The NXT UK Recap (4/2/20)

A huge Battle Royal main evented this week’s edition of NXT UK, as the male roster battled to earn the right to challenge for the NXT UK Championship.

Spot Claimed

The HEART of @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR & @Tyler_Bate on FULL display here!!!#NXTUK pic.twitter.com/gznRrohwm3

— NXT UK (@NXTUK) April 2, 2020

The main event of the evening was a mammoth Battle Royal that would decide the next contender for WALTER‘s NXT UK Championship at a later date (with TakeOver: Dublin pushed back to October, it’s unknown when the match will occur), a match that was won by Ilja Dragunov, which is perhaps the greatest winner possible. It could’ve been one of the larger men in the match, such as Kassius Ohno or Dave Mastiff, or it perhaps could’ve been a member of Imperium for a spot of friendly fire with ‘The Ring General’. Based solely on how good the match itself is eventually going to be, Dragunov is 100% the best choice possible. Being in a final five alongside Joe Coffey, Noam Dar, Tyler Bate, and Alexander Wolfe, Ilja lastly dumped out ‘The Big Strong Boi’ with a Torpedo Moscow to secure his spot as the next in line to challenge the big Austrian for the richest prize on offer in NXT UK. When the time comes for the match to finally play out, it will have been worth the wait.

Unlikely Partners

GORY BOMB!!#NXTUK pic.twitter.com/PmamhkvYAM

— NXT UK (@NXTUK) April 2, 2020

If there was ever a team that your writer had never expected to see from NXT UK‘s women’s division, it would be Kay Lee Ray and Jinny. The reigning NXT UK Women’s Champion has had a target on her back since the end of August, with Jinny being one of the frontrunners to take the title out of her grasp. Despite that, ‘The Queen of Insanity’ and ‘The Fashionista’ worked as a cohesive unit for the most part as they battled Piper Niven and Dani Luna, a team that seemed to have their differences throughout the match. Luna was able to power out of a Jinny guillotine choke, and make the hot tag to ‘The Vixen of Violence’, who ran through the former PROGRESS Wrestling Women’s Champion. After Dani used a hot tag to get herself into the match, Niven found herself to be sent into the steel steps by Piper, with a KLR Gory Bomb to Dani ending the bout. As it turns out, even the most unlikeliest of tag team partners can make better teams from time to time.

In Her Blood

.@XiaBrooksideWWE charges into the corner!#NXTUK pic.twitter.com/d0Zt5qVaIu

— NXT UK (@NXTUK) April 2, 2020

Since coming to NXT UK after appearing in the second Mae Young Classic, Xia Brookside hasn’t necessarily had the greatest level of success, but she picked up a victory on this week’s episode of NXT UK over French Hope. For the duration of this contest, Brookside utilised a more technical-based offence over Hope, as did her opponent for that matter, with both ladies using rest holds to wear each other down. After connecting with a huge flurry of offence, Brookside busted out the Broken Wings, a modified lungblower driving her feet into Hope’s back as opposed to her knees, for the three count. A win over what is essentially an enhancement talent is surely planting the seeds for Xia Brookside’s rise through the ranks at NXT UK.