(7/11) Stu's Catch Up With Matches Series: Ilja Dragunov vs Sam Gradwell (Season 1 Episode 7)
- joshandstupodcast
- May 24, 2021
- 3 min read
This is a great time to be a pro wrestling fan, with basically having wrestling 5 days a week. From RAW on Mondays, Impact Wrestling on Tuesday, AEW Dynamite & NXT on Wednesday, NXT UK on Thursday, and Smackdown on Friday, and that shows we know off.
WIth NJPW having a weekly slot now, and up and coming promotions like MLW getting TV time, it so hard to kept track of it all. So with this new blog series, I'm going to catch up with Ten matches I'll be told to check out or I'll really want to watch just couldn't find the time in the last month.
(So is a bit late this week, but next Monday at 1 pm (UK Time) episode eight reviews will be up on time)
Next, I look at when Iija Dragunov battled against Sam Gradwell in a No DQ Match on the 25th March edition of NXT UK.
No Disqualification Match Ilja Dragunov vs Sam Gradwell NXT UK • 25th March 2021
So it looks like I lied when I said that this would be the last time we look at an NXT UK match haha. But this one was one I had to check out, after hearing so many good things about this match online. Of course I'm talking about the No DQ match between Iija Dragunov and Sam Gradwell.
I have been a fan of Iija Dragunov ever since the great match he had with WALTER last year. As for Sam Gradwell, he is a bit of an unknown to me, but was really impressed by him in this match. But the story of this match was, can Iija Dragunov keep his anger in check, as his emotions as lost him some matches as of late.
But early one Iija was trying not to get too over-emotional, with Sam Gradwell finding this out, and using to his advantage, with him using weapons, and IiJa choosing not to and hesitating, as Gradwell started working on Dragunovs back.
With whips from a TV cable, chair shots, and a nasty-looking death valley driver on the steel steps, with Iija scream in pain really made Gradwell look like a monster, and build sympathy for Iija. Nevertheless, Dragunov did get some shots in with some cool looking knees, chops, and kicks to Gradwell's face, and also a really awesome looking coast to coast in the corner.
But the match ended when Gradwell inadvertently hit the back of Dragunov, he then snapped and beat the living hell out of Gradwell, with Gotch lift onto the pile of chairs he set up.
Then Iija continued to ground and pound Gradwell into the matt until the ref stopped the match, because Gradwell was out of it. I don’t know what it is about NXT UK, but they find a way to make a match really uncomfortable, which I love because it is something different than what WWE and NXT normally gives us.
Iija Dragunov was the stand outperformer, with his selling really shining throughout, with it making Gradwell look very dangerous, and both men come out of this match looking amazing. If you want another reason to watch a bit of NXT UK, then definitely check this match out.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
Click on the link below to watch the match in full.
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Written By
Stuart Irvine
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