{"id":22479,"date":"2018-07-24T14:12:23","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T18:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=22479"},"modified":"2019-06-08T23:12:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T03:12:19","slug":"the-battle-of-britain-nxt-uk-vs-world-of-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/07\/24\/the-battle-of-britain-nxt-uk-vs-world-of-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle of Britain: WWE&#8217;s NXT UK vs World of Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When <strong>World Of Sport<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>(WOS)\u00a0<\/strong>announced it&#8217;s comeback last year, WWE went straight into Predator mode with NXT UK. They proceeded to make formal agreements with\u00a0<strong>Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW)\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>PROGRESS Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>and signed some of the scenes brightest talents.\u00a0 When World of Sport initially fell through, WWE&#8217;s NXT UK looked like a wasted attempt at blocking competition.\u00a0 Despite all this, <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2018\/07\/04\/world-of-sports-returns-names-announced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WOS is back and has announced their roster<\/a>.\u00a0 Is there enough\u00a0talent left for another TV product?\u00a0 Well, let&#8217;s find out together.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Full Roster Recap<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>NXT UK<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22749\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22749\" style=\"width: 421px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22749\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/WWE_NXT_UK_Logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"421\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/WWE_NXT_UK_Logo.jpg 421w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/WWE_NXT_UK_Logo-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22749\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Pete Dunne, <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE<\/a> UK Champion<\/li>\n<li>Trent Seven<\/li>\n<li>Tyler Bate<\/li>\n<li>Mark Andrews<\/li>\n<li>Wolfgang<\/li>\n<li>Travis Banks<\/li>\n<li>Zack Gibson<\/li>\n<li>Joe Coffey<\/li>\n<li>Mark Coffey<\/li>\n<li>Jordan Devlin<\/li>\n<li>Tucker<\/li>\n<li>Noam Dar<\/li>\n<li>Kenny Williams<\/li>\n<li>Tyson T-Bone<\/li>\n<li>Flash Morgan Webster<\/li>\n<li>Wild Boar<\/li>\n<li>Ashton Smith<\/li>\n<li>Sam Gradwell<\/li>\n<li>Saxon Huxley<\/li>\n<li>Amir Jordan<\/li>\n<li>El Ligero<\/li>\n<li>Dave Mastiff<\/li>\n<li>Jinny<\/li>\n<li>Toni Storm<\/li>\n<li>Isla Dawn<\/li>\n<li>Charlie Morgan<\/li>\n<li>Killer Kelly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>World Of Sport<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22748\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22748\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22748\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/world-of-sport-logo-e1532455115631.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"369\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22748\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WOS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Grado, WOS Champion<\/li>\n<li>Rampage<\/li>\n<li>Iestyn Rees<\/li>\n<li>Sha Samuels<\/li>\n<li>Adam Maxted<\/li>\n<li>Nathan Cruz<\/li>\n<li>British Bulldog Jr.<\/li>\n<li>Will Ospreay<\/li>\n<li>Joe Hendry<\/li>\n<li>Justin Sysum<\/li>\n<li>Martin Kirby<\/li>\n<li>Lionheart<\/li>\n<li>Doug Williams<\/li>\n<li>Stevie Boy<\/li>\n<li>BT Gunn<\/li>\n<li>Crater<\/li>\n<li>Kip Sabian<\/li>\n<li>Robbie X<\/li>\n<li>CJ Banks<\/li>\n<li>Gabriel Kidd<\/li>\n<li>Liam Slater<\/li>\n<li>Brad Slayer<\/li>\n<li>HT Drake<\/li>\n<li>Ayesha<\/li>\n<li>Kasey Owens<\/li>\n<li>Kay Lee Ray<\/li>\n<li>Bea Priestley<\/li>\n<li>Viper<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>The Product: NXT UK vs WOS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22750\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22750\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22750\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/who-won-the-2018-wwe-uk-title-tournament-winner-faces-off-with-pete-dunne-more-photos-videos-e1532455294466.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"325\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22750\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When looking at the rosters and analyzing their potential, the best place to start is what sort of product are they producing.\u00a0 NXT UK is very NXT in style &#8211; you have to get over as a star, but in-ring work is also extremely important.\u00a0 It is a multi-tooled product that mixes Sports Entertainment with the Indies.\u00a0 World Of Sport, based on their one-off return, is a WWE style of product.\u00a0 It is about solidly black and white characters, with good guys vs bad guys.\u00a0 It is about the stories being told and building to moments.\u00a0 For this reason, an ability to play a character is important, as well as having Charisma and Star power.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22753\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22753\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22753\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/Grado-Mastiff-e1532455312563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"412\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22753\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WOS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Key Players: Men&#8217;s Division<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22752\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22752\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22752\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/AXX_04082018jg_1816-cc714ad6760f0391aa77ed4040b34314-e1532455346587.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22752\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WWE UK Champion &#8220;Bruiserweight&#8221; Pete Dunne (Photo: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With the product&#8217;s in mind let&#8217;s look at who some of the Key Players are for both rosters.\u00a0 Obviously, NXT UK has built itself around\u00a0<strong>British Strong Style\u00a0<\/strong>with Pete Dunne leading the way.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Moustache Mountain\u00a0<\/strong>having already been NXT tag champions will certainly help anchor down the tag team division.\u00a0 Add to that the new heel in town in Zack Gibson and the NXT UK roster is anchored by 4 fantastic talents surrounded by people who are just beginning their journeys, like\u00a0Travis Banks and the Coffey brothers.\u00a0 World of Sport will almost surely be built around <strong>Grado<\/strong>.\u00a0 Grado won the championship in their one-off return.\u00a0 The entertaining Scot is one of the most recognizable names on the roster thanks to his everyman personality and ability to be entertaining in every scenario.\u00a0 His role in taking\u00a0<strong>Insane Championship Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>and UK wrestling as a whole to the level they are at cannot be understated.\u00a0 Another key name is\u00a0<strong>Will<\/strong> <strong>Ospreay<\/strong>,\u00a0a man who has dazzled audiences all around the world with his aerial abilities.\u00a0 While known early on for his high flying, he has since developed every area of his game to become one of the world&#8217;s best and will bring the eyes of hardcore fans to the product.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Rampage\u00a0<\/strong>stands out as possibly the number one heel of the promotion.\u00a0 His experience having been in\u00a0<strong>WWE, TNA\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>5 Star Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>on Television is as valuable as is his 17 years of experience.\u00a0 With a name like Rampage, you can be sure that this man is a big bruiser who&#8217;s sole aim is to hurt his opponents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22754\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22754\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22754\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/M69A6304-e1532455389314.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22754\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">World of Sport Champion Grado (Photo: WOS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Key Players: Women&#8217;s Division<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22755\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22755\" style=\"width: 401px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22755\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/DZa-UbRUMAAVqgN-e1532455484405.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"401\" height=\"600\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22755\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Viper (Photo: Stardom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>World Of Sport, on paper, has the better women&#8217;s division (so far).\u00a0 Viper and Kay Lee Ray are two of the UK&#8217;s biggest names.\u00a0 Both women were in the first Mae Young Classic and are among the best pure wrestlers out there.\u00a0 Viper has become something of a belt collector, at one point holding 5 titles from all over the globe.\u00a0 For a comparison, Kay Lee Ray is reminiscent of <strong>Ivelisse<\/strong> from Lucha Underground.\u00a0 She is a badass who is not afraid to wrestle anyone or fight anyone.\u00a0 Another former ICW champion, Kasey Owens, has stood out as the singles star between her and her sister as she has gone on to become the centerpiece of the ICW women&#8217;s division.\u00a0 Joining them all is Bea Priestley, like many wrestlers from the Australia\/ New Zealand wrestling scene despite being a big name at home, made the jump to the UK where she improved greatly before her numerous tours of\u00a0<strong>Stardom\u00a0<\/strong>perfected her skills.\u00a0 Priestley plays a great character and has a cool look as well as the in ring skills needed to be a success on World Of Sport.\u00a0 Last, but not least, is Ayesha, who could use WOS as her break out.\u00a0 Despite being in the first Mae Young classic, she is still kept mostly to\u00a0<strong>IPW:UK\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>German Wrestling Federation<\/strong>.\u00a0 She has the necessary look to be the bruiser of the division as she uses all of her 6 foot in height to dominate her opponents.\u00a0 NXT UK managed to nab two future stars in Jinny and Toni Storm.\u00a0 For years, Jinny has been the number one heel in PROGRESS, where she blazed a trail in helping them set up their women&#8217;s division.\u00a0 The division&#8217;s first champion Toni Storm had a huge 2017, as she won top titles in almost every company she competed in, including beating\u00a0<strong>Mayu iwatani\u00a0<\/strong>for the\u00a0<strong>World Of Stardom\u00a0<\/strong>championship.\u00a0 Fearless Charlie Morgan is someone who is always improving.\u00a0 In 2018, she has managed to become a featured name as a heel in PROGRESS and as the Face of EVE.\u00a0 Playing both aspects so well is what can help her stand out, as she makes for an entertaining heel as well as an entertaining face.\u00a0 Isla Dawn at 24 years old has all the time in the world to improve but is still currently a decent talent. Killer Kelly is someone who NXT UK can build as it&#8217;s own star.\u00a0 Kelly has started to make a name for herself in 2018 and is becoming one of the most hyped women in the European wrestling scene.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22756\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22756\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22756\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/i-e1532455544690.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toni Storm (Photo: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Who To Watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22758\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22758\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22758\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/JD-e1532455758825.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22758\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jordan Devlin (Photo: WWE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the talents listed above are the main event and name brand talent, a company in modern times needs to be strong from top to bottom.\u00a0 Which roster has the best utility players?\u00a0 Well NXT UK has Jordan Devlin.\u00a0 Devlin has spent the last year conquering\u00a0<strong>OTT\u00a0<\/strong>becoming it&#8217;s champion, as well as regularly having the performance of the night in\u00a0<strong>Fight Club: Pro\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>PROGRESS<\/strong>.\u00a0 NXT also has ICW standout Kenny Williams, a man tipped to be a future WWE star for awhile.\u00a0 The high flying Scotsman has the look and abilities necessary to be a babyface hit for NXT UK.\u00a0 On the other side of that coin is Dave Mastiff.\u00a0 Mastiff is made in the mould of\u00a0<strong>Giant Haystacks<\/strong>,\u00a0a big burly man who can throw you around the ring at his leisure and in the WWE we have seen Mastiff showcase his more serious side and finally use his power advantage.\u00a0 A strong heel run to the top is not out of the equation for the powerhouse.\u00a0 Kip Sabian has the potential to be a standout star for WOS.\u00a0 <em>SUUPPERBBADD<\/em> Kip Sabian has oodles of charisma as well as the microphone skills to excel in World Of Sport&#8217;s environment.\u00a0 Finally, we have\u00a0Adam Maxted &#8211; the former\u00a0<strong>Love Island\u00a0<\/strong>participant has been on the verge of breaking out for years.\u00a0 His stint on Love Island gives him the name recognition, on top of that he has the perfect look for a pro wrestler and has been improving his in-ring abilities over the years.\u00a0 Both WOS and NXT UK have stars on their roster just waiting to break out and it will be interesting to see who builds their own stars quicker.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22757\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22757\" style=\"width: 399px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22757\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/db18a539aebdb1958b29d900045ef582-e1532455801560.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"500\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22757\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kip Sabian (Photo: Robyn Goding \/ Beyond Gorilla Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>So Who&#8217;s Better? NXT UK or WOS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22759\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22759\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22759\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/26804645_1594304430607340_7364463268894589289_n-e1532455890365.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22759\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NXT UK&#8217;s Pete Dunne and WOS&#8217; Will Ospreay (Photo: Robyn Goding \/ Beyond Gorilla)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NXT UK has the headline names and at first glance may have the talented roster.\u00a0 But World Of Sport is not to be underestimated, they have a strong roster of talent who will all be hungry to finally prove themselves.\u00a0 NXT UK will produce better matches with their roster but WOS won&#8217;t be far behind with Will Ospreay.\u00a0 Where this war will be won is the storytelling.\u00a0 WOS has a roster of people that can create great moments and storylines which will keep people tuning in.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"**FREE MATCH** &quot;Bruiserweight&quot; Pete Dunne vs Will Ospreay - TNT Summer Explosion 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7qhcOvlMOyM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When World Of Sport\u00a0(WOS)\u00a0announced it&#8217;s comeback last year, WWE went straight into Predator mode with NXT UK. They proceeded to make formal agreements with\u00a0Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW)\u00a0and\u00a0PROGRESS Wrestling\u00a0and signed some of the scenes brightest talents.\u00a0 When World of Sport initially fell through, WWE&#8217;s NXT UK looked like a wasted attempt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":22747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,5336,3],"tags":[1402,2868,101,1730],"class_list":["post-22479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-nxt-uk","category-wwe-universe","tag-british-strong-style","tag-nxt-uk","tag-will-ospreay","tag-world-of-sport"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}