Previewing the November 14 edition of NXT UK, featuring Xia Brookside challenging Kay Lee Ray and Kassius Ohno looking to beat up Tyler Bate
With a chance to prove herself and get a little revenge in the process, Xia Brookside challenges NXT UK Women’s champion Kay Lee Ray.
Xia Brookside is an underdog. She’s young, she’s small, and she’s been on the receiving end of her fair share of losses. When she seemingly won a battle royale several months ago to become No. 1 Contender to the NXT UK Women’s Championship, it felt like a triumph. It’s too bad she didn’t account for Kay Lee Ray never actually being eliminated. In an instant, Brookside went from elated to eliminated. Back to the drawing board she went.
Meanwhile, Kay Lee Ray rode that battle royal momentum all the way to TakeOver: Cardiff where she dethroned Toni Storm and walked out as NXT UK Women’s champion. Does this mean that if not for Ray, Brookside would now be the champ?
Whether or not that answer is a yes — Xia’s ability to play devious head games against Toni Storm certainly feels dubious — Xia clearly still hasn’t forgotten what Ray did. Sure, it was a completely legal strategy, but a championship opportunity lost is a championship opportunity lost. Not exactly something that’s easy to let go of.
By standards both classic and contemporary, Kassius Ohno is a bully. He only beats up on people smaller than him, insults those who don’t appreciate wrestling the same way he does, and lashes out when he doesn’t get his way.
A couple of weeks ago, Ohno tried to intimidate and get what he probably thought would be an easy win against the debuting A-Kid. After all, he’s a full grown, tenured wrestling genius, and A-Kid’s name is literally “A Kid”. But after A-Kid outsmarted him and got the count out victory, Ohno attacked his victorious opponent from behind. Like we said, he lashes out when he doesn’t get his way.
Thankfully, number one A-Kid stan and general nice guy Tyler Bate was on hand to make the save. Now, Ohno is pissed off at Bate, lashing out at the NXT UK stalwart for not letting him lash out. Ohno is promising to put an end to British Strong Style even though much of the current NXT UK narrative has been born out of an end already being put to the group.
Tyler Bate hasn’t been seen much, let alone competed in NXT UK since his loss to WALTER, though he did pop up in NXT Prime to lose to Cameron Grimes and his hat. This could either be a chance for Bate to get back on the right track, or fall further down the NXT UK mountain after slipping from the summit.
How to watch
Date: Thursday, Nov. 14
Time: 3:00 pm ET, re-air at 9:00 pm ET
Live stream: WWE Network
Can Xia Brookside prove she truly belongs? Will Kassius Ohno put a further end to the already effectively defunct British Strong Style? Tune in to NXT UK to find out!