4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (Oct 17)

2. Working Mastiff

Dave Mastiff
WWE

WWE have always known their way around the big man squash formula, so little felt particularly surprising as the company shot the monstrous Dave Mastiff from the feet up as he trudged to the ring for his carefully crafted demolition of Sid Scala.

Mastiff was one of the few poach-jobs from World Of Sport by WWE after he dominated proceedings in their original 2016 pilot. Chosen as a heel mountain for babyface champion Grado to climb, Mastiff maximised his minutes on the terrestrial one-off and slotted into this burgeoning brand with even more subversive skill.

A far cry from some of the technical wizards associated with the top UK matches have promoted so far, Mastiff offered something totally different - and pleasingly short too. He was the best squash wrestler on what was the best squash match on the show by some distance. Firing off a dropkick with grace and immaculate timing, Mastiff used the move as an ingenious reveal that he had more than just physical dominance to offer. His cannonball splash in the corner on the defenceless Scala had all the fire Killian Dane was once permitted to breathe back hen Sanity were still a relevant entity.

On any other night, he'd have stolen the show...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett