Night 1 was good, I enjoyed it.
- First off, I liked the set up for the show and the video packages. The crowd was good, as were Cole and Nigel on commentary. Oh, and that UK Championship is so pretty.
- Trent Seven vs H.C. Dyer was a rock solid show opener. ★★¾
The match lasted around 6 minutes and they used that time well. I'm already a fan of Trent Seven. He advanced with the Seven Stars lariat.
- Jordan Devlin vs Danny Burch was decent. ★★
Devlin is Finn Bálor trained and Burch was used in NXT as an enhancement talent. Speaking of which, Burch actually looked good here, much better than his entire time in NXT, he had the crowd behind him and he outshone Devlin here, tbh. The finish was a controversial mess, Devlin hit Burch with an Enzuigiri and cracked his skull open, which led to Burch lifting his shoulder up just at the count of 3. It ended up working, though, as they wanted Devlin to be a heel and Devlin played it to it well, he was gloating about a tainted win and then Superkicked Burch post-match.
- Sam Gradwell vs Saxon Huxley was OK, but skippable. ★½
Not much to say here, Gradwell advanced with a Diving Headbutt.
- Pete Dunne vs Roy Johnson was rock solid. ★★¾
Dunne was the superior worker here and I instantly became a fan of his. Dunne advanced in the quarter-finals with a sweet move called The Bitter End.
- Wolfgang vs Tyson T-Bone was fun enough given the time constraint. ★★★
I'm not familiar with either guy, so I didn't expect this to be a good match-up, but at the end of it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was different from anything on the show so far and these two big dudes brought some intensity here. That headbutt by T-Bone before the match started, though! :damn: Wolfgang advanced with a Swanton. He also hit a Moonsault, which was cool.
- Joseph Conners vs James Drake was decent, but underwhelming. ★★
The match never really hit a high gear and for a guy that was being praised heavily by Cole, he (Conners) has yet to impress tonight. He's got a nice finisher, though.
- Mark Andrews vs Dan Moloney was good. ★★★
It was a nice clash of styles, Moloney's alright, but Mandrews looked really good. He advanced with a Shooting Star Press.
- Tyler Bate vs Tucker was pretty good and MOTN. ★★★½
They've got the ME spot and man, did they make it count! What a good and fun match. Holy crap, that Super Duper Kick by Tucker! This was the best paced match on the entire show since it was also the longest and everything these two did felt more significant. Tyler Bate is only 19, but the dude simply gets it. He's got zero wasted motion and he oozes charisma. I'm already a fan of his. He advanced with a Tyler Driver.
- First off, I liked the set up for the show and the video packages. The crowd was good, as were Cole and Nigel on commentary. Oh, and that UK Championship is so pretty.
- Trent Seven vs H.C. Dyer was a rock solid show opener. ★★¾
The match lasted around 6 minutes and they used that time well. I'm already a fan of Trent Seven. He advanced with the Seven Stars lariat.
- Jordan Devlin vs Danny Burch was decent. ★★
Devlin is Finn Bálor trained and Burch was used in NXT as an enhancement talent. Speaking of which, Burch actually looked good here, much better than his entire time in NXT, he had the crowd behind him and he outshone Devlin here, tbh. The finish was a controversial mess, Devlin hit Burch with an Enzuigiri and cracked his skull open, which led to Burch lifting his shoulder up just at the count of 3. It ended up working, though, as they wanted Devlin to be a heel and Devlin played it to it well, he was gloating about a tainted win and then Superkicked Burch post-match.
- Sam Gradwell vs Saxon Huxley was OK, but skippable. ★½
Not much to say here, Gradwell advanced with a Diving Headbutt.
- Pete Dunne vs Roy Johnson was rock solid. ★★¾
Dunne was the superior worker here and I instantly became a fan of his. Dunne advanced in the quarter-finals with a sweet move called The Bitter End.
- Wolfgang vs Tyson T-Bone was fun enough given the time constraint. ★★★
I'm not familiar with either guy, so I didn't expect this to be a good match-up, but at the end of it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was different from anything on the show so far and these two big dudes brought some intensity here. That headbutt by T-Bone before the match started, though! :damn: Wolfgang advanced with a Swanton. He also hit a Moonsault, which was cool.
- Joseph Conners vs James Drake was decent, but underwhelming. ★★
The match never really hit a high gear and for a guy that was being praised heavily by Cole, he (Conners) has yet to impress tonight. He's got a nice finisher, though.
- Mark Andrews vs Dan Moloney was good. ★★★
It was a nice clash of styles, Moloney's alright, but Mandrews looked really good. He advanced with a Shooting Star Press.
- Tyler Bate vs Tucker was pretty good and MOTN. ★★★½
They've got the ME spot and man, did they make it count! What a good and fun match. Holy crap, that Super Duper Kick by Tucker! This was the best paced match on the entire show since it was also the longest and everything these two did felt more significant. Tyler Bate is only 19, but the dude simply gets it. He's got zero wasted motion and he oozes charisma. I'm already a fan of his. He advanced with a Tyler Driver.
