This week had so much going on I’ll just jump right in to the rankings!
Honorable Mention: Amale, Starz & Mastiff, Sam Gradwell and Bigfoot. Amale won. Starz cut a hole in both shirts of Pretty Deadly in “Bomber Challenge #4” Gradwell coped with being bald and said he can get over losing his hair and his son asking who did that to him but Kenny Williams won’t get over what he’s going to do to him. Bigfoot makes the list because a hungry truck driver stipped short on the highway, nearly hitting an unseen creature and picked up a tuft of fur as a vague figure moved in the shadows. So I’m assuming this is Bigfoot and not a Mummy they call a Yeti.
5. Ilja Dragunov. He had acceoted Frazer’s challenge for next week before telling the story of how he had to win a 20 man battle royal just to get his shot at the NXT UK Championship and he failed on his first try because he wasn’t ready. He said he knows how good Frazer is but that he’s not ready and this will be the first step on his journey.
4. Isla Dawn. She showed up ringside and interrupted a celebration of Meiko Satomura complete with a bed of music under her promo and camera shots that faded in and out like a vintage music video. Dawn said she wants her final trophy. Satomura said she could have just asked for a match. Dawn stated she doesn’t ask, she takes, before kicking Meiko in the head, looking at the title and then taking Satomura’s flowers she was presented with.
3. Charlie Dempsey. Rohan Raja beat a game Danny Jones with a Seek & Destroy but after the match he and Dempsey took turns stomping on Jones as Teoman looked on with his evil grin. As the trio were walking through the back A-Kid grabbed Dempsey’s arm and asked “What was that? I thought you were better than that?” to which Dempsey simply replied “Maybe” and walked away unbothered with Die Famile. NXT UK’s ability to make Dempsey the focal point of the faction despite not being the leader is really impressive and the idea of him facing A-Kid excites me so much!
2. Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter. Unfortunately the pairing could not go forward the way they’d hoped, falling short in their bid for tag team championship gold when Bate nailed a big punch. However, that was through no fault of their own as Smith got his leg on the rope before the 3 only for Seven to knock it off. I expect a rematch in the not too distant future for the “Hottest Tag Team Under the Sun” with a much more climactic finish. Despite the loss they showed they belonged, much like their opponents did during their first meeting with Pretty Deadly. Carter hit a leaping hurricanrana to Bate on the top rope followed by a scissors kick for 2. Then he broke up a pin attempt on Smith following a 7 Star Lariat & Emerald Flosion from Seven. Smith nailed a beautiful looking flying Rough Ryder to Bate nearly 3/4ths of the way across the ring and they hit their springboard twisting doomsday cutter (which really needs a name) on Bate only for Seven to break up the pin. This match was very good but it was clear with the ending that these 4 have 1 more gear they can get to and I can’t wait to see it when they do!
1. Moustache Mountain. NXT UK’s resident handsome granny and the big strong boy had another very good match in their first defense of the tag team championship. More importantly than any of the moves was the finish here which saw Trent Seven quickly knock Ashton Smith’s leg off the bottom rope, out of view of the ref and as commentary told us, possibly out of the view of Tyler Bate as well allowing Bate to score the pinfall. We were reminded early on about how close Seven was to retirement before winning the titles and him resorting to such uncharacteristically underhanded tactics to retain them only proved how much they mean to him. We know they mean a lot to Bate as well but Bate has other options. Seven doesn’t have any of the singles success his triple crown wearing partner does so he’s clearly worried that without them he has no real purpose, respect or value. I love that we’re revisiting a story that I thought was over when this duo reached the peak. There’s a lot of meat on this bone and I hope we see a few more title defenses where Seven uses nefarious means without Bate realizing. This feels destined to culminate in Bate v. Seven in an almost WrestleMania 24-esque HBK v. Flair like match but I hope that’s saved for a big stage like a packed UK TakeOver…if we ever see that again.
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