4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (Oct 17)
Downs...
3. Safety First
Well established amongst devotees of the limited WWE UK product up to this point, Mark Andrews and Joe Coffey were selected because they were such safe choices for the historic opening spot. But ultimately perhaps, a little too safe.
The match had the benefit of a red hot and extremely generous crowd and was still guilty of playing to silence on occasion, but it only took a Butlins-style holler to the crowd from either to raise the spirits in this particularly loud new corner of the WWE Universe.
Coffey’s eventual victory with an enormous discuss lariat was almost entirely as a result of brother Mark’s repeated interference as Andrews attempted to peel off another aerial assaults. A distinct lack of greatest hits from his enjoyable arsenal was the clear missing piece for the show's supposedly grand entrance.
A save from further beatings came in the form of a Flash Morgan Webster run-in before either Coffey could cream Andrews further, and though a potential tag payoff doesn't feel overtly grand, the reason for such a thing to exist was at least established later in the show.