6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT UK (17 June)

1. The Future

What a banger this was.

Nathan Frazer vs. Rohan Raja didn’t matter at all from a kayfabe perspective. There wasn’t anything on the line, it wasn’t a featured story arc, and it wasn’t used to elevate just one of the lads involved. Instead, both guys left feeling like their stock had raised. The whole match made sense.

Starting off lightly soon ended when Raja executed an all-time great Black Hole Slam. The speed of the spin, the impact of Frazer’s back hitting the mat, the timing to catch Nathan mid-manoeuvre; it was blissful perfection. From here, the match reached a new level.

Rohan’s perfect D-Lo Brown-esque Sky High was met by Nathan’s beautiful Moonsault/Final Cut hybrid. A Frog Splash won the match for the former Ben Carter, but it was both he and Rohan Raja who left a statement, benefitting one another in the process.

A cryptic eye graphic appeared onscreen post-match, presumably teasing a future showdown between Teoman and one of the guys here. This was a fine example of a match not needing a story in order to succeed. It’s common wrestling knowledge, of course, but every so often, a match comes along to remind us why it’s fine for matches to just be a good wrestling match sometimes.