NXT UK recap, Oct. 31: More like N HEX T SPOO-K

Your spooky recap of all the not-really-that-spooky action from this week’s Halloween edition of NXT UK.

Greetings all you ghouls and ghosts out there. Welcome to the recap of the NXT UK Halloween special, an episode so special that it was filmed weeks ago and has nothing happening to actually tie it to the occasion. Or as Tom Phillips calls it, “a jam-packed Thursday.”

A little disappointing, but talk about subverting expectations! Isn’t that what fans want out of their wrestling in 2019? A wrestling show that doesn’t get spooky when you most expect it to?

Anyway, let’s shamble on through the October 31, 2019 episode of NXT UK: More like N HEX T SPOO-K.

Up jumped the devil

Jordan Devlin claims he can’t be arrogant because he already knows that he’s the best. Isn’t that still arrogance though? He’s not the champion, nor has an independent panel of judges verified his personal beliefs to be true. Either way, Devlin took a step towards speaking his being best into existence by defeating Dave Mastiff.

While certainly not an underdog coming in, it was kind of unclear how exactly Jordan would go about winning this match. Technical impresario though he may be, would any level of Devlin’s tactical skill be able to withstand the strongman wrecking ball tendencies of Mastiff?

Turns out, you can make a smaller wrestler stand out and convincingly hold their own against a larger opponent. Devlin plays the snake lying in the grass waiting for his opportunity. Here he gets an opening to wrench Mastiff’s arm over the top rope, does so, and then continues to target it throughout the match. Can’t be as strong of a strongman when you’ve got one less arm. That’s just science.

Mastiff is still pretty damn strong though. Despite the injury, he’s able to fight back in ways such as lifting Devlin up on a shoulder like he were a child being helped to see above a crowd, before — hopefully not like a child! — being dropped to the canvass. Sometimes — like a dog not wanting to keep walking because there’s something they’ve got to sniff first — Mastiff just plants his feet and refuses to be moved. He also whips Devlin so hard into the turnbuckle at one point that Devlin goes flying out of the ring.

Ultimately however, Devlin gets crafty and pulls it out. After a moonsault ends with Mastiff’s feet in his face, Devlin flops over into the corner, prime Into the Void territory. He gets hit by it, but Mastiff is too weakened by the rigors of the match to immediately cover. Whether by pure luck or design, Devlin’s lifeless body slowly droops down, out under the ropes, and falls to the floor. A sure win for Mastiff snatched away.

Sensing he’ll need to go even bigger than hurling his body at a defenseless screaming opponent, Mastiff goes to the top with Devlin on his shoulders. However, Devlin fights free and hits an enziguiri to stun Mastiff. Then, in this literal high leverage situation, Devlin uses all his muscles to rip Mastiff off the top rope, catch him, and hit the Devlin-side suplex to win the match. Such a creative way to hit his big finishing move without having to solve the problem of pulling a large man up off the ground.

On the main roster, they probably would have had Devlin only hit dropkicks to stagger Mastiff before getting lucky and winning by count out. Also the match would probably be “Shorty D” versus “Mastiff” and gone three minutes. All of that is to say, it’s just plain good that NXT UK gives the time to let its top talents actually shine — Mastiff still stays strong even in defeat — and show why they rule.

Now if only there was a segment where Jordan Devlin uses some of that creativity to carve a nifty jack-o-lantern backstage. But alas. We’ll just have to settle for yet another fantastic entry in photos of wrestlers screaming in horror as Dave Mastiff hurtles towards them at terminal velocity.

Oh yeah that’s the stuff.