4 Ups And 4 Downs From NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff
1. Bate Is Unabated
If anyone could reinvigorate the flagging crowd for the main event, it was Walter and Tyler Bate.
Whilst not exactly the match of the decade, the NXT UK Championship war re-confirmed the Austrian and the Brummie as the true stars of the brand (in as much as that means anything).
Walter began in typically methodical fashion, as he looked to wear Bate down before the challenger could even get going. Obviously, it was never going to end as simply as that. The impetuousness of the former champion soon shone through, as the match became a story of Walter's brutish resistance in the face of Bate's indefatigable fire.
The beast was repeatedly prodded: a little kick into Walter's back from the mat gave rise to a furious series of chops. Again, Bate ducked out, and it was only through fortune that the dumbfounded Imperium man landed on his nibbling foe's back.
Bate was unabated, as it were. A finger snap on the top rope opened the door for an enormous superplex. Not enough. Nor was the Tiger Driver '97.
But still he wouldn't give in. When the Austrian caught Tyler with a murderous snap suplex on the apron, that seemed that - especially when it was followed up by a similarly enormous splash. Nope.
Bate. Would. Not. Quit.
A powerbomb couldn't do it either. In echoes of Shawn Michaels' original last match, Bate crawled up Walter's midsection, practically begging him: give me what you got. So he did. A huge lariat finally ended things, and Walter remained champion.
Gosh.