NXT UK Power Rankings: Step Down Before Another Step Up?

This week was an overall step down from the insanity that was last week’s match of the year caliber triple threat but call Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper because a star was born. So without any further ado let’s jump into this week’s rankings. 

Honorable Mention: Ashton Smith, Oliver Carter and Josh Morrell: These guys all held up their end of their matches and really helped their opponents shine as bright as they did. Morrell was especially impressive in the athleticism and flexibility he showed to let Dempsey pull off the moves and sequences he did. 
Dishonorable mention: Gallus. The wholeot of them can bugger off. These are just immature soccer hooligans who found their way to a wrestling ring and we’re above this. 

5: Blair Davenport: We got a video package about her and then a request from another member of the woman’s roster that Davenport be reinstated so she could stop her personally. Sid Scala said he’s talk to Johnny Saint and come to a decision. Davenport hasn’t had many matches but has been clearly positioned as the top heel abd biggest threat to Meiko Satomura. 

4: Jordan Devlin: The hooligans in Gallus really screwed Jordan Devlin tonight. We’re supposed to cheer Gallus but these are bad people. Tonight Mark distracted the ref by wearing Devlin’s glasses and Wolfgang held Joe Coffey’s arm from the outside to prevent Devlin from hitting his finisher. Yes Coffey got the win but cheaters never win in my book so Jordan Devlin will be avenged by me right here. 

3: Dani Luna: Subculture are the good guys so this comparison isn’t exact but Luna feels in many ways like the Chyna to Andrews & Webster’s Shawn & Hunter. Luna is a powerhouse and it showed in her beating of the fast, agile Xia Brookside. Luna just tossed Brookside off when she attempted a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and finished her off by hitting a world’s strongest slam, fallaway slam and her falling powerslam hold transitioned to powerbomb finisher. 

2: Moustache Mountain: Proving once and for all that the Rock Bottom is more powerful than the Book End. There were some fun moments here for both teams in a match that started playful but picked up further on. Smith attacked Bate in the corner but Bate got him bent over and as he did Carter came flying over Smith with a spinning wheel kick to Bate. Carter hit a scissors kick to Bate in what felt like a fun wink and nod to the man behind one of the finshers in the debate that sparked this match. There was a great false finish where Bate rolled through a Doomsday attempt and Seven grabbed the leg to prevent the break-up. The match broke down at one point when Symbiosis came out and Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz came out to confront them. As they all brawled outside Smith and Carter came flying over the top on to the group. Carter and Smith tried for a Silly String variation at one point but Seven pulled Carter out while on Smith’s back allowing Bate to then bring Smith in from the apron with a middle rope German Suplex. The end finally came when the elder statesmen of NXT UK (which is insane to write seeing as Bate is still somehow just 24) hit the snapdragon/upper cut combination for the 3 count. 

1: Charlie Dempsey: We’re in what may eventually be remembered as the golden age for second and third generation wrestlers. While the jury may still be out on the kids of Taz, Billy Gunn, Arn Anderson, Rey Mysterio and more the verdict is in on Charlie Dempsey and he’s a star in waiting! I’m not usually one for technical wrestling, I’ll take high spots, flips and blood baths over a wrist lock nine times out of ten. Well, this was the tenth. Dempsey showed off so many creative holds and so many unique transitions and variations on traditional locks and holds that he had me interested. On commentary the comparison was made to Timothy Thatcher but I dare say Dempsey showed me things in his first match that make me think he may already be above that? My jaw dropped when Dempsey hit a backslide and bridged into another pin. I’ve seen thousands of backslides but never one with a bridge. He does the little things well too, he emotes tremendously and he had little touches like grinding his forearm into Morrell’s face during pin attempts. Dempsey eventually came out on top by getting Morrell to tap to a unique submission that saw Charlie get both a toehold and a choke while locking his arms together. He’s clearly listened to everything his father he taught him and it shows! I can’t wait to see him in there with the likes of Bate, A-Kid and Dragunov.