Welcome back to NXT UK. This week’s bumper hour features a slew of matches all dedicated to champions and challengers proving their worth. Kay Lee Ray looked for a manner of revenge on Dani Luna after she tried to show her up. Kassius Ohno wanted to further cement his role as the wrestling genius at the expense of Kenny Williams. Ridge Holland had his biggest challenge yet against Joseph Conners and Gallus looked to smack some respect into the former champs, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews, and Dave Mastiff. Let’s get into the action.

Kay Lee Ray defeated Dani Luna via Dirty Bomb

It always struck me as a bad idea to interrupt a match as champ. It seems like an even worse idea to interrupt Dani Luna’s match. That’s what Kay Lee Ray did last week and now she would have to battle Luna one on one. The champ was rushed early on by Luna and thrown around with a series of slams. Luna used her power advantage to full effect but soon found herself locked in an abdominal stretch with Ray pounding her chest with forearms. Once back on their feet, the pair slugged it out and Luna avoided a dropkick from Ray. Luna then went one step further with a deadlift vertical Suplex on Ray. It didn’t keep Ray down though and a Superkick into the ropes led to Luna in the Dirty Bomb and out for the count. It was a bucket of water on the fire of Luna and it didn’t end there. Ray continued to take her frustrations out on Luna after the match, smashing her about in the corner. Piper Niven came and broke this off, scaring Ray away to mutterings of “No chance.”

Ridge Holland defeated Joseph Conners via Northern Grit

This was a bit of a random match, but hey, I’m down for two big guys slugging it out for my amusement. Ridge Holland has been unstoppable so far and Conners is always looking to break people in NXT UK. Holland got things started by pummelling and out powering Conners, catching him with a massive back elbow when Conners tried to leapfrog over him in the corner. Holland continued raining down blows until Conners caught Holland in the leg and sent him outside for a dive. Conners went top rope and knocked Holland down with a crossbody. Conners continued to work over the leg using strikes and the environment to his advantage. It was a slow, methodical assault on the damaged leg that saw Conners make Holland suffer in a way no one else had managed. Holland tried to fight back but the weakness always came back to haunt him. Conners tried to go high again but Holland caught him and threw him with an Overhead Belly to Belly. Holland continued to drop Conners, this time with a Chief Suplex. He sent Conners out of the ring with a massive pounce and limped in chase. As he tried to throw Conners into the ring, Conners went for the knee and dropped Holland on his face. This only got two so he tried to go top rope again but Holland dragged him off the turnbuckle and put him down with Northern Grit. It was a brutal lesson for Ridge Holland as a foe had nearly bested him for the first time. Not the most precise match I’ve ever seen but it was a lot of fun to watch.

Kassius Ohno defeated Kenny Williams via Kassius Clutch

I’m not going to lie, I forgot Kenny Williams existed in NXT UK. He hasn’t been seen in forever and this seemed to be another example of an out of nowhere match. Ohno started with some trash talk and quickly grounded Williams. Williams reversed and barred an arm. He continued to outdo Ohno in the submission category and kept targeting the arm. Williams gave a taunt of his own and Ohno made him pay with a knee to the ribs. This didn’t seem to phase Williams too much as he nearly rolled up Ohno and kept reversing his offence. Every time Ohno would try to do something, Williams would escape and punish. Ohno finally had enough and caught Williams on the apron and through him with an arm drag off the top rope. Ohno continued to work over the arm and went for a finger breaker on the lucky fingers of Williams. He continued to trash talk the whole time. Williams fired up with a series of chops and a rapid kicks combo that sent Ohno to the outside. He sent Ohno into the barricade with a wrecking ball dropkick and followed up with a dive to the outside. He rolled Ohno into the ring and then dove back onto an escaping Ohno with Springsteen MacQueen. Back in-ring, Ohno was dropped by a running knee but kicked out at two. Williams hit a second Springsteen MacQueen but was caught out of his finisher with a kick to the arm. Ohno hit a brutal rolling elbow and quickly locked in the Kassius Clutch for a KO win. Williams was dead before the clutch was even applied. This was one of Williams’s most impressive showings but like every other singles match, it ended in defeat. This was great for tech wrestling fans.

Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Flash Morgan Webster, Dave Mastiff & Trent Seven via All the Best for the Bells

Originally, this was going to be Webster, Mastiff and Mark Andrews taking on the Gallus Firm but due to someone attacking Mark Andrews, Mastiff and co had to scramble to find a replacement. That someone was none other than Trent Seven. Now Moustache Mountain would meet a bomber and a mod to take on the Scottish Supergroup. After a hot start from Seven and Webster smacking down Wolfgang, the match turned into a breakdown on Webster, who was subjected to abuse from all members of Gallus. Webster finally escaped the clutches of Mark Coffey with a Glasgow Kiss and quickly tagged in Mastiff. As you would expect, Mastiff quickly went to town, annihilating everything in his path. He launched Wolfgang and Mark Coffey then went full-on hoss fight with Joe Coffey. The history came leaking through and the two went hell for leather on each other. The match broke down with everyone storming the ring and beating each other down. Mastiff was able to sneak tag Webster and the duo nearly won off a Swanton Bomb to the back. Coffey kicked out and avoided a roll-up attempt from Webster. Webster got caught in the corner and the Gallus boys rushed him down with Wolfgang and Mark Coffey hitting him with the Enziguri Powerslam and Joe Coffey ending the match with All the Best for the Bells. This felt really short for some reason. It wasn’t a bad tag match but it was only the last 5 minutes that really got exciting.

So, there you have it, another episode of NXT UK reviewed for your reading pleasure. For the most part, this was a great show. Everything on the show offered at least some entertainment and there were plenty of teases for the next matches to come. Nina Samuels has her sights set on Valkyrie, A Kid wants to smack Noam Dar and we have a Cruiserweight Title match and 20-man battle royal for a number one contender spot lurking on the horizon. It’s good to see some forward momentum and less wheel spinning. Hopefully, this trend continues.

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