Will Tyler Bate keep his Heritage Cup hopes alive?

The NXT Global Heritage Invitational Tournament continues to Level Up, and now Tyler Bate battles Charlie Dempsey in their second match-ups!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• NXT Global Heritage Invitational Tournament, Group A: Tyler Bate VS Charlie Dempsey; Bate wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Here are the current Group A standings.

Pete Dunne: 1-0-1, 3 points
Tyler Bate: 1-0, 2 points
Axiom: 0-1-1, 1 point
Charlie Dempsey: 0-1, 0 points

Here are the current Group B standings.

Joe Coffey: 2-0, 4 points
Nathan Frazer: 2-1, 4 points
Duke Hudson: 1-1, 2 points
Akira Tozawa: 0-3, 0 points [ELIMINATED]

NXT Global Heritage Invitational Tournament, Group A: Tyler Bate VS Charlie Dempsey!

The Big Strong Boi had a fast and furious start for his tournament run against Axiom, and now he takes on the sadistic Son of the Gentleman Villain! Will Bate keep up the momentum? Or will Dempsey grind him to a halt?

The bell rings and we’re on the clock. The two tie up, Bate arm-drags and armlocks but Dempsey headscissors. Bate kips free and fans rally behind Bate already. The two reset, tie up, and Bate wrenches to wristlock and YANK the arm! Dempsey spins, wristlocks back, the two fight for control, but Dempsey spins and slips through to wrench and wrangle Bate to a wristlock! Bate endures as Dempsey bends those fingers and twists the wrist. Dempsey top wristlocks, then bridges over! Bate’s shoulders are down so it’s a cover, TWO as Bate gets an arm up! Dempsey keeps on the arm but Bate kips up.

Dempsey wrenches, wristlocks, but Bate rolls, rolls back, and then squats to break free by using his own leg. Bate wrenches and knuckle locks, then he WRINGS Dempsey out! Dempsey gets up and fans applaud this technical exchange. They tie up, spins Bate and UPPERCUTS, then WRINGS Bate out! Dempsey drags Bate around by his arm, steps over, and MONKEY FLIPS him! Dempsey fires up and eggs Bate on, but Bate keeps cool. They reset, tie up, and Dempsey gets a single leg takedown. Dempsey ties the legs up, and chinbars Bate into a BOW ‘N’ ARROW! Bate pops free to a cover, TWO!

Bate keeps on Dempsey with a facelock but Dempsey spins out to hammerlock Bate. Dempsey pulls on the other arm, then on a leg. Fans rally as Bate endures, but Dempsey cording holds the far arm. Dempsey pushes the arm down, recliner cradle, TWO! Bate is up, they tie up again, and Bate full nelsons, spins and UPPERCUTS! Dempsey UPPERCUTS, repeat! Bate hooks the arms and backslides, TWO! Bate reels Dempsey in, steps over, LA MAGISTROL! TWO, and the two reset again. Fans rally, the two tie up, and Dempsey wrenches Bate. Bate resists, they knuckle lock and go shoulder to shoulder.

Bate powers up to power Dempsey back, but Dempsey hits a SAYANAGI! Double knuckle lock cover, TWO as Bate gets an arm up! Dempsey pushes that arm down to cover, TWO as the other arm comes up! Dempsey pushes Bate down again, but Bate bridges up! Dempsey jumps on Bate but Bate stays up! Fans fire up as Dempsey tries again, he brings Bate down, TWO as Bate bridges back up! Dempsey tries a third time but Bate turns that into a MONKEY FLIP! Bate rolls back but into body scissors! Fans fire up as Dempsey squeezes! Dempsey CHOPS, but Bate CHOPS! Dempsey CHPOS, Bate CHPOS, repeat!

Fans fire up as Dempsey CHOPS and CHOPS but Bate pushes to a cover! ONE as Dempsey gets an arm up! Bate deadlifts Dempsey to scoop and SLAM! Fans fire up for the Big Strong Boi as he UPPERCUTS! Dempsey forearms, Bate headlocks and SMACKS Dempsey with a foot! Bate tries again but Dempsey blocks to DRAGON SCREW! Dempsey then STOMPS Bate’s back! Dempsey drags Bate up to UPPERCUT, shove, and HEADBUTT! Dempsey CLUBS Bate, whips, but Bate KICKS back! Bate runs in, REBOUNDER, but Dempsey catches it to a full nelson! Bate uses his leg for leverage again, but Dempsey CLUBS Bate for it!

Dempsey waistlocks to GERMAN SUPLEX! Bridging cover, TWO!! Bate is still in this, but Dempsey still has the waistlock! Bate headlocks to punch! Dempsey CLUBS Bate again! Dempsey UPPERCUTS, Bate fireman’s carries! AIRPLANE SPIN!! Dempsey fights but Bate still goes around and around before the SLAM! Cover, TWO! Dempsey is still in this but Bate goes after him. They UPPERCUT back and forth and fans fire up! Bate runs to UPPERCUT but Dempsey UPPERCUTS back! Bate UPPERCUTS again but Dempsey THROAT CHOPS him down! Dempsey shakes his arm out, whips Bate to a corner, but Bate goes up and under!

Bate trips Dempsey, has the legs, but Dempsey rolls! Bate cartwheels through, whips Dempsey but Dempsey rolls and comes back, to catch the dropkick! But Bate body scissors to drag Dempsey down, only for Dempsey to sunset flip! Bate rolls through to high stack and jackknife bridge! BATE WINS!!

Winner: Tyler Bate, by pinfall (gains 2 points; Dempsey earns 0)

Bate catches Dempsey with the follow-through and Dempsey is furious! Dempsey is out of the running now, but Bate still has to face Pete Dunne on Tuesday! That is a rivalry for the ages, will the Big Strong Boi break through to the finals? Or will the Bruiserweight bring about a Bitter End?

Here are the NEW Group A standings!

Tyler Bate: 2-0, 4 points
Pete Dunne: 1-0-1, 3 points
Axiom: 0-1-1, 1 point [ELIMINATED]
Charlie Dempsey: 0-2, 0 points [ELIMINATED]

My Thoughts:

A very good and very fast match-up between Bate and Dempsey, and mathematically, Bate could’ve lost this match and still be in the running, putting a lot more pressure on his match with Dunne. However, it just makes sense that in the end, the two still standing in the block are Bate and Dunne. Either guy is worthy of the Heritage Cup, but as I said on Tuesday, this really feels like Bate VS Frazer for the finals so that no matter what, No Mercy sees Dar face someone he has a lot of history with.