WWE NXT UK Power Rankings: Meiko Still Champ

Belfast was my third favorite movie of the 92 I saw in theaters in 2021. It’s up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this weekend and you could say it was the best thing to come out of the UK in the last year. This week’s NXT UK however; not so much. It wasn’t a bad show, it’s still one of WWE’s best hours of content each week, it just wasn’t as eventful and entertaining as some past episodes. But let’s rank it anyway! 

Honorable Mention: Danny Jones. The Welshman has an incredible combination of size, speed and athleticism. He feels a bit like a New Japan “young lion” in that he’s shown absolutely no character at all to this point but whenever he has a match it’s evident how good he can be. In his bout with Devlin he had a great series of ducking and dodging offense early but then landed some shots of his own. He hit a ripcord kick followed by a beautiful flip of Devlin over his back into a bulldog choke which he then transitioned into a pin after trapping Devlin’s arms. I can’t wait to see him get a character and story so we can see what he can really do! 

5. Isla Dawn. A loss wasn’t all “The Unholy Enchantress” took this week as she left with yet another souvenir when she escaped through the crowd with Meiko Satomoura’s NXT UK Women’s Championship belt. Dawn has a strong showing with a pump kick to Meiko’s face followed by knees to the mid-section and meteora-esque double knees for 2. She got her knees up on a Satomura splash and followed with a running dropkick and fisherman’s suplex for 2. Dawn kicked out of a Death Valley Bomb and had Satomura in a fireman’s carry that could have sealed the win late if not for “The Final Boss” escaping and getting a pinning combo of her own. Despite coming up short you’d assume the championship belt will only make Dawn even more powerful for a rematch and I hope we get one because this match was just picking up steam when the ending came. 

4. Wild Boar. He and T-Bone had a fun but different match. The story here was Eddie Dennis on the outside being protected by Primate while T-Bone was inside trying to stop Wild Boar from getting to the floor to get his revenger on Dennis. Boar eventually got outside but with Primate between he and Eddie T-Bone attacked from behind and got him back inside. Boar planted T-Bone with a jumping DDT for the win and then chased Dennis out of the arena. Wild Boar finally getting his hands on Dennis after a year should make for a fun match. 

3. Jordan Devlin. Devlin had a strong showing against Danny Jones and solidified his spot as not just “The Irish Ace” but the Ace of NXT UK when he hit a twisting cutter over the ropes followed by a stalling Brainbuster for the win. He had a funny line after the match when he said to the camera “I’m so far ahead of this roster they couldn’t see my arse if they had a set of binoculars!” 

2. Die Famile. The best member of Die Famile, Charlie, Dempsey teamed up with Rohan Raja to take down the tag team I’m dubbing “The Mane & Spain” Saxon Huxley & A-Kid. The numbers game that helped keep Eddie Dennis untouched later in the show was also at play here when late in the match Dempsey distracted the ref while A-Kid was on the top rope preparing to attempt a double team on Raja that allowed Teoman to rip him off by his arm and then send him into the barricade outside. The chaos allowed Raja to slip off Huxley’s shoulders and hit the “Seek & Destroy” for the win. This lacked some of the big unique offense we’ve come to expect from A-Kid and Dempsey but there was a nice spot early on where Dempsey hit a bridging butterfly suplex to A-Kid off the middle rope. Kid & Huxley had a nice double team spot where Huxley hit a butterfly twisting backbreaker to his knee on one third of Die Famile followed by a running kick from A-Kid. Overall a solid match though and the right team won. 

1. Meiko Satomura. Dawn may have left with the belt but “The Final Boss” left as NXT UK Women’s Champion with her 7th successful title defense. Satomura survived an onslaught from her well studied foe and finally used her veteran savviness to win by tying up Dawn in a pinning combination. There were some good false finishes here with Dawn’s suplex after getting the knees up and Satomura’s Death Valley Bomb but it still felt like there was a level this match could have ascended to that they fell just short of reaching. Having Satomura win without a finisher after the injury ending in the Davenport match was a bit of an odd choice. I’d almost think this could be long term story that eventually leads to a Satomura turn and clash with her student Emilia McKenzie but that feels far off if it’s coming down the pike at all. When coupled with Dawn stealing the belt it does make sense that we’ll likely see a rematch in the near future but I still think her winning her 2nd straight match without a finish or a move at all, even if the first was unplanned, was a strange call.