2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Imperium vs. Gallus

70. Marcel Barthel/Fabian Aichner vs. Wolfgang/Mark Coffey NXT UK 11/16 (Aired 12/12/19)

ER: My two favorite NXT UK teams were going to have a hard time living up to what I wanted this match to be, and yet, until the No Contest finish to set up the upcoming TakeOver match, they did. This match hits that perfect 12 minute NXT UK mark and is only lacking an actual finish. I wasn't sure how they were going to work the match, as both teams are heels in this setting. It settled into Imperium cutting Mark off from Wolfgang and I thought that was a cool choice. Aichner and Barthel are at their best when they're at their most aggressive, and I think Wolfgang is a really good fiery hot tag. Imperium hit like dynamite, whether they were swinging their arms at Gallus or taking big bumps to the floor. Aichner and Barthel both take great splat back bumps to the floor and Aichner takes one of the most consistently fast backdrops to the floor of anyone in wrestling. 

Everyone gets to throw their own hard contact into the mix: Coffey hits a great diving shoulderblock early in the match, Barthel throws full extension kicks, Aichner throws strikes with his entire body, and they still save some of that dynamite for Wolfgang's hot tag. It's a good one, with Aichner getting sent flying with a pounce and a spear, Barthel getting press slammed onto Aichner, and a cool in-ring moment that was almost surely an accident yet winds up adding a bit of depth to the match: Wolfgang went to flip over the ropes into the ring like he was Solar, and wound up running into the referee before getting to Aichner. Now, I'm sure Wolfgang was supposed to just flip right into Aichner's spinebuster, but I really liked the idea of Wolfgang only getting caught with a spinebuster *because* he inadvertently bumped into the ref. It added more to the match, showing how a brief distraction could swing the odds just 1-2%, which is a more interesting detail to add into a match than what otherwise would have been a very nice looking piece of chained offense. The match had plenty of excellently done chained explosions, and it was cool to see one of them get interrupted, whether intentionally or not. We don't get a good finish, as the match is used to build toward a big TakeOver defense, and it's a shame because the crowd was loud for this one from Wolfgang's hot tag on. Even without a real finish, I think this is the best NXT UK tag match through the first 75 episodes, and that's a cool feat. 

PAS: I am not particularly familiar with either of these teams, so I came in with no expectations, but man this was neat. Really hard hitting stuff, which added some real frisson to the big NXT finishing run. They do this cool spot where Barthel beats on Coffey in the corner so badly that the ref calls for the doctor to check him for a concussion, only to have Coffey stand back up and fire back. It is a spot which could have felt pretty hokey except Barthel really teed off on Coffey's skull and I kind of bought the concussion. We get a big hot tag and a series of big move near falls, all done well until the schmozz ending. The idea of Johnny Saint being the guy to call for the four way ladder match is pretty silly and I am sure that match wasn't as good as this. 

2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK