FanPost

NXT UK Recap & Reactions (Sept. 16, 2021): No Crying Over Spilt Milk

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Welcome to BT Sports Studios!

This week we get a fun cheater's version of the Heritage Cup Classic, an amazing title match between Pretty Deadly and Gallus, and a pretty good match between Emilia McKenzie and Stevie Turner.

Kenny Williams versus Noam Dar - Heritage Cup #1 Contender's Tournament Semi Final Match

We start off with the semi final match between the Supernova and the Scum of the Earth. Personally I prefer Noam Dar but let's see what happens here.

Round 1: The match starts with the typical feeling out process we see in this format. Given that both men are heels we get a lot of banter and given they're both technical wrestlers we get a lot of good old fashioned wrestling. Williams is the first one to draw the ref's ire as he grabs Dar's hair. Both men punch each other simultaneously while locked up after the bell rings and immediately start complaining to the ref. No decision in round 1.

Round 2: Williams really lays into Dar at the start of this round. Nasty face rakes, stomps, and blows. Near the end of the round while Dar's on offense Williams pretends to be hurt. After arguing with the referee Dar gets caught in the most devastating move in all of sports entertainment -- the surprise roll up. Williams leads 1-0. Round 3: Dar starts on offense on this one taking advantage of the celebrating Williams' lack of focus. We get a pretty cool sequence of moves at the end of the round leading to Dar getting Williams in an ankle lock but the bell rings before Williams taps. Williams still leads 1-0.

Round 4: Williams gets some offense in at the start of the round thanks to some nice counters to Dar's attacks. but Dar gets a big boot in Williams' face and then goes for the cover. However the referee correctly spots that Dar has his feet up on the ropes and waves the count off. Williams lays out Dar then goes to remove the cover from a turnbuckle drawing the referee's attention. This allows Dar to grab the metal water bottle Williams used last round and pulls an Eddie Gerrero! As the referee argues with Williams, Dar rolls him into an ankle lock for the submission. Tied 1-1.

Round 5: This starts off as a slobber-knocker. Dar gets the first big strike for a 2 count. Both are selling knee injuries at this point. Williams had Dar lined up for a big move but Dar rolled out of the ring. Williams pursued and rolled Dar back in. But as Williams tries to get back in the ring Sha Samuels pops out from under the ring and grabs his legs! This allows Dar to land the Champagne Supernova and score the pin fall. Dar wins 2-0.

Given that both of these guys are scum bag heels this actually ended up working pretty well. They both cheated as much as they could but it was the fore-thought and planning of Dar and Samuels that came out on top!

This Week's Promos

Jordan Devlin and Gallus: Gallus are warming up backstage when Devlin approaches and snarks them. They take offense but keep their focus on their title match later tonight.

Ilja Dragunov is back: He's just on video but he says he's looking forward to being back in not just the UK but the BT Sport Studios. He's also keen to learn who will be his challenger for the title. That cues Nathan Frazier's music who joins Sid Scala in the ring and actually does a decent job on the mic before Rampage Brown's music hits. Rampage makes the case that we all saw what happened with he and Joe and that he's the one with the ablitiy to keep up with Ilja. Then A-Kid's music hits. He brings up the fact that Ilja and he already had a match and discovered that he had no limits. Sid suggests a triple threat match to determine the #1 Contender. Ilja likes the idea. Rampage shoves Frazer as he leaves which kicks off a big brawl leaving Rampage standing tall and the two little baby faces in pain on the mat. I liked this from all 3 wrestlers.

Jinny's Change Room is Off-Limits: a camera crew caught up to Jinny and Conners at the PC earlier in the week but Jinny is having none of it. They get to her dressing room and find Isla Dawn in there. Jinny chases her out but finds an upside down pentagram drawn in lipstick on her mirror. Are we going to see Isla Dawn putting some more ritual links in her little case next week?

Mustache Mountain: During the break we catch up with them. Sevens talks about the tag team titles.

Wolfgang versus Teoman: Wolfgang is doing this for his brothers in Gallus while Teoman is doing this for his family. Wolfgang says lets leave the family backstage and have this one straight up. At the end Wolfgang mimics Teoman's eye gesture and says "Aye aye!".

Charlie Dempsey: coming soon to NXT UK is Charlie Dempsey. He'll show us things we haven't seen before.

Emilia McKenzie versus Stevie Turner

This came about because last week Turner was trash talking Satomura and McKenzie stepped up to defend her mentor's honor.

Turner gets the bulk of the offense to start this one but McKenzie eventually lands a drop kick to shift momentum and get the first cover attempt. Turner eventually gets McKenzie on the ropes and gives her the big boot to the jaw. McKenzie shows some good grit to fight her way out of a monkey grip and then wipes out Turner with some big clotheslines. McKenzie hits a brutal spear as both women work the ropes. She then hits a beautiful suplex for a knee strike/cover combo and the pin fall victory!

I've been down on Emilia McKenzie's in-ring work but this was a really good match from her. Everything was at high speed, no awkwardness, and just looked crisp. Hopefully that progression continues as she's like to be in the main event scene before the end of the year.

During the break after this match Blair Davenport jumps Turner at ringside and takes her out. "Bad things will continue to happen so reinstate me," she says to Sid Scala.

Gallus versus Pretty Deadly -- Tag Team Championship Match

We're getting this one because of the brutal fountainside attack Gallus committed against Pretty Deadly during their Tik Tok photo shoot.

Howley dances around the ring generally being goofy at the start of this one much to Mark's chagrin. Stoker gets a big strike in on Joe but Joe gets him back with a big running cross body off the ropes. Mark then follows this up with a big arm drag and then a big one on Howley after the tag. Howley's able to send Mark out of the ring thanks to a distraction by Stoker and the latter pulling down the ropes as Howley throws Mark into them. Joe comes in as the hot tag and gets a good looking belly-to-belly suplex in addition to a ton of big offense.

More shenanigans from Pretty Deadly as Howley tries to tag in while standing inside the ring -- but he was holding the rope! Come on ref! This lets them halt Joe's momentum. Pretty Deadly are able to isolate Joe for a while thanks to this until Howley whips Joe into the corner. Joe comes out with a big clothesline knocking both down and Mark gets tagged in. Mark lands a cool aerial bulldog from the turnbuckle for a near fall. Again Pretty Deadly double team to send Mark through the ropes to ringside. Stoker gets a 2.9 count before Mark kicks out.

Pretty Deadly work over Mark while Joe's out at ringside no where to be seen. Mark overcomes and lays out Howley with a kick just as Joe gets back to the apron for the tag. Joe goes for the cross body but a recovered Stoker sacrifices himself to save Howley. Mark and Stoker brawl outside which draws Joe and Howley. Joe recovers and drops Howley wiht a big missile drop kick from the top turnbuckle but Howley kicks out! Gallus are able to high-low Howley but Stoker comes in at the last second to break up the pin.

Stoker saves Howley again by grabbing hold of him after Mark whips Howley to the ropes. This gives Pretty Deadly the chance to double team Mark and land the Spilt Milk allowing Stoker to get the pin fall victory!

Holy heck this one was great! Pretty Deadly was one of those teams where at first I was like "who the heck are these guys?" but man have I come to love them. They're aboslutely great with their wrestling and their cheating and having a great bruiser team like Gallus to play off of really let both teams shine. Gallus of course were their amazing selves.

Overall: A-

Reminder/Introduction: A+ is a near perfect show, B+ is a good show, C+ is average, and anything less than that is not good.

As mentioned I've been down on Emilia McKenzie lately but this was a really good showing from her. Combine that with the fun segment from Rampage Brown/A-Kid/Nathan Frazer, the amazing main event, and a ridiculous amount of cheating from Williams and Dar this was a good episode.

Let everyone else know how you feel about this one in the comments!

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