WWE NXT UK Review - July 17, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Imperium def. Tyson T-Bone and Saxon Huxley

It's always a treat to watch Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel in action and this was no exception. Meanwhile, Bone and Huxley don't do much for me, but this was never intended to be a competitive contest. Rather, it was designed to further the momentum of Imperium coming off their recent assault on Tyler Bate. It was a nice little match while it lasted that went down exactly as it should have.

Jinny def. Xia Brookside

I've been digging how this story has unfolded over the past month on NXT UK TV, but this wasn't the greatest showcase for either woman. They were short on time and it was a fairly forgettable affair. I would've preferred Brookside getting in a bit more offense before losing to Jinny's underhanded tactics, but at least she wasn't completely squashed here. The real story in this bout was that Jazzy Gabert interfered and aided Jinny to victory, so Brookside was protected in defeat.

Kay Lee Ray Interrupted NXT UK Women's Champion Toni Storm

Storm is such a natural on the mic and I always enjoy her promos. She was straight to the point here in addressing Ray's actions from last week and Ray delivered a strong promo in response. Both ladies kept things short and sweet and made their match for TakeOver: Cardiff official. I'm glad they're holding off until then to face off as that'll be a big addition to the TakeOver card.

Mark Andrews def. Kassius Ohno

Ohno has typically had his best matches in NXT UK with smaller opponents, so I wasn't surprised that this was a quality contest. Andrews' babyface fire was great and Ohno being his usual heel bully self was fun. They played off each other really well, and while they didn't light the world on fire, they did produce an entertaining main event. Andrews won via a roll-up, so it's possible the program will continue.

Overall Show

Nothing stood out to me in a major way on this edition of NXT UK, but it was still a super solid show on the whole. The first two matches weren't anything to write home about, but they succeeded in what they set out to do. Plus, Storm and Ray announced their championship clash for TakeOver and the main event was well wrestled. I also appreciated how three matches are already being advertised for next week's episode.