Two weeks ago, Nina Samuels was permitted to go move-for-move with Toni Storm before the newest Mae Young Classic winner beat her with relative ease. Her second appearance on the show was much the same - she gobbled up Isla Dawn before falling to Dawn's gutwrench suplex in just over three minutes.
What's going on here?
Samuels is currently one of two things to NXT UK, neither of them good. She's either being pushed as a plucky loser with the hope that her eventual win draws Bayley-like reactions, or she's been considered a good hand worth more staring at the lights than she is reaching for the stars.
Regardless, the strategy is thus far failing because she's not actually been out-worked in her matches, nor has she helped those she's laying down for.
The jury remains out for now, but a guilty verdict isn't too many weeks away if these tepid losses ultimately amount to nothing.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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
