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During WrestleMania week, the stars of NXT UK took center stage and delivered a special show known as Prelude.
Tyler Bate and Noam Dar battled it out in a Heritage Cup rules match to determine the next contender for A-Kid.
In the second match of the night, NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray partnered up with Isla Dawn, who has recently begun to embrace her dark side. The pair went up against Meiko Satomura and Emilia McKenzie in a brutal battle.
The main event of NXT UK Prelude saw the UK Championship being defended, as WALTER put his title on the line against Rampage Brown.
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NXT UK Prelude opener: Tyler Bate vs Noam Dar in a Heritage Cup rules match
Tyler Bate and Noam Dar faced off in a Heritage Cup rules match, to decide who would be the one to face A-Kid for the cup.
For the match, Bate had Trent Seven in his corner, and Noam Dar was accompanied by Sha Samuels.
Round one began with both men immediately going after each other. Dar attempted to lock Bate in a backslide, and Tyler used this to attempt a pinfall on his rival before he broke free.
Shortly after, Bate won the first fall by rolling up Noam Dar.
Bate went into round two of the match with more confidence. The two men circled one another, and Bate managed to get Dar to the mat in a wristlock. Noam quickly wormed his way out of the lock.
Dar then became more aggressive, and took Bate down with a leg lock, putting pressure on his opponent's leg. Bate then fought out of this and pulled Dar back down in a headlock.
The two then grappled back and forth in the middle of the ring, as Sha Samuels shouted tips to Noam Dar from ringside.
NXT UK Prelude opener: Tyler Bate vs Noam Dar in a Heritage Cup rules match (continued)
As the NXT UK Prelude opener continued, Noam Dar attempted a pinfall on Tyler Bate, which he kicked out of.
In the final seconds of round two, Bate attempted to pin Dar once more, but Noam raised his shoulders to avoid losing the round.
The bell rang to kick off the third round and Noam Dar went into this one with better momentum than and used leg strikes to quickly down Bate.
He then attacked Tyler's head with downward elbows and stamped on his opened hand. However, Bate retaliated with a swift kick to the lower leg, which sent Dar falling to the mat.
Tyler Bate ended up down on the mat once more, and Noam Dar took advantage of this, attacking the legs of his rival.
As Bate got up once more, the pair exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring. Dar then caught Bate in the face with a spinning back elbow, sending him down again. Bate kicked out of Dar's pinfall attempt.
Noam Dar launched Tyler Bate into the ropes of the NXT UK ring and continued to kick his rival before lifting and throwing him down to the floor.
Big Strong Boi then floored Noam Dar from the second rope. With twenty seconds to go, Tyler Bate lifted Noam Dar into an airplane spin but didn't manage to get a pinfall as the time ran out. This left the NXT UK commentary team in utter shock.
The fourth round of the NXT UK Prelude opener started, with Tyler Bate immediately grabbing Noam Dar back into an airplane spin.
Dropping Dar to the mat, a dizzy Tyler Bate launched himself backward off the ropes and onto Noam Dar for a pinfall attempt. However, Noam kicked out of it.
NXT UK Prelude opener: Tyler Bate vs Noam Dar in a Heritage Cup rules match (continued)
The NXT UK Prelude Heritage Cup rules match carried on, as Tyler Bate and Noam Dar found themselves back in the center of the ring. Dar floored Tyler with a sliding forearm. He once again got a failed pin attempt, which made him even more frustrated.
Once more, Noam Dar targeted Bate's left leg with a series of kicks, leaving Big Strong Boi seriously struggling to carry on with his injury.
As the two men battled on, Dar sent Bate flying through the air with another swift kick to the left leg from behind.
This was still not enough for Noam Dar to put Bate away, and the bell rang without a pinfall once more.
The fifth round started with both men striking one another in the middle of the ring. The penultimate round ended quickly, as Noam Dar grabbed Tyler Bate in a leg bar, causing him to tap out.
The final round began with an even score between the men. Tyler Bate attempted a pin on Dar which his opponent kicked out from.
On the outside, Sha Samuels and Trent Seven began to brawl after Samuels attempted to distract Bate.
Tyler then sent Dar flying to the outside of the NXT UK ring and followed it up by diving to the outside onto Samuels himself.
With a minute and a half left in the first match of NXT UK Prelude, both Dar and Bate scrambled back into the ring.
Noam charged at Bate but was sent down to the mat with a swift strike. Tyler Bate then hit Noam Dar with a Tyler Driver and pinned his rival successfully to become the winner and go on to face A-Kid for the NXT UK Heritage Cup.
Winner: Tyler Bate
Grade: A
Kay Lee Ray and Isla Dawn vs Meiko Satomura and Emilia McKenzie at NXT UK Prelude
The second match on NXT UK Prelude was the women's tag team match. First to the ring was wrestling legend Meiko Satomura, who was partnered with Emilia McKenzie (a recently-repackaged Millie McKenzie).
Facing the pair were Isla Dawn, embracing her newly-found dark side, and NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray.
The matchup began with Isla Dawn and Emilia McKenzie in the ring, and the two women wasted no time getting into the action.
After a few back-and-forth strikes, Dawn attempted a headlock on her rival, but McKenzie fought her way out and followed this up with a takedown.
McKenzie then tagged in Satomura, as Dawn backed away and tagged in Kay Lee Ray. Ray immediately attacked Satomura with a leg strike, following it up with a headlock, which the wrestling legend fought her way out of.
The NXT UK Women's Champion then launched Meiko into the corner and attacked her with a series of kicks to the stomach, before tagging in Isla Dawn, who hit Satmoura with kicks across the chest.
Satomura then fought back with a vicious-looking wrist lock on Isla Dawn, before delivering a series of swift kicks to the chest. Meiko then took Isla down to the mat and drove her knees into her opponent before tagging in McKenzie.
Emilia then took Isla Dawn down once again with a dropkick, before making a pin attempt. Dawn then took the opportunity to tag in Ray, who tried a Gory Bomb on McKenzie, which was surprisingly countered.
Mckenzie took down Ray with a Hurricanrana, following it up with another one from the second rope.
Dawn rushed the ring but was immediately hit with a suplex from McKenzie. Emilia then speared the NXT UK Women's Champion before going for a pin attempt. Chaos ensued at ringside, as Isla Dawn attacked Meiko Satomura.
Ray then made the most of this distraction by pinning McKenzie, who kicked out at two. Dawn then tagged in and sent Emilia across the ring with a suplex. The two then exchanged strikes, before they tagged out simultaneously.
Kay Lee Ray and Isla Dawn vs Meiko Satomura and Emila McKenzie at NXT UK Prelude (continued)
The action on NXT UK Prelude continued as Ray and Satomura stormed the ring, and the champion was sent down by a swift strike to the head.
Kay Lee Ray then blocked a suplex attempt from Satomura, who responded by sending her rival down with another kick to the head before managing to hit a suplex, and pinned Ray.
However, Satomura stopped the pin herself when she saw Isla Dawn about to step into the NXT UK ring, and shouted across at her rival, sending out a stern warning.
The two women then struck one another in the center of the ring, and Kay Lee Ray hit Satomura with the Gory Bomb and yet another pin attempt.
This time Emilia McKenzie broke up the action and was taken down with a superkick from Ray, before making a swift exit from the ring.
Meiko Satomura then locked in a submission on Kay Lee Ray before Isla Dawn handed her the rope, breaking it up.
Dawn then took Kay Lee Ray's place in the ring and attempted to pin Satomura, who kicked out as Ray rushed across the ring to attack Mckenzie.
Emilia then retaliated at ringside with a huge suplex on the NXT UK Women's Champion.
McKenzie rolled up Dawn to get the victory for her team. As the winners celebrated, the undefeated Aiofe Valkyrie returned to confront Satomura down as she placed a black feather on the ground, whilst everyone wondered what could be next for the stars of the NXT UK Women's division.
Winners: Emilia McKenzie and Meiko Satomura
Grade: A+
NXT UK Prelude main event: WALTER vs Rampage Brown for the UK Championship
In the main event of NXT UK Prelude, NXT UK Champion WALTER defended his title against Rampage Brown, just a day after retaining against Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
As the bell rang, the rivals immediately locked up in the middle of the NXT UK ring. Rampage Brown caught WALTER in a headlock. The Ring General quickly fought out of it, and countered with one of his famous chops.
WALTER then threw himself against the ropes and into Brown, before hitting his rival with another swift chop.
Rampage then took down the champion and dropped WALTER once more with a dropkick. The NXT UK Champion then retreated to the outside, but Brown followed him, and charged at his rival.
Rampage Brown then tried to suplex WALTER, who refused to be lifted by the challenger. The Champion then responded by driving Brown into the barricade and launching him onto the ring apron.
WALTER then following this up by hooking Brown through the ropes and stretching him out before delivering vicious chops to his chest from behind. This was followed up by WALTER holding his opponent down the mat, and painfully contorting his arm.
As the two men both returned to the center of the ring, they exchanged a series of chops, before WALTER broke it up and kicked Brown in the stomach before sending him back down and delivering a sharp leg strike to the middle of his back.
The Ring General then took advantage by holding Brown into a Boston Crab, before Rampage fought his way out by grabbing the ankle of the champion. WALTER then drove his knee into the back of Brown.
As the champ attempted a suplex, Brown managed to counter with a suplex of his own.
Both men got back to their feet and Rampage Brown capitalized on the situation by hitting WALTER with another chop.
The NXT UK Champion responded with one of his own. The pair then exchanged multiple chops to the chest, each one more vicious than the last.
After chopping Brown down the mat, WALTER attempted a pinfall, but Rampage kicked out at two.
NXT UK Prelude main event: WALTER vs Rampage Brown for the UK Championship (Continued)
As the main event of NXT UK Prelude rumbled on, Brown appeared to be losing momentum as The Imperium Leader carried on attacking him with more strikes and chops.
Rampage then made a comeback with a series of strikes and then charged at WALTER before sending him down to the mat.
The two men got back to their feet and continued to strike at one another before WALTER caught Brown in a sleeper hold, and then turned him around to attempt a powerbomb.
However, Brown was quick to reverse this and took the NXT UK Champion down himself.
Rampage then flew from the second rope, knocking WALTER down to the mat once more in the process. The Champ was then kicked out of a pin attempt from Brown.
The challenger then began to try for the Doctor Bomb, but WALTER countered with yet another chop.
The NXT UK Champion once again locked in a sleeper hold on his rival, who quickly wriggled out of it. WALTER retaliated by hitting Brown with a swift dropkick, before another powerbomb followed by a pin. Once again, Brown was kicked out.
WALTER then began to scale the ropes of the NXT UK ring. Brown tried to stop this but was met with a strike from the titleholder. Brown then climbed the ropes himself and power slammed his rival from the second rope. WALTER kicked out of another pin attempt.
Rampage Brown was then caught in yet another sleeper hold at the hands of WALTER. He hit the champion with a Doctor Bomb, but he rolled over to the ropes.
After getting WALTER back into the ring, Brown went for the Doctor Bomb once more. But the champion held onto his rival's leg, and the lifted him over his head and sent him crashing down.
As Rampage Brown knelt in the center of the ring, WALTER hit him with a vicious chop across the throat and a knee strike to the chest.
A stiff lariat, followed up by strikes to the face that sent the challenger to the mat. Brown then kicked out of another pin attempt.
Once more, WALTER caught Brown in a sleeper hold and followed this up with a suplex. He then hit Rampage Brown with a splash from the top rope, and finally managed to successfully pin his challenger to win and retain the NXT UK Championship.
Winner: WALTER
Grade: A+
