WWE NXT UK Review - December 26, 2018 (Part 2)

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zack Gibson and James Drake def. "Wild Boar" Mike Hitchman and "Primate" Jay Melrose

Hitchman and Melrose appear to be the latest additions to NXT UK's tag team division, and although they have the neat nicknames down, they didn't do much to stand out to me in this match. They do work well together, though, so there was that. Gibson and Drake, on the other hand, are more of the complete package as a tandem and are among the front-runners to become the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions.

"Bomber" Dave Mastiff vs. Josh Morrell Went to a No Contest

Before the bout could even begin, Eddie Dennis emerged from the back and attacked Morrell on the stage while Mastiff was in the ring. It was basically payback from the week prior when Mastiff brawled with Dennis and forced him to flee. It would have been a short and sweet squash either way, but this simply helped expedite the process and furthered the feud between Mastiff and Dennis.

Marcel Barthel def. Mark Andrews

Similar to Fabian Aichner, Barthel is another familiar name from NXT who might be a better fit for NXT UK. I still know nothing about him, mind you, but in the ring, he's perfectly serviceable. He and Andrews had a pretty good match and the distraction from Aichner at ringside made sense from a storyline standpoint. Expect to see Aichner and Barthel vs. Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster soon enough.

NXT UK Women's Champion Rhea Ripley def. Deonna Purrazzo

Seeing Purrazzo debut for NXT UK as a championship challenger was a pleasant surprise, but unfortunately, this happened at the wrong time. Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women's title was just announced for TakeOver: Liverpool, so Purrazzo had zero chance of capturing the gold. That said, this was an excellent main event and both women had strong showings. I was happy they received an ample amount of time and Purrazzo looked fairly credible in defeat.

Overall Show

The wrestling was entertaining on the whole on this edition of NXT UK and the build to TakeOver: Liverpool continues. Plus, the tag team division is coming together nicely, the ladies are getting more and more opportunities to shine, and the undercard angles (Andrews vs. Aichner, Mastiff vs. Dennis) have held my interest. The hour never ceases to fly by and I have no complaints regarding this show whatsoever. It was an enjoyable episode.