For a more detailed recap, check our live results post here.
Street Profits def. Tino Sabatelli and Riddick Moss via pinfall following the pop-up Spinebuster/Frog Splash combo to Sabatelli. Videos and interviews are shown setting up the episode’s UK division tag team main event.
Remember how last week’s show was filmed before TakeOver but still managed to feel fairly important? This one didn’t work out that way.
Maybe it was the change of venue, or that this was a second straight week of televised house show matches. Could be that Nov. 21 was anchored by a borderline great match between two guys we haven’t seen face each other with, even though the outcome was never in much doubt, a belt on the line. Probably it’s just me.
- Whatever the reason, this longer rematch of something we just saw a few weeks ago that resulted in the same team going over set the tone. I enjoy the Profits quite a bit, and the amount of time they’ve been given to set up what ended up being a one-sided feud probably means there are folks backstage who like them, too. But Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins didn’t really show us anything we haven’t seen from them before.
Same situation with Sabatelli and Moss. They appear to be well-suited as mid-card heels, and they work better as a team than as singles competitors. But aside from the strangely charming wrinkle we got from the pre-match videos that Riddick thinks he owns half of all Tino’s stuff, there’s not much which would cause anyone to champion their moving up the card.
- Appreciate the effort which went into tying Moustache Mountain vs. Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews into past events on NXT and giving it some stakes for the future of the UK title scene. Really, I do. But that didn’t stop the clips they debuted on YouTube last week or on this episode from feeling like guys trying to cut promos and interviews for a match they already had. Because that’s what they were.
Kairi Sane def. Peyton Royce via pinfall following the InSane Elbow. Announcements are made for next week, where Ruby Riott and Sonya Deville will settle their differences in a No DQ match, and new NXT champ Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega will celebrate the start of the El Ídolo era. Drew McIntyre’s injury is confirmed.
First off, the “I ♥ Billie” and “I ♥ Peyton” shirts worn by The Iconic Duo are magic and should be cherished. Also, WHY IS THERE NO ICONIC DUO MERCH ON WWE SHOP DOT COM!
Ahem, sorry.
Here’s another okay match that feels like other okay matches we’ve seen before. Mauro Ranallo and Percy Watson (Nigel McGuinness wasn’t on this broadcast, although Mauro said he’ll be back next week) paid some lip service to it being a battle that could determine Ember Moon’s first challenger for the Women’s title, but it felt to me more like a leftover from the backstage vignette which gave us Billie Kay vs. Sane a few weeks back.
If it were to work as something with big ramifications for the championship picture, it should have been longer than the five-ish minutes we got. Not that I’d really want more of this. It was “greatest hits” match of all the bits you’d expected... Kay distraction leads to spinning heel kick for Pey, Royce in control with slow stuff, Sane comes back with spears and strikes, nearfall which caused the Aussie to throw a tantrum, final comeback and elbow to end it.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if you’re at a house show.
The Mae Young Classic winner has also seemed... off... since winning the tournament. Not that she’s suddenly bad - more like we’re watching her adapt to regular work in a WWE ring. Could also be that last year’s NXT Breakout Act doesn’t have great chemistry with Kairi, too. It happens.
On to the next thing. Which apparently involves more from two ladies who’ve been promoted and are heels on separate main roster shows. That should be interesting.
Trent Seven and Tyler Bate def. Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews via pinfall when Bate covers UK champ Dunne following Tyler Driver ‘97. After the match, The Bruiserweight takes out his tag partner, hitting Bitter End on Andrews.
These guys are really good wrestlers. They made this 10 - 12 minute affair a blast to watch, which at the same time made me kind of sad they’re not getting regular exposure to develop deeper stories on WWE Network.
Getting a double-dose of Dunne these past couple weeks has been a real treat. He’s getting the full NXT fan treatment: busting his ass to play a heel and being cheered regardless. He and Andrews really stood out, both for committing to the reluctant tag partner schtick - blind tagging and glaring at one another throughout - and displaying some exciting tandem maneuvers. The Bruiserweight’s backstabber to Seven as he was countering a monkey flip from the Welshman was great. That paled in comparison to the spot where Andrews delivered Bate to Dunne for a sit-out powerbomb via frankensteiner, though.
Trent is a fun character, but especially with the way he’s been presented from the UK Championship Tournament on, Bate is the real star of WWE’s version of Moustache Mountain. Every time he and Dunne go toe-to-toe feels special, and the big hope coming out of this is that Tyler getting the pin on the champ leads to round three between these two “Fight Forever”-worthy rivals down the line.
All involved made this a match worth seeking out, and they should be getting a regular chance to do more.
Most of this can be safely skipped. The real post-WarGames stuff starts next week.
Grade: C-