Welcome back to NXT UK. Tonight, it was all about debt collecting. Joe Coffey was out for blood after Ilja Dragunov racked up debts with the Gallus firm. Tyler Bate wanted to settle scores with Joseph Conners, a man who beat his protégé A-Kid and Noam Dar well… when doesn’t he rack up debts by chatting sh*t at people? It was going to be an interesting episode to watch as there was no way to guess how it would all play out. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Tyler Bate defeated Joseph Conners via Tyler Driver 97

The show opened with Tyler Bate taking on Joseph Conners. After being snubbed for a TakeOver match, Conners wanted to beat one of NXT UK’s best and prove his worth. The pair started fast, avoiding each other and trying to one-up one another. Bate took control and sent Conners reeling to the outside. Conners went for a chair but decided against it. He returned to the ring and continued to be thrown around by Bate. When Bate went to the well too many times with Monkey Flips, Conners put him on the top rope and pushed him to the floor. Conners started grinding down Bate with strikes and slams. Bate reversed a backslide and started striking back. He caught Conners out of a corner splash and tossed him around like a ragdoll. He followed up with a standing shooting star press but only got two. Bate went for the Airplane spin but Conners reversed and the pair traded pinfall attempts. Bate hit Bop and Bang but Conners kicked out. The pair went back and forth with Conners stunning Bate with a twisting bulldog. He missed a Moonsault and Bate got some recovery time. Conners didn’t let up hitting a suicide dive and re-entering the ring with a Slingshot Flatliner. A slugfest broke out with Bate’s fists of fury and kicks saving him. Conners bailed on a Tyler Driver attempt so Bate dived on him. On the outside, Conners hit Bate in the face and tripped Bate into the steel steps. Bate reversed Don’t Look Down, followed with a rebound lariat and the Tyler Driver 97 and won the match. Conners may have bullied Bate but the big strong boi persevered and earned his victory. I must admit though, it would have been a bit more interesting if Conners had actually won. That would have been something different.

After this match, a video plays saying that Dave Mastiff will be fighting WALTER for the NXT UK Title in two weeks. WALTER claims he is the best heavyweight wrestler on the planet and that his title is going nowhere. They also have Jinny interrupt commentary and have her claim she had Jazzy Gabert fired for disobeying her. She claimed now would be all about her and left as quickly as she arrived.

Noam Dar defeated Josh Morrell via Nova Roller

Noam Dar continued the interruption train by having his theme play just as Tom Phillips was trying to return his train of thought to the track. He took on Josh Morrell. Dar pushed him into a corner, screamed you aren’t on my level and told him to go home. Morrell answered by with a shunt and had to be held back by the ref. Dar started a test of strength, realised he was losing so he broke it up and slapped Morrell. Morrell hit back so Dar grabbed an arm but couldn’t lock anything as Morrell started flipping. He dodged Dar’s trip attempt and went to work pummelling him. Morrell hit an Arabian Moonsault but it only got two. Dar finally came into the match by throwing Morrell to the outside and faceplanting him on the ring apron. Dar started pummelling and started flirting with the ref. Morrell fought out of the corner, missed a twisting Moonsault and had his legs kicked out from under him. A Nova Roller later and the match was won. Dar had dispatched another opponent but he had to work for it. Morrell got a really good showing here with an impressive display of flippery and fighting.

Ilja Dragunov defeated Joe Coffey via Torpedo Moscow

Last but not least, the main event. Dragunov and Coffey looked set to have a barnstormer of a match. Both men hit hard and have no qualms with hurting their opponents. Whilst the logic behind the match may be faulty, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see it. These two once murdered each other at ICW. I wanted round 2. The pair started out with a feeling out process with Coffey taking down Dragunov with multiple shots. The pair had a pose off and Dragunov started hitting Coffey in the face. Coffey bailed to the outside so Dragunov went top rope and landed on him. He missed a second top rope move and ate the Glasgow Send-Off. The pair fought on the outside with Coffey driving Dragunov into the stairs. He kept going after the knee with things going from bad to worse with a shin breaker from the top rope. The pair kept trading but Coffey kept the upper hand over Dragunov. Once Coffey went for ATBFTB, Dragunov reversed and smashed Coffey down. He followed with a Russian Suplex but it only got two. Dragunov tried to go top rope but his leg gave out. The pair fought on the top rope which Coffey won and threw Dragunov down with an Overhead Belly to Belly. The pair had another slugfest and when Coffey avoided a DVD, he tried another Glasgow Sendoff. Dragunov avoided and Coffey drove himself into the ring post. Dragunov hit a DVD into the corner but his knee gave out. Dragunov went coast to coast and bested Coffey to a finisher with Torpedo Moscow. Dragunov had bested Coffey but it seemed his debt remained unsettled as he was faced with the rest of Gallus to end the show. Coffey called them off and told Dragunov that things were square then left with his boys. I thought this match would be better, to be honest. It wasn’t bad but it was missing a lot of the action and drama of their previous meeting. Not terrible but not really on my must-watch list.

So, there you have it, another episode of NXT UK reviewed for your reading pleasure. This wasn’t the strongest episode I’ve reviewed. It was quite dull for the most part with the biggest highlight to me being Josh Morrell nearly kicking Noam Dar’s arse. I wanted to like the main event but it was just too much of a drag. The opening match was enjoyable enough but I wanted Conners to get the win just for a change of pace. It felt too predictable. Next week, we have the women’s title match to look forward to and the impending WALTER/Mastiff title match to look forward to. Hopefully, those are more enjoyable than this.

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