WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament (June 2018)

Original Airdate: June 25, 2018 (taped June 18)

From London, England; Your Hosts are Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness

Opening WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Zack Gibson (England) v Jack Gallagher (England): Twenty minute time limit in the quarterfinal round matches. Feeling out process to start, with Gallagher initially dominating, but getting grounded in an armbar. Criss cross sees Jack schoolboy him for two, and he works a chinlock. Gibson looks to escape, so Gallagher starts throwing uppercuts, but gets dropped across the top rope, and dropkicked for two. Gibson with a short-clothesline and another dropkick for two, and he works a half-nelson. Gallagher escapes, so Gibson armbar suplexes him, and uses his own uppercuts in the corner. Pair of cross corner whips rattle Gallagher, and Zack keeps mercilessly working the shoulder, with Jack tenaciously fighting back at every turn. Jack manages a vertical suplex and a shining wizard for two, but a trip to the middle rope ends badly when Gibson brings him down with a double-knee gutbuster for two. Suplex, but Gallagher slips free, and throws a dropkick at him. Corner dropkick, but Gibson catches him in a powerbomb - only to get caught in a triangle choke as he goes for the cover! Zack manages to muscle into a bucklebomb to escape, but crazy Gallagher hangs on in the ropes with another triangle. He gets Gibson down in a chinlock/bodyscissors combo for the kill, but Zack has the ropes to save himself. Gallagher tries another corner dropkick, but Gibson bails to the outside to dodge, so Jack simply dives after him with a tope instead. Right back in to successfully stick the corner dropkick for two, so Zack jabs him in the throat, and throws him shoulder-first into the post through the buckles! Jack beats the count, so Gibson greets him with a lariat, and belly-to-belly double-knee gutbuster gets... two. Totally bought that as the finish. Zack goes after the shoulder, but Gallagher manages to shake him off with another dropkick. He goes up for a flying splash, but Gibson lifts his boot to block, and he wrenches the shoulder for the submission at 13:26. Heck of an opener here, with Gibson doing a great job of working the shoulder until Gallagher's body just couldn't keep up with his spirit. They did such a good job building up drama that even though my mind knew Gibson was going over (I'm not watching live), my heart totally bought Gallagher pulling it off a few times once I got lost in the match. *** ¼

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Joe Coffey (Scotland) v Dave Mastiff (England): He'd probably get more over with this crowd as 'Joe Tea.' Mastiff looks like a fat 11 year old who happens to have a massive beard. Too much pie, that's his problem. They measure each other some to start, and a criss cross results in both guys trying bodypresses at the same time, ending with both out on the floor. They charge each other again out there, but this time Mastiff gets the better of it, and he rolls Joe in for some rights, then throws him into the middle turnbuckle. Samoan drop, so Joe counters with a sunset flip, but can't get him over, and nearly gets smushed by that big ass. Joe goes up with a flying dropkick for two instead, and tries a spinebuster, but it comes off as more of a takedown due to Mastiff's size. Joe tries a springboard, but Mastiff slugs him out of the air, and delivers a senton splash for two. Front-facelock grounds Coffey, but Joe slips out of a suplex attempt. Mastiff tries again, but this time Joe reverses, and even manages a belly-to-belly suplex! Bridging German suplex gets two, so Coffey tries a discus punch, but Mastiff pounds him down, and dead lifts him into his own bridging German suplex for two. Avalanche, but Joe uppercuts to block, so Mastiff tries a cross corner somersault bodyblock, but Joe dodges. Springboard bodypress connects, and Coffey hits the discus clothesline to advance at 7:32. Mastiff seemed to be working through some nerves, but it was watchable. * ¾

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Flash Morgan Webster (Wales) v Jordan Devlin (Ireland): Flash is officially my new favorite in this thing, based strictly upon his gimmick. Hey, first impressions are everything, right? And speaking of which, Devlin looks like he'd come in first in a Finn Balor lookalike contest. Feeling out process to start, with Webster able to get control, and hit a standing somersault senton splash for two (that the camera totally misses). Devlin fires back with a spinning backfist and a shining wizard, followed by a uranage and a standing moonsault for two. Jordan takes him down for a mat-based abdominal stretch, but a corner charge hits boot, and Flash runs circles around him on his way to snapping off a rana. Corner high knee follows for two, but Devlin blocks the follow-up, so Flash dumps him to the outside, and spears him with a tope. Another one for good measure, and a somersault suicida to boot. Back in, that all only gets two, so Flash goes up, but Devlin crotches him on the top turnbuckle. Jordan brings him down with a WICKED Spanish fly for two, and a superkick for two. Back up for a flying moonsault, but Webster dodges, and advances with a tilt-a-whirl inverted DDT at 7:03. Lots cool spots, but didn't really tell much of a story. ** ¼

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Travis Banks (New Zealand) v Ashton Smith (England): Banks wrenches on a headlock to start, then takes Smith down for a magistral cradle for two. Ashton fires back with a pair of armdrags and a dropkick, but Banks throws a knee to block the follow-up move, and he chops him into the corner. Snapmare sets up a kick to the shoulder blades for two, and Banks grabs an armbar, but Ashton escapes, and throws a big boot. Smith with a clothesline and a kneeling neckbreaker, but a charge in the corner misses (with Banks moving WAY ahead of his cue, and Smith continuing to charge anyway), and Travis corner dropkicks him for two. Smith manages a 2^nd rope flying seated senton, but Bank bails to the outside before a cover can be made, so Ashton dives with a somersault suicida. Back in, Ashton goes for a fireman's carry, but Travis escapes, so Smith superkicks him for two. Smith for a corner high knee, but a second one ends badly, allowing Banks a bridging German suplex for two. Springboard roundhouse kick sets up a fisherman driver, and that's enough for Banks to advance at 6:22. Kind of a mess at points, but not horrible. * ½

#1 Contender's Triple Threat Match: Toni Storm v Isla Dawn v Killer Kelly: Winner gets an NXT Women's Title shot. 'Killer Kelly' sounds like a wrestler name that belongs back in the 50s. First fall wins it here. Dawn and Kelly gang up on Storm, putting her down with a tandem DDT before turning on each other. Dawn gets her into the corner for some abuse, and a snapmare grounds Kelly for a knee for two. Vertical suplex, but Kelly reverses, and throws a trio of kneelifts. That leaves Dawn down in the corner, and Kelly follows in with a seated dropkick - only to get dropped with a German suplex by an incoming Storm! Dawn quickly drops Storm back with a saito suplex, and everyone is left looking up at the lights after that. That leads to a three-way slugfest, with Dawn floatover suplexing Storm, but Kelly breaking the cover. Storm German suplexes Dawn and hits an air raid neckbreaker for three at 4:13. Barely a match here, just a collection of stuff. The pacing felt like it would have been at home at the height of the Attitude Era. ½*

Triple H comes out to announce that NXT will now have a UK brand, complete with its own TV show and titles (in addition to the already established UK Title, there will be Women's and Tag belts), and introduces Johnny Saint as the inaugural General Manager. It's really too bad Davey Boy Smith isn't around anymore, because man, he would have been perfect for a role in this

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Semifinal Match: Zack Gibson (England) v Flash Morgan Webster (Wales): Twenty five minute time limit for this round. Webster blitzes him with a high knee right at the bell, and unloads in the corner. Another knee sends Zack to the outside, and Flash is on his tail with a flying headscissors off the apron. Webster rolls him in for a flying dropkick for two, but an attempt at the tilt-a-whirl inverted DDT is countered with a snake-eyes, and Gibson goes to town in the corner. Short-clothesline sets up a cobra clutch, but he wastes time putting the badmouth on Webster, and Flash escapes. Flash manages a 2^nd rope flying somersault senton for two, but Gibson evades the tilt-a-whirl again by bailing, so Webster dives after him with a tope. Again, but Zack catches him on the second go, and hits a nasty brainbuster on the ramp! Webster defiantly beats the count in, so Zack goes right for the arm, cranking on it for the submission at 4:20. Way too short, but decent enough. * ½

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Semifinal Match: Joe Coffey (Scotland) v Travis Banks (New Zealand): Coffey is still selling the first match as he makes his entrance, so I'm guessing Banks goes over here. Feeling out process to start, but it doesn't take long to turn into a slugfest. Coffey sends him to the mat with a shoulderblock, and a giant swing transitions into a butterfly suplex for two. Coffey works a half-crab, but Banks gets the ropes, so Joe goes to a straightjacket next. Banks won't give, so Coffey starts hammering him with chops, but Travis responds in kind. Banks manages to get the better of the exchange, and a superkick sends Coffey to the outside, where Banks runs the apron to punt him in the face! Back in, Banks hits a shining wizard for two, but a charge is blocked with a pop-up uppercut, and Coffey spears him. Coffey with an avalanche and a powerslam for two, followed by a dead lift bridging German suplex for two. Discus clothesline, but Banks counters with a dropkick, and adds a double stomp for two! Suplex, but Banks' back gives out. That allows Coffey to try a springboard bodypress, but Banks ducks it, and he hooks a victory cradle for the... victory... at 9:22. Afterwards, Coffey flips out over the loss, and destroys Banks' shoulder during the beat down. * ¾

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong v Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven: O'Reilly and Bate start us off, and Tyler manages a takedown with a swift armdrag, but Kyle kicks him in the corner. Bate responds with a schoolboy, but Kyle counters with a cross-armbreaker, so Tyler shifts it into a cradle for two. He armdrags Kyle down for an armbar, but Kyle shoots at the leg to free himself, and passes to Strong. Strong can't cut the ring in half, however, and Dunne tags in to stomp a mud hole in him in the corner. Criss cross ends in Dunne drilling him with a clothesline, so the rest of the Undisputed Era come in to help, but the Brits send them running. Dust settles back on Strong and Dunne, and Pete gets him in a surfboard, but passing to Seven proves a mistake, as Trent quickly gets trapped in the heel corner. The heels cut the ring in half on Seven, but he manages to counter a suplex from Kyle with a sitout brainbuster, and that's enough for the hot tag to Pete. Dunne blitzes Strong in the corner, but gets a German suplex reversed on him, so Pete back flips onto his feet, and x-plexes Cole ONTO Strong for two! Strong tries an Olympic slam, but Dunne counters with an armdrag, and tags to Tyler. He gets a great spot where he gives Strong a giant swing WHILE giving Cole an airplane spin, and he and Dunne hit Strong with a wild tiger driver/lung blower combo for two! Dunne goes up, but Strong manages to dropkick him out of the air on the dive, and Cole hits a nasty suplex-neckbreaker for two. Kyle kicks him in the head for two, and slaps on a triangle choke, but Dunne turns it into a cradle for two. Dunne with a German suplex, but the Bitter End gets countered with a guillotine choke - only for Dunne to walk to the corner and tag Bate while in the damn hold! That leads to everyone coming in and trading off, resulting in everyone left looking up at the lights. The dust settles on Strong and Seven, and Trent sends him spiraling with a short-clothesline for two. Cole tries to come in with a title belt, so Seven cuts him off, but the distraction allows O'Reilly and Strong to gang up on him. Bate comes in for the save, knocking Cole and Strong to the outside, where Dunne is ready with a flying moonsault press. Meanwhile, Seven and Bate hit O'Reilly with a dragon suplex/clothesline combo, and it's enough for the pin at 12:23! Hell of a match here, with tons of action, and unique spots. *** ¾

Main Event: WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Final Match: Zack Gibson (England) v Travis Banks (New Zealand): Winner gets a shot at Pete Dunne's WWE United Kingdom Title, and there's no time limit for the final. Banks comes out with his shoulder taped up, and you know Gibson is going to be all over that. And Zack indeed goes right for it out of the initial lockup, but Banks is in the ropes before he can get anything applied. Gibson tries again, but Banks keeps ducking into the ropes, and this time he cracks Zack with a chop to get him to back off. Undeterred, Gibson keeps trying to get a grip on the arm, so Banks uses a series of kicks to send him to the outside, but Gibson manages to drop him shoulder-first into the barricade out there. Zack adds a toss into the steps for good measure before taking things back inside, where he drops Banks with a short-clothesline, then unloads with mounted punches for two. That's enough to rattle Banks for some arm work, but Travis manages to fight him off in the corner, and stick a corner dropkick to send Gibson back to the outside. Banks dives after him with a tope, and a shining wizard is worth two on the way back in. 2^nd rope flying double stomp gets two, so Gibson swipes at the shoulder, and delivers the belly-to-belly gutbuster for two. Banks tries to hide on the apron to buy time, but that backfires when Gibson follows to suplex him out there, but Banks manages to kick him off. Travis hits him with a springboard roundhouse kick off of the barricade, and both guys scramble in ahead of the count for a slugfest at center ring. It breaks down into them trading slaps, with Gibson getting the better of it, but getting drilled with a big boot. Banks unloads with strikes on a kneeling Gibson, but Zack manages to wrench at the arm to slow Travis down. He goes for the kill, but Banks manages to armdrag him off - only to miss a dive. That allows Gibson to crank on the arm, but Banks is able to fight into the ropes to save himself! That was a nice bit of story there, after Gibson had beaten his two earlier opponents with that move in seconds. Zack tries again, but Banks manages to dump him to the outside to block, and he dives off the apron with a flying dropkick out there. Banks with a springboard enzuigiri for two on the way back in, so Gibson tries a leveraged cradle, but gets caught by the official. As Zack begs not to be disqualified, Banks takes the time to recover, and he jumps Gibson with a clothesline. Fisherman buster gets two, leading to Gibson bailing to avoid a follow-up, but Banks dives after him with a tope - only for Zack to whack the arm on the way down! He hustles Travis back in for a spinning brainbuster, but it only gets two! He decides to go back to cranking on the arm, but Travis is tenaciously fighting for the ropes - only to run out of gas at 17:00. They saved the best for last, as these two turned in the strongest showing of the tournament matches here. This one stands up as really good match on its own, but even more so because they did a great job of continuing various threads from earlier round matches. Afterwards, Johnny Saint, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels (with a real Jack Nicholson thing going on now that he’s got shorter hair) come out to congratulate Gibson on the win, but Travis wants nothing to do with Saint, refusing to even shake the new GM's hand. He grabs a microphone to cut a promo, but WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne shows up before he can, and they stare each other down to close the show. *** ½

BUExperience: The tournament itself didn’t really produce any notable matches aside from a pair of good performances out of Zack Gibson to open and close things, but it was a fun tournament nonetheless. That, along with the great six-man and the unique venue are enough to make it worth giving a look to. It’s an easy watch, but nothing you need to drop everything to check out.

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