Emanating from The Royal Albert Hall in London, the second United Kingdom Championship Tournament failed to disappoint. For those of you looking for the scoop before it hits the Network later on this month, here are your winners, your finalists and all the juicy goodness in between.
Opening the show was the first quarter final match between 205’s Jack Gallagher and the worst human being on the planet, Zack Gibson. Gallagher was ridiculously over as a babyface in front of the home crowd, most probably because of how much everyone hates Gibson. A fantastic opener which set the bar for the rest of the night with some incredible mat wrestling and character work. The Liverpudlian picked up the win to the dismay of the crowd, setting up the evening’s villain.
Dave Mastiff and Joe Coffey followed with an intense hoss off. Both men were crowd favourites and proved why they’re two of the best heavyweights on the BritWres scene. To my surprise, Coffey went over one of the favorites to go the distance.
Flash Morgan Webster and Jordan Devlin were next, which once again was an incredibly well played character match. Devlin garnering such natural heat from the UKCT crowds with his ‘budget Finn Balor’ shtick, and Morgan having the underdog factor. A really fun match, Devlin is one of the guys to keep an eye on over the next few years. For this night, however, Flash got the win and advanced to the semis.
Travis Banks and Ashton Smith closed the quarters with a fairly quick bout. Banks is probably the sure bet for overall winner, so the crowd were thoroughly in support of the Kiwi Buzzsaw. To nobody’s surprise, Banks got the win, but Smith turned a few heads in the process.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the scheduled Fatal-4-Way between Toni Storm, Jinny, Killer Kelly and Isla Dawn was changed into a triple threat match after the initial match was stopped due to a bad bump outside the ring. For the first time I’ve ever seen the ref throw up the X and stop a match in its tracks, it made for an eerie moment. I’ve yet to receive any updates about Jinny but from what I saw, she was able to stand and walk with assistance. Best wishes go to her.
After the match was restarted, it seemed as if they had to rush through the proceedings in order to keep the show running on alloted time. Toni Storm picked up the win to secure herself a title match with Shayna Bazsler tomorrow night. Shayna made an appearance at ringside to stare down her opponent at the end of the match.
Triple H hit the ring shortly after alongside UK GM Johnny Saint to announce the launch of NXT UK. The anticipated brand of WWE UK that has been promised for well over a year now is finally arriving and committed to start taping next month. The crowd were, of course, resentful for said tapings taking place in smaller, more localised venues, but isn’t that what makes British wrestling special? The intimacy and personality of it all. I, for one, am looking forward to making the trek to Plymouth for the first of four tapings.
The tournament continued with Flash Morgan Webster facing Zack Gibson. The ante was certainly upped by both competitors and made for a really fun match. Gibson nailed Webster with his spinning suplex after catching him mid-suicide dive, which set him up for the submission victory. Gibson was playing the perfect vile heel for the crowd throughout and set him up as the one nobody wanted to win the whole thing.
Naturally, they needed the ideal babyface to go on to face Gibson in the finals. Travis Banks stepped up to face Joe Coffey in a match which really won me over on Coffey. He and Banks had a fantastic match which left Travis battered after he picked up the win to send him to the finals. Before leaving, Banks was attended to by the ref, suggesting that he had done something to his shoulder to warrant concern.
Before we got to the finals though, we were treated to one of the most ridiculously hype six-man tag matches I think I’ll ever have the pleasure of seeing live. The Undisputed Era faced British Strong Style in front of a raucous split crowd. Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Severn were given a heroes reception throughout the match, giving them the energy to deliver one of the most passionate performances. This match is one of those incredible spot-fests that you need to check out when it hits the Network. British Strong Style picked up the win, securing themselves a shot at the NXT Tag Titles tomorrow evening and giving Pete Dunne the momentum heading into his title defence.
His challenger: Zack Gibson or Travis Banks. What a match. Despite seeing both men twice already throughout the evening, the crowd were so very into this match. It felt important and looked important. Banks and Gibson slugged it out over the standard time limit of these matches and put on an incredible back and forth show. In a surprising turn of events, Gibson picked up the win via submission, playing on the worked shoulder throughout the match. It divided the crowd, with some in support of the potential new champion and others disgusted with the scouser’s antics. Either way, a well deserved win after a long night for Gibson. It should make for an interesting clash tomorrow against the Bruiserweight, who hit the ring along with Triple H, Johnny Saint and Shawn Michaels to congratulate the winner.
This was a brilliant night, and totally worth missing England winning a match in the World Cup for. The Royal Albert Hall is certainly somewhere I never pictured myself watching a grungey wrestling show, but it made the tournament feel like a spectacle, full of names that are soon to be global superstars like Travis Banks, Flash Morgan Webster and Zack Gibson. Tomorrow night is set to be headlined by NXT stars and the UK Championship match, and although my voice has just about recovered, I’m ready.
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