NXT Largo 8-1-14

Fans packed The Minnreg Hall in Largo, Fl for a night of NXT wrestling. There was an awesome energy in the building as the crowd anxiously anticipated the opening bell. In a rare treat Jojo beautifully performed the national anthem, and with that the action began.

Bull Dempsey continued his path of destruction making fairly short work of Angelo Dawkins in the opening contest. Bull was on his game tonight and to me seemed to be a bit more aggressive like the dying breed they compare him to. I want to like Dawkins, he has all the potential but is saddled with a gimmick that couldn't have a lower ceiling.

Next up the team of Jason Jordan and Ty Dillinger took on Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. This was a fun match with plenty of great spots and some trash talking too. The charismatic Enzo and Big Cass are simply on fire these days. Meanwhile, Dillinger and Jordan who failed really stand out as a face duo seem to be finding their footing in an antagonistic role. In the end Enzo and Big Cass were victorious.

Next up was more tag team action as The Legionnaires competed against the team of Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, now known as The Mechanics. Some formulas will always work, and in professional wrestling one such formula is the nationalism card. Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis play the part of the cocky foreign heel perfectly and I believe they are definitely underrated. The more I see of The Mechanics the more I like them. Their offense isn't pretty but it's effective, and sometimes you just want to see a fight. Ultimately though Lefort got the win for his team, albeit with a handful of trunks.

Solomon Crowe took on Kalisto in an excellent match. Crowe controlled much of the match with a relentless and sometimes punishing style but in the end the high flying luchador got the win. These men know each other well and it shows. I'd love for this feud to make its way to NXT TV at some point hopefully sooner than later, as there are a lot of people including myself clamoring for a Crowe television debut.

Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy made their way to the ring and cut a short promo leading into the free t-shirt giveaway. It's worth noting that they are pushing them as a tag team now. They have already been tagging together but now they have matching ring gear. The NXT tag team division is looking very bright these days.

After a short intermission Devin Taylor conducted an interview with Bayley who noted that she recently pinned Charlotte and hoped to find herself with a title shot one day and maybe even the champ. Charlotte interrupted to give Bayley a reality check by mocking her and her ambitions before their non-title match began.

Charlotte continues to prove she is a total package, not only proving she is technically proficient in the ring but also great at working the crowd too. Indeed, charisma runs in the family. The always over crowd favorite Bayley was already good, but is getting better each week. I'm looking forward to a long feud with these two. A very exciting match that ended with Charlotte winning via pinfall.

Tag team champs The Ascension took on The Vaudevillians in the next match up. The team of Simon Gotch and Aiden English who have quickly become crowd favorites found themselves playing more of a heelish role against the juggernaut of Konnor and Viktor. The best part of watching The Ascension at house shows rather than tv tapings is real competition. The Vaudevillians gave them their all but in the end they fell just like all before them.

Jojo announces our triple threat main event of the evening. Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, and Tyler Breeze competed in a match that would be considered a show stealer on any show or any roster, NXT or WWE. The match started a slow build with Breeze the odd man out until the momentum built into a climax of flying bodies and insane three man maneuvers off the turnbuckles. After much back and forth action with impressive wrestling from all three men Neville pinned Breeze for the win following a 450 off the top rope.

Afterwards, a disappointed Zayn picks up the NXT belt staring at it and selling a growing frustration before handing over to Neville and leaving the ring. The crowd went home happy after an excellent night of matches in Largo.