NXT UK – February 25, 2021: I Do Love Efficiency

NXT UK
Date: February 25, 2021
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd

It’s title week around here as Gallus is defending the Tag Team Titles against Pretty Deadly in a match that has seemed set for a good while now. Gallus has held the titles since October 2019 and I’m not sure what else there is for them to do with them, but it’s almost hard to imagine them losing. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a look at the title match, as expected.

Opening sequence.

Xia Brookside vs. Nina Samuels

The loser is the winner’s servant for a month after Samuels cost her a few matches. As a preview, Samuels’ bags are brought out to ringside by Henry (yeah Henry). Brookside jumps her to start and the fight is on in a hurry with Samuels being wrapped around the top rope. Samuels bails to the floor and kicks Brookside into her bags for a nine count. Back in and Samuels grabs a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors.

With that going nowhere, it’s off to an armbar and then a surfboard but Brookside flips over into a cover for two. A neckbreaker gives Brookside the same and she knocks Samuels outside. Brookside isn’t being all nice here and hammers away on the floor but a hurricanrana is easily blocked. Samuels isn’t happy with Brookside beating the count so she goes to grab the tablet from Henry. With Henry gone, Brookside kicks the tablet away and grabs a rollup for the pin at 5:26.

Rating: C. The end result is going to be the bigger deal here and Samuels losing will likely send her flying over the edge. Brookside getting a big win is a good idea and the more they push her, the better things can get for the division. I still think she would be perfect to take the title from Kay Lee Ray in a slightly more serious version of NXT Bayley, but we’re a long way off from that.

Post match reality sets in for Samuels and panicking ensues.

Trent Seven is trying to get down to 205lbs but it’s really hard. This includes running with dogs and snapping towels. Maybe he should drop the beard weight.

Ilja Dragunov isn’t sure what he’s been doing lately but Sam Gradwell comes up for the challenge. Game on next week.

Bailey Matthews vs. Tyler Bate

This is the 19 year old Bailey’s debut. They fight over wrist control to start with Bailey taking him down into an armbar. Bate has to fight out of a headscissors but gets caught in it again for some hard cranking. A headlock gets Bate out of trouble but Matthews wristlocks him right back down. The cravate takes Bate down again and there’s a backslide for two.

Back up and Bate unloads with uppercuts but gets dropped with an even bigger one. That’s too far for Bate, who is right back with the t-bone suplex. The airplane spin is broken up and they trade rollups for two each. Bate nails a rolling kick to the head though and the Tyler Driver 97 finishes Matthews at 5:40.

Rating: C+. What the heck was that? Matthews got a heck of a rub here and that is a great thing to see. You can always go for some fresh talent around here and we might have seen something good here. It was a heck of a debut and William Regal is likely going to be rather proud of his son.

We get a vignette for someone debuting from Berlin whose name isn’t given. The words “devam edeck” come on screen, which apparently means “coming soon” in Turkish. More on this later, though you might already know him better as Lucky Kid.

Piper Niven jumps Joseph Conners but Jinny comes in for the save. Niven wants to face them in a handicap match but Sid Scala says no. With that not happening, Niven grabs Jack Starz and we seem to have a mixed tag.

Lana Austin vs. Aoife Valkyrie

They go with the exchange of wristlocks to start with Valkyrie spinning out and taking her down by the arm. Some kicks to the legs have Austin down but she trips Valkyrie down for a change. There’s a running basement dropkick to give Austin two but Valkyrie pounds away again. A running neckbreaker gives Valkyrie two and Austin’s small package gets the same. Valkyrie unloads in the corner and nails a spinning heel kick, followed by the top rope ax kick for the pin at 4:06.

Rating: C. It was short but they beat the heck out of each other. There was something entertaining about Austin getting in some offense but only angering Valkyrie enough to make her beat Austin down. The women’s division continues to have some strong potential and that gives me some hope for the future.

Here’s what’s coming in two weeks.

Aoife Valkyrie is pleased with her win but here’s Nina Samuels carrying the bags and looking like she is near a breakdown.

Kenny Williams and Ashton Smith need to train to get the Tag Team Titles.

Video on Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura.

Tag Team Titles: Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus

Gallus is defending and Mark Coffey drives Sam Stoker into the corner to start. It’s off to Lewis Howley, who is armdragged into an armbar without much effort. Wolfgang takes Howley down by the arm as well and there’s the same thing to Stoker. Therefore it’s already back to Hawley as the champs are dominating to start. A double monkey flip sends Howley to the floor and Pretty Deadly needs a breather.

Back in and Howley manages a hiptoss but gets rocked with an uppercut. Wolfgang shrugs off some double teaming and we get the big staredown that would take us to a commercial if NXT UK had commercials. We settle down to Wolfgang being distracted by Howley so Stoker can knee him to the floor. A double backbreaker gets two on Wolfgang and it’s time to take turns choking in the corner.

Stoker’s running elbow to the jaw gets two and it’s time to work on the arm. Wolfgang knocks Howley down without much trouble and the double tag brings in Coffey and Stoker. Coffey cleans house without much trouble and a belly to back suplex drops Stoker for two. Howley comes in off a blind tag to kick Coffey in the head for two but Coffey kicks him even harder. Wolfgang is back in to catapult Howley into a Samoan drop but Stoker makes a save.

Coffey chokeslams Stoker onto the apron and a spear gives Wolfgang two on Howley. There’s a clothesline to put Howley on the floor but Stoker slaps Wolfgang to send him over the edge. The chase is on with Howley getting in a cheap shot to knock Wolfgang into the barricade. Back in and Stoker’s Codebreaker gets two on Coffey so Howley brings in a title. Coffey knocks it out of his hands but it’s a tornado DDT to drive him into the belt. The spinebuster/neckbreaker combination (Spilled Milk) gives us new champions at 15:03.

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going but then they got into a groove with the classic formula working. The ending with everything breaking down worked out rather well. There was little doubt about the title change here and that’s ok. Gallus had held the titles for far too long already so the title change was necessary. Not a great match, but it did what it was supposed to in this situation.

Pretty Deadly celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. NXT UK might not be blowing the doors off the place these days but they are having some of the most consistently good television around. As usual, the best thing going on around here is how well they use the time they have. You have all kinds of stories and wrestlers being advanced with nothing feeling like filler. It is rare enough to hear that on any show, but having it week after week is rather impressive. Another good show here, and I’m not even surprised anymore.

Results

Xia Brookside b. Nina Samuels – Rollup

Tyler Bate b. Bailey Matthews – Tyler Driver 97

Aoife Valkyrie b. Lana Austin – Top rope ax kick

Pretty Deadly b. Gallus – Spilled Milk to Coffey

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