WWE NXT results, Aug. 22, 2018: Gibson feels Dunne’s wrath in U.K. Title Match (original) (raw)

The BruiserWeight's WWE U.K. Title is on the line in a hard-hitting showdown with Zack Gibson, the 2018 WWE U.K. Championship Tournament winner. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

With the excitement for NXT UK growing by the day, the mean-mugging face of the brand, WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, shows no signs of loosening his grip on the division’s top crown.

In a belter of a title rematch from June’s NXT UK Championship special at London’s Royal Albert Hall, The BruiserWeight topped Zack Gibson, the winner of the 2018 U.K. Championship Tournament. Just like their first championship duel, the return bout brimmed with hard hits and limb-twisting, digit-damaging submission holds, as well as enough near falls to establish Gibson as a perennial threat to whoever holds the WWE U.K. Title.

Also like in their first match, Gibson appeared to be on the brink of winning the championship, only to take his eye off the ball during a critical moment.

This time, Gibson’s mistake came after Dunne forced a rope break to escape the Shankly Gates wristlock, the same move that carried Liverpool’s No. 1 to victory in this year’s U.K. Championship Tournament. (Dunne did so in compelling fashion, resorting to biting the bottom rope after Gibson prevented him from reaching it with his hands).

Gibson stomped Dunne mercilessly and blasted him with a nasty lariat. Then, noticing that Dunne’s mouthguard had become dislodged during the fracas, Gibson grabbed the gum shield and nearly tossed it into the NXT Universe until Dunne cut him off. Dunne got hold of Gibson’s hand, splayed his fingers like a wishbone and sent him crashing to the mat with the Bitter End to secure the hard-fought win.

With the victory, Dunne’s WWE United Kingdom Championship reign, the longest of any title reign in WWE, lives on to see day 459 and beyond.