Saturday, August 31st, 2019
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Cardiff, Wales
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Noam Dar vs. Travis Banks
They start off with some standard fare, but quickly move into some fast paced back and forth. Banks goes after Dar's knees, but Dar is able to set Banks on the top rope and then hit a clothesline off the second rope. Dar has a lot of star potential and is still only 26 years old. Banks fights back with a dropkick and then a German suplex with a bridge for a 2 count. Dar slaps Banks, which enrages him, but Dar avoids a kick and continues to show off his heel skills. Banks goes for a springboard kick, but Dar catches him and puts him into an ankle lock for a nicely executed counter. Dar tries to throw Banks into the barricade, but Banks leaps off and sort of hits Slice of Heaven. Banks rolls Dar into the ring and hits a double stomp off the top rope for a 2 count. The pace is now picking up. Dar blocks Slice of Heaven and then hits a standing shining wizard for the victory. Solid opener and the absolute right guy won the match.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Cesaro is backstage and they talk about his open challenge to anyone on the roster. He says that he is looking for a fight and in walks Ilja Dragunov to accept the challenge.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Cesaro
As someone who really, really enjoys Cesaro's work, it's nice to see him positioned as a star here. Dragunov goes right after Cesaro, but Cesaro quickly is chopping Dragunov. Dragunov taunts Cesaro, so he destroys him with some uppercuts. Cesaro catches a leaping Dragunov in the corner and he just dumps him over the top rope into the barricade and the crowd is loving it. Cesaro swing time and the crowd counts up to 40, which is insane. Dragunov is able to regain control and hits a suicide dive and then a dropkick from the top rope across the ring. After getting chopped like crazy, Cesaro hits a Go To Sleep and then running uppercut to a sitting Dragunov, but he somehow kicks out. Dragunov hits a Death Valley Driver into the corner and then heads up to the top rope. He hits a senton, but didn't appear to hit it all and Cesaro kicks out of the pin attempt. Cesaro hits a pop up uppercut and then the Neutralizer and that's all. That was a hard hitting match as one would expect with Cesaro. It was so nice to see him get a hero's welcome here in front of a European crowd. Good match too.
Match Rating: ***1/2
After the match, Cesaro acts as if he is going to hits another uppercut, but instead shakes Dragunov's hand and they hug before Cesaro heads to the back.
NXT UK Championship Match
Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Gallus vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
This one should be fun for me to type about, as I have no idea who's who. Andrews and Webster have a unique look for this brand and are the hometown team. Drake and Gibson show why they were chosen to be the first tag champs with some nice teamwork. Andrews gets a hot tag and hits some really cool offense. He and Webster then hit back to back double somersaults over the top rope onto both teams. Wow! Andrews and Webster hit a knee strike, which leads into a reverse rana. That was awesome. Andrews then hits a Shooting Star Press from the top rope to the other two teams on the floor. The hometown boys get another nearfall, but then Andrews eats a huge dropkick that leads into Helter Skelter and a 450 splash that he somehow kicks out of. Gallus are back in the action and Wolfgang hits a big spear. Wolfgang then launches Coffey over the top rope to take out both of the other teams. Gallus goes for a cocky pin, but Webster makes the save. All six men are in the ring and Wolfgang then gets hit with a suicide dive into a Doomsday Device by the champs. The champs hit Ticket to Mayhem to big boos, but while they go for the pinfall, Andrews hits him off the top rope and we have new tag team champions. Well, it's clear that Vince didn't book this show. How dare someone win in their hometown. That was a really good match with some unique tag team offense. It had some flaws, but the back half of the match was just entertaining wrestling.
Match Rating: ***3/4
The new champs celebrate in the crowd. Toni Storm is in the back getting ready for her match.
Last Man Standing Match
Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey
Mastiff immediately charges Coffey in the aisle and they start going at it. Mastiff sends Coffey into the top turnbuckle and the top rope falls off the ring. Mastiff is now using the metal from the turnbuckle as a weapon. Coffey uses a pool cue as a weapon to slow down the big man. Mastiff then uses a cricket bat and smacks Coffey in the back. Coffey avoids a Mastiff charge and is able to throw Mastiff through a table that was set up against the barricade. Mastiff starts beating Coffey with a chain and then sets up another table. Mastiff then hits a running cannon ball through Coffey and the table. They're out in the crowd now and Mastiff hits Coffey with some hard shots to the back. Coffey for some reason blocks the chair with a fist, which seems like a dumb thing to do. Mastiff grabs two chairs and tosses one to Coffey. They both take a running start and charge at each other and both men are down. Mastiff hip tosses Coffey over the guardrail to the announcers table. Mastiff is now clearing off the announcers table, which will never make sense in a fight like this. Not their fault though. Mastiff hits a Green Bay Plunge but the table doesn't break. They both then climb above the table. Mastiff headbutts Coffey and they both fall off the rail and through the table. Both men are struggling to beat the count, but Coffey gets up and then kicks the rolling crate away from Mastiff, which causes Mastiff to fall and give Coffey the victory. Both guys tried hard here and there was some good stuff mixed in, but the logic didn't click for me here. The ending fell flat with the live audience as well.
Match Rating: **1/2
NXT UK Women's Championship Match
Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm
Ray avoids Storm on the outside and after delaying to get in the ring, Storm dives at her and start wailing on her. Ray hits her with a slap and Storm takes it to her. Storm hits a couple of big clotheslines and a German suplex. Storm is clearly the star between these two and it's not even close. Storm hits a Canadian Destroyer in a nice counter to the Gory Bomb. Both women are up top, Storm tries a sunset powerbomb, but it's blocked so she hits a German suplex instead. Storm hits a suicide dive. Ray then almost kills herself by doing a running somersault off the top rope to the floor. That was ugly. Ray then hits the Gory Bomb and gets the victory? Who booked this finish? That was a really, really bad finish and the crowd could not care less. I don't watch the show enough, but to me they gave the belt to the lesser competitor in a clean finish of a short match.
Match Rating: *1/2
NXT UK Championship Match
Tyler Bate vs. Walter
In the very limited amount that I have seen Walter, he has not been my cup of tea. I didn't think his match with Pete Dunne was anywhere on the level that the majority put it at. I absolutely love Bate and think he is easily one of the best young wrestlers the WWE has ever had. So if there's a match that should show off Walter, it's this one. Walter starts off with wearing down Bate and we get lots of singing from the live audience. Bate blocks both a powerbomb and a back body drop and then body slams the big man. Pretty impressive. Walter catches Bate on a suicide dive and then lays him out with a powerbomb to the hardest part of the ring. Walter hits a big boot and then does a powerbomb to the ring post in a scary looking spot. I know what they are going for and it won't take away from my enjoyment of the match, but those two moves look like they probably should be enough for the victory. However, I know this match has a long way to go. After a long wear down segment from Walter, both men are on the apron and Bate hits an exploder suplex to the floor. After a couple of attempts, Bate hits a vertical suplex to a big pop. After a series of clotheslines and forearms, a rolling kick and an exploder suplex brings Walter down. Walter dropkicks Bate into the turnbuckle and goes for a powerbomb, but Bate counters it for a Canadian Destroyer and almost gets the 3. The crowd bought that one. They tease a superplex to the floor spot, but Walter chops Bate back into the ring and then climbs to the top rope. Bate hits him with a jumping headbutt and Bate once again goes up top. He hits a super exploder and gets another nearfall. Walter starts with the chops, but is showing signs of fatigue. Bate hits him with one of his own, but Walter falls on top of Bate and now both men are down. Bate blocks a powerbomb and then picks up Walter on his shoulder and does an airplane spin. Bate is the man. Bate then picks up Walter again and hits a reverse Attitude Adjustment, but unfortunately Walter rolls to the outside. Bate reverses a suplex into a Tyler Driver 97 for a 2 count. That one gave me the chills. Corkscrew off the top rope but again it's only for 2. Bate takes off the tape from his wrist and is ready for a fight. He starts hitting a series of lefts and rights, but then Walter explodes with some chops and puts him in a sleeper hold on the mat. Bate then lifts him up and slams him back in yet another incredible move. Walter goes right back into the sleeper. They fight out to the apron again and Walter hits a suplex and drives Bate face first into the edge of the ring and then goes up to the top rope and hits an ugly splash, but Bate kicks out! Another suplex and Bate kicks out again. Powerbomb by Walter and Bate kicks out again and the crowd is to their feet. God bless the European crowd here. Walter hits a huge lariat and unfortunately that is all. The first half kept this from being an all time classic for me, but Bate in that back half was just incredible. Legendary performance there for a guy who is only 22 years old. Fantastic. I know I didn't like this as much as a lot of people (5 stars being thrown out left and right) but I still really, really liked it.
Match Rating: ****1/4
Well this show got off to a good start and then came to a screeching halt with the Last Man Standing and Women's Championship matches. However, the match everyone is going to remember delivered big time and is the defining match of this brand. I would recommend trying to keep these under 2.5 hours for maximum effect. This one definitely gets a recommendation to watch for any WWE fan.
Overall Rating: 80%
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