WWE NXT UK Recap March 20, 2019: United Kingdom Championship match set for Takeover

2. “Big Strong Boi” vs. “Arse Face”

Your main event this week pitted member of Soundgarden — how else do you explain his denim jacket/flannel around the waist combo — James Drake against the small, muscly half of Moustache Mountain, Tyler Bate.

It’s all squirmy grapples to start, before Drake takes control with a series of holds. There’s a good deal of back-and-forth, with Bate pulling out all his usual stops, including a bonkers standing Shooting Star Press. Actually, it’s two of them. Drake avoids the first, but Bate is able to land, gather himself, and unleash another that connects for a two-count.

With the crowd firmly against him, Drake hits some big moves, but refrains from taking any major risks. After all, though he currently holds tag team gold, he is kind of the underdog going up against a former United Kingdom Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion. But, then Drake does decide to go high-risk, and it costs him. He escapes the Tyler Driver ’97 and nails Bate with a huge dropkick in the corner for a near-fall.

Thinking this is his chance to legitimize the Grizzled Young Veterans as well as himself, he goes for a 450 Splash, only for Bate to roll out of the way. Drake lands on his feet, but it’s all the opening Bate needs to hurl him into the corner, and nail a Spiral Tap (!) for the three-count. A big win for NXT UK‘s Big Strong Boi. A crushing loss for the man the crowd calls “Arse Face.” Feels a bit cruel to refer to one half of the NXT UK Tag Team Champions as “Arse Face,” but in the end, Drake does have his own face on his arse.