4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (Oct 17)
1. Storm Warning
Nina Samuels was given some promo time ahead of her clash with Toni Storm, but her false confidence foreshadowed the eventual defeat against one of the recent standouts from the 2018 Mae Young Classic.
Regrettably, the Australian star let Samuels take the bulk of the clash before her defeat. After building the heat with much of the usual, her (sometimes sloppy) assaults focussed Storm’s lower back before the inevitable comeback. It was too pedestrian for its own good - Samuels never looked in control but Storm had to perform as if she was in peril.
Vic Joseph’s "she might not have gotten all of it" couched an almost-bodged backbreaker, but it wasn’t the only time Samuels looked slightly overawed by the occasion. When she did fight back, it was with all the vim and vigour that’s earned her a level of support that has comfortably moved her support beyond cult. Storm Zero wrapped the ultra-short effort up, but the entire presentation underserved both star and jobber alike.