NXT UK results: Pretty Deadly vs. Moustache Mountain Tag title match

Report —

They opened with an abbreviated version of last week’s Pretty Deadly vs. Moustache Mountain hype video.

Blair Davenport defeated Emilia McKenzie (06:01)

McKenzie looked strong early with an arm drag and swinging neckbreaker, which scored her a near fall at the one-minute-mark. Davenport came back with a tackle, then locked in a chinlock. They traded strikes until McKenzie hit a running spear for another near fall.

Davenport quickly ascended the ropes and hit a shotgun dropkick but McKenzie shot back with a German suplex. McKenzie went for her somersault spear out of the corner, but Davenport stopped her with a knee and hit the Falcon Arrow for the pin and the win.

After the match, Davenport locked a helpless McKenzie in an STF and screamed that she wanted “The Final Boss vs. The Ichiban Gaijin.”

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Moustache Mountain were warming up backstage

Noam Dar and Sha Samuels were about to enter Sid Scala’s office. Dar told Sha not to scream at the boss and be nice and quiet, so of course Sha loudly banged on the door and screamed that they were here at the top of his lungs. Dar wanted some congratulations, which Scala gave, but also informed Dar that next week, Nathan Frazer and A-Kid would be competing under Heritage Cup rules to determine a number one contender. Dar wasn’t thrilled.

They showed the clip of Rampage Brown being rendered unable to continue by an enzuigiri by Ilja Dragunov in their title match last week. They showed him being taken backstage on a stretcher and said he had been evaluated but refused further medical treatment and had been in no condition for a statement after losing the match due to ref stoppage. They will update us on further developments.

Xia Brookside was at the UK Performance Center, talking to somebody about losing her match to Meiko Satomura last week. The other person said it was a three count and Brookside wanted him to help. She then was interviewed about the match and went on a screaming tirade about it not being her fault that she lost, Sid Scala setting her up, her only having one week to prepare being unfair, then finally screamed at the interviewer to leave her alone and stormed off.

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Jordan Devlin-Ilja Dragunov in-ring segment

Devlin said he was the longest reigning cruiserweight champion in history, the star, the franchise player, the Ace of the brand. He said there was only one thing left for him to do and that was to take the NXT UK title. He said he wasn’t like other challengers interrupting Ilja Dragunov, but wanted Dragunov to come out to his ring and face him. Dragunov didn’t take long to answer the challenge and walked out to the ring.

Dragunov said he appreciated Devlin’s ring ability but said where he comes from, people don’t talk so much and if Devlin wanted a title match, why did he not just ask for it?

Devlin said he knew who Dragunov won the title from and defended it against, men to whom the sport was honorable and the mat was sacred. He also said that he is not like those men, he won’t stop if Dragunov knocks him out or quit, if he breaks his nose. He said to him, nothing between these ropes was sacred, if Dragunov gave him a chance he would only require one and would end his career to take the title and won’t lose any sleep over it.

Dragunov smiled and said that nothing Devlin said or did could intimidate him, scare him or make him nervous. He was prepared for everything Devlin could bring.

Devlin replied that he hoped that Dragunov knew what he got himself into and that “his little wife at home” forgave him for it. He also said that he hopes that Dragunov could explain to “your little boy – Konstantin, right?” – why he had to grow up taking care of his daddy. Dragunov looked incredulous, then decked Devlin as officials ran to the ring to break things up. Devlin smiled as he was led away.

This was a money promo if there ever was one. I now want to see this match take place in a big stadium and want to pay money to attend it at ringside. This was a blood feud on a personal level materializing out of thin air within minutes.

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An amazing video on Amale aired, which immediately transformed her from an arrogant heel to a lovable babyface. She said she had been perceived as ruthless and aggressive during her stay in NXT UK, but there was a reason for it. She had been told “no” all her life when all she wanted was to become a wrestler with WWE. They aired clips and videos of her childhood of Moroccan immigrants in France. She said she had two master’s degrees, had become a teacher and could have been anything she wanted, but she wanted to become a wrestler. She was tired of her parents telling her no and telling her to go to law school instead. She was tired of the parents of the children in her school telling her she couldn’t do WWE. She was crying and emotional during the video and it really tore at the heartstrings of everybody watching with a soul. She concluded that she was Amale and she was Hope.

Kenny Williams cut a promo on Mark Andrews, calling him a pretender and calling him being a rock star and a skateboarder and act. He said he recognized that, as he had been a pretender too for much of his life. He said Andrews was all that was left of Subculture and once he was done with him, there would only be Scum Culture.

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Sam Gradwell defeated Sha Samuels (w/ Noam Dar) (06:53)

They went back and forth early, with Samuels trying to go for Gradwell’s surgically repaired leg. They took turns flattening each other with lariats, then Gradwell clotheslines Samuels over the top rope. He followed with a clothesline off the apron. Samuels then pulled Gradwell off the apron and slammed him on the mats outside. Back in the ring, Samuels slammed him once more, then hit a suplex for a near fall.

Samuels took off his suspenders and threatened to beat Gradwell with them. Gradwell, also a despicable heel, grabbed Samuels’ scarf, wrapped it around his neck and pretended that Dar choked him with it from the outside. Dar seemed to confirm to the referee as he tried to take the scarf off Gradwell.

The referee was close to disqualifying Samuels when Dar jumped on the apron, distracting the ref and allowing Gradwell to whip the scarf into Samuels’ nether regions. He followed up with the fireman’s carry power bomb for the win.

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Gallus were in an underground garage, putting something into the trunk of their car. They once more acted like an Irish crime syndicate who were feuding with rivaling crime syndicate, headed by Teoman. Wolfgang suggested Joe Coffey leave a mark on Charlie Dempsey. They got into their car as police sirens approached.

They promoted the Nathan Frazer vs. A-Kid Heritage Cup match for next week. Both men talked about the match and once more, they went the extra mile in the buildup. A-Kid actually talked about adapting his training with more of an emphasis on strength in order to subdue Frazer. He said timing beats speed. Frazer on the other hand said he’d force A-Kid to play his game, take him to the sky and drop him. He said winning here would be the biggest moment of his life.

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NXT UK Tag Team Championship: Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) defeated Pretty Deadly (Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley) to win the titles (17:49)

Moustache Mountain were in control early, with Bate using speed and technique, then both members of Moustache Mountain clotheslined Pretty Deadly to the outside. They then hit stereo vertical suplexes before Seven hit a top rope knee drop on Howley for a two count. Seven’s left hand was taped and he was favoring it, which the announcers pointed out.

They threw Seven to ringside, where Stoker rammed Seven into the steps. Back in the ring, Seven managed to fight free and ended up on the top rope, but got his legs taken out and took a brutal bump right on his head and neck from the top. The champs hit a double elbow/leg drop on Seven, then worked him over some more in and out of the ring. Seven finally made the hot tag and Bate ran wild on both opponents.

He hit an exploder followed by a running shooting star press on Howley, then went for the Tyler Driver ’97 and after some back and forth counters, hit the move for a close near-fall. Howley tagged out and Stoker hit an assisted gutbuster for a near fall of his own. Pretty Deadly went for the trademark Moustache Mountain slingshot lariat/dragon suplex combo but Bate ducked and the champs took out each other.

Seven was back in and hit the snap DDT on Howley, followed by the Seven Star Lariat for another close two-count. Pretty Deadly came back and hit Spilled Milk on Seven, with Bate narrowly making the save. Bate hit a dive through the ropes, but Stoker caught him and Pretty Deadly hit Spilled Milk on Bate on the outside.

Howley hit a powerbomb on Seven, the deadlifted him and hot another on on Stoker’s knee but Seven still managed to kick out. Howley managed to distract the referee with a title belt and snuck another one to Stoker who hit Seven with it. Seven somehow managed to kick out from the cover that followed.

Bate finally made it in, hit a rolling kick and Tyler Driver 97 on Howley. He took his time going to the top rope while Seven picked Stoker up for the Birminghammer and dropped him on Howley. Bate then followed with the Big Spiral Boi from the top and covered Howley for the title win.

Moustache Mountain are your new NXT UK Tag Team Champions and Tyler Bate is the first-ever NXT UK Triple Crown champion. This was a fantastic match.

Final Thoughts —

• This was one of the best episodes of NXT UK in 2021.
• The main event was fantastic and concluded Trent Seven’s redemption storyline that started more than a year ago with him losing in the Heritage Cup finals, losing to Jordan Devlin in their feud over the cruiserweight title and costing Bate the Heritage Cup. It also helped that those two teams are among the best in the UK if not the world right now and Pretty Deadly are criminally underrated.
• Add to that the Dragunov/Devlin segment that felt very raw and personal and had some of the best mic work all year in WWE, the great Amale profile video and the A-Kid/Frazer hype video that felt more like a UFC Countdown style match profile. Davenport/McKenzie also was good and built to a Davenport/Satomura match down the line while Samuels/Gradwell was a fun mean guy hoss fight.
• I’d recommend going out of your way to watch this one.

Next week —

• Heritage Cup Rules: A-Kid vs. Nathan Frazer to determine the new number one contender to the Heritage Cup