BRM Reviews the 2/20/2019 NXT UK
Posted: Feb 21st, '19, 21:09
MARK ANDREWS & “FLASH” MORGAN WEBSTER vs. THE COFFEY BROTHERS- 6.75/10
Wolfgang not being at ringside with the Coffey Brothers was a little surprising to me. The match was the expected small, quick babyfaces vs. big mean heels stuff and was a very good opener.
NINA SAMUELS VIDEO PACKAGE- she likes theater, apparently. I’m not really sure what the point of this was. It seems nowhere near as effective as showing me clips of her beating people up or talking about her desire to be champion.
JORDAN DEVLIN SELFIE PROMO- a good promo, but it was slightly hard to hear him because he was outside on a beach with crashing waves, and the fact that he was walking around meant the shot wouldn’t stay steady.
KAY LEE RAY VIDEO PACKAGE- Now THIS is how you do one of these things. She’s confident in her abilities, and we know she’s a strategic thinker because she said she waited to join NXT UK so she could scout all of the other women first.
TRENT SEVEN vs. SHANE THORNE- 6.5/10
Before this match started, the announcers told me two things about Thorne. The first was that his philosophy was “instead of trying to be the best, bring others down to your level,” which they explained meant that Thorne sees his past injuries (knee and shoulder) as weaknesses, so his goal to try to injure those parts on others so that he isn’t at what he sees as a disadvantage. I LOVED this and thought it was an extremely interesting approach for a character to take.
The second was that he is “very arrogant” and thinks that all of the Aussies are better than all the Brits. This I hated because not only does it not fit in with the other thing, but is also an angle that Jordan Devlin is already doing, saying that being an Irishman makes him better than the assembled Commonwealth folk.
The match was very gritty, and Throne did indeed try to work over Seven’s shoulder and his knee. Seven won, which I found kind of counterproductive, seeing as how Thorne is a singles guy and Seven is mainly a tag team guy at the moment.
JACK GALLAGHER INTERVIEW- decent
He was oddly babyface here, although his belief that Johnny Saint would be favorably disposed towards him due to both being Billy Robinson trainees (and his little smile at the end) were both kind of heelish. It was later announced that he will face Tyler Bate next week.
JOSEPH CONNORS INTERVIEW- good
He claims El Ligero’s win over him was a fluke and he will prove it when they meet again
GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS & SEGMENT WITH BURCH & LORCAN-
Apparently this show was taped in Phoenix. Not sure how I didn’t notice that before.
Good heel promo from Gibson, then a good babyface promo from Burch. The babyfaces were willing to fight but the heels walked away from the potential fight.
NXT UK WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Toni Storm(c) vs. Rhea Ripley- 7.5/10
Rhea jumped Toni during the introductions. She worked over Toni’s back but Toni came back and won.
A very good episode of NXT UK, both delivering some good wrestling and setting stuff up for next week.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Vic Jospeh claimed that Shane Thorne was a “successful singles competitor in Japan.”
He won no singles titles or tournaments. That’s not being successful at all.
Wolfgang not being at ringside with the Coffey Brothers was a little surprising to me. The match was the expected small, quick babyfaces vs. big mean heels stuff and was a very good opener.
NINA SAMUELS VIDEO PACKAGE- she likes theater, apparently. I’m not really sure what the point of this was. It seems nowhere near as effective as showing me clips of her beating people up or talking about her desire to be champion.
JORDAN DEVLIN SELFIE PROMO- a good promo, but it was slightly hard to hear him because he was outside on a beach with crashing waves, and the fact that he was walking around meant the shot wouldn’t stay steady.
KAY LEE RAY VIDEO PACKAGE- Now THIS is how you do one of these things. She’s confident in her abilities, and we know she’s a strategic thinker because she said she waited to join NXT UK so she could scout all of the other women first.
TRENT SEVEN vs. SHANE THORNE- 6.5/10
Before this match started, the announcers told me two things about Thorne. The first was that his philosophy was “instead of trying to be the best, bring others down to your level,” which they explained meant that Thorne sees his past injuries (knee and shoulder) as weaknesses, so his goal to try to injure those parts on others so that he isn’t at what he sees as a disadvantage. I LOVED this and thought it was an extremely interesting approach for a character to take.
The second was that he is “very arrogant” and thinks that all of the Aussies are better than all the Brits. This I hated because not only does it not fit in with the other thing, but is also an angle that Jordan Devlin is already doing, saying that being an Irishman makes him better than the assembled Commonwealth folk.
The match was very gritty, and Throne did indeed try to work over Seven’s shoulder and his knee. Seven won, which I found kind of counterproductive, seeing as how Thorne is a singles guy and Seven is mainly a tag team guy at the moment.
JACK GALLAGHER INTERVIEW- decent
He was oddly babyface here, although his belief that Johnny Saint would be favorably disposed towards him due to both being Billy Robinson trainees (and his little smile at the end) were both kind of heelish. It was later announced that he will face Tyler Bate next week.
JOSEPH CONNORS INTERVIEW- good
He claims El Ligero’s win over him was a fluke and he will prove it when they meet again
GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS & SEGMENT WITH BURCH & LORCAN-
Apparently this show was taped in Phoenix. Not sure how I didn’t notice that before.
Good heel promo from Gibson, then a good babyface promo from Burch. The babyfaces were willing to fight but the heels walked away from the potential fight.
NXT UK WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Toni Storm(c) vs. Rhea Ripley- 7.5/10
Rhea jumped Toni during the introductions. She worked over Toni’s back but Toni came back and won.
A very good episode of NXT UK, both delivering some good wrestling and setting stuff up for next week.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Vic Jospeh claimed that Shane Thorne was a “successful singles competitor in Japan.”
He won no singles titles or tournaments. That’s not being successful at all.
