NXT UK Guide

[EricR]

So, the timing of this isn't great as the brand is filled with sex pests, but over the past year I've come to really enjoy NXT UK. I didn't watch a single episode until Hero started showing up, but as I cherry picked through Hero appearances I found a lot of people on the roster I really liked. The show isn't watched by WWE fans, and doesn't seem to be enjoyed by UK wrestling fans, so its existence in and of itself is odd. But since they've had less than 100 episodes (throwing out all the best of episodes over the past several months) I figured I'd start at the beginning and highlight all the best matches. I'll get a list of recommended matches, and every 25 episodes do a DVDVR style Top 50 (while keeping an overall Top 100) going. 

Here's where the project links will reside:

Complete Guide to NXT UK

And I'll post all recommended match reviews down below, as I review them. 

[EricR]

Noam Dar vs. Pete Dunne NXT UK 7/28 (Aired 10/17/18) (Ep. #1)

Strong title match to main event their first TV episode. Dar is someone I feel made a lot of improvements in the time between his 205 Live stint and the start of NXT UK. I disliked him on 205 but enjoy him more often than not in his post 205 work. He played underdog against Dunne here, leaning into all of Dunne's stiff elbow strikes and standing lariats (and one real monster of a running clothesline early in the match) while trying to catch Dunne whenever Dunne went too far. Dunne gets it in him to do too much offense sometimes (and go too over the top with finger breaks), so I loved when Dar took his knees out and tripped him during a rope run, and I loved even more when he kicked Dunne right in the shins when Dunne hopped to the middle turnbuckle. Dar's selling was smart, appropriately selling finger damage as it was happening, kicking Dunne in the head on the apron after the shock wore off then hitting a fisherman's buster; or, the excellent triangle spot where Dunne worked over Dar's fingers while in the triangle, and Dar had the presence of mind to put a stop to that by quickly holding down Dunne's shoulders for a pin, then rolling through to an ankle lock when Dunne was forced to kick out. Dar catching the kneebar was a good moment too, building to a suitably dramatic rope break. I wish Dunne was a bit more interesting about going back on offense (he tends to just stand up and go back to it), but his strikes play big and Dar was a great foil for his high end offense.

Wild Boar Mike Hitchman vs. Ligero NXT UK 7/29 (Aired 10/24/18) (Ep. #2)

What a fun 5 minute sprint. I think this project is going to wind up with me putting more words about Wild Boar out on the internet than we currently have. He's a guy I liked enough to start this NXT UK project in the first place, and it's cool to say he was fully formed from his arrival on the Network. They work a fast flyer vs. wrecking ball match, which is fun to see from a 170 lb. tiny flier and a 5'6" wrecking ball. Boar is like an even MORE compact Taz, and he is a little wrecking ball. He's like Dick Togo working as Otis. Ligero is a guy who I think is better the more grounded he stays, as he has too good a clothesline to think he needs to do a bad standing moonsault. I recently watched a Taka Michinoku/Dick Togo Raw match of similar length, and this is a better version of that match. Ligero doesn't have the grace of Michinoku, not close, but Wild Boar hits him harder with strikes and flying offense than Togo hit Taka. Ligero hits a rana as smooth as any I've seen Taka throw, and Boar is a great base (he should be, he has an incredibly low center of gravity). Boar hits a super impactful spear in the corner, a great and unexpected pop up powerbomb, and looks like he just murders Ligero with a cannonball. It looked like his full closest-man-to-actual-size-and-impact-of-real-cannonball, and Ligero looked like he absorbed it all with his face. Ligero came off tougher to me for the rest of the match because he can clearly take a beating. If I wasn't viewing Boar as Togo enough, it should also be noted that Wild Boar has a very good standing senton, and he uses it here. The match has satisfying nearfalls, and Ligero makes the finish violent enough to work, kicking out Boar's leg with a hard mule kick to the knee, then running him up the ropes with one of the best tornado DDTs I've seen.

[NotJayTabb]

I'm all about the Wild Boar love, he's been a favourite of mine ever since I saw Sabu live twice in three days, and the match Boar had with him blew the match Jimmy Havoc had with him out of the water. Boar wrestles as he should, like a feral little wrecking ball hurling himself at his opponents. Looking forward to this project.

[EricR]

Wild Boar delivers every time. I'm excited to do Top 50 lists for this because it exposes someone like him a bit, because he's someone I never seen talked about. I've never heard anyone recommending Wild Boar matches. But I am going to do that. 

 

Noam Dar vs. Zack Gibson NXT UK 7/28 (Aired 10/31/18) (Ep. #3)

ER: I really liked this, while also wishing it wasn't 21 minutes. I don't think any guys actually need 20+ minutes to tell their story, but that said this match didn't actually feel 21 minutes and that's in its favor. We had a story of Dar going after Gibson's left leg while Gibson just focused on attacking Dar anyway he could. Dar's leg work was really good, at first working a tight grapevine and Indian deathlock, and I think Dar's submission work is among the strongest in NXT UK. He doesn't skip steps and knows how to shift his body slightly to add different leverage, and I loved how he was adding twisting to keep Gibson's selling honest. Dar immediately kicking Gibson right in the shin as he escaped the hold was sweet icing. The leg was never a major sticking point during the match, but it was always Dar's key back inside, and I liked that. He had a couple of really high profile attacks to that leg, including a wild running dropkick off the entrance ramp, and a double stomp off the top while Gibson's leg was hung over the ropes. I don't know if I would trust somebody to do either of those things, where the margin of error for *actually* destroying my knee was that slim. But the spots come off really well and are great ways to slow down Gibson for long stretches.

My favorite moment was Gibson going for a dropkick off the middle rope, but Dar lightly sidestepping and hooking that left leg on the way down, then locking in a tight kneebar. Usually in a moment like that both guys will make it a bit too obvious that they are planning for a reversal to happen, but this felt very unexpected. It looked like Gibson was honestly throwing the dropkick, and Dar had to put in the honest work of grabbing the leg, it wasn't being hung out for him. Gibson has stronger strikes than Dar, while Dar attacks more in quantity, so Gibson was the one rocking him with elbows and hitting a big powerbomb on the entrance ramp. And Dar's selling can be a bit melodramatic, but he focuses on more interesting kind of selling drama than most modern workers. Most overdramatic wrestling selling is done exclusively with the face, and since most wrestlers are terrible actors, you just end up with stupid wide eyed open mouth facials to sell everything. Dar focuses his selling on selling his body, and while it can come off as a bit much, I appreciate someone stiffening their body in pain, selling muscle pain and a man getting the wind taken from him. I thought Gibson's knee selling was good, as it wasn't the overall focus of the match but he paid enough lip service to it to create openings. The finish was tidy and didn't send us through a long series of nearfalls with shocked faces, which was a contributing factor in this long match not feeling as long.

 

Ligero vs. James Drake NXT UK 7/29 (Aired 11/7/18) (Ep. #5)

ER: Ligero is really great at these 5-6 minute showcase sprints, really knows how to keep the selling respectable while keeping the action near constant. He really leans into beatings and that always makes a flier type more interesting to me, because snapping off a tight Code Red is cooler after that guy got his face kicked in. Drake is good at throwing sharp elbows to the jaw, and his corner dropkick really looked decapitating. Ligero sold a sore jaw throughout, and it wouldn't shock me if he was just a man reacting to getting kicked in the face. Drake works quick and hits hard when he gets there, and I kept being surprised at how Ligero would lean into it all. The nearfalls were good and I genuinely had no idea who was going to win, a competitive match without ever feel like they were taking turns. I love Ligero's tornado DDT finish, and the roster is filled with guys who can make sure the DDT looks like a finish.

 

[EricR]

James Drake vs. Tyler Bate NXT UK 8/25 (Aired 11/14/18) (Ep. #7)

ER: I liked the looks of this on paper and it gave me what I was hoping for. Bate is a guy with nice moves and hammy execution, and Drake is a guy who leans into hard strikes and gets into position for moves real well. Bate does moves with familiar set ups match to match, but he's good at switching things up so he's not doing every move from the exact same start point every single time. I liked the World of Sport wristlock exchanges to start, and I liked how Drake took him to the floor and brought him back in with knees. Drake is good at working Bate over, and he looks like a wrestling Billy Mitchell, and the stuff around Drake's headlock was my favorite part of the match. Drake has a great headlock and looks like he's really messing with Bate's breathing, hooking Bate's chin in his elbow crook and then holding his forearm across Bate's esophagus. My favorite part was Bate trying to break the sleeper by backing Drake hard into the turnbuckles, but he did it right when a forearm was across his throat and his face said he hurt himself more. Drake hits a corner dropkick that looks like he is going for a KO, looks like a finish and works as a strong nearfall. Bate's eventual comeback clotheslines and uppercuts look good, and his deadlift suplexes are impressive (dig that slow lift backdrop driver). I would have actually liked another twist or nearfall at the end, but I also appreciate the tidy finish. It's nice to see a guy pinned after a clothesline and tiger driver.

 

Wild Boar vs. Mark Andrews NXT UK 8/25 (Aired 11/21/18) (Ep. #9)

ER: This is a nice complementary pairing. Andrews benefitted from a stout base, and Boar has a ton of fun ways to flatten and throw Andrews. Boar is Tinier Taz on offense, and catches ranas nicely and bumps generously while on defense. Andrews with throw a genuinely hard right elbow smash, and he's a fun guy to see get smooshed by a nasty Boar apron senton and another one while on all fours. Boar grunts and jumps into him with headbutts, squatting on the mat and doing his own fun take on JYD headbutts. Andrews tries big stuff like a quebrada off the apron and a shooting star to finish, but the shooting star falls short (his always seems to...), but his strength is his bumping. His flying is risky but not always executed, while his bumps are big. He gets creamed on a clothesline and gets flipped far on a half nelson suplex or flattened by a fast cannonball in the corner. The finish is a little abrupt and could have used a couple twists, but Boar excels in these 5 minute action sprints and a game opponent will benefit.

[rovert]

James Drake was turbo rejected by BritWres/PROGRESS fans initially to a really cruel dehumanising/running him off degree. He's a stronger man than me even just stepping in the ring let alone weathering through the abuse to become a contributory member of a World-class tag team. Drake isn't the fifth ring post by a long shot!

Before the pandemic, the Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) were called up from NXT UK to the real Orlando NXT. Six months on the NXT tag division is rough going to say thing least.

[EricR]

I know extremely little about any of the NXT roster off camera, hadn't heard a single thing about Drake being nearly run off from wrestling and would be interested in hearing more. If there is background like this on any of the roster moving forward, safe to assume I haven't heard it. Oddly I haven't loved a ton of GYV that I've seen, but I like both of them quite a bit as singles wrestlers? 

[EricR]

Made some good adds to the NXT UK Matches Worth Watching, especially liked Jinny/Storm. 

 

Jordan Devlin vs. Ligero NXT UK 8/25 (Aired 11/21/18) (Ep. #9)

ER: This was a good modern indy main event, that perhaps went a bit too long. It was well timed, well executed, and hammier than I wished it would be, but it built nicely, had a bunch of stiff strikes from Devlin, and a couple strong nearfalls. Ligero is someone with good comebacks who can take a beating, so a lot of this would be Devlin cutting him off with surprisingly hard strikes (I am not always into Devlin's offense, but the Devlin in this match was easily the most agreeable to my wrestling taste sensibilities). Ligero throws a really tight headscissors and always throws a nice honest Code Red, making it look like he's actually bumping his opponent rather than his opponent bumping for him. Devlin is great at taking these and then firing back with hard elbows and a great back elbow smash, or cutting Ligero off with a uranage, or a nice backdrop driver. Ligero would make inroads and then hit a brick wall, and it was always compelling. There's a great moment where Ligero gets ambitious and goes for a big splash off the top, only to land directly on Devlin's knees, with Devlin perfectly rolling him into a pin in one motion. I thought that was the finish. This managed to be practically 75/25 for Devlin (maybe more) but it never felt like it because Ligero was active, he was just cut off a lot. Going on a run and suddenly eating a quick Spanish Fly, fighting on the floor and suddenly finding himself eating ring steps. It always felt competitive even if one guy was always farther ahead on points, and they made it work very well. 

 

Tyson T-Bone vs. Dave Mastiff NXT UK 8/26 (Aired 11/21/18) (Ep. #10)

ER: These are the kind of hot short sprints that NXT UK has been better at than any other WWE weekly program. There's no reason the 4-7 minute matches on Main Event, NXT, or 205 Live can't be as good as this match. There are talented people used on all brands, but none of their short matches entertain me as much as the ones on NXT UK. This is a nearly 5 minute match that feels like it's 2 minutes, as T-Bone starts rocking Mastiff with punches to start and we don't let up until T-Bone is dumped with a German and squished by a cannonball. I like British boxer turned street fighter as a gimmick, and T-Bone pulls it off great, mixing up hard right hands to Mastiff's cheekbone with big thundering shots to the stomach. Mastiff would get backed into a corner and outclassed on strikes, then respond the only way he could, by just barreling into T-Bone. T-Bone worked a really awesome cravat, yanking on Mastiff's hair and beard while also forcing the chin, and I dug how Mastiff powered up and stayed in close, getting distance with a couple of different violent headbutts. The quick sequence where Mastiff hoisted T-Bone up in a fireman's carry, only to see T-Bone squirm out into a nice sunset flip attempt, ending with Mastiff slamming the garage door down with a butt splash, was really well done and the kind of thing I like to see in a big man battle. Guys are very good at filling time on this brand, which seems like such a far cry from the bloated epics of NXT US. Just give me something like this every week or two and I'll be a satisfied customer. 

 

Jinny vs. Toni Storm NXT UK 8/26 (Aired 11/21/18)

ER: UK wrestling fans are no stranger to this pairing, as this is a match that's been run several times over the past few years. This one came just a couple weeks after their Mae Young Classic match (though it aired a couple months later), and that match was one of my favorite first rounders of the 2nd MYC. This is very similar to that match, but I think it's the tighter version. They work a lot of nice tough grappling and collar elbows, both looking like they're actually struggling through lock-ups. The struggle peaks with Storm locking in a great Indian deathlock and choking Jinny after hooking her in a side headlock around the chin. Storm really looked like she was cranking it in and Jinny is great at selling while in holds. Jinny's fight to get her fingers on the bottom rope was a good one, and I love how Jinny punishes Storm for it with hard stomps. Jinny has great force on her stomps, and her stomps are just one of the parts of her game that benefit from her long limbs. She's 5'6" but has long legs and arms that make her look like she's 5'10, so when she's throwing stomps it really looks like she's rearing back with force. The limbs also really contribute to her bumping, as she really ragdolls on a pair of suplexes, limbs flying around and folding over her body in cool ways. 

 

There was an elbow exchange that started on the knees and built up to them standing, and it actually looked earned and not just something that has to be in every main event epic. Jinny especially looked like she was fighting off balance to her feet while throwing stiff elbows, and she was really great at selling her jaw to fill downtime after delivering offense. Jinny has a lot of offense I like that utilizes her limbs, like that nice Japanese uppercut to catch a charging Storm and sending Storm sprawling to the mat after tripping her on an Irish whip. Storm makes her big stuff look really good, like a hard contact running hip attack, or getting dumped on her head off an X-factor. These two know each other, and they only have one singles match after this one so it has that feel of something that's been getting better.  I do wish they had worked the match out to build off the MYC match - this felt like it was their touring match worked the next town over - but they have a strong formula and genuine chemistry, so it was still really good.

[EricR]

Added 3 more matches to the Recommended Matches list. 

https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2020/12/nxt-uk-worth-watching-devlin-mastiff.html

Jordan Devlin/Pete Dunne was one of the best matches of the brand so far. Devlin vs. Flash Morgan Webster was something different, and I'd been looking for a reason to write up a Webster match. Also, obviously Mastiff/Wild Boar was going to be worth watching. It's like Mastiff vs. a smaller Mastiff. 

[EricR]

I added a Gallus tag I really liked, and the first Mastiff/Eddie Dennis match (which was exactly what I wanted it to be). 

https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2020/12/nxt-uk-worth-watching-mastiff-gallus.html

After I get through TakeOver: Blackpool I'll be doing an NXT UK 50, ranking the 50 wrestlers who appeared on the brand during the first 25 episodes. After that I'll be keeping an overall UK 50, and do a new 50 for every 25 episodes. Really the wrestler ranking is the part of this project I'm most excited about, because I have zero idea how closely my rankings will hew to consensus. 

[EricR]

I got through TakeOver: Blackpool, and I didn't love the show. I couldn't really dislike the show, because it was clear every single worker on the show was treating it like a big deal and busted their ass. But I also think some of the matches went on far longer than necessary and they would have been better with some editing. But hey, first big show, I get the need for title matches to go unnecessarily long. 

https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2020/12/nxt-uk-takeover-blackpool-11219.html

And then I did my NXT UK 50 thru the first 25 episodes. I stated in my post that I don't actually know if any of the rankings are against consensus, though I assume Dunne and Mustache Mountain would be a lot higher if others did a ranking. 

1. Jordan Devlin 

2. Dave Mastiff 

3. Wild Boar Mike Hitchman 

4. Noam Dar 

5. Ligero 

6. Wolfgang 

7. James Drake 

8. Jinny 

9. Mark Coffey 

10. Zack Gibson 

 

11. Tyson T-Bone 

12. Toni Storm 

13. Eddie Dennis 

14. Rhea Ripley 

15. Pete Dunne 

16. Isla Dawn 

17. Saxon Huxley 

18. Tyler Bate 

19. Joe Coffey 

20. Trent Seven 

 

21. Ashton Smith 

22. Kenny Williams 

23. Mark Andrews 

24. Fabian Aichner  

25. Dakota Kai 

26. Flash Morgan Webster 

27. Joseph Connors 

28. Dan Moloney 

29. Marcel Barthel 

30. Sam Gradwell 

 

31. Tucker 

32. Nina Samuels 

33. Xia Brookside 

34. Finn Balor 

35. Primate Jay Melrose 

36. Danny Burch 

37. Jamie Ahmed 

38. Charlie Morgan 

39. Amir Jordan 

40. Travis Banks

 

41. Jake Constantinou 

42. Josh Morrell 

43. Eddie Ryan 

44. Damien Weir 

45. Deonna Purrazzo  

46. Millie McKenzie  

47. Candy Floss 

48. Jack Starz 

49. Sid Scala 

50. Killer Kelly 

 

[EricR]

Marcel Barthel/Fabian Aichner vs. Trent Seven/Tyler Bate NXT UK 1/13 (Aired 1/30/19) (Ep. #27)

This was great, probably the best UK tag match so far. This was a more successful version of the GYF vs. Mustache tag from TakeOver, with all the fat trimmed out and nothing but action remaining. This is half the time of that tag and really hits the target. The first 2/3 of this felt like a great early 90s WCW tag, with no overly long heat sequence or too long shine. It had quick tags and constant momentum changes, making it feel more like a Brainbusters/Fantastics match, which is a great thing to see in modern wrestling. Barthel is really great at getting into position for offense, and that's important against someone like Bate who goes through a lot of "same moves in the same order" offense. The quick tags by both sides made this match feel more epic than it probably was, as I was shocked it was only a 13 minute run time (felt longer, in a good way). Aichner and Barthel control with cool suplexes and body scissors, both Bate and Seven get runs at wild hot tags (I really liked Seven running wild with a DDT, snapdragon, big lariat, and Bate going wild with a no hands running plancha to the floor), and they did a great job of ramping up the crazy. 

The teamwork from Barthel/Aichner is excellent, and they're smart about using Bate's actual best strength: running into painful offense. My least favorite parts of Bate matches is when everyone has to line up to take his offense in a specific order. I never like when guys selfishly derail things like that. But he has a real gift for taking some stupid bumps and crash landing his body in very unselfish ways. There was an awesome moment here when he went to do his Ray Stevens shoulder spring into the ropes, except he springs directly into a Barthel enziguiri. Bate has a way of committing to these spots that I truly admire. It always surprises me, because when he does his own offense there is always him waiting for guys to make sure they're in proper position; but when the plan is for him to intentionally miss a tope or something he just does that tope the exact same way he would have done it if someone were catching him. So he flies into that top rope and just catches Barthel's boot between the eyes, and it looked so great I was hoping it would be the finish. Bate's willingness to die at some point of a big match always makes it more annoying when he comes back with his planned comeback, but again, Barthel/Aichner are great at taking fast offense (it's not easy to plausibly take that rolling double kappo kick but GYV and these two make it look good). The finishing stretch is hot, and while I wish Barthel and Aichner would have won (Mustache Mountain is already established and I'm really not sure losses would hurt them at this point, the others have far more to gain with a win), this whole thing was great action. 

 

Mark Coffey vs. WALTER NXT UK 1/13 (Aired 2/6/19) (Ep. #28)

NXT UK is great at delivering on these compact ass kicking matches that get out of there before any of the violence is deemed pointless by repetition. If two guys are beating the hell out of each other, you really only need several minutes of it, as the longer it goes the more redundant the damage becomes. WALTER debuted in ring last week, crushing Jack Starz, and I like how they sent him out the next week against someone much closer to his size. A WALTER squash is plenty fun, but seeing him trade chops and clotheslines with another big guy is much more fun. Coffey does cool things with his control, and I think a lot of his offense hit even harder than WALTER's. Coffey's chops can't come close to matching WALTER's, but his body punches sure as hell hit harder. Coffey also throws hard kicks to WALTER's back, stomps his calf to set up a chinlock, works in and out of a snug back stretch, and a truly great elbow smash to WALTER's jaw. Having a big meaty opponent gives a nice canvas for WALTER's offense, big strikes landing hard across a broad surface. He drops Coffey with a nasty backdrop on the apron, throws loud chops in the corner, hits a nasty running kick, and stretches Coffey over the top rope by jamming his boot underneath Coffey's chin. More chops, uppercuts, clubs to the chest, both guys really dealing, all of it heavy. Match ends a little simply, with a WALTER dropkick and powerbomb. It wrapped things up a little neatly, but I much prefer the match wrapped up neatly in 6 minutes than seeing 10 more minutes of chop exchanges. This is one of the harder hitting NXT UK matches we've gotten so far, here's to more!

[EricR]

Added a couple more matches to my NXT UK Matches Worth Watching list, still really enjoying the pacing of the shows. It really feels like the strongest WWE show, which is why I started this project in the first place. 

Noam Dar vs. Jordan Devlin NXT UK 1/25 (Aired 2/13/19) (Ep. #29)

ER: Dar turned in two great performances in the first three weeks of NXT UK, and then disappeared for nearly four months. This is his first match in 26 episodes, and he didn't miss a single beat. I had both Devlin and Dar in my Top 5 through my first ranking period (1st and 4th respectively) and it's always exciting when two of the very best match up. So I had high expectations, and they easily met them. This is one of the few hardest hitting matches we've seen on UK, and Dar put on this great Monty Python knight performance as Devlin kept working over different parts of Dar's body. Dar does World of Sport style trick spots better than anyone on the brand, and I really liked his Phillie Phanatic tabletop trip after elbowing Devlin into the ropes, and Devlin was great at playing into that and the spinning backslide. Once Devlin stops playing around, he unleashes some hellish kicks on Dar, going after his leg, working over his arm, and kicking him incredibly hard in the ribs while Dar was on all fours. I loved Dar limping around, holding his arm, holding his ribs, still bringing fight to Devlin while Devlin would strike him back down, harder. That would lead to nice moments like Dar taking two really nasty kicks to the chest and catching the third to turn it into an ankle lock. Devlin is great at not telegraphing spots, didn't throw that third kick any softer, just relied on Dar catching a really hard kick. The build was really good and it never felt like Dar bit off more body part selling than he could handle, and I thought Devlin was great at punishing him while Dar struggled to get to his feet. They worked in new injuries nicely, like Dar kicking the ring steps when Devlin moved, and the finishing inside cradle (after Devlin tried one and had his feet pushed off the ropes by Travis Banks) looked like a cradle that would finish a match. Come for the nasty kicks to the ribs and elbows to the jaw, and stay for the solid storytelling!

 

Jinny vs. Mia Yim NXT UK 1/25 (Aired 2/13/19) (Ep. #29)

ER: I thought this was an excellent Jinny performance, a real set of highlights that illustrates why I think she's not only easily the best women's wrestler in NXT UK, but one of the very best in WWE. Mia Yim is someone who I think is too focused on hitting her planned spots to ever really get fully into a match. And outside of some of her lousy ground and pound and a rana sequence where she stood waiting with her feet planted for the reversal before Jinny even ran out of the corner with a rana, I thought she went along for Jinny's ride really well. I liked the opening matwork, and always like the tightness Jinny brings to the mat, so things never seem perfunctory. She always seems like she knows exactly where she is in the ring, uses her long legs for leverage and rope breaks, and does cool things like rake the inside of Yim's arm with her nails while working her wrist. Jinny's form on her striking is really strong. She doesn't work stiff, but makes it look like she really putting her whole body into everything. She's good at in ring trash talking, and I got a laugh as she looked at someone in the Phoenix crowd and said "You want Mia to win, right?" and then began smashing Yim's face into the mat. 

Jinny makes simple things like throwing someone into the mat look like actual offense, but can also lend legitimacy to cool submissions, like her rolling wheelbarrow. She never takes half measures on those kind of moves, never afraid to abandon a spot if it isn't going as planned, never cuts corners. When she lost Yim's arm on the wheelbarrow, most workers would have had an awkward time stand still moment to wait for their opponent to give their arm back, but Jinny works it into the spot. Yim's comeback offense all looked good, her forearms and chops hit hard, her cannonball picks up speed nicely, and her German suplex into the corner is a fun bit of recklessness. The finish seems a bit too abrupt, but I liked Jinny groggily rolling to the floor to buy time after the corner suplex, leading to her sneaking in a cheap kick when Yim naturally went after her. There are not many wrestlers that I currently love watching more than Jinny. 

[NotJayTabb]

Dar is someone I first saw live when he was 17, and thought he had a big future. I was quite excited for his 205 Live run and, though I enjoyed it more than most seemed to, he didn't quite seem right. Getting a bad knee injury and subsequently returning in better shape with better gear seems to have lit a fire under him, he's far closer to the wrestler I felt he was going to be. 

[rovert]

15 hours ago, NotJayTabb said:

Dar is someone I first saw live when he was 17, and thought he had a big future. I was quite excited for his 205 Live run and, though I enjoyed it more than most seemed to, he didn't quite seem right. Getting a bad knee injury and subsequently returning in better shape with better gear seems to have lit a fire under him, he's far closer to the wrestler I felt he was going to be. 

I like Noam and his personality. But as you said the early press and the aspirations for him by his peers around a decade ago were so strong that everything subsequently kinda gets framed as not living up to his potential. At the time a lot of people thought he'd be the next Prince Devitt. 

[EricR]

I was not a fan of Dar on 205 Live, was shocked at how much I have enjoyed him on NXT UK. Feels like a totally different worker, way more confident in exactly what he brings. Through the first 25 episodes I had him ranked #4, and it would have been higher had he had more than two matches during the ranking period. I'm trying not to look ahead at episodes, but I hope he is featured more.