NXT UK is still in its relative infancy after only becoming a brand under two years ago, but the two TakeOvers that they have put on since have been extraordinary shows.
The highlight of their last one at the tail-end of August in Cardiff saw the hometown boys – Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews – become the NXT UK tag team champions.
Not only did they win the belts, but many would argue that the South Wales Sub Culture stole the show and created a long-lasting memory.
talkSPORT had the chance to catch up with the NXT UK tag team champions (SPOILER – they’ve since lost the belts but the tapings haven’t aired yet) at the WWE UK Peformance Center to discuss all-things wrestling.
Hi fellas! After such a tremendous win and career moment in Cardiff, what was the coolest DM or message you got?
Mark Andrews: It was nice having a lot of guys from Raw and SmackDown, NXT, 205 Live, all those guys sending messages and congratulating us. The main one I think was Triple H. You know, we’re backstage and he told us he was proud of us for the match and then we had that photo with him so for me, it’s some bucket list stuff right there.
Flash Morgan Webster: For me, it has to be Shawn Michaels. We walked through the curtain and Shawn said ‘you deserved it, great job’ and he’s always been my favourite wrestler of all-time. So to walk out and see that meant the world.
We’re here at the UK Performance Center and one man they fly in on the week of tapings is Sean Hayes. What kind of influence has he had on you guys?
Mark Andrews: Ah, it’s incredible. As you said, Sean Hayes is one of the best trainers in the world and… he’s the best. I think everybody here in NXT UK absolutely loves Sean. He’s loads of fun, high morale, keeps motivation higher than ever and I definitely train better when he’s around, he’s some motivation for us. So yeah, it’s great training with him and especially here at the PC, the equipment is incredible.
Flash Mogan Webster: ‘Boom!’ is what he says [laughs]. We were just playing with a new Performance Center toy and we were saying it should come with its very own Sean Hayes like: ‘One more rep, you got this!’ [laughs]. We thought that would be absolutely fantastic. But yes, he’s one of the very best in the world.
I’d consider you two some risk-taking kind of guys. In the last 20 years we’ve seem tag team wrestling defined by guys taking risks and making history. If you could pitch anything to Triple H and co. be it TLC, ladder matches, Hell in a Cell – whatever – what would you do?
Mark Andrews: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head right there with TLC and ladder matches because that would be our bread and butter really, wouldn’t it. Talking about ticking things off the list, that’s definitely something I want to tick off the list. A ladder match or a TLC, especially in a tag team environment with me and Flash, I think that would be our forte. And I’d love for that to happen.
Flash Morgan Webster: You saw some of the crazy stuff we did at TakeOver. You saw his shooting star press to the outside, you saw my 630, imagine if there was ladders involved, that’s all I’m saying!
Who would you face?
Mark Andrews: Well, I mean the tag team division in NXT UK is pretty good right now. Spread it even further and go to NXT out in the States. Let’s through Undisputed Era in there maybe, Street Profits as well. You’ve got Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, so there’s a lot of teams. But, to be honest, I’d be quite satisfied putting Grizzled Young Vets through some tables if we had the opportunity to, so they’d be first on my list.
Flash Morgan Webster: Yeah I would definitley like to hit Gallus with a chair. And again, you throw in the likes of The Hunt who are very unpredictable and even Imperium and I think it could be a very chaotic but special night if that was to happen.
I’ll ask this because I asked Moustache Mountain, too. Dave Metlzer gave you guys 4.5 stars in Cardiff. I personally think it was five stars, but how much stock do you put into those ratings and did you care about them when you were growing up as fans?
Mark Andrews: I think earlier in my career, maybe I did. And as I got older and got more experienced in wrestling, I think I realised ‘actually, you have to take overall reactions’. For example, for us, in Cardiff, no rating or match rating could beat the crowd on that night. And the flood of tweets we were getting afterwards, the messages and even the interactions we’ve had with fans after Takeover. And for me, that kind of gave me the credentials I needed for that match. So match ratings don’t do much for me personally, but, again, when you’ve got Triple H and Shawn Michaels in the back and their opinion is there, I feel like that’s the kind of thing that resonates the most with us after any match that we have.
Flash Morgan Webster: I think if you look at the ratings like Mark said, for Triple H or Shawn Michaels to say you did a great job, it’s a six-star for me [laughs].
The post Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster EXCLUSIVE: What Shawn Michaels and Triple H told them straight after NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff appeared first on Kenya Latest.
