Ladies and gents, NXT UK TakeOver Blackpool II is on the horizon! I hope you’re all bright-eyed and bushy tailed for this one. It’s coming up at noon Eastern Time, several hours earlier than usual for WWE. Not really a problem with the WWE Network being on-demand and all though. And to me, it’s worth it to watch live, no matter how inconvenient it is for my post-Wrestle Kingdom sleep schedule! We only get a scant few chances to see this brand at full power, and every time, it’s been a true delight. Tonight should be no different. So let’s get into the previews!
NXT UK Women’s Championship: Kay Lee Ray (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Piper Niven
Kay Lee Ray is lowkey up there with the best women’s wrestlers under the WWE banner, atleast by my estimation. She’s quite the worthy champion, to say the least. But she has two hellacious challengers to contend with here tonight. Toni Storm is the woman she took the UK Women’s title from and has been the face of this division from the outset. Playing to a rebel counter-culture, the very young Storm is a suplex-happy prodigy of sorts.
Then you have Piper Niven, far and away the heaviest competitor in this division, and maybe the biggest under the WWE umbrella in general right now with Nia Jax still on the shelf. She’s the kind of girl they’d have never signed in worse times, and without the differing image of the NXT UK brand, may not have ever gotten a serious look even today. But I’m really glad she’s here, there are few like her in women’s wrestling.
She’s also somehow still being advertised for this show even though she came down with a bout of Bell’s Palsy a mere month ago. Piper hasn’t wrestled since then but, unless they take her out of the match with an angle somehow, it seems she’s gonna compete here all the same. It’s quite the show of toughness.
Honestly I’d love the story of this if she managed to win the title tonight. But I just don’t think Kay Lee’s dropping the gold this soon. KLR to retain.
NXT UK Takeover Blackpool II will also include:
