NXT UK Power Rankings: Empty Arenas Again

Unfortunately the main event last week wasn’t the last of the empty arena matches for a while as NXT UK was back in the BT Sport Studios without a crowd this week. Luckily though they still have the absolute best canned crowd reactions of any brand so it didn’t hurt as much as you might think. Unlike Blair Davenport’s poor ankle which probably still hurts after the main event. So let’s get to this week’s rankings! 

Honorable Mention: Sam Gradwell and comedy. Gradwell is quietly having one of the better stories on this brand. His redemption arc continued when he said he might have had the Williams interference coming. But he’s not a cockroach and when Williams scuttles under a door, he better be willing to deal with what’s on the other side. On the comedy end we had A-Kid teaching Saxon Huxley etiquette prior to their match next week. It felt a little out of nowhere and wasn’t as funny as it could have been but I couldn’t type this up without mentioning Huxley eating chess pieces. We also got another of Sha Samuel’s odds boards, this time to see who would be “Noam’s Hot Date” with Sha himself being the 3/1 favorite. “Zia Brookside” was also on the board as was “ALEESHA FOX” which was a hilarious easter egg for anybody who remembers that far back. It feels like forever ago. Gallus came in and put GBOT at even odds. And idk if Dar can afford to take all 3 guys out honestly. 

5. Nathan Frazer. As he was leaving the arena Frazer was asked about Die Famile. He doubled down on them being Teoman’s henchmen but then his car wouldn’t start. The camerawoman put the camera down and offered to help but Die Famile jumped Frazer. This was yet another fun visual as the scene was shot from the angle of the camera left on the floor. Rohan grabbed the camera and said “This is what happens when you disrespect our family!” Frazer came out worse for wear but he felt like a badass being willing to stand up to the numbers game. We’re getting him v. Teoman next week and I really hope we get he and Dempsey shortly after. That should tear the house down! 

4. Blair Davenport. “The heir” spent much of this match in control. She worked over Meiko with a kendo stick, locking in a crossface with it at one point. She also twisted Satomura’s hand in a lose turnbuckle and made use of a chair, stairs and the ringside area on a whole before ultimately suffering a figurative but also potentially literal bad break when she rolled her ankle on a double stomp attempt, howled in pain and the ref quickly put up the X and called a stop to the match. NXT UK has done ref stoppages before in Dragunov title matches so it’s hard for me to say if this was a legitimate injury or part of a longer story. I tend to think it was legitimate because it looked like a real roll of her ankle, the match was really just starting to click into 2nd gear, it went under 10 minutes, this makes Meiko 2-0 against Davenport and the show ended in 52 minutes. But the brilliance of this brand is it could very well be a way to continue the story and nobody would be the wiser. Regardless despite being 0-2 in the series I hope Davenport gets the trilogy match with the same stipulation whenever she’s back. 

3. Isla Dawn. There was a point by commentary here that I LOVED and wish we’d get for every supernatural/magical type character in wrestling. They mentioned the trinkets Dawn has collected from her opponents and questioned if they actually gave her power or it was just a placebo effect? Regardless, Dawn got the win over Myla Grace with her swinging side slam. This was pretty quick but Grace did hit her 619 to the mid-section of Dawn while she was seated on the middle rope and that always looks cool to me. 

2. Meiko Satomura. Sometimes the final boss doesn’t beat you. Sometimes they just outlast you. Tonight was the latter as “The Final Boss” retained due to a ref stoppage when Davenport nailed a double stomp off the top to Satomura draped over the apron but Davenport rolled her ankle as she landed on the floor and screamed out in pain as the ref threw up the x and called the match off. While she was on the brink of a loss when the injury occurred Satomura did do some damage of her own throughout the course of this match. She wrapped a steal chain around her shin and kicked Davenport against the stairs. The Women’s Champ might want to change her name to Meiko-angelo as after taking nunchucks to the ribs and back of Blair. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and Meiko got lucky to escape with her title tonight. 

1. Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter. “Ready and forward. Always forward.” is the motto of the “hottest tag team under the sun” and forward they went. They defeated Mastiff & Starz to win the mini-#1 Contender’s tournament when Carter landed an assisted moonsault on Mastiff. They advance to a meeting with Moustache Mountain for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. The story here was the apparent dissolving of the Mastiff & Starz alliance as Mastiff refused to tag out late in the match. His hubris was his downfall when he tried for the “Into the Void” in the corner but Smith moved and tagged Carter to set-up the finish. Earlier in the match Carter hit his Silly String like splash to Starz. Earlier in the match the new #1 contenders tried for super ace cutter but Starz fought out and tossed Carter off the top. Mastiff had a nice spot where he had Carter in a suplex near the ropes and released him sending him tumbling to the outside. This was a solid match that progressed stories on both sides and anytime you can leave caring more about the losing team than when you went in you know they did a good job. Mastiff and Starz should be a lot of fun! There was also a line thrown in by Moustache Mountain on commentary about wanting to face GYV again for the NXT Tag Team Champions if they win the Cup and I’d kill for another Worlds Collide event.