By far the most impressive contest from NXT TakeOver 36 was the clash between Ilya Dragunov and Walter for the NXT UK Championship, an absolute barnburner that has a good shot to end up as the best match on WWE programming this year. After seeing what the two pre-eminent stars of the NXT UK brand could bring to the table, I'm interested enough to check out the latest edition of their weekly show, which I've only seen a brief amount of in the 3 years it's existed. This past Friday's show promised more brutality and violence in the vein of that Walter/Dragunov classic, so I'm extremely excited for what these 70 minutes have in store.
- I love the visual style of NXT UK, the logo looks so clean and dignified, and the colors used for presenting matchup screens are eye-catching and vibrant. The overall presentation of the show is a little dingy right now, as they're operating out of the BT Sport Studios in London, where the brand has been stationed since re-launching in October last year with pandemic precautions. I definitely think this show needs to have their live audience back, as that rowdy British atmosphere is impossible to replicate with the piped-in cheers and chants the production team added in. That being said, I did love getting to hear a lot of banter in the ring, and the excellent commentary duo of Andrew Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness bring a ton of energy to the booth that does help cover for a lack of fan reaction.
- Our opening contest is a No DQ match in the NXT UK women's division, as Aoife Valkyrie (sort of an Irish angel of death) takes on Jinny (pretentious heat magnet). These two women took each other apart in this one, which was a little sloppy at times but brought just the right amount of hatred to make it work. They each lay into each other with various weapons, and take turns bumping off the steel steps and barricade. I really enjoyed the presence of Joseph Conners, an ally of Jinny's who helped her win the first match with Valkyrie, and ends up locked in a shark cage at ringside as a result. Conners is a lot of fun as the annoying sidekick, egging his woman on, and needling the referee while Valkyrie is on the attack. After a lot of brawling, they eventually center on a focal point, which is Valkyrie's knee, injured when she tries to put Jinny through a table with a leaping leg drop off the apron. Valkyrie does further damage to her bad leg while delivering a sunset flip powerbomb off the top rope, and the move itself ended up a little botched, as Jinny bumped a second too late. The commentators smartly play it off as a strategy, and Valkyrie looks every bit the unstoppable demon she's presented as, powering through her injury to batter Jinny with stiff chair shots, finishing the "Fashionista" off with a pumphandle powerbomb onto the chair.
- One of the more unique aspects of this show is the Heritage Cup, which was introduced last October, and is competed for in round-based matches. The rules of Heritage Cup matches are intricate, and a little too convoluted for my tastes, but it's a midcard prize with an actual purpose, and has produced some dramatic contests, most notably current trophy holder Tyler Bate's win over inaugural champion A-Kid a few months ago. The brand has just begun an eight-man tournament to crown a new number one contender for Bate, with Noam Dar defeating Mark Andrews in the first bout, and Dar's opponent will be found on the second match of this card, pitting the Swiss-Ghanian Oliver Carter against the Scottish Kenny Williams. This was a really fun contest, picking up quickly as Carter shows off his impressive athletic ability. Carter looks tremendous in this one, his handstand into an armdrag was absolutely perfect, and he brutalizes Williams with a backflip into a stiff back of the head kick that really should be a finishing move. Williams, for his part, plays the sneaky heel role, getting the first fall with a sunset flip after Carter charges into the ropes (Heritage Cup matches are automatically 2 out of 3 falls). Carter then evens the score with a thumping lariat and a scissors kick, before upping the ante with a graceful springboard moonsault. Williams finally slows Carter down with a diving chop block, and cleverly cheats to a victory, distracting the referee by throwing a turnbuckle pad, before clocking Carter with one of the metal water bottles that are provided to the competitors in between rounds. I love what Carter brings to the table, and this style of wrestling works shockingly well in a modern format.
- Main event time, as the bruising Rampage Brown takes on the Scottish maniac, Joe Coffey, in a battle of wills between two hosses of NXT UK. The only way to win this match is by knockout or submission, and these bulls waste no time locking horns. Everything about this clash felt like a pub brawl in the best way possible, and Brown really impressed me, his athleticism is startling and he times every move and bump perfectly to maintain his beastly aura. This match is booked to be about as even as it could be, as neither man can get the edge during the early tie-ups, they each get to take flight over the barricade with a dive, and each trade submission holds, Brown unable to fully apply an armbar and getting a rope break to escape a Boston Crab. Coffey really turns it on from here, tossing Brown around with three huge German suplexes, and an overhead belly-to-belly. Brown trades back with overwhelming power, spiking Coffey into the mat with a cool twisting powerslam, and after Coffey nails a beautiful moonsault, Brown decides that attempted murder is the only solution to winning this match. Brown stops a second moonsault, and unleashes his inner strong style psychopath, nearly breaking Coffey in half with a heart-stopping top rope backdrop driver, holy you know what. I can't say I loved the decision to follow up that incredible move with a sequence where both men sat back-to-back and promised no mercy to each other, it just seemed a little contrived, and the mutual show of respect could've been saved for after they finished destroying each other. That spot leads to even more violence, as Coffey pours every last bit of his soul into an assault on Brown that includes a big leaping headbutt and an impactful discus lariat. But this was to be Brown's day, as he turns the tides with a slick armdrag, then finally beats the fight out of Coffey. Two straight Doctor Bombs leave Coffey in a crumpled heap, and Brown finishes it with a series of hammerfists, as Coffey can no longer protect himself and the ref calls it. This was a definite MMA-inspired finish, and I didn't think it looked great, as Brown wasn't making a whole lot of contact with his strikes, but I can at least appreciate thought behind what they were attempting here. Despite a few minor quibbles, this match was an absolute win for me, a slugfest that brought the fire and intensity I was looking for out of these two. Bravo.
9/10
This was a tremendous show that was so close to a perfect score, with only the slightly awkward backstage segments and lack of a live crowd holding it back from the prestigious achievement. Just like Walter/Dragunov at TakeOver, I think every wrestling fan owes it to themselves to check this one out, NXT UK desperately deserves to have more eyes on it, because I think it's the best product under the WWE umbrella right now. If the interest is there for this post, I would be thrilled to return next week for another review, this was such an easy watch.
Up next here on Henry's World, I'm going to check out another unheralded weekly wrestling show, as I review the first episode of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's STRONG, their American-based young lion showcase. That should be a blast. See you soon.
- Henry
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