So there’s an NXT U.K. show every week now.
Including it in the WWE TV Week in Review feels like overkill, plus at this point I can’t guarantee watching this every week. But when I catch up, my Happy Thoughts will be here.
There’s some talented folks involved in this and also some serious rubbish.
My current take is that there is a lot more foundation to lay if this is going to work.
Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar for the NXT Title on NXT UK 1, Zack Gibson’s promo on NXT UK 2, and Sam Gradwell vs. Danny Burch on NXT UK 3 are the only things actually worth watching if you’re not a weird completist like me.
They could easily have WALTER show up at the next tapings and challenge Pete Dunne and make this is amazing, but that’s always the trick – WWE has the ability to heat anything up at any time. It’s what they do when they are just taking their time that shows how they really work, as they more than anybody know they have a whole lot of time to fill.
There just wasn’t much actively good here or even super promising. If they keep up how these first episodes went – oh dear. If they can build on them – maybe they have something.
One thing they could do is give their U.K. show a little more local flavor. Nigel’s a U.K. guy yeah but having him and Vic Joseph, the same team that does 205 Live and freaking Main Event, doesn’t exactly instill a unique ambience.
Love Vic, but we need a booming British voice calling this action.
Speaking of British voices, I do like the interview guy.
Had a couple laughs at Johnny Saint being completely unprepared to be a WWE on-screen authority figure.
The arena they taped these first episodes has a cool aesthetic that will probably get old in 5 weeks.
Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and almost Trent Seven are still your standouts. Also Toni Storm.
I am intrigued by Eddie Dennis, Dave Mastiff, Zack Gibson, Jordan Devlin, and Jinny. So good job on that and all, but I’m a serious wrestling dork. It takes a lot to get the folks engaged in this stuff. So I think they might want to try a little harder.
NXT UK 1 (10/17/18)
This was a fine first episode that like most of these early episodes ticked the boxes it needed to – video packages, enhancement matches, blah blah blah. Nothing actually hot ye.
Joe Coffey is a big lad and I support that in wrestling. He had a really fun 5-minute big guy/small guy match with Mark Andrews that for some reason was wrapped in a 10-minute package.
Not sure “hey, there will be tag titles soon” is a great hook for Moustache Mountain. That POP they got for their promo though – whoa.
Dave Mastiff squashed Sid Scala who was a very game bumper.
I dug the recurring theme of nobody knowing anybody’s music so the pops came when “Toni” or whatever flashed on the screen. Toni Storm and Nina Samuels had an enhancement match that I’m not sure enhanced, as Nina dominated.
Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar was another strong, heated Dunne defense with Dar looking credible for the first time in his WWE run.
NXT UK 2 (10/24/18)
Love the Wild Boar. Wrestling needs thirty more guys like him – singlet, weird haircut, ugly cuddly look. He wrestled Ligero on this show and though I dig the mask I can’t say he does much for me. I’m sure he’s a respected vet of a worker, but he’s very much your prototypical indy guy in that he does awkward flying moves that ultimately don’t mean much.
Dakota Kai vs. Killer Kelly got a little hesitant and awkward here and there. Kai has a special babyface charisma and Kelly, who is already strangely prominent on the U.K. brand, doesn’t exactly take wrestling maneuvers very well but she has a good shtick. and she isn’t all there as far as selling wrestling maneuvers goes but has some good shtick.
Eddie Dennis needs a new name but I’d like to see him wrestle.
Zack Gibson getting 5 minutes of uninterrupted promo time that was supplemented by 5 minutes of sustained booing was the best part of these four episodes.
God, I will tell you what – I don’t ever want to watch another Tucker match. Give this man a first or last name and maybe then I’ll care. Ashton Smith seems good-ish and had an acceptable Main Event match with ol’ Tuck.
Tyler Bate vs. Wolfgang was a match that hit some decent big guy/small guy notes but didn’t do a thing for me. Wolfgang’s weird lifting spear thing was the best part.
NXT UK 3 (10/31/18)
Did not enjoy Trent Seven and Saxon Huxley trying to please WWE agents and forgetting to have professional wrestling characters. That was a common theme on this show. Seven’s got a nice lariat, at least.
Flash Morgan Webster has a thing to him but it can be a sloppy thing and I still don’t buy his string bean ass doing armdrags and ranas on big Joe Coffey. Coffey meanwhile is not good at being the beast he needs to be. He lost to Flash even with his brother Mark’s help, and let me tell you it is a very exciting thing for THE BRAND to establish these Coffey Brothers as losers right off the bat.
JINNY! Nice vignette.
SAM GRADWELL HAS HAIR NOW.
And he had a pretty awesome match with Danny Burch, who is playing a good dude who’s been wrestling for 15 years and is sick of getting overlooked god damnit. I was WAYYY more into this strike-filled sprint than any other match on these episodes.
Danny Burch wants Pete Dunne – NICE.
Zack Gibson vs. Noam Dar was so, so long. It was a match with a lot of limbs getting put in holds and then selling of those holds, but while I’m into that as a match type I don’t think these are the two guys to do it. These are two solid wrestlers but Gibson doesn’t seem compelling for long periods and I’m not sure I’ll ever be into skeezy little Dar as this intelligent technician.
NXT UK 4 (10/31/18)
Moustache Mountain vs. Gradwell & Huxley was actually a semi-competitive match where nobody bought Gradwell and Huxley winning.
JINNY! Nice vignette.
Isla Dawn vs. Nina Samuels was just straight-up bad.
The interviewer guy (I have looked it up and his name is Radzi Chinyanganya) asking questions to clips of Pete Dunne and Danny Burch answering questions was an odd thing to do.
Tucker still doesn’t have a last name and I am steamed about it. Jordan Devlin beat him and Devlin has definitely got a thing to him but I need to see what he can do beyond a few minutes with god damn Tucker.
Wolfgang vs. Mark Andrews was a lot like Wolfgang vs. Tyler Bate in that it had a decent big guy/small guy dynamic but between Andrews’ bitch slaps and Wolfgang not being very good it wasn’t much.
The Coffeys and Wolfgang have joined forces and I’m not sure if that is exciting or not.
