NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II took place on Sunday 12th January at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. I was planning to do a predictions article on this event but I thought it started at 8pm and it actually started at 5pm. So, sorry about that. Anyway, let's take a look at the show.
The first match on the show is
Trent Seven taking on
Eddie Dennis. Dennis tries to hit a big boot on Seven immediately but misses and gets hit with a powerbomb instead. Dennis goes on to hit a Razor's Edge to get the advantage. Seven gets back into it with a German suplex followed by a suicide dive. Dennis decides to cheat by removing s turnbuckle and later on, Seven accidentally runs into it and Dennis hits another Razor's Edge to the outside but that somehow doesn't get 3. Dennis then hits a Neck Stop Driver to get the win. This was a good match and whilst I'm not a big fan of Dennis, I felt that he needed to win this.
Winner: Eddie Dennis
The next match is one that I was really looking forward to seeing:
Kay Lee Ray defending her NXT UK Women's Championship against
Piper Niven and
Toni Storm in a triple threat match. Storm doesn't fuck around and attacks Ray before the bell. Other highlights include: Niven flattening Ray with a suicide dive; Ray hitting Storm with a tornado DDT; and Storm and Niven teaming up to take out Ray. Ray hits the Gory Bomb on Niven but Storm stops the referee from counting the 3. Ray gets hit with a Canadian Destroyer by Niven followed by a Storm Zero by Storm but she somehow manages to survive. In the end, Storm hits a frog splash on Niven. However, Ray super kicks Storm out of the ring and pins Niven to get the win. I really enjoyed this match and I'm interested to see where they all go from here.
Winner: Kay Lee Ray
We now get
Jordan Devlin taking on
Tyler Bate. Devlin gets the advantage with a slam followed by a springboard moonsault. Both guys collide when they do a crossbody and this gives Bate the opportunity to make a comeback. After they exchange punches, Devlin hitas an avalanche Spanish fly followed by the Devlin Side but it only gets 2. Bate hits a DDT off the top rope followed by a Tyler Driver but Devlin kicks out. Bate hits a corkscrew splash to get the win. This was a really good match between the two.
Winner: Tyler Bate
Next is a ladder match for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship as
Mark Coffey and Wolfgang defends their titles against
Fabien Aichner and Marcel Barthel, The Grizzled Young Veterans and
Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in a ladder match. Highlights of the match include: Aichner and Barthel baseball sliding a steel chair into James Drake; Andrews hitting Coffey with a shooting star press off the ladder; Drake hitting a 450 splash off a ladder on Andrews; and Andrews and Webster splashing Wolfgang through a table. Wolfgang spears Aichner through a ladder and Barthel comes close to grabbing the belts. However, Mark Coffey stops him and throws him off the ladder to the rest of the wrestlers on the outside. Wolfgang and Coffey then grab the belts to get the win. This was a really fun match and I was surprised that Coffey and Wolfgang retained. However, the Championship changed hands twice in the last few months so keeping it on them probably makes more sense.
Winners: Wolfgang and Mark Coffey
The main event is
Joe Coffey challenging
WALTER for the United Kingdom Championship. Coffey keeps Walter off his game with quick, high flying offence followed by punches. Coffey starts to hit Flair chops on WALTER, which turns out to be a bad idea as he retaliates with a Flair chop to send Coffey down. Later on, WALTER applies a Boston crab followed by a STF, but Coffey manages to get to the ropes. Coffey avoids a dropkick by WALTER, hitting the referee instead. This gives Alexander Wolfe to run down and attack Coffey. Ilja Draganov then comes out and hits Wolfe with a Torpedo Moscow but he sends Wolfe into Coffey, injuring his knee. After WALTER destroys Draganov with a clothesline, he comes close with a powerbomb and another clothesline. In the end, WALTER hits a powerbomb then gets Coffey to submit with a modified sleeper to get the win. Afterwards, The Undisputed Era attack WALTER and the rest of Imperium. I thought this was a really good match, although I was surprised that it ended in a submission
Winner: WALTER
I really enjoyed NXT UK Takeover as it had some good matches. I was quite surprised at a couple of the decisions. However, it didn't affect the event in a negative way and I look forward to seeing how the performers do at Worlds Collide.
