BRM Reviews the 9/24/2020 NXT UK (disappointing)

[Big Red Machine]

SID SCALA IS IGNORED BY THE HERITAGE CUP COMETITORS BACKSTAGE- Yeah, Sid doesn’t feel like he really has much respect from the locker room. Alexander Wolfe didn’t like Noam Dar futzing around on his phone during this so he slapped the phone out of Dar’s hands. This kind of felt like it made Wolfe a babyface.

WALTER vs. SAXTON HUXLEY- 5.75/10
This was a good brawl for the time it got, but I don’t like Huxley’s new grunting, wild-man character. When he picked up the stairs and held them over his head and the referee at him to put them down a few times and he finally threw them down, it felt like a four-year-old getting yelled at by a parent.

SAXTON HULEY IS A GRUNTY GOOF IN A STAIRWELL- goofy

NXT UK HERITAGE CUP TOURNAMENT PLACEMENT DRAWING- weird
They drew the match-ups and we got some face-to-faces. Dar tried to punch Wolfe but Dunne blocked it and snapped his fingers. Why is Dunne being used as if he’s part of management? It’s werid.

DANI LUNA & XIA BROOK GIVE PIPER NIVEN ENCOURAGEMENT HEADING INTO THE NXT UK WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH- fine

PRETTY DEADLY vs. THE HUNT- 4.5/10
Stuff happened. The babyfaces get a visual pinfall, but the heels win immediately afterwards via pulling the tights. Eddie Dennis was at the top of the ramp and said something to Pretty Deadly on their way to the back, which they seem have acknowledged.

“FLASH” MORGAN WEBSTER & MARK ANDREWS TRY TO CONSOLE THE HUNT AFTER THEIR LOSS- The Hunt listen to what they have to say, but then walk off, no less upset.

PETE DUNNE VOLUNTEERS TO BE THE SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE FOR NOAM DAR VS. ALEXANDER WOLFE NEXT WEEK- Again… why isn’t Dunne wrestling?

It was FINALLY explained to us what the deal is with this “wildcard” spot in the Heritage Cup Tournament. It will be determined in a Triple Threat match on next week’s show.

NXT UK WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Kay Lee Ray(c) vs. Piper Niven- 5.75/10
Things were going well until they decided to waste several minutes by teasing that KLR would be unable to continue after kneeing the ring steps. It’s not even like she was faking it used this to get an advantage, either. She hurt her knee and everyone was all concerned and some referees came out to help her up the ramp. Piper Niven came, too, to KLR slapped her, at which point Piper got angry, grabbed KLR, and just brought her back to the ring, and the referee let them keep going.
From that point on we had Piper working the knee with basic holds and stomps, while the KLR valiantly fought through the pain and even managed to hit a superkick and a flippy top-rope move. It suddenly felt like Piper was the heel and KLR the babyface. The finish saw Piper get pinned after her back went into and exposed turnbuckle, which didn’t really feel like a finish. A very disappointing match, considering the build and the time got.


A bad episode of NXT UK. Two shows in is too early to make a judgment, but this restarted version of NXT UK (and post-Speaking Out, too) feels a little lost at the moment. Hopefully the Heritage Cup will give some much-needed direction.