WWE NXT UK Recap for May 22, 2019: New WALTER Order

On a night where the WWE United Kingdom Championship was on the line, let’s have a look at the May 22, 2019 edition of NXT UK.

What happened on this week’s NXT UK? Oh, just two of the biggest stars on the brand going at it in a highly-anticipated sequel to their already highly-touted championship match from WrestleMania weekend. That, plus two previously injured wrestlers finishing what they started, and the final qualifying match for the No. 1 contender fatal four-way. No more time to waste, here’s your recap of the May 22 edition of NXT UK.

The mat is sacred

Almost two months ago at NXT TakeOver: New York, WALTER defeated Pete Dunne, ending The Bruiserweight’s mammoth run with the WWE United Kingdom Championship at 685 days. History was ended, and a new era atop NXT UK had begun.

There was a less-than-zero chance, however, that Dunne was going to walk away from the title he held so long without a fight. Well, without a second fight. Always craving the best competition possible, WALTER granted Dunne’s impassioned, yet polite, demand for a rematch, and thus here we have arrived at Pete Dunne vs. WALTER II.

This match doesn’t reach the heights of its predecessor, but by design, it’s not really supposed to. Even so, seeing these two step into the ring to throw just about everything they’ve got at each other is no less entertaining. A small-scale war is still a war.

Of course though, the question that lingers after the match is over is, did Dunne have WALTER beat? After an entire match of doing everything he could to target and mangle WALTER’s fingers— stomping, twisting, trapping inside the turnbuckle, dodging a chop that then collided with the ring post — Dunne had WALTER in the combination triangle choke-finger snap submission.

Before we could even get a sense if the champ would tap, however, Fabian Aichner scrambled down to ringside to push the bottom rope ever so slightly inward, allowing WALTER to get his foot on it. While the referee was busy admonishing Aichner, in swept Marcel Barthel, who clocked Dunne in the back of the head with the UK Title. Barthel’s sneak attack achieving what WALTER had failed to the entire match, the Ring General planted Dunne with a huge powerbomb, and retained the title.

Amidst a sea of boos, WALTER strikes his trademark pose in the ring, while Aichner and Barthel do the same. Talk about failing upward for those two! Not that they’re bad by any stretch of the imagination. Actually, they’re quite good as a tag team, they just seemed a little lost in the shuffle by virtue of being heels in a division headlined by heels. But now, they’re at the gargantuan right hand of the guy on top of the brand. It’s the New WALTER Order.

Rarely is it easy to follow-up something so impressive like a 685 day championship reign, but at the least WALTER seemed positioned for a strong run as UK Champ. But, now that he’s got two incredibly capable and severe lackeys — for lack of a better word — by his side, who knows how long he could run roughshod over NXT UK.

Still, WALTER revealed who he truly is. He may be the type who values competition and takes wrestling very seriously, but he’s also the type who takes wrestling too seriously — Aichner and Barthel’s bread and butter — to the point of paranoia. The mat may be sacred, but backed up against a wall, WALTER cheated to win. Did Dunne have WALTER beat? The better question may actually be, did WALTER know he was beat?