NXT UK Worth Watching: Devlin! Ripley! Williams! Niven!

Jordan Devlin vs. Kenny Williams NXT UK 7/20 (Aired 8/28/19) (Ep. #57)

ER: Another of those great Devlin TV matches that work so excellently on NXT UK, but don't seem to translate to any other brand or setting. I don't think his NXT or 205 Live work has ever worked as well as his 10th best NXT UK match. It's the right setting for him to do interesting work, and well, there's a reason he keeps showing up within the top 2 spots of my NXT UK Wrestler Rankings. He's great at working as disrespectful heel who acts like too much of a dickhead and winds up firing up his opponent, then bumping big for them before shutting them down again with a kick to the forehead. Here he slaps Williams around a bit before slapping too much, and before long he's taking a high backdrop bump and scrambling to the floor. Things really pick up a notch when he violently shoves Williams into the apron then throwing him even more violently into the barricade. Devlin does cool things to work over Williams' back (in between kicking the hell out of him), dropping him with a backbreaker and bending him with a torture rack. 

Williams fights back with a big dive and some nice back elbow variations, throwing his full body cannonball style into the elbow. I loved Devlin cutting of the stupid rebound lariat with his Spanish Fly, and loved how the finishing stretch wasn't worked back and forth, and loved how well they integrated strong details like Williams missing out on a possible win because he leaned too far back in a pin. Williams got to a point and fought from there, but the final couple minutes were all Devlin. Williams had some success earlier in the match blocking Devlin offense by grabbing the ropes, and we get a cool callback to that for the finish. Devlin plants a great moonsault to the small of Williams' back for a big nearfall, then Devlin tries to drag him up into a his snap back suplex. Williams holds onto the ropes again, but this time it doesn't get him out of any kind of jam, as Devlin just Kawada kicks him in the head and face before getting that snap suplex for the win. Great little TV main, just the kind of thing Devlin does on NXT UK. 

Rhea Ripley vs. Piper Niven NXT UK 8/31 (Aired 9/4/19) (#58)

ER: This was Niven's best showing so far in NXT UK, and the kind of statement match that feels like it put Ripley back on the map. Women's division has been a disappointment for me in my UK watching, with one genuine standout in Jinny, and two strong seconds in Toni Storm and Ripley. But there hasn't been nearly enough for the women to do, there aren't enough match-ups, and the title matches have under delivered. But this match delivered. It had a cool simple story with Ripley working over Niven's back to slow her down, leaving her open to be hit with bigger offense. One of Niven's weaknesses is insisting on working a few go go go sequences, but being slow in those sequences, getting up slow off the mat, etc. Giving Niven an injured back plays into that weakness and gives better reason for it to be happening than "she is slow but insists on working a modern fast style". 

Neither back down on shoulderblocks and that is the kind of thing I love, and I'm a fan of Niven missing her senton to allow Ripley opening to attack with strikes. I dug her Steiner recliner and the violent way Niven back elbowed her way out. Niven threw four back elbows to break, and two of them missed. But as she was wildly throwing these back elbows blind, to get out of a hold, I love that fact that these weren't cleanly landed. Niven's Saito suplex -> cannonball -> Vader bomb is a great 1-2-3 to build to in her matches, similar to the way Dave Mastiff builds his matches (and Niven could do well by modeling her match structures after Mastiff's), and I love how she blocked a Riptide by nailing Ripley with a headbutt. I wasn't sure the Riptide was coming and thought it looked great when it landed, and capped off a great showing for both, at a time where more women on the roster need to stand out. Great timing. 

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