WWE NXT UK Review - May 20, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rampage Brown def. Wolfgang

Brown has been teasing a rematch with Joe Coffey recently, so this match against Wolfgang was almost a tune-up of sorts for him. It didn't take up a ton of time, but it didn't need to. This was a fun and hard-hitting sprint with Brown scoring the win and bouncing back from his recent loss to WALTER. Coffey confronted him afterward backstage and promised to give him a rematch when he was healed up from his injuries. We found out later on that rematch will take place in two weeks' time.

Amale def. Xia Brookside

Amale attacked Brookside prior to last week's NXT UK Women's Championship number one contender's Gauntlet match, preventing her from taking part. Brookside was out for revenge here and I liked that she didn't immediately give Amale her comeuppance. Amale is relatively new to the NXT UK brand and this marked her first win. The match was decent while it lasted and I'm looking forward to seeing both women improve.

Noam Dar Hosted Supernova Sessions with Ilja Dragunov

I was worried this was going to go off the rails, especially once Dar started doing the "spa treatment" stuff, but Dragunov's performance here was very good. There's no doubt he was affected by his loss to WALTER last October and his actions in the last few months have reflected that. His downward spiral has made for a terrific story and I liked how Dar tried to get under his skin. These two will square off in two weeks.

Tyler Bate def. A-Kid to Win the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship

I loved how heavily this was hyped up in advance with the vignettes and interviews with both men. It gave this a big fight feel and the unpredictable outcome helped as well. Most of these Heritage Cup matches follow the same formula, so it was refreshing that this one did not. Instead, they went the full six rounds without a single fall until the very end with an injured Bate barely besting A-Kid for the title. I was wondering why Trent Seven was in Bate's corner and started to think that he might turn on him, but he was actually there so he could tease throwing in the towel for Bate (which is how they lost the NXT Tag Team Championship three years ago). As expected, this was an excellent main event. With Bate back on track, I'm curious what the future holds for A-Kid.

Overall Show

This was pretty much a one-match show, and that one match is worth going out of your way to see, especially if you saw their other encounters last year. The title change was notable and the aftermath should be interesting. Meanwhile, Brown and Wolfgang had an enjoyable opener, Brookside vs. Amale was decent, and Supernova Sessions set up Dragunov vs. Dar for the show in two weeks. By the way, where the hell has WALTER been?