This week, we’ve got the kick-off of the Heritage Cup, with Noam Dar going head-to-head with Alexander Wolfe, plus a triple threat match to determine the eighth participant in the single elimination tournament. Oh, and Pete Dunne will be the special guest referee for the Dar / Wolfe match. I predict shenanigans. Why? Well…
This is what Pete Dunne did to Sam Gradwell when the pairings were announced for the United Kingdom Championship tournament back in June 2018…
And if we jump back to last week, this is how Dunne interjected himself when Dar attempted a cheap shot on Wolfe…
Mark my words: shenanigans. Plus, on top of that we’ve got the the eighth and final entrant in the tournament being decided in a Triple Threat Match to kick things off.
One hour of NXT UK action. Here. We. Go.
Kenny Williams Vs Ashton Smith Vs Amir Jordan
A surprise seeing Amir here – he’s the tag partner of Kenny Williams. Well this could be awkward. The first man to get a decision grabs the final spot in the tourney. Double teaming on Smith leaves Williams and Jordan alone to to duke it out, until Smith comes back in and levels both men with a double clothesline. Smith looks so much bigger than the other guys – he puts on some nice shows of strength, easily throwing the other two around and catching Williams when he attempts a press over the top rope to the floor. Nice spot.
Smith is look very sharp here, in what looks and feels more like a handicap match. Smith has Jordan up in a superplex position, but the smaller man manages to reverse it into a powerbomb elbow double team with a little help from Williams. We get a two count off the back of a Blue Thunder Bomb from Ashton Smith on Williams.
Jordan lands a Flatliner to get another near fall, this time on Williams. The two partners start trading slaps and forearms, taking a page out of British Strong Style. More back and forth action, until Smith lands a superkick that sends Jordan out of the ring, but gives Williams the chance to land a superkick out of nowhere to get the win over Smith. Your eighth man in the Heritage Cup is Kenny Williams. He’ll meet Trent Seven in the first round. Here’s how the tourney shapes up.
We get a package for the Fashionista of NXT UK Jinny, and another for Xia Brookside. They’re up next.
From there, we’ve got a package for Eddie Williams, who quotes Prof. Stephen Hawkins. Looks like he’s drawing on his teacher angle again.
Then we cut to a pre-recorded interview with Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews, with a little reminder of how Andrews was assaulted backstage seven whole months ago, but we never found out whodunnit. Glad they’re not just leaving that storyline hanging.
Xia Brookside Vs Jinny
Last week we had Kay Lee Ray defending her title against Piper Niven, and now we’ve got more action from the Women’s division. Brookside is yet to get a win over Jinny in NXT UK.
Nigel McGuinness references the VHS collection of British wrestling matches that Xia’s dad Robbie Brookside has at home. I could lose hours going through that stuff.
Jinny on the offensive from the start in this one, landing a hard Irish Whip into the corner and following up with a top rope eye rake – haven’t seen one of those in ages. Brookside returns the favour with another hard Irish Whip and follows with a stiff forearm to the face. Brookside rolls up Jinny for two, but keeps control of the leg to slap on an Indian Deathlock. Brookside with some ground and pound on the mat – wasn’t expecting that. Jinny answers with a hard forearm to the face – what is it with NXT UK this week? Has someone signed up for a NJPW online subscription? Loving it.
Xia attempts the Brooksie Bomb, but it’s broken up by Jinny. Brookside gets tied up with a stepover toehold facelook, forcing the submission. Jinny wins in a hard-hitting women’s match.
We’re going to hear from Kay Lee Ray next week when she’s going to give a “State of the Union” address.
We get a reminder of the Heritage Cup rules. It’s contested with six three minute rounds. There’s a 20 second break between rounds. All matches are two out of three falls, with pinfalls, submissions or countouts deciding it. Once a fall occurs, the round ends, and if there’s a DQ or a KO, the match ends immediately. If the match goes the full six rounds, whoever is ahead is your winner.
Alexander Wolfe Vs Noam Dar
My fellow Brummie Pete Dunne is out first as our guest referee. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Scottish Supernova Noam Dar really does look like he’s wearing a Fortnite skin on his way to the ring. Wolfe comes out next, but without the rest of Imperium. Here we go in our main event.
Real catch-as-catch-can stuff from these two to start the match. Dar is still selling the finger snap from last week. Nice. This has a definite old school feel to it. If you ignore the production values, we could be back on World of Sport. The first round is pretty much just both men feeling the other out. Round one ends 0-0.
Round two kicks off as the first ends, with more mat wrestling from both men. Dunne is playing it right down the middle… so far. Don’t let me down, Pete. I’m expecting something cheeky here. Dar attempts the North Sea Backslide for two, but snatches the first fall with a rollup in the closing seconds of round one. If you’ve not seen it before, imagine an Aeroplane Spin that ends in a Backslide – like this:
Wolfe begins manhandling Dar. There’s real urgency from Wolfe now, with round three descending into a slugfest. Wolfe lands a sneaky slap to the face of Dar after the bell.
Round four starts hot for Dar, but Wolfe puts a stop to it with a bridging German Suplex to snatch a quick win, bringing the match to 1-1.
Fantastic mat wrestling from the very start of round five, until Dar levels Wolfe with a sickening back elbow for two, before rolling straight into an Armbar submission. Wolfe reverses for two, before running through Dar with a painful looking clothesline. Dar bounces back, rolling up Wolfe right by the ropes. Dar grabs the middle rope for leverage, but Dunne spots it and kicks Dar’s hand away. Dar blindsides Wolfe with a running kick to snatch the three count and the win. Dar progresses to the second round… and Dunne won’t raise Dar’s hand. Dar will face either A-Kid or Flash Morgan Webster.
Wolfe gets in Pete’s face, saying it’s his fault, but Pete explodes on Wolfe, stomping him into the mat and setting him up for the Bitter End… until Walter comes out to confront Dunne.
Wolfe levels Dunne from behind, and Walter calls the shots in the beat-down. Dunne is whipped into a powerbomb position for Walter, until Ilja Dragunov breaks it up. Draganov and Dunne clear the ring, in a high octane finish.
LOVED seeing Walter and Dunne in the ring together again. More please. Bring on next week.
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