December 26, 2018 NXT UK results.2

The  was a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's NXT UK brand. It took place on November 24, 2018 at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It aired on the WWE Network on December 26, 2018.

Summary
One episode after General Manager Johnny Saint announced the first Semifinals Match for the forthcoming NXT UK Tag Team Championship, pitting Moustache Mountain against Gallus’ Mark Coffey & Wolfgang, Zack Gibson & James Drake made it clear they will not be denied their place in the tournament when they took on the strange combination of “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman & “Primate” Jay Melrose.

Withstanding an absolutely animalistic assault from their opponents throughout the match, Gibson pulled Drake out of the way as Hitchman was charging to the corner, sending their opponent flying into the turnbuckle and setting up Ticket to Ride for the victory.

As the dust cleared, Gibson staked his team’s claim to the forthcoming NXT UK Tag Team Titles while mercilessly belittling the crowd in his home city of Liverpool.

A monster needs to be fed, pure and simple. But, before the undefeated Dave Mastiff could feast on the likes of Josh Morrell, Eddie Dennis attacked the Bomber’s opponent during his entrance, apparent payback for Mastiff’s mid-match attack on the previous episode. The question now is, will Mastiff look to feed on Dennis instead?

In his NXT UK debut match, second-generation competitor Marcel Barthel was very impressive against Mark Andrews for the majority of the contest, utilizing a cold, calculating precision to gain the solid advantage.

Although the heroic Andrews managed to battle back and take charge of the match, the sudden emergence of his adversary Fabian Aichner clearly distracted things enough to throw Andrews noticeably off his game.

Then, in the final moments, as Barthel distracted the referee, Aichner delivered the hard-knee to Andrews against the ringside barricade, clearing the road for Bethel to hit the fisherman’s releases bell-to-back suplex for the victory.

As the smoke cleared, Aichner entered the ring and shook the German brawler’s hand, signaling the possible formation of a “European union.”

In the main event, Deonna Purrazzo made her debut with an opportunity to capture the NXT UK Championship Match against Rhea Ripley. Unleashing every bit of her impressive assault against Ripley from the word go, “the virtuoso of NXT” proved a truly worthy adversary for the Mosh Pit Kid

The two fierce competitors fought tooth-and-nail in an intense showdown from beginning to end. But just when it looked like the titleholder was completely disoriented from her opponent’s assault in the height of the action, Ripley had enough presence of mind to use the momentum from Purrazzo's charge and hurl her face first into the turnbuckle, before finishing her off with the Riptide for the three count.

When Ripley continued her attack on her fallen challenger after the bell, though, Toni Storm emerged to send her NXT UK Women’s Champion heading for the hills. What will happen when Ripley goes to war with 2018 Mae Young Classic winner in a highly-anticipated rematch at NXT TakeOver: Blackpool?

Results

 * Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
 * James Drake & Zack Gibson defeat Jay Melrose & Mike Hitchman (4:55)
 * Marcel Barthel defeats Mark Andrews (9:47)
 * Rhea Ripley (c) defeats Deonna Purrazzo (11:22) to retain the WWE United Kingdom Women's Championship