NXT UK – June 4, 2020 (Gallus Boys On Top): They’ve Come A Long Way
IMG Credit: WWE
NXT UK
Date: June 4, 2020
Host: Andy Shepard
It’s time to look at one of the other big stables around here with Gallus. The team is a simple concept: take three large Scotsmen and have them beat a bunch of people up, then turn them face when the show goes to Scotland for a bit. Joe Coffey has done well in the lead role so hopefully there is enough good stuff around here. Let’s get to it.
Andy gives us a quick look at the history of the team and throws us to one of their first big matches.
From NXT UK, January 9, 2019.
Gallus vs. British Strong Style
They have a crazy amount of time for this. Joe and Bate start things off with a test of strength. Bate gets taken down but does the always impressive bridge, with Coffey not being able to break it down. Now it’s Bate fighting up and almost getting Bate down until a knee to the ribs cuts him off. Back up and Bate hits a dropkick into a nipup for the staredown, drawing in the other four for a big staredown.
We settle back down for a tag to Wolfgang, which draws all six in for another glaring session. It’s off to Mark vs. Dunne with a running clothesline hitting Mark, drawing all six in again. Gallus gets sent outside for a nice reaction from the fans and a breather for the villains. Back in and Dunne takes Mark down by the arm and bends the fingers back for painful measure. There’s a surfboard double knee stomp as Dunne doesn’t seem to be having much trouble here.
Bate comes in to keep up the pace until a cheap shot from Wolfgang lets Mark grab a suplex. It’s back to Joe for a double underhook crank until Bate fights him off and dives over for the tag to Seven. House is cleaned with Seven hitting a backdrop on Wolfgang, followed by a suicide dive for good measure. Everything breaks down and Mark gets caught in a dragon suplex. Wolfgang kicks Seven to the floor though and Joe sends him into the steps to put the good guys in trouble again. A spear gives Wolfgang two and it’s back to Mark for the stomping.
We hit the front facelock for a bit before it’s back to Joe. They head to the corner with Seven catching him on top with a superplex, allowing the next hot tag off to Dunne. That means an X Plex to Joe and a kneebar to Wolfgang but he’s still able to crawl over for the tag to Mark. Dunne triangle chokes him so Mark tags Wolfgang, whose Howling is countered into an armbar. That’s broken up as well so this time it’s Bate coming in to clean more house. Joe misses a charge so Bate hits a running shooting star for two. The longest airplane spin I’ve ever seen plants Joe but Bate collapses from dizziness.
Bop and Bang is blocked but the second attempt gives us a double knockdown. Mark and Seven come in with Mark kicking him in the arm. That means the Seven Star Lariat doesn’t get a cover so everything breaks down again. We’re left with Mark vs. Dunne, but Joe picks up the UK Title to distract Pete. One heck of a powerbomb plants Dunne for two and it’s Bate coming back in for the rebound lariat on Joe.
Pete and Joe are left alone for the slugout with Dunne stomping on both hands. Joe’s spear is blocked with a knee to the head and there’s the Bitter End, but Wolfgang tagged himself in to run Pete over. Bate comes back in for a hurricanrana to put Wolfgang on the floor. Everyone joins him so Bate hits a huge corkscrew dive to take them all out. Back in and Bate kicks Wolfgang down but walks into Joe’s discus lariat for the pin at 25:28.
Rating: B. Well that was very long though it was quite good at the same time. It could have been shortened a bit though and that’s almost never a positive sign. It makes a lot of sense to give Joe the big pinfall before Saturday though and having him pin Dunne would have felt like a giveaway to the title match’s finish. Good main event here, though trimming off five minutes wouldn’t have been a bad idea.
Video on Gallus.
Dave Mastiff didn’t like the idea of Joe Coffey being all dominant, setting up a Last Man Standing match.
From Takeover: Cardiff.
Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey
Last Man Standing. Coffey brings in a chain but Mastiff comes straight at him anyway to start the brawl in the aisle. They get inside with Coffey hammering away but Mastiff whips him into the corner….and the top rope comes off the buckle. Mastiff shrugs and hits Coffey in the back with the turnbuckle rod before putting it in Coffey’s mouth. Coffey slugs back with some liver shots and a belly to back suplex.
That doesn’t even get a count as Mastiff is right back up with a German suplex of his own. They head outside with Coffey busting out a pool cue to knock Mastiff down. There’s a bag of weapons under the ring but Coffey goes to set up a table. That lets Mastiff hit him in the back with a cricket bat but Coffey is right back up with a headbutt to the ribs to put Mastiff through the table.
It’s chain time again so Mastiff hits another German suplex on the floor. Another table is set up against the barricade and, after giving up a tug of war over the chain, Mastiff cannonballs him through the table. They fight into the crowd with Coffey’s chain shot getting eight. Mastiff has two chairs so he throws one to Coffey, who backs way up. They both get running starts and collide in the aisle for a double knockdown.
With that not working, they wind up by commentary with Dave hitting a Regal Roll onto the announcers’ table for eight. Just to mix it up a bit, they go to the balcony and slug it out before crashing down onto some tables. They both use anvil cases to get up but Coffey kicks Mastiff’s away for the win at 15:59.
Rating: B-. I hit you, you hit me, we do a big spot and get up until the big spot at the end. That’s precisely what they should have been doing here and Mastiff is protected a bit by the ending. I’m a bit surprised by Coffey winning but it’s hardly the worst idea. You could easily put him in as a challenger of the month for Walter and that’s a good spot for him. That could go for either of them and Mastiff can easily be built back up.
Mark Coffey and Wolfgang won the Tag Team Titles in October 2019. This kicked off a crazy successful run for Scotland, who eventually had six champions at once. We see part of a roundtable discussion among those six.
Another Gallus video.
From Takeover: Blackpool II.
Tag Team Titles: Gallus vs. Imperium vs. Flash Morgan Webster/Mark Andrews vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
Gallus, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, are defending and it’s Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel for Imperium in a ladder match. There’s something about the referee ringing the bell and getting out of the way that makes this seem a lot more violent. It’s a brawl to start with Gallus and Imperium heading outside, leaving the Veterans to take over on Webster and Andrews.
Coffey and Imperium take their places in the ring but Webster and Andrews come back in to pick up the pace. The Veterans pulls them down by the arms though and some chair shots make it worse. Gallus ties Drake in the Tree of Woe but Imperium saves him from having his face crushed. Imperium tries to grab a ladder but Webster and Andrews hit big flip dives to knock it away. Imperium brings the ladders in and clean house, making sure to stop to pose.
The Veterans clear them out and tie Andrews in the corner for a running dropkick. Gallus is back in for a slingshot Samoan drop to put Drake onto a ladder but Imperium breaks up a climb attempt. Webster DDTs Wolfgang and Andrews goes up, only to dive onto Coffey instead of grabbing the titles. Andrews is laid over a ladder and it’s Aichner hitting a springboard moonsault onto Andrews onto the ladder for the big crash.
The Veterans are back in with the big ladder and set it up next to two regular ladders, only to have Webster bridge a ladder into one of them. Another, unopened ladder, is pressed against Gibson’s back but everyone gets knocked down before we get the big disaster. Drake is up there alone but hits a 450 on Andrews instead of grabbing the titles. Gibson helps Drake up so Aichner makes his own save.
The European Bomb hits Drake and Imperium is smart enough to get rid of the rest of the ladders, leaving just one to climb. Gallus grabs some more ladders and make the save, setting up a powerslam/enziguri combination to Drake. Webster and Andrews pull the ladder away from Gallus and drop them with a double Stundog Millionaire. The really big ladder is set up at ringside and we get some tables for the bonus (maybe it can shut the fans up for a bit).
One table collapses under Coffey’s weight, leaving Wolfgang on the other table. That doesn’t last long either as Andrews and Webster go up the same ladder at the same time for a double Swanton to crush Wolfgang in a hurry (cool spot, but not the brightest move). Andrews and Webster go up but the Veterans make the save this time.
The Veterans climb but Andrews busts out a kendo stick and destroys Drake. Imperium makes the save and climb as well, only to have Coffey make the save. Wolfgang spears Aichner through a ladder and Barthel gets shoved off the top onto a pile at ringside, leaving Gallus to retain the titles at 22:54.
Rating: A-. This was a blast and somehow managed to not get too jumbled with everyone and all of the ladders involved. They had some big spots and kept things moving, with a few unique spots to make things all the better. I liked this way more than I was expecting to and it was pretty well structured throughout. Heck of a match here and one of the better ladder matches I’ve seen in a good while.
Gallus meets together under a bridge and can’t wait to get back in the ring to stay on top.
Overall Rating: B+. They did a good job of looking at a team that doesn’t have the most depth. Really, they’re a bunch of big guys who beat people up in a pack mentality but they managed to make it work out well here. Gallus has shown more staying power than I would have expected and it makes sense to give them some focus like this. Nice show too, as the team has had some impressive matches.
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