WWE NXT UK Review - January 7, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jinny def. Piper Niven in an NXT UK Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Jinny cost Niven the NXT UK Women's Championship when she faced Kay Lee Ray a month or two ago. Both of these ladies are talented and thus it was a well-wrestled opener, but it felt like it never reached that next gear. Jinny winning was the right call as it's been nearly two years since her last shot at the NXT UK Women's Championship and she's a fresh opponent for Kay Lee Ray. I've made it quite clear in the past how I couldn't care less about Joseph Conners, but I'm honestly okay with him serving as a righthand man of sorts for Jinny. That's probably the best role for him and it adds to Jinny's act.

NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin Interrupted Ben Carter on Supernova Sessions with Noam Dar

Dar is excellent in this role as the host of his own talk show. He's great in the ring, but he especially shines on the mic. This served to set up the main event between the debuting Carter and Devlin for the NXT Crusierweight Championship. It was a solid segment and Carter came off well, but I have no idea why they couldn't have hyped up their match for another episode. To rush into it on the same show felt unnecessary. That said, it's a hell of a first night for Carter in NXT UK.

"Bomber" Dave Mastiff def. Saxon Huxley

Like Conners, Huxley is another guy that never ceases to bore me to tears. He's been all over the place since NXT UK returned from its hiatus, but the enhancement level is where he belongs. That said, he's big enough that it was more impressive for Mastiff to beat a guy like him as opposed to someone smaller such as Jack Starz. This was essentially a glorified squash match, meaning it was exactly what it needed to be.

NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin def. Ben Carter

Putting people in a championship match in their debut isn't a bad idea as long as the aftermath is strong, so time will tell whether Carter will be handled properly from this point forward. Based on how heavily his signing was touted by the brand so far, I have faith they'll do right by him. He had a stellar showing here and looked great in defeat after almost capturing the championship on a few different occasions. Devlin delivered once again and it was a very fun main event on the whole. I would have built this up as a rivalry over the title as opposed to giving it away so quickly, but I won't complain about Carter getting the main event spotlight on Night 1.

Overall Show

This was a slightly newsworthy show between Jinny becoming the number one contender to the NXT UK Women's Championship and Ben Carter debuting and getting a title shot in the main event. Other than the above-average main event, this show was decent at best from an in-ring standpoint. I actually really liked the sit-down interview with Tyler Bate as it left me interested in seeing what's next for him. I'm also excited for WALTER vs. A-Kid next week because I have no doubt it'll be a terrific match.