NXT UK Recap for June 26, 2019: Kiwi Crushed

We built this city on rock and roll quick promos

Zack Gibson doesn’t care for Download Festival, the people at Download Festival, the bands at Download Festival, the mud at Download Festival, the having to wrestle at Download Festival, none of it. What he does care for: kicking back in a five-star hotel — as rated by Dave Meltzer — putting on the kettle and listening to a bit of Ben Howard.

Yes, beneath that yelling exterior, there is a simple man, a man whose favorite musical act is two-time BRIT Award winner Ben Howard. What a relief to finally know.

Also, Grizzled Young Veterans defend their NXT UK Tag Team Championships against Moustache Mountain next week. This second meeting between these teams should be equal to or exceed I Forget Where We Were, Ben Howard’s 2014 sophomore album that The Guardian once called “actually rather lovely.”

Toni Storm delivers her typical bi-weekly promo where she reacts to something someone did or said in relation to her. This time, Kay Lee Ray both won a battle royal to become her No. 1 contender, and refuses to say when she’s going to ask for her match. Thankfully, it’s literally never not Toni Time, so Storm is always ready. She also hypothesizes that maybe Ray is all talk anyway. Surely that statement won’t come back to affect Storm at all, but we’ll have to wait for two weeks from now for to see. Until next time, this has been “Talkin’ Toni Talk.”

https://twitter.com/tonistorm_/status/1139585401612591106

Dave Mastiff finds The Hunt wandering the festival grounds yelling at nothing in particular. He lets Primate and Wild Boar know that they’ve got the same problem in Gallus. That should probably already be apparent after Mastiff came out last week to save them from Gallus, and then they all posed in the ring together, but okay. They then yell together, as bonding males are wont to do, before walking off to undoubtedly discuss ring psychology.

Later, Johnny Saint tweets that in two weeks, Dave Mastiff and The Hunt will take on Gallus in a six-man tag match. Isn’t it weird that Johnny Saint seems to only conduct business via Twitter and rarely actually appears on the show? Regardless, should be a fun match full of big sweaty dudes running into each other as hard as they can.

Finally, we learn that Rhea Ripley and Piper Niven will go one-on-one with each other next (!) week. Was really hoping they would save this for TakeOver Cardiff, but alas. Even though they have been circling each other for a little while now, it just seems too soon.

Also, with a god damned Grizzled Young Veterans-Moustache Mountain rematch on the card as well, it seems unlikely that Ripley and Niven will get too much time. Maybe next week’s meeting will have a wonky finish, and then they’ll get 15-20 minutes at TakeOver to settle who the most dominant woman in NXT UK is once and for all.

With that, this NXT UK recap is officially done. How soon will it be until someone conquers WALTER? Are we off the mark on Joseph Conners? Disappointed that they don’t seem to be saving Ripley v. Niven? Let us know your thoughts on those questions and anything else from the world of NXT UK down in the comments below. And if you enjoyed reading this at all, consider sharing it via social media, email, or carrier pigeon with friends and family.