NXT UK – February 13, 2020: Wait For Valentine’s Day
IMG Credit: WWE
NXT UK
Date: February 13, 2020
Location: York Barbican, York, England
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Aiden English
This taping cycle has to be finishing up soon but things are never exactly the same around here as they are everywhere else. What matters is that we are pretty clearly setting up Dave Mastiff as the next challenger to Walter in what could be a heck of a fun match. Other than that, Gallus is dealing with Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan tonight. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Aoife Valkyrie vs. Amele
They’re both making their debut. Valkyrie grabs a front facelock into a headlock to start but spends too much time talking to the referee about a count. That lets Amele knee her in the ribs, only to get elbowed in the face for two. Valkyrie sweeps the leg into a standing moonsault for two and it’s time to strike away at Amele. A Pele drops her and a spinning kick to the head does it again, setting up a top rope ax kick to give Valkyrie the pin at 3:33.
Rating: C. The strikes looked very good here and believe it or not, they might have gone a bit too long. Valkyrie has a lot of potential and certainly came in strong, which is how things should go in a debut. Hopefully we get some more of her in a hurry, as those kicks were rather hard hitting.
Travis Banks is talking about Worlds Collide when Alexander Wolfe comes in to say how much people are talking about Imperium winning, plus Banks failing.
Dave Mastiff vs. Saxon Huxley
Huxley kicks him in the face to start so Mastiff gets in a slam and chop. The delayed vertical suplex sets up the elbows to Huxley’s head but he’s back up with some forearms. Mastiff runs him over and hits a backsplash though, followed by a running seated senton to continue Walter’s offense. Into The Void finishes Huxley at 3:09.
Rating: D+. Not much of a match here but Mastiff being set up for Walter gets my interest. I know he has no chance of winning the title but they’ve done a good job of setting Mastiff up as a monster for Walter to slay. If nothing else, it’s always nice to see Huxley getting destroyed in a hurry like this.
Post match Mastiff does the Imperium pose to really rub it in.
Toni Storm tells Sid Scala and Johnny Saint to make the I Quit match against Kay Lee Ray. The contract is signed, and if Storm loses, she can never challenge for the title again.
Here are the Grizzled Young Veterans for a chat. Zack Gibson talks about how awesome they are and how they’ve beaten every team that they’ve faced so far. So what’s next? Facing seven teams at once with Johnny Saint as guest referee? NXT General Manager William Regal sees talent though and knows that the two of them are soon to be recognized as the best in the world.
Regal is from Blackpool just like James Drake and Gibson is from Liverpool, just like the Beatles. They’re in York though and this place is a joke, just like the Hunt. The fans need to get their phones out and take their pictures because an appearance from the Veterans is worth the price of admission. Another good heel promo from Gibson, but we’ve heard it quite a few times before.
Joseph Conners interrupts a merchandise plug and wants to know why he isn’t in the program. He’ll beat Tyler Bate next week and then he’ll get some merchandise of his own.
Amir Jordan vs. Joe Coffey
Coffey, with Gallus outside, slams Jordan down to start but runs into a dropkick. An overhead belly to belly sends Coffey flying and a wheelbarrow faceplant gets two. Coffey stomps away in the corner and we hit the armbar. Coffey: “GALLUS BOYS ON TOP!” Jordan fights up and hits a headscissors driver, setting up a middle rope crossbody. That’s enough to send Coffey outside so Jordan hits a dive, only to have his swanton hit knees. The Glasgow Sendoff sets up All The Best For The Bells to finish Jordan at 5:00.
Rating: D+. Somewhat extended squash here and that’s all it needed to be. Gallus is going to be dealing with Ilja Dragunov (and likely some friends) in the near future so having Joe crush some people on the way there is fine. Not a good match or anything, but Jordan was less annoying than usual.
Post match Coffey promises that they’ll deal with Dragunov, Burch and Lorcan soon enough.
Gallus vs. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan
Non-title and it’s Mark Coffey/Wolfgang here with Joe on the floor. Danny and Mark start things off and don’t get very far early on. Wolfgang comes in and grabs a headlock takeover and it’s already back to Mark for an armbar. Burch drives him into the corner though and it’s Lorcan coming in for a double atomic drop. So much for Lorcan staying in as Burch is right back in for uppercuts.
Mark shows him how to really do one though and Burch is taken down for Mark’s chinlock. That’s broken up and a dive through the rope allows the tag to Lorcan. The running hip attack is cut off in a hurry though and it’s Lorcan in trouble in a hurry. Wolfgang hits a running backsplash into another chinlock to keep Lorcan down. Mark comes back in to stomp away but Lorcan gets annoyed at taking such a beating.
The chops don’t do much good as Wolfgang hits a Wasteland, only to miss the moonsault. Burch gets the hot tag and starts suplexing/headbutting. Everything breaks down and Lorcan hits a running Blockbuster on Mark. The Crossface has Mark in trouble and Lorcan adds a half crab on Wolfgang, only to get kicked into Burch and Mark for the save. The powerslam/enziguri combination finishes Burch at 10:41.
Rating: C+. It was the only match of the night to get any significant amount of time and even then they didn’t exactly light the world on fire here. Burch and Lorcan have been dispatched in a hurry and unfortunately I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing them as Dragunov’s backup anyway. It takes away a lot of their impact, but it’s quite the WWE trope so odds are it’s what we get.
Post match Dragunov comes out for the fight with Joe but Gallus takes him out to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. Pretty skippable show here as it was all about setting things up for later rather than what we were getting this week. They’ve got enough stuff at the moment for some big TV shows and that’s a lot better than having to wait for the next Takeover. It’s not a bad show, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.
Results
Aoife Valkyrie b. Amele – Top rope ax kick
Dave Mastiff b. Saxon Huxley – Into The Void
Joe Coffey b. Amir Jordan – All The Best For The Bells
Gallus b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch – Powerslam/enziguri combination to Burch
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