The NXT UK 50 (Covering Episode 1 - TakeOver: Blackpool)
The first wrestler ranking for the NXT UK Guide! I love rankings, but we haven't done an actual wrestler ranking of any kind on Segunda Caida in at least a decade. I thought it would be fun to keep an ongoing list - updated every 25 episodes - ranking the wrestlers in NXT UK. I was going to limit it to a Top 50 anyway, and lucky for us exactly 50 different wrestlers appeared on the first 25 episodes!
As this is the inaugural Top 50, I'll state that these rankings are based ONLY on matches from NXT UK. If there are wrestlers you think are ranked too low, it's likely they only had one or two matches during the 25 episode window. It's possible to get high on the list based off only a couple matches (and some did) but the performances would have to be standouts. Typically, the more matches you get on TV, the more chances you get to impress (or leave me unimpressed). Going forward, there will be another Top 50 adding in episodes 26-50, and so on, every 25 episodes. A list like this is really fun for me, but please, leave any ranking questions, criticisms, and harsh tell-offs below and I'll address them.
1. Jordan Devlin
2. Dave Mastiff
3. Wild Boar Mike Hitchman
4. Noam Dar
5. Ligero
6. Wolfgang
7. James Drake
8. Jinny
9. Mark Coffey
10. Zack Gibson
11. Tyson T-Bone
12. Toni Storm
13. Eddie Dennis
14. Rhea Ripley
15. Pete Dunne
16. Isla Dawn
17. Saxon Huxley
18. Tyler Bate
19. Joe Coffey
20. Trent Seven
21. Ashton Smith
22. Kenny Williams
23. Mark Andrews
24. Fabian Aichner
25. Dakota Kai
26. Flash Morgan Webster
27. Joseph Connors
28. Dan Moloney
29. Marcel Barthel
30. Sam Gradwell
31. Tucker
32. Nina Samuels
33. Xia Brookside
34. Finn Balor
35. Primate Jay Melrose
36. Danny Burch
37. Jamie Ahmed
38. Charlie Morgan
39. Amir Jordan
40. Travis Banks
41. Jake Constantinou
42. Josh Morrell
43. Eddie Ryan
44. Damien Weir
45. Deonna Purrazzo
46. Millie McKenzie
47. Candy Floss
48. Jack Starz
49. Sid Scala
50. Killer Kelly
Labels: NXT UK
posted by EricR @ 10:00 PM
4 Comments:
Stunned to see Isla Dawn so high. Her and Candy Floss would easily be my bottom two. Isla's strikes might be the worst in the entire WWE. She looks like she is moving underwater. She is incredibly unathletic and uncoordinated. Whatever value you see in her is definitely not clear to me.
I think Tyler Bate improves over the course of the next year or so. He has a few 'workrate' tendencies but is mostly able to keep them in check, and I'd say his grappling improves. He also has a nice habit of taking tired old indy cliche spots and twisting them around just enough to feel fresh.
I'd probably go higher on Zack Gibson, too. To the best of my recollection I thought he had some pretty good singles performances prior to joining up with Drake.
It might also be worth going back and watching the two shows from the second UK Tournament, the one from 2018 before NXT UK became a fully fledged brand. It was long enough ago that I don't remember it vividly but I recall thinking the shows were fun. I believe the Shayna-Toni match on Night 2 is pretty good, and while I know you tend to be a low vote on Bate & Seven I believe their tag title match with O'Reilly & Strong (also from Night 2) was fairly well regarded.
They didn't get much attention at the time and since they aren't as important as the UK Title Tournament from the previous year, and not officially classed as Takeovers, they tend to get looked over. I'm not even sure what section they'd be listed under on the WWE Network.
I disagree on Isla Dawn (obviously). I think she was more consistent (over these episodes) than Ripley or Storm, but ranked her a little lower because Ripley and Storm were put into a higher profile position and handled it well. I think Dawn has better and more consistent strikes than them, and like her form when she throws elbows more than theirs. Her basics are always snug, always has tight headlocks and headscissors, and I think she bumps really well on suplexes. If you have the time, go back and watch her match w/ Ripley (ep 17). I think they both elevated each other in that one, and both shined.
My Bate ranking was the one that I assumed people would think is too low, and it wouldn't surprise me if I have him higher in the next set of rankings. I felt he was given far more showcase time than most on the roster, and had far favorable impressions of others who got far less time. He does plenty of things I like, but I hate how a lot of matches always just peak with everybody letting him hit his same pieces of offense. I'm interested to see what he does over the next 25.
Gibson is someone I could see moving up next ranking too. He and Drake kept looking better the more episodes I watched. Right above him, I wanted to put Jinny and Mark Coffey higher, but they weren't featured enough for me to justify going higher. I thought their peaks were above Gibson's best, but it feels like only a matter of time before I get to a genuinely classic GYV tag.
I thought about starting with that 2018 tournament, but thought it would be cleaner to start with the first episode. I'll have to go back and do that tourney as a bonus.
I do recall the Dawn-Ripley match being better than I expected it to be and the best showing that Isla Dawn has had, probably still to this date.
I believe it was one of her matches with Killer Kelly (I couldn't tell you which) where she looked at her worst. It's possible it was a Nina Samuels match, but Killer Kelly sounds right just going off the top of my head. There was one match where she and her opponent were totally out of time with one another and it was not pretty.
Yeah I'm pretty sure that's the performance that landed Kelly in the #50 spot. I don't think that one was really Dawn's fault. I think she looked better than Storm in their title tourney match against each other, and I'm interested in seeing if she moves up or down on the next rankings.
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