NXT UK Worth Watching: Ohno! Jinny! Storm! Ligero!

Jinny vs. Toni Storm NXT UK 2/23 (Aired 4/10/19) (Ep. #37)

ER: These two have worked together a lot, and always manage to bring a couple unique things to each subsequent match. Some things won't always work, but there is enough creativity to overlook some lesser moments. I don't think this was as strong as their first NXT UK match (way back in episode 10), as this match had a couple of strike exchanges that I think were out of place and unnecessary, and that first match was a little tighter because of it. There was a strike exchange in their first bout, but it felt more in place within the match. This match started with a bad hockey fighting spot, but improved once they quickly moved past it. Jinny always does at least a couple little things in her matches that I love, and one that caught my eye here was how aggressively she tried to trip up Storm on a dropdown. So many wrestlers use dropdowns as part of an accepted wrestling sequence, without seemingly knowing what the purpose of a dropdown should be. Here Jinny slides into Storm, flinging her body towards her while dropping down, showing that she aims to take Storm out at the ankles.

I liked their mat struggles, think Storm's STF with her elbow crook hooked around Jinny's neck looked great, and I think that there aren't many - if any - better submission sellers in NXT UK than Jinny. There is a cool battle over a pendulum, and I love how Jinny incorporates possible mistakes, turning them into things that make a match better. Here she loses one of Toni's arms and instead of abandoning the submission, she just pulls on the arm she still does have with both of her arms. I thought their reversals were strong, and it's impressive that they'd worked together so often and can still do a lot of sequences that come off organic. I imagine the more familiar you are with a fellow worker, the easier it can be to dance through sequences. But their reversals felt surprising, and I liked when Storm turned the tables and got Jinny in a pendulum of her own. Jinny was great at selling her back (Storm didn't really sell any of the damage Jinny inflicted), paying attention, and I like how it played into her strikes and axe kicks and stomps. There were some hard suplexes down the stretch, with a cool sequence around Jinny fighting to prevent rolling Germans, before Storm is finally able to dump her. Jinny taking suplexes is one of my favorite things in wrestling, because her long limbs fly all around and really make it look like she got ragdolled. Alicia Fox used to have this same gift. There's a great nearfall coming off Jinny spiking Storm with a faceplant after catching her on the ropes, totally nasty looking spike made even better by Storm's foot almost naturally landing on the bottom rope, making it look like the match was Jinny's if not for bad luck. I really didn't like the end run strike exchange, thought it felt really shoehorned and it just feels like wrestlers now think every "big match" needs one to show people the war they are having. It's dumb, as they had already done a good job showing this. But the strengths of the match outweighed the few weaknesses, and I hope we get another singles between them some day. 

Kassius Ohno vs. Ligero NXT UK 4/6 (Aired 4/24/19) (Ep. #39)

ER: This started out like a mean Ohno squash and then built into something that felt like a big upset was imminent, with several neat twists. And honestly, had this been an Ohno squash, I would have loved it, because a big portion of this was Ohno trying to kick Ligero's horns right off his head. Ohno was really pasting Ligero with kicks, big running front kicks, and when Ligero was on the mat Ohno would run in and boot him again in the side of the head, for good measure. Ohno felt one step ahead for much of this, every duck and dodge pulled by Ligero, there was a boot waiting for him the second he turned around. My favorite was Ohno grabbing Ligero's right arm and bending it back, and as soon as it approached the breaking point Ohno rained down on him with a kick to the ear. Ohno drops knees on Ligero's jaw and then digs his forearm across the jaw during a pin right after. And we got this really great spot I don't think I've ever seen, where Ligero caught an Ohno boot, but Ohno kept his balance and pushed through, so we wound up with Ligero on his back still holding Ohno's boot, while Ohno is still trying to push and connect with chest. 

Ohno was great at getting the advantage back, taking sure advantages for Ligero and twisting them immediately to his advantage. Early on Ligero hits a cannonball off the apron, but Ohno uses his momentum to throw Ligero into the ring steps as he is falling from taking the cannonball! Later, Ligero actually got a boot up in time for a charging Ohno...who merely stopped in time to catch the boot and then violently twist his ankle. Things weren't looking great for Ligero. But he did finally catch a charging Ohno, and went on a little tear himself, including throwing some nice kick variations and now, finally, staying one step ahead of Ohno. There were some nice reversals, nice dodges (that cool sequence with Ohno refusing to give up a boot, then whiffing on a follow up senton), and I love seeing Ohno take code reds and big roll ups and make them look like close escapes. Ohno is so good at giving opponents convincing near wins, dominating a match while showing he is beatable. We got a cool reversal where Ohno caught Ligero and immediately turned into what I thought was going to be the sudden match finishing tombstone, but Ligero rolled through that as well. The finish was what really put this over the top for me, as Ligero springs off the bottom rope with a cutter, but Ohno catches him, traps him in a cravat, unties Ligero's mask a bit....and then turns it to the side!! Ligero is looking at the inside of his mask, and before he can hardly react he gets absolutely waylaid by an elbow to the back of the head. Awesome. 

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