WWE NXT UK Review - February 3, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter def. "Bomber" Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz in the Finals of the NXT UK Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament

Smith and Carter haven't been featured in the tag title picture too much in the past and I don't Mastiff and Starz have ever gotten a title shot. Thus, this could have gone either way. It was a well-worked match and I liked the insight that Moustache Mountain offered on commentary. I assume the endgame with Mastiff and Starz is a split, so I would've had them win here so they at least had the chance to contend for the championship before that happens, but Moustache Mountain against Smith and Carter should still fun.

Isla Dawn def. Myla Grace

Another week, another Isla Dawn match I couldn't care less about. I've said it countless times in the past, but Dawn's vampire gimmick is just awful and it's impossible to take seriously. She's not very interesting as a wrestler, either, so I find myself tempted to skip over her matches any time I see her in action. Thankfully, this was kept on the shorter side and served as a quick showcase for her.

NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura def. Blair Davenport by Referee Stoppage

I don't think we've ever gotten a Japanese Street Fight before in WWE, but it turns out it's no different than any other Street Fight we've gotten in WWE, kendo sticks and all. At least they made the most of the stipulation and were having a brutal affair up until Davenport's legitimate ankle injury at the end. It looked pretty damn ugly on the replay. NXT UK has a tendency to have people lose in their first shot at the title before winning it in the rematch and my guess is that would've happened here too had she not gotten hurt. Hopefully she's not out for long. The match itself was going great up until that point.

Overall Show

I may have missed something, but why were there no fans in attendance for this show? I know we had that Empty Arena match last week, but it looks like they didn't bring the fans back for some reason. Nonetheless, they took the less-is-more approach with this episode by dedicating a majority of the time to the finals of the tag team tournament and the NXT UK Women's Championship match. Granted, the main event was cut short due to the injury and that was a bummer, but it was entertaining while it lasted. I could have done without the Dawn squash in the middle, but otherwise, this was a thumbs-up edition of NXT UK.

SEE MORE: NXT UK Reviews