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The NXT UK Recap (1/23/20)

NXT UK

Just two days before Worlds Collide, the stars of NXT UK debuted in York for another action-packed night, as they presented two qualifying matches for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship at that event!

Worlds Collide Implications

With Angel Garza set to defend his NXT Cruiserweight Champion at Worlds Collide in a Fatal Four Way Match, and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott already being determined as the first challenger, two singles bouts took place on this week’s NXT UK to decide who would join Garza and Scott. The first of those bouts saw Jordan Devlin and Ligero going head to head in a wonderful contest, as both ‘The Irish Ace’ and ‘The Mexican Sensation’ put everything on the line to advance forward to Worlds Collide. Devlin, in particular, was on fine form in this one, busting out a delightful uranage/standing moonsault combination, as well as a superkick while Ligero was doing a handstand on the ring apron. A Mexican Wave from Ligero wasn’t enough for the three count, leading the former Over The Top Wrestling (OTT) World Champion to connect with the Devlin Side Suplex to head forward to Saturday’s championship match.

Meanwhile, the main event for the evening saw Travis Banks facing off with 205 Live‘s The Brian Kendrick, a former Cruiserweight Champion in his own right. ‘The Kiwi Buzzsaw’ flew all over the ring in this match, attempting to outsmart the veteran to earn himself the biggest opportunity of his WWE career thus far. With a flurry of knees, kicks, and suicide dives, Banks had Kendrick’s number during this bout. However, ‘The Man With A Plan’ used his experience in the business to stay on top of things, sliding out of the ring to avoid being pinned – after all, he’s called ‘The Man With A Plan’ for a good reason. In the end though, the former PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion planted Kendrick with a Kiwi Crusher to head onto the Cruiserweight Championship contest.

A New Era

At the start of the show, NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint and his assistant Sid Scala invited the United Kingdom Champion down to ringside, as WALTER sauntered out alongside Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, and Marcel Barthel. Why was ‘The Ring General’ being asked to come out exactly? Saint and Scala presented him with a new design of the United Kingdom Championship, which is now known as the NXT UK Championship. After being awarded the new title belt, WALTER made it crystal clear to The Undisputed ERA that they made the wrong choice by invading NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. The Imperium quartet have vowed to humiliate the Adam Cole-led group at Worlds Collide, all in a bid to bring respect and prestige back to the mat that they find sacred.

Coffey’s Warning

Ilja Dragunov was in action for the first time since accidentally costing Joe Coffey his United Kingdom Championship match at TakeOver, delivering a Torpedo Moscow to Alexander Wolfe that knocked him into Coffey by accident. The Russian standout defeated Josh Morrell this week following the same move, but after warning Finn Balor prior to their match at Worlds Collide, the man who lives by the motto of Unbeseigbar was confronted by ‘The Iron God’. Joe warned Ilja that once he’s finished with ‘The Prince’ at Saturday’s show, then he had some issues to settle with him. Coffey is still livid that Dragunov was ever involved in his championship rivalry with WALTER, so now he wants to put the issues to rest once and for all.

What Else?

In addition to all of this, it was revealed that The Hunt (Mike Hitchman and The Primate) will collide with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch next week, as well as a six man tag team match that will see the Imperium trio of Wolfe, Aichner, and Barthel taking on Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, and a partner of their choosing. Plus, Eddie Dennis will speak for the first time since TakeOver next week, and the NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray gloated about her TakeOver victory over Piper Niven and Toni Storm.

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Be sure to catch all of the NXT UK action via the WWE Network.

Adam Morrison

Adam Morrison

A fan of professional wrestling since he was seven years old, Adam has since gone on to write 1,000+ articles about the topic for both Last Word on Pro Wrestling, and a host of other outlets. All dog pictures can be directed towards @AdamMorrison40 on Twitter. Bonus points if it's a pug.

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