Last time in the Best and Worst of NXT UK: Kay Lee Ray defeated Toni Storm in an I Quit Match to retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship. If you’d like to read previous installments of the Best and Worst of NXT UK, click right here. Follow With Spandex on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter if you want.
And now, the Best and Worst of NXT UK from March 5, 2020.
Best: Buzzsaw vs Hatchet
Alexander Wolfe used to be my second favorite member of Sanity (right behind Nikki of course), and now he’s my very favorite member of Imperium. He’s still the same high-energy force for chaos he’s always been, and these days he gets more opportunities to show off what he can do without being overshadowed by his stablemates.
As you’ve probably picked up from this column, I find Travis Banks considerably less exciting, but he and Wolfe work well together, and I like seeing Alexander get a strong solo win over an established babyface. The bit where he goes Full Shinsuke Nakamura as if begging Banks to stomp on his belly is a little weird, but hey, he’s a weird guy. That’s part of his charm.
Best: Yes To This Eddie
This promo is th emost interested I’ve ever been in Eddie Dennis. Commentary mentioning that he used to be a math teacher and a school principal does nothing for his heel persona, but Dennis himself explaining how that means he’s always making calculations and he knows how to mentally manipulate people pulls the whole thing together. A cerebral villain is a much better gimmick for Eddie than “somewhat tall,” and I hope we get to see this version in the ring before too long.
Best: Hacksaw Ridge
This was a squash match. Saxon Huxley didn’t want it to be one, but he was just no match for the beefy aggression of Ridge Holland. It served its intended purpose for me, however, as I finally began to see the appeal of Ridge, who has an amazing physique and that important babyface wrestler thing where he can do violence and still seem like somebody you want to know and root for. I’m looking forward to seeing what he gets into when they give him an actual program.
Worst: Magical Girls With No Budget
I always hate giving a women’s match the “Worst” but this just didn’t quite work. Aoife Valkyrie and Isla Dawn both have fantastic looks and a lot of potential as characters. And they’re not bad wrestlers at all, don’t get me wrong, but they’re both relatively young and inexperienced, and when you put the two of them together, you get something that never quite comes together. There’s a lot of posing, and not a whole lot of actual moves. Let’s have them each fight some veterans for a while and come back together at a later time. All of that said, Valkyrie’s finisher does look pretty cool, even if it seems like there’s a substantial risk of landing badly.
Best: Attempting Bombing
Bomber Dave Mastiff, as I’m sure I’ve said many times before, is one of my favorite guys on this show. I love a hero who’s not particualarly good looking, and I love a fat guy who’s not treated like a joke. Dave’s a big solid bloke from the Black Country, sort of like an English Ben Grimm, and he can clobber with the best of them.
Of course, I knew he wasn’t going to beat WALTER for the Title. There’s no way WALTER’s reign ends on weekly TV, and it doesn’t feel like time yet anyway. But Bomber Dave has nothing to be ashamed of here. He bombed WALTER, but WALTER bombed him back, and WALTER bombs hard. If Dave’s the Thing of British wrestling, WALTER’s the Galactus. My only real concern is that this unsuccessful title match might be Dave’s ceiling in WWE. That’s a pessimistic thought, though. I can’t be the only person who sees his unique charisma and wants him to go far. Bomber Dave Mastiff versus Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, let’s book it!
That’s all for this installment. Join me next week when Ligero faces Noam Dar, and NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin returns.
