WWE NXT UK recap for April 17, 2019: Tales from Axxess

Here it is, your recap for the April 17, 2019 edition of NXT UK.

Coming to you pre-taped from WrestleMania Axxess, it’s NXT UK. This is one of those weird episodes where it’s just accepted that the show was recorded at an earlier date. Granted, NXT UK is always pre-taped (spoiler) but at least there’s usually a semblance of an illusion that it isn’t.

With these Axxess shows though, it is painfully obvious that we are watching action that occurred weeks ago on a pier way out in Brooklyn. As a result, the inherent expectation is that not much of consequence will occur. Exemplifying this: The three easy wins that NXT UK talent get over the NXT C-Team on this show. With that ringing endorsement out the way, let’s dive into the April 17 edition of NXT UK

Give me my rematch

There are matches on this edition of NXT UK. None of them are at all bad. In fact, the main event will probably have some title implications in the near future. But — further reinforcing how strange and inconsequential these shows taped at Axxess feel — the biggest thing that happens on this episode is that Pete Dunne demands a rematch for the WWE United Kingdom Championship.

Thought the Bruiserweight would get Superstar Shook-Up to either Raw or SmackDown this past week? It would have made sense, given Dunne doesn’t really have much left to prove in NXT UK. He was United Kingdom Champion for 685 days.

At the same time however, he was United Kingdom Champion for 685 days. Dunne has headlined Takeovers, wrestled in the Royal Rumble and — to a much lesser extent — appeared on Raw. But, after nearly two whole years, the United Kingdom Championship became an extension of him. There was no way Dunne was going to walk away from it after one loss. Plus, Dunne claims that he knows how to beat WALTER now, which if true, seems like a pretty good reason to want to wrestle WALTER for the UK title.

Of course — as we know from the very consistent storytelling on the main roster — there are no more automatic rematch clauses in WWE. So, Dunne will have to rely on the benevolence and common courtesy of WALTER to get his chance at redemption. He gave WALTER the title shot at Takeover: New York, it’s only right that the Ring General pays it forward.

*Spoiler alert from our preview post by-way-of WWE.com: That match seems to happening this weekend at an NXT UK taping in Glasgow. Make sure to act surprised in a week or two when they confirm it on television.*