NXT UK: The 200th Episode

This week’s edition of NXT UK promised some hard hitting offense and it delivered in every sense. The opening match of the night saw Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter trying to earn another shot at the NXT UK Tag Team Titles, this time by fighting Joe & Mark Coffey of Gallus in a qualifying match. Gallus haven’t had a shot at the tag team titles since losing to Pretty Deadly in September of last year. While the brothers certainly lived up to their brand of a brawling ring style, Ashton & Oliver endured and executed high flying offense to help secure a victory. While this certainly turns around the luck of Ashton & Oliver, it’s just a continuing trend for the Gallus boys. In tag team competition, Gallus is 0-5 in their last five matches. Three of those matches featured Joe & Mark as a team. (Wolfgang was Mark’s alternate partner and all of the Gallus boys competed in a 6-man tag.) The possible dissolution of Gallus was the main focus coming out of the contest as Joe was visibly upset with himself despite Mark attempting to console him. Later in the show we would see an interviewer catch up with Joe on his way out of the arena, where he would state that he needs to take time to himself and that he “needs to be a better brother.”

The next contest would see Ivy Nile make her NXT UK debut against Nina Samuels. I was very impressed with how well they showcased Nina in this contest. Simple storytelling proved effective with a notable spot seeing Ivy easily escape Nina’s head scissors leg-lock, only for Ivy to place Nina in a head scissors leg-lock of her own. Proving to be the more effective grappler, Nina would struggle to escape while Ivy would display her strength and technique by performing multiple push-ups without releasing the hold. Ivy would defeat Nina with her very impressive looking submission maneuver. While I continue to cite Ivy as a potential challenger for Meiko Satomura’s title, an impressive stat provided by cagematch.net shows that Ivy is undefeated in singles competition since changing her name and joining Diamond Mine, winning 12 matches dating as far back as December of last year.

In order to celebrate 200 episodes of NXT UK, the brand took the time to celebrate it’s history. And one thing that should be noted is that its title’s lineage shows a record of long reigning champions. With multiple champions holding their titles for over a year and the shortest reign among them belonging to Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews as Tag Team Champions (recognized at 47 days) the brand has a strong resume to showcase. Add to that resume the success it’s graduates have seen. After undergoing a name change, Gunther is undefeated on the main roster with his shadow looming large over the division. Doudrop, despite not being used recently, had a strong showing as a contender for the Raw Women’s Title this past winter. And who can forget Rhea Ripley. The first woman to hold the NXT UK Women’s Title has gone on to be in the first (and at the time of writing, only) NXT Women’s Title match to be featured on a Wrestlemania card, won the Women’s Tag Team Titles, and the Raw Women’s Title. With accolades like that, Rhea is no doubt the shining example of what the roster of NXT UK can hope to achieve as they ascend the ranks of WWE.

Before we get to the main event, we’ve had quite the collection of segments to set up future matches for NXT UK. A-Kid was seen exiting Sid Scala’s office and he revealed he had formally requested his rematch with Charlie Dempsey be contested under Heritage Rules. Heritage Rules being contested in six 3-minute rounds, where the first to two falls wins. A-Kid being the first ever Heritage Cup champion squaring off with the son of William Regal should mean that this will be a true showcase of professional wrestling. That match is currently slated for May 26th. It appears Lash Legend has her next program lined up after her appearance on Supernova Sessions. Inserting herself into Emilia McKenzie’s interview time, the two women clashed verbally. While there’s no firm date for their in-ring confrontation, we could see Emilia McKenzie wrestle a tune-up match next week. Speaking of Supernova Sessions, another program to come out of that segment is Damon Kemp Vs. Sha Samuels. The newest potential recruit to Diamond Mine, Damon Kemp cut a promo stating that after being disrespected and blindsided he was set to once again make Sha Samuels look like a fool. And proving my prediction to be accurate, Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz performed a parodical vignette, antagonizing Die Familie. With this comedic performance from the two fierce competitors, we have confirmation that they will fight Teoman & Rohan Raja next week in a tag team match qualifier. We also see Kenny Williams growing even more paranoid as he tries to discern the true identity of Tiger Turan. And to round us out is a video package recapping the violent events that will lead us to Wild Boar finally getting his hands on Eddie Dennis in a Dog Collar match. The stipulation is very fitting as Eddie seems to have made himself into a circus ringleader, taming the wild beasts of NXT UK. Acting as Wild Boar’s manager in the past, Eddie is currently the manager for Symbiosis, a duo made up of Primate & T-Bone. Eddie Dennis hasn’t had a victory since October of 2020 so his odds of pulling off an upset are slim. Symbiosis may make an impact but Wild Boar does have Mark Andrews in his corner as well. It’s sure to be a hard hitting fight next week on NXT UK.

Which leads us to our main event. Jordan Devlin challenges Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Title, and whoever loses must leave NXT UK. This match was everything I expected it to be. Hard hitting offense. Terrific storytelling. Both men pulling all out all the stops as it’s literally a case of “you’re either the best or you’re nothing.” It appeared the Irish Ace may have pulled off the win, having kept the referee from seeing Ilja’s leg on the rope. But a rare live appearance from NXT UK general manager, Johnny Saint brought some clarity to the contest, ordering that the match be restarted. After this Ilja would use one of the hardest headbutt I’ve seen on this brand. As chants of “Unbesiegbar” (“Invincible” in German) rang through the BT Sports Arena, Ilja would put Jordan Devlin down with the Torpedo and sent the Irish Ace out of the UK brand. Where does each competitor go from here? Jordan Devlin already has an established name in the American branch of NXT so he could go the same route as others have before and continue making his name on NXT 2.0. Unfortunately due to the latest verdict from corporate, he may have to undergo a name change during he transition. As for Ilja, I don’t see him losing his championship anytime soon. I could see him defending the belt against Teoman of Die Familie eventually and even defending against Rampage Brown in a rematch. But what I think is going to be a good long term program for Dragunov would be to work against the Gallus boys. I’d like to see the group come together and support Joe Coffey as he finally wins the championship. Build to it slowly with Ilja retaining over Mark and Wolfgang. Have Joe work himself back towards the title in programs with A-Kid, Die Familie, & even have him defend Gallus’ honor against the tweener (soon to be heel) Trent Seven. In my current prediction, I could see Ilja Dragunov Vs. Joe Coffey headlining the next UK Takeover event. But until then, there’s still plenty of reasons to catch an hour of terrific wrestling on NXT UK.

Recap

1. Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter def. Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey) in a Tag Team Title Qualifying match (10:24)

2. Ivy Nile def. Nina Samuels (4:41)

3. Ilja Dragunov def. Jordan Devlin to retain the NXT UK Title (14:53) Jordan Devlin must leave NXT UK.

Next Week

1. Die Familie (Teoman & Rohan Raja) Vs. Dave Mastiff & Jack Starz in a Tag Team Title Qualifying match

2. Eddie Dennis Vs. Wild Boar in a Dog Collar match
   

New episodes of NXT UK every Thursday. Available on Peacock (USA) and WWE Network (International)