WWE NXT UK recap for March 27, 2019: Fighting logistics unleashed

2. Those times when size does matter

With the requisite verbal sparring out of the way, Rhea Ripley and Xia Brookside finally step into the ring together. There’s just a bit of size discrepancy at play in this one. Relative to each other, Brookside makes Ripley look like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, while Ripley makes Brookside look like that kid who sings at the football game in the same movie.

This plays perfectly into the match’s hand however, as Brookside has to get by on craftiness and agility to stand a chance against the raw power of Ripley. It almost works, too. Almost. After getting brutalized for the majority of the match, Brookside finally gets in some offense. She hits Ripley in the back with double knees, dropkicks her in the corner and hits a big diving crossbody to the outside. Brookside is completely feeling it, the crowd is completely feeling it and she hits her finishing move from the second turnbuckle — for a two-count. Much to Brookside’s shock and dismay, Ripley kicks out. It was never going to be that easy. Shortly after, Ripley reverses a pin attempt by picking Brookside off the ground, flings her into the turnbuckle and hits the Riptide for the win.

Ripley gets a win that keeps her looking like an unbeatable monster, and Brookside gets a loss that establishes her as an underdog capable of maybe pulling off a big upset some day.