By Ross Casey
Bloody hell - Tyler Bate v Jack Gallagher, Kassius Ohno v WALTER and GYV v Lorcan and Burch all set for action this week? THAT IS GOLD. Bring it on, lads!
TYLER BATE v JACK GALLAGHER
The start of this match was a masterclass in the World of Sport style wrestling seein on ITV in the seventies and eighties. Gallagher at one point applies a scissor lock with his ankles to Bate's neck with his shoulders on the mat. Glorious stuff. Nigel McGuinness was in his element watching on.
I liked that the crowd kept on doing the slow hand clap to rush them along from the mat based stuff, but the two wrestlers refused to hurry up and kept the match on course from a technical standpoint, whilst also getting them more invested along the way - in a style rarely seen in a WWE ring.
Gallagher worked the leg in lots of creative ways for a large portion of the middle of this match. Everytime that Bate worked out of a hold, it seemed Gallagher was already planning the next to his lower leg.
For a technical match, Gallaher also thought of clever ways to ram home that he is the heel, such as illegally wrapping Bate's leg in the ropes when on offence. At one point Bate attempts an airplane spin, but his legs give out after the work done by Gallagher earlier in the match. Lovely stuff.
They do the classic rollaround pin that some wrestlers do for four or five pins, but I counted close to 20 pins here! Finally, Bate got a close two count and the dizzy tired ref had a chance to catch his breath.
They get back to their feet and Bate uses a clever roll up pin to get the win! It was a very out of nowhere finish that shocked Gallagher - who bossed this match. Both wrestlers impressed here, and was my favourite Jackie Boy match for a while, because he got to work the style that he loves.
WINNER - TYLER BATE.
JORDAN DEVLIN & TRAVIS BANKS PULL APART
We are in Enfield! Hi Dom! At the NXT UK Performance Centre, Robbie Brooksideis taking class, with Travis Banks among others on the apron. Jordan Devlin arrives, swipes the Kiwi Buzzsaw's feet and throws him into a table.
Banks fights back and the two rivals are pulled apart by several members of the NXT UK staff and roster. They go at it next week!
EDDIE DENNIS PROMO
Eddie Dennis is doing one of those selfie promos from the UK Performance Centre... Glen Joseph is knocking about in the background. Eddie says people were asking what next for him after his loss to Mastiff. Well he was off the shelf and unable to feed his family, so he is coming back more vindictive than ever and intends to go through the roster one by one.
KASSIUS OHNO v WALTER
Somewhat interestingly, this big lads match starts in a similar vein to the previous encounter, albeit slower and less creative. After a few minutes of feeling eachother out with headlocks and reversals, Ohno breaks that spell with a chop to WALTER...
Here we go then, folks. STRAP IN. Strikes are administered, but none more so than a big boot that knocks Ohno through the ring ropes and out of the ring! Treated him like he was Joe Coffey in Blackpool!
Outside, WALTER takes control of things with a slam on the apron and rolls Ohno back in the ring - only for the Knockout Artist to come to and stamp repeatedly on WALTER's head as he tries to get back in the ring.
The fans get behind WALTER as he hits his array of chops and strikes, including one to the back of Ohno, followed by a release German (Austrian) suplex. Ohno rolls out of the sleeper and lands his incredible elbow strikes. Man, I miss seeing more of this guy.
Kassius attempts but misses a moonsault, and therefore eats a dropkick and a powerbomb for the three. This was a fun little match, which was all it needed to be for the setting they were in. Give me more of this on a bigger stage, please!
WINNER - WALTER
NXT UK TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - GYV v ONE'S AND TWO'S
Lorcan and Drake start us off, with the pair looking for the other’s arm… Zack Gibson blindsides Burch with a chop and a punch, putting the champions firmly in control. Another slow start to the match on this episode.
A great little spot here as Drake takes a back elbow in the corner, before Gibson intentionally tagged Drake as both men were on the apron. The ensuing argument distracts the ref, allowing Drake to rake Lorcan’s eyes, then posting him, ahead of a more legitimate tag. LADS.
Burch ducks an enziguri as he retaliated with a powerbomb and a big knee for a two-count. Again, Gibson intentionally makes a bad tag to distract the ref, and again it works as Burch is caught in the ropes for a dropkick from Drake and a Ticket to Ride out of the corner for a near-fall.
Gibson breaks up a pin by throwing Lorcan onto the pile with a Northern Lights suplex.
Lorcan and Gibson slap each other silly as they had separate submissions on. Beautiful.
Right hands from Burch looked to get him ahead, but in the end he’s caught by Drake, who scooped him up and threw him over to Gibson for the Ticket to Mayhem for the win. I really enjoyed this match, GYV are great heels and the One's and Two's are explosive.
In the words of Robin's favourite... FEED. ME. MORE.
WINNERS - GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS
Commentaires