NXT UK 92

Andy Shepherd is still hosting from his living room and now the sound quality is pretty bad too. NXT UK wrestlers are suggesting their favorite matches for us to watch. I thought they were going to be NXT UK matches, but nope, it’s actually much cooler and they’re just whatever match the NXT UK wrestlers like from the WWE library. First up is a Dave Mastiff favorite. 

August 30, 1982 – New York, New York

Tiger Mask def. Dynamite Kid {WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship Match}
This is Tiger Mask I, Satoru Sayama. The coolest part of this was watching the MSG fans freak the hell out when Mask would hit an armdrag to counter a suplex or do the Tiger Feint and the Tiger Flip. The match itself was fairly basic by today’s standards, but the crowd and the timeframe make it pretty wild to see in hindsight. Mask hit a moonsault for the win at 6:35. ***

May 8, 2019 – Glasgow, Scotland

James Drake & Zack Gibson def. Kenny Williams & Noam Dar {NXT UK Tag Team Championship Match}
Williams is a bit more selfish than Mastiff, and picked a match featuring himself. Williams announced that Dar, who has had his issues with Gibson in the past, will be replacing his injured partner.  Williams also accused the champs of causing the injury. We learned a couple things here. For one, we learned that Williams & Dar are probably a more fun team than Williams & Jordan, but Jordan needs the spot in the team more than Dar does. We also learned that all of these guys can tell a hell of a story. No matter how hard the challengers fought, there was too much going against them here. The champions proved that they weren’t above retaining the belt and losing by count out, so the challengers had to not only fight, but keep the champions from bailing on the whole endeavor. This was also Dar’s first match back after a leg injury, so it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world for the champs to eliminate him from the equation. In the end, Williams was on his own just like the champs wanted him in the first place, and they capitalized on that. The action didn’t quite measure up to the story told, but it did all come together nicely enough to be a heck of a main event. ***¾

October 3, 2019 – Cardiff, Wales

Kay Lee Ray def. Tegan Nox
Ligero picked this one and it was dope. It took a bit for them to get the crowd into it, but once the match started focusing on Nox possibly having reinjured her leg things really took off. I loved the finish, where after a hardfought comeback, Nox went for a Shining Wizard on the apron and ended up hitting the post. After that a Gory Special was enough to put her down at 13:28. Color me impressed. KLR goes over but Nox looked plenty strong. ***½ 

December 25, 2013 – Winter Park, Florida

Antonio Cesaro def. William Regal
Howard Finkel does the announcements for this match, making it feel pretty big, and quite emotional as this episode is airing the day he died. I’m not sure what I expected out of this, but I have to agree with Byron Saxton on commentary when he says, “I just feel like… this could have been something!” Well it was something, but it was oddly executed. I suppose all in all it encapsulated Regal’s career. It started out strong and interesting with stiff strikes and unique mat wrestling. Then it drifted and lost the crowd’s attention. And then the finish saw Regal unable to keep up, and Cesaro lose his nerve a bit out of respect and sadness.Cesaro won in 11:17 (shown) with the Neutralizer. Maybe that’s how we all think of Regal’s run. If nothing else, it was a more dignified way to be sent into retirement than most wrestlers get. *** I think I underrated this a bit when I watched it a couple years ago. Surprisingly, Saxton’s commentary elevated this to a pretty emotional level, as he’d been involved in the storyline as a booster for Regal and a foil for Cesaro. Yeah, there was a lull, but it was a lot less detrimental to the rest of the match than I suggested in my review there. ***½