WWE NXT UK Review - January 23, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT UK Champion WALTER Addressed Undisputed Era

It's been rumored for the past week that the WWE United Kingdom Championship would be named the NXT UK Championship, so WALTER being given the new title belt (which is the same as the old title belt except that it has an NXT logo in the middle instead of a WWE logo) was hardly a surprise. WALTER then cut a passionate promo on Undisputed Era and how their feud is personal now coming off the events of TakeOver: Blackpool II. That clash should be stellar on Saturday night.

Jordan Devlin def. Ligero to Qualify for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way Match at Worlds Collide

The commentators mentioned several times that Devlin is undefeated against Ligero on NXT UK. I'm glad their history wasn't ignored, but at the same time, if Ligero wasn't going to win (which he shouldn't have), bringing that up just makes Ligero look inferior. Other than that, this was a fun match as these two always work well together. Devlin's stock has never been higher following his fantastic match with Tyler Bate at TakeOver, so I really hope that's capitalized on soon. Sure, competing for the Cruiserweight title is cool, but he obviously he won't capture the championship.

Ilja Dragunov def. Josh Morrel

Dragunov is an incredibly impressive specimen and never ceases to deliver. This served as a showcase for him ahead of his highly anticipated match with Finn Balor at Worlds Collide. Speaking of which, I loved the promo that was put together promoting the match beforehand. Post-match, Joe Coffey confronted Dragunov, and despite their recent alliance, Coffey said he's coming for Dragunov after he inadvertently cost him the NXT UK Championship at TakeOver: Blackpool II. I'm not the biggest Coffey fan, but it's nice to see Dragunov in so many important matches right now.

Travis Banks def. The Brian Kendrick to Qualify for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way Match at Worlds Collide

Watching Kendrick in this environment made me realize how much better off he'd probably be in NXT UK. He's been super stale on 205 Live for years, so I think a brand switch would do wonders for him. In fact, this was probably the best match I've seen him have in years. He and Banks put together an entertaining main event that was given an ample amount of time and featured the right result. 

Overall Show

This edition of NXT UK was newsworthy in that it featured plenty of hype for Worlds Collide coming up this weekend. The last two remaining spots in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way were filled (not to mention that both bouts were well wrestled), a vignette aired promoting Dragunov vs. Balor, and WALTER addressed Undisputed Era. It was a very simple yet quality show. My only issue with it was that Jazzy Gabert vs. Killer Kelly was advertised last week, but it was never said why it never happened. Gabert has since revealed on social media that she found out afterward she wasn't cleared to compete and has been granted her release from NXT UK, but it would have been nice if it was explained what happened with that instead of ignoring it.