WWE NXT UK Review - July 29, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jordan Devlin def. Tristian Archer

It was just last week that we saw Archer in action against Joseph Conners, but he never had a chance here. Rather, this was way more of a squash but still a fun opener with Devlin sticking to his winning ways. A-Kid walked out on a crutch before revealing it was a ruse, setting up the 30-minute Iron Man (the first of its kind on the brand) between the two of them for next week's show. That should be a banger.

Jinny def. Aoife Valkyrie

I liked the build to this bout, making it feel more meaningful in the process. The story with Valkyrie struggling to regain her confidence following her first loss to Meiko Satomura has been well done and that's actually why I didn't mind the result here, especially since Conners' interference protected Valkyrie in defeat. The constant interference hindered my enjoyment of their outing, but it was a quality contest on the whole. Obviously, the feud will continue, as it should, and Valkyrie will get her win back eventually.

Stevie Turner def. Aleah James

James is sporting a new hairstyle, so I almost didn't recognize her at first when they showed her in the back beforehand. She's only been positioned as an enhancement talent on NXT UK, but she always looks impressive in defeat. The focus was on Turner here, who has stood out to me as a star any time I've seen her in action. I haven't seen her cut many promos, but she certainly has a presence about her and is pretty good in the ring to boot. This was another nice showcase for her.

Moustache Mountain def. Symbiosis (Primate and Tyson T-Bone)

Even with Eddie Dennis as their manager, Symbiosis can't seem to build momentum. They'll win the occasional match here and there but won't win when it matters most. That was once again the case here, but at least it was a competitive contest and they came close to winning on a few occasions. This was an enjoyable main event as Moustache Mountain work well with just about everyone. Pretty Deadly emerged afterward to tease a future face-off for the NXT Tag Team Championship and I'd be all for that.

Overall Show

As we found out last week, WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship is being saved for NXT TakeOver 36 over SummerSlam weekend, so this show is lacking some star power with WALTER not appearing at all until then (from what I can tell, anyway). Despite that, this was a rock solid show with all of the matches serving a purpose and there also being build for Devlin vs. A-Kid next week. Getting back in front of fans would do this show a world of good.

SEE MORE: NXT UK Reviews