NXT Tampa 12-17-16

NXT finished its weekend loop by returning to its home away from home, the UACDC Gymnasium in Tampa. Outside of Orlando, this gym probably pulls in the largest amount of ardent NXT fans. This Saturday night would be no different as fans piled in the last Florida NXT show of 2016. By nature, these house shows at Christmas are delightfully weird, with odd booking and seemingly thrown together matches. With much of the roster touring or heading home for Christmas, it is often an all hands on deck skeleton crew.

Steve Cutler vs Adrian Jaoude

The night opened up with former marine Steve Cutler taking on with the Brazilian Adrian Jaoude. This opener started with Cutler dictating the pace by avoiding the Jaoude, eliciting a chicken chant from the crowd. The action begins with lots of arm drags and arm bars in the favor of the Brazilian Jaoude. Eventually, Cutler takes control after a cheap shot. He punishes Jaoude with a slow-paced offense culminating in a mean lariat and a painful looking double stomp. Adrian Jaoude would soon make a comeback showing off his aikido background with an impressive flurry of strikes before tossing Cutler with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Adrian Jaoude then defeated Steve Cutler with a fisherman’s suplex. This was a good opener. I like Cutler as a heel, I say give him a house show push and see what happens. Adrian Jaoude’s amateur background is obvious, and impressive… all the man needs is a connection with the crowd.

Nikki Cross vs Macey

Macey started with a surprisingly strong offense. Cross rethought her strategy and attacked only for Macey to thwart her again. Some of Macey’s offense is still worrisome to me, but she did do a nice 619 spot around the ring post. Much to my chagrin, it was an unusually one-side match. Finally, thanks to a distraction from Eric Young, Nikki took control and defeated Macey with a beautiful and brutal looking fisherman’s neckbreaker. Like I reiterate every blog post and to everyone that will listen, Nikki Cross is a gem of the women’s division, her body of work speaks for its self. Macey has a lot of potential but is getting pushed way too fast.

Kona Reeves vs Gran Metallik

This match had much of the high flying and impressive ringwork you have come to expect from Metallik. However, there were several blown spots too due to Kona having a hard time keeping pace with the speedy luchador. When the pace slowed, Reeves did fine grounding Metallik. After a back and forth battle Gran Metallik countered a fireman’s carry into a DDT for the win. I really enjoy Gran Metallik, he is easily going to be a major player in the cruiserweight division. Kona Reeves has the tools to go far, just a matter of honing them and finding a gimmick that works with the crowd.

Next, Kayla came out to interview Dan Matha. He’s in a bad mood and says all everyone is talking about is Roderick Strong. He makes fun of Strong’s size and the fact it took him so many years to make it to NXT. He claims that when he walked in they took one look at him and exclaimed “Your hired!” It didn’t take long for Roderick Strong to come out where they exchanged words before calling out a ref to make it official.

Roderick Strong vs Dan Matha

This match was your standard David and Goliath battle, with Strong much of the match unsuccessfully trying to control the much bigger Matha. Early on Strong did find an opening with a flurry of offense, but Matha caught him on an outside dive and drove him into the ringpost setting the pace for the rest of the match. Matha kept Roderick grounded for the most part, shutting down Strong’s comebacks with some hard punches or a big boot. Finally, Roddy makes a last attempt at a comeback, rocking Matha with a high knee in the corner, and ultimately finishing him with a single leg dropkick for the win. Roderick Strong is such an asset to NXT, in a few short weeks he has put on some of the most memorable house show matches of the year. This wasn’t one of them, but then again not every match can be a dream match. One of the reasons NXT works is because of established starts working with rookie talents. At 6’7” and 290lbs Dan Matha is eye catching and moves well for a big man. He’s also strong and confident on the mic. With all that said, I believe he is still very much a work in progress though.

The Authors Of Pain vs Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford

Dawkins and Ford are really melding well as a team, and it showed tonight. They came out and immediately took the fight to the Authors with a flurry of offense that included a beautiful running shooting star press from Ford. This match wasn’t as one sided as one would guess, and had a lot of back and forth. However, in the finishing melee Ford was tossed high over the top rope to the outside leaving Dawkins alone to suffer the Authors double team finish. I’m just going to say it, I’m not a fan of the Authors Of Pain… like it says in the bio, I am no critic… that’s just my personal opinion. Dawkins and Ford on the other hand are great together. Angelo Dawkins has been in developmental for a while, but Ford is bringing out something in him. It reminds me of when Jason Jordan was in the system forever, missing that something, until he was matched up with Chad Gable. Dawkins and Ford are going to get over, guaranteed.

Mandy Rose vs Daria Berenato

I’ve seen these two compete… a lot. However, the two have a lot of chemistry and it shows. Daria started off strong with some nice MMA striking, but Mandy would come back and dominate with some nice limb work. Rose worked the leg consistently through the match with several moves and holds including a nice looking dragonscrew leg whip. Daria also sold the legwork like a champ. However, Daria would make a comeback and finish Rose with a huge spinebuster for the win. I’m becoming more of a Daria Berenato fan with every match.

Sanity (Wolfe & Damo) vs Heavy Machinery

I like both of these teams a great deal, but again, I feel like this is something I have seen quite a few times. Nonetheless, this was a fun battle between four really big dudes. Unfortunately, Nikki Cross got ejected from ringside early on (watching her shenanigans at ringside great), but this still left Eric Young at ringside. Young was excellent at ringside throughout the match, verbally tearing apart the crowd while interjecting himself in the match. The highlight of the match may have been the stalemate between two hosses, Big Damo and Otis. The two ran the ropes and collided several times before Otis miraculously toppled Damo. This was a fun back and forth match with several false finishes until Sanity finally got a double team finish on Tucker Knight for the win. I’m a fan of all parties involved here. As the Sanity act continues, they continue to meld together greatly. Alexander Wolfe has went from showing glimmers of potential to being absolutely fantastic just on demeanor alone. Big Damo impresses the hell out of me… big, fast, intimidating man… an absolute beast.

Well, that’s a wrap on the NXT Florida Loop 2016. Whether I’m rooting for you or booing you, thanks to all the talent that make all of my weekends so memorable. I can’t wait to see where the new year takes all these guys.

Happy Holidays to all my readers, and be sure to check back on the 29th for a recap of Pro Wrestling 2.0 which has already confirmed Shane Strickland, Martin Stone, "Deathproof" Aaron Epic, and The Tokyo Monster Kahagas.

Read More

NXT Citrus Springs 12-16-16

One of the best parts of the three years I’ve been frequenting NXT shows, besides the wrestling, has been having an excuse to drive all over the state. From metropolitan areas to rural nowhere towns, I’ve seen many places I never would have seen via the highways and backroads of Florida. One of those rural spots is Citrus Springs, a sleepy town somewhere in between Crystal River and Ocala. Driving the wooded back roads past “Bear Crossing” signs, you’d swear you were more likely to find a sasquatch out here rather than world-class international wrestlers. As the sun begins to set and your cell phone signal wanes you begin to feel hopelessly lost, but suddenly you see a gorgeous community center smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

The brand has cooled considerably on the Florida loop in recent months, call-ups and near constant touring for the marquee stars have caused a huge drop off in the casual fan base, and NXT looks a lot more like it did when I first started going. However, Friday night had a great turn out thanks to a last minute surge in ticket sales. I’m glad to see it because the arrival of the cruiserweights and several other fresh faces have reinvigorated the brand; I haven’t seen anything I’d categorize as a “B” show in a very long time. This show would be no different.

Jack Gallagher vs Noam Dar

I can’t think of many better ways to start a show than with than these two charismatic cruiserweights. When most people think of cruiserweights they think of flying and flips, but these two show that they can put on a ground game and be every bit as entertaining. Noam and Jackie boy put on a grappling clinic that went back and forth. Gallagher paid homage to Johnny Saint with the spot where he rolls into a ball, much to the chagrin of Dar. Both men came out of this match looking really good and it could have went either way, but Jack Gallagher got the win with a backslide pin.

Lince Dorado vs Brennan Williams

The opening of this match saw the underdog Dorado trying to find a way to compete with a much larger opponent. Dorado attempts a few dropkicks only to be swatted away like a fly. An attempted springboard didn’t do any better, as Williams just caught him with ease. Thus went most of the match, with Williams punishing the luchador. I’ve only seen Williams a handful of times, but I see a lot of potential. He’s a big, intimidating dude that showed some really impressive striking. He controlled much of the match, but after a few superkicks and a spinning heel kick Dorado would drop the big man. Then Lince Dorado would defeat Brennan Williams with a shooting star press for the win.

Next, ring announcer Kayla Braxton came out to interview the tag team of Angelo Dawkins and Kenneth Crawford. Crawford is now going by the name Montez Ford. They gave a short interview that really didn’t go anywhere, and culminated with them dancing around in the ring until Sanity came out to crash the party, setting up our main event of the night.

Mandy Rose vs Macey

This one was a textbook back and forth battle, and I’ll be honest, it was a lot better than I thought it would be considering there was no ring general here. Macey misses her strikes by a mile and her bodyslams are worrisome, but for no more matches than she’s had, she’s doing okay. And while Mandy has a lot of room to grow, she is at least as good as a Carmella or Nikki Bella. Mandy Rose defeated Macey with a facebuster.

Roderick Strong vs TJ Perkins

This was easily match of the night. Strong and Perkins started it slow, feeling each other out before the match would build into a frenetic crescendo. This was another one with a lot of grappling and submission spots from both competitors. Eventually, the pace quickened and we saw some signature strikes and a high knee from Roddy. TJP would later drop Strong with a dropkick to the knee and then a roll-up into a knee bar for the win. I can’t do this one justice, but if you are reading you probably know enough about both guys to know it was great. I’ve been a fan of Roderick Strong for a while and he has delivered some of the best house show matches I’ve seen this year in a few short weeks. TJ Perkins, I give him a lot of crap for his dabbing (and well, to annoy my teenage daughter) but honestly, he is impressive as hell, and is constantly raising the bar.

The Authors Of Pain vs Heavy Machinery

If you are a fan of a big old hoss battle, you would have enjoyed the hell out of this match… but I feel like I’ve seen this one too many times. I dig Heavy Machinery, I’ve been behind Tucker Knight through several gimmick changes, and Otis has “it”. I’ll say this about the Authors Of Pain, they really do come off as dangerous and destructive. When they hit the ring you really feel as if someone is going to legitimately get hurt, probably because we’ve actually seen it happen. After a hard fought, hard-hitting battle, the Authors Of Pain defeated Heavy Machinery after a double team to Otis.

Nikki Cross vs Daria Berenato

Nikki Cross is amazing, and she has embraced the Sanity gimmick with fervor. Meanwhile, Daria is at this point the standout alumni of Tough Enough. Together they put together another standout match of the evening. Daria started out strong with her speed and quick strikes, but thanks to a distraction from Alexander Wolfe, Cross was able to take control of the match and punish Daria for the remainder. Berenato made a strong comeback, but thanks to yet another distraction, Cross took advantage and defeated Daria with a swinging fishermans neckbreaker. I enjoyed this match a lot, Daria is improving at an exponential pace, and Nikki Cross… well, I can’t wait to see her with a belt around her waist.

Sanity (Eric Young & Big Damo) vs Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford

This was a fun, albeit odd main event. Most of the match was very much a back and forth battle… until Big Damo tagged in, The Beast from Belfast is a mountain of a man that moves way too fast for someone his size (imagining Damo vs Strowman) and he dominated the match when he was in the ring. All the while, Wolfe and Nikki were great outside the ring being crazy and yelling at the crowd. Nikki Cross being antagonized by three little boys in the front row before yelling at them that Santa wasn’t bringing them presents may have been the highlight of the night. Kenneth Crawford, aka Montez Ford is a standout with a sweet running shooting star. Ford came in on the hot tag and cleared house until yet another distraction allowed Cross to pepper spray him in the face. Eric Young took advantage with a dirty pin for the win. Afterwards, Sanity began a post-match beat down, but Dawkins and Ford turned it around and sent Sanity packing to send the crowd home happy.

NXT is on a roll, and it finally seems as if they have achieved a nice balance between their touring shows and Florida loop. So whether you catch them in Australia or Citrus Springs, you are going to get a fun night of professional wrestling!

Read More