WWE NXT UK Review - October 22, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eddie Dennis def. Oliver Carter

Carter has never been presented as anything but an enhancement guy in the tag team division alongside Ashton Smith, so the outcome was never in doubt here. Despite that, it was a pretty good opening match with Carter showing some fun fire before eating defeat. Dennis was in the midst of a significant push before getting injured earlier this year, so I hope he can reclaim some of that momentum now that he's back. Afterward, he called Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews, with whom he'll have a "mediation" next week.

Nina Samuels def. Amale

I have literally never been invested in anything Samuels has ever been involved in and I don't think that's about to change now that she's getting a renewed push and undergoing a slight character change. This match stemmed from Samuels turning on Amale in a tag team match they had recently, so although I understood why it happened, I couldn't have cared less, even though it was serviceable from an in-ring standpoint. Samuels called out Piper Niven during a backstage interview later on, so hopefully Niven goes over there.

Trent Seven def. Kenny Williams in a Heritage Cup First-Round Match

Seven is a much bigger star than Williams, so while I never expected anything other than Seven advancing to the next round, I was very happy with the performance Williams had here. He never wins whenever it matters most, mind you, but he's always fun to watch in the ring, even with the round rules that are in place for this tournament. I think I've gotten used to them by this point and thus I enjoyed this outing. Seven raising Williams' hand afterward was a nice touch.

NXT UK Champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov's Contract Signing Turned Into an All-Out Melee

Although I was looking forward to these two going face-to-face one last time before their big championship match next week, it made more sense for them to say nothing at all, especially WALTER. He's better when he stays silent and lets his actions do the talking for him, such as when he brutally chopped Dragunov over and over. In fact, it was perfectly logical for WALTER to be mad here considering Dragunov handed him his first pinfall loss last week, so the brawl that ensued instead was exactly what needed to happen. WALTER vs. Dragunov could be a barn burner based on the matches they've had elsewhere and I can honestly see a scenario where Dragunov captures the title.

Overall Show

NXT UK each week tends to feature something strong in the main event and then the undercard is lacking, but I didn't think that was the case this week. Okay, so Samuels vs. Amale was a bore, but at least it served a purpose in setting up Samuels vs. Niven. Plus, Dennis vs. Carter was better than I thought it would be, Seven and Williams made the most of the rounds format and had an entertaining match, and the closing contract signing was an excellent way of leading into WALTER vs. Dragunov next week. That along with the in-ring return of Jordan Devlin makes that show incredibly interesting and as must-see as it gets.