NXT UK results: TakeOver Cardiff go-home show
Taped July 20 at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth, England
Quick results —
Ilja Dragunov defeated Tyson T-Bone in a competitive match, earning redemption for his recent loss to Kassius Ohno. Joseph Conners defeated the debuting Oliver Carter, who looked good in his televised NXT UK in-ring debut. In a good main event, Jordan Devlin pinned Kenny Williams.
After the main event, The Grizzled Young Veterans, Gallus, and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster brawled in the ring, leading up to their Tag Team title match this weekend.
The show also was heavy on video packaged for NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, plus we were promised rematches between Kassius Ohno and Jack Gallagher and Rhea Ripley and Piper Niven for next week’s episode (probably to be taped before TakeOver).
Full rundown —
– The show opened with a graphic announcing that Kenny Williams would face Jordan Devlin tonight.
Ilja Dragunov pinned Tyson T-Bone after hitting Torpedo Moscow (5:50)
T-Bone started out very aggressive, locking Dragunov in a side headlock and catching him off a crossbody, which Dragunov still managed to turn into a cover. Dragunov followed up with a senton, then locked in a cravat, a throwback to his match with Kassius Ohno two weeks ago.
T-Bone applied a shoulder lock and hit a number of strikes, but Dragunov powered out. T-Bone came back with a crossbody of his own and a half-and-half suplex for a near fall. Dragunov came back with the Konstantin Special, a German suplex, and went for Torpedo Moscow, but he got caught with a right hand by T-Bone.
T-Bone then missed a corner charge, allowing Dragunov to hit a big senton off the top rope. Dragunov then did his UN-BE-SIEG-BAR chant in the corner and hit Torpedo Moscow for the pinfall victory.
– Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness talked about the championship matches at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. They took a close look at the Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray rivalry, recapping Storm winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship at UK TakeOver: Blackpool and KLR winning the women’s battle royal back in June at Download Festival.
The video package recapped KLR getting into Storm’s head, bringing up issues in her personal life, and just being an overall prick to her.
– A great hype clip for TakeOver: Cardiff was shown.
– A pre-taped promo by Jack Gallagher was next, with Gallagher talking about his match with Kassius Ohno and how Ohno moved his foot from under the ropes. Gallagher said he’d be here next week to prove that he is the better British wrestler.
Joseph Conners pinned Oliver Carter after Don’t Look Down (6:26)
Carter, who also wrestled under the less fortunate gimmick of “Mr. Exotic Erotic,” started out in 2012 in his home country of Switzerland with Swiss Championship Wrestling and was trained by Marshal T, who in turn was trained by Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro), Ares, and Mike Quackenbush.
Carter regularly wrestled for wXw (WWE affiliate and biggest promotion in Germany), NEW (Alex Wright’s promotion), and GWF (based out of Berlin), who are the three major promotions in Germany and had matches with many smaller German promotions, as well as PROGRESS and RevPro in the UK.
His family originally comes from Ghana and Carter visits his relatives there on a regular basis. He got on WWE’s map when wXw invited him to take part in a closed circuit training with Robbie Brookside last September and they subsequently invited him to take part in their multi-day tryouts in Cologne last November, where they signed him to an NXT UK deal. He is a former NEW and SWE (Swiss Wrestling Entertainment) Heavyweight Champion and held Tag Team titles in GWF and SCW.
Carter locked up with Conners right away, backing him into the corner, but Conners immediately came out with a number of punches. Carter came back with strikes of his own, then back body dropped Conners and hit a quebrada, which Conners evaded but Carter landed on his feet.
Carter threw Conners to ringside and stalked him, then hit a European uppercut and a high dropkick back in the ring. Conners came back with a number of clobbering forearms, beating Carter to the mat.
Conners locked in a submission, then followed up with some creative offense, including a kind of reverse snapmare while Carter was belly-down on the mat. Carter eventually made his comeback, hitting an enzuigiri from the apron, then followed up with double knees from the top rope and an overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
They went back and forth until Carter missed another quebrada, allowing Conners to hit Don’t Look Down for the win.
– A music video for “Hate You” by Boston Manor, an official NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff theme song, was shown. It was followed by graphics running down all the matches scheduled for the card
– A WWE.com exclusive video from backstage at Raw aired. An interviewer asked Cesaro about catching a plane to China. Cesaro said he wouldn’t just go to China, but he’d also visit Cardiff, Wales as he heard a lot about NXT UK and was going there to have a look of his own and maybe take a more “hands-on approach.”
– A video recapped the history of Piper Niven and Rhea Ripley over the past few weeks of NXT UK television. This was followed by a tweet by Johnny Saint, announcing Niven/Ripley II for next week on NXT UK.
Jordan Devlin defeated Kenny Williams after hitting Devlinside (12:30)
They traded holds early on, with Devlin getting the slight advantage after taking Williams down off an arm lock. Williams paid him back by taking him down off a wrist lock, then followed up with a back body drop and a clothesline that sent Devlin over the top rope and to the outside.
Devlin looked like he was going to walk out, prompting Williams to run after him and force him back into the match. Devlin smashed Williams into the apron and the barriers, then worked him over with stomps. Devlin followed up with his over-the-shoulder backbreaker and continually worked over Williams’ back.
Devlin channeled his inner Lex Luger, locking Williams in a torture rack. He then hit a soccer kick to Williams’ back after Williams finally managed to escape. Williams fired up, then hit a kick of his own, followed by a running kick to Devlin’s jaw. Williams followed that with a springboard back elbow off the turnbuckles and a suicide dive to the outside.
Williams looked to hit another aerial maneuver, but Devlin rolled out of the ring and outsmarted Williams. He tried for a Spanish Fly off the apron, but Williams threw him off. Williams hit a running back elbow from the apron to the outside and a high flying back elbow off the top rope for a near fall.
Williams went for a wheelbarrow bulldog, but he received a half-nelson suplex for his troubles that put both men out of commission for a short while. Williams went for a clothesline, but got caught in a Spanish Fly by Devlin for another near fall.
Devlin looked to go for a Finlay Roll off the second rope. Williams escaped and hit a top rope hurricanrana, but Devlin rolled through on a cover.
Devlin rammed Williams into the corner, then hit a moonsault right onto Williams’ lower back. Devlin went for Devlinside, but Williams held onto the bottom rope. Devlin hit a number of stiff kicks to Williams’ wrist, then hit Devlinside for the win.
– Joseph and McGuinness talked about the main event for Saturday: WALTER vs. Tyler Bate for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. A video recapped WALTER and Imperium’s dominance on the brand, starting with WALTER’s title win over WrestleMania weekend and the formation of Imperium and the various clashes between Imperium and British Strong Style.
They recapped WALTER destroying Bate at the Download Festival tapings and the destruction of all the British Strong Style members. The video culminated with Bate’s comeback, him subsequently being named WALTER’s challenger for UK TakeOver: Cardiff, and hitting the Tyler Driver ’97 on WALTER last week.
– As Joseph and McGuinness talked more about the match, The Grizzled Young Veterans came out and complained about Johnny Saint making their title match a triple threat and having Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews qualifying in single matches.
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) came out — followed by Webster & Andrews — as all three teams brawled in the ring as the episode went off the air.
This Saturday:
I will be providing live coverage for NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff for the site, starting with the pre-show at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Follow along for match recaps and analysis as the show goes on, or catch up later if you opt to watch New Japan’s Royal Quest on Fite TV instead, which pretty much goes on head-to-head.
If you’re not a regular viewer or want to get up to date information on recent developments on NXT UK leading up to the show, there also is a Prime Target: NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff special on the WWE Network, which premiered today before the go-home episode.
The scheduled matches are —
- WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER defending against Tyler Bate
- NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defending against Kay Lee Ray
- NXT UK Tag Team Champions The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) defending against Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) and Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in a triple threat match
- Travis Banks vs. Noam Dar
- Dave Mastiff vs. Joe Coffey in a last man standing match
- Plus, Cesaro promises to be on hand and has teased taking a “more hands-on approach”
Next week —
In two rematches from a few weeks ago, Jack Gallagher will meet Kassius Ohno and Piper Niven will square off once more with Rhea Ripley.