WWE NXT UK Review - November 14, 2018 (Part 1)

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Triple H and NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint Unveiled the NXT UK Women's Championship

There has been speculation since the show's launch that a title for the NXT UK women's division was on the horizon, and sure enough, it was officially introduced here. This wasn't much of a segment as it was an announcement/unveiling, but it was still a cool way to kick off the show and it felt like an important happening. I also realized upon seeing all the ladies lined up on the stage that this division is loaded with talent and it will be interesting to see who will be crowned the first-ever champ.

Jordan Devlin def. Sid Scala

Devlin is quietly building momentum as a nice midcard heel on the NXT UK brand. It's been clear since I first saw him in action during the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament that he could go in the ring, so that was never the problem. Rather, I questioned whether he had much of a character beyond crapping on the crowd, so in addition to his impressive showing here, he cut a quality heel promo afterward. Thus, I thought this was a successful segment all around.

Joseph Conners and Saxon Huxley def. Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams

It was announced immediately before this that tag team titles for the NXT UK brand were also on the way, so these two makeshift pairings battled in an attempt to make an impact in the tag team ranks. Jordan and Williams are two thrilling high-fliers, but as of now, they lack personality, so maybe forming an alliance will be the best thing for them. Then again, I guess the same can be said for Conners and Huxley, as I don't know much about them, either. If nothing else, this was an enjoyable affair with the heels scoring the victory.

Tyler Bate def. JAmes Drake

Although he seems like a competent enough wrestler based off his performance in this match, Drake just screams "generic" to me. There was never any doubt that Bate was beating him, but I was glad they were given time anyway because it turned into a solid outing with a great pace and energy. Bate winning was the right call, but it feels like he's spinning his wheels until the NXT UK Tag Team Championship is implemented.

Wolfgang def. Ashton Smith

Smith became a target of Wolfgang and The Coffey Brothers a few weeks ago and fell short of victory in six-man tag team match action against them last week. Therefore, this was his chance to exact a measure of revenge and he fared well for himself. Wolfgang was on offense for a majority of the matchup, but the crowd rallied behind Smith when he made his comeback down the stretch and those final few minutes were fun. With Wolfgang's win, the heel faction remain dominant.

Overall Show

Since there aren't a ton of programs developing right now, a majority of the show's focus up to this point has been on the trio of Wolfgang and The Coffey Brothers, which is fine because they've been booked strongly so far. The rest of the brand is filled with skilled wrestlers, but I don't think things will really start to come together until the NXT UK Women's and Tag Team Championships are in full swing. As for this episode, none of the matches were incredibly memorable, but they were all well-wrestled and effective in helping to establish some guys. And of course, the debut of the NXT UK Women's Championship was newsworthy.