NXT UK Worth Watching: Ohno! Kona?

Kona Reeves vs. Dave Mastiff NXT UK 11/16/19 (Aired 1/2/20) (Ep. #74)

ER: A lot of the matches I recommend as NXT UK Worth Watching are really good matches that just miss the cut from the MOTY List, but occasionally NXT UK does a 3 minute match that is so fun that I have to recommend it. As a brand, their sweet spot is the 7-12 minute match, a window that a ton of the roster can hit really well. But we don't get as many memorable 3 minute matches, their version of a great WCW Pro or Sunday Night Heat match. But this match was smack dead center in that vibe. Kona Reeves came over to NXT UK for one taping, had two incredibly fun matches (this and a match a few weeks prior against Trent Seven), the best work I saw him do in a WWE ring, so naturally he gets fired a few months later. Reeves comes out and talks about how he had jet lag in his match against Seven, how he wasn't at his best because of the awful English cuisine, and it was like a great stupid Disco Inferno promo. Then Reeves gets his ass knocked backwards to the floor on a Mastiff shoulderblock and they didn't let up for 3 minutes. Mastiff threw some hard straight rights that kept Reeves backpedaling and tripping, but when Kona takes over he really dishes back. He sends Mastiff into the steps hard, nails a knee, then chokes out Mastiff with the ring skirt while laying in a beating. Reeves also has a real nice running boot, and a great running boot is something that can stand out in a world of superkicks. Reeves gets chucked on a release German, and the head of steam Mastiff built up on his cannonball gave us one of his best. This still had a lot of room to grow and they could have had something really great in that 7-12 minute window, but there's an art to sticking the 3 minute landing. 

Kassius Ohno vs. El Ligero NXT UK 11/16/19 (Aired 1/2/20) (Ep. #74)

ER: This was a completely different match than their match 7 months prior, and I love when guys do that. That match was really great, but based around Ohno kicking Ligero a bunch in the face and head and kind of gleefully laying in a beating. Here he gets fooled a ton by Ligero's wiles, and works a lot of the match one step behind (while in their previous match he was mostly one step ahead). He gets flustered a lot, and works a fun bit where he eats an early elbow and complains to the ref that he's out here trying to wrestle, but Ligero wants to fight. Ohno misses a flipping senton and gets trapped into a headscissors, powders to the floor, and catches Ligero with a chin breaker on his (Ligero) way back in. I like that Ohno must have thrown at least a dozen kicks at Ligero's head in their April match, and he goes through this match without even lifting his leg for a kick. Ohno takes a really big backdrop bump to the floor and Ligero bounces off him with a very fast tope con giro, and Ohno actually sells like the dive was supposed to bounce off him and send Ligero tumbling into the entranceway. I didn't love a series of roll up 2 counts, and there aren''t many callbacks to that earlier, far more violent match, until Ohno attempts to untie Ligero's mask. The first match ended when Ohno loosened Ligero's mask, turned it, then leveled him with an blindside elbow. Ligero stopped it this time, but it didn't really matter, as Ohno's sick arm trap cravat would have popped his head off his shoulders anyway. Not quite the level of their prior match - only a couple of NXT UK matches *have* been better that that match - but it's just as recommendable because you get to see something different. 

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