WWE NXT UK: Prelude 4/8/2021

WWE NXT UK: Prelude 4/8/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/wwe-nxt-uk-412021.html

#1 Contender to the Heritage Cup - Tyler Bate with Trent Seven vs Noam Dar with Sha Samuels

A-Kid (Heritage Cup Champ) comes on the tron to start. He said he will watch very closely and said may the best man win.

Round 1 - Nothing much happens and Bate gets a roll-up out of nowhere to win the first fall and end the round. Bate needs one more fall to win.

Round 2- Bate takes him down by the arm and Dar comes back with a leg lock. They grapple more and Bate dropkicks Dar. Bate is on top of Dar and the round ends.

Round 3 - Dar hits two hard kicks to start and Bate clips him with one. Dar hits a hard spinning back elbow for 2 and snapmares Tyler into the ropes. Bate is holding his knee and Dar kicks it and backdrop throws him for 2. Bate hits a 2nd rope euro uppercut and puts Dar in the airplane spin. Bate continues to spins him as the round ends.

Round 4 - Bate grabs Dar and airplane spins him again. Bate hits his rope rebound lariat for 2. Dark comes back with a sliding clothesline/forearm to a downed Bate. Bate traps Dar's amr and punches him. Dar mule kicks him in the leg and elbows him on the top of the head. Dar sweeps Bate by the leg while he is at the ropes and Bate comes back with a slap.

Round 5 - They fire at each other to start the round. Bate goes for his rebound clothesline and is caught in a leg lock and taps. We are now tied at 1-1.

Round 6 - Bate germans Dar to start and hits a big rolling koppo kick. Bate goes up top, Sha gets on the apron then Trent pulls off Sha and they fight. Dar grabs Bate and rolls off him onto the outside. Bate dives but Dar moves and he hits Seven and Sha. Dar throws him into the steps and back in, Bate punches him as he charges. Bate then hits the Tyler Driver '97 and wins it 2 falls to 1.

The first two rounds were mostly a waste of time and the last round was rushed. I didn't really like the finish as Bate didn't and couldn't really sell the dive or getting thrown into the steps. This could have been done better.

We see Walter and Rampage Brown arriving.

Webster and Andrews are interviewed. They aren't happy about getting screwed by Williams and Jordan. One of the girls then says it is time to train and they do forward rolls and kip ups. Okay...

We get a quick package on Ilja Dragunov.

Jack Starz is seen throwing around a weighted bag as Viper coaches him. She yells at him and asks if he is ready and they hype up together for a match next week.

Jordan Devlin does a video package. He says he is coming back to NXT UK after wrapping up his business in NXT USA.

Emilia McKenzie and Meiko Satomura vs Isla Dawn and Kay Lee Ray

(EM = Emilia McKenzie)

Isla puts on a headlock and EM rolls her for a pin attempt. Ray and Meiko get in and collide with shoulders then Meiko kicks her down. Meiko is stomped and kicked in the corner. Meiko comes back with some chest kicks on Isla and does a handstand into double knees on her.

Isla takes a kick in the gut from Meiko then EM dropkicks her. EM running hurricanrana's Ray then hurricanrana's her off the top. She then german suplexes Isla. Isla does a buckshot off the top buckle then spears Ray for 2. EM goes for the tag but Isla pulls down Meiko and Ray nails EM.

Isla hits a nice saito suplex on EM for 2. They trade shots and Isla push kicks her, but is met with a stunner. Meiko comes in and flurries Raw then kicks her in the head. Meiko then hits a backwards kick and backdrops her for 2. Ray and Meiko trade forearms. Ray catches Meiko's spin kick into a gory bomb but EM breaks it up.

EM germans Isla. Meiko puts Ray in the STF and Isla helps Ray get the ropes. Isla gets in and meteora's Meiko for 2. Ray goes after EM on the outside and is german suplexed on the floor. Isla high kicks EM and EM rolls her up on a suplex attempt for the win.

This was a very fast paced match wit hpeople tag in and out quickly. This wasn't exactly the debut I would have wanted if I EM, as she wasn't too much of the focus. The match wasn't bad but didn't have as much structure or story as they could have done.

Aoife Valkyrie then comes out and stares down Meiko and EM.  She pulls out a feather and puts it on the ground, which is supposed to represent a fallen foe in Meiko. So Aoife vs Meiko is next it seems.

A-Kid did a promo. He said he is excited to face Tyler Bate for the Heritage Cup. He said he will continue to show that he is what the Heritage Cup is all about and wants to prove he is the best pure mat wrestler in NXT UK.

Amir Jordan comes in angry to the PC and wants Kenny Williams. He runs into Sid Scala and is told Kenny isn't here. Sid says he will face him in the ring next week though.

We are shown video of Kenny Williams from earlier. He said he was doing all the work and carried Amir for the last 2 years. He said he will show us all how good he is next week when he beats him.

Gallus will be on Supernova Sessions with Noam Dar next week. Saxon Huxley vs Nathan Frazer is announced for next week along with Kenny Williams vs Amir Jordan. Huxley shouldn't lose and neither should Frazer, though I think this won't be their only match.

We get a package on Brown vs Walter.

WWE NXT UK Championship - WALTER (c) vs Rampage Brown

Walter beat Tomasso Ciampa last night on NXT Stand and Deliver Night 1. They actually did mention that. He was really selling his hand, will that be considered here? It's bogus that Walter has to technically defend his title twice in one day as the Ciampa/Walter match happened about 2AM UK time today.

Brown hits a big chop early and they shoulder block battle. Brown runs through a Walter chop. Brown is shouldered down then kips up and dropkicks Walter. Brown then shoulders Walter down outside. Brown is chopped on the outside and backdropped from the mat to the apron outside.

Walter ties up Brown in the ropes and clubs him, then boots him in the face. Walter hits another boot to the face and they trade chops. Walter then boston crabs him and Brown gets out to get a knee in the back. Brown gets out of a suplex then suplexes Walter.

They trade chops and Walter knocks him down with a hard one from the neckbreaker position. They trade more chops and Brown powerslams Walter. They hit each other with lariats at the same time and Walter puts him in the sleeper. Brown gets out and hits a big lariat, knocking down Walter.

Brown hit a nice shoulder off the 2nd rope for 2. Walter hits a big John Woo dropkick and powerbombs him for 2. Walter goes up top and Brown hits a huge top rope powerslam for 2. Brown saito superplexes Walter then hits a stiff doctor bomb, but Walter rolls to the ropes.

Brown hits some crossface shots and is back body dropped. Walter swats down his lariat and chops him before nailing a big knee to the body. Walter then hits a big lariat and an even harder lariat for 2. Walter german suplexes Brown then powerbombs him for 2. Walter then top rope splashes him for the win.

It was a good match as expected. A little heavy on the moves and kickouts when more lariats, forearms and chops would have been fine. But it was two heavyweights pounding each other hard here and it's hard not to enjoy it. 

Overall thoughts: A good main event and the women's match was alright. The Bate/Dar match was disappointing, but overall, as usual, the show ended up being good thanks to the main event.