WWE NXT UK Review - April 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Joe Coffey def. Eddie Dennis

​I thought Gallus were tweeners before, but it looks like they're becoming either tweeners or full-fledged faces as they transition into this feud with Dennis and The Hunt. I still think Dennis' strong suit at this point is as a manager, so I didn't think there was anything overly special about the match itself. Coffey winning was the right call and the post-match brawl sets up Gallus vs. Dennis and The Hunt for an upcoming episode.

Sam Gradwell def. "Bomber" Dave Mastiff

Man, it feels like Mastiff has been spinning his wheels since his feud with Coffey ended, and that was in the summer of 2019. It's astounding to me that NXT UK can't find anything for a guy of his size with his athleticism to do. They had a decent match with a surprising result. This marked Gradwell's first win since returning to the ring a few months ago, so that's saying something for Mastiff to be losing to him. Don't get me wrong, Gradwell deserved the win after the work he's done since coming back, but Mastiff needs a heel turn or a reset of some sort.

Jinny def. Dani Luna

Both of these ladies are talented, but they didn't click too well here for some reason. The match was disappointing as I expected more from them. That said, I'm glad Luna is more than just an enhancement talent at this point and has been associated with Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster lately. In fact, they came out afterward to help her out against Jinny and Joseph Conners, so Jinny and Conners vs. Luna and either Andrews or Webster seems inevitable.

Moustache Mountain def. Noam Dar and Sha Samuels

Shockingly, this marked the first time these two have teamed on NXT UK TV since the summer of 2019 when they unsuccessfully challenged Grizzled Young Veterans for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship. That's a hell of a long time for a team that's as great as they are. I don't know if this was a one-off or not, but they looked terrific here and I hope they enter the tag title picture at some point. This was slightly slow early on, but once they picked up the pace, it turned into a top-notch main event.

Overall Show

This was a one-match show as only the Moustache Mountain main event is worth going out of your way to see. It was still a solid edition of NXT UK on the whole, but you aren't missing much in the undercard this week. I will say that they did an effective job of setting some stuff up, building to Aoife Valkyrie vs. Meiko Satomura next week, and continuing the story they're telling with Ilja Dragunov that has me intrigued.