NXT UK Power Rankings: Devlin Sliding Up the Ladder

Crown Jewel might have been in Riyadh Thursday but the BT Sport Studio found a gem of it’s own in our main event this week! NXT UK is the after dinner mint of pro wrestling. You don’t even think about it until it’s time for it but then you always feel pleasantly referesed after it. This week was minty as ever so let’s get to it! 

Honorable Mention: Charlie Dempsey and Pretty Deadly: Dempsey talked for all of a few seconds and only seemed to be on screen to set up the Gallus brawl with Teoman and Rohan Raja but he was on my screen this week! The kid is a star in waiting! Pretty Deadly was on commentary throughout the tag match and had some funny lines. They mentioned Tyson T-Bone being in Pretty Deadly “If only we could make him look good” We were told the gap between them and the rest of the tag division is as wide as the gap between them and the working class. And after the DQ that there can’t be a contender because there was no conclusive winner. 

5: Trent Seven: He didn’t have a match. He was only on screen accompanying Bate for the Sprnva Sessions but there was a lot of character development in that one segment. Noam Dar accused Seven of riding Bate’s coattails and being dead weight. Seven said the tag titles “Mean the world to me! I mean, Moustache Mountain!” Bate told him this wasn’t the time. It’s becoming clear that a Moustache Mountain civil war is on the horizion and I cannot wait! 

4: Joe Coffey: As childish as they can be by doing things like stealing Devlin’s jacket during warm-ups (which gave us two funny lines from Nigel; “You are having a giraffe!” and “Turn around!” to which Andy Shepherd responded “He can’t hear you Nigel, he’s got headphones on! Not to mention he’s nowhere near where you are located. He’s in a decidedly different part of the building!”) Coffey followed Wolfgang’s lead in the tournament by showing out in his match with Devlin. His top higlight for me was maintaining an arm hold through Devlin trying both a hip toss and head scissors. He also landed the rarely seen successful trip from a drop down attempt, a springboard crossbody and an overhead bell to belly suplex from the top rope. He took the loss but both he and Devlin’s stock rose in my book. 

3: Aleah James: She got the upset win over Xia Brookside when she hit a Code Red off the middle rope for the win. Brookside was none too pleased and slapped her hand when offered a post match handshake but the newly returned live crowd was behind James rhythmically chanting “A-leah! A-leah!” along with her music. 

2: Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz: Eddie Dennis may have caused the DQ but all signs pointed to Mastiff and Starz getting the clean win over Symbiosis before that and moving one step closer to taking on Pretty Deadly for the tag titles. Mastiff is basically U.K. Bronson Reed all the way down to how he’s shot for his entrance and I’m here for it. Starz showed flashes but Mastiff feels more deserving of the name landing a standing Green Bay Plunge and a huge cannonball splash into the corner before getting the win via DQ. Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith saved Mastiff & Starz from the post-match Symbiosis beatdown but then jawed with each other a bit hinting at the possibility of Starz/Mastiff v. Smith/Carter which could be a blast! 

1: Jordan Devlin: It may not have been the best match I’ve watched on my lunch break this week; that honor goes to the Hell in a Cell at Crown Jewel, but this was a really great showing from Devlin and Coffey. Commentary said that after a year and a half without being pinned or submitted Devlin comes in losing two straight to A-Kid in an Ironman match and then Coffey in their last meeting. They wondered what a third loss might mean? After nearly two months of watching commentary finally explained that Gallus are supposed to be the good guys. Devlin has been a spoiled, entitled diva since returning from the States and they don’t like that. To that I say phooey! He earned everything he’s gotten and Gallus are more than welcome to come on over and prove themselves like Devlin did. Instead they just carry on like grade school bullies. He attacked Joe before the bell and was absolutely justified! The story here was Devlin working over Coffey’s shoulder and ribs. I haven’t been a huge Devlin fan but he showed why he’s the “Irish Ace” tonight with Gallus banned from ringside. There was a nice sequence where Devlin caught a standing body scissors, dodged a punch and turned the scissors over into a pin. Later we saw another beautiful run where Devlin was in the corner, went for a kick, had his legs tossed over the top, hit a cutter back into the ring, Coffey rolled outside, Devlin hit a penalty kick off the apron followed by a springboard moonsault to the floor. Ultimately Devlin got the win after a 450 for 2 followed up by a Devlin Slide for the win.