Last time in the last Best and Worst of NXT UK: Jazzy Gabert made her in-ring debut, and Alexander Wolfe joined Imperium.
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 June 19, 2019.
Best: Wrestling Genius
I felt pretty dismissive of this match going in, but it won me over. I don’t have much investment in Kenny Williams, but he was a lot of fun against Kassius Ohno here. Williams is a lightning-quick cruiserweight, while Ohno is a great big guy who either wants to work your arm with technical precision or just get you down on the mat and stomp the hell out of your face. If he can, he’ll do both, and he absolutely did here. Every time Kenny escaped Ohno’s grasp he’d turn into some sort of liquid falcon, like he’s both Wonder Twins at once. Kenny even got a nearfall off of a flying elbow, but alas it was not to be. Sometimes the bigger guy wins, especially when he’s a wrestling genius like Kassius Ohno. Still, Kenny came out of this match looking like a babyface worth paying attention to, and a “backstage” segment (shot in a field by some portable trailers, because this episode is from the Download Festival) set up a feud between him and Noam Dar going forward.
Best: Track Suit Mafia
Imperium have matching black track suits, because of course they do. They came out just to talk about how things work now. Marcel Barthel did this trick where he made bringing a mic up to his mouth look like the most fascist thing you’ve ever seen, and then he said that fans are wrong if they believe Imperium is here to entertain them, because all they’re interested in doing is restoring honor to wrestling. Fabian Aichner said that with the addition of Alexander Wolfe they are now complete. Wolfe said that he wanted to join Imperium because they respect wrestling, like him. WALTER said that Travis Banks will have to face him for the title next week, because Imperium does things Imperium’s way. Then Banks came out and accepted the challenge.
Worst: Oh, you’re doing this now?
One of my least favorite things in WWE is when they’ve announced a women’s main event, and you get to the point in the show where you’re thinking that main event is probably about to start, and then inevitably the announcers are like “Next: A men’s match you forgot was happening!” That made it hard for me to enjoy this match between Gallus and the Hunt. There was certainly stuff I liked, like Wolgang seeming wary of the Hunt and being reassured by Mark Coffey, and in general the way that the Hunt just throw themselves at their opponents. They’re like D&D Barbarians — they don’t think or strategize, they just go into a frenzy. Reckless Attack wasn’t the key to victory this week, however. The Hunt have fun personalities, but it still seems like they’re pretty much jobbers. This match was about Mark and Wolfgang kicking a couple of dogs to prove how mean and strong they are, not about the Hunt’s prospects as wrestlers. Sometimes that’s fine and what pro wrestling requires, but being impatient for the main event doesn’t help.
Best, But Too Short: Welcome To The Queendomme
Everyone got an entrance except the jobbers and Isla Dawn (and I guess Jazzy, who had to share Jinny’s) and by the time this match started, there were barely 10 minutes left in the show. Nevertheless, there were a bunch of moments I really liked, which I’ll attempt to put in some sort of order.
- When the bell rang and everybody started fighting, Jazzy Gabert just stood in the middle of the ring and watched everyone. It’s like she doesn’t know who she’s supposed to beat up unless Jinny tells her.
- Then when Jazzy took down Candy Floss, Jinny stopped her so she could be the one to toss Candy out of the ring, just like she got to do the pinning in last week’s match.When it finally occurs to Jazzy to be mad at Jinny for stuff like this, she’s going to be really mad.
- When Isla Dawn and Xia Brookside tossed out Jinny, Jazzy saved her from hitting the floor and carried her around the outside of the ring in her arms before putting her safely back in the match.
- Brookside technically eliminated two of the most intimidating women on the roster, Rhea Ripley and Jazzy Gabert, but she had help getting them over the top rope from Piper Niven both times. It wasn’t in a heelish way, like Jinny stealing Jazzy’s glory, it’s just that Xia is a tiny underdog, and accepts help (or grabs opportunity) wherever she can.
- When Rhea and Piper were fighting on the ring apron, and Xia drop-kicked Rhea, the latter grabbed Piper by the hair and pulled her down to the floor as well, so they were eliminated together. Rhea’s a nasty character in all the best ways.
- Just when Xia thought she’d won, a forgotten, never-eliminated Kay Lee Ray appeared behind her. That’s a very common battle royal trope, but it was handled really well here, with Xia celebrating happily and then slowly realizing something’s wrong and looking scared before she even sees Ray.
So Kay Lee Ray is the Number One Contender now, which means we should get a really great match between her and Toni Storm before too long. As a big KLR fan, I’m happy about that. I do wish she’d spent more time in the actual Battle Royal instead of outside the ring, but obviously they wanted to win like a heel. Anyway, it was worth it to watch her crush young Xia’s dreams of glory.
That’s all for this week. Join me next time when Travis Banks faces WALTER for the WWE UK Championship.
