The match I’ve been waiting on for what feels like months finally happened tonight and it did not disappoint! So let’s get to ranking!
Honorable Mention: Ivy Nile & Sha Samuels. FINALLY somebody took Meiko’s advice and just walked up and asked for a title shot when Nile went to her in the locker room and said she heard that’s all you have to do to get a title match. Meiko accepted, Nile bowed and the whole thing was respectful. A little detail though was Nile brushing off McKenzie, who was also brushed off by Lash Legend during this show, to get to Meiko. That McKenzie turn and match with Meiko are coming and I can’t wait! Sha gets a mention for The East End Bookie segment being shown, complete withva graphic where he said the odds are saying he’s going to beat and end Damon Kemp. The board wasn’t great this week though which is why he didn’t get a numbered spot on this week’s list. The funniest odds this time were “Damon Kemp Biggest Flop 2/1”
5. Sam Gradwell. “The Thunderstorm” confronted Von Wagner in the gym as Wagner was being asked about their match and bragging about how much bigger and stronger he was than the UK roster. Gradwell showed up and told him “No one ‘s asked how big you are or how strong you are. And I’m certainly not scared of you.” Wagner got in his face and Gradwell responded “Oh behave you big dopey neanderthal!” before Wagner shoved him by the face and the 2 had to be pulled apart. Gradwell has grown on me so much in my time watching NXT UK. I’d really like to see him stateside. He has that ability to be funny but not a comedic character that WWE seems to love with their main roster guys.
4. Xia Brookside & Eliza Alexander. The duo faced off with Angel Hayze and the woman who saved her from a beatdown recently; Amale to start the night. Initially Alexander avoided getting in the ring with Amale who was looking for revenge but eventually a hot tag got the pairing in the squared circle. The finish came when Brookside and Alexander outsmarted our heroes when Xia whipped Hayze into the ropes then took a shot at Amale in her corner. As the ref was stopping Amale from coming in Alexander hit a running knee on the apron to Hayze in the ropes and Brookside followed it with a Broken Wings for the win. This was a solid opener and Hayze eventually getting both Alexander and Brookside alone should be a pair of fun moments.
3. Kenny Williams. “The Scum of the Earth” was in action tonight against Josh Morrell who was shockingly impressive even though I probably wrote this once before about him (possibly during a match where him and fellow underrated newcomer to the brand Danny Jones teamed up?) Morrell at one point cartwheeled off the apron over a distracted Williams on the floor. Then he launched into the the ring over the top rope, back rolled and hit what I can only describe as a standing reverse corkscrew splash/almost Phoenix splash for 2. During the match we first saw one masked man appear, in a different mask than the person a few weeks ago. Then we saw another near the end of the match. But even distracted, Williams was able to take out Morrell’s knee with a dragon screw leg whip off the 2nd rope and a shoulder block to the knee before hitting the Bad Luck for 3. After the match the original masked man appeared in the aisle and Williams looked like he was losing his mind as Andy Shepherd asked “How many people are out to get Kenny?” Later on Kenny would bother Scala in the back with his “Wanted: Masked Bozo” posters and interrupt an interview with Mark Andrews who reminded Kenny that he’s got more than 1 enemy around here.
2. Die Famile. “There’s nothing stronger than Famile” – Vin Diesel, if he watched this episode. Tonight Teoman and Rohan Raja defeated Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz to advance to the triple threat Tag Team Title match against Moustache Mountain and Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter. After a back and forth match that saw Dempsey get involved on multiple occasions Dempsey grabbed Starz’ prized “cut” and started smacking it against the apron. Starz vaulted out of the ring with a crossbody to Dempsey to stop him. Raja then threw Starz in the ring as Mastiff crushed Raja with a cannonball off the apron. Inside Teoman hit his flipping inverted DDT on Starz for the 3. Once again Dempsey was the star but the other 2 are growing on me so I’ll give all 3 the slot.
1. Wild Boar. The savage who Nigel McGuinness dubbed “The Gap-toothed Madman from the Valleys” gave his former manager Eddie Dennis his just desserts. Before the match could even get underway we saw Dennis behind the stage refusing to come out. Boar, wielding the collar and chain chased him down to ringside and then hit a lowpe suicida on Dennis with the chain in hand. He followed up with a T-Bone (not Tyson) suplex and strapped the collar on Dennis himself to get things officially started. Boar kept pulling Dennis back as he tried to leave the ring and hitting hin with shots but Dennis raked the eyes and hit the floor. We got a tug of war spot between Boar in the ring and Dennis outside but Dennis put his foot on the apron and kicked back, sending Boar throat first into the middle rope. After some back and forth we got a second tug of war spot on the floor with the ring post between the competitors that Dennis again won by pulling Boar face first into the post. Inside the ring in a simple but unique spot Dennis pulled the chain taut and stomped on it to send Boar’s face crashing into the mat. Dennis whipped Boar with the chain and hit a swinging backbreaker off a fallaway slam like hold for 2. Dennis wrapped the chain around the mouth and eyes of Boar before chaining him in the corner and stomping him. Boar began to fight out of it but then Dennis felll back sending Boar crashing into the corner. On the apron Dennis tried to win a third tug of war but this time Boar got his leg on the post and sent Dennis crashing into it. Boar then flew off the apron and nailed Dennis with a chain wrapped forearm to the face. Boar then went to work whipping Dennis’ back and torso and followed up with a seated splash and a powerbomb on to the chain for 2. This brought out T-Bone and Primate who were banned from ringside but commentary reminded us it’s no DQ so the ref’s hands were tied. Boar speared T-Bone off the apron into Primate, hit a cannon ball back splash into the corner but Primate broke up the pin attempt with a headbutt. Primate then held up Boar so Dennis could smash him but Boar pulled the chain and sent Dennis crashing into him. Dennis wrapped his fist in the chain but Boar turned it into a crossface and wrapped the chain first around Dennis’ mouth and then his nose and eyes forcing Dennis to tap and holding it until the ref pulled him off. This was a blast of a match and even though I gave you all the big details you should still go out of your way to watch it! These characters clashed perfectly and Boar is such a lovable lunatic who can only exist in wrestling!
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