NXT UK results: Rampage Brown vs. Joe Coffey, A-Kid vs. Sha Samuels
The Big Takeaways:
Rampage Brown continued his undefeated streak by beating Joe Coffey as it appears he is being groomed for a UK title match against WALTER down the line. Meanwhile, A-Kid defended the Heritage Cup championship against Sha Samuels while Meiko Satomura and Kay Lee Ray had a UFC-style press conference leading up to their title match in two weeks.
Show Recap:
NXT UK Heritage Cup champion A-Kid defeated Sha Samuels two falls to one in round five (13:48)
Quick reminder about the rules of Heritage Cup matches:
- Matches consist of six three-minute rounds with 20 second breaks between each round
- Matches are 2 out of 3 falls and the match ends once a wrestler has won two falls
- Falls can be won by pinfall, submission or countout and once a fall occurs, the round ends
- In the event of a disqualification or knockout, the match instantly ends without the need for two falls.
- If all six rounds are completed, whoever is ahead on falls wins the match.
Round 1:
They started with mat wrestling, trading holds and submissions. Samuels hit a slam, drove A-Kid into the corner and locked in the Butcher’s Hook. A-Kid briefly escaped, but Samuels locked it in a second time and A-Kid quickly tapped, getting Samuels the 1-0 lead at 2:35 of the round.
Round 2:
A-Kid started with an aggressive dropkick, but Samuels quickly overpowered him and worked over his left shoulder, which he had previously targeted with the submission. A-Kid locked in two subsequent rear naked chokes, but Samuels made the ropes. They tumbled out of the ring seconds before the round ended.
Round 3:
A-Kid started out with leg kicks and scored a number of near falls with rollups. A-Kid picked Samuels’ ankle and hit a dragon screw, followed by a soccer kick and a flying superkick for the pin to tie the score 1-1 at 1:22 of the round.
Round 4:
A-Kid hit a northern lights suplex early in the round for a near fall, but then got wiped out with a lariat for a close near fall. A-Kid followed with an enzuigiri and an arm bar, but Samuels escaped. Samuels caught a crossbody off the top and hit a Michinoku Driver for another near fall. Samuels locked in the Butcher’s Hook again with a few seconds left with A-Kid literally saved by the bell.
Round 5:
A-Kid hit a flying armbar, but Samuels managed to escape and went for the Butcher’s Hook again, but A-Kid escaped. Samuels got another near fall off a spinebuster. A-Kid then hit another flying armbar and transitioned into an omoplata for the submission victory. A-Kid defended the Cup, winning the bout 2-1 at 1:25 of the round.
— A video looked at the buildup to the Coffey vs. Brown match and their past history.
— A video looked at the dominance of WALTER over the past two years on the day he tied (and surpassed) Pete Dunne’s reign as the longest reigning WWE/NXT UK Champion at 685 days.
Ben Carter defeated Josh Morrell (6:27)
Carter demonstrated some traditional British wrestling before they traded quick, athletic escapes. Carter dominated until Morrell hit a quick hurricanrana for a two count. Carter hit an STO into the turnbuckles and followed with a suplex for another near fall. They traded surfboard submissions with both able to power out and roll through on the move. Morrell hit a beautiful judo style hip toss for a near fall and followed with a crucifix for another close one. Carter came back with a spinning neckbreaker and a top rope frog splash for the pinfall victory
NXT UK Women’s title press conference
They had a table set up with Sid Scala in the middle, Meiko Satomura to the right and the champion Kay Lee Ray to the left. In a nice touch, the name tags on the table actually had their names in English and Japanese. A Japanese reporter (through a speakerphone) asked why Satomura accepted KLR’s challenge and she answered that KLR hadn’t faced her yet and until she did, calling herself the champion was a lightweight way of thinking.
Satomura said that she was excited and had a mission here (in English) when asked how it felt to be in NXT UK.
KLR was asked if she expected Satomura when she asked to face the best in the world. She said it was exactly what she expected as she and many others consider Satomura the best and that she needed to beat her to become the best.
Satomura was asked how she felt and said that she was strong and urged KLR to look at her to see how strong she was.
When asked if she thought that she could beat Satomura, KLR said that she was the longest reigning Women’s champion in modern WWE history, the first British NXT UK women’s champion, and was the “Forever champion” so yes, she thinks that she can beat Satomura.
Scala thanked the press for their questions and then announced that the title match would be taking place in two weeks. They finished the press conference with a UFC-style staredown as the cameras clicked away.
— A video recapped the feud between Xia Brookside and Nina Samuels.
— Tyler Bate walked out of the Performance Center to catch some fresh air and said these times were as important to him as the training in the ring and it would make him the best. It appears he has taken on more of a spiritual character.
Dani Luna defeated Aleah James (3:35)
Luna demonstrated her power early, pulling James off the mat with one hand onto her back. She hit a gutwrench suplex, but James managed to roll her up off a second one. Luna went for a deadlift back suplex, but James escaped and hit a dropkick for another two count. Luna then caught James off a springboard attack, hoisted her onto her shoulders, and dropped her with a power bomb for the pin and the win.
— Jinny and Joseph Conners cut a promo on Piper Niven. Conners said he was in Niven’s shoes, blaming everyone else for his problems. Then, Jinny discovered him. Jinny told Niven this had to end and she would finish her.
— Gallus faces Pretty Deadly next week for the NXT UK tag team titles.
Rampage Brown defeated Joe Coffey (11:15)
Coffey and Brown faced each other in at least eight singles matches between 2013 and 2017 in promotions such as PROGRESS, ICW and WCPW/Defiant. Coffey leads their series 5-2-1 including a win in the tournament finals for the PROGRESS ATLAS championship in 2016.
They traded power spots until Brown caught Coffey in mid-air to deliver a big power slam. Brown briefly dominated and went for the doctor bomb, but Coffey took him down and rained down blows from the top. Coffey stayed on the offense with a shoulderblock and basement clothesline and locked in a straight jacket choke. Brown powered out, but got blasted with lariats until Brown hit a huge lariat himself.
Coffey went for the Glasgow Sendoff in the corner, but Brown got his feet up and hit a shoulderblock off the top. Coffey came back with an overhead belly-to-belly and hit a big back body drop shortly thereafter. Coffey then hit the Glasgow Sendoff which sent Brown to the outside. He looked to hit another one into the ring steps, but Brown moved and Coffey crashed and burned, hurting his left arm in the process.
Coffey hit a double jump reverse bodypress off the top for another near fall, but couldn’t get a proper cover with his injured arm. Coffey went for All the Best for the Bells, but Brown slapped his injured arm away, kicked him in the head and hit the doctor bomb for the 1-2-3. Coffey shook Brown’s hand afterward.
Final Thoughts:
Brown vs. Coffey was a fun, hard-hitting hoss fight/mean guy match. The Heritage Cup match also was thrilling with Samuels getting a quick submission win in round one and A-Kid having to dig deep to pull out a victory in the end.
The KLR/Satomura press conference was cool as it had a very special feel to it without using the usual WWE-style press conference/contract signing formula of everything ending in a brawl. Plus, the idea of this getting covered as a big deal in Japan also made it feel important. The match should be very good. It looks like KLR will come out a babyface eventually and if she wins here, she will more and more being portrayed as a fighting champion.
Carter and Morrell both looked good and I am looking forward to what the future holds for Carter in the next few years.
Next week:
- NXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly
In two weeks:
- NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray vs. Meiko Satomura