NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II (January 2020)

 

Original Airdate: January 12, 2020

From Blackpool, Lancashire, England; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness

Opening Match: Trent Seven v Eddie Dennis: Dennis tries a sneak attack, but Seven ducks, and turns it into a powerbomb for two. Seven with chops (though not seven of them, sadly) and a DDT, but Dennis counters a superplex attempt with a crucifix powerbomb. Dennis with a corner whip to set up a cravat, but Seven fights free, so Eddie backelbows him back down for two. Mounted punches get two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Trent fires back with chops, and a dragon suplex knocks Dennis to the outside for a tope. Seven adds another dragon suplex on the floor, but a flying somersault senton splash on the way back in misses. That allows Dennis a swinging scrapbuster for two, but Seven blocks another powerbomb, and they get into a reversal sequence - ending in Seven hitting an emerald frosion for two. Burning hammer, but Dennis escapes to the apron to block. He tries exposing the top turnbuckle from out there, but that allows Seven to deck him, and he hits the superplex for two. Short-clothesline, but Dennis sends him into the exposed buckle to block, and the referee teases a DQ. Dennis decides to up the ante with a crucifix buckle bomb into the exposed steel, but the referee won't allow it, so he drops Trent TO THE FLOOR with it instead! Oh man, that was nuts, and unexpected! You know it's crazy when you actually almost start chanting 'ECW' while alone in front of your TV. Back in, that somehow only gets two. Fuck off! Stuff like that should never not be the finish. Especially when the finish happens seconds later anyway, in this case with Dennis hitting a lifting falling inverted DDT at 8:18. Fun stuff, though the wrong thing finished it. ** ¾

NXT UK Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Kay Lee Ray v Toni Storm v Piper Niven: Three girls, three radically different body types. First fall wins this. Storm attacks the champ before the bell, and they spill to the outside, where Piper dives at Ray with a rope, and then hits Storm with a cannonball against the barricade. Inside, Ray and Storm scrap on the mat, so Niven hits a senton splash onto both to break it up, and covers the champ for two. Toni comes over to put the boots to Ray but Niven prevents her from adding Storm Zero with a bodypress. Niven turns her attention back to Kay Lee, but Ray is ready with a superkick, so Toni pops up with a German suplex on the champ. Ray responds with a short-superkick and a tornado DDT on Storm for two, but an attempt to backslide Niven goes nowhere. Well, duh. Superkick knocks her into a German suplex from Toni, but everyone ends up looking up at the lights after trading suplexes. Storm and Niven are up first, and we have a slugfest. Ray uses the time to grab a chair, and she chokes both challengers with the weapon after breaking up the slugfest. She decides to get medieval on Storm by pillmanizing the neck, but Niven tackles her before she can follow through. Storm gets hold of the chair, but doesn't have the heart to beat on Piper with it after she just saved her, and they gang up on Ray instead. Storm hits a tope and Niven adds a somersault senton off of the apron, but they take too long getting her back inside, and Ray does her own dive onto both. They have the barricade placed really close to the ring for this show, and it's making every dive terrifying to watch. Back in, Niven hits Storm with a sitout powerbomb, but Ray dives off the top to break up the cover. Piper responds by powerbombing her as well, and a michinoku driver is worth two. Up for the ride again, but this time Ray counters with a gory bomb, and Storm has to grab the referee to prevent a three count. Ray responds by nailing Toni with a tope, but Niven reverses a Canadian destroyer on her. Storm dives in to prevent a cover, however, and Storm Zero on Ray... gets two, when Niven saves. Toni flips out on Niven with mounted punches, and it's back to the Zero well on Ray - this time dropping her ONTO Piper. Toni adds a pedigree on Niven for two, and a flying frogsplash follows, but Ray steals the pin on Piper at 13:11. I really enjoyed this one, as all three women worked hard, and they found a great groove right from the bell. *** ½

Tyler Bate v Jordan Devlin: Feeling out process to start. Bate turns things up with a press-slam that sends Devlin to the outside, but Jordan blocks a dive with a uranage from the apron, and he adds a slingshot moonsault for two. Devlin with a knee to the gut for two, and a side suplex is worth two. Butterfly suplex hits, but Devlin starts getting cocky, and Bate is able to reverses a corner whip - Jordan taking a bump to the outside. That allows Tyler to hit a dive, but a flying bodypress on the way back inside gets caught by Devlin with knees for two. Devlin works a surfboard from there, and he continues to pound on the midsection, so Bate tries a flash pin with a schoolboy for two. That leads to a criss cross, and both guys try a bodypress at the same time for a nasty mid-air collision. Man, they're just throwing it all at each other, too. Bate recovers first with a 2^nd rope backelbow, but Devlin blocks a charge. He tries a stinger splash, but Bate catches him with a suplex out of the corner to block. Senton, so Devlin lifts the knees, but Bate sees it coming and stops short. She stomps Jordan to set up a running shooting star press for two, with no block from Devlin this time. An extended airplane spin sets up a brainbuster for two, and the crowd is right there with them here. Tyler Driver, but Devlin counters with a rana into a cradle for two. Reversal sequence ends up Devlin hitting an inverted suplex for two, but Bate backdrops him to the apron to block a charge - Jordan springboarding right back into the ring with a stunner! That was crazy! Devlin adds a slingshot stunner on the apron to leave both guys down on the outside, and it's a race to beat the count. Devlin kicks him in the face and rolls in to pick up the... no Bate makes it in at nine! That leads to a serious slugfest, won by Bate with a koppou kick, but Jordan blocks the Driver with a headbutt. Bate tries a rebound, but Devlin is ready with a Spanish fly to block, and both guys are left looking up at the lights. Devlin recovers first, and goes up for a big dive, but Bate crotches him up there to block. He follows up for a superplex, but Devlin is alive, and ends up taking him off the top with a Spanish fly! Devlin then immediately pulls him up for a suplex from there, but it still only gets two. Jordan gives him a straight punch to the jaw to try and daze him for a finisher, but a reversal sequence ends in Tyler escaping to the apron, and Devlin down. Bate dives in with a springboard tornado DDT, and then right into the Driver... for two. Bate is shocked, but doesn't waste time making faces - instead hustling back to the top for a flying corkscrew senton splash to finish for real at 22:23. Damn! Hell of a match here, with both guys throwing their full weight into stuff, and nearly flawless execution throughout. The finish kind of brings it down a bit for me, though. Like, if you hit your finish after a hard fought battle, let it BE THE FINISH! You don't need a cherry on top of the cherry. That's what the first cherry's for! There was a time when running that kind of finish would have boosted a match like this, but it's become such a cliché now that using such an unimaginative finish actually loses it a quarter-star. Still an awesome match, though. **** ¼

NXT UK Tag Team Title Ladder Match: Mark Coffey and Wolfgang v Zack Gibson and James Drake v Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster v Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel: So, this should be a big clusterfuck, I imagine. But, in a good way. Each team gets a turn at clearing the ring and holding the high ground to start, and it's just mile a minute with the spots here. Drake is the first to go for a ladder, but Gibson talks him out of it since there's no clear climb path at this point, and instead hands him a chair. They both come in swinging, and do a little damage, but eventually get overwhelmed fighting the other six guys - weapons or not. That all ends with Gibson in a tree of woe, with Fabian and Marcel hitting stereo baseball slides into him. They go for the ladder, but Andrews and Webster steal it away from them with dives. Webster climbs, but Fabian and Marcel cut them off. They climb, but here come Mark and Wolfgang with their own ladder to stop them. Everyone trades off abuse with the ladder between failed climb attempts, ending in a sequence where everyone save for Webster end up fighting atop three separate ladders, so Flash leans a fourth one up against the side of the pile, and climbs up to start knocking guys off. Goes well enough... until it gets tilted, and his ass takes a bump all the way to the floor. Luckily Andrews is still standing, and he nearly gets the belt before Gibson hauls him off with a brainbuster. And then Drake adds a 450 splash off of a ladder for good measure. They fail to get the belts, however, and we get more trading off with the ladders and failed climb attempts. Next big spot comes when Andrews and Webster get Wolfgang on a planked table (between the apron and the barricade), and they climb the same side of a ladder to dive at him with stereo somersault senton splashes through! Wild and crazy, kids! That allows them to make a climb attempt, but Drake and Gibson stop them, so they come back armed with kendo sticks. Because what would a PPV be without kendo sticks. More failed climb attempts around the horn, ending in Marcel getting tipped off a ladder for a dog pile sequence on the floor, and Coffey grabs the belts at 24:56 to retain. This wasn't bad, but I'm pretty over the whole multi-man ladder deal for the most part. They're just all so similar at this point that I barely even pay attention outside of the biggest spots that get sprinkled in between all the failed climb attempts that make up most of the match. Not my cup of tea (and certainly not at such length), but I can't knock the actual work. * ¾

Main Event: WWE United Kingdom Title Match: WALTER v Joe Coffey: WALTER tries a big boot right away, but Joe is too quick, and they lockup instead. Both guys measure each other, and WALTER tries grabbing a sleeper to put it away early, but Coffey manages a side suplex to quickly escape, and WALTER bails to the outside. Coffey blasts him with a big boot to keep him out there, and then dives off the apron with a shoulderblock on the floor. Joe whips him into the barricade, but a charge backfires when WALTER backdrops him into the crowd - only for Coffey to land on his feet, and dive right back over with a shoulderblock! Awesome! Into the ring, Coffey unloads in the corner, and an awkward looking overhead suplex gets two. Even the announcers noted how awkward that one looked. Coffey with a tornado DDT for two, but he can't lift WALTER for a vertical suplex, and it turns into a slugfest instead. That wears WALTER down enough that Coffey can complete the suplex for two, and he starts cracking the champion with chops. WALTER wants it harder, but just keeps absorbing the blows, until finally returning fire, and laying Joe out with a single shot. Big boot puts Joe down on the outside, but he beats the count back in, so WALTER bodyslams him to set up a seated senton splash for two. WALTER works a crossface, but Joe looks to escape, so WALTER switches to an STF instead. Joe makes the ropes, so WALTER starts hammering him with forearms instead, but Coffey is catching a second wind. He has no fire to return, however, and WALTER just keeps pounding until Coffey ends up on his ass again. Coffey manages to get to the top for a flying dropkick, but WALTER catches him in a Boston crab on the way down. Very smooth spot there. WALTER turns it into another STF, but Coffey has the ropes again before he's forced into submission. He's still battered, however, and WALTER is ready to keep the hurt on with chops. Suplex gets two, and WALTER works a sleeper, but Coffey manages to power his way out of it. Coffey follows up with an electric chair attempt, but WALTER pounds him in the face to block, so Joe has to go with a bridging German suplex for two instead. They're doing a really good job of getting over how exhausting it is for Coffey to muscle through these offensive moves on the larger WALTER, and it's a good story. Joe with a springboard flying moonsault press for two, so WALTER tries a big boot, but Joe dodges again. WALTER responds with a powerbomb for two, but Coffey again escapes the sleeper. WALTER responds with a running dropkick, but Coffey ducks that one, and WALTER just KILLS the poor referee with it instead. Man, that looked fantastic! Coffey takes advantage of the mistake with a powerbomb on WALTER, but there's no one to count. Cue Alexander Wolfe with a superkick on Coffey, and he starts dragging WALTER over for the pin, but here comes Ilja Dragunov to stop him. Unfortunately, his well intentioned save backfires when he accidentally knocks Wolfe right into a recovering Coffey, and WALTER stands tall again. He chases an injured Coffey to the outside for a couple of trips into the steps, followed by a powerbomb onto the apron. Back in, WALTER clobbers him with a short-clothesline, and another referee finally runs out to count two. WALTER goes upstairs, but Coffey manages to crotch him up there, and he brings him down with a belly-to-belly superplex. Coffey is on fumes at this point, however, and can't even make a cover. That leads to both guys staggering up for a slugfest, and Coffey just won't give up here! He manages to actually win the exchange and beat WALTER into the corner, but WALTER swipes at the bad leg to shake him off, and then immediately goes up with a flying splash for two. Powerbomb, but now even WALTER's strength is drained, and Coffey is able to block. Joe fires off a pair of discus clotheslines for two, but a try at a third one is countered with a sleeper. Coffey fights to keep a vertical base long enough to make the ropes, but WALTER responds with a sleeper suplex instead of a release. Pair of powerbombs set up a crossface, and Coffey is done at 27:31. This was a great war of attrition, with each man trying to outlast the other, and muscle through just enough offense to put it away. I thought the two run-ins kind of hurt it a bit, but not enough to ruin it. It also probably could have been six or seven minutes shorter without losing anything vital, but it didn't drag either, so that's a minor complaint. ****

BUExperience: Damn good show here, with two great matches that take up a lot of real estate on the card, plus a really good women’s title match underneath, and nothing bad. I had issues with the tag title match, but even that was passable, and certainly not enough to ruin the overall experience. Definitely worth checking out.

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