July 31, 2019 – Plymouth, Devon
Johnny Saint & Sid Scala start the show in the ring. Saint has about as many lines as he usually does, which is to say he has one line. Imperium interrupts, saying that they’ve made the role of GM obsolete. WALTER says there’s no one left to challenge him at Takeover, but Tyler Bate sneaks past the goons and attacks WALTER. Bate keeps Imperium at bay and stays on his feet with WALTER until security puts a stop to things. Scala says WALTER will defend against Bate at Takeover. That was a masterfully executed bit of business that made Bate look strong while keeping Imperium from looking too weak.
Mark Coffey & Wolfgang def. Sam Stoker & Lewis Howley
Stoker & Howley are a little more gimmicky than the last time they came around. It didn’t make much of a difference, as they got squashed as usual. On the bright side, the Gallus team got to show off some of their new tandem offence. After the match, Coffey challenges the Grizzled Young Veterans for the tag titles. N/A
Mark Andrews’ band is providing the theme song for Takeover. That’s adorable. Meanwhile, Jordan Devlin is pissed that he’s been passed over for the title shot (and that his NXT UK career has stalled) and wants a rematch against WALTER. Scala instead gives him a match against WALTER’s boy Alexander Wolfe. Then, Dave Mastiff says he’ll be facing Joe Coffey in a match next week.
Rhea Ripley def. Dani Luna
This was a quick squash for Ripley, though Luna got in a couple of shots which will be good in case they ever want to use her for anything more than this. N/A
We get a look at Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray’s friendship before the start of NXT UK. Storm says things feel different now, and KLR say that Storm knows what’s happened that’s changed the relationship. This was okay, but didn’t make me much more excited to see the Takeover match. Then we take a look at Eddie Dennis’s rehab from injury, and we learn that Dennis blames the fans because they’re entitled and don’t appreciate the risks that wrestlers take. This calm, measured version of Dennis is much more compelling than what we were getting before.
Alexander Wolfe def. Jordan Devlin
This had a real Dragon Ball Z vibe to it, where Devlin played the role of one of Goku’s weaker friends trying to take on Wolfe in the role of one of the big bad’s lackeys and coming up short/proving they weren’t meant to face the likes of Cell or Frieza. Can I have my nerd card back now, please? More than in any match I’ve seen of his before, Wolfe (who won clean with a Ligerbomb) showed that he’s adept at and interested in doing a lot of little things really well to add nuance to a match and to make himself look like a cerebral player. In doing so, he helped Devlin get the crowd on his side. I was skeptical that it would work, as Devlin got heel heat when he came out, but by the end the fans were well behind him. That said I hope they have something planned for Devlin because I think he could be a top of the card player on this brand and I’d hate to see him be directionless fodder for others that they want to keep strong. Beyond Wolfe’s machinations, the rest of the match was a lot fun, featuring engaging action and more than a couple surprising moments. I didn’t know Wolfe had it in him. ***½
The show wraps up with Bate letting WALTER know that it’s going to take a lot more than what Imperium has put him through to take him out. He’s going to embarrass WALTER in Cardiff.