2/25 NXT UK TV REPORT: Tyler Bate vs. Bailey Matthews, Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly, more

NXT UK TV REPORT (EP. 136)
FEBRUARY 25, 2021
STREAMED ON WWE NETWORK
REPORT BY CHAD KOENIG, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Andy Shepherd and Nigel McGuinness

(1) XIA BROOKSIDE vs. NINA SAMUELS w/Henry) – Loser has to be the other’s personal assistant for a month

Brookside flew at Samuels at the bell with a dropkick, taking her down and quickly taking it to her around the ring before beginning to work on Samuels’ wrist. She took the beating out of the ring, but thats where Samuels got some offense in, and threw Brookside into her pile of luggage before tossing her back into the ring. Now Samuels got the upper hand and tossed Brookside from corner to corner. She then slammed Brookside into the mat and got herself a two count.

Samuels wrapped her legs around Brookside and held her into a rear chin lock. She switched into a fujiwara armbar and tied Brookside up almost literally like a pretzel. Brookside countered out of the hold and started to strike Samuels in the chest. She hit a neckbreaker and pinned Samuels for two.

Samuels went out of the ring and Brookside hit her with a baseball slide. They fought outside of the ring, with Samuels swinging Brookside into the barricade. Brookside just made the ten count to get back in and Samuels welcomed her with some kicks. She then called for her assistant to toss her purse in the ring. He shook his head no and Samuels came out to get it herself. She came back into the ring with the purse and swung it at Brookside and missed. Brookside kicked it into the air and took down Samuels and got her into a bridged pinfall for the win.

WINNER: Brookside at 5:44

(Koenig’s Analysis: By far the best match between these two. Though a ridiculous storyline surrounds this, it could yield some amusing television in the coming weeks. I’ve complained a lot about these two being sloppy as of late, but this was a fine showing for both.)

-Trent Seven in a well-produced vignette/training video that echoed Rocky IV. He has been talking about his training in this new world we live in and that his focus is to be a better wrestler and stay more focused going forward.

-A WrestleMania 37 commercial aired.

-A Fastlane commercial played.

-Ilja Dragunov in a backstage interview being asked about his viciousness in the ring as of late. He said that it’s hard to control it when someone (Sam Gradwell) is next to him in the ring egging him on. Right then, Gradwell interrupted from the side and said “Oh, now you blame me…”. He had a security guard with him before challenging Dragunov. He happily accepted and said that next time, he better not have anyone next to him.

(2) BAILEY MATTHEWS vs. TYLER BATE

Matthews surprisingly grounded Bate at the bell and worked his arm. Bate countered and worked his arm and the two went back to the mat and countered wrestling hold after wrestling hold for much of the match.

After releasing a cravat, Matthews hit the ropes and took down Bate, rolling his back to the canvas for two. The two then exchanged forearms before Matthews’ suplexed Bate for another near fall.

Bate fired up and started in on a series of forearms. However, Matthews wasn’t going down and countered him with impressive blows of his own. Bate was able to execute a suplex and pinned him after a standing moonsault with a kickout for two. He hoisted Matthews up for a brief airplane spin that Matthews escaped and rolled Bate up for two. Bate transitioned into a pinfall attempt of his own. Matthews kicked him off and the two connected each other with stellar uppercuts. With Matthews dazed, Bate put him up for a Tyler Drive for the win.

WINNER: Bate at 5:44

(Koenig’s Analysis: Wow. One hell of an old school match. This was like a Lou Thesz match, with these two pros showing off their incredible technical skills. Matthews is not a regular on the roster and put up a surprisingly good effort. I hope to see more of him. This was fast paced without being a spot fest. Just fantastic.)

-Video package for a new wrestler from Berlin, Germany. He told his tale through reading a story about himself in the third person. He stated that he was someone to be feared before ending with a graphic read “Fortsetzung Folgt (translated to “to be continued”) Devam Edecek- Coming soon.

-A SmackDown commercial aired.

-Joseph Connors in a backstage interview. He was only asked about the change in him as of late before Piper Niven interrupted him. She threatened Connors if he didn’t tell her where Jinny was. Niven then struck him and Jinny came out from the side and hammered on her back. Crew members broke everyone up and Niven told Sid Scala that she wanted both Jinny and Connors in a match right now. He said that he couldn’t do that. Jack Starz just happened to walk by. She grabbed him and said “he’s my tag partner. Make the match.” and walked off.

(3) LANA AUSTIN vs. AOIFE VALKYRIE

-They lock up at the bell and Valkyrie worked a couple of consecutive headlocks before flipping Austin and pinning her for two. Valkyrie then held a long wrist lock and rolled her to the mat, another near fall.

Valkyrie got in a couple of kicks before Austin hit her with a basement dropkick, allowing her a two count of her own. The two exchanged strikes before Valkyrie landed a neckbreaker for two. She hit the ropes but before she could strike, Matthews put up her hands. Valkyrie foolishly stopped and got rolled up for two. She walked over and the same thing happened again. And then Austin grabbed er leg and got a third consecutive, terrible looking pin on her. Valkyrie then landed a stand up insuguri and tossed Austin in the corner. A spinning heel took her down before she went to the top rope. A flying leg scissor from up top gave Valkyrie the win.

WINNER: Valkyrie at 4:04

(Koenig’s Analysis: Terrible match. Valkyrie is incredibly green and went against someone even worse than she was. It was slow and the movements were awful. Valkyrie needs to be in the ring with people better than her to make her look better. Also, her stopping because Matthews’ put her hands up made her look foolish.)

-Xia Brookside asked in a backstage interview how she feels and she said that she felt fine, but she wasn’t sure about “this one”, as Nina Samuels came out carrying four of Brookside’s bags. Samuels fumbled the bags and sighed before walking off.

-Kenny Williams announces to everyone in a backstage interview that he is cleared to wrestle again, and that he and Amir Jordan will be wrestling Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter next week. I imagine that match will feature Williams’ heel turn.

-A Broken Skull Sessions with Sasha Banks commercial played.

-A Kay Lee Ray video package played that led to next week’s championship match.

(4) GALLUS (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) (c) vs. PRETTY DEADLY (Lewis Howley & Sam Stoker)

Stoker and Coffey start the match by circling each other before Coffey forced him in the corner. Stoker tagged in Howley before any real confrontation and was immediately grounded. Tag was made to Wolfgang who put him to the mat while he continued to work his arm. A tag was made back to Stoker, who continued the torture before he could escape to tag Stoker back in.

Stoker made a fast tag and took down Coffey while Howley attacked as well, unbeknownst to him. Coffey made the tag back to Wolfgang and decided to work his arm as well. Wolfgang tagged back in and the two double teamed Howley. Stoker came in for the save and they were both sent outside. After they caught their breath, Howley came back in and ran the ropes before he was caught and slammed down for two. Coffey was tagged back in and was tossed in the corner. From the apron, Stoker pulled him away and sent Wolfgang into the turnbuckle shoulder first. The fast tag was made to the fresher Stoker.

Pretty Deadly briefly took down Wolfgang, but all four wrestlers ended up going face to face in the middle of the ring. The ref calmed the scene and the two continued to fight, with Stoker primarily getting tossed around until Howley distracted him, and Stoker sent him to the outside. Howley then rolled him back in and got tagged in. They hit him with a double backbreaker before tagging Stoker back in. He got a one count as soon as he came in, and a tag was made back to Howley, who punched Wolfgang while he was down and got a pinfall attempt in the process.

As Wolfgang continued to be worn down, they exchanged tags to keep him in their corner and continued to manhandled by the challengers. Howley got propped up onto the middle turnbuckle here, and came down and flattened Howley (this looked painful!). Tags were then made and we are now with Coffey and Howley in the ring.

Coffey tossed Pretty Deadly around the ring, and Stoker rolled out while his partner was being manhandled. After a Bulldog, Howley kicked out at two. Coffey picked up Howley for a powerbomb, but he transitioned it into a rollup pinfall attempt. After Coffey kicked out, Howley made the tag to his partner.

Stoker came in and was immediately met with a boot to the face and two count. When he got up, he made the tag back to Howley. Double teaming ensued from Pretty Deadly and they got another two count in. After a dropkick to the face of Howley, the tag was made to Wolfgang, and Gallus reciprocated the double team. A pinfall attempt was made, but Stoker interfered at two. Coffey then met Stoker outside and slammed him on the ring apron. As Howley was being pinned, he countered into a small package of his own. A spear from Wolfgang then gave him another near fall. The tag was made to Coffey and all four were then in the ring again. Howley was sent outside and Wolfgang followed. As he was chasing Stoker, Howley body checked him into the barricade before getting back into the ring and tagging Stoker in. The two worked on Coffey, and Stoker hit a codebreaker on the big man who kicked out at two. Howley then went to the timekeepers area and grabbed the titles. He tossed one to Stoker and came into the ring himself with the other. The ref didn’t see them slam Coffey down face first onto one of the belts, so Stoker made the tag and the two hit a Spilled Milk to win the titles.

WINNER: Pretty Deadly at 15:02

(Koenig’s Analysis: A fun, fast-paced match. The nonstop tags between Pretty Deadly do take me out of the match sometimes as they are so frequent its hard to keep track of who is legal. Apart from that, it was a good clash of styles and I’m glad we get some new blood in the title picture. That said, personally, I wish it were another team.)

–NEXT WEEK: Sam Gradwell vs. Ilja Dragunov, Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams vs. Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter, Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura (Women’s championship match.)

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S NXT UK REPORT: 2/18 NXT UK TV REPORT: Meiko Satomura and Kay Lee Ray sign contract for title match and Coffey vs. Brown