Previously on the Best and Worst of NXT UK: Moustache Mountain defeated Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel, and Walter made his in-ring debut.
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 6, 2019.
Best: Two Colorful Young Men
Sometimes when you’re still building up the brand, the perfect show-opener is a face-versus-face match that really shows what both wrestlers can do. This was one of those. The flip-flopping pin attempts toward the end were maybe a bit much, but overall this was a fun and colorful match from two fun and (literally) colorful performers.
I was also intrigued by a glimpse of what Ligero could be a like as a heel. There was a moment in this match where Andrews was down by the ropes, not yet ready to stand, and Ligero just silents stalked toward him as the ref admonished him to stay back. He never really hurt Andrews (at least not in a heel way), but the menace was there. Ligero’s mask, despite having the open eyes and chin, is cut in a way that completely obscures his facial expressions. That can be pretty creepy if you want it to be.
For today though, the menace was minimal and over quickly, in favor of plenty of high-flying and flashy holds. These guys both know their way around the ring, and this was a really fun kickoff match.
Best: S-U-G-A-R, Now You’re Caught In My Armbar
Xia Brookside is one of the most colorful wrestlers around, with her blue hair and bold gear, but she’s positively drab compared to Candy Floss! Candy looks like she just arrived from bullying Vanellope von Schweetz for being a glitch, and honestly it’s an aesthetic I can get behind. Her saccharine appearance became even more fun when it became clear in the match when she pulled out some pretty brutal-looking submission holds, and even did a Shayna Baszler-esque arm stomp.
This match was all about giving Xia her first televised win, and she definitely came out of it looking good. Her ability to escape from Candy’s holds made her look skilled and agile, rather than illegitimizing the holds, which is always a risk. She’s a tiny girl, even next to Candy Floss, but she’s fast and agile, and looks like she’s all muscle despite her thin frame. She still comes off as very young and pretty new to this, but considering she’s only 20, that’s about how she should seem.
After the match Rhea Ripley appeared to attack both competitors. She put Xia in her hanging submission hold, and then spun her around, which I’m pretty sure makes Rhea officially more badass than Cesaro, who doesn’t even hold people in an uncomfortable way when he spins them. Naturally Toni Storm ran out to make the save, but Rhea got the better of her too, standing tall over the Women’s Champion as the segment ended.
Worst: Dirt And Grime
I’m kind of into Mike Hitchman’s whole Wild Boar thing. Joseph Conner is obviously talented as well, but I’m still getting a handle on what his deal is supposed to be. For this show, though, I didn’t feel like this match brought a lot to the table. We’d just had two matches between brightly colored cartoon wrestlers, and we’re waiting for two matches involving the hard-hitting Coffey Brothers, so what do we have in the middle? Two weird, grubby, hirsute guys clawing and pawing at each other for a few minutes. Either of these guys could be the perfect ingredient in a different match, but I didn’t love them together.
Worst: The Other Coffey Match
Giving both Coffey Brothers back-to-back matches on the same episode didn’t really work for me once we got there. First of all, I literally just figured out how to tell them apart (and if Joe Coffey cuts his hair as short as Mark’s I’ll lose that ability). Secondly, we were all waiting for Mark Coffey’s match with Walter, which made it hard to enjoy Joe’s submission-fest with Ashton Smith, a guy who doesn’t seem to have much of a character, but does have a necklace tattooed around his neck.
I don’t mean to put down Ashton, who’s really good and pretty charismatic when he talks, but if this match was going to win anybody over to either of these guys, it needed to be somewhere else, on a different episode, and not right before Joe’s brother fights Walter.
Best: Tougher Than The Toughies
Walter continues to impress, and Mark Coffey was the perfect opponent for him to be impressive against. Walter’s match last week with Jack Starz was pretty much a squash, but Mark was actually tough enough to give him some trouble. He’s an amazing physical specimen who’s obviously going to do well here, but I think it serves Walter well that his second match since debuting included him getting knocked off his feet and showing some vulnerability. I was going to say “…so he seems like a person,” but the truth is he still seems like an enormous monster, but he’s still more engaging as a monster who’s only nigh invincible as opposed to entirely invincible.
Once Walter got back on his feet, he took his revenge on Mark Coffey and proved just what a force to be reckoned with he is. Pete Dunne admitted in a backstage promo earlier in the episode that a title match with Walter is inevitable, and every time we see Walter I get more excited about that eventuality.
That’s all for this week. Join me next week when Jinny faces Mia Yim.
