NXT UK results: Ilja Dragunov vs. Kassius Ohno

Taped July 19 and 20 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England

Quick results —

Flash Morgan Webster defeated Mark Coffey in a fun opener, getting his team with Mark Andrews one step closer to an NXT UK Tag Team title match. Travis Banks pinned Kenny Williams, but his victory was soured by Noam Dar mocking both men on commentary. Nina Samuels also defeated Isla Dawn.

WALTER was shown at the wXw Academy in Germany, beating up a number of students and telling him they weren’t worthy of being there. He challenged Tyler Bate to meet him in a face-to-face segment next week.

In a great, hard-hitting main event with good psychology, “The Wrestling Genius” Kassius Ohno handed Ilja Dragunov his first NXT UK loss. This was probably the best NXT UK match to date not involving any combination of wrestlers in British Strong Style or Imperium.

Full rundown —

– The show opened with a graphic that promised us exclusive training footage of WALTER from Germany.

Flash Morgan Webster (w/ Mark Andrews) pinned Mark Coffey (w/ Wolfgang) after a small package (5:28)

On last Wednesday’s show, Johnny Saint informed Webster & Andrews that they’d need to prove themselves over the next few weeks to earn a Tag Team title shot. Webster used his speed and agility early to send Coffey to ringside. He went for a plancha over the top. Coffey avoided it, but Webster landed on his feet.

Wolfgang and Andrews briefly got involved, but the situation quickly was defused as Coffey took over back in the ring. He manhandled Webster, wore him down with some submissions, and hit a huge slam at one point.

Webster came back with leg kicks that hurt Coffey, but he managed to throw the smaller man to ringside. As Coffey argued with Andrews outside, Webster caught him with a dive and hit a nice moonsault back in the ring for a near fall. Coffey came back with an enzuigiri and a chokeslam for another near fall of his own.

Webster came back and went to the top, but was distracted by Wolfgang, resulting in him missing a top rope somersault senton. Andrews had seen enough and took out Wolfgang at ringside. In the chaos that ensued, Webster managed to small package Coffey for the win.

– Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm backstage and asked about Kay Lee Ray stating she knew all about Storm’s secrets. Storm was so excited about TakeOver being in Wales that she lost her train of thought and had to ask what the question was. She thought a long time about KLR and finally just said that at TakeOver, she’d be ready for her.

– A video of “Brick by Brick” by Mark Andrews’ band Junior aired, proclaiming it the official theme song for NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff

– Jordan Devlin was being interviewed backstage when suddenly there were loud screams and Piper Niven and Rhea Ripley brawled into the room. They had to be separated by a number of officials.

Travis Banks pinned Kenny Williams after hitting the Kiwi Crusher (5:34)

Just as the match was about to start, Noam Dar’s music hit and he came out, waving to the competitors in the ring. Dar joined Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness on commentary, which delighted McGuinness to no end.

Banks managed a backslide right off the bat for a two count. They traded holds and counter-holds in classic babyface vs. babyface match fashion. Dar made fun of both men on commentary as Banks hit a running knee in the ring for another cover. Dar reiterated that Williams never beat him.

As Joseph said Banks might be worthy of being on TakeOver, Dar said he also beat him at Royal Albert Hall. Williams threw Banks to the outside. He then tried to go for a dive, but Banks slid back into the ring, hit a dive of his own, and followed up with a double foot stomp from the top for another near fall.

Williams came back with a snapmare driver for a two count, then traded shots with Banks. Meanwhile, Dar on commentary asked what a Kiwi Buzzsaw even was.

Williams hit a jumping back elbow off the ropes, then hit a dive to the outside and hit a top rope back elbow from off the top once Banks was back in the ring. Banks then suddenly came back with A Slice of Heaven and hit the Kiwi Crusher for the win.

Banks fist-bumped Kenny Williams on his way out, then stared at Dar, who mockingly clapped for him. Banks went over to confront him, but Dar would have none of it.

– Kassius Ohno laced up his boots in preparation for his main event match.

Nina Samuels pinned Isla Dawn after hitting the Nina-goroshi (5:38)

They locked up and traded holds early, with Dawn impressively escaping various wristlocks until Nina grabbed a fist of hair and pulled her down. Samuels had Dawn in a straightjacket hold, but as she released it, she ate a dropkick from Dawn.

Samuels rammed Dawn’s head into the turnbuckle, then added more punishment on top. Dawn came back with some kicks and got a two count off a knee strike. Samuels ended up on the apron but hit a head kick and launched herself over the top with a spinning splash for another close two.

Dawn immediately came back with a bridging German suplex, but she couldn’t get more than a two count either. Samuels then picked her up and hit the Nina-goroshi for the win (this was the second match these two had at this set of tapings, with Dawn originally winning, so it looks like they re-taped it to get the result they wanted).

– The finishing stretch from last week’s Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey match aired, including both men brawling after their double countout. Sid Scala and Johnny Saint announced Mastiff and Coffey would have a rematch at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff in a last man standing match.

– Ilja Dragunov was shown preparing backstage for his match against Ohno.

WALTER training segment

A video from the wXw Academy aired, with WALTER training a number of wrestling students. He berated them and told them none of them belonged here, asking them if they wanted to play fight. He said this was a professional wrestling school and if they wanted to fool around, they could go to England.

WALTER let some students hit him with European uppercuts, then chopped them down. He singled out one student and told him he reminded him of Tyler Bate.

He beat the student down, then stepped on his throat and told him to say “I’m Tyler Bate.” He looked into the camera and dared Bate to meet him on NXT UK next week for a face-to-face segment.

– A graphic announced the WALTER/Tyler Bate face-off as well as Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner vs. The Hunt for next week.

Kassius Ohno pinned Ilja Dragunov after hitting the rolling elbow (15:01)

Dragunov was super intense, but Ohno managed to keep him at a distance early on. He then locked in a headlock, but Dragunov quickly countered it into Ohno’s signature cravat hold. Ohno caught Dragunov off a body press, but Dragunov managed to still turn it into a cover.

Ohno hit a chop, which only pumped up the Mad Russian and he quickly struck Ohno down, hit a hard senton, and locked in another cravat, forcing Ohno to flee to the corner in order to break the hold. Dragunov ended up on the apron and Ohno drove him into the ring post, then followed up with a big boot on the shoulder.

Ohno kept working over the shoulder and elbow of Dragunov, transitioning into a overhead wristlock. Dragunov came back briefly, but Ohno used Dragunov’s momentum and drove him head-first into the middle rope, which looked brutal.

Ohno used some innovative offense to further work over Dragunov’s arm. Dragunov briefly escaped, but was immediately caught in a guillotine and hammerlock combination.

Dragunov finally managed to hit a huge vertical suplex, but this took a lot out of both men. Dragunov hit a few clotheslines into the corner and then tried a few consecutive lariats, but clearly was hurt. He finally hit another clothesline with his good left arm, then hit the Konstantin Special but only was able to get a two count.

Dragunov went for a Gotch piledriver, but he couldn’t get Ohno up. Ohno double-legged the Russian, then focused on the arm once more, including picking him up for an over-the-shoulder backbreaker, then threw him to the mat right on Dragunov’s injured shoulder.

Ohno gave himself a chant of “Wrest-ling-Gen-ius,” but he took too much time, allowing Dragunov to hit a German suplex after a brief struggle. Dragunov hit a big dive through the ropes, which took him all the way to the beginning of the ramp. He hit a another huge dropkick from the top, hitting Ohno’s wrist and then managing to get another two count.

Dragunov went to the top once more, but got stopped by Ohno, who applied a cravat on the top, looking to hit a cravat suplex. Dragunov managed to somersault over Ohno and hit a powerbomb off the ropes, but Ohno kicked out at two again.

The crowd broke into a loud NXT chant at this point. Dragunov went to the top again, but Ohno smartly positioned the referee between himself and his attacker, then pushed Dragunov off the top, sending him crashing shoulder-first into the post, then rammed his shoulder into the post on the outside once more.

As Dragunov was dazed back in the ring, Ohno hit the rolling elbow to the back of the head for the pinfall victory.

Next week —

WALTER and Tyler Bate will go face-to-face. Imperium will also be in action, with Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner taking on The Hunt.