NXT UK Power Rankings: Dar’s Turn to Shine

What started as a lackluster edition of NXT UK finished absolutely on fire so I’m not going to waste time, here’s this week’s rankings! 

Honorable Mention: Tyler Bate: He has a really strong showing and likely would have retained on a time limit finish had it not been for his selfish, hot headed bitter old best friend letting his temper get the better of him. Hopefully he cuts that dead weight called Seven soon enough so he can become the star he should be. 

5: Mark Coffey: He won. He beat Rohan Raja in the worst match I’ve seen in my time talking about NXT UK. Gallus still stinks. This match stunk. Get these hooligans away from me and back to whatever pub they crawled out of. At least Raja and Teoman took out Coffey and Wolfgang after the match to put a smile on my face

4: Amale: Despite a really strong showing from the debuting Myla Grace that nearly got an honorable mention Amale gets the spot after she got the win with a hope breaker. Grace was the highlight here though when she did a split to duck Amale running off the ropes, hit a tilt-a-whirl head scissors and then hit a 619 to Amale’s mid-section as Grace had her propped sitting on the middle rope and even kicked out of a rolling cutter at 1. I can’t imagine Amale is long for this lost however as Blair Davenport loomed ringside for the last few minutes giving us the feeling Amale might be her next victim. 

3: Pretty Deadly: No, they didn’t have a match but once again the brains behind the beauty showed through as they not only cost Bate his Heritage Cup they also further planted the seeds of dissension between the Moustache Mountain teammates. This was also a fantastic call-back to their meeting this past August when Pretty Deadly tossed the towel over Seven’s head while Bate was in a crab and the ref nearly called the match off but didn’t. 

2: Charlie Dempsey: If you don’t like Charlie Dempsey I don’t like you. I typically despise the WWE not acknowledging the lineage second and third generation stars and I do here but Dempsey is so clearly Regal’s baby boy once that bell hits that you don’t even need the words. Like I said in his debut Dempsey is a star. I have no clue how old the kid is, he could be 18 or 38 and I wouldn’t know the difference because he carries himself like such a vet. He’s touted as having a throwback style and he does to an extent with his lack of knee and elbow pads, small tuft of chest hair and heavy reliance on locks and holds but he modernizes chain wrestling and holds in a way I can’t say I’ve ever seen before. Now maybe I need to watch more Jonathan Gresham or Zack Sabre Jr. matches but Dempsey truly feels special to me! He took a cravat, a hold I’ve seen a million times, and maintained it through a roll through attempt and then hit a suplex while holding it! He ended Danny Jones night with a butterfly suplex held, floated over and then switched to a crossface chickenwing from on top of a lying Jones that just looked brutal. Dempsey’s also shown solid work on the mic in the little time he’s gotten when during a pre-match interview earlier in the show Gallus interrupted looking for Teoman and he just stone faced and calmly said to the camera person “Twice now that’s happened” You already know whoever the third person to cut him off is is in for a rude awakening. This kid is the goods! 

1: Noam Dar: The Scottish Supernova has been in WWE longer than NXT UK has been a brand but he finally won good for the first time tonight! The match started slow with the first round being a feeling out process and the second being a bit more instense but ending in a lock up. Dar really got things going in round 3 when he tripped Bate on the apron, sent hin to the outside with a running dropkick and then whipped him into the stairs before sending him in and hitting a Nova Roller for the first fall. After Bate evened the score in the fourth things really got hot. The fifth round saw Dar trying his dirty tricks again when he raked the eyes of Bate while Samuels distracted the ref. Dar followed up with a Judas Effect-like elbow for 2 and turned a Tyler Driver attempt into a kneebar but the round ended with the two men exchanging blows while locked up. Dar’s personal highlight of the match for me was when he caught the leg of Bate as he bouncing back during his signature rope catch lariat and locked in the Champagne Superkneebar. Bate escaped that one but Pretty Deadly made their way out and stole the towel off Trent Seven’s shoulder when he turned towards the ring to see Dar trying a sneaky roll-up on Bate. Seven and Pretty Deadly faced off outside as Lewis Howley taunted Seven teasing throwing the towel in. One of the most brilliant finishes I’ve ever seen came when Seven ripped the towel out of Howley’s hand to start exchanging shots but inadvertently sent the towel in the ring as Bate was locked in another Champagne Superkneebar and the ref was facing towards them and not the ramp forcing the ref to call the match and making Dar the new Heritage Cup Champion! As the old cliche goes sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and Dar was both on this night!