Previewing the July 3 edition of NXT UK, featuring Grizzled Young Veterans defending their tag team gold against Moustache Mountain.
On January 12 of this year, Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Moustache Mountain at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool to become the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions. An absolute banger of a match.
Nearly seven months later, Zack Gibson and James Drake still stand tall atop the NXT UK Tag Team Mountain (which for those interested, is clean shaven oddly enough). Granted, Gibson and Drake haven’t exactly defended too often — and one of their defenses was against a last-second cobbled together team — but hey, a championship duo is a championship duo.
Now though, they face their toughest challenge yet, having to go toe-to-toe once again with Moustache Mountain, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven.
This match has been a forgone conclusion for a bit. The NXT UK tag division is kind of thin on other legitimate challengers, and Bate and Seven have been rolling just about every time they’ve been in the ring over the last few months. For GYV, there’s no distance left to run. In the mud, in front of a bunch of sweaty goffs, they’ll have to actually try and prove for a change why the NXT UK Tag Team Championships are “ssssssssoon” to be recognized as the most important titles in all of WWE. If these teams can even somewhat recreate what they did in Blackpool, this should be really good.
.@RheaRipley_WWE will be facing off with @Viperpiperniven NEXT WEEK! #NXTUK pic.twitter.com/s5GaMInbuG
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) June 26, 2019
Also on the card and great to see in theory but “ehh idk yet” in practice, is Piper Niven versus Rhea Ripley. No disrespect to Download Festival, sweaty goffs, Slipknot or #NXTLoud, but — if this is somehow the culmination of the feud — these two deserve better than being a mid-card match on an ordinary TV episode. Granted, the expanded Triple H-governed arm of WWE usually knows what it’s doing, just hedging bets here in case they flub this.
Anyway, Niven and Ripley have been “feuding” the last couple of months over who the most dominant woman in NXT UK is. Feuding is in quotations because it’s really been a war of words with Ripley out injured and Niven left to stack up wins against a cast of jobbers and jobber-adjacent talent.
Niven and Ripley had a brief chance to throw down during the women’s No. 1 Contender battle royal. That interaction was cut short however, when — with both women on the apron — Xia Brookside eliminated Ripley, who pulled Niven to the floor with her as she fell.
Whatever the ultimate result, these two are both very talented and this match too should be really good.
How to watch
Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Time: 3:00 pm ET, re-air at 9:00 pm ET
Live stream: WWE Network
Will we see new tag team champions crowned? Who will be officially declared “Most Dominant Woman in NXT UK?” Tune in to NXT UK tonight to find out.