PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

WWE NXT UK REPORT: DAVENPORT FACES THE MUSIC, THE DIRECTOR'S CUT OF DRAGUNOV/WALTER, AND MORE

We are in London, England and your announcers are Nigel McGuinness and Andy Shepherd.

Sam Gradwell comes out and says that the Big Bad Wolf is not as scary the second time he comes around. You know nothing about heritage. This thunderstorm will prestigiously rattle your insides.

Match Number One: Wolfgang versus Sam Gradwell in a First Round Match in the Heritage Cup Number One Contender Tournament

Round One

They lock up and go to a stalemate. They lock up and Wolfgang with a side head lock and Gradwell gets to the ropes and Wolfgang uses the ropes to clean his hands. Wolfgang with a waist lock and Gradwell gets to the ropes. They go to a Greco Roman Knuckle Lock and Wolfgang with a wrist lock take down. Wolfgang takes Gradwell to the mat and Gradwell tries to reverse or escape but Wolfgang holds on to the wrist lock.

Wolfgang with a shoulder tackle and Gradwell goes to the floor in front of Mark Coffey. Gradwell takes his time getting back into the ring so Wolfgang goes to the floor. Gradwell tries to get back into the ring and Wolfgang pulls him back out. Gradwell drops Wolfgang’s arm onto the ropes. Gradwell with a forearm off the apron. The referee makes his count while Gradwell returns to the ring. Wolfgang beats the count back into the ring. Wolfgang has Gradwell in the corner but the round ends before Wolfgang can do anything.

Round Two

Gradwell with a side head lock but Wolfgang with a forearm. Wolfgang with a knee to the midsection. Wolfgang with a boot to the chest followed by European uppercuts. Wolfgang gets a near fall. Gradwell with an uppercut to the arm and Gradwell starts to work on the shoulder and he tries to hyper-extend the shoulder. Gradwell with an arm bar. Gradwell tries to cover Wolfgang’s mouth to affect Wolfgang’s breathing.

Wolfgang with punches and a Irish whip followed by a back body drop. Wolfgang with a splash into the corner and then Wolfgang goes up top. Wolfgang with a chop to the head and a running back senton splash. Wolfgang stands over Gradwell and does not take advantage of the situation. Gradwell slaps Wolfgang and goes to the floor so Wolfgang cannot do anything for the rest of the round.

Round Three

Gradwell misses a clothesline and Wolfgang with punches and forearms. Gradwell hits Wolfgang in the head with his knee brace when Wolfgang goes for a shoulder tackle. Gradwell with an STO for the three count.

Sam Gradwell 1 Fall
Wolfgang 0 Falls

 

Round Four

Wolfgang tries to protect his injured shoulder and Gradwell tries to kick Wolfgang but they are blocked. Gradwell with a splash to the injured arm. Gradwell with an arm bar and chin bar combination. Wolfgang with punches to the ribs and head in the corner. Wolfgang with a hard Irish whip.

Gradwell with a kick but Wolfgang blocks an STO. Wolfgang with a head butt and suplex into a TKO for the three count.

Sam Gradwell 1 Fall
Wolfgang 1 Fall

 

Round Five

Wolfgang with punches but Gradwell with an arm wringer. Wolfgang with punches while Gradwell has Wolfgang in an arm bar. Gradwell with a rolling elbow for a near fall. Gradwell punches Wolfgang and then he gets Wolfgang on his shoulders but Gradwell cannot hold him up due to the damage done to his ribs. Gradwell avoids a number of spear attempts by Wolfgang. Wolfgang with a spear for the three count.

Winner: Wolfgang (Advances to face Teoman)

We go to Sid Scala and he has an announcement, but first, we see what Blair Davenport did to Sid after her match against Nina Samuels never happened due to Blair’s pre-match attack.

Sid says it is his duty to announce that due to the actions of Blair Davenport, NXT Management has suspended her immediately.

Noam Dar says everyone knows that him or Kenny Williams will do whatever it takes to get things done. You are a cockroach, but I am an elephant and I will stomp you out. Kenny says Noam cannot stoop to the levels he will to win the match. He is a worm rotting an apple from the inside. I will already be in Noam’s head when the match starts.

Noam says he is everything that Kenny wants to be. Kenny says that Noam will fall from the sky thanks to the scum of the earth.

We go to commercial.

We are back and next week Pretty Deadly will face Joe Coffey and Mark Coffey for the NXT UK Tag Titles.

We see Gallus in the back after Wolfgang’s match and he is asked about how Wolfgang feels after their win.

Jordan Devlin comes out to see what was the ruckus in the hallway and he mentions he was getting a massage.

Gallus walks away and Jordan tells Joe after the masseuse is done with his neck, they can massage his ego after getting knocked out last week.

Joe backs Jordan against the door and Jordan mentions that he is wearing a house coat. Joe makes Jordan flinch.

Match Number Two: Oliver Carter, Ashton Smith, and Saxon Huxley versus Eddie Dennis, Primate, and T-Bone

Huxley and Primate start things off and Huxley wit a knee and forearms to the back. Primate with forearms and double sledges to the back. Huxley with a side head lock and a shoulder tackle that sends Primate to the floor. Dennis pulls Primate to the floor off the apron to calm him down. T-Bone tags in and they lock up and go to a stalemate. They lock up again and Huxley with a clean break. They lock up again and go to a stalemate. T-Bone with kicks and punches. T-Bone holds on to the ropes when Huxley goes for a boot. T-Bone with a shoulder tackle but Huxley with a Thesz Press and side head lock.

Carter tags in and he punches T-Bone. Smith tags in and he connects with a European uppercut. T-Bone backs Smith into the corner and Smith swings at Primate and Dennis on the apron. T-Bone with a T-Bone suplex. T-Bone with forearms to the lower back. Primate tags in and T-Bone holds Smith up on the ropes and Primate with a springboard double sledge to the back. Primate gets a near fall.

Dennis tags in and Smith with punches but Dennis with a forearm. Dennis goes for a uranage but Smith gets to his feet and connects with a European uppercut to the back. Primate tags in and Smith pushes Primate away and Carter tags in and connects with clotheslines and a knee. Smith with a jumping side kick. Carter with a quebrada for a near fall.

Carter with a spinning heel kick into the corner. Carter with a leg sweep to Dennis on the apron. Carter with a kick to T-Bone. Primate Irish whips Carter over the ring post to the floor. Dennis tags in and he rolls Carter back into the ring. Dennis with a drop kick for a near fall. T-Bone tags in and punches Carter. T-Bone with a back breaker and a gutwrench back breaker on the shoulders. Primate tags in and they send Carter into the corner. They hit a double stomp on Carter for a near fall. T-Bone tags in.

T-Bone goes for a slam but Carter gets to his feet. T-Bone trips Carter but Carter with a super kick and both men are down. Dennis tags in and so does Huxley. Huxley with a double sledge and a shoulder tackle followed by knees as Dennis comes off the ropes. Huxley with an elbow drop for a near fall. Primate tries to top Huxley on the turnbuckles but Huxley kicks Primate away and hits a clothesline for a near fall.

Smith tags in and they hit a double suplex on Dennis. Smith gets Dennis on his shoulders but Primate distracts Smith and the referee. Dennis gets to his feet and he sends Smith to the ropes and T-Bone with a kick from the apron. Dennis with a uranage and he gets a near fall. T-Bone tags in and he knocks Huxley off the apron. T-Bone gets Smith up and then he tags in Primate. T-Bone with a power slam and Primate with a head butt off the turnbuckles but Carter makes the save.

Carter with a pescado onto Dennis. Huxley and T-Bone go to the floor as well. Smith leaps over Primate and Carter tags in. Smith with a clothesline and then they hit a Doomsday Cutter for the three count.

Winners: Oliver Carter, Ashton Smith, and Saxon Huxley

We see Ilja Dragunov in the back getting ready to re-watch his match against Walter from Takeover.

Stevie Turner is asked about Meiko Satomura after losing to her. Stevie says in her fourth match, she got to face the NXT UK Women’s Champion. Through my loss, she gave me the blueprint for her defeat. Final Boss or not, I will always be two . . .

Emilia McKenzie shows up and wonders who Stevie can bad mouth the champ after losing to her and Stevie will lose to her as well.

We go to commercial.

We are back with Pretty Deadly and they are talking about having deja vu because six months ago they were here, heading into a championship match against Gallus. What has changed? This time, Pretty Deadly are the tag team champions. You can try to embarrass us all you want, but you cannot scare us. We will outsmart you just like last time. It will be Gallus Boys Not Quite On Top.

 

Note: For the Extra Special Bonus Commentary for the Dragunov/WALTER Match, I will be injecting in bold the comments made by the special guest commentators.

 

Here is Mike Johnson’s report from the NXT UK Championship Match at Takeover 36:

WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER vs. Ilja Dragonuv

Ilja says his head was empty going to the ring. He wondered how could he top the intensity for this match. Nobody knows how many hours he trained. He says he trained twice a day, five days a week. He had a game plan and he needed to have more in his back pocket. He had to get into the right shape and have the right diet. He felt like he had the whole world on his shoulders.

How do you prepare for the biggest moment in your life? He put everything into the strengths he had and he tried to get new strengths. He needed the ability to endure the strikes on his body. He says he had to get more intelligent in this match. He says he learned so much from the last match and he incorporated it into this match.

Dragonuv has a bandage over his eye.  

Rhea Ripley says she saw these two battle in NXT UK and they always bring the brutality and batter each other. She says it is so intense to watch them.

Ilja immediately took it to WALTER with some hard chops.  WALTER wasn't happy about that!

WALTER and Ilja locked up and WALTER rode him down to the mat and trapped him in a front facelock.  Some really nice back and forth wrestling here with Ilja fighting to escape WALTER's grasp, then locking on a side headlock.  WALTER caught him in the corner and worked over the challenger with strikes and chops.

Cesaro says everyone expected Ilja to come in with a game plan, but could he stay under control against WALTER.

Drew McIntyre says he loves a match that he can show to anybody, especially new WWE fans. Whatever you think about wrestling, watch this. Your concepts of wrestling change after watching this.

Finn Balor says he has been in the ring with Ilja before and everything he does has impact. Finn says WALTER is the match that has escaped him for a few years. Neither of these guys are pulling any punches.

Cesaro says he is happy they got to do this in front of a crowd. Cesaro is impressed with the side head lock that Ilja used to take WALTER to the mat.

Sheamus says he loves the physicality of both men. More are expecting this type of physicality, especially WALTER.

Rhea says she has seen Ilja prepare in the back. She has seen him head butt a wall until he was bleeding. She says he is crazy and that he is perfect to be in the ring with WALTER.

Dragonuv went after the arm and locked on a short arm scissors on the mat, with the idea being he was trying to neutralize the chops.    

Ilja says this is when he knew he was in trouble. If you allow yourself one little mistake against WALTER, you pay for it. I paid for it badly, absolutely badly. Mistakes against a man like WALTER and you have no chance unless you have a game plan to turn it around.

WALTER powered him up and placed the challenger on the top rope.  He SLAPPED the hell out of Ilja, sending him crashing off the top to the floor.  Dear Lord!

Ilja says he thought WALTER had him at that moment.

WALTER followed him to the floor and powerbombed him to the apron.  He kicked Dragonuv's back and went for a sleeper but the challenger blocked his arm and fought to escape the move.  WALTER nailed a German suplex and then cinched in a scary-looking Boston Crab. 

Cesaro says the thing with WALTER is that he makes the most simple moves so dangerous. Everyone knows the pain of being in a Boston Crab and he uses it so effectively. You see the effect it takes on Ilja. WALTER transitions so well between moves.

Ilja escaped and fought to escape another powerbomb attempt, backdropping WALTER.

Toni Storm says it must be the closest thing to wrestling a bus to go toe to toe with WALTER.

Rhea says she can only imagine how much pain Ilja is going through. She says she does not know if she could stand after what Ilja took.

Cesaro says Ilja will fight from any position. WALTER is doing WALTER things while Ilja refuses to give up. Cesaro puts over the job the referee is doing in the match.

Dragonuv nailed several big chops but was caught with an exploder for a two count.   WALTER continued to stomp away.  He KILLED Ilja with a stiff kick to the face.  WALTER killed him with more clotheslines but Dragonuv kept kicking up at the last second.  Dragonuv came back with some brutal shots of his own.  His neck and chest were bursting with color.

Sheamus comments on how there is zero air between the shots. He says he doesn’t know how Ilja was feeling after that match. You can be as physical you want to be. There are people who are comfortable in a situation. The physicality is good for business.

Dragonuv muscled over WALTER with another suplex for a near fall.  This is fantastic.  Dragonuv nailed a big missile dropkick.  WALTER nailed a big suplex, turning him inside out but Dragonuv somehow rebounded with a lariat to the back of his head and shoulders.  Dragonuv slammed him again for another two count.  Ilva chopping him in the chest, back and legs.  WALTER chopped him down and covered him for a near fall.  Ilja came back with a big superplex and then nailed a missile dropkick.  

Balor says the fans want to see WALTER fall and see Ilja win. Finn says Ilja’s energy is captivating.

Finn comments on the color of Ilja’s chest and back.

Toni asks what breed of human is Ilja Dragunov. She does not know anyone who can take that much damage and then get back up.

Toni says seeing WALTER do his thing is terrifying but knowing Ilja’s strength. He saw Ilja training at the Performance Centre and she is not surprised that he is still standing.

Drew says with bigger guys he goes up top because he can, but in this match it is desperation. Some times you do it to show that you can do it. Drew says he won’t do something like go over the top rope unless the match calls for it. You have to think when the risk is worth the reward, but in this match, you have to pull everything out when you get desperate.

They kept fighting back and forth.  WALTER dropkicked Dragonuv's will to live outside of his body then slapped the crap out of him for good measure.  WALTER went to the top for a big splash but somehow only garnered a two count.  This is SO GOOD.  WALTER escaped a suplex attempt and booted him in the face but Dragonuv rebounded and rocked him with more and more strikes and elbows.  Dragonuv rode his back and cinched in a sleeper but the champion rose like a monster in a movie.  He climbed the ropes and tried to dive backwards but Dragonuv escaped and beat the crap out of him with elbow strikes.

Ilja says he had him here. He says that he could not release the hold. He had an objective chance to win. He had to hold on to the sleeper. He says he was not going to let WALTER go. The crowd knew he wasn’t giving up. Ilja says he was paying WALTER back with those strikes and what payback to win the match.

Dragonuv locked on the sleeper again but WALTER rose again and dropped backwards.  Dragonuv was stunned but grabbed it again.   He began raining down with strikes on WALTER.  Dragonuv snapped on another sleeper and yanked WALTER off his feat, pulling all the way back.  WALTER tapped.

Your winner and new NXT UK Champion, Ilja Dragonuv!

Ilja says that is the result of a lot of years of hard work and struggle. He says it was surreal and unbelievable. He says he will never forget this. It is the greatest moment other than the birth of his son. Ilja says this is the birth of his legacy.

We go to credits.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet