Recap and Review of NXT UK Takeover Blackpool II
How appropriate that the first pay-per-view of 2020 was in the United Kingdom because NXT U.K. has delivered on the Takeovers they delivered in 2019. Before we get to the first major WWE show of the year here are the results of NXT UK Takeover Blackpool II:
-Eddie Dennis defeated Trent Seven
-Kay Lee Ray defeated Toni Storm and Piper Niven to retain the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
-Tyler Bate defeated Jordan Devlin
-Gallus defeated Imperium, South Wales Subculture and Grizzled Young Veterans in a Ladder Match to retain the NXT UK Tag Team Championships
-WALTER defeated Joe Coffey to retain the WWE United Kingdom Championship
The first match of the evening was a heated battle between Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis. These two have been at each other for quite some time and it showed during their aggressive encounter. I would be lying, if I didn’t to say that Eddie Dennis scared me when he did the Razors Edge to Seven from the ring to the outside. It was on of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in a match. Eddie Dennis got a big win here which makes him a credible challenger for the WWE United Kingdom Title at some point. A championship match that was very personal was the NXT UK Women’s Championship match. Kay Lee Ray, Toni Storm and Piper Niven have been friends for a long time but the friendships are no more. Things have been personal since last summer and it escalated at Blackpool. All three women showed why WWE has the best Women’s Division in the world across the board. This match honestly could have gone either way but in the end it was Kay Lee Ray with the victory to keep the title.
In 2017, when Tyler Bate became the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion one of the people he defeated in the tournament was Jordan Devlin. Three years later the moment arrived to where they finally went one on one again. This match was an instant classic and a very early match of the year candidate. Both Bate and Devlin showed why they are among the elite in all of NXT. I don’t where either man goes from here but one would think it would be up. I’ve said for a while that Bate needs to be on NXT in the U.S. as the Cruiserweight Champion and even challenge for the NXT Championship. When I think of championships in the NXT UK, I think of the Tag Team Championships. They are the most beautiful titles I’ve seen in a long time and they feel more important due to NXT UK having the best tag team division under the WWE umbrella. This ladder match showed a lot of new innovation, death defying risks and a lot of excitement that we haven’t seen since the original TLC matches. I honestly was shocked that Gallus was able to retain under those circumstances and those odds. If you enjoy these four tag teams keep an eye out for them in this years Dusty Rhodes Classic. They are going to make some waves headed towards Wrestlemania season.
The Main Event of NXT UK Takeover Blackpool was WALTER defending the WWE UK Championship against Joe Coffey. This match has been a year in the making since WALTER first arrived and took out Coffey on his route to confront Pete Dunne. I liked the fact Joe Coffey was WALTER’s opponent due to the fact Coffey is a powerhouse and it’s a lot more believable that he could give WALTER a run for his money. Unfortunately for Coffey, the referee got knocked out, Alexander Wolfe interfered and his knee may have been injured. As Imperium celebrated WALTER’s title defense, there was a boom that shocked the NXT UK system. Undisputed Era attacked the members ahead of their match at Worlds Collide. NXT UK Takeover Blackpool set the bar for WWE in 2020. It’s going to be very hard to top what they did going forward. Up next is Worlds Collide where NXT UK will collide with members from NXT. If the world doesn’t know about NXT UK now, they will know after Royal Rumble weekend is said and done with.
