NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff (August 2019)

 

Original Airdate: August 31, 2019

From Cardiff, Wales; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness

Opening Match: Noam Dar v Travis Banks: Feeling out process to start, until Banks manages to injure Dar's leg, and Dar bails. He tries to evade Travis out there, but Banks out thinks him, and Dar ends up taking a shot to the face. Back in, Banks gets two, but Dar drops him crotch-first across the top rope, then uses a flying clothesline to knock him off that perch for two. Dar chucks him into the ropes for two, and Noam starts going to work on the shoulder. Banks manages to escape an armbar, and uses his speed to pull out a dropkick, then quickly capitalizes with a bridging German suplex for two. Flying double stomp, but Dar dodges, leading to a reversal sequence that ends in Dar trapping him on the mat for some shoulder abuse. Crucifix cradle gets two, but it backfires when Banks turns it into a straight jacket, but Dar manages to get into the ropes before Travis can get it fully applied. Dar lures him into a trap by getting him angry, and a fisherman's buster gets Noam two. Banks fires back with a big boot, but a springboard roundhouse kick gets caught in a kneebar! Dar cranks it on, but Banks manages to slug his way free, so Dar dropkicks him to the outside, then chucks him into the steps. Right back in, Dar uses a clothesline to the back of the head for two, but loses another reversal sequence, eating a dropkick. That allows Banks a springboard reverse double stomp for two, so Dar bails, but Banks is on him with a tope. He tries to roll Noam back in, but Dar rebounds with a punch to the nose. Dar whips him into the barricade, but Banks springboards off of it to block, and lands a flying double stomp for two on the way back in. Both guys stagger up for a slugfest, with Banks getting the better of it, but missing a charge in the corner. That allows Dar a corner big boot, but Banks blocks the follow up, and throws a shining wizard. He tries another springboard, but Dar knocks him off the ropes this time, and throws the Nova Roller for the pin at 13:56. A fair number of botches aside, this was generally fine, but Dar and Banks were treating it like it was a major work, and it just wasn't. ** ¼

Cesaro v Ilja Dragunov: Dragunov blitzes him at the bell, but the bigger Cesaro manages to fight out of the corner, and returns fire with chops. Criss cross sees Cesaro again dominate him with size, but Dragunov just keeps fighting back, and getting in his face again and again until Cesaro takes his head off with a European uppercut. Again, but Dragunov won't stay down, and wants to trade chops. That goes badly for him too, but he manages to take Cesaro down for a senton splash for two, but an attempt at a charge ends badly when Cesaro catches him like a baby, and simply dumps him over the top. Hopefully not like anyone would ever treat a baby. With some of the parents I see out there, you never know. Back in, Cesaro uses a bodyslam and a legdrop for two, then cranks on a chinlock as Dragunov fights for air. Dragunov manages to fight free, so Cesaro tries a sleeper, but Dragunov just won't stay fucking still. Did he get into the... sugar... backstage? Cesaro responds with a side suplex for two, and a catapult under the bottom rope rattle Ilja. Chinlock, but Dragunov starts to escape, so Cesaro viciously whips him into the ropes for another sleeper. Side suplex again, but this time Dragunov topples him for two, so Cesaro grabs his ass for a ride on the giant swing. Extended European version, too. Poor Dragunov looks like he's on another planet afterwards, but still manages to get a shoulder up at two. That backfires when Cesaro turns the momentum into a crippler crossface, but Dragunov manages to cradle for two. Criss cross allows Dragunov to land a lariat, and he's finally able to get some traction with a knee in the corner. Clothesline follows, and he tries for a fireman's carry, but Cesaro slips free. A fight over a backslide goes to a stalemate, so Dragunov grabs him by the balls for a suplex, and Cesaro wisely bails to regroup. Dragunov won't allow that, however, diving at Cesaro with a (sloppy) tope, and hitting a flying dropkick for two on the way back in. Cesaro is starting to recover, so Dragunov tries more chops to keep him down, but hurts his hand as much as he hurts Cesaro. And then Cesaro just headbutts his ass anyway, and hits a press-facebuster for two. Diving uppercut gets two, but a discus version is countered with a backslide for two. Dragunov manages to follow up with a death valley driver into the turnbuckles, and a flying senton looks to finish, but only gets two. He tries a big charge on the weakened Cesaro, but gets countered with a pop-up uppercut, and the Neutralizer finishes him off at 12:27. This was really fun, with strong effort, an engaging story, and a hot crowd. *** ½

NXT UK Tag Team Title Triple Threat Match: Zack Gibson and James Drake v Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster v Mark Coffey and Wolfgang: First fall wins it. Gibson and Andrews start, and the crowd is buzzing right from the opening bell. This has been a great crowd all night. Feeling out process to start, as Gibson and Andrews reverse each other around a bit, until Drake tags in. Andrews gets the better of an exchange with him, and it's over to Flash for a quick combo for two. Flash and Andrews work Drake over with quick tags, but Wolfgang tags himself in to try and go for the kill on Drake, but Gibson pulls his partner to the outside to break the momentum. Dust settles on Flash and Wolfgang, and Wolfgang tries a pop-up, but Flash counters with a dropkick. Sunset flip, but Gibson and Drake run in, and we've got all six guys in now for a stare down until the referee can restore order. Dust settles on Flash hitting Coffey with a rana to the outside, where Andrews is ready with a moonsault press off of the apron. Back in, Flash hits Gibson with a springboard moonsault press for two, but runs into trouble when the tag champs bust out a double team. They then take Flash to the outside for a sidewalk slam/plancha combo on the floor, and back in, Zack bodyslams him for two. Cobra clutch, but Flash starts to fight free, so Gibson passes back to Drake to blast him with a forearm. Backbreaker follows for two, and the champs continue to cut the ring in half on Flash, much to the annoyance of the others. Gibson wastes time taunting Wolfgang, however, allowing Flash to dive for a tag to Andrews, and he comes in hot. He takes out both tag champs, so the frustrated Coffey and Wolfgang just come in without a tag to prevent a fall taking place, but Andrews and Flash fight them all off, and hit dives on the outside. Back in, they isolate Gibson, but Drake saves his partner from getting pinned by a tandem standing 450 splash. Drake gets dumped quickly, however, and Wolfgang catapults Andrews into a Samoan drop from Coffey for two. That was a neat combo. They go for the kill on Andrews, but Flash dives in to put a stop to it, and Andrews spikes Wolfgang with an inverted rana for two. That was really cool, and the crowd totally bought it as the finish. Andrews goes up, but Coffey meets him up there for a superplex, so Andrews shoves him down to the floor - right into a dog pile with the tag champs. Andrews steadies himself and dives with a shooting star press onto all three guys out there, and he rolls Gibson in to pin, but a distraction by Drake allows Zack a lariat. Unfortunately for Gibson, his follow-up is countered by Andrews with a stunner, and Webster punctuates it with a flying somersault senton splash for two. Drake quickly pulls Flash out of the ring before they can keep going, and Gibson drops Andrews with the Helter Skelter to set up a flying 450 splash by Drake for two. They go for a follow-up, but Webster shows up in time to save, and all four guys end up looking up at the lights. Cue Wolfgang to splash everyone, and Coffey to clear bodies out of the ring. That leads to Wolfgang chucking his own partner over the top into a dog pile of the other four guys, and they roll Andrews back in to finish off. Front-powerslam/kick to the head combo looks to finish, but Webster manages to push past Wolfgang in time to break Coffey's cover at two! They're still standing tall, however, so the other four guys try ganging up on them, but even that can't stop them. That leads to Wolfgang and Coffey trying the catapult/Samoan drop trick on Flash, but Webster manages to turn it into a sunsetbomb, and that's enough to allow Gibson to pull Wolfgang to the outside for an electric chair/tope combo with Drake on the floor! Awesome! With the big lugs out of the way, we get a big showdown between the remaining four, and it's slugfest city, son! Andrews manages a double stunner on both guys, setting up a dive from Flash, but Zack pulls the referee out at two to save! Oh man, what a dick! In a good way, of course! Andrews punishes him with a dive, but Webster ends up getting a Ticket to Mayhem. Drake quickly dives with a tope onto the recovering Wolfgang and Coffey as Gibson makes the cover - only for Andrews to come off the top with a flying shooting star press to break the count! He quickly drapes Flash's limp body over Gibson, and with Drake still busy running interference on the outside, there's no one to stop the pin at 20:17! Huge pop for that - HUGE! What a great match here! It was the usual action and excitement, but it didn't feel sterile like a lot of the main roster stuff does, with the story feeling genuine, and easy to get invested in. And, of course, the hot crowd didn't hurt. Never does. **** ¼

Last Man Standing Match: Joe Coffey v Dave Mastiff: More Coffey than you'd expect from the UK. Brawl in the aisle to start, and inside, where they continue to slug it out. Joe tries whipping him into the corner, but Mastiff is too big, and ends up reversing him into the other corner with such authority that the top turnbuckle/rope snaps off! That was pretty awesome! I mean, it's been done before, but I don't think it's ever been done in the first, like, minute of a match, and so it was especially unexpected. Mastiff chokes him down with the loose turnbuckle, and Coffey tries a springboard, but wipes out. What was he even going for there? I mean, a springboard, obviously, but come on Joe. Mastiff with a release German suplex that sends Joe to the outside, and Mastiff follows, but gets whipped into the barricade out there. Joe finds a random pool cue at ringside to beat on Mastiff with (with even the announcers wondering why there's a freakin' POOL CUE out there), but then Joe just ups the ante by dumping out an entire bag full of sports paraphernalia. He also leans a table up against the barricade, but Mastiff backdrops him on the floor before he can use any of his toys. Mastiff finds a cricket bat to grind Coffey with, but an attempt to spear Coffey through the table backfires, and this crowd is so hot that I'm half expecting an 'ECW' chant here. Coffey tries a discus clothesline, but Mastiff counters with a German suplex on the floor, and he wraps a chain around his fist to whip Joe with. I like how guys will get three shots off with a weapon before just dropping it, like in a video game. Mastiff leans another table up against the barricade, and this time manages to cannonball Joe through it. Coffey bails into the crowd once he's back on his feet, but he's moving very slowly, and Mastiff is right on his tail with a chair. Joe gets killed out there, but manages to punch the chair out of Dave's hand before taking a fatal headshot, and Coffey adds a discus clothesline to buy himself time. Joe gets hold of the chain (how did that follow them into the crowd?), but Mastiff passes him a chair instead, while holding one of his own. Big boy wants a duel! That leads to a fun sequence where they take opposing positions on opposite ends of a long aisle, and charge each other for a double knockout collision with the chairs in the middle. That was great! Mastiff is up first, and they brawl over to the commentary booth (near the entrance), where Dave drops him with a rolling fireman's carry slam onto the announce table. Given the size of these pups, I'm surprised that shit didn't break. That's that quality British craftsmanship, I suppose. They brawl up to a landing behind the commentary position next, where they fight over a suplex off, before both guys end up taking a fall through another table below. Both guys fight to get vertical before the count, and both look like they're gonna make it, until Coffey kicks away a crate that's supporting Mastiff, and Dave collapses at 16:14. This was a fun, creative brawl, but it felt like it overstayed its welcome a little bit. ** ½

NXT UK Women's Title Match: Toni Storm v Kay Lee Ray: Okay, so is KayLee her first name, or is LeeRay her last name, or is Lee just her middle name? Also, I like how they're portraying her as this mother figure to Toni when she's all of three years older than her. What is this, porn? Or, like, Forrest Gump? Storm chases her to the outside at the bell, and Ray stalls to frustrate the champion. She keeps doing that until Storm finally just dives at her with a tope, and Toni unloads out there. Ray eats barricade, and back in we go. It turns into a slap fest, with Storm getting the better of that, and then blasting her with a forearm. Ray hides out on the apron, and this time is able to shake Toni off with a kick when she comes after her to turn the tide. Ray with a turnbuckle smash and a chop, followed by a snapmare into a mat-based abdominal stretch. Storm fights free, so Ray puts the boots to her, and delivers a gourdbuster for two. Storm fights off an array of slaps, but Ray blocks the Storm Zero, so Toni uses a sunsetbomb for two instead. Ray tries a quick small package for two, so Toni fires right back with Storm Zero for two. Toni's acting all shocked at the kick out, but really, we're five minutes into the match, calm down. Ray with a gory facebuster for two, so she takes Toni upstairs for a superplex, but ends up getting German suplexed off instead. That looks to finish, but Ray gets a foot on the ropes at two to save herself. Toni shoves her to the outside for a tope, but Ray fights her off out there, and hits a sloppy dive of her own. That looked dangerously close to crippling Ray. Back in, Ray with another gory facebuster for the title at 9:57. Wow, I was not at all expecting the title to change here. Ray looked terrible out there, and I figured she was just a pin set up for Storm to knock down. Guess not. This was definitely the weak point of the show, with clumsy performances and a dead crowd. *

Main Event: WWE United Kingdom Title Match: WALTER v Tyler Bate: The crowd is nice and hot again as this one gets going, despite the best efforts of the women's match. WALTER towers Bate, and tries to get him cornered in the early going, but Tyler keeps his feet moving. WALTER does manage to engage Bate in a test-of-strength, but even then Tyler is able to use speed to keep himself in the game. WALTER decides to crank on a headlock, and God bless these commentators for actually discussing the psychology of what's going on here, instead of whatever bullshit the main roster crew would be talking about right now. Reversal sequence sees Bate counter a few powerbomb attempts, and he actually manages to bodyslam WALTER on the first try! Wow, even Hulk Hogan would be impressed right now. That sends the champ to the outside to regroup, but Bate is ready with a pair of dropkicks when WALTER comes back in. Third one misses, allowing WALTER to try a slam, but Bate just won't go quietly. Rana sends WALTER back to the outside, but he catches Bate on a tope attempt, and then powerbombs his pesky ass into the apron! Bate fights to beat the count, so WALTER big boots him off of the apron, then leans him up against the barricade for another big boot. Not satisfied, WALTER goes for broke with a SICK powerbomb into the post, and holy fuck, that looked insane! Bate's head just bounced off of that thing like a pinball. So, not surprisingly, that draws the trainers out to check on Tyler, but he wants to continue. Jesse Ventura would be having a fit right now about how Bate bought time with the trainer, and the referee should have counted him out by now. And he'd be RIGHT! Anyway, Tyler pulls himself back inside, but he's immediately met by boots from WALTER, and a bodyslam. Bate can't even stand, so he tries kicking at WALTER's legs from a horizontal position, but that doesn't go well. WALTER cranks on a chinlock, but Bate manages to escape, and he ducks a big forearm from the champion. Bate tries capitalizing with a fireman's carry, but that ends badly, with WALTER toppling him. Yeah, not sure that was the best of ideas, kiddo. WALTER with a crippler crossface, but Tyler makes the ropes, so WALTER just punishes him with multiple forearm smashes across the chest until Bate falls out of the ring. WALTER is keen to take the countout win here, but Tyler hauls himself back in, so WALTER is just, like, 'okay, fuck it,' and decides to break this little punk. He nearly rips his arms off while working a bow-and-arrow, until Bate manages an escape, but he's got no follow-up, so WALTER just sit-down splashes him for two. WALTER then ties him up in the ropes for a stretch, until Tyler just falls down to the apron in a heap, so WALTER hops down to pick him up for a powerbomb on the apron, but Tyler keeps hooking his feet around the bottom rope to block. WALTER responds by straight pounding him, but Bate manages to duck a shot, and uses gravity to pull off a suplex off of the apron. Both guys stagger up, and Bate manages to ram him into the barricade, and roll the big champion inside. Bate stuns him with a trio of sit-down splashes, and he throws forearms as WALTER tries getting to a vertical base. He tries a corner whip, but physics are decidedly not on his side on that one, and WALTER takes him to the mat with a Boston crab. Now that's a heel! Punish the babyface, AND stick it to the crowd by reminding them of the Boston Tea Party! Bate won't quit, so WALTER shifts to a crossface instead, and man, he's really cranking that shit on. Bate makes the ropes, so WALTER plucks him off the mat for a suplex, but Bate won't quit blocking. He tries a reversal, but that's a bridge too far, and WALTER chops him. Back to the suplex, but Bate blocks again, and this time manages a fucking reversal on the big monster! They did a great job of building that spot up with the back-and-forth stuff, and the crowd rewarded them for it with a big pop. WALTER is shocked, and Bate capitalizes with quick strikes on the dizzy champion. Koppou kick rattles WALTER enough to allow Tyler an exploder suplex, and he quickly adds a running shooting star press for two. Tyler Driver time, but WALTER blocks, and it turns into a slugfest. Bate tries a backslide, but WALTER blocks, so Bate tries to turn it into the Driver, but WALTER backdrops him. WALTER adds a dropkick to set up a powerbomb, but Tyler counters with a Canadian destroyer for two - in a GREAT sequence! Such a smooth counter, and the crowd is losing their shit for it. Bate goes up to finish him off, but WALTER is aware enough to roll to the apron to stop the effort, and he chops Tyler down to the mat. WALTER goes up top now, but Bate charges him with a headbutt to stop HIS effort, and brings his big ass down with a superplex for two! Bate hammers him with right hands as WALTER starts recovering, but WALTER returns fire, and every one of WALTER's shots is equal to four of Tyler's. Bate's response? Throw more, throw faster. He manages to tire WALTER out that way, and he's able to land a kill strike to the head, but it backfires when WALTER collapses right on top of him! Luckily for Bate he's facing down when it happens, thus avoiding the pinfall. Both guys are battered, and they trade slow, deliberate shots from their knees as they fight to a vertical base. Bate starts throwing dropkicks at the leg once they're up, but WALTER grabs him with a suplex for two to cut it off. Powerbomb, but Bate blocks, and muscles the monster up for an airplane spin! He drops him on the top turnbuckle from there, and uses that positioning to pull WALTER off for a burning hammer! That was just incredible! Bate is shot, but he crawls over to cover, only for WALTER to roll out of the ring before he can get there. WALTER collapses on the floor as soon as he's out of harms way, and Bate is able to dive with a tope before the champ can fully recover. Tope suicida follows, and it's back inside, where Mr. Bate uses a bridging German suplex for two! Driver, but WALTER backdrop drivers him for two - only for Bate to bridge up and into the damn Driver for two! Wow, wow, wow! Bate goes up with a flying corkscrew senton splash for two, and this thing gets a well deserved 'this is awesome' chant. Bate goes old school and just starts pounding WALTER with closed fists now, but that angers the beast, and WALTER grounds him in a sleeper/bodyscissors. Somebody please book WALTER/Brock Lesnar. That shit's a WrestleMania main event one day, if they don't wait too long to get there. Bate actually powers out of the hold, but he's got no follow-up, and WALTER slaps it right back on. Bate tries climbing the ropes to escape the hold, so WALTER just shoves him out to the apron to block, and puts the hold back on out there. Bate pulls him over the top to the apron as well, but that shit backfires when WALTER gives him an inverted cobra suplex on the damn apron! He immediately rolls Bate in for a flying splash... for two. Oh fuck! Another inverted cobra suplex is still not enough, so a frustrated WALTER uses another powerbomb for two. This is nuts! Poor WALTER looks ready to break down and cry, but there's no time for that, because crazy ass Tyler Bate is still coming! Finally, WALTER just takes his head off with a lariat, and that's finally enough to do it at 42:12. WHAT?!?! After all of that Tyler didn't get the belt here?! Damn! Oh man though, this was an incredible match! I mean, it's over forty minutes, and is just non-stop action, and told a phenomenal story. If you can't get invested in this thing, you're probably not a wrestling fan. *****

BUExperience: This was a good three hours of entertainment here, with two excellent matches, and a super hot crowd all night. Definitely give this one a look.

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