NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff Review

NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff took place on Saturday 31st August at the Motorpoint Arena. The card looks pretty good so let's take a look.

The first match is Noam Dar  taking on Travis Banks. Dar tries to frustrate Banks early on and gets the advantage after hanging him onto the top rope then clotheslining him. Both guys try to use submission moves before Dar attacks the knee and puts Banks in an ankle lock with a kneebar. Banks hits a suicide dive and then hits Slice of Heaven off the crowd barrier. The match goes back inside the ring and when Banks goes for another Slice of Heaven, Dar kicks him off the turnbuckle then hits the Nova Roller to get the win. I enjoyed this match and it was a good way to start the show.
Winner: Noam Dar (1 for 1)

The next match is an open challenge from Cesaro, which is accepted by Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov doesn't fuck around and attacks Cesaro as soon as the bell rings. However, Cesaro deals with it and starts hitting Dragunov with Flair chops. Cesaro then tosses Dragunov to the outside then bounces him off the crowd barrier to get the advantage. After a giant swing that felt like it went on for a year, Cesaro applies a crossface. Dragunov hits a 61-Line to get back the momentum. Cesaro comes close to winning after hitting a Gorilla press into a knee to the midsection. In the end, Dragunov hits a senton then goes for the Torpedo Moscow. However, Cesaro sends him into the air and hits an European uppercut followed by the Neutraliser to get the win. I was quite surprised that it was Dragunov that accepted the challenge but it led to really good match between the two.
Winner: Cesaro (N/A)

We now get our first Championship match as The Grizzled Young Veterans face the challenges of Wolfgang and Mark Coffey and Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster  in a triple threat match for the NXT UK Tag Team Championships. Highlights of the match include: Andrews and Webster taking out their opponents with dropkicks and moonsaults; Zack Gibson and James Drake teaming up to take out Webster; Andrews hitting an assisted 450 splash on Gibson. After Andrews hits a shooting star press to the outside on Wolfgang, Gibson and Coffey, the match goes back into the ring, Gibson hits a Helter Skelter followed by a 450 splash by Drake on Andrews. However, Andrews kicks out at 2. Wolfgang and Coffey get back into the match and come close to winning but Coffey gets hit with a Canadian destroyer by Webster and Wolfgang gets taken out with a Doomsday Device by Gibson and Drake. Gibson has to resort to pulling out the referee to prevent Andrews and Webster from winning then he and Drake hits Ticket to Mayhem on Webster. Gibson covers Webster while Drake hits Wolfgang and Coffey with a suicide dive. However, this gives Andrews the chance to break up the pin by hitting Gibson with a shooting star press. Webster then pins Gibson to get the win. This was a great match with a really good ending.
Winners: Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster (2 for 2)

Next is a Last Man Standing Match between Dave Mastiff and Joe Coffey. Mastiff throws Coffey into the corner with such force, it broke the turnbuckle. During the match, they use pool cues, a cricket bat, a table and a chain against each other. After Mastiff cannonballs Coffey through a table, the fight goes into the crowd and they run into each other with steel chairs. The fight goes to the announce table and they both crash through 2 tables nearby. They use travel cases to help get themselves. However, Coffey kicks away the case that Mastiff was using. Mastiff goes down and Coffey wins. This was a decent match and I quite liked the ending.
Winner: Joe Coffey (2 for 3)

The penultimate match is for the NXT UK Women's Championship as Kay Lee Ray challenges Toni Storm. Ray gets the advantage early on after getting Storm frustrated. Storm gets back into it and reverses a Gory Bomb into a sunset driver. Storm hits Storm Zero but Ray just kicks out. After Ray takes out Storm with a cross body from the top rope to the outside, she bounces Storm off the top rope then hits a second Gory Bomb to get the win. This was a good match between the two and that makes 3 for 4 in terms of the Scottish wrestlers on the show. Not being biased, but I'm happy with that.
Winner: Kay Lee Ray (2 for 4)

The main event is Tyler Bate challenging WALTER for the United Kingdom Championship. WALTER tries to use his size to overpower Bate but Bate is able to deal with it. The match goes to the outside and WALTER hits a brutal Flair chop followed by a powerbomb to the ring apron to get the advantage. WALTER keeps Bate down with some brutal moves but when he tries to do another powerbomb to the apron, Bate uses the ropes to block it and hit an overhead suplex to the floor. This gives Bate the chance to make a comeback and even manage to suplex the almost 300lb WALTER a few times. After some back and forth, Bate manages to hit a Burning Hammer but WALTER just about manages to roll out of the ring. Bate later on hits the Tyler Driver 97 but WALTER kicks out. WALTER splashes Bate, the same move he used to defeat Pete Dunne, but Bate manages to kick out. WALTER struggles to defeat Bate, using every move he can think of. In the end, WALTER brutally kills Bate with a clothesline that JBL would have been proud of to get the win. Even though the ending seemed to come out of nowhere, I really enjoyed this match and definitely one of the matches of the year.
Winner: WALTER (3 for 5)

I really enjoyed this NXT UK TakeOver. All of the matches were really enjoyable and a couple of them were contenders for match of the year. NXT UK has been generally good over the first year of it existence and hopefully that will continue.