BRM Reviews the 10/17/2019 NXT UK

[Big Red Machine]

ILJA DRAGUNOV vs. SAXON HUXLEY- 4/10
Ilja won a match that went longer than it needed to. Alexander Wolfe came out to watch from the stage.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine
Aichner and Barthel came out as well and it looked like they might attack Ilja but they let him go unmolested. Wherever this eventually leads should be pretty good.

THE HUNT vs. IMPERIUM (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel)- 6/10
The Hunt put up a good fight but were no match for Imperium.

BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE FROM AFTER LAST WEEK’S MAIN EVENT- good
The interviewer (is that NXT ring announcer Alicia Taylor?) asked Rhea why she saved Piper Niven from the heels. Piper showed up and thanked Rhea for saving her, then suggested that they team up against Jinny and Jazzy. Rhea said that she dislikes Jinny and Jazzy more than she dislikes Piper, so she is willing to put up with Piper for one match if Piper can get that match booked.

NINA SAMUELS vs. XIA BROOKSIDE- 3.5/10
Xia got beaten up by her larger opponent, then won by roll-up.

A-KID IS COMING SOON- cool

JORDAN DEVLIN AND DAVE MASTIFF SEGMENT- very good
Devlin came out and cut an excellent heel promo about how great he is. He dared anyone to come out and shut him up so Dave Mastiff did. Devlin taunted Mastiff and then sucker-punched him. He went for his finisher but Mastiff was too heavy for him to get up. Mastiff made a comeback and squashed Devlin with a senton, then cut a promo accepting his challenge, setting up a new feud.

NOAM DAR VS. TRENT SEVEN VIDEO PACKAGE- fine

EL LIGERO WILL BE WRESTLING NEXT WEEK- who could possibly care?

NXT UK TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Mark Andrews & “Flash” Morgan Webster(c) vs. Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang)- 7.5/10
Gallus cleanly regain the tag titles. I really don’t like this tag title switch, as it makes it feel like the only reason Andrews and Webster got the belts in the first place was that the PPV happened to be in their home country. Stuff like that cheapens the titles.

This was a decent episode of NXT UK, with a great main event and some good build segments, but ultimately it feels like most of the promotion is going nowhere soon. I will admit that the time spent focusing on people like The Hunt, Saxon Huxley, and Nina Samuels does make them feel like more than just undercard jamokes and thus victories over them for people like Imperium, Ilja, and Xia do feel bigger than they otherwise would, but at the same time, I think they have done a drastically better job with Nina than with the others in terms of making her feel like an actual character on the show instead of a designated jobber to the stars.