NXT UK – December 23, 2021 (Best Of 2021): They Have A Lot To Pick From

NXT UK
Date: December 23, 2021
Host: Nina Samuels

It’s almost Christmas and that means this show is getting a week off. We have a special holiday edition of the show, which is UK for Best Of 2021. That could make for a good show, as NXT UK has had a rather nice year so far. There are a lot of matches to pick from so let’s get to it.

These are going to be the full version of the matches copied over from the original reviews.

Nina Samuels welcomes us to the show and promises to give us the best.

Shawn Michaels narrates a video on the Iron Man match.

From August 5.

A-Kid vs. Jordan Devlin

Thirty minute Iron Man match and A-Kid might have a bad knee coming in. Feeling out process to start and they take turns going after wrist control. Devlin gets him down into an armbar but A-Kid is right back up. A dropkick puts Devlin on the floor but it’s back inside for more grappling. The threat of an armbar sends Devlin over to the ropes and he grabs a Gory Stretch to put A-Kid in trouble for a change. That’s broken up as well so they go to the pinfall reversal sequence.

A-Kid grabs a cross armbreaker, sending Devlin straight to the ropes. Devlin kicks him down though and starts cranking on the arm until A-Kid is up with a dropkick of his own. A slap to the face doesn’t annoy A-Kid, who grabs a headlock on the mat. That’s broken up as well and Devlin ties the bad leg into the ropes. A hard stomp onto the leg sets up a Texas Cloverleaf to give Devlin the first fall at 9:45.

We’re down to 20:00 to go as A-Kid insists that he can continue. Devlin is smart enough to stay on the leg with a kick to the knee into a chop block but A-Kid pulls him into a rear naked choke. The rope is reached though and Devlin drives the knee into the apron. Devlin wraps it around the post as well and the Figure Four around the post makes it even worse. Back in and a Boston crab sends A-Kid bailing to the rope.

With that not working, they trade German suplexes until they fall out to the floor for the double crash. They both beat the count back inside, where Devlin can’t get a Crossface. Instead he hits a running knee to the face for two but Devlin is back up to win the slugout. A-Kid pulls him right back down into the cross armbreaker though and Devlin taps to tie it up with 11:43 to go.

Devlin has to pause to get his elbow back to normal and gets knocked off the apron to make it worse. A-Kid kicks him down to get rid of a chair and snaps off a hurricanrana for two. The running knee gets the same on Devlin and they’re both down with a banged up limb. Devlin gets kicked outside with just over seven minutes to go but comes back in and headbutts A-Kid down for two.

They slug it out from their knees and wind up on the apron, where Devlin is smart enough to hook the rope to avoid any suplex attempt. Instead, he drops to the floor and pulls him down with the Devlin Side for the big crash with 4:00 left. They both dive back inside, where another Devlin Side is countered into a Canadian Destroyer. A kick to the head gives A-Kid two at 3:00 left.

A-Kid tries to pull him into the Rings of Saturn with his legs and finally gets the whole thing on to make Devlin tap with 1:30 left to make it 2-1. Devlin tries some rollups but can’t get anywhere with less than :30 left. They slug it out until Devlin gets two at 30:00, with A-Kid winning 2-1.

Rating: B+. The highest compliment that you can give a match like this is that it didn’t feel long and that was the case here. It felt like two guys beating each other up until one of them couldn’t hang in there any longer, but not through violence. Instead, this was a technical exchange with both guys working on a body part to have an advantage later in the match. Heck of a fight here and worth checking out.

Nina Samuels thinks there should be an Iron Woman of NXT UK.

Video on Tyler Bate taking the Heritage Cup from A-Kid. Then Noam Dar took it from Bate after the 473 week long #1 contenders tournament.

A-Kid, Amale, Oliver Carter, Ashton Smith, Kenny Williams (who sings an anti-Subculture version of Jingle Bells), Jack Starz, Wolfgang, Chip Danning (referee), Rohan Raja and Dave Mastiff wish us a Merry Christmas.

Next week: New Year’s Edition, looking at all of the champions.

Nina Samuels sends us into a look at our second match.

We recap Kay Lee Ray defending her Women’s Title against Meiko Satomura, her final boss.

From June 10.

Women’s Title: Meiko Satomura vs. Kay Lee Ray

Ray is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Satomura kicks at the leg to start and forearms away in the corner. Ray can’t hit an early Gory Bomb attempt and bails to the floor from a fireman’s carry attempt. Back in and Ray hits a superkick for two and the chinlock goes on. With that broken up, Ray chops her against the rope for two and a clothesline sets up the trash talking.

A gordbuster sets up the Koji Clutch but Satomura reverses into an STF. Ray makes the rope and scores with an elbow, followed by some neck cranking. Satomura has to slip out of the Gory Bomb and it’s a DDT to plant the champ again. Back up and Ray nails a Death Valley Driver, only to walk into the Gory Bomb to put them both down. They trade kicks to the face, with Satomura smiling before hammering away again.

Ray is back with a tornado DDT for two but Satomura pops back up. Two superkicks make her pop up again so there’s a third, which just fires Satomura up enough for a Death Valley Driver. Another superkick from Ray sets up the Gory Bomb which sets up a Swanton for a rather near fall. Ray teases walking out but walks into a Death Valley Driver on the floor.

That barely slows Ray down and she hits the Gory Bomb onto the apron. Back in and they head up with Satomura managing a sunset bomb for a rather close two. Satomura grabs a sleeper but Ray gets over to the rope. Ray’s attempt at a Koji Clutch doesn’t work so it’s Scorpion Rising to give Satomura the pin and the title at 18:27.

Rating: B. This is how you should want a major title change to go and they made it work. It made sense for Satomura to put everything she had into this as you cannot have her lose twice in a row in major matches. Satomura winning the title to end Ray’s reign fits well as Ray has gotten everything she can out of the title (and it has been a lot). This was the right call at the right time and a rubber match is not the worst idea.

Blair Davenport is coming for Satomura’s title. Satomura calls it easy peasy (I think).

Nathan Frazer, Saxon Huxley, Xia Brookside, Sha Samuels, Sam Gradwell (with his son) and Ilja Dragunov wish us a Merry Christmas. Eddie Dennis DOES NOT wish us a Merry Christmas.

Nina Samuels wraps us up.

Overall Rating: A-. These shows are always easy to do and they’re a great way to go through an hour (or an hour and twelve minutes in this case). NXT UK really has been one of the best shows of the year and it’s nice to see their high points. They didn’t do anything significant to advance things here and that’s ok for one week. Very entertaining show, as NXT UK has a tendency to be.

 

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