4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (Oct 17)
2. Working Mastiff
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...