NXT UK, more accurately Download Festival would be the home to Trent Seven’s personal war tonight. Week after week, Imperium have come for British Strong Style taking them out one by one until now, Trent is all that remains and he wants WALTER. The title may not mean much to him but he’ll happily take it if it gives him and the people the power back. Alongside that, we see a fight between two people we thought were friends, Noam Dar and Kenny Williams. They fight to prove who is superior and who doesn’t need the other. That’s not even all of it, there’s a chaotic six-woman tag match coming up too, so let’s stop teasing and get into it, shall we?

Noam Dar defeated Kenny Williams via Nova Roller

NXT UK opened up with a newly formed grudge match between two former teammates. Kenny Williams declined to help Noam Dar cheat in a match in previous weeks. Dar took it personally and made Williams suffer for it. The result of that was this match. Williams came out fast and looking to fly. He was dominant for stretches using dives and springboards to knock Noam Dar around. Unfortunately, Dar had the smarts to overcome and started targeting Williams with a slew of submissions including a Double Arm Breaker, an Ankle Lock and the Champagne Super Knee Bar. The match took an odd twist when Williams’ shoe came off. Dar was going to use it as a weapon but the ref was having none of it, telling Dar to hand it over. Instead of working with the ref, Dar chucked it, using the distraction as a means to kick Williams in the balls. He used that as a set up to the Nova Roller and put Williams away. This was a solid opener and potentially the best Williams has looked since the tag match they had months ago. This is a feud I want to see more of as heel Dar is one of the best at being a dick creatively. I look forward to the next time Williams tries to kick his teeth in.

Jazzy Gabert, Jinny & Kay Lee Ray defeated Piper Niven, Xia Brookside & Toni Storm via Makeover to Brookside

So, it’s commonplace for feuds to be mixed together to make multi-person matches. However, just because something may be formulaic, does not mean it can’t be awesome. This match had it all and wasn’t afraid to get chaotic. Kay Lee Ray did everything in her power to avoid fighting Storm, Gabert and Jinny focused on trying to punish Xia and Piper Niven just wanted to help Xia and mash Gabert and Jinny. Niven and Xia gelled well as a team and I would love to see a full-on feud between Jazzy and Niven. People familiar with ICW will be aware that Kay Lee Ray and Piper Niven have had some unbelievable wars in the past so seeing them in the ring together again just means we could see another chapter of that story should Ray take the title off Storm at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. Getting back to the match, the heels won after Gabert pulled Xia off the turnbuckle, allowing Jinny to hit the Makeover and win the match for the villains. Ray has a win over Storm and Jinny continues to use Gabert to ruin Xia’s NXT UK tenure. I’d say the match played its part well.

WALTER defeats Trent Seven via Referee Stoppage

This was a grizzly match to watch. Trent Seven took his personal battle to WALTER in an epic for pride and for his fallen brother. WALTER has now systematically destroyed all three pillars of NXT UK in Seven, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. Imperium now stand tall over all. This match wasn’t fancy, wasn’t flashy and it wasn’t for the faint of heart. This was a battle of chops. So many chops and strikes and just ridiculous amounts of Trent Seven taking a battering. He started hot attacking before the bell and fighting WALTER on the floor but it wasn’t enough to keep the champion down. He came back and started to do what he does best, kill. He would knock down Seven time and time again only for Trent to get back up and fight. Seven hit back as many times as WALTER knocked him down. Ultimately though it was futile. There was just too much to take and, in the end, Seven could no longer get up. WALTER didn’t just go for a simple pinfall though, he looked to punish. He powerbombed Seven five times forcing the referee to stop the match. Partway through this, Imperium came out and stood guard. Mostly in a mocking jab at Seven, reminding him that he is alone now and he too is as broken as the rest of those who have stood in the way of Imperium. It was a strong message to send to the NXT UK universe. This truly is the age of Imperium and some new heroes will have to rise to save NXT UK from this domineering faction.

So, there you have it, another week of NXT UK gone. This one only had three matches but all were a decent length and had a reason. That main event was heartbreaking to watch but the fact the crowd can rally so hard behind Seven proves his point that NXT UK really was founded on the hard work of British Strong Style and others. Noam Dar and Kenny Williams put on an excellent first match and the Six-Woman tag match furthered the storylines of most of the women in it. There was no filler and no pointless squashes. Everything had a purpose and everything was awesome. The future is now uncertain for the main event scene of NXT UK but with a TakeOver fast approaching, you know it’s about to get a hell of a lot more interesting around here.

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