WWE NXT UK Review - May 27, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nathan Frazer def. Sha Samuels

Samuels cost Frazer his match against Noam Dar a few weeks ago on the show, so this was Frazer's chance at redemption. He's been all smiles so far in NXT UK, so I liked how the loss to Dar was what led to him getting more aggressive. It worked as, despite a solid effort from Samuels and outside interference from Dar, Frazer was able to pick up the victory. It was a quality opener with Frazer getting back to his winning ways.

Teoman def. Ashton Smith

Teoman recently antagonized Smith at the UK Performance Center. Smith has been positioned as a stepping stone in NXT UK for years now, so there was never any question what the outcome would be. Teoman has been intense in all of his recent matches, making me want to see him go up against Ilja Dragunov one of these days. That'd be a hell of a hard-hitting affair. At any rate, this was a little longer than I figured it'd be, but at least Teoman dominated a majority of it before winning. It looks like Oliver Carter is next on Teoman's hitlist.

Kenny Williams def. Andy Wild

Williams debuted a new, unshaven look here. He was almost unrecognizable. He's not a bad-looking dude, but I'm sorry, he looks generic as hell without the facial hair. This was your basic showcase for Williams as he looks to establish credibility for himself as a singles heel. If he can continue to stack up wins, I can certainly see him being in contention for the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship eventually.

Trent Seven def. Sam Gradwell

A few months ago, this would have been a straightforward squash match. I know Gradwell hasn't won a ton of matches since returning from injury (maybe only one?), but he's brought the fight to his opponents every single time and has really won me over, especially with his mic work. I honestly thought he had a chance of winning here down the stretch, but Seven managed to put him away. This was a top-notch main event with great work from both men and Gradwell gaining something in defeat.

Overall Show

The opening and closing matches featured some strong wrestling and were thankfully given plenty of time. The two middle matches were a little longer than they needed to be but were still effective in spotlighting Teoman and Williams and were well-wrestled. I also loved the video package for Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura for the NXT UK Women's Championship, which is coming up in two weeks on the show. This was an enjoyable hour of wrestling that had a little bit of everything except for a women's match, but the Ray/Satomura package seemed to fulfill that to an extent.

SEE MORE: WWE NXT UK Reviews