his knee in this exchange.
Both men make their entrances, and Banks immediately attacks Devlin before the match starts. However, Devlin overwhelms Banks and takes him out. Doctors help him to the back, and suddenly Devlin does not have an opponent.
NXT UK spokesman Sid Scala said that they figured something like this would happen, so they came up with a backup plan. This led to…
Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin
Lights go out, Balor’s music plays, and the crowd erupts. Balor trained Devlin back when they were both much younger in Ireland. Devlin calls himself the Irish ace, and now he must face the biggest name in wrestling to come from Ireland.
Now, to bring the mood down, this match was good, but really nothing special. Both men are excellent wrestlers, but their styles seemed to clash a bit. Devlin is a great technical wrestler, and Balor is more of a fast-paced, flashy action guy.
Part of what took me out of this match was the fact that Devlin should not lose right now, but there was no way he would beat Balor. Devlin is one of the hottest stars on NXT UK and he should be protected, not losing to a guy who will likely never appear on the brand again.
If they do a story where Devlin eventually overcomes his mentor and trainer, that’s fine. For now, it seemed wrong for Devlin to lose.
Eddie Dennis vs Dave Mastiff – No DQ match
The crowd was drained after the first two matches, so Mastiff and Dennis unfortunately landed in the proverbial death spot. They needed to do something special to keep the crowd.
They managed to keep the crowd, and then some.
With the no-disqualification stipulation, they had the freedom to do whatever crazy things they could think of, and it led to a completely different match than anything else on the show.
Mastiff managed athletic spots that a 320-pound man has no right attempting. Meanwhile, Dennis on several occasions managed to throw around that 320-pound man like he was any other wrestler. The crowd erupted for every one of these.
Mastiff won after a cannonball senton through a table.
Kay Lee Ray and Jazzy Gabert appeared on camera, indicating they have joined NXT UK. Two very welcome additions to the roster.
Rhea Ripley © vs Toni Storm – NXT UK Women’s Championship
The story of this match is that Ripley is athletically superior, but Storm will never say die. For much of the match, Ripley overpowered her, but every once in a while, Storm would pull something out to make a short comeback. Whenever they would exchange strikes, Ripley would look stronger, but Storm would keep fighting.
The crowd was split at first, but got more and more in favor of Storm as the match went on. Often they would chant “Toni, Toni Storm” to the tune of “Daddy Cool” by Boney M.
Ripley was clearly over, but when she hit her finisher the Riptide (a pump-handle slam), the crowd did not buy it as a finish at all.
The finish came kind of abruptly when Storm reversed a second Riptide, and turned around and hit her finisher, Storm Zero (a Tiger Bomb), for the pin. The crowd went nuts because of how over Storm is, but it felt like they could have built to the finish better.
Pete Dunne © vs Joe Coffey – WWE UK Championship
This was another tale of one wrestler being ridiculously more over than the other, but this time the roles were reversed. Coffey is not a very strong challenger, and the build to this match has been lukewarm at best. However, Dunne is very popular, so the crowd was hot for this almost by default.
The goal of this was to make Coffey feel like a credible threat. The crowd did not seem to buy the near-falls for Coffey, so in that aspect, this match did not work. However, this match comprised of every aspect of an epic match. That is to say, it was long, every move felt like it meant something, and by the end everyone was satisfied.
Towards the finish, they tried a top rope move and messed it up twice. The first time, Coffey crashed and burned on the floor. The second time, Dunne went down with him. It was nasty.
Other than that, this was a stellar match worthy of any early-year match-of-the-year lists. Dunne retained the title with a finger-breaker submission.
After the match, Dunne celebrated in the ring with his belt, the crowd was satisfied, and the show was ready to go off the air. Then, Dunne’s music was cut off by Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” The Empress Ballroom went into shock and awe as WALTER made his entrance. He entered the ring and stood face-to-face with Dunne, and even booted Coffey out of the ring for good measure.
The show went off the air with what felt like a turning of the page for NXT UK. There is new talent, new champions, and new feuds ready to set the wrestling world on fire in 2019.
What did you think of the show? Let us know in the comments below!
