BRM Reviews the 1/21/2021 NXT UK

[Big Red Machine]

RAMPAGE BROWN vs. DAVE MASTIFF- 4.75/10
This was good for the time it got. The story was Mastiff trying to use his size advantage but Brown managing to wear him down and be able to overcome it.

A-KID VIDEO PACKAGE/PROMO REFLECTING ON HIS LOSS TO WALTER- okay
There really wasn’t much of the promised “reflecting” here. He just vowed that the outcome would be different next time.

KENNY WILLIAMS & AMIR JORDAN BACKSTAGE- meh
Kenny has gotten Amir booked against Tyson T-Bone, who is apparently still around. I don’t know if the idea is that Williams is trying to get Jordan killed, but that’s what it seems like. I have no interest in anything any of these three do. Maybe this will result in Tyson decimating one goof, then the other, and then changing his name to something less stupid. I think that’s the best-case scenario here.

JACK STARZ vs. ILJA DRAGUNOV- 4.75/10
Starz gave Ilja a lot more of a fight than Ilja seemed to be expecting, which seemingly bothered Ilja, because he kept elbowing the dude even after getting the win by ref stoppage.

SAM GRADWELL PROMO- great
I’m really liking Gradwell as this cocky jerk who always winds up losing.

TYSON T-BONE vs. AMIR JORDAN (w/Kenny Williams)- 4.5/10
T-Bone dominated the match. Jordan won with a roll-up where it looked ridiculous to me that T-Bone couldn’t get his shoulders up.

XIA BROOKSIDE PROMO- good
She wants revenge on Nina Samuels for attacking her and insulting her family’s legacy.

VIDEO PACKAGE HYPING UP NEXT WEEK’S TAG TEAM FOUR-WAY ELIMINATION #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH- good
And Eddie Dennis has been barred from ringside.

NXT UK WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Kay Lee Ray(c) vs. Jinny (w/Joseph Conners)- 7/10
Early on, they showed us Piper Niven watching on a Thunderdome screen, which I can’t imagine not being a swerve. It’s heel vs. heel after Piper got screwed out of a #1 contendership match. There is no way she’s not running in. They tried to throw you off by focusing on the other women on the screen, too, but we all knew what the finish was going to me, which made it hard to get into this match.
Or I could be completely wrong.
They had a good, solid wrestling match that I really enjoyed. Conners getting caught interfering should have been a DQ, but all of the big teases from the cheating after that point felt like they could believably lead to a finish to me, so that was well done and exciting. Writing Jinny out of the title picture like this rather than going to the three-way with the issue between Jinny and Piper still open seems a little weird, but I’m fine with Piper settling both grudges separately.


This was a fine episode of NXT UK, moving some undercard storylines a long and giving us a big match that delivered in the main event (if only barely past my threshold for a TV main event).