NXT UK results: Qualifying matches, Ilja Dragunov debuts

Taped April 19, 2019 at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland

Quick results —

Piper Niven squashed the debuting Jaimie Hayter in just under two minutes. Ilja Dragunov made his NXT UK debut, quickly beating Jack Starz and giving the fans a glimpse of what is to come from the Mad Russian.

Killer Kelly and Xia Brookside went to a no contest when Jinny came out and introduced “The Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert, who went on to destroy Brookside.

Jordan Devlin and Dave Mastiff both won qualifiers and advanced to the fatal four-way match to decide a challenger for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. Mastiff was beaten down by Gallus after his match.

Full rundown —

– The episode opened with two graphics, announcing tonight’s two WWE United Kingdom Championship number one contendership qualifying matches. Joe Coffey was the first wrestler to qualify for the match last week.

Piper Niven pinned Jamie Hayter after a Michinoku Driver (1:48)

Hayter, 24, is from Southampton and has been active since 2015. She is a regular with Pro Wrestling:EVE and Revolution Pro (where she held the Women’s title for about six months) and also started doing tours with Stardom in 2018. She has wrestled all over the UK and regularly appears for the German Wrestling Federation out of Berlin.

Hayter started out aggressively, immediately grabbing Niven’s arm and trying to get her to the mat. Niven worked her way out of the move and received a slap, which didn’t sit well with her. A headbutt, flying body press, cannonball into the corner, and a Michinoku Driver later, Niven picked up the win.

– Toni Storm was interviewed by the press. She was asked about Nina Samuels talking about her leaving her family. She said if you mess with her head, she becomes dangerous.

Storm now wants the match worse than Samuels — and if Samuels wants her 15 minutes of fame, she will get that.

– Sid Scala was being interviewed as he entered the building. They asked him about WALTER vs. Pete Dunne and he talked about the qualifying matches, then Kassius Ohno entered and called Scala “Psycho Sid” and was being all amicable.

Ohno asked why he was overlooked and wasn’t in a qualifying match. He asked Scala what he would do about it. Scala said he’d talk to Johnny Saint and get back to Ohno next week.

Qualifying match for number one contender’s fatal four-way: Jordan Devlin pinned Ligero with Devlinside (10:30)

Devlin looked to work over Ligero’s arm and shoulder right away, but Ligero used his athleticism to escape. Devlin took back over, but again, Ligero managed to get a sunset flip powerbomb in for a two count, following up with a plancha over the top and a dropkick to Devlin’s face.

They fought back and forth until Devlin hit his uranage/standing moonsault combo for a near fall and followed up with a modified kneeling abdominal stretch and armbar.

Ligero, with his ribs hurt, got a second wind and came back with a dropkick off the top, but it was obvious that he was hurt and a tad slower than usual. Still, he got in an impressive pinning combination for another close two count. Ligero came off the top with a splash, but Devlin pulled his knees up, hurting Ligero’s ribs even more.

Devlin hit a beautiful moonsault, but this time, Ligero got his feet up, prompting Devlin to tumble to ringside. When coming back, Ligero took a bump onto the top rope but still managed to gain the upper hand as he followed up with a running sit-down powerbomb and another splash, but it wasn’t enough to put Devlin away.

As Ligero went for the tornado DDT, Devlin hit him with an enzuigiri to the back of the head, then hit Devlinside for the win.

– Radzi Chinyanganya interviewed Devlin after the match. Devlin said this match didn’t need to happen, as he already was the number one contender. He said whatever way you shuffle the deck, you always fall short of the Ace.

– A video on WALTER aired. WALTER said he’s the Ring General and usually, there’s pressure on the champion, but he isn’t a normal guy and he never feels pressure. He said he appreciated Pete Dunne and liked the match with him and granted him a rematch because he was the first one to step up and ask.

WALTER said it’s good Dunne was training hard and will be prepared, but he will be prepared too.

– We saw Ilja Dragunov hyping himself up for his debut, which is next.

– Moustache Mountain were interviewed about WALTER vs. Dunne next week, which is being called the greatest rematch in NXT UK history. Trent Seven said that the greatest rematch would be Moustache Mountain taking on the Grizzled Young Veterans for the NXT UK Tag Team titles.

Ilja Dragunov pinned Jack Starz after the Torpedo Moscow (3:07)

Dragunov, 25, was born in Russia and moved to Dresden, Germany with his mother as a child. He started wrestling in 2012 and was trained by Axel Tischer (Alexander Wolfe) and Rick Baxxter in Dresden. He appeared for Next Step Wrestling and the German Wrestling Federation, before debuting in wXw in 2013.

Dragunov became wXw’s first Shotgun Champion, then also won the promotion’s Tag Team and World Unified Wrestling Championship (in one of the most emotional surprise returns of the past decade), along with the 2017 16 Carat Gold tournament, beating none other than WALTER in the finals.

After focusing on Germany for the first few years of his career, Dragunov made his debut for PROGRESS and PWG in 2018 and became a regular for PROGRESS, wrestling Dunne at their big Hello Wembley show in October 2018.

Dragunov’s career almost ended in 2013, as he broke his skull during a WWE tryout in November of that year and was kept out of action for almost a year after that. He brings a unique intensity and almost a desire for punishment to the ring and has immense charisma and good promo skills, which makes him work well both as a heel and a babyface.

Dragunov came out to a sort of Russian hymn, which sounded okay for his character. It sadly didn’t have the intensity of his usual music (which, since it stems from a computer game, can’t be used here).

Dragunov immediately started out with great intensity, grabbing Starz arm, driving him into the corner with a lariat, and proceeding to beat Starz down from one corner of the ring to the other. Starz briefly got his feet up on a corner charge and hit a few uppercuts, but Dragunov just smiled and enjoyed the pain.

Dragunov hit a number of lariats into the corner, then finished up with another one in the ring. He then flipped into the ring backwards and hit another lariat. He enjoyed some offense by Starz, then hit a standing senton. Dragunov did his UN-BE-SIEG-BAR (invincible) chant and put Starz away with the Torpedo Moscow for the win.

– Radzi interviewed Mark Andrews and Noam Dar backstage. They said they were not happy with how their last match ended and were looking forward to meeting in the ring. They shook hands and vowed that the best man would win.

Killer Kelly vs. Xia Brookside ended in a no contest (3:30)

Kelly worked over Brookside’s arm, but Brookside managed to escape repeatedly — only to be taken back down to the mat over and over. Brookside got a headlock takeover, but quickly found herself in some headscissors, which she escaped from by way of a headstand.

Kelly then escaped some headscissors of her own. They shook hands as a way to show respect, then suddenly the lights went down and Jinny’s music played.

Jinny stood in the aisle, then another theme played and “The Alpha Female” Jazzy Gabert came out. Brookside and Kelly bumped fists and made a pact to fight together, but Kelly left just as Gabert entered the ring. Brookside tried fighting Gabert, but quickly got disposed of with a Dominator. Jinny and Gabert then posed in the ring together.

– Johnny Saint announced via Twitter that Toni Storm would defend her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Nina Samuels

Qualifying match for number one contender’s fatal four-way: Dave Mastiff defeated Wolfgang with a running cannonball into the corner (4:36)

The two big men locked up and Mastiff quickly tackled Wolfgang down, then followed up with a running body press for a near fall. Wolfgang quickly came back with some offense in the corner and a shoulder block off the second turnbuckle, then went to lock in a full nelson, but Mastiff briefly powered out of the hold before getting caught again.

Mastiff eventually managed to flip Wolfgang over and hit a huge senton on the Scotsman.

Wolfgang came back with a double ax handle off the top and a huge slam, but then missed the Howling Senton off the top. Mastiff hit a release German suplex into the corner, then followed up with the running cannonball into the corner for the pin.

– Radzi entered the ring to interview Mastiff, but the Coffey Brothers ran out and Gallus proceeded to beat down Mastiff three-on-one. Joe and Mark held Mastiff down as Wolfgang hit the Howling Senton on him. Gallus’ music played as the show went off the air.

Next week —

In what is being billed as the biggest rematch in NXT UK history, WALTER will defend his WWE UK Championship against former champion Pete Dunne.