WWE NXT UK Review - October 17, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ilja Dragunov def. Saxon Huxley

Dragunov needed a strong performance coming off his recent losses to Kassius Ohno and Cesaro, so I was glad he got a measure of that momentum back here. However, there was no reason for this to last as long as it did or be as competitive as it was. Huxley has been a non-factor since the launch of the NXT UK brand, so I had a hard time taking him seriously against Dragunov, who was pretty dominant before suffering his first defeat two months ago. On the bright side, Alexander Wolfe scouting Dragunov for Imperium during the match was a nice touch.

Imperium def. The Hunt

Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel standing in the ring with Wolfe before The Hunt came out for their match was a really smooth segue. The Hunt and Imperium have had issues recently and this allowed them to blow off their rivalry. The Hunt can hold their own in there and Imperium never ceases to deliver. They followed up their fun outing against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch on this week's NXT with another enjoyable encounter here. How Gallus ended up winning the NXT UK Tag Team Championship before them is beyond me.

Xia Brookside def. Nina Samuels

Brookside has lost far more than she's won lately, so I was thrilled she came out on the winning end of this match with Samuels. I've made it quite clear in my reviews that I'm no fan of Samuels, even though she's fairly competent in the ring. In my opinion, there's nothing special that stands out about her, whereas Brookside is really easy to rally behind and has that likability factor going for her. The matchup itself was fine, but the outcome was a pleasant surprise.

"Bomber" Dave Mastiff Attacked Jordan Devlin

I was wondering whether Devlin was going to be feuding with Tyler Bate or Mastiff going forward, but I guess we found our answer here. I read not too long ago that Bate suffered an injury, so maybe that's why the change was made. Nevertheless, this should be a good feud as well and it got off to a solid start with this short-and-sweet segment as Mastiff stood tall in the end.

Gallus def. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster to Win the NXT UK Tag Team Championship

I'm really surprised Andrews and Webster would lose the tag titles so soon, especially since their title win at TakeOver: Cardiff was so well received. Plus, Gallus haven't had many memorable showings so far in NXT UK, though this was the best match I can remember them having to date. The crowd was invested in the action and it was an entertaining main event on the whole. I just wish Andrews and Webster had a longer run as champs before they were bumped back to being in chase mode.

Overall Show

NXT UK picked up the pace this week with an above-average episode, highlighted by a terrific tag team title match in the main event. The championship changing hands only made it more newsworthy, marking the first time a title has changed hands on this show since the inaugural NXT Women's Champion was crowned almost a year ago. The rest of the show was decent as well with some storylines progressing and Trent Seven vs. Noam Dar and Travis Banks vs. Ligero being hyped for next week.