WWE NXT UK Review - January 21, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rampage Brown def. "Bomber" Dave Mastiff

Brown has been impressive thus far in NXT UK, but it was high time he beat someone with credibility on the roster and he had that chance here. It helped that Mastiff and Brown have been teasing a face-off since Brown arrived on the brand, so this had been in the works for a while. Mastiff is a very talented big man and Brown's offense is always intense, so I was happy that this was the hard-hitting affair I was expecting it to be. This was a big win for Brown and I hope he can capitalize on it by continuing to build momentum.

Ilja Dragunov def. Jack Starz

I believe it was Starz who Dragunov beat in his NXT UK debut two years ago, which is why he chose to face him again so he could get back on track following his devastating loss to WALTER way back in October. This was much more competitive than I thought it would be, but I don't mean that as bad thing. Starz gave Dragunov his best, and because he didn't go down easy, Dragunov had to unleash his other ruthless side of him that we haven't seen yet in order to obtain the victory. The storytelling with Dragunov lately has been top-notch.

Amir Jordan def. Tyson T-Bone

I can't think of a single match T-Bone has won in NXT UK, while Jordan has never been positioned as anyone important on his own. In other words, I didn't care about this contest at all going in. It ended up being decent, but I guess the story is that Kenny Williams can't believe that Jordan would win in one-on-one action. A heel turn for Williams feels to be inevitable, but it really doesn't matter to me whether they split up or stick together as they've always been an undercard team.

NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray def. Jinny

I wasn't sure how this match would be with the heel vs. heel dynamic, but it was actually solid and both women gave it a great effort. I assumed Joseph Conners would get involved at some point, so while that was slightly annoying, even more annoying than that was the camera constantly cutting to the many faces on the video wall. It was everyone in the NXT UK women's division, so while I understood what they were trying to do, it got old very quickly and took away from the action. Ray's record-setting reign as NXT UK Women's Champion rolls on.

Overall Show

The first half of this show was strong, but the second half was a different story. Mastiff vs. Brown was a blast and kept Brown on the right track while Dragunov vs. Starz was a war while it lasted. Jordan vs. T-Bone was supposed to accomplish something I suppose, but I didn't care. Finally, the main event was enjoyable, but it wasn't without its flaws. All in all, it was a mixed bag of a show. The hype for next week's big NXT UK Tag Team Championship number one contender's Fatal 4-Way tag team match was well done, though.