Previously on the Best and Worst of NXT UK: Mia Yim faced Jinny, and Wolfgang unsuccessfully challenged Pete Dunne.
Click here to watch the show on WWE Network. 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 February 20, 2019.
Worst: One Unit Of Wrestling Storytelling
I really like Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster, but they feel thrown together. They’re both likable guys with fun gimmicks, and that feels like the entire basis of their tag team. Other than people who were active on NXT US, like Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch, it often feels like the NXT UK roster is too new to have any real character complexity. For some reason it’s worse in the tag division. You have a bunch of babyface teams who are adorably quirky boy heroes, and then you have a bunch of heel teams made up of the biggest, meanest men who came directly from the dankest pub just to kick the arses of any quirky boy heroes they can find. The Coffeys of Gallus are a perfect example.
They’re not bad wrestlers. Everyone in this match is a good wrestler. Just about everybody in NXT UK is pretty good, as far as wrestling goes. It’s just that when I see two huge guys with big beards beating up two much smaller guys who have cultivated Looks, I feel like I’m watching something I’ve seen before. I feel like all of these characters need to stew a little longer. Let some of the cute boys go bad, and some of the nasty guys become heroes. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s just how I felt after this match.
Best: Kay Lee Ray And Other Stories
Kay Lee Ray is here, or at least she’ll be here soon! This week all we got was a video package which featured a promo from her and a montage of her previous work. With Kay Lee already calling out Rhea and Toni by name, it feels like they’re positioning her to go right to the top of the UK Women’s Division, and frankly I’m ready for that. She’s talented in the ring, she’s funny, she’s unique-looking, she might immediately be the best talker in the division. She should be one of the stars of this brand, and I’m excited to watch her get there.
Jordan Devlin and Joseph Conners also had video promos. Jack Gallagher appeared backstage to say that he wants to fight in NXT UK, and plans to talk to Johnny Saint about it. Later in the show, The Grizzled Young Veterans had an in-ring promo about how they’re better than any other tag teams and would be happy to face stars of any WWE brand. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan interrupted to challenge them, but they won’t be fighting until next week.
Worst But I Blame Myself: A Full English
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but sometimes this British wrestling show feels very British. Or at least it conforms to my stereotypes. I know Shane Thorne is Australian, but Trent Seven is more than English enough to make up for that. I was trying to keep notes on the specific spots in this match as it went along, but it was basically “Lock-up, lock-up, okay now Trent has Shane in a hold, now it’s a different hold, now Shane reverses it, third hold, now they’re both screaming gutturally.” It felt like they spent the first two thirds of this match all locked up, and then the final third trading strikes. When one of them finally left the mat (it was Trent), he immediately won.
This match wasn’t bad, I don’t think, it’s just that I’m not really used to matches like this. Trent and Shane both have lots of charisma and personality, which can carry them through most situations. Trent’s always been great, and I’m really impressed with this new post-Nick Miller incarnation of Shane Thorne. I’m just used to a little more speed and motion in my wrestling matches. I’ll probably adjust.
Best: The Final Chapter (For Now)
We knew from their confrontations these last few weeks that Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm were going to go hard at each other when they had their NXT UK Women’s Championship Rematch. So it was no real surprise when Rhea attacked Toni before the bell even rang, enabling her to get the better of the champion and violently dominate the early part of the match. She even pulled Toni out to the floor, picked her up and drove her spine — injured in their first title match — into the ringpost.
Toni did manage to control back for a while with a well-placed dropkick, but Rhea’s natural affinity for violence just seemed to give her the upper hand for much of the match. She had Toni in a body-scissors hold for quite a while, and later got her into that hanging inverted cloverleaf thing she does. When Toni managed to finally get out of the hold, she knocked Rhea out of the ring, and that gave Toni the chance to get the upper hand. She hit Ripley with several suplexes, but failed to keep her from regaining control. Fortunately, Storm managed to dodge Ripley’s spear in the corner, which sent her painfully into the ringpost, giving Toni the opportunity to hit a Storm Zero for the pin.
Rhea came out of this still looking really strong, but Toni managed to put her away clean through the power of determination and heart. I don’t think Ripley and Storm are done with each other for the long term, but this feels like it could be the end for now. Let Toni move on to face Jinny, and let Rhea be a roadblock on Kay Lee Ray’s path to the main event. This match was a perfection capstone to the Ripley/Storm trilogy, and now they’re free to tell other stories until their paths cross again.
That’s all for this week. Join me next week when Gentleman Jack Gallagher faces Tyler Bate, the Grizzled Young Veterans go up against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, and Kassius Ohno shows up just to have a match with Walter.
