NXT: UK
 

Been looking forward to this for months. Shame it has taken them so long to get it on the network as might have cost a bit of momentum after the Albert Hall.

Still, at least it is on.

I hate the announcers being in front of green screen. Never like it when announcers aren't actually at a show. Not sure why, just irks me.

Joe Coffey vs Mark Andrews up first.

Sound has a very British feel to it, loud crowd booing and cheering everything so far. Cool looking venue too.

Decent match. Massive moonsault to the outside by Mandrews but not surprised they give the win to Coffey, put him over against a more established name in WWE. Still concerns me how often they end up jobbing Mark Andrews. Always good to see Flash Morgan Webster though.

Promo for EDDIE DENNIS!

I think they just showed a photo from in the Woodville. Shit student pub in Cardiff round the corner from where Attack! shows are held. Kinda weird seeing it on WWE TV.

Moustache Mountain up next. Bigging up NXT UK. As you'd expect. Sound quality not amazing, arena seems to have a bit of an echo which is hardly ideal. Talking about future tag team titles, think they were only unveiled at the latest tapings so guessing we're going to have to wait a while to see them. Wonder who they're going to turn into tag teams. Obviously Coffey Brothers will be one but can't think of any other established ones on the roster. Lord knows.

Mustache Mountain not actually wrestling. Now a promo for Dave Mastiff. Apparently he is next. After an add for a house show.

They're in Cardiff but I'm on holiday. Meh.

Mastiff wrestling Sid Scala, who I've never heard of.

Got a feeling this is going to be a squash.

Yup. Squash.

That scroat from Blue Peter is a backstage interviewer apparently.

Nina Samuels vs Toni Storm now.

Storm gets a good reaction from the crowd. Good match actually, not that long but some nice offense. Like Storm's finisher.

Another house show ad. I don't want to watch RAW on TV, let alone live thanks. Wolfgang vs Bate next week though.

Time for the main event, Noam Dar vs Pete Dunne. Are they keeping Dar as part of the UK roster or is this just a one off? Don't watch 205 Live enough to know if he is on that. Can be on both anyway I guess.

Big reaction for Dunne. Really is the star of the division. Wonder if he'll be a permanent part of it as well really, or whether will be more NXT focused? Again, can do both but not sure how they're planning on structuring the rosters with this.

Can't see this being a bad match.

Bored looking kid stood in a uniform next to the fire escape. You just don't see crap like that on American TV. A reminder how rubbish Britain is.

Grabbed his nose. Gotta love Dunne.

Nasty fisherman on the ring apron by Dar. Some lovely wrestling here but that was probably to be expected. Crowd genuinely thought Dunne was about to tap to the kneebar. Really getting into it. Dunne retains, unsurprisingly. Cracking match though as you'd expect.

Overall, felt like a pretty solid debut for the show. Biggest problem seemed to be the sound at the venue.

Looking forward to seeing more, particularly some of those who haven't had much screen time yet in WWE like Eddie Dennis, Wild Boar and Travis Banks.

Also, I hope they do some dates near me because I'm lazy and don't have time to travel to watch a show.

How did they get David Hyde Pierce to be a referee?

Probably going to resubscribe to check this out. Always loved the british style of wrestling.

I'm not sure if it's British style just because it's in England. WWE is still in charge. It's on par with the Cruiserweight Classic and Mae Young.

I figured that it's not going to be exactly the same, but I would think there'd a little bit more attention to mat wrestling.

Or is it just the typical indyrific style match?

It's a bit more mat focused than perhaps other indy wrestling, with some more of the British style but not 100% focused on that.

Quite a mix in the British scene now between different styles, and some non-British wrestlers who are more established in the UK scene part of NXT:UK as well.

But certainly I think there is some emphasis on the heritage of British wrestling as part of it, but with variation match by match depending on who is in it. Could obviously change as time goes forward anyway.

I thought this was good.

Bomber Dave Mastiff one to keep an eye on so far.

I enjoyed it, and I normally don't like Noam Dar for some reason.

His character is a ponce.

Finally got a chance to watch this weeks. Awesome to see Wild Boar getting a chance. El Ligero vs Wild Boar was the dark match on the second night of the tournament but Boar certainly better than some of those they've signed. Always worried that his gimmick might just be seen as the British version of Rhyno though. Not sure why they didn't pick up his regular tag-team partner Mike Bird though. Appear to be using Wild Boar as a nickname rather than his only name. Also what are those contact lenses? Looks daft.

They appear to have dropped the 'El' part of 'El Ligero'. No idea why.

Not sure they need to do an intro video for Dakota Kai, pretty established on the NXT roster. Not a fan of Killer Kelly though, but good theme music. Wonder if Kai has been brought over to be a part of the UK roster or is just making a cameo? Finisher looked crap though. Oh she's interested in the UK Women's Title, maybe she's sticking around.

Eddie Dennis promo good. Hoping he will get well used. Certainly has the talent and look for it. Being taller a bit different for the UK division as well.

Gibson getting tons of heat again. I don't get the shoes off thing though.

Smith vs Tucker. Not really aware of either of these guys. Has Tucker been in anything before? Apparently he was in the first UK tournament. Clearly memorable. Decent looking finisher from Smith though.

Danny Burch next week. Excellent. Also Gibson vs Dar.

Match between Wolfgang and Bate was fine, although to be honest I was watching out of the corner of my eye.

Also may be of interest to anyone in the UK, FreeSports are currently showing a show called 'World of Pro Wrestling' which is Rev Pro. Seems to have reasonable production values and some high profile stars along with British talent.

Matches so far have included Chris Brookes vs Jushin Thunder Liger and Colt Cabana vs some guy I've never heard of.

Guessing none of the NXT UK stars will be on it as I think I remember there being criticism of the contract they have with WWE meaning they're not allowed to wrestle there now. But still, another opportunity to see some British wrestling.

Still been watching and enjoying. Been some damn good matches so far and the British talent has certainly been given a chance to shine. First Takeover will be exciting as well. Criticism thus far would be a lack of high profile feuds so far, with the Coffeys and Wolfgang fueding with Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster.

Also, treating the incredible Damien "Weir" as a jobber :mad:

Downside is the new restrictions on talent in the UK. Reports seem to suggest there will now essentially be three types of promotion, the main WWE affiliates (Progress, ICW), a 'second group' which contains Attack! and Fight Club Pro (which are both owned by WWE UK talent) which can feature WWE talent in 'dark' matches and then everyone else which talent will no longer be able to perform at.

Will be a shame for some of the companies on the outside as means the boost from NXT UK will pass them by, but there is plenty of talent out there for them to work with.

Am also interested to see if there will be any impact on my local company Attack! Pro Wrestling in their new status as being vaguely connected to WWE. Would love to see them use some of their clips in video packages etc.

Or put them on the Network. More people need to see fat Welsh Mexicans fighting sexy mice.

Eddie Dennis is the stand out to me so far... those promos before his debut were excellently done.... Needs to pack on few pounds of muscle though....

Yeah I’ve been underwhelmed with Dennis since seeing him in the ring. His promos were great but his aesthetic is awful. The shorts and vest combo make him look like someone pretending to be a wrestler.

Really appreciate Gibson and Drake getting matching attire. Also, I’d be pushing Killer Kelly.

I'm trying to work out just how attractive I find Killer Kelly.

Ligero strikes me as someone that could be a pretty decent, mid-level underdog babyface....Sid Scala seems very well suited as Johnny Saint's mouthpiece, I understand he's a British mat legend, but he can barely string a sentence together....

Aye, Saint's acting has been hilarious.

I’m quite into the pairing of Aichner & Barthel.

Ligero's mask sucks.

Has STD accused WALTER of being a Nazi yet? Post coming soon, I feel...

I loved Takeover, curious to see how they pair off in feuds for the next Takeover. Seems to me that Walter should definitely beat Dunne for the belt, get him over strong makes the most sense to me. You could even pair him with Aichner & Barthel to face the team of British Strong Style in a 6 man match....