Grudge match after grudge match and then some for NXT UK!

The Iron King, Joe Coffey, looks to finally settle the score with Rampage Brown in an epic 1v1 tiebreaker! Will NXT UK still be Coffey’s Kingdom?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• No Disqualifications, Joseph Conners in a Cage: Jinny VS Aoife Valkyrie; Valkyrie wins.
• NXT UK Heritage Cup Contenders Tournament: Oliver Carter VS Kenny Williams; Williams wins and advances to the next round.
• Knockout or Submission Only: Joe Coffey VS Rampage Brown; Rampage wins.

MY REPORT

For more information as to why Play By Play is put on hold, please refer back to this article.

I watched last week’s NXT UK and what a great episode that was. No less than an 8.5 given that great women’s title match, the great midcard matches with Luna VS Dawn and Huxley VS Dennis, and an awesome tag title main event. I really liked the misdirect Pretty Deadly came up with, I had not yet seen someone fake out the ref with a fake throwing in of the towel. And Pretty Deadly winning in that way is a good move since A) Tyler Bate has the Heritage Cup to fall back on and B) we could get an even bigger moment for Moustache Mountain whenever it is fans in the UK can finally be in the audience in person.

For this week, we get a great highlight reel vignette, new edits to the opening video and a promo from Dragunov, all to mark this new era in NXT UK. Then the opening match, I must’ve missed before when they said this was escalated to No DQ but that made it even greater. And technically that was “No Holds Barred” because there was no ring count. Of course Jinny jumps Aoife to get an advantage, and I like that NXT UK had a cage cam to get clear shots of Conners’ reactions. It was definitely scary to see Aoife’s leg buckle like that, but kudos for them finishing the match. Aoife winning with a full metal Made in Japan was badass and she is definitely going to be a future women’s champion just on that.

Good promo segment with Millie McKenzie, Meiko Satomura and Amale, and I do like that Millie is not just being a student but also a gatekeeper to the champion. Meiko VS Millie should definitely still happen, and if Millie hangs around Meiko’s matches enough, they could even make it into a story where the student thinks she knows more than the teacher. We got great promos from Carter and Williams last week, and their tournament match was definitely on the same level. Carter got to really show what he can do in a technical wrestling style, and I do like how they played with Williams trying to just play defense after getting his first fall.

I figured Williams would win as such a dastardly Heel, and I am really intrigued by how we’re getting Kenny Williams VS Noam Dar in the semifinals. I’ve been saying I want a faction of Williams, Dar, Sha Samuels and Jordan Devlin, but just seeing Heel VS Heel in WWE is great enough. Nina Samuels sticking her foot in her mouth, as they say, with Sid Scala was a great bit. Blair Davenport is of course going to eat Nina alive in their match so good for Blair. Isla Dawn is playing a long game in her gimmick, as she’s adding to her collection. Millie’s watch, Luna’s hair, who knows what she’ll take next but I am curious where this is going.

Oh, hey, we’re going to get Crown Jewel 2021. At least I can use the thumbnail I made for 2020 now. Anyway, Teoman and Nathan Frazer have their own very good promo to plug their Heritage Cup tournament match. That match is going to be another big hit just like the previous tournament matches, that’s going to be really telling for that side of the bracket. And then we got our main event, which was already awesome stuff on the fact it got turned into a match where pinfalls wouldn’t matter. It was just under 25 minutes of great physicality to show that the “top of the card” isn’t just Walter and Dragunov.

Did it take anyone else a long time to realize the buckle pads were changed? They were each one single pad, like in boxing or even NJPW. The details like that really are great to see. Also, it made it easier for Coffey to expose one whole corner for great effect. In the end, Rampage winning makes the most sense. He’s been on a slow burn ever since debuting in NXT UK during the pandemic, he’s needed something to spark his rise up the ranks. Plus, Joe Coffey’s had his shots at the NXT UK Championship, they haven’t pulled the trigger on him, maybe the Coffey Brothers should try to be tag champs together now.

My Score: 8.6/10