Chris King breaks down the amazing high-octane action from NXT UK, Friday Night SmackDown, and 205 Live from this past week. 

#1 NXT UK Recap

A New Member Of Imperium? 

On this week’s episode, Ilja Dragunov returned to action after his incredible match with Cesaro at NXT TakeOver: Cardiff. He toppled Saxon Huxley with a high-octane chaotic match. I have to admit I don’t know very much about Dragunov but he’s definitely not someone to sleep on. He also has an awesome finisher dubbed the Torpedo Moscow a deadly flying headbutt.

Throughout the match, we saw Imperium’s Alexander Wolfe applauding Muscovite. After his impressive victory, Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner came out and passed by Dragunov without doing anything and Wolfe walked him backstage. We can only imagine what Imperium’s motives are and how more dominant can they become? The dominant faction is already taking over NXT, and now adding a fifth member could make Imperium completely unstoppable!

Xia Brookside Humiliates Nina Samuels

The gorgeous and conceited Nina Samuels interrupted Xia Brookside last week during a backstage interview and Xia challenged her to a match. The wily veteran showed her dominance keeping the young Xia grounded for most of the match but, Xia turned her momentum against her and got the surprise roll-up. As the young Xia was having her hand raised in victory Samuels was throwing a fit like a thirteen-year-old.

Dave Mastiff Shuts The Irish Ace Up

For several weeks now, “The Irish Ace” Jordan Devlin has been berating the entire NXT UK roster proclaiming that he’s “the greatest sports entertainer on the planet.” Last week it was the  “Bomber” Dave Mastiff who arrived on the scene to shut him up but Devlin scurried to the back. This week, however, “The Irish Ace” was not as lucky as the big man dropped him with a ferocious senton splash.

Gallus Sits Atop The Tag Team Division

newGallusOrder #NXTUK #GALLUS @WolfgangYoung @m_coffey90 @Joe_Coffey pic.twitter.com/b3Awu2t76H

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) October 17, 2019

On this week’s episode, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang defeated Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews after a fantastic tag team match to become the new NXT UK Tag Team Champions. The dominant Gallus has been running roughshod over the roster long before Imperium existed. With Coffey and Wolfgang reigning supreme with the tag team gold who can stop the villainous trio?

#2 Friday Night SmackDown Recap

On last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak made his main roster in-ring debut against “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman. Gulak was trying to offer the big man some strategy on how to defeat Fury with his infamous slideshow presentation.

Before Gulak could say more than two words, “The Monster Among Men” threw him around like a toy. Strowman was looking to build momentum towards his mega-match against Tyson Fury at Crown Jewel, while Gulak was seeking to make an impact on his first night on the blue brand.

Was this an absolute squash match? Yes. Did it allow Gulak to showcase any of his amazing talents? Not exactly. That’s not nearly as important as perhaps WWE’s confidence in him by putting him in the ring with The Monster.

You might be asking why does this matter? Well, was he among the 24/7 Championship antics or did he gets squashed a midcarder? No, he did not.  He went toe-to-toe with Strowman who may not have won the Universal Championship yet but he’s challenged for it multiple times. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself here but it sure appears that WWE thinks highly of the former Cruiserweight Champ.

Steaks & Weights Are Coming 

On their first night as an exclusive SmackDown tag team, Heavy Machinery teamed up with The New Day to compete against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival and the former Raw Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a massive eight-man tag team match.

With both teams looking to build up momentum going into “The Greatest Tag Team in the World” Tournament Otis and Tucker were given the appropriate amount of time to shine against the heels. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder also got their opportunity to showcase their amazing in-ring psychology methodically dissecting their opponents.

Earlier this year at Stomping Grounds Heavy Machinery unsuccessfully challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Daniel Bryan and Rowan. Dawson attempted to deliver a suplex to Otis who tagged in Big E who executed the Midnight Hour for the victory. It was a welcome sight to see Heavy Machinery back in the mix with all the teams and possibly one step closer to gaining a title shot in the near future.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how great it is to see Daniel Bryan back as a fan-favorite, his tag team matches with Roman Reigns are always fun to watch. Bryan nailed the Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura with a running knee to win their match on Friday. If Nakamura vs. Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship is the direction they are heading then the WWE Universe is in for a big treat!

Did @WWEDanielBryan just PIN the #ICChampion @ShinsukeN on #SmackDown?

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! pic.twitter.com/7m3HeU6Ojj

— WWE (@WWE) October 19, 2019

#3 205 Live Recap

Kendrick Outsmarts His Rival

The Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher added another chapter in their intense rivalry. Before the match could even begin the wily veteran blasted Gallagher with a kendo stick and a brawl ensued outside. The match finally started and Kendrick went right on the attack utilizing his technical wrestling skills.

“The Extraordinary Gentleman” gained a small window of opportunity to mount a comeback and even surviving the Captains Hook. Gallagher grabbed a kendo stick for retribution but the referee stopped him and Kendrick delivered  Sliced Bread No. 2 to gain the victory.

These Jobbers Surprised Me

The Singh Brothers defeated two enhancement talent named Justin Alexander and Justin Morris. There is not much to mention about this match in general but what stood out to me was the two Justin’s mocked The Singh’s and even withstood a good amount of offense. These were not your typical jobbers they actually impressed me.

The Premier Athlete Is Coming

Oney Lorcan, Ariya Daivari, and Tony Nese competed in a fantastic triple-threat match with the winner getting one step closer to a title shot. Daiviri and Nese joined forces several times throughout the match to deliver a two-on-one beatdown to Lorcan but “The Fury of 205 Live” would not quit.

Lorcan mounted a comeback and was firing on all cylinders dropping anything that moved. Nese and Daivari broke up back-to-back near-falls. The Premier Athlete walked away with the victory after delivering a Sunset Driver. Following the match, Nese ripped the headset off of Aiden English to announce that he’s coming for “his” Cruiserweight Championship.