Last time on the Best and Worst of NXT UK: Piper Niven fought Reina Gonzalez, and Jordan Devlin challenged Walter for the title.
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 May 15, 2019.
Best: Paying the Piper
Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with squashing a jobber, and this time it was exactly the right thing. Jamie Hayter got some strong offense in at the start of this match, but she was never really here to win. She was here to make a point about how powerful Piper Niven is, and that point was well and truly made. When Jamie managed to escape from Piper’s hold, she thought her time had come. Then she learned better when Piper responded with a deadly-looking headbutt, quickly followed by a crossbody, a cannonball, and then a Michinoku Driver for the pin. If you want to have a fun wrestling match, Piper Niven will probably have that match with you. If you disrespect her like Hayter did with that face slap, on the other hand, expect to be immediately destroyed. It’s a great bit of character building, and exactly the message Piper would want to send to the rest of the Women’s Division.
Promo Time!
Her name is Toni Storm and she’s here to say, if you insult her family like Nina Samuels did last week, you’re in for a beating. This promo showed a knew side of Toni, as she spit vitriol in her anger at Samuels, even putting her title on the line for a chance to beat Nina into the ground. There’s nothing wrong with an aggressive, angry babyface, but the level of venom in this promo was a hint at what a heel Toni Storm could be like, and that’s an exciting thought for the longterm future. When she says, “Mess with my head and I will become dangerous,” it’s extremely easy to believe.
We also saw Kassius Ohno interrupt Sid Scala to do more of his delightfully smarmy “Ugly American” heel work, demanding a chance at the Number One Contendership, and bragging that he’s bringing “pure British wrestling” to NXT UK. He’s very good at this stuff, and I continue to be very happy that he’s here.
Walter and Moustache Mountain each had backstage promos, and both of them put Pete Dunne over as a great wrestler. Of course Trent and Tyler are rooting for their Strong Style buddy to win next week, whereas Walter has no intention of letting that happen, no matter how much respect he has for the Bruiserweight. Trent Seven goes on to say that on the subject of rematches, he and Tyler are ready to face the Grizzled Young Veterans for that Tag Team Championship at any time.
Finally, we get Radzi interviewing Noam Dar and Mark Andrews together. They remind us that the last time they fought it got so brutal the match never officially ended. Now they’re about to fight for the Number One Contendership, and they both want to see it through to a real finish, so we’ll see how that goes.
Worst: House of Pain
This hard-hitting match might have gotten a “Best” on a different episode, but there’s a lot going on this week. With two exciting debuts, and some other strong wrestling besides, I have a hard time getting invested in these two having a long match in the middle of the episode to compete for a spot in a Number One Contendership Fatal Four-Way. On top of that, the match started out really slow, with a serious of very British lock-ups. One highlight played with that trope, which was cool, with Jordan offering Ligero a lockup and then kicking the hell out of him when his guard was down. That led into a fast-paced sequence with a complex series of interlocking flips that these two are uniquely suited for, but it gradually slowed down again as both men valiantly sold their injuries, and had a bunch of nearfalls. Devlin won, which was no surprise, and then he grabbed the mic from Radzi and declares that this match was unnecessary because he’s already a contender. Honestly Jordan, I don’t disagree.
Best (Tentatively): Dracarys
I wasn’t familiar with Ilya Dragunov until NXT UK started promoting his debut, and I’ll be honest and say that I’m still not entirely sure what to make of him. In his debut match he faced Jack Starz, the official jobber to NXT UK Newcomers. Ilya’s very fast-paced and energetic, and also pretty weird looking. He wears red contacts, grins like a madman, and never seems to stop moving unless it’s to stare creepily into the camera. On one level he seems like a prototypical 1980s Soviet villain, but at the same time he comes off like a nihilistic weirdo.
He never letsup on Starz in this match. He drove his opponent from one corner to the other, toying with him like a cat with a rodent and grinning the whole time. When Jack managed to get him in a hold, Ilya powered out of it while screaming directly into Jack’s face. Ilya’s own face turns a Lesnar-esque shade of bright red from all this, contrasting with his noticeable farmer’s tan (which I’m assuming isn’t a deliberate part of his gimmick, but who knows? He also has a mysterious red mark on his forehead that I’m assuming will heal, but again it’s hard to say after one appearance. Basically, this was a pretty exciting debut, but I need to see more of Dragunov before I feel like I understand his whole deal.
Best: Alpha Arrival
This segment started as a match between Killer Kelly and Xia Brookside, and I thought it seemed a little random even though I’m always here for a second women’s match on any given episode. Kelly and Xia are an interesting pair because they’re a heel and a babyface, respectively, but they’re not enemies. They even shook hands. Before they’re non-grudge match could reach an ending (or even a middle, really), Jinny’s music hit and she came out onto the ramp to the confusion of the girls in the ring. Then she introduced the newest member of the NXT UK women’s division: Jazzy Gabert, the Alpha Female.
The fan favorite from the first Mae Young Classic came out dressed like a superhero, but she’s clearly not here to be heroic. As she approached the ring, we saw what separates a face from a heel even when they’re friends: Killer Kelly and Xia agreed to stand together, but then when Kelly realized how scary Jazzy actually looked, she fled the ring and left Xia to fend for herself. Brookside, in contrast, attempted to throw the first punch and was immediately taken apart by Gabert. Jinny joined her new protegé in the ring and the pair stood triumphant over Xia’s body.
I’m obviously excited to see what Jazzy does on this show, and I think pairing her with Jinny makes a lot of sense. Jinny’s a great wrestler, and I wouldn’t want to see her be a manager full time, but I think having Jazzy be her enforcer, and letting Jinny put her over in promos, is an idea with a lot of potential. As good as Jinny is, she’s too lightweight to ever look like a threat in the ring with women like Toni Storm, Rhea Ripley, or Piper Niven. So now she’s found someone who can fight any of them in her stead. And it goes without saying that they’re all matches I can’t wait to see.
Worst: Mirror Universe
This match was clearly great for the Scottish crowd, who love Wolfgang and Gallus. For those of us in the rest of the world, it just muddled the face-heel dynamics. That was a particular problem for Wolfgang’s opponent Dave Mastiff, who doesn’t have much character beyond “likable babyface,” so it was super-weird to see an entire crowd cheering for Wolfgang to beat him up. It didn’t help that Wolfgang kept Dave in a full nelson for what felt like ages. Eventually Mastiff got the upper hand when he suplexed Wolfgang into the corner, enabling him to hit the Into The Void for a pin. The Scottish fans were displeased, but fortunately the Coffey brothers showed up for a three-on-one beatdown, to the crowd’s delight. That’s what you get for being English, Dave!
Mastiff’s victory in this match earned him a place in that aforementioned Fatal Four-Way for the Number One Contendership, so I suppose it needed to be on the show rather than a dark match for the Scots. That’s pretty much what it felt like, though, particularly following the exciting debut of Jazzy Gabert, which seemed like a natural ending to the episode. On the other hand, with Mastiff and Devlin officially taking part, that Four-Way is looking pretty promising.
That’s all for this week. Join me next time when Pete Dunne gets his championship rematch against Walter.
