NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff is scheduled for this Saturday, and now that the go-home episode of NXT has aired, we have a firm grasp of which superstars will be participating in the pay-per-view and which men and women are being left out in the cold.
As always, cards are subject to change and there could be any number of alterations to this lineup with surprise appearances, impromptu matches and so on, so nothing is truly set in stone. However, as far as the event is currently being advertised, the following NXT talent is not being promoted as part of the program.
It’s your call to judge whether these missing stars are being left off the card for justifiable reasons or not, so let’s take a look at the superstars missing from NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff.
From the NXT UK Men’s Division
— Amir Jordan: The most that Amir Jordan had going on for him was when he and Kenny Williams were a tag team and could have built some momentum toward a title shot. Since that’s been pushed aside and Williams has seemingly moved onto a solo career, Jordan’s sidelined.
— Ashton Smith: NXT UK’s resident jobber. He doesn’t win anything, ever. Of course he isn’t booked.
— Eddie Dennis: Dennis is out with a torn pectoral injury.
— The Hunt (Wild Boar Mike Hitchman & Primate Jay Melrose): These two have had more showings in the most recent month or two than they did in their entire NXT UK careers leading up to that point. That’s some solid progression, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they were competing at the next TakeOver for a shot at the tag titles, as I’m surprised they aren’t in this match to make it a Fatal 4-Way.
— Ilja Dragunov: It seems as though Dragunov is still being treated as a big deal, even after having suffered a loss (which is perfectly okay). I feel like he’s a potential challenger for WALTER down the line after Tyler Bate and Dave Mastiff, so this might just be a waiting game. However, I’m surprised he isn’t the one facing Noam Dar and beating him or something more along those lines, than sitting this out.
— Imperium (Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, Marchel Barthel): These three members of Imperium will probably be ringside in some fashion to support WALTER, with or without getting directly involved. That will depend on whether or not WWE wants to have Trent Seven and Pete Dunne and possibly someone else show up to brawl on the outside. They may even be the reason WALTER retains against Tyler Bate. However, they aren’t officially booked on the card in any sort of advertisement sense, so they’re still on this list.
— Jack Starz: He’s still a Performance Center recruit and not a true part of the roster quite yet.
— Jordan Devlin / Kenny Williams: The Irish Ace was complaining about not being on TakeOver and Kenny Williams responded with a challenge for a match. Devlin won, for those who missed this week’s episode. Basically, that is their equivalent of having a TakeOver match, and if this weren’t a 5-match card, this probably would have made it onto the lineup.
— Joseph Conners: A win over Oliver Carter is better than nothing, but Conners is definitely not a priority right now.
— Kassius Ohno: I fully expect The Knockout Artist to move back to NXT in September once this 2-hour block happens and they need more people to cycle in and out.
— Ligero: Oddly, Ligero wasn’t used during this most recent set of tapings and wasn’t a big deal at the previous one, too. Maybe they’ve soured on him a bit, or he’s dealing with some sort of injury that they want to limit his in-ring work? Maybe they just don’t prioritize him enough to want to really figure out a feud for him? It’s a tough thing to judge with such little information, but I could see him feuding with Noam Dar at some point in the near future.
— Oliver Carter: He’s only just now getting into being a normal member of the roster, rather than a Performance Center trainee.
— Pete Dunne: The Bruiserweight is working more in NXT at the moment than NXT UK. I think that is largely due to them not having anything for him to do in NXT UK and knowing he can’t stay in the title picture, as he’s already feuded long enough with WALTER.
— Ridge Holland: Formerly known as Luke Menzies, he’s still a Performance Center recruit and not a true part of the roster quite yet.
— Sam Gradwell: He hasn’t wrestled a match for NXT UK in over a year, yet he is still listed on the site and he tweets everything about NXT UK.
— Saxon Huxley / Tyson T-Bone: These two are jobbers and haven’t been able to win anything in a long time. They scored a victory last November against Jack Starz and Tucker and have either jobbed out or been skipped over ever since and largely before that, too.
— Trent Seven: Seven clearly wasn’t considered a big enough deal in comparison to Dunne and Bate to be able to get his own TakeOver match. He was a stepping stone to eat up some time before the Bate/WALTER match. I expect to see him show up to try to help Bate fight off Imperium.
From the NXT UK Women’s Division
— Isla Dawn / Nina Samuels: These two had a thing over this most recent batch of episodes, but it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just something to occupy some time and not worthy of a TakeOver spot.
— Jazzy Gabert and Jinny / Piper Niven / Rhea Ripley / Xia Brookside: These women have been crossing over with each other for a little bit in what might be a transition between the Piper Niven vs. Rhea Ripley feud to a Piper Niven vs. Jazzy Gabert feud. That is probably in part due to Ripley heading over to NXT to challenge Shayna Baszler, while Jinny and Brookside have kept their feud going.
— Killer Kelly: KK is a supporting player who gets usually one match per set of tapings, which she often loses. She isn’t in any sort of featured role at the moment and is highly unlikely to be the next challenger for Toni Storm (or Kay Lee Ray, if she were to win the NXT UK Women’s Championship.)
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
