NXT UK – February 6, 2019: The Sequel Is Better
IMG Credit: WWE
NXT UK
Date: February 6, 2019
Location: Empress Ballroom, Blackpool, England
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
Last week saw the rise of Walter, who is clearly going to be a major star around here in short order. The man is a monster who is going to run over everyone in his path, possibly including UK Champion Pete Dunne. Tonight he’s in action again against Mark Coffey, which makes it clear that they know they have something here. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Mark Andrews vs. Ligero
They shake hands to start because British people are just more polite. Feeling out process to start with Andrews getting a very limited advantage off a hammerlock. A run of the ropes suits them a bit better until Ligero gets two off a rollup. The pinfall reversal sequence gives us a bunch of one counts, capped off by a nice round of applause (more British politeness). Ligero sends him outside but misses a dive, instead settling for a headscissors. Andrews cartwheels out of it though as we’re still waiting on the first major offense.
A flip dive off the barricade finally puts Andrews down and a Stunner gives Ligero two back inside. Some forearms keep Andrews in trouble but he rolls Ligero down and hits a jumping double stomp to the ribs. The standing corkscrew moonsault gets two and it’s off to an exchange of strikes. Ligero’s suplex is countered into the Stundog Millionaire but can’t follow up. Instead it’s Ligero hitting a pumphandle faceplant for two of his own but the C4L is broken up. Andrews is right back with a reverse hurricanrana for two, only to have Fall to Pieces hit knees. Now C4L connects to give Ligero the pin at 9:05.
Rating: B-. This was a lot of fun and the ending was a bit of a surprise. They’re actually pushing Ligero as something around here and while I don’t know how high he can actually go, it’s cool to see someone getting a push like this. Andrews is still good in the ring, though I would have thought he had a bit more potential than Ligero, at least coming in.
Post match we get another handshake.
We look back at Sid Scala announcing Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan as the first challengers to the Grizzled Young Veterans.
Lorcan and Burch are happy and have little more to say.
Pete Dunne is impressed by Walter but doesn’t fear anyone.
Xia Brookside vs. Candy Floss
Brookside is being treated as a big deal here, which is a good sign for her future. We get another handshake to continue proper British tradition. Brookside jumps out of a headscissors and we hit the pinfall reversal sequence into a standoff. Back up and Candy goes technical with a full nelson until Xia rolls into an armbar. Xia’s offense isn’t exactly inspired so far. Floss reverses into a hammerlock before slamming the arm into the mat. With that not going anywhere, Xia is back up with a running bulldog and the Brooksie Bomb (Iconoclasm into a bridging pin) finishes Floss at 4:32. That’s Brookside’s first win on the show.
Rating: D+. Brookside has a great smile and a unique look, but she’s going to need some more ring time. To be fair though, she’s twenty years old and needs a lot more ring time. She’s going to need some more experience to get the finer points down, but she has a good base to build from so far.
Post match Brookside checks on Floss but here’s Rhea Ripley to beat them both down, including a standing swinging Texas Cloverleaf (awesome) to Brookside. Toni Storm runs in for the save but headbutts Brookside by mistake, allowing Ripley to hit the Riptide on Storm.
Jordan Devlin doesn’t like Noam Dar and wants to beat him up in Phoenix.
Mike Hitchman vs. Joseph Conners
Conners is billing himself as an NXT UK original. The show isn’t even four months old and we have originals? Conners hammers away to start but a headbutt to the elbow (yes to the elbow) takes him down. Hitchman nails the backsplash to the back but Conners snaps Mike’s throat across the top. A belly to back faceplant gets two on Hitchman and we hit the neck crank. Conners shots that Mike isn’t taking it away. What the heck did Conners have in the first place? Hitchman doesn’t like being called a thief so he fights up and sends Conners outside, setting up a frog splash off the apron.
Back in and Conners gets two off the slingshot DDT (stolen from Johnny Gargano, as Conners is a hypocrite). Conners: “YOU ARE A PUSSYCAT! YOU ARE NOTHING!” So cats are nothing? I guess Conners is a dog guy. Hitchman grabs a pop up powerbomb but Conners one ups him off a sunset bomb. Don’t Look Down finishes Hitchman at 5:29.
Rating: D+. The wrestling was ok but Conners is officially that guy on the roster who just shows up, rants about how unfair everything is, and makes no impact whatsoever. It’s a character that shows up every now and then in almost every promotion but it very rarely gets interesting. Conners is someone who doesn’t stand out and with a gimmick that has been done so many times, it’s not exactly going anywhere for him.
Gallus is ready to keep their kingdom.
Video on Jinny.
Jinny tells Ragsy that he’s ugly and says of course she won because she’s amazing. She’s coming for Toni Storm. Makes sense.
Joe Coffey vs. Ashton Smith
Smith grabs a headlock to start in what might be his biggest offense of the match. Coffey isn’t having that and Pounces him down without much trouble. It’s off to the chinlock into a cobra clutch, followed by some hard forearms to the back. We hit the bearhug as you can’t fault Coffey’s psychology here. Coffey suplexes him down and nails a pop up uppercut (ala Cesaro’s Swiss Death) but Smith scores with right hands. A dropkick sets up a nice superkick but Smith jumps into a German suplex. All The Best For The Bells finishes Smith at 6:17.
Rating: D+. Just a squash here though Smith’s very limited offense looked good. There’s nothing wrong with bringing someone like Coffey back up from the loss and he’s still someone who can be a threat going forward. I’m still not sure why the Coffey Brothers haven’t been in the tag division, as you would think that would be as easy of a layup as you could have around here. Joe is good as a singles guy though so what they’re doing is far from bad.
Post match Gallus comes out to celebrate with Joe.
Mark Coffey vs. Walter
Coffey makes the mistake of throwing a chop as Walter shows him how it’s really done. They head outside with Walter being driven into the barricade as the fans stay behind him. Back in and it’s a double arm crank to stretch out Walter’s chest but he reverses into one of his own. Walter shrugs off a clothesline and tells Coffey to bring it before snapping off a big German suplex. The beating continues with Walter taking him outside for more shots to the chest. Coffey gets in a dropkick for a quick near fall but Walter isn’t having that. The powerbomb finishes Coffey at 6:30.
Rating: C+. That’s the Walter I’ve been hearing about as he looked like a monster who could move out there, with the powerbomb looking great to go with the signature chops. They’ve already got me wanting to see Walter vs. Dunne, which should have taken some time to set up. Let it take place at a major show, say over Wrestlemania weekend, and you have a Match of the Year candidate on hype alone.
Overall Rating: C+. This was the no nonsense version of the show and I really liked what we got. The wrestling wasn’t great up and down and nothing was exactly a show stealing classic, but what we had was a well put together show that did everything it needed to. Stories were advanced and Walter looks like the final boss for Dunne’s title reign. I’m in for this stuff now, mainly because I’m not sick of it after two hours a week. Very well put together show, which is what matters here.
Results
Ligero b. Mark Andrews – C4L
Xia Brookside b. Candy Floss – Brooksie Bomb
Joseph Conners b. Mike Hitchman – Don’t Look Down
Joe Coffey b. Ashton Smith – All The Best For The Bells
Walter b. Mark Coffey – Powerbomb
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