A Collective Review of WWE NXT UK 3/19/2020 by Lance Augustine

Welcome back to the weekly TJRwrestling review of WWE NXT UK. Last week, it was a below-average show with matches that never really got out of that second gear. There was some storyline progression, but overall the show fell kind of flat. There has been a lot going on in the world over the last couple of weeks and this show will be one of the lone wrestling events with a crowd for the foreseeable future since it has already been shot. It’ll be a nice way to get our minds off of things. Let’s see if the show improves from last week.

WWE NXT UK from Coventry, England 3/19/2020

They are inside the NXT UK arena and waste no time going down to the ring for the first match of the night.

Kay Lee Ray vs. Dani Luna

Kay Lee Ray is the NXT UK Women’s Champion but this is a non-title match. Ray attacked Luna last week causing her match to end in disqualification and setting the stage for the match this week.

Both women lock up in the ring. Ray goes for a kick but Luna catches her leg and tosses her down to the mat. Ray rebounds and takes the advantage back and takes Luna down to the mat and locks her in a stretch. Ray hits Luna with a big forearm and covers for a two count. Ray continues to stomp on Luna but Luna fights back and hits a Suplex and covers for two. Luna picks her up in a fireman’s carry but Ray fights out and kicks her in the back of the head. She picks Luna up and hits the Gory Bomb to pick up the win in about 2 minutes.

Winner: Kay Lee Ray
Match Rating: Squash

Collective Thoughts: Ray picked up a dominant win here. I thought they might have had a program leading up to the next Takeover but she took Luna out here and squashed any chance of that happening.

After the match, Ray continues to stomp away on Luna. She attempts to hit a second Gory Bomb but Piper Niven runs out to make the save. The two women share a staredown as Ray makes her way to the back.

Andy Shepard and Nigel Mcguiness talk about the main event last week featuring Finn Balor and show some exclusive footage of him after the night was over. Balor says that the message was received from Walter, but he works Wednesday’s. He is stared down in the hall by Johnny Saint and Sid Scala but keeps walking. Balor is stared down by some more members of the roster before Tyler Bate stops him. They don’t say anything and Balor walks away.

Bate goes into the office of Johnny Saint and Sid Scala and says that he wants a piece of Finn Balor. They both agree he will get his shot in due time. They say that something that is going to happen is that in two weeks Bate will be involved in a 20 man battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the NXT UK Championship at NXT Takeover: Dublin.

Nina Samuels is getting makeup put on backstage and says that the NXT UK Women’s division is growing and growing with all the focus being on Aoife Valkyrie. She says that next week she is going to teach Valkyrie a lesson.

Joseph Connors vs. Ridge Holland

Holland starts the match by pushing Connors away after a tie-up. Holland charges in but Connors hits an elbow. That doesn’t last long though with Holland hitting an uppercut, followed by another one that knocks Connors to the mat. Holland continues pounding on him with some forearms to the head. Connors gets back to his feet and attempts a splash off the ropes but Holland catches him. Connors fights out and tosses Holland to the outside and hits a splash. He rolls Holland back in and hits a cross body off the top for a two count. Connors continues to work on the leg of Holland and works him into the corner. Holland recovers and tosses Connors to the outside but as he goes out to follow him he is draped on the ropes neck first. Connors is back in the ring and works on the leg of Holland again. Holland locks him in a clutch but Connors fights out with some elbows. Connors stomps some more on Holland’s leg and wraps it around the ring post. Connor slams his leg down again and continues to stomp on it. He wraps his leg around the second rope and takes him down with a single leg. Connors stomps on the knee some more as Holland is on his back on the mat. Connors goes up top and attempts a crossbody but Holland catches him and hits a Belly to Belly Suplex. He hits another Suplex but doesn’t make the cover. He tosses Connor away with a Boulder Pounce that sends Connors to the outside. Holland rolls him back in the ring and comes back in after him. Connors tries to escape from the other side and takes out Holland’s leg again as he comes in to grab him. Connors goes up top but Holland catches him and sets up him for a Northern Grit. Connors tries to fight it off, but Holland has too much power and hits the Northern Grit to pick up the win in about 7 minutes.

Winner: Ridge Holland
Match Rating: 2.25/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: Joseph Connors put up a hell of an effort but Holland was too much. This was probably one of Holland’s most competitive matches in NXT UK but he recovered nicely and kept his momentum moving forward. If Holland is in the battle royal, I think he is a serious contender to win the whole thing.

They go backstage where Dave Mastiff and Flash Morgan Webster are checking on Mark Andrews who has been attacked. Trent Seven comes by to check on Andrews and quickly runs to find some help. Gallus looks on and has a confrontation before they leave and Mastiff and Webster continue to check on him.

They show a package for Ilja Draganov before going down to the ring for the next match.

Kassius Ohno vs. Kenny Williams

I will say that hearing Ohno being billed from Dayton, Ohio on a UK show made me chuckle a bit.

The bell rings and both men circle the ring. Ohno takes him down to the mat with an armbar. Williams reverses course and locks Ohno in an armbar of his own. Both men get back to their feet and we are back at square one. Ohno tosses him around the ring and kicks Williams in the midsection. Williams rolls him up and gets a two count. Willians tried to take Ohno down and finally hits a head scissors. Williams goes for a splash but Ohno catches him before Williams rolls him up for a two count. Williams hits a kick to the head but Ohno uses his power and throws him to the middle of the ring. Ohno hits a stiff shot in the corner. He brings him back out and locks Williams’s fingers up. Ohno slaps him in the head and hits some blows to the back. Williams fires back but Ohno catches the hand again. Williams fights out with some boots before hitting a dropkick that sends Ohno to the outside. He hits another dropkick followed by a splash to the outside. Williams hits a Coffin Drop that takes Ohno out on the outside. Both men get in the ring and Williams hits a middle dropkick follows by a slam and Williams gets a two count. Williams hits an elbow and goes for some more offensive but Ohno catches him and slams him down. Ohno hits a huge elbow to the head and locks Williams in the Kassius Clutch and picks up the win in about 6 minutes.

Winner: Kassius Ohno
Match Rating: 2.25/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: Typical big man/little man match that had Williams flying all over the ring and Ohno taking him down with some power moves. Williams didn’t have a bad night, but Ohno was the much bigger man and used it to his advantage. I think having a guy like Ohno around is not a bad thing and he can continue to help the young guys along and put some people over.

They go backstage where A-Kid is being interviewed. He says that he is primed to make a huge run on NXT UK. He is cut off by Noam Dar who tells him he hasn’t proven anything yet. Kid challenges him to a match next week and Dar accepts. Dar says he is going to send him to space and the segment ends.

They show a package showcasing Travis Banks and Jordan Devlin who will have a match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang) vs. “Bomber” Dave Mastiff, Flash Morgan Webster and Trent Seven

Trent Seven is taking the place of Mark Andrews who was attacked earlier in the night.

Wolfgang and Seven are the first two in for their teams. Wolfgang starts the action off and takes Seven down to the mat. Seven gets back to his feet and takes Wolfgang down with an arm drag. He tags in Webster who is quick and hits some offense. Wolfgang tags on Mark Coffey and they exchange blows in the ring. Webster is distracted by the Gallus corner and Coffey takes the advantage. He tags Wolfgang back in who covers Webster for a two count. He wears Webster down with a front face lock and makes a tag to Mark Coffey. Coffey hits some shots before tagging in his brother Joe. Coffey hits a backbreaker and covers for a two count. Coffey gets back to his feet and takes Webster down with a clothesline and another near fall. He starts to choke Webster with his own arm and pounces down on him. Webster tries to fight out but Coffey takes him down and covers for a two count. He tags Wolfgang in and he continues to work on Webster. Wolfgang with a senton and covers for a two count. Wolfgang and Mark Coffey exchange tags and Coffey stomps on Webster. Webster goes for a tag but he is in the wrong corner and Coffey continues to stomp down on him. Coffey locks Webster in a clutch with Webster trying to get to his corner to make a tag. Webster hits Coffey with an elbow and makes the tag to Dave Mastiff. He is in and is a house of fire and takes out all the members of Gallus. He tosses Mark Coffey and Wolfgang to the outside. Joe comes in and has a staredown with Mastiff. Mastiff hits a big Powerbomb but Wolfgang breaks up the count. Mastiff picks Joe Coffey up but he fights out. Mastiff regains control and slams him down. Webster makes the tag and comes off the top with a senton but only gets a two count. Joe Coffey recovers and takes Webster and Mastiff out. Gallus takes Webster into their corner and triple-team him before Coffey hits the Best of the Bells and picks up the win in about 9 minutes.

Winner(s): Gallus
Match Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Collective Thoughts: This match was fast-paced and never really slowed down the whole time. Webster got most of the work in and Gallus did a good job isolating him and working well as a team. Dave Mastiff is a beast and made quick work of Gallus while he was in there. We didn’t see much of Trent Seven and he was only really involved in the first part of the match. I like how Joe Coffey has been booked and he could be in line for another shot at the NXT UK Championship down the line.

Post- Match, Mastiff and Seven checks on Webster as Gallus makes their way up the ramp and the show comes to a close.

Overall Show Grade: 6.5 out of 10

That was a nice rebound show from last week. Three of the four matches were competitive with the opener between Kay Lee Ray and Dani Luna putting Ray over as a dominant champion. Ridge Holland has another impressive showing although it was more competitive than a lot of his matches have been lately. Kassius Ohno picked up another win over Kenny Williams and it seems like they will be using him more often which isn’t a bad thing. Gallus picked up a nice win in the main event after a competitive six-man tag team match. All in all, it was a pretty good show from start to finish.

What were your thoughts on WWE NXT UK this week? Loved it? Hated it? Still haven’t watched it? Either way, follow me over @Collectiveheel on Twitter and let me know your thoughts. Please take care of each other during these strange times and remember to wash your hands. I’ll be back soon enough with some more Collective Thoughts.