4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (15 April)

2. Where's The Change?

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been seeing this new and improved Jack Starz being built up alongside Piper Niven. Starz was supposedly meant to be more determined than ever he had been before; surely, he’d now be far more gritty and hard-hitting, right?

Not so.

Instead, NXT UK’s Barry Horowitz was made to look weak as hell by Smith, bar a European uppercut exchange. Starz had to reach out to Piper Niven at ringside for moral support, and even then he only scored the three count by packing Ashton up in a tight schoolboy rollup. A goddamn rollup.

This brand new version of Jack Starz was, in fact, the exact same guy we’ve been seeing throughout the history of NXT UK. There wasn’t anything new on offer from Starz here. He was still clawing for any sort of hope, trying to catch Ashton off guard. Ending things with a rollup was a terrible decision, regardless of the rest of the match. Genuinely, what a waste of time.

A minor Down, by the way, for the sudden disappearance of Ashton’s tag partner Oliver Carter. Where’s he at?