In a week where AEW opens “The Forbidden Door” to New Japan NXT UK continues to leave the front door open to NXT 2.0 roster members. So let’s get to ranking who walked through it and what they did!
Honorable Mention: Kenny Williams and Tyler Bate. “The Scum of the Earth” was in a package again ranting and raving about the “Masked Bozo” saying he’d rip him limb from limb as we had clips or Tiger Turan spliced in. Bate wasn’t on the show but they did announce he’d need a leave of absence to deal with the actions of Trent Seven. I like that idea a lot that he’s taking time off not for some injury but to deal with the emotional side of the turn. That’s an aspect of fights that wrestling doesn’t deal with nearly enough, especially with turns by partners. Though Seven was advertised as being back next week so I don’t expect Bate to be gone for long.
5. Noam Dar and Sha Samuels. The duo was in separate segments but both their usual funny selves. Dar brought the Heritage Cup into Sid Scala’s office and said as the longest reigning Heritage Cup Champion there’s nobody left and he has to retire on top. Before Scala could even respond Dar said he knew what Sid was thinking and of course he’d have one more match but it has to be in a stadium with fireworks, confetti and cake (“there needs to be cake”) and “Please don’t go!” chants. But because it’s his last match he’ll need double the pay. Sha was in the hallway asking Scala to strike his loss from the record in the tag match last week because of the use of the scarf. He wants Wolfgang 1 on 1 and if he was here right now he’d make him squeal! Of course Wolfgang walked up behind him and before he could even turn around Sha said “He’s behind me isn’t he?” But Sha didn’t cower as bad as he could of instead insisting he’ll embarass Wolfgang because with Kemp in America and Gallus in shambles he’s got no chance! I just love this duo!
4. Isla Dawn. NXT’s resident wicked witch picked up a win over the always impressive Myla Grace. I’m not sure if Myla Grace has any mic skills at all but between the bells she feels like the best mix of Bayley’s kid friendly jovial persona and Sasha Banks’ underdog build and athleticism. Grace went for a creative pin and then did a pumphandle, rolled forward, double kicked the legs out from Dawn and hit a running kick but she ate a guillotine on the top rope for her troubles. Grace was able to fight back and land a split legged leg drop a head scissors (that, unfortunately, didn’t go according to plan) and then a tiger feint kick to the front of Dawn’s torso, followed by a tornado DDT but it all wasn’t enough. Dawn hit Grace with a half-Nelson slam for the win. Dawn got the win but I think Grace is another name to add to the crop of people who should be much bigger deals in a few months from now.
3. Sarray. On commentary Nigel talked up the history of Japanese wrestlers wrestling in the U.K. bringing up the original Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger and mentioned that Sarray’s debut match cane against current NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura. Sarray came out fast against Nina Samuels going for an immediate roll-up after the bell for 2 and then locking in a single leg crab before Samuels reached the ropes. After some back and forth Sarray won with her signature basement dropkick to Samuels against the bottom rope. The juxtaposition of Sarray looking so wholesome but having such a brutal-looking finisher is great! Later in the night she was confronted by Xia Brookside and Eliza Alexander in the back. They said this was their division and Brookside told Alexander not to touch Sarray’s necklace or she might turn into a Power Ranger. Satomura walked down the hallway and Brookside and Alexander instantly backed down. Xia had a funny line about how they were just checking on Sarray and that “The sparkly thing is nice!”
2. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen. Would they have been my pick to win the newly vacated NXT UK Tag Team Championship? Nope. To be honest they wouldn’t even crack my top 3 teams in the main event 4-way elimination match to crown new champs. But they won so I’ll give credit where it’s due. Jack Starz rolled up Mark Andrews to eliminate he and Wild Boar first. Rohan Raja hit Dave Mastiff with a Seek and Destroy and then a second one while he was kneeling to send Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz packing. Finally Briggs and Jensen were able to overcome the numbers game with stereo kicks to Charlie Dempsey and Teoman on the apron followed by a high/low to Raja for the win and their first ever NXT UK Tag Team Championship. Jensen’s involvement was kept to a minimum being the least experienced of all the guys in the match but there were some fun moments here with the other guys. Early on Mastiff and Briggs cleared house, including knocking off their opponents’ partners to have the “Big Meaty Men Slappin’ Meat” moment of the match. Briggs chokeslammed Teoman off the apron and into the crowd of opponents and Andrews then blind tagged himself in and hit a Shooting Star Press on to the crowd outside. Dempsey didn’t get involved as much as I’d have liked but did ruin Starz’ legs with a brutal gut wrench suplex on the floor. When it was down to 2 teams Die Famile nearly got the win with a powerslam/DDT combo on Briggs but Jensen broke it up. Teoman then locked Briggs in a crossface but Briggs was able to roll back into a pin for 2 which led to the finishing sequence. I know Briggs is big and can go in the ring, I saw it first hand at Evolve a few years ago, but he’s still missing that x-factor to me and Jensen is still so new to my screen that I can’t get a gauge on him yet so I’m lukewarm on them as champs. I’m surprised they won because I figured they’d be doing a very short stint in the UK but maybe they’ll drop it quickly to a different variation of Die Famile or maybe they’ll stick around and actually grow as a team. Time will tell.
1. Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter. When Icarus flew too close to the sun his wax wings melted and he was sent crashing back to earth. When “The Hottest Tag Team Under The Sun” reached the heights they sought they met with a similar fate. This week Smith & Carter were supposed to make their first defense of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship against Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs but they opened the show in street clothes with Smith sporting a knee brace. He informed us that he ruptured his MCL and they’d have to vacate their titles as a result. He apologized to Carter for letting him down but Carter assured Smith he didn’t. Smith said Carter is still the “Hottest Superstar Under The Sun” and he’s going to root him on as his biggest fan and brother while he’s out. Smith asked that before they give the belts back Scala say it one more time and Scala obliged announcing them as the NXT UK Tag Team Champions. Just a few months ago it felt like we were living in the “Roaring 20s” for tag teams on the British brand but with Pretty Dessly stateside, Gallus in shambles, Moustache Mountain broken up and now Smith on the shelf we may be entering the “Great Depression” era. But we’ll see the old era out with one last toast to Smith and Carter and the phenomenal rise they’ve had. The fans chanted “Still our champs!” and I couldn’t agree more!
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