NXT Largo 9-25-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason

Friday night the road to NXT Takeover: Respect made a stop in Largo, Fl. The standing room only crowd filled The Minnreg Hall to see another night of wrestling action as only NXT can deliver. In a night that would feature an NXT title defense and finish with a smashmouth main event, fans would not be disappointed.

The evening starts with tag action as Solomon Crowe makes his way to the ring atop the massive shoulders of his partner Tucker Knight. Their opponents for the evening are Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins. Crowe starts off bringing the fight but can’t budge the much larger Fulton. Unwisely he attempts to bodyslam Fulton with little success. Fulton snatches up Crowe from the waist and spins him around about twenty times before tossing him over with a gutwrench suplex. Moments later Knight finds himself unable to mount any offense against Dawkins either until Crowe causes a distraction. Knight takes advantage and beats down Dawkins. He slows down the pace of the match, wearing Dawkins down with a chinlock before slamming him down to the mat for a big elbow. Moments later Knight charges the corner with Crowe on his back for a huge splash but Dawkins dodges and makes the hot tag. Fulton attacks Crowe with strikes, several headbutts and a double underhook suplex. Finally he levels Crowe with a clothesline from hell for the pin. This was a really fun start to the show. The explosive Crowe impresses as always and is vastly underrated at this point. Fulton and Dawkins are a good fit and work well in tandem. Both guys have struggled to find their place, but I think they are closer to finding it as a team at this point.

The drifter Elias Sampson is out next and serenades us with a derogatory song about Largo. His opponent for the evening is the “Bull-Fit” guru himself, Bull Dempsey. Sampson locks on a sidelock and hangs on tenaciously. Finally, Bull breaks the hold and shoulder tackles Sampson to the mat. He follows with an impressive rolling senton and follows with an elbow for good measure. Back on their feet Sampson takes a cheap shot at Bull and takes charge, grounding the big man with a clothesline and pummeling him with kicks. Dempsey tries to mount a comeback but Sampson sends him to the mat with a double mule kick out of the corner. Sampson grabs his guitar and sits down to play in the corner while waiting for Dempsey to make it back up. Sampson continues his attack until Bull begins to “Hulk up” against his strikes. Dempsey delivers a headbutt and several belly bumps. He squashes Sampson with a big splash and then runs him over, climbs the ropes and comes down with a huge seated senton for the win.

Levis Valenzuela Jr is out next for another in-ring interview with Dasha Fuentes. He tells us that NXT is the hottest thing going right now and that he is following his dream. Of course, it all breaks down to a fiesta time as he dances with Dasha. Valenzuela is charismatic and likeable, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the ring.

Next up, is Tyler Breeze taking on Apollo Crews. The two grapple back and forth exchanging headlocks. After a successful series of moves Crews lounges across the top ropes mocking Breeze before the action continues. The pace quickens drastically as they run the ropes until Crews nearly dropkicks Breeze out of his furry boots, and then clotheslines him out of the ring. Breeze makes his way back in and manages to pull Crews into the ropes across his throat. Breeze pounces on Crews with a series of kicks before finally grounding Apollo with a chancery. Crews mounts a comeback with a splash and a big boot. Breeze counters with a jaw shattering superkick followed by a very close pin attempt. Breeze commences to attack but gets nailed with a running enziguri. Crews follows with a military press and his amazing standing moonsault for the win. This was a really good match, even better than their match the night before. Fans are going to be in for a treat when they clash at Takeover.

Women’s tag action is next as Peyton Royce and Billie Kay take on the team of Emma and Dana Brooke. The over-confident Dana Brooke pushes Peyton to the mat, but the Aussie comes back with a roll-up and several pin attempts. She continues with a headscissors that sends Brooke tagging. Emma doesn’t fare much better as Billie Kay delivers a headscissors of her own. Brooke causes a distraction that put the bad girls in control. Emma and Dana make frequent tags slowly punishing Billie. Dana contorts her into a grounded abdominal stretch before Billie makes it up and nails Brooke with a desperate big boot before making the hot tag. Royce comes in with a series of high spinning heel kicks and an emphatic dropkick. Her momentum is halted when Emma sends her knocking Billie off the apron. Dana trips up Peyton from under the ropes and Emma pounces, locking on the Emma Lock for the submission victory. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are really good and starting to find their groove in NXT. Of course, it’s great having Emma back here and it’s really benefiting Dana too.

Next up is Ty Dillinger taking on Finn Balor. Dillinger takes the mic and tells Balor that he has all the respect for him in the world, but he has something that he has wanted for a long time. He tells him this is the right place, right time to put the title on the line. Finn relents and we have a title match. An aggressive Dillinger attacks Finn before the bell rings and beats him down in the corner. He rocks the champ with a series of strikes and chops. Ty continues the onslaught until the champ hits him with a pele kick. Balor continues mounting momentum rolling through a sunset flip and answering with a dropkick. Moments later though he walks into a massive superkick from Dillinger. Balor comes back with a slingblade and goes for a hesitation dropkick but Dillinger dodges it and locks Balor into a cloverleaf but the champ makes the ropes. Back to their feet Balor comes back yet again clotheslining Dillinger out of the ring and then nailing Ty with a running kick from the ring apron. He tosses Dillinger back in the ring and sends him into the corner with a huge dropkick and climbs the ropes to execute a Coup De Grace for a hard fought victory. This was an excellent main event quality match and it was only intermission time.

From one champ to another the evening continues with NXT women’s champion Bayley taking on Gionna Daddio. The match begins with a hug and then the fast paced action starts with each women looking to get the advantage with back and forth grappling. The two exchange speedy offense until Gionna sends Bayley to the mat with a shoulder tackle followed by an arm drag and and arm lock. The two make it back up and Bayley sends Gionna down with a drop toe hold and follows with her trademark Slip-N-Slide.  Later Gionna begins to mount a comeback with a series of dropkicks but Bayley shuts her down with a signature back elbow into the corner. Bayley continues with an exploder suplex followed by a Belly-To-Bayley for the win. Afterwards, Bayley grabs a mic and puts over Gionna and the entire locker room. This was a short but entertaining match with Bayley looking as great as we’ve come to expect. The speedy and agile newcomer Gionna Daddio shows a great deal of promise. With very limited experience she is already as good as several of the girls in the locker room with much more ring time i.e. Dana, Carmella, etc. I don’t mean that as an insult to anyone, but rather a testament to the hard work of Gionna and head coach Sarah Del Ray.

Tag action is next with Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder taking on the Hype Bros. The match starts with the usual Mojo Rawley banter and the Hype Bros staying one step ahead of their opponents. Dawson could not catch a break in the opening moments and finally Mojo slams his head into the turnbuckles until Dawson collapses. Ryder comes in for a Broski Boot, but Dash runs in for the save and gets a dropkick for his troubles. A few moments later Dash laid out in the corner eats a Broski Boot. Ryder runs at Dawson but he ducks sending Ryder to the floor. Dawson and Wilder begin wildy attacking Ryder followed by some great tandem offense. Dawson and Wilder slow the pace and employ frequent tags while taking apart Ryder. Eventually Ryder nails a facebuster out of nowhere to Dawson and makes a hot tag. Mojo clears house and tags Ryder to set up their finishing combo but Dash makes the save. Dash gets tossed out, but then Dawson tosses out Mojo. Dawson tags in Dash and they nail Ryder with a Shatter Machine for the pin. This was yet another entertaining tag match and I was very happy with the outcome. I understand that the Hype Bros are fairly over at the moment, but I’ve been saying for a long time that Dawson and Wilder are hands down the best team in NXT or WWE. I’m glad to see the two roughnecks building some well-deserved momentum.

The main event of the evening is a hard hitting contest between Baron Corbin and Samoa Joe. The two lock up and Corbin tosses Joe off. Corbin takes a cheap shot but it only angers Joe who comes back with a swift kick to the head followed by a fast flurry of trademark jabs and punches leveling Corbin. Baron leaves the ring but Joe follows and the two continue to brawl. Corbin clotheslines Joe and tosses him back inside. The momentum sways back and forth with each man taking their best shots at each other. They end up on the outside once again and Corbin sends Joe into the ring steps. Corbin beats down Joe on the outside until Joe sends Corbin into the opposite ring steps. The two barely make the count back in the ring and Joe levels Corbin with a big boot followed by a senton. The battle continues and Corbin charges Joe but gets a huge sidewalk slam instead. Moments later though Corbin returns the favor with a huge swinging side slam. A frustrated Corbin leaves the ring to grab a chair. Before he can use the chair the referee stops him, and he nails Joe with a superkick, but Joe answers with a pele. Samoa Joe then locks the Coquina Clutch that puts the big man to sleep. This was a great main event that brought the crowd to their feet at several moments. High profile matches with athletes like Samoa Joe have helped Corbin so much, but despite that, the Corbin heat has gotten so much more intense at house shows. That’s okay, the more heat he gets, the better he gets. At least, that’s how it seems.

The matches were hot and the crowd was lively. Altogether, the best NXT house show I’ve been to in a long while.

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NXT Lakeland 9-24-15

Hot off the heels of their successful Texas tour NXT returned to Lakeland for a night of wrestling action. Fans piled into the sold out armory, along with a sizable camera crew filming for WWE Breaking Ground. It was an entertaining night of odd match-ups accentuated by an excellent tag team main event.

The evening starts with the drifter Elias Sampson making his way to the ring with his trusty guitar to sing a derogatory song about Lakeland. His opponent for the evening is Steve Cutler. The match starts with a lock-up ending in a stalemate before giving way to back and forth action between the two evenly matched competitors. Cutler mounts a bit of offense with an armdrag and a slam. The marine then runs the ropes, stops to salute, and drops a leg onto Sampson. Later Sampson thwarts his momentum by hanging up Cutler in the ropes. He continues with a series of strikes before settling into a chinlock. The pace quickens and the two trade offense. Cutler begins to get the upper hand with a series of strikes culminating in a flapjack. He then finishes off Sampson with a Fisherman Driver. This was a textbook pro wrestling match but entertaining enough to kick things off. I still have Elias Sampson pegged to go onto great things, while Steve Cutler has improved a lot over the last few months.

Next up Noah Kekoa taking on Angelo Dawkins. Kekoa debuted a new look tonight, as he was adorned with tribal gear and wore a headdress/mask into the ring. While some fans may feel it a bit stereotypical, it’s a big improvement over leis and ukuleles. The aggressive Kekoa started strong until Dawkins took a cheap shot and slowed the pace down. He grounds Kekoa with a modified Muta lock. Eventually Kekoa fights back nailing Dawkins with a clothesline and several chops followed by a big slam. Dawkins manages to drop Kekoa throat first onto the ropes and then nail him with a Half Nelson Slam for the victory. Dawkins is big, athletic guy who certainly has the tools, he is just in dire need of finding his niche.

Next, Dasha invites Levis Valenzuela Jr into the ring for an interview. He talks about how NXT is taking over and he is now living his dream. He talks about bringing his fiesta to NXT and how he intends to take his conga line all the way to the top of the brand. His music hits and he dances with Dasha. The promo didn’t really go anywhere, but it was still fun. Valenzuela has charisma in spades and is confident on the microphone.

The night continues with mixed six person tag action with Hugo Knox, Bull Dempsey, and Billie Kay taking on Solomon Crowe, Sawyer Fulton, and Nia Jax. The explosive Crowe starts off against Dempsey but fails to budge the big man. Crowe goes for a crossbody and simply bounces off Bull. Frustrated Crowe tags in Nia Jax, undeterred Billie Kay takes the fight to her. Billy locks on a waist lock and Nia Jax spins around violently trying to shake her off. Billie Kay tenaciously holds on and ends up turning it into an octopus hold until Jax grabs the ropes for a break. Billy tags in Hugo and the pace quickens. He tosses Crowe around with a pair of arm drags and follows with several kicks. Crowe catches the last kick but Knox counters with an ensiguri. Thanks to a distraction Crowe finally gets the upper hand and he and Fulton begin to work over Knox. Eventually Knox makes a hot tag to Bull to delivers a series of strikes to Fulton. Nia runs in but Billie headscissoring off of Bull and catching Nia for a big DDT.  Bull runs down Fulton and finishes him with a seated senton off the top turnbuckle. Afterwards Bull and Billie celebrate in the ring by dancing along with Hugo. This was one of those odd, yet entertaining matches. I would have liked to see more ring time for Billie and Nia, but altogether this was a fun match. Hugo Knox is fast and extremely athletic for a guy his size, but it’s likely his infectious dancing and enthusiasm that has him pretty over with the fans.

Next is the perfect 10 Ty Dillinger taking on Tucker Knight. The bell rings and Dillinger out-grapples Knight easily, but can’t seem to take him down. Finally after a fairly successful lock-up Dillinger cartwheels into his corner and throws up his hands for a perfect 10. Knight comes back leveling Dillinger with a big clubbing blow. He mocks him and slows the pace stalking Dillinger. Ty comes back with a kick and a dropkick but Knight shuts him down and eventually locks him into an agonizing bear hug. Finally Dillinger boxes the ears of Knight and breaks free and attacks Tucker with several strikes. Knight grabs him up for a big side slam, but moments later on his feet Dillinger staggers him with a big boot. Somehow Dillinger hoists the big man up for a big bodyslam. Dillinger hikes down his kneepad and finishes Knight with facebuster knee smash. Ty Dillinger looked great as always, but as always he made his opponent look great. Tucker Knight did a great job of engaging the crowd undeterred by snarky hecklers.

Tag action is next with Baron Corbin and Riddick Moss taking on champs The Vaudevillians in a non-title match. Aiden English starts off looking to have a great time outwrestling Moss who gets frustrated and tags in Corbin. On a roll English stays a step ahead of the usually unstoppable Corbin tossing him with a series of arm drags. He tags in Gotch and they lift up Corbin for a double team suplex. Moments later Corbin tags Moss back in but the champs continue controlling the match. They execute their manly squats at the expense of Moss. Corbin takes a cheap shot from the ring apron laying out English and tags in. He begins a beat down on English but Moss tags himself back in. Corbin looks on irritated while Moss tosses Gotch overhead with a massive fallaway slam. Moments later Corbin would find himself back but Moss would quickly tag himself back in. Finally English makes a hot tag to Gotch who comes in with a flurry of his innovative kicks followed by a big suplex to Moss. Frustrated and dumbfounded Corbin looks on as Gotch nails Moss with a rolling senton. English comes off the top turnbuckle with a senton, Moss moves but English rolls through. English runs the ropes but Moss catches him with a powerslam. Corbin yells for a tag but Moss says he’s “got this”.  Moments later the momentum starts to shift and Moss looks for tag, but Corbin walks off.  The Vaudevillians lay out Moss with the Whirling Dervish for the victory. This was another really fun tag match. Riddick Moss gets better each outing and seems to be finding himself as a cocky heel. Baron Corbin has become a bona fide heat magnet but he seemingly thrives off of it, the more they jeer the better he becomes.

NXT women’s champ Bayley is out next in an Izzymania shirt to take on her opponent Peyton Royce. The match starts off at an extremely fast pace as the two run the ropes dodging the others strikes. Finally tired they stop and Bayley points to the ceiling and Peyton falls for it, allowing Bayley to stomp her foot and toss her around with an arm drag. The two make it back up and the pace again quickens until they stop again. This time Peyton points to the ceiling, but Bayley again stomps her foot and again tosses her. The action continues fast paced and back and forth.  In the corner Peyton slams Bayley’s head into the turnbuckle but Bayley begins to “hulk up”. Bayley fires back slamming Peytons skull into the turnbuckle several times and then dropping her with a one handed bulldog. The momentum sways and Peyton comes back wisely slowing the pace. She contorts Bayley into an abdominal stretch. Moments later Bayley fights back with a series of axe-handles and a big elbow in the corner. Peyton drops Bayley onto the ropes and attempts to mount a comeback but Bayley nails her with a Belly-To-Bayley out of nowhere for the win. Peyton Royce (along with fellow Aussie Billie Kay) is a valuable addition to the NXT women’s roster and simply cannot be jobbing on television for much longer. Ironically, not that long ago the division seemed gutted after ¾ of the horsewomen moved on. Now though it seems to be overflowing with possibilities with Billie and Peyton stepping up, Dana continually improving, the untapped potential of Nia Jax, and of course the very anxiously anticipated in-ring debut of Asuka.

Next is a Takeover preview with Tyler Breeze taking on Apollo Crews. Breeze begins by flexing, talking trash, and mocking Crews. The action begins and Apollo takes charge with a dropkick right on the button followed by a big clothesline. Somehow Breeze comes back with several repeated blows and a neckbreaker. He grounds Crews with a chancery until he breaks free and the two men make it back up. The two grapple back and forth until Breeze rolls up Crews with a handful of trunks to snag a victory out of nowhere. Even with a victory under his belt Breeze felt the need to attack Crews after the match. Crews fought back with a heel kick followed by a military press and his amazing standing moonsault. This was a good match accentuated by Tyler’s interaction with the crowd. I wish off the cuff and slightly goofy “house show” Tyler could translate to television.

Our main event of the evening is Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder taking on Samoa Joe and Finn Balor. Dawson and Finn start by putting on a clinic with several minutes of nice grappling and mat work. Early on Dawson and Wilder begin targeting the arm of Balor. Through a miscue Dash accidentally attacks Dawson and the two get into it while Finn eggs it on. In the chaos Balor swoops up Wilder for an airplane spin. A dizzy disoriented Dash Wilder grabs the first body he bumps in to for a small package, but it happens to be referee Drake Wuertz. Finn Balor counts the 1,2,3 while Wilder pins the referee. After making it to his feet Drake regains control of the match. Dawson and Wilder take over working the injured arm of Balor with great tandem offense. Finn lands a pele kick and makes a tag to Joe while Dash tags in Dawson. Joe rocks Dawson with a series of punches, drops him with a big boot and follows with a senton. Dawson tries to comeback but Joe hits him with a powerslam that would make Randy Orton proud. Moments later Dawson sends Joe into a turnbuckle that he and Dash had exposed earlier. It doesn’t stop Joe who plants Dawson with a big side slam and tags in Finn who delivers a hesitation dropkick to Wilder into Dawson. With both Dawson and Wilder prone on top of one another, Finn delivers a Coup De Grace to both men for the win, also managing to take out a ceiling tile in the process. This match alone was easily worth the price of admission. Personally, I didn’t actually hear this match announced as a Dusty Rhodes tournament match, though I’m assuming it is. If so, I wish Dawson and Wilder could have advanced. As excellent as Joe and Finn are as singles wrestlers, to this humble blogger Dawson and Wilder are an actual team and easily the best tag team in NXT or WWE. However, in professional wrestling were wins and losses don’t always matter I am just happy to see them in a main event and finally getting a well deserved push.

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NXT Cocoa 8-28-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason 

Hot off the heels of their biggest live special yet, the stars of NXT made their return to The National Guard Armory in Cocoa, Florida for another night of wrestling action. In an evening of high impact action titles were defended, the tag tournament progressed, and fans went home very happy. 

First out is the drifter Elias Sampson who upon entering the ring regales us with song about Cocoa and “he’d say it was nice to be here/but that would be a lie”. His opponent Apollo Crews is out next. The two competitors lock up and then break, Sampson drops down in the corner and strums his guitar. They lock up again and repeat the same routine. A few moments later a distracted Sampson drops his guitar and Crews drops him with a massive dropkick. Crews looks impressive as always until Sampson finally gains control and pummels Crews in the corner before slowing the pace and settling into a chinlock. Apollo makes a quick comeback but Elias shuts him down and wisely grounds him with another chinlock. Moments later Crews dodges an elbow from Sampson and comes back with a splash and a series of strikes. He hoists up Sampson and drops him with a military press followed by a standing moonsault for the win. This was a great way to start a show. It’s apparent that Apollo Crews is going to be a very big deal in NXT sooner than later. Elias Sampson is not without an “it” factory, and is undoubtedly one to look out for. 

Next, Riddick Moss takes on Steve Cutler. Immediately Moss grabs up Cutler into a side headlock before he breaks it and the two trade off in a series of grapples. Cutler hits a dropkick, followed by a bodyslam and a leg drop before settling into a headlock of his own. Moss drops Cutler onto the ropes and goes on the attack. The much larger Moss nails Cutler with a series of uppercuts and clubbing blows before settling into a chinlock. Eventually Cutler fires back finally planting Moss with a facebuster. He follows with a Michinoku Driver variation for the pin. This was a good match from two up and comers. Both men have progressed a lot over the last year. Riddick Moss is much better as a heel, but Cutler’s choice of wearing shorts to the ring are not going to help the Cena comparisons.

Women’s tag action is next with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay taking on the team of Dana Brooke and Emma. Peyton starts for her team immediately taking over and working the arm of Dana. Finally Brooke breaks free and tags to Emma who comes in a misses an elbow allowing the Australian divas to regain control. Royce and Billie Kay work great as a team staying one step ahead with frequent tags and some tandem moves. Royce catches Emma with a headscissors and several high heel kicks. Emma eventually fights back gaining control for her team. Brooke and Emma counter with some great tandem maneuvers of their own before Dana settles into a grounded abdominal stretch on Royce. Emma comes back in and continues the attack until Royce catches her with a facebuster before making the hot tag. Billie comes in with a clothesline and a headscissors of her own to Dana Brooke. Emma thwarts her momentum with a distraction and Brooke follows through with a roll-up to Kay using her feet on the ropes for the win. With 3 out of 4 of the horsewomen on the main roster now, the NXT women’s division is at a virtual reset. However, it’s safe to say the division will be okay. Dana Brooke improves exponentially every week, while the Australian duo of Peyton Royce and Billie Kay may just be two of the best in the division right now.

The action continues with the Perfect 10 Ty Dillinger taking on the rookie Noah Kekoa, who comes to the ring wearing leis and carrying a ukulele. The bell rings and Dillinger attempts a lockup before Noah sits atop and strums his ukulele. The two make a few more passes before Dillinger grabs the ukulele and mocks Kekoa. The angry Hawaiian charges but Dillinger easily outgrapples him before settling into an armlock. The action continues back and forth until Kekoa takes over pummeling Dillinger in the corner before planting him with a side slam. He locks Ty into a half nelson sleeper. Dillinger eventually breaks free and fires back with several chops. He takes the big man down with a Russian leg sweep and finishes him with a facebreaker knee smash for the victory. Ty Dillinger looked good here as always and did a class act of making Kekoa look great too.

The next match is being televised for the WWE Network and is to be an opening match in the Dusty Rhodes Memorial Tag Team Tournament. Cass and Enzo come out to a huge ovation along with the “hottest chick in the ring” Carmella, their opponents for this match are Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins. In the opening moments Angelo Dawkins is almost toying with the much smaller Amore until he tags in to Big Cass who manhandles Dawkins. He tags in Enzo who comes in with a crossbody. Thanks to a distraction from Fulton, Dawkins takes advantage, pummeling Zo and putting his team in control. The two take their time decimating Amore until Fulton misses with a big elbow giving Amore the separation to make the hot tag to Cass who comes in with a splash for Dawkins and a big boot for Fulton. He finishes off Dawkins with a huge swinging side slam and they finish with “Air Zo’, with Cass launching Amore off the turnbuckle with an assisted splash onto Dawkins for the victory. Formulaic or not, Cass and Zo matches are fun with their energy and charisma more than making up for the predictable matches. Dawkins and Fulton make a formidable team and could do well if only the powers that be would commit to them.

Bayley is out next to much deserved fanfare to give a promo. She talks about Brooklyn being the biggest night of her life. She says it was made possible by all of us who have built NXT, that we make dreams come true. She concedes that the hard work starts now and that she is going to be the best champion. She backs it up by offering an opening challenge to any women in the back. The intimidating Nia Jax answers the challenge and we have a women’s title match. The two women lock up but Jax easily swats Bayley off and to the mat. Bayley tries several times to take Nia down with no success. She finally jumps onto the Samoan’s back and locks on a sleeper hold until Nia backs up and squashes her in the corner. Bayley makes it up and runs the ropes but Jax runs her down. A determined Bayley attempts a sunset flip unsuccessfully, Nia pulls up Bayley and thrashes her around in a massive bearhug. Eventually Bayley breaks free and fights back landing several of her signature elbows in the corner. She delivers a dropkick to the knee of Jax before planting her with a one handed bulldog. She attempts to execute a Belly To Bayley, but can’t budge Jax. Moments later Nia charges the corner but Bayley dodges and rolls up Jax for a surprise pin. Just as the title signifies Bayley is the best in the division right now and showed versatility wrestling such a ominous opponent. As everyone now knows that Nia Jax is coming to television soon and believe me that is reason to be excited. Nia shows much promise and is just the monster heel the division needs.

The action continues with tag team action as the newly crowned tag team champions The Vaudevillians take on Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Simon Gotch and Chad Gable start off for their teams going toe to toe with some serious grappling. Gable tags in Jordan who comes in initially manhandling English. The artiste comes back with his trademark arm drags before settling into an armlock. The champs keep one step ahead seemingly riding the momentum of their recent win. Later, Jordan manages to leg drag Gotch into the ropes making an immediate target. Gable and Jordan begin employing frequent tags while continuously working the leg of Gotch. Finally, Gotch makes the hot tag. English comes in with a hellacious uppercut to Gable, then follows with a Directors Cut and goes for a pin. Jordan breaks the pin before getting ejected by Gotch. English climbs the turnbuckle for a senton, Gable dodges but English manages to roll through. Gable lands an impressive bridging German suplex that English manages to kick out of. English makes the tag to Gotch and they finish Gable with their Whirling Dervish, an uppercut followed by a running swinging neckbreaker. This was another fun match in the underrated NXT tag team division. The Vaudevillians are deserving champs, with Gotch especially showing more versatility of late. Meanwhile Jordan and Gable have quickly and easily become one of my favorite tag teams on either roster.

Our main event of the evening is Solomon Crowe taking on the champion Finn Balor. Before the bell even rings a particularly aggressive Solomon Crowe attack Balor from behind, making it a point to target the taped up ribs. Finn fights back with a series of strikes and chops but Crowe goes right back to the injured ribs of the champ. Solomon Crowe dominates Finn before contorting the champ into a Gory Special. Moments later, Balor rolls through a sunset flip and dropkicks Crowe to finally mount a comeback. He whips Crowe from corner to corner and finally drops Crowe with a hellacious clothesline and a standing double foot stomp. Back to their feet Finn hits Crowe with a slingblade. Finn attempts to follow with a dropkick to the corner but Crowe dodges and locks Balor into a crab. Later the two worn out fighters trade blows until Crowe nails the champ with a bicycle kick, but Balor answers with a Pele. Balor climbs the turnbuckles for a Coups De Grace, but Crowe jumps up and charges him, fighting onto the turnbuckles. Crowe superplexes Balor off the top ropes. Crowe attempts to climb the ropes but Balor drops him with a kick and follow with a big dropkick into the corner and follows with the Coups De Grace for the victory. This was an excellent main event. Balor is a wrestler that deserves all the hype he comes in with, while Crowe (who is a much better heel) is going to be a main event player despite what the naysayers say.

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NXT Largo 8-8-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason

Saturday night wrestling fans packed into the Minnreg Hall as NXT returned to Largo, Fl. As always the superstars of NXT delivered in a big way with an action packed night filled with much hard hitting action culminating into a big six-man tag match.

The evening starts with tag team action as everyone’s favorite gentleman The Vaudevillians take on Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Jordan and English start out for their teams grappling evenly back and forth. Jordan displays his obvious power advantage but English comes back with his trademark arm drags before settling into an armlock. Moments late it is Gotch and Gable’s turn as they show off their ring prowess with some excellent back and forth grappling. The evenly matched teams go back and forth wresting control of the match before The Vaudevillians start to take over  working in their signature squat and “Duke up” spots. However the strength of Jordan would later come into play when he tosses English overhead with a thunderous overhead suplex. Gable and Jordan make frequent tags taking apart English until he eventually makes the hot tag to Gotch who comes in and lays waste with a series of innovative strikes and kicks. He tosses Gable from the ring and delivers a overhead suplex of his own to Jordan. Gable and Gotch deliver their uppercut/neckbreaker on Jordan for the win. This was an exciting match and a great way to start the night. Gable and Gotch were the stars of the match for me, Gable is an impeccable grappler but Gotch went toe to toe with the Olympian. In fact, Gotch has been stepping it up a lot more these days, or I’m just now noticing how varied his arsenal really is.

The action continues with Elias Sampson taking on Riddick Moss (formerly Mike Rallis). Before the action Sampson plays his guitar and sings a derogatory song about Largo, Fl. Finally the match starts and the two start slow feeling each other out and exchanging side headlocks. The two battle back and forth for much of the early goings in a very even match. Sampson takes over after a double mule kick out of the corner sends Moss to the mat. He follows with a big elbow and a frustrated beatdown. Riddick fires back and it turns into a slugfest. Moss scoops up Sampson with a huge powerslam and follows with a beatdown of his own ending with a big fallaway slam. Moss goes for the pin but Sampson puts his foot on the ropes. Back to their feet Sampson gets the advantage kicking Moss in the head and following with a sick running knee to the face giving him the victory. This was a good contest, at the beginning there were “boring” chants but by the end the crowd was thoroughly invested in the match. The athletic Elias Sampson is such a natural, while Riddick Moss is getting better with every outing.

Up next is the hyped Mojo Rawley taking on Tyler Breeze. In the early goings Breeze dictates the slow pace of the match taking his time preparing until he nails Rawley with a series of kicks and strikes. Mojo fires back with a series of shoulder tackles and clothelines Breeze right out of the ring. Tyler decides he doesn’t need it and starts to head to the back, but Rawley gives chase and tosses Breeze back into the ring. At this point Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder run in and beatdown Rawley. Tyler Breeze joins in and the three beat down Mojo until they are stopped by several referees. Dawson takes the mic to explain their actions. He tells us that people like Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder make a mockery of this business. He continues by stating that for him and Dash it’s about supporting their families and putting food on the table. He tells us that they won’t stop until they rid NXT of garbage like Mojo Rawley. I’ve long said that Dawson and Wilder are two of the most underrated guys in the company, but tonight Dawson showed us he is great on a mic too. Later on announcer Greg Hamilton announced that the main event would be a six-man tag featuring Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, and Tyler Breeze taking on Mojo Rawley and partners of his choosing.

Women’s action is next with Eva Marie taking on “the hottest chick in the ring” Carmella. The match starts and they jump into it with an aggressive fast pace. The action swings back and forth in an evenly matched contest. Finally, Carmella nails Eva with an atomic drop followed by a dropkick. Eva fights back with a nice suplex followed by an armlock. Later Carmella comes back with a beautiful headscissors followed by two Lou Thez presses. Moments later Eva fights back and ends it with a running facebuster for the win. The most common questions I get about house shows these days are all about Eva Marie and how she is doing. While she is nowhere near  performing at the level people have come to expect from the women of NXT, she has improved significantly, and has shown definite improvement even over the last few weeks. Tonight’s finish was a bit sloppy, but she is selling moves better and showing more expression in the ring. Carmella looked fabulous as always. All in all, it was a fun match.

The action continues with Solomon Crowe taking on Apollo Crews (formerly Uhaa Nation). The two shake hands and start off with fast paced grappling with neither man getting an advantage. After several lock-ups ending in a stalemate a frustrated Crowe extends his hand for another shake but takes a cheap shot instead. Crews still fights back, lifting Crowe up for a vertical suplex with a twenty second hang time before dropping him to the mat. However Crowe puts a stop to Apollo’s momentum with one nasty punch and follows with a series of chops and strikes. He continues beating down Crews with several knee strikes and brutal punches and forearms. Crews mounts a comeback with several chops of his own but Crowe shuts him down with an ensiguri followed by an explosive front facelock cutter. Crowe climbs the turnbuckles and dives off but Crews catches him, tosses him on his shoulders and falls back with a Samoan Drop. The two weary competitors can barely stand but they exchange punches on wobbly legs until Crews nails Crowe with a brutal sounding kick to the back of the head. He hoists up Crowe with a military press and drops him following with a standing moonsault for the win. This was an absolutely great match and easily highlight of the night. A great hard fought victory for Apollo Crews, but a more aggressive Solomon Crowe came out looking stronger than ever. I hope for the sake of everyone reading this that this will be the Crews debut they see at Takeover.

Next is women’s tag action with the team of Bayley and Gionna Daddio taking on Dana Brooke and Nia Jax (formerly Lina). The bell rings and Gionna starts strong staying one step ahead of Dana with her impressive speed and agility. She tags in Bayley who continues the momentum and looks to perform her patented Slip-N-Slide but Jax threatens to get involved. Gionna gets tagged back in and continues to one up Brooke until a blind tag is made to Nia Jax. She rocks Gionna with a huge backbreaker followed by a thunderous bodyslam. Dana tags back in a lays out Gionna with a forward firemans carry slam. She continues, pummeling Gionna in the corner before chokng her with her boot. Nia comes back in a clamps on a bearhug, thrashing Gionna around like a doll. Later in the match she manages to make the hot tag to a fired up Bayley who suplexes Brooke and follows with several signature elbows in the corner. Nia runs in but Bayley dodges and sends her flying into the corner turnbuckle. She then nails Dana with a Belly-To Bayley for the win. This was another entertaining match with all four ladies coming out looking strong. The rookie Gionna Daddio is looking very impressive while Bayley continues to pick up valuable momentum heading into the next special.

Next up is Bull Dempsey taking on Angelo Dawkins. The match starts off with back and forth action until the men start running the ropes. Bull wisely stops and watches as a clueless Angelo continues to run the ropes until exhaustion, at which point Bull easily knocks him to the mat with a shoulder. He mocks Dawkins, putting on his headband and dancing around the ring. Later Dawkins comes back and beats down Bull eventually grounding the big man with a headlock. Eventually, back on their feet Dawkins throws several punches but now Bull is “hulking up”. Bull fires back with several punches and a bionic elbow. He bounces off the ropes and runs down Dawkins. Bull climbs the turnbuckles and jumps off with a Whoopie Cushion for the win. Thanks to Bull-Fit, Bull Dempsey is more over than he has ever been. Angelo Dawkins, a man with the size and the tools, seems to once again be in limbo.

Mojo Rawley is out next for our main event. Out next is Dawson and Wilder, followed by Breeze. The three men circle the ring to attack but are thwarted by Rawley’s partners Enzo and Big Cass. A big brawl ensues and the good guys clear the ring. The referee regains order and the match begins with Dash Wilder pretty quickly taking control over Enzo. What follows is a systematic beatdown of Amore by all three men. They take their time destroying Enzo until he eventually makes a hot tag to Mojo. The hype man begins cleaning house with a series of shoulder tackles and a big splash to Breeze in the corner. Dawson distracts and Breeze nails Mojo with a superkick. The three men begin taking apart Mojo, just as they had Enzo. Dawson especially seems to relish taking apart Mojo. Eventually Mojo would make a hot tag to Big Cass who would come in with a big boot for Dash Wilder. He follows with a swinging side slam and a big elbow to Breeze. He calls for Enzo to climb the turnbuckles but Dawson makes the save knocking him off. The match begins to break down and a melee occurs with all six men in the ring. With all three bad guys in the corner Cass lands a big splash. Breeze finds himself in the ring alone and Rawley picks him up for a firemans carry drop, and Cass launches Enzo onto him with “Air Zo” for the win. Although predictable, it was a fun match. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder look at home in the main event scene, meanwhile tag teaming is exactly where Mojo needs to be right now.

With much of the NXT star power moved on, or on the road recently, it is a monumental statement that the remaining talent step up and deliver the way they do in a big way. Owens is gone, Balor on the road, and the women’s division raided…. Yet the NXT crew delivered as they always do.

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