Eddie Dennis discusses his injury, insane interactions with Shawn Michaels & more (Exclusive)

Eddie Dennis with NXT UK referee Thomas Kearins

I recently had a chat with a man you're very familiar with, Mark Andrews, who told me how cool it is to work with the likes of Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Can I ask, what are your thoughts on both men, and have you had any "Oh, my God" moments since working with WWE?

Yeah! I mean, they just come thick and fast, really, don't they? I remember when we signed our WWE deals, we were at a Monday Night Raw event, and I remember being at catering and Kurt Angle came up behind me, and I was like, "Please, sir," and he's like, "No, no, no. You were in the queue first, you go." That was a pretty surreal moment.

I remember when Flash [Morgan Webster] got busted open in his 205 Live match, he came backstage and Daniel Bryan made his way down the corridor to check on him. I remember looking at that interaction, and thinking, "What is this?! This is the most surreal thing ever!"

As far as Shawn Michaels and Triple H go, we have pretty close conduct and interaction with Shawn on the NXT UK brand, but to sort of sit down in a room with someone like Shawn Michaels and watch professional wrestling while he's analyzing what goes well and what goes badly in a match, it's one of the most invaluable learning experiences in your life.

Certainly, in 1996, when I was a 10-year-old boy watching Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart's Iron Man Match at WrestleMania 12, I never thought I'd be sat in a room with him watching myself wrestle on tape.

It's pretty hard to believe when you think about it that way but the reality is, in the moment, doesn't feel like that. In the moment, it just feels like someone who is a master of the craft which you are trying to master giving you helpful advice, and that's all it feels like.

They're so humble, so down to earth. It's very easy to forget who you're talking to in some ways. And if you want to ask a question, you just ask them. Those are the moments, really, when you try to quantify it, where you realize the situation that you find yourself in.

---

I was going to ask if you watched the product while you were away or completely removed yourself? But you already answered that so I can ask this - who's been your standout of 2019 in NXT UK, and of WWE overall?

Blimey! Stand out of 2019. All the years merge into one so I kind of have to think about events in particular. He's been a standout for years but it's really tricky not to put someone like Tyler [Bate] in the conversation when you're thinking about standouts on NXT UK.

The match against WALTER at TakeOver: Cardiff was absolutely mind-blowing. Just the highest level. And he's actually had some almost equally as mind-blowing matches just on television for NXT UK. If you seek out his bout with Kassius Ohno from a few weeks ago, that was incredible. Last night he wrestled Noam Dar on television. That was absently unreal.

It's difficult to bet against Tyler Bate, as much as I've got my issues with his tag team partner.

As far as WWE as a whole, in 2019... Blimey, I don't want to give a naff answer.

It might be Adam Cole. If I think about the body of work that he's produced on NXT, his consistency, it feels like he's main-evented every TakeOver this last year.

Those weeks leading up to Survivor Series where he wrestled Daniel Bryan on SmackDown and he wrestled Seth [Rollins] on Raw, and then he had that worldly match with Pete [Dunne] at Survivor Series. I think it's tricky to go against a guy like Cole.

As far as in-ring content goes, I don't think anybody could argue that we are in an absolute golden age of professional wrestling in WWE. The standard is absolutely through the roof.

---

NEXT: Eddie Dennis discusses his NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II Match