BRM Reviews the 2/25/2021 NXT UK

[Big Red Machine]

LOSER BECOMES THE WINNER’S PERSONAL ASSISTANT FOR ONE MONTH: Nina Samuels vs. Xia Brookside- 4.5/10
These two did a great job bringing the grudge-match feel, but they were horribly let down by the terrible booking of the finish. Nina had the advantage and called for her assistant to hand her her (presumably loaded) handbag. This guy, who hasn’t even had a name before now, suddenly decides to be defiant and refuses to help Nina cheat. She yells at him and snatches it away from him after a tug of war, then tries to hit Xia with it right in front of the referee. Xia ducked it, knocked it out of her hands, and rolled her up for the pin. This was a f*ck finish where someone who had previously had no personality at all suddenly develops one out of nowhere, and the heel is a total idiot and risks DQ to boot.
Nina Samuels had a temper tantrum after losing.

TRENT SEVEN VIDEO PACKAGE- fine build for his attempt to slim down to under 205lbs to challenge for the Cruiserweight Title.

ILJA DRAGUNOV’S INTERVIEW IS INTERRUPTED BY SAM GRADWELL- good
Ilja is disappointed in himself for losing control against Tyson T-Bone a few weeks ago as a result of Gradwell’s harassment. Gradwell walked by (and grabbed a security guard on his way to get between them) and said that Ilja was blaming him for his own failures. They agreed to have a match, and Ilja warned Gradwell there would be nobody at ringside to save him. Gradwell in particular was great here. My favorite part was after Ilja left when Gradwell told that camera that Ilja was a “Soviet baby.”

TYLER BATE vs. BAILEY MATTHEWS- 5/10
This was Bate’s first match with his new, more mellow attitude… and it didn’t seem to work for him. He went 50-50 with this new guy who was mostly only doing young-boy moves. I’m almost certain that my reaction is the one we’re supposed to have, though, because they had two excellent nearfalls with Matthews getting roll-ups on Bate that wouldn’t have felt anywhere near as believable as false finishes if he wasn’t struggling. Bate did win in the end with the Tyler Driver 98. I’m curious to see where Bate’s story goes.

VIDEO PACKAGE FOR A NEW WRESTLER- great!
It’s Metehan/Lucky Kid from wXw. They haven’t given him a new name yet. This video package gave him some backstory. He was a kid growing up in a rough neighborhood and had to help take care of his family because he was the oldest child. He realized that in order to take care of his family, ne heeded to become feared and respected. THIS is the sort of promo he should have been cutting in wXw to explain his transition from Lucky Kid to Metehan, and- although it’s obviously too early to judge- this seems like it’s going to be a much better version of the Metehan character than we’ve gotten in wXw.

JOSEPH CONNERS’ INTERVIEW IS INTERRUPTED BY PIPER NIVEN- good
She demands to know where Jinny is or else she’ll kick his ass. He insults her, so she punches him. Jinny runs in from behind and attacks Piper, and a bunch of people pull them apart. Piper Niven demands that Sid Scala book her against both Joseph Conners and Jinny, but Sid says he can’t do that (I assume because of the male-on-female violence issue, but they should have made that clear).
Piper fumes that everyone seems to be able to do what they want in NXT UK other than her. Then she thought for a moment, grabbed one of the randos who had broken the fight up and told Scala that this guy would be her tag partner so he should “make the match!” The other guy agreed, so I guess we’re getting a mixed tag with our babyface at a disadvantage because she’s teaming with a nobody. That’s fine, I guess. (I would later learn that this rando was Jack Starz).

AOIFE VALKYRIE vs. LANA AUSTIN- 2/10
Austin threw some pretty bad punches while she was mounted on Valkyrie. Austin is a nobody and Valkyrie is getting a push. There was no reason for this to be competitive.

XIA BROOKSIDE HAS NINA SAMUELS CARRYING HER BAGS- Good on Nina for living up to her word without complaint. What I don’t understand is how Xia could possibly have so many suitcases if she’s just going to work for the day. Actually, weren’t those Nina’s suitcases from before?

KENNY WILLIAMS & AMIR JORDAN INTERVIEW- Jordan is healthy and cleared to wrestle. They’ve got a match next week against Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter. They’re going to rededicate themselves to winning the tag titles.

KAY LEE RAY VS. MEIKO SATOMURA VIDEO PACKAGE- great

NXT UK TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang)(c) vs. Pretty Deadly- 8/10
I didn’t think Pretty Deadly had a snowball’s chance going into this match, but once Wolfgang got send over the barricade with that great pounce, it started to feel more and more likely, and the eventually did (with some good cheating after they had isolated Coffey). More than that, though, Pretty Deadly showed that they could have a main event-level match. I’m looking forward the rematch whenever it happens.
The more I think about this match, the more momentous it feels. By my count, everyone who has held a title in NXT UK (and, quite frankly, most of the big challengers, too) so far was either part of the original crop of wrestlers on the brand, and/or was a big established name before the brand started. Pretty Deadly feel (lacking a better term) home-grown, and that’s a big accomplishment for a company.


This was a good episode of NXT UK. The main event carried the action quotient, and even though there was some questionable booking (particularly the finish of the opener and then not letting Valkyrie squash Austin, plus possibly Bate going 50-50 with a nobody, if it doesn’t go anywhere), but the build to future weeks was good, and it takes a lot for me not to call a one-hour show good with an 8/10 main event.