BRM Reviews the 6/30/2022 NXT UK (great)

[Big Red Machine]

BLAIR DAVENPORT vs. ANGEL HAYZE- 4.75/10
Hayze was introduced as “the challenger” for this match… with no titles of any sort involved. Oops. There is no excuse for that on a pre-taped show. Just have the ring announcer do it over again in post-production.
This was a lot more even than it should have been. Davenport won cleanly.

They advertised that we will hear from Trent Seven tonight… and the graphic for it has him with his back turned to us, looking over his shoulder. That right there is some nice symbolism.

BLAIR DAVENPORT PROMO- meh
She is back, and she is here to crush all of our hopes.

SID SCALA FINDS KENNY WILLIAMS IN HIS OFFICE, WAY EARLY FOR THEIR MEETING, AND BEING KIND OF CRAZY- good
I must give the mot effusive of praise to the detail-work here.
This started with Sid coming up the staircase, telling someone who was just around a bend to wait there for a minute before coming up (with the bend serving as a natural barrier to hide him from us rather than the camera just not panning to the side when the identity of the person being talked to is obviously relevant, like the main roster often does). We would learn that this was a meeting that Sid had planned, so him having the camera there made sense.
He went into his office to find Kenny Williams there. He was surprised because Kenny had clearly been there for a while, saying that established that this was a planned meeting, but also got over that Kenny has been obsessed with trying to find out who Tiger Turan is (he was looking through records of some sort). Sid told Kenny he was here to be informed of a match with his next opponent… at which point Tiger Turan came, with Sid’s interaction with him before showing us that his presence was planned, and not the usual ridiculous coincidence. Kenny accused Tiger (who didn’t respond so as not to give Kenny any hints about his identity) of being Amir Jordan, and Kenny left.
Why can’t all segments be like this?

EARLIER THIS WEEK, NOAM DAR & SHA SAMUELS SHOWED UP AT THE UK PERFORMANCE CENTER TO BOTHER PEOPLE- annoying

EMILIA MCKENZIE vs. FALLON HENLEY- 5/10
They told their story well here, with some solid, basic wrestling until Henley tweaked her knee, giving Millie the chance to go after it and show the “killer instinct” her mentor, Meiko Satomura, apparently feels she has been lacking. Having Millie do this and lose anyway by roll-up is certainly the most interesting outcome, as it leaves us guessing as to how Meiko will respond.
Millie showed Henley respect after the match.

DIE FAMILIE INTERRUPT OLIVER CARTER’S INTERVIEW TO TRY TO RECRUIT HIM- fine

EARLIER THIS WEEK, SARRAY’S INTERVIEW AT THE PERFORMANCE CENTER IS INTERRUPTED BY XIA BROOKSIDE & ELIZA ALEXANDER- good
Sarray’s character is too excitable and happy, to the point of being annoying. The heels showed up to mean to her after, continuing from their run-in last week. Meiko Satomura and Millie McKenzie came to her defense, with Meiko challenging the heels to a match against her and Sarray, building on their established friendship last week.

WOLFGANG vs. SHA SAMUELS (w/Noam Dar)- 7/10
This whole “betting” thing needs to end immediately. It absolutely should not be tolerated by a professional sports organization.
Mark Coffey will be getting a shot at the Heritage Cup in two weeks because… um…
Wolfgang missed a spear and hit his shoulder on the turnbuckle, setting up for Samuels to work it over (his shoulder, not the turnbuckle). Apparently this shoulder has been bothering him in recent matches, too. Wolfgang overcame both the injury and Noam Dar’s influence on the outside to get the win.

TRENT SEVEN EXPLAINS WHY HE TURNED ON TYLER BATE- AWESOME!
The fans chanted “YOU SOLD OUT!” at him, which makes no sense. There was no one he was selling out to.
He says that Tyler Bate lost his killer instinct doing all of his yoga and so forth, and was no longer willing to do what it took to win. He insists that Tyler is never coming back. This got tremendous heat, to the point where when he taunted a (planted) fan into jumping the barricade, it felt believable. Security immediately restrained said fan… and Trent kicked him in the nuts anyway.

This was a great episode of NXT UK. The wrestling was a little weak for what would normally be a “great” show, but pretty much everything for storylines was solid or better.