3 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE NXT UK (3 June)

2. One More Time

What made Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown’s second outing is that they treated as a washed-up New Japan match in the sense that they simply hit each other as hard as they could until the referee counted a three. Tomohiro Ishii, eat your heart out.

It started off as a typical technical wrestling bout; clean breaks, standard headlocks, all the usual stuff. Giving up on this, Rampage and Joe went outside the ring and just started charging into each other like a pair of bulls watching an Eva Marie entrance, but crucially, neither of them gave in. Rampage, through knackered ribs, wasn’t giving up against the Gallus man.

That’s what the ending to the bout so majestic. Joe knew this would be the case, which is why he hit Rampage with two Glasgow Sendoffs and a discus Lariat for the win. Rampage Brown is a competitor like no one else. He doesn’t simply lose.

This ruled. Being exactly what it needed to be, Joe and Rampage destroyed each other, with the other Gallus members rightfully heading backstage before the bell. A show of respect post-match hinted at a potential rubber match, with Ilja Dragunov joining in on the festivities. Yes, please.