WWE NXT UK Review - June 26, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Mark Andrews def. Joseph Conners

It's no secret that Conners bores me to tears, but he is a competent enough competitor to have a good match, especially when he's in the ring with someone as skilled as Andrews. This was a really fun opening match that the crowd was red hot for throughout. I don't think it wasn't meant to kick off a feud between the two, but I enjoyed the outing while it lasted, nonetheless.

NXT UK Tag Team Champions The Grizzled Young Veterans Addressed the Audience

You know, while I write in the title of these paragraphs that both members of Grizzled Young Veterans addressed the audience, it's really only Zack Gibson and James Drake just so happens to be there. I honestly can't even remember the last time he spoke. At any rate, this was the usual strong promo from Gibson as he ran down the audience in attendance and boasted about how rich they were and how they'll be hanging out in their five-star hotel room until it's time for them to defend the NXT UK Tag Team Championship against Moustache Mountain next week.

Xia Brookside def. Killer Kelly

Between her great showing in last week's Battle Royal and this victory here, Brookside appears to be in line for a push in the NXT UK women's division. She has plenty of potential and seems to connect with the crowd, so it's cool to see her getting a chance to shine. It's just a shame that it's coming at the expense of someone as talented as Kelly, who I think has yet to win a match in NXT UK. This was a nice little bout with a welcome sense of urgency. It's worth noting that Jinny and Jazzy Gabert were seen standing on the stage at one point, so look for them to continue targeting Brookside.

Ligero def. Noam Dar

Dar has been demanding respect from the NXT UK locker room and the fans despite always resorting to dirty tactics in his matches. He tried to convince Kenny Williams to journey over to the dark side following his loss to Kassius Ohno last week, but Williams ended up evening the odds in Ligero's favor here to aid him to victory. Even before the finish, this was a well wrestled, quality contest that told a simple story that I liked.

WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER def. Travis Banks

I was really hoping this would be saved for TakeOver: Cardiff, but it ended up getting blown off with one week's build. I also knew this wouldn't be anything too special when it started so close to the end of the episode. Don't get me wrong, it was an entertaining encounter and Banks was able to score an ample amount of offense over WALTER, but I was mildly disappointed that it was a glorified television main event (meaning it didn't feel like a true championship clash) and that Banks lost decisively. I guess Banks' time in the title picture is already over, leaving me to wonder what they have planned for WALTER at TakeOver: Cardiff instead.

Overall Show

This Download Festival crowd has been electric the last two weeks. I don't know if more episodes are emanating from Download in the weeks ahead, but if so, I'm looking forward to them (especially an NXT Tag Team Championship match between Grizzled Young Veterans and Moustache Mountain on tap for next week). As for this edition of NXT UK, the wrestling was above average on the whole, even if the main event didn't live up to my admittedly lofty expectations.