This Special had four of seven matches from Night 2 of the WWE’s trip to Norwich, England to tape matches for their U.K. territory.
Small arena + WWE production remains fun given how rare it is outside of NXT, even if it looked like 60 people were in attendance.
Felt like they softened the crowd reactions on the intros – why?
JR and Nigel did OK and I missed JR, but they lacked the chemistry and EXCITEMENT~! of Cole and Nigel.
There were a couple YouTube-exclusive matches from Night 1 (5/6/17) of the U.K. trip put up the day before this Special as well, neither was really impressive to be honest. I talk those first, then onto the Network show.
0. Sam Gradwell vs. Pete Dunne
The 5-minute match where Dunne kicked Gradwell’s ass and beat him with a bodyslam was better than this 10-minutes of whatever. Gradwell was all fired up early at least, dropping a plancha and tope. Otherwise – Dunne is fun to watch, but Gradwell’s shit around it just wasn’t very interesting. *1/2
0. Trent Seven vs. Wolfgang
This had a bunch of big moves and bumps that felt more forced than anything. Crowd popped for that stuff, was also kinda silent for the other stuff. Wasn’t very interesting. Had some drama here and there. Wolfgang kinda’ worked over Seven’s arm to set up the Seven/Dunne match the next night, I guess. Not bad, not really worth seeking out either. **
1. Wolfgang vs. Joseph Connors
Wolfgang’s music sounds like the dubbed over songs they use on a lot of 80s wrestling on the Network. This was actively a turd of a match, not an impressive showing by either guy. The crowd seemed to be trying harder than these two fellas… felt like a match where both were instructed to do nothing impressive. Something to Connors going after Wolfgang’s ribs, something to Wolfgang’s selling and one-armed Swanton, but not enough something for almost 15 minutes. Was Wolfgang legit hurt? Seemed like it, and not in a way that added to the match but really took away from it. Also – not expecting these to do be doing Rollerboco Rocco spots, but a little more flavor to differentiate this stuff a bit from your run-of-the-mill Main Event match would be nice too *1/4
2. Rich Swann & Dan Moloney vs. Brian Kendrick & TJP
I continue to question: WHAT HAS DAN MOLONEY SEEN!?!?!? Positives: the camera angle of small arena helps the Swann entrance a lot better. Negatives: This was not good. It felt like the match they’d do at an 8-year-old Dan Moloney’s birthday party. He got to wrestle with the superstars! Dab with Rich Swann! TJ and Kendrick did shtick and hurt each other! Got a hot tag! Yay!!! And then he lost, because he couldn’t keep up and didn’t really belong to begin with. Like a low-end 205 Live match, which is just no good at all. *1/4
The little Trent Seven/Pete Dunne backstage angle with Dunne attacking Seven’s arm was decent cause Dunne is such a snot-nosed fuck.
3. WWE U.K. Title #1 Contender Match: Trent Seven vs. Pete Dunne
I highly enjoy watching Pete Dunne wrestle. He works like a Regal/Finlay-type, but a Regal/Finlay-type who also has a unique character in being such a piece of shit pock-marked punk, and can also land on his feet off a Dragon suplex from the top rope. Think Seven’s alright, but gut is honestly distracting – if you’re going to be a fatass then commit and put on a few more pounds, otherwise slim it the fuck down. The hook of the Seven arm injury got this thing cooking off the bat, with Dunne being the piece of wet trash that he is. Elbowing a guy in the face then crushing his injured arm between steel steps and a ringpost is how you wrestle. Seven peppered shots and suplexes in, while Dunne kept aggressively going back to the arm. And then Seven dragon suplexed Dunne on the apron because what the fuck. “Dragon suplexes on the apron are debilitating” – amen, JR. Finish was awesome… Seven hits a desperation lariat with the hurt arm for a big near fall, then tries Seven-Stars Lariat, but Dunne gets on the bodyscissors armlock – Seven fights back with a dragon suplex, then backfists Dunne in the face, then sets up a Burning Hammer or some shit, but Dunne fights out and hits Bitter End for the win. Not sure all the big suplexes were even 100% necessary, but this was good. This was very very good. ***3/4
4. WWE U.K. Title: Tyler Bate [c] vs. Mark Andrews
This was a fun use of 20+ minutes, a wild match that built really really well and had a ton of awesome stuff packed in. Nice, quality holds and reversals and chain wrestling and British shit early, just a pleasure to watch. This had that FLAVOR~! the earlier matches were lacking big time. Liked Bate lifting Andrews to the top, and Andrews disappointingly shaking his hand. Bate carrying Andrews across the ring while in the Octopus hold was neat… Bate’s a small fella, but he’s done incredibly well carrying himself as a guy who can out-wrestle and out-lift anybody. Andrews continues to be impressive, an excellent flyer who’s high spots are both spectacular and weirdly sensible. His dive after 10 minutes of holds felt EARNED, baby. The rana counter of the Tyler Driver was an incredible save of a potential flub… actually added to the move by giving Andrews momentum to hit it. A Sliced Bread on the apron after a match with a Dragon suplex on the apron seems like something Rip Rogers would disapprove of, and I might be inclined to agree with him. Incredible stuff towards the end, high drama and great teases of a potential Andrews win. Bate’s catch of a moonsault on the outside reversed into a tornado DDT by Andrews, Andrews’ fiery chop/elbow comeback, Andrews’ roll-through into the ring into the Bate elbow and airplane spin into the REVERSE RANA for a big near fall – all great stuff. The suplex counter by Andrews and the BATE KOPPOU KICK!!!! were just completely batshit, while the Tyler Driver for the finish was suitably huge. Dunne’s work was my favorite thing on this show, but this was a high-end blast of a match. ***3/4
Awesome angle with Dunne and Regal post-match… Dunne shoves the hurting Andrews, Regal storms out and shakes his fist, Dunne/Bate staredown before TakeOver. Oh my god I get to watch this match live and in person at the world-famous Allstate Arena. YES!!!
I like the few guys in the U.K. deal, actively not digging a few too, but the main fellas feel more like guys who would slot in nicely on NXT or the main roster vs. anchors of a new territory. Know it’s early though. The first two matches here were slogs to get through and got actively worse as they went on, but the last two were great. Terrible first half but ya gotta see those last two matches. 6/10
