NXT UK Worth Watching: Devlin vs. Banks

Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 3/7 (Aired 3/26/20) (Ep. #85)

ER: Jordan Devlin is really good at getting matches I like out of people that I don't like (for their wrestling style or because they're a nonce), often while working a style that I don't even like. He's one of the few guys who you could make the case for being the best wrestler in NXT UK, and I really love the ways he integrates his ideas into a match. In his longer matches he tends to throw in some "cute" exchanges that would surely annoy if done by a lesser performer, but he and Noam Dar have a way of getting cute with their opponents that actually manages to add to a match. Banks is a nonce and I'm not a huge fan of his in-ring, but he's shown himself to be a very good opponent for all of my favorite wrestlers. His matches against Devlin, Dar, Alexander Wolfe, Kassius Ohno, and Brian Kendrick are among my very favorite matches through 85 episodes of NXT UK. I don't think anyone else on the roster has had the level of matches Banks had with those guys, so even if I argue that he was "carried" to those good matches, there have been several other guys who all had matches against those guys and the Banks matches were just overall better. This is basically his last match in WWE, I doubt I'll be writing about any of his matches in the future, so here's me doing a "gotta hand it to" a guy who sucks: Travis Banks, you had better matches against great wrestlers than a lot of other people. 

I loved how Devlin went after Banks and I loved the way both bumped. Devlin always throws in a couple neat tricks, and I loved how Banks got him to faceplant on a dropdown, just rolled right into his ankles and sent Devlin face and shoulder first into the mat. Banks had done some work on Devlin's shoulder and Devlin fell on that shoulder and kept acknowledging it, all through controlling Banks he would roll his shoulder and flex his arm, smiling while enacting revenge. That all happened when Devlin rolled to the floor to escape but Banks came after with a tope. Devlin sidestepped that tope and Banks had one of the more spectacular crash landings I've seen. Banks went upside down, head and shoulder first into that barricade, a crash landing that Darby Allin would want to study just to see how to make it even crazier. As Banks is crashed on the floor, Devlin does one armed pushups in the ring and I love it. Devlin looked good in control, working over Banks with stiff strikes and setting up good comebacks. Devlin's reversals all look really good, and he rarely looks like the type of modern wrestlers I hate, who work every move around a reversal. Devlin's reversals always fit into the match and actually play like a reaction, not like a dance step. 

When Devlin catches knees on a moonsault, Banks goes on an awesome comeback tear. The corner cannonball has become a pretty worn out spot, but Banks hits one with his whole damn ass behind it. A lot of cannonballs have become late somersaults rolling up your opponent instead of into your opponent, and Banks jumps into this one like Jordan from the free throw line, really hitting Devlin like a cannonball. Banks also hits a tope that I didn't even think Devlin would be recovered enough in time to catch, as Devlin bumps out through the ropes and as he's bumping Banks is already getting a head of steam, and by the time the camera cuts back to Devlin he's getting wiped out by the tope. I mentioned "cute" spots, and one of those was a headbutt exchange that I've never seen before, and probably don't want to see much again: Banks hits a headbutt that staggers both, and Devlin winds up falling forward with his own headbutt as both are going down. It sounds complicated, it sounds silly, but I really liked how it came off. If it started turning up in every match like a finger break, it would become one of my least favorite spots, but that's the magic of Devlin, taking an annoying idea on paper and actually making it look good. This had several convincing nearfalls, strike exchanges that didn't fall into obnoxious patterns, and some real crazy spots. It was worked like a big main event and it felt like a big main event. 

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

2020 Ongoing MOTY List: Wolfe vs. Banks

29. Alexander Wolfe vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 1/18 (Aired 3/5/20)

ER: Alexander Wolfe is a real beast who is incredibly good at selling and perhaps even better at setting up his opponents' offense. This guy's entire WWE run was as the bottom tier man in two different stables, but goddamn is this guy good. Banks is at his best when he's pushing pace and not slowing things down with strike trading, and he starts this off hot by knocking Wolfe to the floor and then nailing him with a smothering bullet tope, then sticks his boot heels into Wolfe's back with a double stomp (and I dug how Banks went back to that double stomp later in the match). Any match that starts with Wolfe unable to remove his track jacket almost always means you're getting something good, and this is no different. When Wolfe takes over he's really unforgiving, getting Banks to the mat and really pounding on him and roughing him up with headlocks. 

Wolfe is super intense in control, but also great at giving Banks openings and appropriately selling Banks' offense. I don't love some of Banks' strikes, but Wolfe's selling always fits the strike. There is no stupid trading, and Wolfe doesn't automatically do a back bump for each hit. Instead, he staggers and stumbles and falls into place and I'm not sure who else in WWE is this good at filling time waiting to take offense. I've seen so many wrestlers slumped in the corner waiting for a dropkick, and seeing the way Wolfe sets up Banks' corner dropkick should be an eye opener to all of them. Wolfe is good at using Banks' regular offense to set up unique situations, and breaks out some unexpected counters. I loved him hacking at Bank's shins to block a penalty kick, then sweeping those legs to force a Banks faceplant. Wolfe always approaches offense honestly, never waiting for his opponent to do some of the positional work for him. If a guy isn't where he needs him to be, Wolfe will yank them into proper position. The twisting suplex off the apron to the floor looked really nasty, and the in-ring version getting only a two count was a nearfall I really bit on. Wolfe's sitout powerbomb is one of my favorite finishers in wrestling, as it's always so perfectly executed that it hardly seems real. His form, the force he uses, the way he shifts his body to control the pin and leverage, just a perfect understanding of one's offense. A dive into Wolfe's German work is probably long overdue at this point. 

2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

NXT UK Worth Watching: Brian Kendrick IS Brian Kendrick

Brian Kendrick vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 1/17 (Aired 1/23/20) (Ep. #76)

ER: This was one of the earliest NXT UK matches I checked out, not long after it aired. Before this I had sought out a handful of the Ohno appearances and one of Oney Lorcan's UK matches, but once Brian Kendrick worked a few UK dates the brand was officially on my radar. I don't think I'm making up history here, but the Kendrick UK matches were probably the straw that broke me down into starting all of NXT UK from the beginning in the first place. Once I saw the excellent matches Ohno and Kendrick were having with all the NXT UK guys, I got more interested in seeing how they worked with each other, and 76 episodes and three TakeOvers later here we are. Kendrick's WWE return was incredible. He worked like an absolute ace, and he and Ohno reminded me more of Finlay than anyone else on the roster in all of the best ways: ring positioning, creativity, working with a moment, logical attacks, crafting a match around a unique opponent. Every Kendrick match had a few things that expose what other wrestlers *aren't* doing, and Kendrick makes those things obvious. 

Here Kendrick worked over Banks' hand to attempt to distract him enough to hit bigger offense. We get 10 minutes of Kendrick slamming that hand into the ring steps, into the barricade, stomping on it, bending it around the ropes, kneeling on it, using it as an entry point to bigger things. He's not constantly working the hand over that 10 minuets, he just goes back to it enough that we're always thinking about it; and if we're thinking about it, then Banks is definitely thinking about it. Banks' hurt hand informed a lot of what he did and he was always mindful of it, all through the finish. Kendrick dominated once he took out that hand, so Banks offense came in bursts: a fast tope that crashed his whole body over Kendrick, big missile dropkick, and a couple Kiwi Crushers that looked like they dumped Kendrick on the back of his neck (one for a close nearfall, the other to win). 

I love the way Kendrick bumps, and thought his bumps made Banks look strong. They aren't always clean bumps, but once you see a guy who doesn't fill his matches with fast flat back bumps you realize how silly they are. Kendrick falls the way a move's momentum takes him, sometimes tumbling wildly to the floor while reaching out for ropes or ring skirt to stop him, sometimes falling on his side, always looking like the right bump for the move he just took. Kendrick's faceplant bumps are some of the greatest I've seen, whipping his face fast into the mat and holding it like he just loosened two teeth. Oh, and then during the home stretch Kendrick also showed he has the best yakuza kicks in wrestling. What a killer. The Captains Hooks has been my favorite sub in wrestling since Kendrick debuted it, and he had some nasty set-ups for it in this match, including a sick crossface with a great headlock takeover, and I liked how it kept coming back. Banks' win feels even worse in retrospect, for a variety of reasons. Brian Kendrick and Kassius Ohno were the guys who made me go and check out all of the NXT UK, but now I'm just bummed realizing that these matches were basically the last matches I would get to see from these two wrestling gods. 

This match was deservedly placed on our 2020 MOTY List in 2020, but this review is updated to reflect its place within my current NXT UK project. 

Read more!

NXT UK Worth Watching: Noam Dar vs. Tyler Bate! An Actual Great 3-Way!

Ligero vs. Joseph Conners vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 11/15 (Aired 12/5/19) (Ep. #71)

ER: Had you told me I was about to watch a match that was not only a triple threat match, but also nothing but 10 minutes of chained offense, I would have zoned out immediately. NXT UK isn't really a fed that does triple threat matches (one of their best features) and it's difficult to chain a lot of offense through a triple threat because you're dealing with that extra man. It started a little hinky and ironed out the quirks pretty quickly, settling into a fast paced match that felt much longer than it actually was, but not in a bad way! They squeezed so many ideas into a relatively short running time that it felt much more complete than most triple threat matches, while managing to avoid one guy constantly lying just out of frame waiting until it was his turn to step in. Describing the action feels almost pointless, as moves begat moves begat moves, but this was incredibly fun. Ligero really glued this together, not always having the most showcase worthy offense but clearly knowing how to get this match from A-E and not miss C. 

When I started the NXT UK project Ligero was an early standout for performances like this one, but tapered off hard in 2019 after his great Ohno match. Conners also felt like he really came together here, as his Brian Kendrick-lite act plays well in the middle of a chaotic three way. Chained offense usually comes off like two guys waiting around for one guy to get to a specific spot, and this rarely had that eye vacancy of remembering dance steps. Instead they upped the crazy as the match went on while not messing up the timing, so the match felt more like an exciting tightrope walk the longer it went. Banks hit a great early tope suicida on Conners, and later in the match when Conners goes to wipe out Banks with the same, Conners instead gets elbowed out of the air and topes to nothing. There was enough of that violence throughout that it never felt like three guys doing throwback ECW Nova offense, instead making a bunch of the highspots look opportunistically cool (Conners giving Ligero a DDT after a cradle attempt, big spills to the floor, a Conners double stomp on the ring steps). This felt like a real lightning in a bottle triple threat, like they hit a point where every complicated sequence was just working, and I don't think they could replicate it. I think it stands alone as a great match, using a bad match format, featuring majority problematic wrestlers, and that's a weird achievement.

Noam Dar vs. Tyler Bate NXT UK 11/16 (Aired 12/19/19) (Ep. #73)

ER: Another great Noam Dar performance. Dar is really great at mocking an opponent while in control and then showing tons of ass the second the tide turns. He mocked Bate every chance he got while taking every cheapshot he could, then leaned right into everything that Bate threw at him. They started with some cool learned behavior stuff, which can come off really dance-y but mostly avoided it here. Too often when learned behavior comes into play, it turns into two guys with vacant stares trying to remember their next step, but a lot of their tricks felt really organic, like Dar shoving Bate into the ropes and dropping down for a Phillie Phanatic trip and Bate holds the ropes and pounces on Dar's back. Things hit that next level when Dar gets pissed and stomps down on the inside of Bate's knee, then does a cool Garvin stomp variation going around to each limb, lifting it, and stomping it to the mat. I loved Dar's use of the snapmare as active offense, snapmaring Bate into the turnbuckles and into the ring steps. The snapmare is slowly becoming a lost art, as most don't use it any longer and many that do don't know how to properly execute one. Dar not only executes a great snapmare, but uses his in ways that nobody else does, and that's the kind of thing that makes a wrestler stand out high above the rest. 

Dar almost wins by count out after the snapmare into the ring steps (Dar mocking Bate's big strong boy poses in the ring the entire time) and we move into a really good extended final stretch of nearfalls and reversals. Dar has some awesome reversals, and they're all used to interrupt Bate's trademark bullshit, which makes the reversals not only more satisfying, but adds to that high end level of "learned behavior" they played with to start the match. Dar cuts off Bate's bullshit with nasty reversals, dropping him with a quick Flatliner to cut off that spot where Bate makes people stop in their tracks for a right hand, and when Bate bounces shoulders first off the top rope (to hit his big lariat) Dar just grabs his legs and drops down into his heel hook. It feels weird to say that Noam Dar has the best heel hook/knee bar in wrestling, but it's pretty hard to dispute how grinding it looks here. Dar looks like he is shredding Bate's ligaments and I am here for all of it. Bate does some fun theatrical one leg hopping the rest of the match, and Dar seems like he has a well of ideas to pull off annoying shifts in momentum. He bails to the floor to break up a fast sequence (then gets taken out by a big no hands running plancha), but when Bate limps up to the top rope he catches knees on the way down. Dar is great at taking offense, and I love the way he sells and staggers for Bate's shots, not taking the same bump twice, and matching the level of bump to the impact of the move. Bate does nail that big right hand to set up the finish, and Dar buckles his knees and puts a hand down to stop himself from going down, perfectly setting up Bate's Tiger Driver win. Dar was so good here, that it really felt like the kind of thing Ohno brought to NXT UK, catering a cool match around a specific opponent and taking the match in directions that nobody else has. He must have sitting on some of these ideas and wanting to work them into a match with Bate for ages, yet at no point did this ever come off like a "getting all of my ideas in" match. Very impressive. 

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff 8/31/19

Noam Dar vs. Travis Banks

ER: Great stuff, an excellent start to a big TakeOver. Noam Dar may be the best on the roster at doing dance step wrestling, and he does it in a way that doesn't actually make that style a problem. His timing is strong, his placement is excellent, and the way he positions himself and occupies himself while waiting for offense is second to few. The main problem, for me, with dance sequence wrestling is that nothing feels organic, everything feels like a blank eyed run back of rehearsed spots, and Noam Dar manages to do very complicated sequences while adding personal touches that keep them feeling organic. I've never gotten the sense that he is locked into a pre-planned set of steps, as he seems to respond incredibly quick to a change in plans. If a kick doesn't land the way it's supposed to, the plan does not appear to continue as initially planned, and there are very few guys this good at thinking on their feet. Dar doesn't take any shortcuts in his transitions, chopping down with his elbow to lock an arm, snatching Banks out of the air by his leg and holding it tight the whole way through a sequence, and a cool way of attacking several parts of the body while appearing to be focused. 

Banks is good at selling Dar's inflicted damage while still getting his offense in, and he's good at taking Dar's most punishing stuff. I loved Dar's two vicious snapmares, one into the ring ropes and another into the barricade, really making it look like he's forcing Banks into a painful bump. There's also cool work around the ring steps and other ring rope tricks, but all the reversals were super crisp and fit nicely into the match. Dar comes off like a Jack Gallagher peer at this point, great at crafting strong story in a 6 minute match or an 18 minute match. He's good at pulling off smug but undeniably well executed heel offense that makes things feel more heated, and gives a good babyface something real to play off. This built to some really hot, fast stuff. Banks plasters Dar with a great tope, nails him with a couple double stomps, Dar leans into hard sliding dropkicks and hits his own brutal running knees, all building to some well orchestrated kickouts. This ramped up really well and was worked snugly enough to keep throwing off sparks. Great chemistry, great gauntlet to throw down at the start of a big show. 

Ilja Dragunov vs. Cesaro

ER: This is Cesaro's first appearance in NXT UK, and I love WWE treating their Network brands like territories to send main brand stars into. It's something they should do more, give some of the best guys the opportunity to work a Star Passing Through a Territory match. Cesaro brings great main brand presence, dwarfing Dragunov and acting like the guy deservedly crossed over to the main roster. Dragunov is bigger and more muscular than most of the guys in NXT UK, but Cesaro makes him look like a Little Buff Boys finalist. Cesaro beats Dragunov pillar to post, forcing Dragunov to make some pretty awful faces, faces I loved seeing take uppercuts. Dragunov may make dumb faces, but he endures some real punishment for the right to make those dumb faces, so more power to him. Cesaro is really dominating, building from hard chops and shoulderblocks into throwing his whole body into uppercuts and headlocks, dragging Dragunov arm under throat into sick crossfaces. Cesaro throws Dragunov over the top rope to the floor, into the barricade, drawing fair comparisons to The Berzerker. Cesaro delivers a Berzerker level beatdown. He gets a huge (fast counted) giant swing and a violent belly to back suplex. I thought Ilja's comebacks were fine, though I don't think I ever fully bought into him potentially beating Cesaro. Cesaro felt too much like a larger more perfect killing machine version of Dragunov, and Cesaro as a killing machine is a beautiful sight. He hits a press slam into a kneelift and then a torpedo uppercut for a big nearfall, and finishes things with a huge pop up uppercut, immediately yanking Ilja into the Gotch piledriver. This felt like a good version of Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor, with Cesaro coming across as a far more punishing traveling-champ Flair. 

PAS: Dragunov is kind of a goof, but an endearing one. I mean Kikuchi made silly faces too, and Dragunov takes Kikuchi level beatings. That press slam into a knee strike by Cesaro really should be his finisher, what a brutal bit of business that was. I did think when Draganov had Cesaro reeling on the floor he had a chance, and I loved Cesaro decisively shutting the door on him with that pop up uppercut and Gotch combo finish. I would love to see Cesaro in this role more often. He had a great Regal match years ago when he did this same sort of drop down. He is dead in the water on the main roster anyway, he might as well as go after the NXT UK title again. A rematch with Dragunov as the champ would be great stuff.  

Mark Andrews/Flash Morgan Webster vs.  Mark Coffey/Wolfgang vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

ER: This tag bit off more than it could probably chew, but there is plenty of joyous wrestling action to exist in matches where guys bite off too much. It's a 20 minute tag that would have exploded at 15, but gave us a big babyface tag title win for hometown Cardiff boys Webster and Andrews. Everyone here had a lot (maybe too much sometimes) to contribute, with Wolfgang standing out as one of the best guys on the brand at taking complicated flier offense. Gibson did the same, and Webster got to shine with his fun combo of dives, ranas, and top rope flips. Wolfgang is the biggest guy in the match, and he goes up for two different crazy bumps where he's on someone's shoulders. He takes a poison rana with a perfect vertical spike, and then takes a nutso Doomsday Device tope from James Drake late in the match, folding hard on the entrance floor. Gibson is good at getting into position for some big Andrews offense, both GYF taking his Stundog Millionaire as well as anyone. Fan reaction kept growing along with the match, even if I thought things could have been edited down (take out the long Gallus disappearance that only gets paid off with a Drake tope, trim the standoffs and bad showdown fighting) they clearly knew the audience and kept them hooked. Strong rudos make for strong babyfaces, and this was a fine team effort. Gibson and Drake started off hot 50 episodes ago, but they've been a stale act with the titles. Webster and Andrews will be a fun change of pace in title matches, champions that feel beatable but are capable of surprising. Gallus are the clear talent of any tag match, and the 3 way format made them too much of an afterthought. I don't think it harms them as an act, as they still remain the favorites to get the belts and have a long run. Wolfgang feels like someone who has over a year of different title defense ideas in him. 

Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey

ER: I thought this started incredibly, with the first 4 minutes stacking up well against all my favorite NXT UK stuff. I wish this was just a violent street fight instead of a last man standing as when they were fighting, rather that doing stunts, this was excellent. So we have those first 4 minutes, starting with a great fight in the entrance way with both going after the injuries suffered in their excellent match that set this match up. There's a sick early moment (very early) where Coffey gets whipped into the turnbuckles hard and the whole top rope snaps off. Coffey really flew into that buckle and the PONG sound when he hit was great, and I really don't think that rope was supposed to break. They kind of try to go on with the match in ring but once Coffey eats shit off the middle rope they go with a more weapons and plunder approach, which is fine. It lead to cool things like Mastiff jamming a turnbuckle support bar in Coffey's mouth and throwing him mouth first on the mat, and I wish they would have played more around with that instead of going to the floor so quickly. The under ring weapons portion was my least favorite of the match as it felt so much more manufactured than the body/injury targeting fight this started as. But Coffey still took some crazy bumps, like a sky high backdrop on the floor and a release German suplex, plus getting walloped a couple times by a cricket bat. 

They both take some gnarly spills, both get put through tables, but some of the stuff is so silly in its violence that it doesn't really vibe with their super serious attitudes. Take, for example, when they both get chairs and run headlong down a long aisle at each other, collide, and then both spill backward down the aisle. It was like Homer and Bart running at each other wearing pots on their heads. Coffey takes the Finlay roll on the announce table, both fall off the second landing through another set of tables, you know the drill with WWE brand Last Man Standing matches. The finish is clever, with both men getting to their feet after their tandem spill, leaning on those rolling load-in containers, and as Coffey is standing he kicks the rolling container out of Mastiff's hands and causes him to fall, or, not stand. There was a lot of great in this match, but while they did a ton of damage to each other, things felt much more mapped out once they went to the floor. Coffey for his part turned in a great overall performance, and the first 4 minutes play as a killer follow up to their excellent TV match. 

Toni Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray

ER: Disappointing. Not the kind of match you want to change a title on, and the title change came off completely flat. I loved how they started things, with Ray refusing to lock up and repeatedly hopping to the floor, until Storm hit a great tope suicida past the ringpost, Storm slams Ray into the barricade, throws forearms and kicks, and generally dominates most of this match from there. In fact, the whole thing felt so flat because it felt like Storm was either too dominant, OR too dominant so that she would save face with a title loss? I can't explain it, but whatever it was, it didn't work for me or the fans in attendance. This was the Toni show, with a couple of big German suplexes (one tossing Ray from the middle turnbuckle), Code Red, big headbutt, and a Storm Zero that only gets 2 (with a suitably doofy Toni face accompanying it). Storm even nails another tope suicida, but they get to the finish so quick that it almost felt like something was wrong. Ray hits a knee, big senton to the floor (Toni with a nice catch so Ray doesn't die), and then Ray hits a couple Gory bombs in the ring for the title win. Now, I loved the Gory bomb set up, with Ray dropping Toni over the top rope with the first and a traditional one for the pin, but I don't think anybody watching thought this was the finish. It wasn't a short match (10 minutes or so), but this didn't feel like a finish they had actually been building to (even with Ray hitting a Gory bomb earlier). This landed flat, and if they were going to put a belt on a heel then Jinny would have been a much more interesting choice. This match never felt like the match they were building it to be, never felt like any kind of unique history played into it. 

WALTER vs. Tyler Bate

ER: This was a 2019 match that even people who pretend online to not watch NXT UK went out of their way to watch. This was the first NXT UK match that Meltzer went real cuckoo about, choosing once again to break the rules of his own established star ratings, and being perfect-plus still means something to some people. But you know? I just did not need 42 minutes of perfect-plus. I don't think that length was necessary and I would've loved to have seen a 21 minute edit. But it's also an impressive physical feat to work over 40 minutes of hard striking and harder bumps, and this match somehow managed to get more physical the longer it went. I did not buy Bate standing up to all the damage and making all the comebacks he did, but I also must acknowledge that there was some absolutely brutal punishment he took that was not pulled, and I can't take that away from him. Tyler Bate took a genuine beating, and still kept the awareness to pull off some very complicated runs. 

I do think there was far too much down time, and that it's hard to sustain disbelief when WALTER is laying it on full strength. WALTER threw enough full arm chops to purple up Bate's chest 20 minutes in, and that chest was one thing Bate never forgot to sell. WALTER crashed hard on shoulderblocks and lariats and went to the chin with his elbows, and his rudest offense made it seem like he should have no problem disposing of Bate in under 20. Bate had a few impressive throws on WALTER, but I never once bought any of his strikes. When there's this much of a size difference you REALLY need to tighten things up to narrow that gap. Instead Bate had a lot of big blows that were supposed to be moment payoffs, and I think they all landed flat. I am just not going to buy into a single Bate short left hook putting WALTER down for longer than anything he did to Bate. And to buy into this match, you have to buy into several moments just like that. Implausible as I found the last 20 minutes of Tyler Bate comebacks, they did work a ton of very good nearfalls that really build nicely. Bate was at his best when he was using his body as a weapon, hit or miss. His tope suicidas were unhinged full body crashes into WALTER, his top rope corkscrew senton was great, he flew into a chop to the shoulder blades and got powerbombed horizontally into a ringpost. So while I hated a lot of Bate's payoff strikes, his peaks were majestic. The crowd was truly along for the ride and wanted to see Bate win the title, and that goes a long way towards the match's favor.  So while I wish I could have seen what their 20 minute main event looked like, they do manage to fill 42 minutes with some strong peaks. That's an overall success. 

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

NXT UK Worth Watching: Wolfgang! Gallus! Wild Boar! WALTER! Primate!

Wolfgang/Mark Coffey vs. Wild Boar/Primate NXT UK 6/14 (Aired 6/19/19) (Ep. #47)

ER: Great hard hitting sprint, both teams have a strength at building quick in and out tags that are majority killer and not any longer than they need to be. This started with The Hunt running wild and hitting a pair of dives and Boar hits some sentons, and you can see a strength of Coffey and Wolfgang is getting into position for all of The Hunt's attacks, cutting off in nicely timed spots, but also setting up small comeback moments (like Mark taking a big bump off the apron after getting hit by Boar, only for Wolfgang to cut him off), and I like the simple ways Gallus grounds Boar, with stomps and a full nelson and quick tags. It was all building to a big Primate hot tag (which honestly should have been hotter, and gone on at least a couple beats longer), but Mark and Wolfgang are good at getting good height on things like backdrops, and I did love how quickly Mark turned to tables by just running Boar into the ring steps with a double leg. The assisted powerslam/kick finish felt like it came a bit too quick, but I liked the work in the match that got us to that point. It ended up being a nice Gallus showcase, and I was a bit surprised how "down the ladder" it made The Hunt come off, but could be easily explained by "good teams beat good teams" and that's fine. They were working at a pace that easily could have allowed for another 6 minutes of strong tag wrestling, and I hope they get the chance to have that match. 

WALTER vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 6/15 (Aired 6/26/19) (Ep. #48)

ER: WALTER is so good at being a territory Ric Flair, in his specific territory. He almost always towers over every one of his challengers, but that doesn't mean that he would have to actually be good at believably selling for his small opponents, doesn't mean that he would have to ever get good at integrating his small opponents' offense into a match. But he is really great at showing vulnerability, and it's matches like these that highlight how good he can be at showing just the right amount of it. Travis Banks doesn't necessarily have offense that looks like it would be too damaging to WALTER, but it's worked into the match at such a time, and sold so excellently by WALTER, that you get the sense the WALTER *could* be surprised with an upset. WALTER is of course savage here, throwing full weight behind everything he hits Banks with, and my favorite moment came early when WALTER just grabbed a kicking and resisting Banks and plopped him on the top rope, as if he were a Long Island security detail removing Low Ki from a venue. 

WALTER lays Banks across the turnbuckle and then just climbs up to stand on his neck, until Banks falls hard to the floor. Banks did not seem like someone who should even be challenging WALTER in that moment, so it was impressive when he starting landing leg kicks and WALTER started feeling them. WALTER's selling was really what put this onto the next level, as he was great at realistically occupying himself by lightly limping, showing his knee buckle, stopping briefly to make sure the injury wasn't worse, the tiniest little things to give Banks enough time to get to his next attack. There was a good nearfall when Banks hit a nasty double stomp off the top, felt like Toyota really driving her heels into Kong. And Banks' tope really sent his weight all the way into WALTER, and I love when an undersized man throws himself as hard as he can into a tope. Also, it felt like WALTER appropriately sold that tope, and it made sense that even with that nice dive WALTER was still able to finish things 30 seconds later. NXT UK is maybe the only brand under the WWE banner that seems to understand that nothing needs to be 50-50, and there are plenty of engaging ways to craft high quality and/or interesting matches at 75-25. 

Wolfgang/Joe Coffey/Mark Coffey vs. Wild Boar/Primate/Dave Mastiff NXT UK 6/16 (Aired 7/10/19) (Ep. #50)

ER: Trios continue to be an underutilized match style on NXT UK, and here's another one that shows what an asset they can be to the program. I also like that this is just six bruisers, just gathering them all in one place. NXT UK men's division is definitely divided up between fast guys who want to hit their spot sequences (and some very good at it) and guys that just want to crash into each other, and this match just throws six of the crashers in together. This was a real nice Gallus showcase, shows how well they work together and the slightly different things they all bring. I really like Wolfgang, a wrestler who does a ton of cool things but nothing overly flashy. He might be the only guy in wrestling to still fling themselves into the mat on an Irish whip, and I love it, it's like Mitch Williams falling off the mound to throw harder. Wolfgang has some cool tackles, a nice diving lariat, the perfect glue guy for Gallus. Wild Boar is a great hot tag, comes in with an awesome log roll trip, then a great senton and an awesome spear in the corner. Gallus separates him from his boys and I dug all of Gallus controlling Boar, all building to a big Mastiff hot tag. Gallus are good at control, and arguably better at feeding for comebacks, especially Mark Coffey. Coffey is intentionally in the ring when Mastiff runs wild, because nobody was going to take a higher backdrop than Mark. Mastiff hits an awesome Finlay roll into Wolfgang with Mark on his shoulders, hits a German on Mark, headbutt to Joe, cannonball to Mark, and then we get stereo dives from The Hunt. It was a great finishing stretch, and I had no clue who was going to take it, as all were very good at hitting something cool and then getting taken out. Joe wound up leveling Boar with a lariat after Wolfgang took out Mastiff, and yes I'm going to need more trios matches. We've seen some good trios with bruisers, let's see a flier trios!

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

NXT UK Worth Watching: WALTER! Mansoor! Devlin! Banks!

Mansoor vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 4/6 (Aired 5/1/19) (Ep. #40)

ER: This is fairly low end among the recommended NXT UK matches, but a surprising Mansoor performance really elevated it for me. Where has this Mansoor been? Mansoor has been in several matches I've enjoyed, but never like this. Normally he is the same generic highflyer babyface that WWE turns all of their highflyers into, with their only personality being their ethnicity. Here, Mansoor is heel, and he works the match as if he's heel Alex Wright working as the Sheik. It's an awesome combination and Mansoor shows more personality here than in even his best babyface performances. I liked his cocky kip-ups and cartwheels to break wrist locks, and how he yelled at Banks to get off him on a rope break. 

And instead of doing flippy babyface offense, Mansoor changes up his offense to work heel, with my favorite bit of offense a running throat thrust, looked great. He shoves Banks off the top to the floor in a violent way, and stooges nicely to set up Banks' offense. Not only did Mansoor change his offense to work as a heel, but he bumps like a heel too, and that impresses me even more. He takes a couple comical trampoline bumps for Banks, bouncing and recoiling off ropes (like good versions of Rock taking a stunner), and leans into Banks' best stuff. Banks pastes him with a punt from the apron, and the tope he hits after completely smashes Mansoor. Mansoor caught this dive like a champ, just standing right in the path and getting leveled by it. Fired up Banks is fun, but he's even more fun with heel Mansoor playing into and off of it all. This only goes 6 minutes, and wraps up far too neatly, with Banks hitting the Kiwi Crusher without any struggle, and if they added a wrinkle or two I would recommend it even more. As it is, it surprised me, and I like being surprised.   

WALTER vs. Jordan Devlin NXT UK 4/6 (Aired 5/1/19) (Ep. #40)

ER: I was expecting this to be a bit bigger than it was, but enjoyed what we got. As someone who watched very little NXT UK (before starting going through all the episodes from the beginning), I was embracing my unfamiliarity with the product and letting the show lay out who was important, who was a threat. And through the first 30 or so episodes nobody seemed like as much of a threat as Jordan Devlin. And I don't think anyone on the roster has been hurt by the arrival of WALTER as much as Jordan Devlin has. Devlin's spot on the ladder became noticeably lower the moment WALTER showed up, and seeing how this match was worked - knowing how dominant Devlin was presented over the first several months of the program - is fairly definitive proof of that. All that aside, the match is really fun and any bitterness over it may just be me wishing I didn't have to see so much Pete Dunne in the title picture, as Devlin brings far more interesting match layouts than Dunne. This was worked with Devlin desperately trying to evade WALTER, outright running from him for the first couple minutes, and of course getting caught and getting brutalized. WALTER crunches him with chops and suplexes, WALTER matches him impressively with speed, knocks him around, and it leads to a cool turning point where WALTER tries to press Devlin back into the ring, falls short, and Devlin gets tied up in the ropes. 

But Devlin gets a shot in at WALTER's leg, and begins to exploit it. WALTER is really great at selling a knee, because he doesn't do any awful melodramatics, and instead sells more like someone walking down stairs after a day of too many squats. He's really good at selling leg tightness, and Devlin has hard enough kicks that they are believably damaging to the big man. WALTER also starts bleeding out of the mouth, which gives us the great visual of blood streaming down WALTER's cheek. They work a nice balance of Devlin wearing down WALTER, but having to get too close to do so, so still getting rocked by loud chops or tossed with a highlight reel Saito suplex. The only thing really holding the match back, was that no matter how effective Devlin's leg attacks were, it never felt possible that Devlin could beat WALTER. I think it was a mistake pairing the two so early, as I think this was a match that actually could have been built to if they didn't have their WALTER/Dunne blinders on. So it never felt like WALTER could lose, and that's a shame because Devlin is someone that had been built up strongly enough to plausibly beat him. Still, the match rocked, and we'll see where it all goes from here. 

PAS: I haven't seen much of Devlin before and he kind of strikes me as just a white guy with pace and nice abs. Still WALTER is an evocative enough worker, that he can do something cool with a white guy with pace and nice abs. I really liked the work on the leg, Devlin really chopped up the quad and knee and it actually made WALTER a bit vulnerable,  that and the bloody mouth actually had me buying the near falls, when I figured it would be more of a steamrolling, that Saito suplex did look awesome too. WALTER did feel a bit inevitable, and although I hate to say this, I feel Devlin could have used one more kickout. 

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Ohno vs. Banks

71. Kassius Ohno vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 2/23 (Aired 4/10/19)

ER: I love a good brick wall match, and Ohno is clearly going to be a good brick wall against some of these smaller NXT UK guys. Banks is a guy who is very good at taking on a limbless quest (every match I've seen of his has him gamely selling a limb), and it's fun seeing him successfully work within these odd Dogme 95 "only use one arm" rules. Ohno is a real condescending bully here, and condescending Ohno is so good because the cockiness leaves openings for Banks. Ohno was a real prick, rightly shrugging off shoulderblocks and then stomping Banks' feet after acting like it was his turn for shoulderblocks. Ohno makes an "I'm sorry I didn't see you there!" short joke, but follows it right up with a much better "Didn't feel you either. You'll have to hit harder than that." I thought Ohno was really smart about which Banks offense to shrug off and which to sell, and liked the way he blocked Banks with size. The blocked tope looked good, and that it lead directly to a penalty kick for the gloating Ohno was nice to see. Ohno as a bully is so good, as he's always doing things he doesn't necessarily need to be doing to win, things like shoving Banks hard into the ring steps or raking his eyes, but as he's rudely going after Banks' injured shoulder we all know that's clearly the rudeness we want to see. 

We had cool psychology moments like Ohno trying to simply Irish whip Banks by the bad arm, and Banks foolishly holding onto the ropes with his good arm, knowing he was stuck either getting nuked off the ropes by Ohno or further wrecking his shoulder. Banks' comebacks were good, with a dive that connected (thrown with his good arm in the lead, and I know that's not the side he typically throws it with), nice running knee, and a big double stomp to Ohno's chest. Ohno is so great in control, but I love seeing him sell for a smaller guy, as he's really good at it. The Kiwi Crusher is a move Banks can hit very quickly, which really adds to its match finishing potential. It looks like something that should get a 3, and it's such a quick flip and slam, slipped in while Ohno was being a little too nonchalant with his own suplex, that it's plausible to hit on someone of any size. Banks kicking out of the Rubik's cube was probably a bit much, as that move seems so vertebrae pulverizing that it really should be used sparingly. But Banks' commitment to selling his right shoulder was impressive, with his fun theatrical trap rubbing, then dully trying to jam it back into place. The cradle pinfall finish really worked for me, too, as Ohno was still manhandling him and it would have been silly strategy for Banks to try going for bigger and bigger moves, so why not use Ohno's own weight and leverage against him? His backslide was convincing as Ohno sold it like a turtle placed on his back, and the pin that beat Ohno looked absolutely impossible to kick out of in 3 beats. I love how Ohno set up that pinfall, trying for an ankle pick that Banks reversed credibly. Very cool match that could have drifted into overkill, but stuck within its story and succeeded.

PAS: I have forgotten how much I love to watch Chris Hero. I thought his condescension at the beginning of the match worked well, and all of the too short shtick, the fake running the ropes, finally leading to a kick to stomach felt like a Fuerza Guerrera bit. Banks seems a bit generic, but I did like his arm and shoulder selling. He really worked that shoulder like he slept weird on it, and while the popping it back into place spot felt a bit OTT, I kind of liked it. I almost think the violence of Ohno's stuff takes away a bit from this match. He is hitting this little guy with these huge concussive shots, and if his forearm strikes didn't look so good, I would buy the kickouts more. Match really should have ended with Hero cutting off the in-ring dive with that kick to the head, it looked like he shot Banks out of the sky. That getting kicked out of, and then the Rubik's cube getting kicked out of, that's too much for me. Everything else in this was great though, and Ohno's NXT UK run was a real treat.

2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

NXT UK Worth Watching: Devlin! Aichner! Barthel! Banks! Modfather! Mandrews!

Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel vs. Flash Morgan Webster/Mark Andrews NXT UK 1/12 (Aired 1/16) (Ep. #25)

ER: NXT UK is really good at putting on 80/20 matches that feel the right amount of competitive even though you know one side doesn't have an actual chance of winning. This is a 10 minute match that feels more like 5, and that is a very good thing. Aichner and Barthel are great at bumping around for the much smaller Webster and Andrews, and they do so without looking like complete goofs, with their biggest bumps coming from surprise ranas or missed attacks. Barthel flies wildly over the top to the floor because of Webster misdirection, Aichner goes for a pop up powerbomb on Andrews and gets caught with a rana, Webster hits a similar rana (and I love Webster's rana) on Barthel, all bumps from the bigger guys make sense. And in between those bumps they lay total waste to the flyers. Aichner is a real asshole who will just blindside either one of them with an elbow strike while they're on the apron, and they pull off cool double teams that focus more on the move impact than on the cleverness that bogs down so many tag team double teams. 

The heels isolate Webster and it leads to a fun Andrews hot tag (with an assisted 450 splash), and I felt like our babyface team got the exact right amount of offense. And I think the punishment by the heels as a response to that hot tag was excellent, and really my only issue with the match was with Andrews kicking out of what looked - to me - like a match finishing brainbuster and going back on offense almost right after that kickout. It was a gorgeous spot, Barthel tossing Andrews off the top, with Aichner catching him vertically and dropping him with a brainbuster. It's not the kind of move someone should be running around immediately after taking, but alas. Aichner makes damn sure Andrews sells on the floor to take him out of the save, picking him up for a spinebuster and just running him as hard as possible into the guardrail. Their actual finish is as good as that brainbuster, with Barthel lifting Webster up for a powerbomb and Aichner hitting a flying back elbow off the top to put that powerbomb into motion. This was one of those performances that immediately made Barthel and Aichner look like either the best or 2nd best team on the brand. 

Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 1/13 (Aired 1/23/19) (Ep. #26)

ER: There was plenty of this that I wasn't a fan of (the opening strike exchange, any time Banks did his fighting spirit faces before fighting back, sometimes improbably), but there were too many sicko stiff shots and big moments for me to deny how much I dug this. Devlin isn't perfect, but he knows how to craft different match types depending on his opponent, and that kind of thing makes you really stand out in modern wrestling. Really this is the match that should have happened on TakeOver, and was much better than Devlin/Balor. I'm sure the return of Balor to the UK got more eyeballs than a Travis Banks match, and you need something eye popping on your first big special, so I get it. Still, build your brand a little bit and put on this match. To their credit, they worked it like it was a big TakeOver match, and that won me over in spite of some of the excess. I was ready to write it off after the first couple minutes, bad strike exchanges and uninteresting crowd brawl, but I snapped to attention when Banks hit a big Thesz press off the barricade they pretty much had me after that. Devlin hit this sick hammer fist shot to the side of Banks' head and I liked how Devlin missed a stomp on the ring steps that slowed him down just enough to eat a high kick to the eye. Devlin always leans into kicks and he took so nice thumpers to the chest from Banks. 

Devlin's sudden Spanish Fly off the apron to the floor was really surprising, as we didn't get the prolonged choreographed fight on the apron, and that made it feel like Devlin made a snap decision to do something crazy and attempt to injure them both. Devlin is a guy who can fit a ton of highspots into a match while always making them feel like part of the match, never like a guy trying to get his shit in, always to the service of the match. When he caught Banks with an in ring Spanish Fly I thought it would have made for an awesome flash finish, so while I didn't love when Banks used his fighting spirit to get up and immediately lariat Devlin, I at least appreciated how much Devlin ate that lariat. His big flipping bump actually felt borne out of the lariat, and often those big flipping bumps feel removed from the move that caused them. Devlin eats knees on a moonsault better than maybe anyone, always making it look like he's hitting that moonsault and doesn't actually know he's about to land face first on knees, and that kind of in ring honesty lifts a match like this so much. I liked how they handled the double count out finish, as the tumble to the floor looked good and it actually helped both stay strong (instead of an appeal to parity), and while I'm not sure where they go with the feud after this match, I really liked what both brought.

COMPLETE GUIDE TO NXT UK

Read more!

2020 Ongoing MOTY List: Kendrick vs. Banks

2. Brian Kendrick vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 1/17 (Aired 1/23/20)

ER: Well, Brian Kendrick just went and ruined pro wrestling in the UK, because now they've seen what a small 160 lb. guy is capable of doing in a ring. How can fans see this tremendous Brian Kendrick performance, and go right back to watching short armed Billdy Joss or stumpy legged Declan Davis-Davies, without a good hard look in the mirror? Kendrick has been an absolute ace since returning to WWE, reminding me more of Finlay than anyone else on the roster, in all of the best ways: ring positioning, creativity, working with a moment, logical attacks; every Kendrick match has a few things that expose what other wrestlers *aren't* doing, and Kendrick makes those things obvious. here Kendrick punches Banks at the bell and locks on a great headlock (Kendrick is among the best headlockers in WWE) but gets shrugged off and a little overwhelmed. Sensing this as a problem, Kendrick opts to just wreck Banks' left hand for the next 10 minutes. We get 10 minutes of Kendrick slamming that hand into the ring steps, into the barricade, stomping on it, bending it around the ropes, kneeling on it, using it as an entry point to bigger things. The Captains Hooks has my favorite sub since he debuted it, a nasty crossface set up with a great headlock takeover, and I liked how it kept coming back.

Banks did more than pay service to his hurt hand, it informed a lot of what he did and he was always mindful of it, all through the finish. Kendrick dominated once he took out that hand, so Banks offense came in bursts: a great tope that crashed his whole body over Kendrick, big missile dropkick, and a couple Kiwi Crushers that looked like they dumped Kendrick on the back of his neck (one for a great nearfall, another for the win). I love the way Kendrick bumps, and thought his bumps made Banks look strong. They aren't always clean bumps, but once you see a guy who doesn't fill his matches with fast flat back bumps you realize how silly they are. Kendrick falls the way a move's momentum takes him, sometimes tumbling wildly to the floor while reaching out for ropes or ring skirt to stop him, sometimes falling on his side, always looking like the right bump for the move he just took. Kendrick's faceplant bumps are some of the greatest I've seen, whipping his face fast into the mat and holding it like he just loosened two teeth. Oh, and then during the home stretch Kendrick also showed he has the best yakuza kicks in wrestling. What a killer. I'm excited to go back and see what kind of match Ohno had with Banks last year, as this felt like Kendrick working all of Banks' best stuff into a match crafted around selling, and Banks holding up his end impressively.

PAS: I liked Banks less than Eric in this match. I thought he came off as a pretty generic Euro junior. If you are going to do kick combos, you had better waste a guy like you're Low-Ki or Tajiri, because if you don't they just look bad. Most of these WWE UK matches are one awesome guy against a guy who only got signed because of that WOS pilot a couple of years ago, and I agree that this was master class by Kendrick. He just has so many interesting little flourishes in his matches. The hand work is different than any hand work I can remember, way closer to Hotta working on Aja Kong's hand than some Marty Scurll finger break bullshit. I did like Banks' selling, and loved how Kendrick stayed focused on the injury. The adding of that hand lock to the Captain's Hook was really cool. Still, it felt like the wrong guy went over, and I would have been way more interested in the When Worlds Collide 4-Way with Kendrick in there to fill spaces with cool shit.


2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!