WWE NXT UK Review - August 25, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Trent Seven def. Oliver Carter in an NXT UK Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

Carter surprisingly ran through all of Die Familie leading up to and in the first round of the tournament, but he wasn't getting past Seven here. I really liked the story they told with Carter giving it a valiant effort only for Seven to target his injured leg and use it to his advantage to score the victory. Both of these men have since been released, but hopefully we see them pop up again next year when NXT Europe launches.

Tyler Bate def. Joe Coffey in an NXT UK Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

These are two NXT UK originals. I don't remember many (if any) matches Bate and Coffey had together, but this was very good stuff as you'd expect, even though the outcome was never in doubt. They were given an ample amount of time and had strong chemistry. This, of course, sets up Bate vs. Seven in the finals of the tourney next week. As for Coffey, he's already made his way over to NXT with the rest of Gallus.

Noam Dar def. Mark Coffey to Win the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship

I was wondering why Coffey didn't come out with the Heritage Cup title when Gallus debuted in NXT recently and now we know the reason. I'm not sure what the point was of Coffey becoming champ in the first place, especially since Coffey was a random person to end Dar's reign. This was a solid main event, but personally, I'm not going to miss these Heritage Cup-style matches. I applaud them for trying something different, but most of them are too formulaic and they're hard to get into. It's weird that we're not getting Dar vs. Carmelo Hayes in a unification match for the Heritage Cup title and the NXT North American Championship at Worlds Collide, unless it's added next week.

Overall Show

It's damn depressing to watch this show as it airs its final few episodes being going on hiatus knowing a majority of the roster has since been released, not to mention we know the outcomes of all the matches that have yet to air because of what we've seen on NXT in recent weeks. I suppose the Heritage Cup Championship changing hands was notable, but does it really matter at this point? From an in-ring standpoint, this episode had plenty of great in-ring action and setup for next week's finale, so at least the brand isn't ending out of nowhere with unresolved storylines.

SEE MORE: NXT UK Reviews