2016, The Year In Review (And Pictures!)

It’s been a year since I wrote my last blog post for Mason’s Ringside View, and out of the few reasons I chose to take a hiatus, lack of things to write about certainly wasn’t among them. 2016 hasn’t just been a huge year for NXT, it has been a huge (and strange) year for the entire wrestling industry. However, you can read about all of that elsewhere… besides, I am not a wrestling journalist, but rather a dude who is lucky enough to go to a lot of shows and these are my views from ringside.

A year has made a huge impact on NXT. We said goodbye to the face of the brand, Finn Balor who moved on the  main roster, as well as Bayley, Enzo and Cass, Baron Corbin and several others who have laid down the groundwork for what NXT is today. Some of the hottest names on the independent scene have taken their place, performers such as Roderick Strong, Tommy End, and Cedric Alexander now call NXT home.

One of my favorite wrestlers on the planet and a man I doubted I would ever get to see live, Shinsuke Nakamura, has not only arrived in NXT but risen straight to the top. It’s been a stellar year for the King Of Strong Style, capturing the NXT title and continuing a brutal feud with Samoa Joe.

 
Asuka has continued to prove why she is the most dominant female wrestler in the world. She is still undefeated, still champion, and still one of the most exciting performers in the brand.

However, there is a challenger on the rise. 2016 saw the debut of Ember Moon, another ridiculously talented competitor who seems the most obvious threat to Asuka’s reign.

There are also several other challengers in the locker room who would love to knock the Queen off her throne. Peyton Royce and Billie Kay seemed poised for a push in the near future, while Nikki Cross is about as "Takeover" ready as any female on the roster. Mandy Rose is acclimating well post Tough Enough and has a star quality that can't be denied. Also, one can't forget that the debut of Sarah Bridges aka Crazy Mary Dobson is imminent.

The Revival, a team who I tirelessly promoted on this blog as criminally underrated are now enjoying their second tag title reign. The duo of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder has not only kept the titles on lockdown, but has elevated tag wrestling and given the fans several match of the year contenders.
 

However, the top guys might have more than a few obstacles in their way in the coming year. If this years Dusty Classic has reminded us of anything, it's that tag team wrestling thrives in NXT. From DIY to The Authors Of Pain, Sanity to Tucker and Otis, there is always another team to step up to the champs.

We finally saw the return of Hideo Itami… only to be injured a few months later.

It's beyond frustrating and one has to wonder if Itami will ever get that main event run he deserves, especially in an increasingly crowded field that includes names like Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Oney Lorcan. One also can't forget the very over Bobby Roode, and Andrade Cien Almas, who has been fantastic since his heel turn. I would imagine that Tommy End and Big Damo will be making immediate impacts.

 

 

The Cruiserweight Classic was possibly my favorite thing going this entire year, and the cruiserweights continue to kill it both on the main roster and in NXT. Regardless of how well the cruiserweight division is being received on Raw, the cruisers are making a lot of new fans here at house shows.

 

 

While NXT tours the world, the Florida loop has several PC talents grinding hard and looking to make a big name for themselves in the coming year.

Outside of the WWE/NXT bubble, I don’t think any promotion has had a bigger year than EVOLVE. Sure, they have prospered from a relationship with the WWE and a recent huge deal with FloSlam, but it’s the top-notch talent and killer live shows that make EVOLVE a promotion everyone should be keeping their eye on.

In 2016 Timothy Thatcher continued with a dominant title reign, Ethan Page has stepped up in a big way, and even EC3 made his presence known. Drew Gulak and Tony Nese pull double duty killing it in EVOLVE and performing in WWE’s cruiserweight division.
 

Perhaps no one’s stock is rising faster than the bro himself, Matt Riddle. From EVOLVE to PWG, everyone who has seen him live agrees the bro is a star.

 

Carrying the torch for women’s wrestling down here in the sunshine state is Shine. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more fun night of wrestling anywhere in the state, I just wished they would stop booking shows when I’m working (a guy can dream).

 

 

Every month or so some of the best female talents of the independent wrestling scene converge on The Orpheum in Ybor City for hard-hitting action. One of these competitors would be Su Yung, probably my favorite female talent not currently signed by the WWE.

I’m hoping we’ll see several of these wrestlers in the upcoming WWE women’s tournament.

 

 

 

ROH has had a year of ups and downs (some more than other, depending on whom you ask) but I am still a big ROH fan and they brought it on their recent Lakeland, Fl stop. Biggest take away from the show? Dalton Castle is perhaps the most charismatic man in wrestling, Kyle O’Reilly is even cooler in person, Jay White has superstar written all over him, Silas Young is underrated, and Adam Cole is worthy of every bit of the hype. I can’t wait until ROH returns to Lakeland for Supercard Of Honor next year.

It's been a fun and crazy year of pro graps, and 2017 looks like it's going to be just as nuts.

 

Read More

NXT Lakeland 11-5-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason

Thursday night NXT returned to the National Guard Armory in Lakeland for a night of hard hitting action. With much of the roster away with other commitments, the remaining talent stepped up and put on a fun and exciting night of wrestling and no one went home disappointed.

The always over Enzo Amore is always a good choice to start a show, as he received the usual big pop. He made his way to the ring by himself to take on his opponent, Angelo Dawkins. The match begins with several minutes of back and forth action before Dawkins takes over. He pummels Enzo before grounding him with a chancery. Enzo makes sporadic comeback attempts only to be shut down and grounded by Dawkins. Finally, Amore launches a comeback flying into Dawkins with his spastic trademark crossbody and follows with a flurry of punches. He sends Dawkins into the turnbuckle with an STO before climbing the turnbuckle. Amore launches off the top and catches Dawkins with a hellacious DDT for the win. Amore has improved considerably, even though his major strength still lies in being underdog. Dawkins has always been impressive athletically, but now his charisma is starting to really come through with his “curse of greatness gimmick. He was great tonight interacting with the crowd.

Billie Kay is next out to the ring, accompanied by her manager Sylvester Lefort. Her opponent is Gionna Daddio. The two start off with a lot of fast paced back and forth action before Billie takes a cheap shot and attempts to slow Gionna with a chinlock. She continues her onslaught with a backbreaker before settling into a single-legged camel clutch. Eventually, Gionna comes back dropping Billie with a couple of dropkicks and nailing her with an enziguri. She goes for the pin but Sylvester places Billie’s foot on the ropes. Lefort gets climbs onto the ring apron to cause a further distraction but Gionna dropkicks him to the floor. Gionna turns around to be caught by a surprise roll-up pin giving Billie Kay the victory. This match was a highlight of the night with great performances by both women. I like the pairing of Billie and Sylvester, it really seemed to work. For the amount of times she has been wrestling, Gionna Daddio is very impressive. People critical of another model turned wrestler are going to be proven wrong, as it seems safe to say she is a natural. At some point during the match (not sure exactly when) her nose got busted, but she worked through it and finished the match. Luckily, it was just a bloodied nose and nothing was broken.

Next up is Riddick Moss taking on Josh Woods. Almost immediately after the initial lock-up Woods traps Moss in an armbar before transitioning into an ankle lock, but Moss makes the ropes. The match continues with the quicker Woods staying one step ahead of Moss always coming back to a series of painful armlocks. The powerful Moss reverses an Irish Whip slamming Woods into the turnbuckles with enough velocity to make the entire front row cringe.  He follows with a fallaway slam, then pummels Woods. Moss attempts to keep his opponent grounded, but Woods locks on another ankle lock out of nowhere before Moss makes the ropes. Woods continues with a series of suplexes before Moss manages to nail him with a kick to the face. Moss then finishes Woods with a neckbreaker for the victory. This was another impressive match. At these house shows Riddick Moss goes back and forth between heel and face depending upon what is needed, but he seems to be gaining a lot more traction as the cocky heel. This was the first time I personally saw Josh Woods wrestle (other than a few scuffles as Preston Cunningham Jr) and I wasn’t disappointed. From the way he was dressed to the moves he used, Woods MMA experience and amateur wrestling background was obvious. He is a lot of fun to watch and with more performances like tonight he won’t have a problem getting over.

Levis Valenzuela is out next for yet another promo. He talks about the phenomenon known as NXT and the opportunity it has given him. He expresses his desire to be the first Dominican NXT champion. He is interrupted by Emma, who tells him that dancing and pandering to the crowd got her nowhere. She says dancing is not the answer, and neither are the people in this crowd. She insists the dancing needs to stop but he tells her “No way, Jose!” He tells her that she can’t bring people down with her whining and that we’re all going to dance and the fiesta will continue. She tries to slap him but he catches her hand, spins her around and dips her. His music hit and a conga line emerges from the back and makes their way around the ring. The dancers consist of new recruits including Rich Swann, and all of the recent Tough Enough signees (minus ZZ).

The evening continues with Solomon Crowe taking on Tino Sabbatelli. After an initial lock-up the two trade several punches and chops until Tino takes over with a hard whip into the corner. Sabbatelli continues with a running powerslam before settling into a chinlock. The match continues with Crowe enduring punishment from Tino until he mounts a comeback culminating with a high knee in the corner guaranteed to loosen a few fillings. He finishes Sabbatelli with a twisting suplex neckbreaker for the pin. This was a short textbook wrestling match that saw Crowe mostly selling the offense of Sabbatelli. The newcomer Tino Sabbatelli is certainly competent in the ring, but nothing about him jumps out at me yet. As a big fan of Solomon Crowe, I have to wonder what in the hell they are doing with the guy. Crowe should be challenging for the NXT title, instead he is in limbo.

We continue with tag action as Marcus Louis and Sawyer Fulton take on perhaps the most over tag team in NXT, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Marcus Louis may not be full on crazy anymore, but he’s still definitely weird as he circles the ring maniacally and smelling his hands after attempting a handshake with Gable. The bell rings and the two lock up, several minutes of awesome chain wrestling follow with Gable getting the upper hand. Gable and Jordan control much of the bout with great wrestling from both Jordan and Gable, including some impressive tandem wrestling too. After a cheap shot the bad guys take over with Sawyer clotheslining Gable out of his boots. Sawyer and Marcus beat down Gable before slowing down the pace. Marcus circles him maniacally beating him down with big clubbing blows. Sawyer tags back in and levels Gable with a palm strike that would make CJ Parker proud. However, moments later Gable snatches Fulton’s arm out of nowhere for an armbar over the ring ropes. This creates enough separation for Gable to make a hot tag to Jordan who comes in with a series of dropkicks. He hits Louis with a suplex following with another to Fulton. He tags in Gable and they hit Sawyer Fulton with Grand Amplitude for the win. This was a fun match, as is usually the case with Jordan and Gable who are so much fun to watch. A fine performance by Fulton and Louis as well, both men have all the tools athletically, but still seem to be looking for that angle to connect them with the crowd.

Next is Bull Dempsey taking on the German Alexander Wolfe. This was another textbook wrestling match that saw some back and forth offense until Wolfe took over against Dempsey mostly working the arm and hand. Wolfe controlled much of the match while yelling at the crowd in German. Ultimately, Dempsey would “Hulk up” at the offense of Wolfe and come back with a series of punches. He squashes Wolfe with a big splash in the corner laying him out. Bull climbs the turnbuckles and launches off squashing his opponent with a seated senton for the win. I like Bull Dempsey, but this match seemed to struggle to keep the attention of the crowd.

More women’s action is next with Aaliyah (formely Jasmin/Nooph) taking on Nia Jax, who came out to a nice pop. The two lock up but Nia easily pushes her off. The speedy Aaliyah runs the ropes comes back at Nia with a series of kicks to the legs before Nia once again swats her off. Then Nia drops her with a shoulder breaker, then continues by tossing around her opponent by her hair like a rag doll. Nia locks her opponent with a vicious bear hug until Aaliyah gets free and attempts a comeback with another set of kicks, but Nia sends her to the mat with a clothesline. She stalks her opponent around the ring like a wounded animal before locking on another bear hug. Eventually, Aaliyah mounts another comeback with a series of dropkicks. She climbs the top rope and leaps off at a standing Nia (perhaps going for a hurricanrana?) but Nia falls back and they both land awkwardly, with Aaliyah looking like she took the brunt of it. Nia pins her for an abrupt finish. Nia continues to do well with her monster booking, while the little I have seen of Aaliyah mostly consists of her selling so it is hard to say. I saw Aaliyah after the show and luckily she was okay after the rough looking abrupt ending to her match.

Our main event is a tag match for the NXT tag team titles with The Vaudevillians challenging the champs, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. The match starts off with some great chain wrestling between English and Dawson. Eventually, English gets the upper hand. Dawson tags out but Dash doesn’t fare much better soon finding himself having to escape an armbar from Gotch. Later, Dawson finds himself with his arm in a hammerlock for some signature squats from the gentleman grapplers. English does 10 squats, but Gotch outdoes him with a manly 31 squats. Eventauly, after a blind tag Dash clotheslines English out of his boots and the two begin an intense beatdown. Dash and Dawson employ frequent tags working the leg of English, at one point wrapping it around the ring post. Ultimately, English makes a hot tag to Gotch who comes in and clears the ring with an onslaught of innovative kicks and strikes. Gotch sends Dash out of the ring and nails Dawson with a rolling senton. English follows with a low angle senton off the second rope for the pin but Dash pulls the referee out of the ring to narrowly avoid a three count. The referee calls for the bell giving the Vaudevillians a DQ victory.  Dawson and Dash continue to beatdown their opponents after the bell until Enzo Amore runs in to make the save. Amore rocks Dash with a series of punches before The Vaudevillians finish him with a Whirling Dervish. This was a great main event with both teams looking really good. The Vaudevillians are over as always, and it’s so gratifying to finally see Dawson and Wilder getting a well-deserved and long awaited push.

Read More

NXT Cocoa 10-15-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason

Thursday fans piled into the National Guard Armory in Cocoa, Fl for the return of NXT. It was a not to be missed night featuring new faces, the return of familiar ones, and featured all the champions in action.

Out to start the night is NXT Women’s champ Bayley, who receives a much deserved pop hero’s welcome from the crowd. She begins by talking about Takeover, stating that they made history and that it was all like a dream to her. She puts over the whole roster before stating that they took the women’s division is at a whole new level. Then much to everyone’s surprise, she is interrupted by Cameron. She tells Bayley that everyone is talking about her, not just in NXT, but on the main roster as well. Cameron continues, telling Bayley that when she is done playing with girls she’ll be ready for her. Fighting champion Bayley relents and accepts her challenge on the spot. A referee is called out and we have a match.

Cameron takes a quick advantage putting Bayley in a side headlock. Bayley breaks free easily and rolls up Cameron for several pin attempts, following with a headlock of her own. Bayley takes Cameron to the mat with a one-handed Bulldog and follow with her signature Slip-N-Slide. Cameron escapes to the corner and lures in Bayley with a cheap shot to take over. She lays out Bayley with a running swinging neckbreaker and follows stomping the champ. She chokes Bayley on the ropes and follows with a facebuster. The two make it up and Bayley fights back culminating with Bayley hitting her signature elbows in the corner. She suplexes Cameron and follows with a Belly-To-Bayley suplex for the win. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Cameron already, and yes she is much improved. To clarify, no she is not performing at the level NXT fans have come to expect, but compared to where she was, she is much better. It was a short textbook match, but ring general Bayley led her through it well with no real hiccups. Cameron did excel on the mic, undeterred by the heat from the crowd and handling hecklers well.

Next up, the drifter Elias Sampson takes on Levis Valenzuela. Despite a little offense from Levis in the early goings Sampson pretty quickly takes over, leveling his opponent with a big clothesline. He continues pummeling Levis with several kicks and strikes before settling into a side headlock. Levis mounts some offense with some chops of his own.  Sampson shuts him down with a mule kick and another bevy of kicks and strikes. Levis mounts another bit of momentum culminating with a rolling snap mare followed by a big back body drop. He winds up and lays out Elias with a huge punch and follows with a simple splash for the win. Another short textbook match but Sampson shows so much promise. Valenzuela is charismatic as can be and it shines through in the ring, but that finisher really doesn’t cut it.

Gionna Daddio and Alia (formerly Nooph/Jasmin) are out next for a promo. Gionna talks about how they are the youngest Divas not just in NXT, but WWE. She mentions how wrestlers like Becky, Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley jumpstarted the revolution. They are interrupted by Emma and Eva Marie. Emma tells her that she started the revolution, which garnered some cheers from the crowd. Eva took the mic and with much heat from the crowd told said that they were young and dumb, and that they are looking at the star of Total Divas. Emma and Eva attack, pretty much ejecting Daddio from the ring and focusing their attack on poor Alia. Emma locks on the Emma Lock until it is broken up by several referees.

Tag action follows with Blake and Murphy taking on Jordan and Gable. Murphy and Gable start things off and after a little back and forth, Gable out-grapples Murphy and as always, looks amazing doing so. Murphy tags in Blake, but Blakes says he wants Jordan because he already knows he can take Gable. Jordan comes in and essentially out-grapples Blake as well culminating with a big slam and several pin attempts. Exasperated Blake yells to tag in Gable. Blake declares amateur rules, Gable obliges getting into position. Blake hesitates and says he needs headgear first. Alexa Bliss gets headgear from underneath the ring for Blake and Murphy. Blake puts on the head gear and Gable re-positions himself. Blake takes a cheap kick instead, but regardless Gable back to his feet still stays a step ahead until upon distraction Bliss pulls Gable’s legs out from underneath him on the ring apron. Blake and Murphy slow the pace considerably while taking apart Gable, eventually Blake settles into a chinlock. Ultimately, Gable manages to get free and make the hot tag to Jordan who comes in with a pair of punches, dropkicks, and flapjacks for both Blake and Murphy. He hits a big shoulder in the corner laying out Murphy. He follows with a big overhead suplex to Blake, before tagging Gable to finish with Grand Amplitude for the win. This was one of my favorites of the night, I’ve been a big Gable fan since day one and their obvious chemistry is bringing more charisma out of the athletically gifted Jason Jordan. There is a lot of talk about an impending push for this team, and I certainly hope the rumors are true.

Next Apollo Crews takes on Baron Corbin. The match starts with a lot of fast paced back and forth action, Corbin topples Crews with a big shoulder tackle but Crews comes back with a perfect dropkick, etc. Finally, Corbin takes Crews and rams his shoulder into the ring post. Corbin follows with his patented baseball slide followed by a big punch. Corbin takes his time decimating Crews before settling into a hammerlock. Crews tries to mount a comeback but Corbin shuts him down with a slam and a flurry of punches. Crews fights back again, this time hitting a couple of axehandles followed by a splash and a big clothesline. He topples Corbin with a big kick to the side of head. Crews hoists Corbin up for a Dangan Bomb for the win. This was a good match, and hopefully a proper feud will follow. Corbin, with his anti-indie sentiments versus the indie sensation Apollo Crews makes perfect sense.

The tag titles are on the line as The Vaudevillians defend against Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. Gotch shows off his yogi-like flexibility hoisting his leg over his head. Dawson attempts the same (with help from Dash) only to fall on his butt. Incredulously, he asks Gotch “How do you do that?!?” The Vaudevillians take charge in the early goings with some squats thrown in. Eventually through distraction Dash and Dawson take control of English, but he quickly comes back tossing his opponent around with his trademark armdrags. They continue with their signature squats spot, until through another distraction Dawson and Wilder take charge. They employ frequent tags and a lot of great tandem moves while picking apart English. Eventually, English makes the hot tag. Gotch comes in with his fun and innovative flurry of kicks, until Dawson nails him with a ring shattering Spine Buster. Moments later, Dawson attempts to  strike Gotch who ducks, and Dawson takes out Dash instead. Gotch tosses Dawson into the air with an overhead suplex and The Vaudevillians finish with the Whirling Dervish. This was another great tag match. It’s very validating to see Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder finally getting a push after putting them over here on this blog for the past year and a half!

Next up, Hugo Knox dances his way to the ring enthusiastically to face his opponent, Solomon Crowe. Crowe looking a bit like old school Sami Calihan with his eye makeup and scowl. The deceptively speedy Knox quickly takes over with a drop toehold followed by a several leapfrogs into an armlock. The smashmouth Crowe levels Knox with a nasty punch and takes over. Crowe continues with an onslaught of kicks, strikes and a suplex before settling into a chinlock. Eventually Knox fights back culminating with an ensiguri that sends Crowe to the mat. Knox goes to finish for a split legged moonsault off the turnbuckle but misses Crowe completely. He climbs the ropes to try it again but Crowe knocks him off and contorts him into the Stretch Muffler. I think Knox has a lot of potential but I was relieved to see Crowe finally get a victory. Interesting to note that the usual very over gimmick of Knox was not only not over, but had the crowd very much rooting for a heel Crowe.

A fired up Gionna Daddio comes back to the ring and challenges Emma and Eva Marie to finish what they started. The bad girls come into the ring surrounding Gionna for an easy beatdown. Gionna says she is not young and dumb, and she has brought back up. Music hits and Asuka comes out to a big pop from the crowd. Gionna starts for her team showing a lot of speed and agility until Emma and Eva gain advantage with a distraction. They work over Gionna until she finally makes the tag. Asuka comes off the turnbuckle with a huge missile dropkick to Eva Marie. She unloads an intense flurry of kicks and strikes to a defenseless Eva. Moments later, she tags Gionna who comes off the turnbuckle with a crossybody to Eva for the pin. The rookie Gionna continues to impress, while the Asuka, who is fun as hell to watch live, is worthy of all the hype that has preceded her. I’m very excited to see the inevitable one on one match between her and the underrated Emma.

The main event of the evening is Ty Dillinger taking on the NXT champ Finn Balor. Before the match Dillinger gives his 10 sign to Dasha, instructing her to raise it at his command through the match. The bell rings and the two lock up and go back and forth with several minutes of chain wrestling. Dillinger comes out on top and demands Dasha raise his sign, but she never does. Finn sends Dillinger to the outside with a dropkick. They exchange chops on the outside, an exchange that very much ends in the favor of Finn Balor. Ty fights back though, pulling Finn’s legs out from under him and wrapping his knee around the ring post. Ty continues targeting the leg of Balor. Finn hits a pele out of nowhere and tries to mount an offense. He hit Dillinger with a slingblade and goes to follow with a hesitation dropkick but his leg gives out. Dillinger instead sends Balor to the mat with a jaw shattering superkick. He follows by contorting the champ into a crab, until Finn makes the ropes. Back to his feet, Finn dropkicks Dillinger in the knee. He follows with a big dropkick into the corner, and follows with the Coup De Grace for the victory. Maybe not a perfect 10 main event, but pretty close. Everyone is well aware what Finn can do, not everyone knows what Dillinger can do. Ty Dillinger is a main event player in his own right, I have a feeling that people will see that soon.

Read More