A Collective Review of WWE NXT UK 2/27/2020 by Lance Augustine

Welcome back to the weekly TJRwrestling review of WWE NXT UK. Last week, we only had a three-match show, but all three delivered in one way or another. They also did a great job of building up the show for the next couple of weeks, including the submission match between Kay Lee Ray and Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women’s Championship and the NXT UK Championship match between Walter and Dave Mastiff. All of this will lead us to the next Takeover event in Dublin, Ireland. Let’s find out how they keep the train rolling.

WWE NXT UK from York, England 2/27/2019

The show opens with a package showcasing the main event tonight for the NXT UK Women’s Championship between Kay Lee Ray and Toni Storm.

They are inside the NXT UK arena and we are joined by Tom Phillips and Aiden English. They send it down to the ring for the first match.

The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. The Hunt (Wild Boar and Primate)

The Grizzled Young Veterans also had a match on last night’s episode of NXT, so they have been all over the place this week.

The match begins with Drake and Primate starting for there teams. Primate starts the action off with a quick clothesline and brings him over to his corner. He makes the tag to Boar and they hit a double team move and gets a near fall. He continues pounding on Drake, but Gibson makes his way to the corner and stops Boar in his tracks. Drake makes the tag to Gibson and he hits Boar with a kick to the face. Boar bites the hand of Gibson, but he fights out and makes another tag to Drake. He comes in and takes Boar out before knocking Primate off the apron with a kick to the face. Drake hits Boar with a clothesline and covers for a near fall. He hits a stiff elbow and makes another tag into Gibson. They hit a double team high knee lift and Gibson covers for a two count. The tags continue back and forth we and Drake hits a splash for a two count. He slaps A chin lock on Boar but he fights out before being cut off again by Drake who hits a backbreaker. They follow that up with another double team backbreaker to the outside. That’s a really cool spot. Gibson plants Boar with a slam to the mat and puts him in an armbar. Boar gets back to his feet but is cut off by Gibson with an elbow. Primate tries to makes a tag but Gibson grabs the leg and pulls him back. Boar tries again and does make the tag into Primate, who is a house of fire. He takes out both members of The Grizzled Young Veterans and hits Drake with a back body drop. Spear by Primate on Gibson gets a two count. He continues to stalk Gibson, but Drake hits him from behind and that’s enough of a distraction for Gibson to regain control. He makes a tag to Drake, who comes off the top, but is caught and suplexed by Primate. He follows that up with a fireman’s carry, but Drake fights out and makes a tag to Gibson. They hit a double team neck breaker and Gibson covers him for a two count. Another tag to Drake and they attempt the Ticket to Mayhem but Primate reverses course and fights out of it. Boar comes in the ring and they hit double German Suplexes. He makes a tag into Boar and The Hunt hit an assisted Powerbomb and get a two count. He tags Primate back in, who climbs to the top and takes out Gibson on the outside. He climbs back up and hits a Double Axe Handle on Drake. Gibson makes a blind tag as Drake hits Primate with a right hand and they hit the Ticket to Mayhem to pick up the win. The match went for about 9 minutes.

Winner(s): The Grizzled Young Veterans
Match Rating: 2.75/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: That was a basic tag team match that was built for The Grizzled Young Veterans to keep their momentum going strong. Gibson is especially impressive and serves as the mouthpiece for the team, as well as the leader in the ring. Their double team offense doesn’t really get old because it looks so smooth. The Hunt put up a good fight, but the outcome was predictable.

They show a package for Rich Holland, who will be in action next week on the show. The package ends and they go back to the ring for the next match.

Jack Starz vs. Kassius Ohno

Kassius has been off TV for a while, so it’s nice to see him get a match here.

Both men circle the ring, with Starz trying to take the early advantage. He tries to lift Ohno up for a few moves, but Ohno uses his weight to his advantage. Starz finally gets Ohno up and slams him down to the mat. Starz covers for a two count. He showboats with a headstand on the top rope, but Ohno pins his fingers against the ropes with his foot. Starz hits an uppercut, but Ohno maintains control with a backbreaker. Ohno continues to bend the fingers of Starz and works on the arm as well. Ohno slams him down to the mat and rolls him up for a two count. Ohno goes for a short-arm scissors but Starz countered into a roll-up for a two count. Starz goes to the top and hits an elbow that knocks Ohno down to the mat. He gets Ohno up with a Butterfly Suplex and tries it a second time but Ohno fights out. Both men exchange roll-ups for near falls. Starz climbs to the top, but Ohno catches him and tosses him to the mat. Ohno then locks him in the Kassius Clutch and picks up the win in about 5 minutes.

Winner: Kassius Ohno
Match Rating: 2/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: That was a pretty boring match that never really picked up at all. Ohno was the much bigger man in the match and used his size to his advantage. The finger bends he uses looks pretty painful, and moves like that give him a legitimate feel. I don’t know why he isn’t on TV much, but he has always been a solid worker. Starz got some stuff in, but Ohno proved to be too much in the end.

Isla Dawn is being interviewed backstage. She said the NXT UK Women’s Division is getting strong every day, but that she has had her eye on Valkyrie in particular. She said that Valkyrie had a good debut last week, but that’ll end quickly when she faces her next week.

Travis Banks is shown working out and takes the opportunity to challenge Alexander Wolfe to a match next week. It’s time for the next match.

A-Kid vs. Brian Kendrick

A-Kid is coming off an impressive match again Tyler Bate a few weeks ago. Even though he didn’t win the match, he had a very good showing. Kendrick hasn’t been on TV in ages, and like Ohno, it’s nice to see him back.

Kendrick locks Kid in an armbar to start the match and take the early advantage. Kendrick lets go and both men go for a test of strength but no one takes control. A-Kid with an arm drag and covers for a two count. Kid puts him in an armbar. Kendrick makes his way back to his feet but Kid hits a dropkick. He moves in to keep control, but Kendrick drops him throat first on the top rope. He comes back in the ring and puts Kid in a front face lock. Kid fights his way back to his feet and both men exchange shots. Kendrick shoves him into the corner, but he isn’t on top for long with Kid hitting him with a dropkick that sends him to the outside. Kid comes back with a Suicide Dive and follows that up with a moonsault from the top of the stairs. He rolls Kendrick in the ring and climbs to the top and hits a crossbody for a near fall. Kid puts him in an armbar, but Kendrick gets his bottom foot on the rope. Kid leaps to the top again, but Kendrick hits him and falls on the top turnbuckle. Kendrick hits a Butterfly Suplex off the top for a two count. Kendrick locks in the Captain’s Hook, but Kid slips out and hits a huge DDT to pick up the win in about 6 minutes.

Winner: A-Kid
Match Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: The match was fun but was a little on the short side. Both men looked good and the DDT that A-Kid used to win was impressive as hell. Kendrick has been putting over younger talent since he has come back to the brand, and it was no different here. Solid match all around.

There is a package showcasing the match next week between Walter and Dave Mastiff for the NXT UK Championship. It’s time for the main event.

NXT UK Women’s Championship I Quit Match
Kay Lee Ray (c) vs. Toni Storm

As it’s been mentioned before, if Storm loses this match she will never complete for the title again as long as Ray is the champion.

The action starts quickly with both women going at each other with Storm tossing Ray over the top rope. She follows her out but Ray cuts her off with a kick to the midsection. Storm throws her into the guardrail and then throws her into the post. Storm throws Ray into the stairs and continues to dominate early on. She rolls her in the ring and hits a boot to the face. Ray fights out and hits a superkick of her own. Storm ducks under a strike and hits a German Suplex. Storm puts her in an STF but Ray gets to the bottom rope but it doesn’t matter in this match and she keeps it locked in. Storm finally lets up but Ray recovers and hits her with a DDT. Ray tries to make Storm quit but Storm refuses. Ray throws Storm into the top rope throat first and puts her in the Gory Special submission. They work over to the ropes and Storm is able to reverse it into an octopus and it makes Ray break the hold. Both women go to the outside, and Ray grabs a table from under the ring. Storm hits her with a right hand and sets up the table on the outside. Ray comes back and slams her head into the apron. Both women climb to the top rope and Eay goes to Superplex her through the table, but Storm slips out. Storm goes to suplex Ray through the table but Eay fights out. She puts Ray on the table and Climbs to the top and hits a splash on Eay through the table. She puts Ray up on the apron and goes for the Storm Zero but Ray reverses into a back body drop. Ray hits Storm with a draping DDT to the outside. Ray goes under the ring and pulls out some athletic tape and rolls Storm back in the ring.

Ray wraps the hands of Storm behind her back with the tape. Ray proceeds to hit Storm with some shots and Storm is defenseless. Ray goes back to the outside and grabs a chair to bring into the fold. She goes to hit Storm with the chair, but Storm hits a headbutt. Ray comes back with a kick to the leg and smashes Storm’s head on the chair. Ray continues driving the chair into the neck of Storm who is in some serious pain. Sid Scala and Johnny Saint come down to the ring to try and stop Ray. She folds the chair around Storm’s head and hits a stomp from the second rope. Piper Niven comes out to ring and wants to check on Storm. Ray goes up top again, but Storm says I Quit so Ray doesn’t do it to her again. The fans are ice cold as Ray is announced the winner. The match went for about 13 minutes.

Winner and STILL NXT UK Women’s Champion: Kay Lee Ray
Match Rating: 3/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: Both women worked hard in the match and it got pretty violent towards the end. The bad blood between the two has been boiling and you could feel the tension throughout the match. Ray was vicious throughout the match on her quest to end Storm’s chances of getting another shot at the title. Storm had some moments to shine as well and hit a nice splash to the outside through a table. The neck wrapped in the chair part was a cool visual, but the fans didn’t react at all towards the end and at the finish of the match. The match was fine, but nothing really spectacular for the amount of build they put behind it.

Post-match, Niven checks on Storm in the ring as Ray walks up the ramp and the show comes to an end.

Overall Show Rating: 6.25/10

This show was alright but not nearly as good as the show last week. There were four matches, but only two had any weight to them. The opening tag team match was good and continued the build for The Grizzled Young Veterans. The two matches in the middle of the show were alright but didn’t do anything to build to an angle. It was nice to see Kassius Ohno and Brian Kendrick back in action, but unless you are going to use them more often, it didn’t make a lot of sense. The I Quit match to close the show was a hard-fought match by both women, but like Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair the night before, it didn’t quite live up to the hype that the build gave it. Next week, we have Walter defending the WWE UK Championship against Dave Mastiff, as well as some other cool matches so I am looking forward to that one.

What did you think of WWE NXT UK this week? Loved it? Hated it? Didn’t know it was on? Either way, let me know your thoughts over @collectiveheel on Twitter. Support the site. Support each other. I’ll be back soon enough with some more Collective Thoughts.