Wrestling Review: WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament (Night 1) (2018)

Zack Gibson def. Flash Morgan Webster (UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match):
This was a surprisingly short and uneventful match. Gibson won with his submission. Webster tapped almost instantly, as did Gallagher in the opening match up, so maybe this submission hold is going to be treated as death? I am just looking for something good coming out of this match.

Travis Banks def. Joe Coffey (UK Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match):
Much like the preceding semi-final, something about this never clicked for me. I understand the whole thing was leading towards the Coffey post-match attack, but I didn’t feel that Banks looked overly strong coming out of the match anyway.

British Strong Style (Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne & Trent Seven) def. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong):
Holy cow the crowd was rabid for Pete Dunne, and every time Dunne went face to face with former ally turned enemy Roderick Strong, The Royal Albert Hall exploded. All six men were on fire here, with Dunne and Tyler Bate provided some phenomenal tag team chemistry, including a Tiger Bomb/Back Stabber combination, which I can’t say I’ve seen before. Tyler Bate is just so damn strong for a man his (relatively small) size, consistently pulling out power move counters to various submissions. This was absolutely fantastic.

Zack Gibson def. Travis Banks (UK Championship Tournament Final Match):
With all the big near-falls, submission escapes and finisher trading, it does appear they saved the good stuff for this final match. Banks looked like a million bucks as he fought through his post-match assault from Coffey earlier, but it just made Gibson’s eventual win that much sleazier, as he capitalised on someone else’s hard work. Gibson was a good choice for a winner, to hopefully have a bloodbath with Pete Dunne tomorrow night (but we all know there won’t be any actual blood). Both guys looked good coming out of this match, and this was a worth way to end the show.

Finally, on a personal note, I was disappointed that competitors such as Ligero (aka El Ligero) and Kenny Williams were not featured on the show, particularly after Joseph Conners and Jordan Devlin were pushed so strongly in the previous UK Tournament, to relatively little fanfare. I’ve watched El Ligero for years now, and would have liked him to get a bigger spotlight. I also hate it when they announce matches having a time limit (or in the case of the final, no time limit) but that never plays a part in the match. I’d rather they just didn’t mention it.

Should you watch this event: Whilst I can say the tournament itself (or at least, the quarter finals onward) were a bit lackluster compared to last years, eventual winner Zack Gibson had a good run, and the set up for tomorrow’s nights’ show have put into place what should be a really good show. Watch Gibson/Gallagher, if you like big bois, then watch Coffey/Mastiff, and definitely watch the final two matches, but don’t feel like you have to watch everything in between.