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

Oscar-worthy

Back in March, Noam Dar showed up to NXT UK in Coventry to both announce that he had become a full-time member of the brand’s roster and proclaim he thought Scotland was better than England. It was a heel turn for the ages, one that immediately pushed him up against Mark Andrews, a nice guy who just wants everyone everywhere to have a good time. Things quickly culminated in a great match on the March 27 episode of NXT UK, one that unfortunately had to be stopped after both Dar and Andrews suffered knee injuries. Now, with mutual respect between them, the two got the chance to give their previous match the ending it deserved. Or, at least an ending.

The heel-face dynamics at play in this one are a bit wonky. Dar, as mentioned, had been a jerk of a heel before the injury. Now though, he’s basically a face twice over, with the combination of both returning from injury and being in front of a hometown Scotland crowd. Thrice over, if you count that he had a valiant effort two weeks ago almost winning the tag titles as Amir Jordan’s injury replacement. All of this is to say, turns out Dar is exactly who we thought he was.

Yet again, it’s a really good, fun match. The respect factor is firmly at play, but that doesn’t hold either one of them back. Even though “Stundog Millionaire” is a laughably awful name for a signature move, Andrews is extremely entertaining, as anyone capable of hitting a standing moonsault should be. Dar, too, is entertaining to watch and has his moments of flash — after all, he wears space pants — but it’s his craftiness that really sticks out here. Following his aforementioned standing moonsault, Andrews bounces off the ropes to hit Dar with a crossbody. Except, Andrews doesn’t hit Dar, because Dar kind of just flops to the mat like a dead fish, giving him an opening to spin Andrews round-and-round several times before executing a dizzy backslide for a near-fall.

https://twitter.com/NXTUK/status/1131279404514938880

Of course, Dar saves his best act of craftiness for last. After Andrews hits him with a dive on the outside, Dar grabs his injured left knee. Everyone is concerned, and back in the ring when Andrews attempts to whip him off the ropes, Dar just collapses, grasping at his knee in seeming pain. Both Dar and Andrews have a chat along with the ref, and it seems like Dar will have to forfeit as the two competitors shake hands. There’s some bad news for Mark Andrews though:

Yep, Dar was faking the injury, allowing him the chance to club his opponent in the back of the head, and hit the Nova Roller for the three-count. The cad! The absolute madman! He positively reeled Andrews in like a fish! And the Oscar goes to …