Before the whole COVID-19 pandemic properly kicked off for the UK, NXT UK headed to Coventry to tape more gripping action, the first of which aired this week with a familiar face for British wrestling fans.
The Prince Arrives
👀👀👀👀#NXTUK @FinnBalor @WalterAUT pic.twitter.com/ytKNmKqnv2
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) March 12, 2020
The biggest attraction coming into this week’s episode of NXT UK was the brand’s debut of Finn Balor, a man who made his presence felt within the British wrestling community before establishing his dominance over in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Balor came to NXT UK with one thing in mind – he didn’t come just to boost ratings, he just wants WALTER and the NXT UK Championship. ‘The Prince’, as expected, would find himself surrounded by Imperium, eventually being able to fight them off while also escaping the wrath of the Austrian champ. This wouldn’t be the only interaction between the Irishman and the European quartet throughout the evening though.
https://twitter.com/NXTUK/status/1238205668349358081
In the main event of the evening, Balor battled one of WALTER’s boys Alexander Wolfe, focusing on the arm of the new westside Xtreme wrestling (wXw) Shotgun Champion during the bout as the crowd went mental for the charismatic Irishman. While Wolfe did try his best to fight back against the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, Balor was on form in his NXT UK debut, even with a distraction from Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner at ringside. After they were ejected from ringside, ‘The Prince’ connected with both a huge shotgun dropkick and the Coup de Grace double stomp, ending by spiking the German powerhouse with a 1916 to begin his NXT UK on a successful note. With the brand heading to Ireland at the end of April for TakeOver: Dublin, it makes plenty of sense for Balor to be the one challenging WALTER for the NXT UK Championship.
Backing It Up
.@Ligero1 takes out @NoamDar #NXTUK pic.twitter.com/6DSlmrhsDK
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) March 12, 2020
Noam Dar has been talking trash about Ligero for a short while now, leading to a match between the pair for this week’s episode. Luckily for ‘The Scottish Supernova’, he was able to back up his words with his actions as he came out victorious over ‘The Mexican Sensation’. Ligero was fairly decent in the early goings of the match, flying to ringside onto the Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) World Heavyweight Champion, with Dar’s offensive coming in the form of various strikes. Noam did his best to anger Ligero, pulling at the horns on his signature mask, leading the Leeds native to set up for his C4L finish. However, after he found himself caught in the ropes, Dar took advantage, connecting with the Nova Rolla flying roundhouse kick for another three count in NXT UK. Good to see Noam Dar isn’t just a guy that walks around calling people dafties, he can actually back up his words – clearly, he’s not a dafty.
The Queen of NXT UK
.@Kay_Lee_Ray is cleaning house!
What is the champ doing here?!??! #NXTUK pic.twitter.com/ZI3j3870zW
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) March 12, 2020
NXT UK‘s women’s division has some truly cracking talent on offer right now, from Piper Niven to Aoife Valkyrie to Jinny. This week saw a battle between Dani Luna and Amale, a match that ended in controversy as the division’s champion Kay Lee Ray decided to interject herself into what was a fairly technical match for what it’s worth, ambushing both ladies in the process. ‘The Queen of Insanity’ put the entire division on notice, more so because she sent Toni Storm packing after their intense I Quit Match a few weeks ago. Luna attempted to take KLR down, eating a Gory Bomb in the process as a result, as the NXT UK Women’s Champion stood tall.
Pretty And Deadly
.@Lewishowleyy & @Sam_Stoker_ are in action NEXT on #NXTUK! pic.twitter.com/XA0nBJQC8I
— NXT UK (@NXTUK) March 12, 2020
Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley are here to make their presence felt in the NXT UK tag team division, which Dan Moloney and DeReiss Gordon felt first-hand this week. Moloney and Gordon, the new Fight Club: PRO (FCP) Tag Team Champions as The 0121, actually held the advantage in the early goings of this one, particularly because Moloney is a pure beast. ‘The Drilla’ drove through Stoker and Howley after taking the tag from DeReiss, but in the end, he ate a Deadly Pretty (the assisted gutbuster) from Pretty Deadly as NXT UK‘s newest tag team got a victory to put them in the running to challenge Gallus for the Tag Team Championships down the line.
What Else?
In addition to all of this, Piper Niven hinted that she would be the one to challenge Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Women’s Champion after claiming KLR was pure evil, the NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint and his assistant Sid Scala let Jordan Devlin know that he would be defending the NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Travis Banks in two weeks, and a six man tag team match was set for next week as all three members of Gallus – Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang – will collide with Dave Mastiff, Mark Andrews, and Flash Morgan Webster.
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.
