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The second ever episode of NXT UK kicked off with a bang, as Ligero faced off against Mike Hitchman. Ligero is the UK's foremost Luchador, and more commonly known on the UK independent scene as El Ligero, especially during his time with WCPW/Defiant Wrestling.
Ligero clearly got a much better reaction from the local crowd. Hitchman dominated most of the match, with Ligero's main form of offense coming from quick counters and reversals. Unsurprisingly, Ligero picked up the victory after hitting a springboard tornado DDT for the pinfall.
Next up, the second match was the second ever female match on NXT between the Captain of Team Kick, Dakota Kai, going up against Killer Kelly. The crowd was behind the Kiwi kicker and was quite silent when Killer Kelly was controlling the tempo.
However, there were moments when the crowd got behind the Portuguese competitor, specifically when she locked in the dragon sleeper and hit Kai with a Suplex. Kai picked up the victory with a duo of corner kicks to her opponent. Kai stated in her post-match that she was keen to take on any challengers in the race for the NXT UK Women's title.
The most negative response so far that any competitor has received was undoubtedly shown when the winner of the second UK Tournament, Zack Gibson. Gibson hit the ring to a shower of boos, which continued as he cut a promo on the microphone. Gibson's promo eventually called out Dunne's opponent from last week, Noam Dar.
Before a match could break out, Johnny Saint came out and ordered both men to go to his office. The NXT UK GM later tweeted that the two will face each other in the Main Event of next week's episode.
Next up was a match between Ashton Smith and Tucker. This match was styled more as an independent spot show, rather than the standard wrestling storyline match. There were no clear heel/face dynamics that had been evident in most of the other matches seen on the card. Smith won after hitting the Ash Cloud, a ripcord DDT, picking up the pinfall victory.
The main event of the episode saw Wolfgang face former WWE UK and NXT Tag Team Champion Tyler Bate. This match saw a return to the traditional wrestling roles of heel and face. The diminutive Tyler Bate struggling against the bigger Wolfgang was always going to be an easy story to tell. Bate is one of the best sellers, and Wolfgang's ability to throw him around proved well suited to a match between the two.
The fact that this fight also built on their history, after Tyler beat Wolfgang in the semi-final on his way to winning the inaugural WWE UK tournament. Bate would pick up the victory after avoiding a Senton from the top rope and hitting a Tyler Driver 97 for the win.
#3 Ligero
Ligero narrowly takes this spot on the top 3, pipping Wolfgang for this spot on the list. While Wolfgang had a fantastic fight against former WWE UK Champion, Tyler Bate, Ligero had as entertaining a match with a much more limited opponent. Having gone into the fight as a well-known crowd favorite.
The two men had previously faced each other in a non-tournament match on the second day of the UK Tournament event earlier this year, with Ligero also winning there.
Ligero brings an entertaining Lucha Libre style to his fights that not many others have, especially in the NXT UK Roster. As the sole Luchador as well, Ligero uses his speed to good effect against his bigger opponents, similarly to Tyler Bate.
While Ligero isn't UK championship material, he certainly can develop himself a spot on the NXT UK Midcard with his highly enjoyable form of wrestling.
#2 Zack Gibson
CW: The following video contains swearing
Zack Gibson is yet to have a match at NXT UK, but the reaction he garnered at the taping shows that he is one of the most hated heels on the roster at the moment. Few superstars on NXT and the main roster have the level of heel heat that Gibson attracted during the promo, especially for the entire duration of the promo and taking into account that none of what he said was for cheap heel heat.
While parts of Gibson's promos were drowned out by the raucous crowd, he effectively got several points across, establishing himself as a number 1 contender for the UK title and called out Noam Dar at the same time.
Johnny Saint came down at the end of the promo and set up a match between the two for next episodes main event, and given Gibson's work against Dunne and in the UK Tournament, that match should be one to look forward to.
#1 Tyler Bate
The former WWE UK Champions is up there with some of the best performers in the world, let alone on the NXT UK Roster. His innovative offense, coupled with his ability to sell and put his opponents over puts Bate in rarefied air. This fight with Wolfgang was no exception and merely added another classic to young Bate's ever-growing and already impressive list of matches.
Bate teased an Airplane Spin and Tyler Driver 97 in the match, foreshadowing the ending, but still made the rest of the fight enjoyable. The way Bate seems to fly through the air when being tossed across the ring can often seem to defy the laws of gravity.
Bate also has a good nature about him in the ring and even challenged his obviously bigger opponent to a test of strength. Bate has an incredible amount of talent, both as a singles competitor and as a tag team, whether it be with Trent Seven in Mustache Mountain or with Seven and Pete Dunne in British Strong Style, Bate's matches are always one to watch on any card he appears.
