Previously on the Best and Worst of NXT UK: Eddie Dennis defeated Jamie Ahmed, Travis Banks and Jordan Devlin refused to stop fighting, and Walter looked at people very menacingly.
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And now, the Best and Worst of NXT UK from January 30, 2019.
Best: The Tolkienization Of Pro Wrestling
I’m way into Dave Mastiff right now. He’s got a fantastic look, he moves like like lightning, and he’s bursting with a unique charisma. He’s also pretty much a J.R.R. Tolkien/Dungeons & Dragons dwarf. He’s under six feet, seems about as wide as he is tall, has a mighty beard, and he’s an unstoppable warrior. I’m just saying, if Dave Mastiff invited me on a quest to drive a dragon out of his father’s mountain, I’d probably come. And I’m not even much of a thief.
So if you have an undefeated dwarf prince on your wrestling brand, who can you bring on to challenge him? That’s where the Primate Jay Melrose comes in, because that guy’s totally an orc. Admitted, his actual gimmick is being an ape man, as the nickname implies, but when you’re a scary-looking bald man with a fighting style that places him a few steps down the evolutionary ladder, it comes out pretty orc-like. I don’t mean any of this to disrespect Melrose, who looked great here despite a predictable defeat. I’m just saying he’s a bit of a monster, and that’s clearly on purpose. The scary ape mask he enters in plays into that too.
This match was as hard-hitting and brutal as it needed to be, and I love that Jay’s hubris in attempting and failing to lift Dave led to his defeat. Mastiff’s certainly not the biggest or heaviest wrestler around, but his whole thing is being extremely solid and compact (like a dwarf), so I’m willing to buy that he ways twice as much as he looks like he does. I’m excited to see more of Jay Melrose in NXT UK, but I’m even more excited to watch Dave Mastiff rise higher on the card.
Best: Every Tag Team Should Have A Name
James Drake and Zack Gibson have already been the Grizzled Young Veterans for a while on the UK indies, but for some reason they became NXT UK Tag Team Champions under the name “James Drake and Zack Gibson.” That changed with this promo, where they officially claimed the Grizzled Young Veterans name for this brand. They also learned from Assistant to the General Manager Sid Scala that they have an upcoming title defense against Danny Birch and Oney Lorcan, in a crossover with NXT US. Scala was deliberately vague about when that will happen, which I assume has to do with complicated taping schedules.
Zack Gibson and James Drake are in the process of steadily winning me over to their work. Zack is a great promo, and Drake is ready to sit back and let him do that. Or maybe James Drake is good on the mic too and they’re just taking turns. I’m not sure I’ve seen Drake try to talk yet. Also Gibson looks like a mighty warrior, but also very much like a 2019 wrestler, while Drake looks like a guy who would have been a star 20 years ago, but in a good away.
Best: Walter Is Here, Walter Is Mighty
As I said last week, NXT UK managed to get me excited about Walter can do just by having him walk around in his long coat and look at people. This week walking and looking wouldn’t be enough, because it was his in-ring debut against Jack Starz. Fortunately, Walter lived up to the hype.
Jack Starz got just enough offense in to make this seem like a wrestling match, but everybody including him knew that this was never really about competition. It was about seeing what Walter can do. One thing Walter can do, it turns out, is beat the snot out of Jack Starz without even breaking a sweat. He tosses Jack around like a rag doll, chops him across the ring, hits him with a massive dropkick, and finishes him off with a brutal-looking powerbomb. This short and extremely one-sided match was so much fun that I can’t wait to see what Walter’s title bout against Pete Dunne will be like when we get there.
Backstage after the match, Mark Coffey yelled at Walter about being ready for a match whenever, while Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel offered him a friendly alliance. Walter reacted to both situations the same way he’s reacted to most things so far: by staring wordlessly and then walking away. I’m not sure this is a character that will work forever, but it’s pretty great right now.
Worst: Starved For Competition
This “Worst” is no shade on Jinny, who’s great and I love her. However, her match against Kasey Owens was the third match on this episode. So we had Dave Mastiff, who’s undefeated in NXT UK, versus a newcomer. Then we had Walter, who was brought in as an unstoppable powerhouse, against a jobber. And now we get to Jinny, who’s obviously being pushed as the next contender for Toni Storm’s NXT UK Women’s Championship, versus another jobber. I realize this brand has a pretty limited roster so far, but it would be nice to get one match in the first 45 minutes where I can’t write down the finish in my notes as soon as the match starts.
That’s not to say this match wasn’t fun anyway. Jinny’s submissions look, and I loved when she yelled at Kasey, calling her “little girl.” Kasey seems fun herself, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her stick around and do more than job. For tonight, though, her unestablished presence just added to a show full of unsurprising results.
Best: At Last, Something Meaningful
Finally with the main event we get a fight where the winner isn’t a foregone conclusion. Moustache Mountain are the only wrestlers on this brand who I knew well before NXT UK became a thing, and they continue to be as charming and impressive as when they used to show up at Chikara King of Trios every year. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel don’t come off as very charming at all, as they shouldn’t, but they’re also impressive as a tag team. This match was high energy and hard hitting, with the clear highlight being the moment when Aichner threw Tyler Bate way up into the sky and dropped back down to the mat.
Either of these teams could have won, but I was glad it was Moustache Mountain who did. That puts them back onto the path toward the Grizzled Young Veterans and the NXT Tag Team Championships, which we all know Tyler Bate and Trent Seven were put on this Earth to hold. That said, it seems clear that Aichner and Barthel will get their hands on them sooner or later.
That’s all for this week. Join me next week when Walter faces Mark Coffey, Ligero takes on Mark Andrews, and Xia Brookside returns to the ring.
