NXT UK – September 16, 2021: They Need A Goal

NXT UK
Date: September 16, 2021
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness

The Heritage Cup #1 contenders tournament continues this week as we reach the semifinals. That’s probably a good thing as tournaments with one match a week take their sweet time getting along. Other than that, we are on the way towards…well absolutely nothing around here, which they might want to address. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Heritage Cup #1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Noam Dar vs. Kenny Williams

Round one begins with both guys going after the leg and not getting very far. They go to the mat with Dar’s chinlock not working as Williams slips out and grabs a headlock. Back up and Dar goes after the arm, setting up an armbar and then a wristlock. Williams shoves him away to wrap up the round with a bad shoulder.

Round two begins with Williams taking him down and raking his boots over Dar’s eyes. Some kicks to the back and a running dropkick in the corner let Williams start in on the arm as well. Dar gets smart and kicks the leg out but Williams grabs a rollup with tights for the pin at 2:24 of the round (6:00) to go up 1-0.

Round three begins with Dar bailing to the floor and diving back in, only to get stomped down again. Dar blocks a shot to the arm though and starts kicking away at the leg some more. A running uppercut to the back gets two on Williams and a shot to the face gets the same. Williams tries to bounce off the ropes but gets pulled into a kneebar. That’s a lot of trouble but the round ends to give him a breather.

Round four begins with Dar hitting Williams in the face and getting a rollup out of the corner, only to get caught with his feet on the ropes. Back up and Williams takes out Dar’s leg and goes for a turnbuckle pad. That takes too long though and Dar grabs…something out of the corner, which he throws to Williams. The referee yells so Dar pulls Williams into the kneebar for the tap at 1:27 of the round (11:39) to tie it up.

Round five begins with the slugout until Dar hits a Judas Effect for two. Williams pulls him into the corner and scores with a rebound lariat but Dar rolls outside before Williams can try something else. Dar is thrown back in but Sha Samuels pops out from underneath the ring and grabs Williams’ leg, allowing Dar to hit the Nova Roller for the pin at 2:28 of the round (14:46 total) for the win.

Rating: C+. This was a fine technical match but it wasn’t exactly interesting. Dar is a good pesky heel but Williams is just a guy in tights. There is only so much that you can get out of a match like this and I think they hit that limit here. Dar was the only choice to have move forward here and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly fascinating.

Sid Scala introduces Ilja Dragunov….on the screen. Dragunov talks about how it has been a long time but he made the impossible possible. Now he is the new NXT UK Champion and he will be back, but who is going to be the one trying to take the title from him? Cue Nathan Frazer, who says he isn’t supposed to be here. He used to think something like this was in bad taste but why not him?

Cue Rampage Brown to remind us of what he did to Joe Coffey. That means he should get the shot, but here is A-Kid to say he should get the shot because he doesn’t have a limit. He’ll face anyone to get that shot so the triple threat #1 contenders match is set. Dragunov pops back up to say he agrees and the brawl is on. This segment showed me one thing: NXT UK wrestlers have very similar music.

Jinny and Joseph Conners throw Isla Dawn out of Jinny’s dressing room, but Dawn has messed with some things, including drawing a pentagram on the mirror.

Moustache Mountain thinks things are interesting around here.

Stevie Turner vs. Emilia McKenzie

McKenzie drives her into the corner to start so they slap each other a bit. A wristlock has Turner in almost no trouble as she reverses into a headlock. That’s broken up as well and it’s an elbow to the face into a dropkick. Turner is back with a running knee and elbows in the corner as we keep hearing about how futuristic she is. I have no idea what is futuristic about her, but that’s the description they’re going with for her.

Another shot to the face gives Turner two and we hit the double arm crank. McKenzie fights up and starts hitting some running clotheslines. Turner hits something like a Side Effect for two but McKenzie is back with a German suplex. A running knee to the face finishes Turner at 5:20.

Rating: C. They were doing well here, but I’m curious about the story they’re telling long term. McKenzie keeps standing up to defend Meiko Satomura and beats every challenger, making me think she is the next challenger. It’s not like there is anyone else out there to challenge Satomura at the moment anyway, so go with McKenzie later on. As for Turner…figure out what the heck she is supposed to be, or at least make her feel futuristic, because right now it’s just a weird buzzword.

Video on Wolfgang vs. Teoman in next week’s Heritage Cup tournament match.

Charlie Dempsey has been watching a lot of film and will show you something new. You might remember him as Bailey Matthews, or William Regal’s son.

During the break, the suspended Blair Davenport jumped Stevie Turner. Davenport promised to cause more bad things to happen until she is unsuspended.

Tag Team Titles: Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly

Joe Coffey/Mark Coffey are challenging here. Mark and Lewis Howley start things off with Mark messing with the hair to make this personal. A big hiptoss sends Howley into the corner and it’s time for a breather on the floor. Back in and Stoker makes a blind tag but Joe is right there with a headlock takeover. That’s broken up and Stoker teases rolling away but kicks Joe in the face for a nice counter.

Joe doesn’t seem to mind as he crushes Stoker with a crossbody and it’s back to Mark for a seated abdominal stretch. Stoker gets over for the tag to Howley so Mark takes the knee out. With nothing else working, Stoker low bridges Mark to the floor and hammers away. Back in and a hurricanrana sends Mark into the corner for the tag to Joe and house is cleaned in a hurry.

Something like a DDT/Codebreaker combination takes Joe down though and the champs take over for the first time. Well in theory at least as Joe grabs a suplex but Stoker elbows him in the back to cut him off again. A clothesline out of the corner drops Howley though and a backdrop allows the hot tag to Mark. House is really cleaned and a middle rope bulldog gets two on Howley. Mark’s spear is countered into a DDT (nice) and the champs take over again.

Howley and Mark collide to put them both down again and the hot tag brings Joe back in. The middle rope spinning high crossbody hits Stoker and Mark Pounces Howley against the barricade. The fans thinks THIS IS AWESOME, despite there not being any fans there. Back in and a high/low gets two on Howley with Stoker making the save. Joe is posted hard and Spilled Milk retains the titles at 14:24.

Rating: B-. Ghost crowd chants aside, this was another case where Pretty Deadly should have been destroyed and managed to survive as champions. That’s the kind of thing that works every time as Pretty Deadly continues to be far better than anyone would have guessed. Seeing someone finally solve the puzzle is going to be awesome and that’s because of matches like this one.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a completely watchable but also completely skippable show. They got through an hour rather easily and the main event was good, but it wasn’t exactly something you would need to go out of your way to see. This show still needs something to build up to, like a Takeover, but I’m not sure if that is actually going to happen. In other words, we’re just kind of left watching a TV show, which can work but doesn’t exactly build up the excitement.

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