NXT UK: Plymouth Tapings (19th & 20th July 2019)

Last year’s tapings of Plymouth was my first ever live viewing of a WWE event, and at the time, I wasn’t sure if either show was going to be taped or appearing on television. In fact, I was expecting them to be basic house shows, with repeat matches over the two nights, so I made copious amounts of notes in preparation. So imagine my surprise when I learned not only were both nights showing different matches with storylines leading into one another but got to see legends such as Triple-H and Shawn Michaels appear live. In the next several months, NXT UK featured six episodes dedicated to Plymouth matches, and I took great pleasure out of seeing my home town featuring on a show with such a huge market. Having learned from previous experience, this year I quickly bought tickets to both nights (last year I’d originally planned to go one night, but by luck ended up buying an extra ticket to the second night) and even requested the same area to last time, on the end of an aisle near the ramp. This time, whilst I again took notes on the night, they were much less detailed, instead waiting for the actual episodes to come out, at which point Scott will write his normal excellent reviews and I shall add my thoughts from a live perspective. However, if you are curious to hear my thoughts on the live events themselves, then have a read below, but be warned, it will be spoiler heavy…

Friday 19^th July

Unlike last year, I arrived half an hour early, this time knowing the correct time to arrive and even having time to get a Guinness in the bar. As I took my seat, I could see several people being moved from the edge of the rafters to the front rows around the ring, looking to fill up as many seats as possible that would appear on camera. There were huge chants for “NXT” in the lead up, the crowd starting off straight away with a chorus of anticipation as NXT UK Ring Announcer, Andy Shephard entered the ring, before a cheer as he successfully entered the ring. Shephard cracked a smile and joked with the crowd, informing the crowd that after their excellent impression last year, Stamford chose them for the lead-in to Takeover (yes, we are on the Road To Takeover). Stamford would make mention of the first match for NXT UK: Takeover Cardiff, where Toni Storm will defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Kay Lee Ray (which got a cheer), before introducing our announcers for the evening, Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness, who both got great responses from the crowd. This was a hell of a difference to last year, as the commentators never appeared, so this gave the air of a bit more legitimacy in my eyes.

Match One – Singles Match:

Josh Morrell Vs Saxon Huxley

Morrell has previously appeared on 205 Live losing to Lio Rush, but I admit to not having seen much of him. Morrell entered to a solid reaction, whilst Saxon enters with a bible in his hand to huge chants of “Jesus”. Morrell ended up garnering a good amount of support during his fight back, including a lovely Moonsault off Saxon’s back, but in the end, Saxon would unsurprisingly gain the victory. This was a good match to kick off the event, with the crowd getting into it, and I do hope the match was taped as an actual match, not just a dark match (unfortunately despite the commentators being quite close to my seat, I didn’t think of checking if they were talking during the match). I think Morrell needs to appear more often on NXT UK, he has a good babyface fire and the crowd really took to him.

Shephard enters the ring, getting cheers again, responding “let’s not start this”, which garnered some good natured laughs from the crowd. Shephard starts building up the Road To Takeover, even mentioning Zack Gibson and then following up with telling the crowd to keep their shoes on. Shephard introduced to the crowd not just Assistant To The General Manager Sid Scala, but also General Manager Johnny Saint (he’s alive!!), who both get a good reaction from the crowd. Scala is very good on the microphone live, this year getting a much more positive reaction compared to last year, whilst Saint has an awkward line about Takeover, passing the microphone back fairly quickly. Whilst hyping up Takeover, the two men are interrupted by Imperium, with Walter taking a microphone and declaring “Who is left?” With that, Moustache Mountain’s music started playing, with Aichner and Barthel running to the ramp, only for Bate to run in from the crowd and attack Walter! People run in to help break it up, with Robbie Brookside noticeable during the break up, and Scala announces that Tyler Bate shall face Walter at Takeover! This got huge cheers in excitement, Bate getting ovations as he posed on the crowd. This was a huge surprise for several of us, as the current theories between myself and friends were for Trent Seven to take on Walter, but as much as I love Seven, this match is a huge reveal, the sort of announcement that really ignites the imagination.

Match Two – Tag Team Match:

Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) Vs Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley)

Gallus come out to a good reaction, Mark and Wolfgang leaving Joe on the stage as he returns to backstage. They will be taking on Pretty Deadly, a pretty entertaining tag team who have appeared at IPW: Return Of The PAC and Reach Wrestling’s 365 Days Later. Before the match, Wolfgang was biting to get at the younger team, at which point I noticed that the commentary table was actually out in the open with no protection. Gallus would win after an Enziguri Powerslam, and it was a very simple but fun match, with good bumping and selling by Pretty Deadly, two young deserving talents. Mark would follow up with a promo, where he would mention how Kingdoms are built on riches, but Gallus do not possess the riches they deserve. With that, Mark lays down a mark for the Grizzled Young Veterans. A slight aside, I noticed afterwards that the tag ropes were untied and thrown out of the ring, which I never realised before.

Match Three – Singles Match:

Dani Luna Vs Rhea Ripley

Luna enters sans alcohol with a relatively clean cut compared to usual, whilst Ripley enters to a huge following of cheers, having garnered respect from the crowd last year for several good performances, including a solid title defence against Isla Dawn. The biggest reaction might have been when Luna gave a huge slap to Ripley, which was quickly followed up with Ripley ending the match. Pretty quick match overall, with Luna mostly selling.

Match Four – Singles Match:

Jordan Devlin Vs Alexander Wolfe

I had to rush to the toilet as Ripley was celebrating and came back to find Devlin already in the ring. As I was on my way to my seat, the lights turned off and Imperium’s music started playing! I arrived at my seat in the dark just in time to see Wolfe revealed. Devlin was getting a lot of support from the crowd (he made a cracking impression last year), but at one point Devlin would land awkwardly on his neck and shoulder after being dropped onto the top rope by a Wolfe Inverted Suplex. Huge crowd support for Devlin as he battles back, stamping on Wolfe’s head, with a huge close fall after a Spanish Fly. Wolfe would also get a close near fall after a German Suplex and take the victory after a Sit-Out Powerbomb. I was surprised at Wolfe’s performance; he came out looking really good and earned his victory over Devlin. I reckon this will be the main event for Night One of the tapings, and could be leading into a feud between Devlin and the whole of Imperium?

This is most likely the end of the first show, as we then get a clip of the Nina Samuels showing, her adventures at Download Festival, meeting several fans who refer to her as their favourite. Shephard returns to the ring, psyching up the crowd, as he tells the crowd they can appear on TV if they cheer loud enough (his little trick that is used for the intro packages of every episode intro).

Match Five – Singles Match:

Noam Dar Vs Ashton Smith

Dar would get a good reaction from the crowd as he entered, whilst the crowd whoops along with Smith as he entered. I don’t think I’ve seen Smith perform for a long time, to the point I’d mildly forgotten he was still a part of NXT UK. Dar would continue his habit of lulling his opponents in by ‘overselling’ his arm and eye injury. I actually reckon this is one of Ashton’s better performances, I never realised how smooth and quick he is despite his size, with the crowd quickly getting drawn in. Ashton nearly suckered in Dar for a Small Package, getting a two count only, but Dar would win in the end. Halfway through the match, I noticed backstage interviewer Radzi Chinyanganya sat at ringside with Shephard, and afterwards, he comes in to interview Dar, who discusses how he has a big contract and he will get the big payday, hinting towards Takeover.

Grizzled Young Veterans next come out in suits, with the audience already with their shoes in the air. Gallus come out saying they are having their match against GYV, only for Mark Andrews and ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster to come out as well in tracksuits. GYV would lambast Andrews and Webster, retorting that Gallus have at least won matches, whereas Andrews and Webster need to earn it, and Saint needs to win it. I cannot convey how much heat Gibson gets every time he comes out, the entire audience boo and good naturedly show their dislike for him, chanting along with fervour.

Match Six – Tag Team Match:

Jinny & Jazzy Gabert Vs Xia Brookside & Piper Niven

Surprising reveal as Jinny’s rival, Xia, continued her determined battles to avenge herself against Jinny and her bodyguard, Jazzy. Whereas I’ve previously seen Jazzy stand tall on the apron, arms at her side, this time she’s leaning over, holding onto the rope. Xia is immensely popular with the crowd, probably because of her infectious performances last year. Viper at one point would Buckle Bomb Jinny into a corner so that Jazzy would be tagged in, which got the audience psyched up. To the surprise and pleasure of the crowd, Rhea Ripley would come out, starting a brawl with Piper and battling to the backstage. This leaves Xia alone taking on Jinny and Jazzy, the crowd cheering her on support, with Xia demonstrating a great battle back against Jinny. In the end, however, Jazzy would prove to be too much, as she hits the Dominator for the win, but Xia would get a good ovation, and then, to the shock of the audience, Shayna Baszler comes out, knocking out Xia and posing.

Match Seven – Singles Match:

Joe Coffey with Gallus Vs ‘Bomber’ Dave Mastiff

I think the crowd was really shocked to see these two face one another, considering the feud that had been building up between the two. This was a very physical fight, leading to a big double count out between the two, Coffey being taken away by Gallus, Sid Scala is out ordering them to be kept separate, Mastiff is injured and frustrated. I feel the best move between the two would be a huge Last Man Standing match at Takeover, as it would be a cracking battle between the two, but I don’t know how likely that will be.

In possibly the best moment of the entire night, NXT General Manager William Regal came out to a huge ovation, chants of “Regal, Regal, Regal”, the whole audience standing in appreciation of a British wrestling legend. Regal with an amazing line as he quips “it’s been 1990 since I was last here, I might be one of your Dads” (the fact I was born in 1990 is pure coincidence). Regal gets quite emotional as he takes a brief moment to thank the crowd and gives credit to the roster backstage for their tremendous work, you could even see tears in his eyes, and after a few minutes, he goes backstage again to a huge ovation. Last year, I got to see Triple-H and Shawn Michaels appear, but I have to admit, I think this was an even bigger moment to sit through. Thank you, Mr Regal.

Match Eight – Singles Match:

Kenny Williams Vs Travis Banks

I noticed the cameraman was pointing behind me, which quickly made sense when Noam Dar came out to join commentary, walking right passed me. A little character moment I noticed was that Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph stand up, Vic offers a hand to Dar, who leans past him to shake Nigel’s hand, with Vic looking annoyed, an enjoyable little moment. Banks would win after a fast paced match, most of the audience waiting to see what Dar would do, but he was still sat at the table. Banks would walk up the ramp and then walk towards my side, annoyed at Dar, who is obnoxiously applauding him.

The set up seems to suggest this is the final match for the second episode, as Shephard would enter the ring straight after, although it might be better to swap it with the Coffey and Mastiff match, as it has a much more interesting ending. Next would be another promo featuring Ligero, talking about his career and aims.

Match Nine – Singles Match:

Nina Samuels Vs Isla Dawn

Samuels doesn’t seem to be garnering much heat from the crowd, a slight sense of antipathy, whilst Dawn is mildly supported, but the crowd just isn’t as invested in the match, some applause and cheers for Dawn. Dawn gets a shock victory out of nowhere over Samuels, looking like a slight botch, but the crowd applauds Dawn’s victory.

Match Ten – Singles Match:

Kassius Ohno Vs Ilja Dragunov

Oh yes, Ohno is the sort of talent that can improve any match, whilst Ilja is a massively intense and fascinating wrestler, he gets the crowd interested. At one point, Ohno chops Ilja so hard that even the security guards turn around. Massive sympathy build up for Ilha as Ohno attacks the right arm, the crowd worried after Ilja gets decapitated on the middle rope. Ohno creates a tremendous build-up for a Hammerlock Suplex, really intensifying the struggle, Ilja battling back, trying to secure his arm back, until Ilja finally hits a Suplex of his own, both men down. The use of patience and build up during this match was massively fascinating and intriguing to watch. Ilja would attempt two right handed clotheslines to no avail, but a third left clothesline by Ilja gets a big response, only for Ohno to stamp the right hand and arm. Huge applause from the audience when Ilja retaliates with a German Suplex and helps prompt an “NXT” chant. Ohno would get slightly cocky when Ilja attempts a Sunset Flip Powerbomb and can’t lift him, only for Ilja to power through and hit a huge Powerbomb for a close two count. Ohno would use the referee to hide, so he can push Ilja off the turnbuckle, who lands very badly. Ohno would hit a big Elbow to the back of Ilja’s head and gets a surprise three count! Shock choice winner as Ilja had demonstrated some good momentum since his debut, but this was a cracking match, I think the two demonstrated some good chemistry, and I feel there’s a lot more to this match than just what we’ve seen, I’m curious to see where the story goes from here. I would say this was the best match of the night, two crowd favourites.

Match Eleven – Six Man Tag Team (Dark) Match:

Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) & Joseph Connors

Vs

Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) & Matt Riddle

In the last few weeks leading up to the event, there was a surprise reveal that Matt Riddle would be coming to this event, which seemed like an unfortunate attempt to sell more tickets. Connors seems an underwhelming choice to be involved, most likely the choice for taking the pinfall loss, whilst there is huge heel heat for Gibson, as he tells the crowd to put their shoes back on, as he can see the Hobbit feet from the ring (That got a smile from me, I admit). Connors gets on the microphone and says they’ll face the best there is, and out comes Street Profits! For their first time in the UK, the Profits bring out a friend, Matt Riddle! The crowd instantly responds and start chanting “Bro”, as Riddle enters the arena, the bass of his intro music shaking the arena, as well as my legs. There are certain people that as they enter the arena, you feel the magic and stardust from the wrestler, and Riddle is one. This was a definite match, as Vic had disappeared from the commentary table, and Nigel was sat at commentary watching the match, headset off. The crowd aim a chant of “He’s got a goat face on his ass” towards Drake, angering him, whilst Connors tries getting a “Joe” chant going, to no avail. Huge knee off the turnbuckle to Connors off Dawkins’ shoulders by Riddle, but it gets broken up. Final sequence has Dawkins with the Frogsplash and then a Neutralizer by Riddle for the pinfall victory. This was a fun, entertaining match which the crowd loved, the Street Profits are massively energetic, and the crowd were on a high, sending them happy after this match.

Night One was good fun, got to see a lot more storyline build up compared to last year’s Night One, Walter appeared in only a segment but last year, NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne only appeared on video. Moustache Mountain featured less (for an obvious reason), which meant Grizzled Young Veterans took their place as appearing most often. Last year, NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley appeared in a match, whereas Storm didn’t even get mentioned really. This night had a hot crowd but mainly focused at ringside and in the main sections, the edges were empty in comparison. Overall, really enjoyed the night, some solid matches, I do think there are going to be a lot of promos and segments to fill space in between the matches.

Saturday 20th July

Link to Omega Luke’s interview with the awesome Andy Shephard.

Definitely a lot busier tonight, my aisle yesterday was empty except for me and maybe, one other, whereas this night my aisle was full. This night would feature the final few episodes prior to NXT Takeover, so there should be some huge moments hopefully. Ring Announcer Andy Shephard would get a celebration as he successfully entered the ring, and he quipped “I love you, Plymouth”. Shephard would poll the crowd to find out who was there the previous night and who wasn’t, with a 50-50 split, which sounds believable. Shephard would mention NXT UK Champion Walter and the fans would boo heavily, with Shephard going “Walter has feelings too” (Andy Shephard, I think I can safely say that Plymouth loves you too).

Match One – Singles Match:

Sha Samuels Vs Darrell Allen

Samuels I’ve only actually seen briefly on World Of Sport, and was unimpressed at the time, whilst Darrell Allen has featured for Progress Wrestling, but I haven’t seen him prior to this match. Samuels got a solid reaction, whereas Allen had a much smaller reaction, but with Samuels’ power and strength coupled with Allen’s pace, the crowd got involved very quickly. One Allen monkey flip has Samuels almost land on his head, tucking his head in at the very last second. I was impressed at how quickly both men got the crowd onside very quickly, a good little opener with some good selling from Samuels and Allen a likeable, firey babyface, eventually defeating Samuels with a Crossbody. Crowd really enjoyed the match, as did I.

Shephard next would hype up some of the upcoming matches, telling us that we will see Shayna Baszler against Xia Brookside, Street Profits will feature, and Matt Riddle will also be here. We then were shown clips of Walter destroying Trent Seven last week, before segueing into the intro, very hot and excited crowd (already looks like having NXT UK feature on Friday and Saturday, as opposed to Saturday and Sunday, allows more families to feature compared to last year).

Match Two – Singles Match:

Mark Coffey Vs ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster

Coffey enters with Wolfgang accompanying him, whilst Webster is joined by Mark Andrews, good support for the Welshman as he comes out. Andrews would attack Wolfgang on the outside to wipe him out, only to turn into a Coffey clothesline, Coffey would return to the ring and walk into a Small Package, giving Flash the win! This definitely feels like an attempt to set up a Triple Threat match at Takeover, which I think would be a great idea.

Match Three – Singles Match:

Nina Samuels Vs Isla Dawn

Either a possible rematch from last night, or an attempt to fix the botch that I suspected last night. There was some huge support for Isla Dawn in this match, but this time Samuels would get the win, with the audience a bit underwhelmed.

Match Four – Tag Team Match:

Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) Vs The Hunt (Primate & Wild Boar)

At this point, I popped out to go to the toilet, and came back to find Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel were already in the ring, so I was gutted to miss their entrance! Barthel is gold on the apron, as he reacts to every move really well, either wincing or punching the air. I was surprised at the popularity of Primate and Wild Boar, whilst there was a loud chant of “Walter’s B****es”. At one point, Wild Boar had a huge chant of support of “One More Time” for the Cannonball, showing he was massively over. Imperium would get the win but would bump like mad, making The Hunt look impressive and garnering great heat throughout.

Shephard would take a breather after entering the ring, as if it was a close one, which got him a good reaction from the audience.

Match Five – Singles Match:

Kay Lee Ray Vs Shax

Shax is supposedly meant to represent a circus ringmaster, her distinctive look with a cane and possible lingerie portrays her as tiny and demure, but she has presence and quickly earns the support of the crowd, despite Kay lee Ray getting a strong victory. Afterwards, KLR would cut a vicious promo, saying that “Toni Time” is a lie, that she knows how weak Toni actually is. Storm comes out in her first (and only) appearance of the weekend, getting a huge reaction and chants of “Toni, Toni Storm” from the crowd. KLR mentions how when she goes home, she has friends and family who care about her, whereas Toni only has “shiny shiny”, which elicits a chant from the crowd. KLR tells of how Toni has lost all of her friends, her family, and even her boyfriend, due to her own actions. It isn’t until KLR mentions that Storm’s Dad left her because of how pathetic she was, that Storm reacts, slapping KLR. As KLR would leave the arena, there would be huge chants of support for “Toni, Toni, Toni”. I admit, I personally have never been that impressed by Storm, haven’t rated her highly in the ring and her facial expressions always come across as a sulking child, which was especially obvious here, slightly tempering KLR’s excellent promo. I still think it was too soon for Ripley to lose the Championship, and Storm hasn’t really been that impressive, but I imagine she will defeat Kay Lee Ray at NXT UK Takeover, although a lack of appearance from Storm over the entire tapings left me feeling underwhelmed and frustrated.

Backstage, Radzi would be waiting to speak to Walter, only to be joined by Barthel and Aichner. Aichner pushes past into the Champion’s room, whilst Barthel stops to speak to Radzi. Hearing Aichner cry out, Barthel would rush in, only to get attacked and knocked into a cameraman, missing who the attacker was.

Match Six was actually a dark match between Shayna Baszler and Xia Brookside, with Vic leaving commentary again before the match began. Due to not being a fan of Shayna, I took this opportunity to go toilet and get another beer, which took me about four minutes, and I could already hear Shayna’s music playing after winning.

Match Seven – Tag Team Match:

Saxton Huxley & Kassius Ohno Vs Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)

This was another dark match, with this time Nigel leaving the commentary desk beforehand, arriving back just as the match began. The Profits are magic, you have Montez jumping on the apron screaming excitedly and the crowd laughing along, the second time he does it, you can actually see Dawkins corpsing in the ring. Ohno starts in the ring but tags out after chants of “You’re Not Jesus” from the crowd, and as soon as Saxon comes in, chants of “Jesus Jesus Jesus!”, before transitioning into “Where’s Your Bible?” Ford actually gets a headlock over at one point, as he makes out it’s the biggest move possible, laughing after he drops down a third time. This was a good fun match with plenty of energy, solid crowd interaction, with the Street Profits winning after Ford hits a Blockbuster onto Saxon off Dawkins’ shoulders.

Match Eight – Singles Match:

Mark Andrews Vs James Drake

Looks like the storyline that will feature will be that Andrews and Webster need to prove themselves in singles matches against one member of their two opposing tag teams, which is a clever method as it gives the Welshmen momentum if they succeed but still keeps Gallus and GYV relatively strong. Gibson accompanies Drake in a suit, and we have lots of chanting from a hot crowd, classics such as “Shoes off if you hate Gibson”, “Where’s my car stereo”, “Has a face like an ar**”. There’s a great moment where the crowd are chanting “Stand up if you hate Gibson”, and anytime they do, the security guards nearby have to stand up as well to keep an eye on everyone, and you can see security laughing along at the irony. They also laughed when the crowd sits down if they hit Gibson and they have to sit down too. Other chants are “He’s got his own face on his ar**”, “Ar** face”, whilst there is good support for Andrews, chanting “Let’s go Andrews”, with a security guard nearly choking from laughter during the whole thing, with more chants of “Check your wallets”. Gallus would come out and attack Webster, with Gibson distracted by them as he runs around the ring, with Andrews taking advantage by pinning Drake, leaving Gibson furious! This was a fun match which had the crowd roaring, and the Welshmen celebrate by signalling for the title belts, definite three way for the Tag Team Titles at NXT UK: Takeover.

Huge surprise as Trent Seven sneaks into the ring, with Walter coming out and Tyler Bate attacking Alexander Wolfe from behind with a chair at the entrance way! Bate and Seven would decimate Walter in the ring, Seven would then attack Wolfe in the entrance way and Bate would hit Walter with the Tyler Driver! This would elicit a “Holy S***” chant and “Big Strong Boy” chants, as Bate celebrates by motioning himself as “Two Time Champion”. This is definitely an ending to one of the episodes, as the crowd went wild and it felt electric, maybe even utilised for the go-home show? The final introductions from Shephard, who takes the time out to tell the crowd how brilliant they have been.

Match Nine – Singles Match:

Ilja Dragunov Vs Tyson T-Bone

Huh, a bit of an underwhelming opponent, seemingly a chance for Ilja to get some more momentum back after last night’s loss. Ilja is getting lots of support from an impressive crowd, possibly hinting to a possibility of a babyface turn? Ilja would win with relative ease.

Match Ten – Singles Match:

Joseph Connors Vs Oliver Carter

Another likely squash match, Connors changed into a different outfit last night, showing tights covering his legs, which he wears again tonight. Carter is predominantly based in Germany and Switzerland, so he’s a bit of an unknown, but demonstrated some agility, had a nice kip up and the crowd bought into him eventually. Connors would win but Carter would have some support and appreciation.

Match Eleven – Singles Match:

Ligero Vs Matt Riddle

Ligero comes out to a good reaction, he’s performed several times in Plymouth previously, and it was a surprise to see him face Superstar Matt Riddle, who even fist bumps a large security guard. Duelling chants of “El Ligero” and “Bro”, which leads to a respective fist bump. At one point, Riddle pulls out a Jackhammer, causing a “Goldberg” chant, whilst Ligero would respond with a Release German Suplex off the top rope! Such tremendous chemistry, leading to chants of “This Is Awesome”, ending when Riddle would hit a Twisting Swanton off the top rope. The cameramen were filming during this match, so I have to believe they have plans for this match, maybe a When Worlds Collide show on the WWE Network in the future? Because this match was too good to not feature on a Network.

Match Twelve – Singles Match:

Kenny Williams Vs Jordan Devlin

Both Shephard and the referee get cheered as they enter the ring this time, whilst Devlin would get a good appreciative reaction, in fact Devlin was chanted for throughout the match. Devlin comes across as a little bit more vicious in this match, I’m wondering whether there will be a backstage build-up where they antagonise each other? Williams got some good support from the crowd, hitting a dive that almost sent him over the guardrail! Devlin hits a hard Half-Nelson Suplex, which leads to a chant of “You Killed Kenny”, and a close near fall after a Spanish Fly by Devlin, prompting an “This Is Awesome” and “NXT” chant. Devlin would win in the end, with a standing ovation in respect to a cracking match. It amazes me that Devlin is very unlikely to feature at Takeover after some excellent performances.

Grizzled Young Veterans come out furious, revealing they’re being featured in a Triple Threat match at NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff, but whilst in the ring, Gallus come out to ringside, only for Andrews and Webster to appear on the stage, with Gibson quipping about everyone coming out. Huge brawl kicks off, with the referees trying to separate everyone, with Webster and Andrews left standing to lots of support.

NXT General Manager William Regal comes out for the second night running, with the crowd instantly showering him in respect, chanting his name and cheering wildly. In a quite funny moment, Regal would motion for the fans to quiet down, and then as they did, he then motioned for louder, getting some huge chants again as he laughed to himself. Again, a man of few words, as he takes the opportunity to thank the fans for their support of the hard working wrestlers in the back, how he always dreamed of such a stage for British wrestling. Beforehand, someone tried making a joke at him and Regal ripped him several times, making the crowd laugh and cheer. These small moments can sometimes be the best memories, and the tremendous respect for Regal was wonderful to see, an appreciation for such a fantastic career encompassing several continents.

Match Thirteen – Main Event Dark Match:

Alexander Wolfe Vs Pete Dunne

If there was any uncertainty at the fact that Wolfe is being primed for a strong run, featuring in the main event of the final night against the former NXT UK Champion will convince you. This was an obvious dark match as commentary left the table. It made a huge change getting to see Dunne this time, as last year he appeared in jeans and sockless loafers to attack Gallus. Wolfe was given chants of “Walter’s b****” whilst Dunne was an undoubted crowd favourite, there was a scary moment where Wolfe would suplex Dunne knees first onto the ropes and Dunne would nearly land on his head. Unsurprisingly, Dunne would hit the Bitter End to win, to a huge reaction, and would celebrate along with fellow British Strong Style members Trent Seven and Tyler Bate. I was surprised that Imperium didn’t get involved, I was the singles match to end up in maybe a six-eight man tag team match, featuring all of Imperium, Moustache Mountain and maybe…Jordan Devlin? It’s unfortunate that for the second year running, Plymouth didn’t get to see the NXT UK Champion in action, but I’m not entirely surprised.

Twenty-four matches over two nights is a substantial number of matches, so you do get a fair amount of your money’s worth, with some great surprise appearances in William Regal, Street Profits, Shayna Baszler and Matt Riddle. As always at an NXT Taping, there are a few cracking matches, a lot more squash matches, but there were a few more dark matches than expected, about five or six over two nights, which was surprising. However, compared to last year, there was a much bigger and receptive crowd this time, a lot more familiarity with the wrestlers, and the crowd was hot throughout the two evenings. I do feel the next step has to be a Takeover in Plymouth, as they’ve already impressed during a normal Tapings and then was handpicked as the Road to Takeover. Getting to see some big moments in the stories leading to Takeover was a great touch and does give a good idea of the overall card for NXT Takeover UK: Cardiff. At the moment, there are three confirmed matches, which are:

• Toni Storm defending her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Kay Lee Ray.
• Walter defending his NXT UK Championship against Tyler Bate.
• Grizzled Young Veterans defending their NXT UK Tag Team Championship against Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) and Mark Andrews & ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster, in a Triple Threat Match.

The Triple Threat match had most of the build-up and will most likely open the event with an absolute cracker, thanks to the simplistic but solid story arc of the three teams. Storm and Kay Lee Ray focused mainly on KLR it seemed, but the lack of Storm appearances did take away a little bit. However, it’s the main event that should be an absolute classic, Bate has been very successful in his tag team with Trent Seven, but it will be amazing to see him battle Walter in what should be a physical war. There is space for the normal two matches, but there are currently three possible matches that may occur, which are:

• Rhea Ripley Vs Piper Niven
• Travis Banks Vs Noam Dar
• Dave Mastiff Vs Joe Coffey (possible stipulation match)

The first two seem the most likely, as those are the ones most hinted at, but all three were left relatively unconfirmed. Ripley and Niven were last seen battling to backstage in a brawl, Banks and Dar had a stand-off after a match but didn’t get physical, whilst Mastiff and Coffey had to be separated after a huge battle. I feel all three could likely have a backstage segment announce a match for Takeover, which could lead to having six matches at the PPV, not the usual five. In fact, my research discovered that the last Takeover to feature six matches televised on the PPV? NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II, in August 2016, and before that, NXT Takeover: Respect in October 2015, so six matches is not unprecedented, just extremely rare, but in this situation, it feels like six matches would be suited, with Mastiff and Coffey possible even a Last Man Standing match?

Either way, I had a great time at the Plymouth tapings, and I’ll be curious to see how the matches will look within the context of their episode. In fact, I will be joining my colleague Scott in reviewing these upcoming episodes, contrasting Scott’s view of the episode with my interpretation at the live event. I can’t wait to see what happens next, and maybe, just maybe, this time next year, we’ll be discussing a Takeover in Plymouth.

@BigBadaBruce

@Rasslinblogs

#TeamRB