WWE NXT UK Review - March 11, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tyler Bate def. "Bomber" Dave Mastiff in a Heritage Cup Rules Match

Is it just me or has Mastiff been losing a lot lately? Unless he's headed for a heel turn, he probably should be winning more than he has been. On the bright side, this was a quality contest. If you aren't into the Heritage Cup Rules, you probably didn't enjoy this as much, and I don't blame you because most of them follow the same formula. Nonetheless, they worked well together and it was a nice opener. Bate has been stacking up victories, which makes me think he'll get his desired rematch with A-Kid for the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship soon.

Teoman def. Danny Jones

Vignettes have been hyping up Toeman's arrival on the NXT UK brand for weeks. I'm not familiar with him whatsoever, but he had a solid showing in his debut here. We didn't see a ton from him, but what we did get was good. I'm interested to see him develop in the weeks to come. Either way, it's nice that NXT UK is introducing a bunch of fresh faces and spotlighting them with video packages.

Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan def. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster

Williams' slow-burning heel turn has been the worst kept secret on NXT UK. It's been foreshadowed for months and Jordan is the biggest idiot in the world for not realizing it sooner. Williams once again cheated to win here, but he explained his way out of it afterward. In other words, these two aren't done as a team... yet. The match itself was decent and the action was entertaining, but it was mostly storyline-driven with the focus on Williams and Jordan.

Piper Niven and Jack Starz def. Jinny and Joseph Conners

I believe this marked NXT UK's first-ever mixed tag team match, which is pretty cool. Starz has obviously been the go-to jobber of NXT UK since its inception, but I loved the story they told here with him having to overcome the odds and Niven's desperation to get back at Jinny for all she's done to her. The dynamic made for a fun main event, which is saying something because I normally find Conners dreadfully boring. His pairing with Jinny is probably the best use of him. Starz picking up the win by pinning Conners was a nice touch.

Overall Show

NXT UK has gone past the hour for the last few weeks, and I can't complain because they're doing a better job than ever before of filling the show with stories that make sense, well-produced video packages and character profiles, and quality matches. That was once again the case this week with the main event being a treat, Bate and Mastiff kicking off the evening on a high note, Teoman's debut, and Williams furthering his heel turn. The overall change in direction for NXT UK since its relaunch has been refreshing.