WWE NXT UK Review - April 1, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Aoife Valkyrie def. Stevie Turner

This was the first time I've ever seen Stevie Turner and I'm already a fan. Not only is she good in the ring, she has a certain presence about her, more than most women in the NXT UK women's division. She had a solid showing and scored more offense than I thought she would. However, this was all about Valkyrie, who desperately needs a feud to settle into at this point after being directionless for a year. I'd like to see more of Turner going forward.

Teoman def. Josh Morrell

Putting two enhancement matches back-to-back seemed like a strange choice, but this was definitely more one-sided in favor of Teoman. He was introduced via a series of vignettes, yet I still feel like we don't know much about him. I will say that he's very intense in the ring and his matches stand out for that reason. Props to Morrell for selling his offense well and always making his opponents look great.

NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and Rampage Brown Came Face-to-Face

I loved how this took place backstage with Sid Scala presiding over it. Brown has been built up very well since his arrival in NXT UK, beating people left and right including Joe Coffey and Dave Mastiff. WALTER has also been incredibly dominant, though this might have been the most I've ever heard him speak on TV. He's very well-spoken and should get the chance to talk more often. This was a heated encounter that set the stage nicely for their championship clash next week. I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd probably put money on Brown taking the title.

Meiko Satomura Saved Emilia McKenzie From NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray and Isla Dawn

Ray was cutting a promo boasting about her recent victory over Satomura when McKenzie interrupted her, who hasn't been seen in NXT UK since the start of the brand in 2018. She wasn't signed at the time, but she is now. I haven't seen much of her work, but I've heard enough about her to know she's a nice pickup for that division. She and Satomura brawled with Ray and Dawn to set up a tag team match for next week. Are we headed for a Fatal 4-Way for the NXT UK Women's Championship eventually?

NXT UK Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly def. Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams

To their credit, Pretty Deadly are coming along nicely in their current role as champions and are obviously talented enough in the ring for their matches to be entertaining. That was the case here as well, but despite how much time it got, I never once thought the titles were on the verge of changing hands. Not only did Pretty Deadly just win them not too long ago, but Williams and Jordan have been teasing tension seemingly forever and it finally came to a head here with Williams turning on his partner. I can't say I care much about Jordan, but Williams have potential on his own as a heel.

Overall Show

Next week's Prelude show during WrestleMania week is what NXT UK has been building to lately, so I wasn't surprised that there wasn't a ton to this episode. That said, it still ended up being solid on the whole with some strong video packages, successful setup for next week, McKenzie's return, a well-wrestled main event with a long-awaited heel turn, and two effective showcases. It was more newsworthy (by NXT UK standards) than I was expecting and I hope the Prelude edition will be equally enjoyable.