Top 3 Performers of NXT UK (October 31st, 2018)

NXT UK kicked off with one half of Mustache Mountain, Trent Seven, going up against Saxon Huxley. Huxley was previously seen on the WWE Network as a part of the first UK Championship Tournament in Blackpool, losing in the first round. Huxley dominated the start of the bout but didn't look like a threat to Seven. Seven energized the crowd by hitting the bigger Huxley with the Seven Star Lariat and a series of stiff chops. Seven won after hitting the Burning Hammer for the pinfall victory.

Next, Flash Morgan Webster faced off against Mark Coffey, one-half of the Coffey brothers, after Flash Morgan Webster made the save as Mark and Joe Coffey were beating down Mark Andrews. Despite the size difference, the offense was evenly split between the two, with Webster hitting slightly more than his bigger opponent. A distraction by Joe, allowed Mark to hit a spinning uppercut. While some of the moves were impressive, it wasn't as neat as you would hope a fight between two experienced wrestlers. Webster picked up the victory with a crucifix pin, followed by a beat down by the Coffey's. This brought out Mark Andrews and Travis Banks for the save.

NXT's Danny Burch made his NXT UK debut and came without his NXT Tag Team partner, Oney Lorcan, and faced Sam Gradwell. The two traded strikes for large parts of the hard-hitting contest. Danny Burch had the upper hand for the majority of the bout. Burch would hit a headbutt, followed quickly by a top rope draped DDT for the victory. After the match, Burch challenged UK Champion Pete Dunne for a title match, which has been set for next week's episode of NXT UK.

After a short video package setting up Finn Balor's prodigy, Jordan Devlin, it was time for this week's main event. The Scottish Supernova, Noam Dar, emerged first receiving a positive reception, especially compared to the shower of boos Gibson received on his way to the ring. Dar marvelously played with the crowd, at one point responding to the chants of "if you hate (Zack) Gibson, shoes off", by pretending to take off his shoe in the middle of the match. The local crowd was extremely invested in the match, maintaining the levels of their chants throughout the bout. Each competitor targetted different body parts through the match, with Gibson targetting Dar's left arm to soften it up for his signature submission, Shankly Gates, and Dar targetted Gibson's left knee. After a fantastic back and forth encounter, Gibson would get the win after hitting a Helter Skelter.

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#3 Danny Burch

If you are partial to the hard striking style of British strong style, then Danny Burch vs Sam Gradwell is one to watch and rewatch. While Gradwell was impressive in the match and hit a great Falcon Arrow. However, Danny Burch was the more impressive of the two. Hitting a variety of strikes on his younger opponent and finishing the match off with a headbutt and then hit a vicious top rope draping DDT for the win.

Burch then cut a promo seeking out to challenge current WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne. Talking about how respect was all well and good but he came here for titles. Following the episode, it was announced that Danny Burch would face Dunne for the title at the next episode of NXT UK, in what is sure to be another cracking fight. Between Burch's strong striking ability, and Pete Dunne's ability to manipulate his opponent's joints at his will.

#2 Noam Dar

Noam Dar continued to impress since crossing from 205 Live to NXT UK. After delivering a stunning match against Pete Dunne in the debut episode, and followed it up brilliantly with this match against the hated Gibson. At the start of the match, Dar wasn't a factor in the crowd's reaction to the match.

However, with impressive work in the ring and a charisma that connected with the crowd. Dar had the crowd cheering for him during the match, despite the fact that for the overwhelming majority of the bout they were cheering against Gibson.

Despite being the significantly smaller man in the fight, Dar got an impressive amount of offense with some fantastic skills, and the work he did to target Gibson's left leg played so well throughout the fight. Dar also managed to hold on well, fighting his way out of Gibson's Shankly Gates twice.

#1 Zack Gibson

Gibson has gotten the best reaction from the local crowd for the last two episodes in a row. Gibson has genuine heel heat every time he steps into the ring. His promo last week did well to set up the match and makes Gibson one of the most likely person to take the title off Pete Dunne. Despite losing their last match, Gibson has the out of having wrestled the entire Championship tournament in the day beforehand. Considering how strongly Pete Dunne has been booked, this would allow for a ration explanation of how he could be beaten, and with Gibson also being booked strongly. They can set up the rematch based off of this.

Gibson was also incredible in the fight, targetting Dar's left shoulder to specifically target it for the Shankly Gates submission. While Gibson was able to lock the hold onto the Scottish Supernova twice during the match, it still wasn't enough to get the victory. However, Gibson was also able to hold out of several of Dar's submissions targetting Gibson's injured leg and knee.

Gibson was finally able to defeat Dar by hitting a Helter Skelter to finish off a great fight between the two.