NXT Tampa 11-18-16

While NXT's top players prepare for Saturday’s Takeover: Toronto, the rest of the crew returned to the UACDC Gymnasium in Tampa, Fl. With a sizable chunk of the roster north of the border, many fans wondered exactly what NXT had in store… apparent by the ticket sales in a usually sold out venue. This show was hardly a consolation prize though. With names like Andrade Cien Almas, Gran Metalik, Tommy End, Big Damo, and Sarah Bridges on the card, I’d hardly call it a “B” show. Much to the contrary, the show felt fresh and different. While performers like Nakamura and Asuka are always missed, freshness is exactly what many people need from a brand that has lost quite a bit of its magic in the last year.

Jack Gallagher vs Akira Tozawa

Regardless of how well the cruiserweight division is fairing on the main roster, it is benefiting NXT fans in spades. That fact was evident in our opening bout of Akira Tozawa vs Gentleman Jack Gallagher. This back and forth match was a great way to start the night illustrating the technical prowess of Jackie Boy and the hard-hitting style of Tozawa. The match was a condensed version of their CWC match with some of the same spots, including Gallagher tying a helpless Tozawa into a pretzel. This match was a lot of fun, and it’s clear both men are going to be a huge asset to the cruiserweight division. Jack Gallagher defeated Akira Tozawa with a huge running corner dropkick.

Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi vs The Bollywood Boyz

It was team Brazil against team India in our first tag team match of the evening. Jaoude and Bononi controlled much of the match with the much larger Bononi taking charge over the smaller duo of Gurv and Harv Sihra. I like Jaoude and Bononi but they are both very much works in progress, showing a lot of potential. This match was your standard formula tag match with the Jaoude and Bononi working dominant heel over their underdog opponents. The Bollywood Boyz defeated Jaoude and Bononi with a double superkick to Adrian Jaoude.

Sarah Bridges vs Macey Estrella

The night continued with women’s action as Sarah Bridges, formerly known as “Crazy” Mary Dobson made her Tampa debut against rookie Macey Estrella. I was excited to see Bridges finally compete in NXT beyond enhancement talent, and she doesn’t disappoint. However, it seemed at times it seemed she had to force herself into a slower pace for the inexperienced Estrella to keep up. Surprisingly Macey dominated the match over an underdog Bridges. Estrella has much work to go, but seems to progressing more so than some of the other new women. Macey Estrella defeated Sarah Bridges via submission with an arm bar.

Big Damo vs Ho Ho Lun

In perhaps the most lopsided match of the night, the Hong Kong cruiserweight found himself across the ring from the beast from Belfast. Undeterred, Ho Ho used his speed to attack his opponent with a flurry of offense, which unfortunately had no effect on the massive Damo. Finally, Damo grounded Lun with one big strike and began systematically picking apart the much smaller wrestler. Lun mounted a small comeback to little avail. While it’s always fun to watch a monster wreak havoc, it also reminds us that for the main roster cruiserweight division to be taken seriously, they must be kept away from the heavyweights. Still yet, it was an enjoyable match as both men are fun to watch. Big Damo defeated Ho Ho Lun with a massive running crossbody.

Wesley Blake vs Kishan Raftaar

Wesley Blake is a good wrestler that has lost his way. In this match, the former tag champion that has taken part in some of the most memorable tag matches in NXT history, didn’t look that much more experienced in the ring than the rookie Kishan Raftaar. Both men looked competent enough, but compared to the evening’s previous matches, it slowed the night tremendously. After a back and forth match Kishan Raftaar defeated Wesley Blake with a sunset flip off the turnbuckle.

Tommy End vs Buddy Murphy

This hard-hitting match started before Murphy was done with his entrance as End attacked him from behind and threw him to the outside. They brawled briefly outside the ring before heading back in where Murphy mounted a comeback. What followed was a tremendous back and forth between the two. Tommy End comes to NXT with a lot of hype, and he delivered with a myriad of strong strikes and kicks. Buddy Murphy held his own and is probably the most underrated performer in NXT at the moment. Excellent match that culminated with Tommy End defeating Buddy Murphy with a brutal high knee. Easily match of the night.

Tough Enough alumni Mada came out to the ring next for a promo. He dissed us Americans and boasted his superior Egyptian bloodline. He seemed confident on the mic; I have yet to see him perform in the ring though.

Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss vs Angelo Dawkins & Kenneth Crawford

This was your standard tag match with several false finishes and a bit of shenanigans. All four men seem to be benefiting from their new tag team affiliations. Moss and Sabbatelli seem to really be getting over with the fans, and I swear, they will probably be Vince McMahons favorite wrestlers one day based on physiques and hair alone. Nothing spectacular here, but entertaining nonetheless. Sabbatelli and Moss have an interesting tag finisher now; Moss hoists his opponent up into a Gory Special setting him up for a running bulldog from Tino. This move won them the match when Tino Sabbatelli pinned Kenneth Crawford.

Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas vs Gran Metallik

This was a great main event, maybe the best I’ve seen an already impressive Almas, simply because of how much he and Metallik work so well together. As imagined, this match featured lots of back and forth, fast paced, and “flippy” action. Both men looked great in this outing. Gran Metallik is going to be a major asset to the cruiserweight division, while heel Cien looks to have finally found his footing in NXT looking better every outing. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas defeated Gran Metallik, after nearly pulling off Metallik’s mask and following with a roll-up. After the match, Almas continued to beat down Metallik, until the good guy turned it around and sent Cien packing.

 This was no ‘B’ show, with several new faces stepping up and the arrival of the cruiserweights, this show was as good as any other.

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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.

 

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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.

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