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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NXT Gainesville 10-30-15

Written by Wayne Mason

Photos by Maryann Mason

Friday night guys and ghouls creeped into the MLK Recreation center for an evening of NXT action. It was Devils Night, but instead of tricks or treats, fans were treated to an odd, fun, and most definitely unforgettable night of wrestling.

The evening starts with a spooky Halloween Royal Rumble, standard Rumble format is in place except all competitors are costumed. Sylvester Lefort is out first in his gladiator gear. Aiden English is out next dressed up as Kevin Owens, complete with a toy Intercontinental title belt and nailing even the most subtle mannerisms. English even uses Owens moves, missing a cannonball but hitting Lefort with a Pop-up Powerbomb. As the match wears on and the ring fills the action continues in typical battle royal fashion. Some of the competitors included Elias Sampson as a mustard bottle, Thomas Kingdon in poncho and sombrero with a big mustache, and Axel Tischer as a Viking. Jason Jordan was a monkey while Chad Gable was a giant banana. Hugo Knox wore a wig and a schoolgirl skirt and at one point danced with a hippy Rich Swann. Biff Busick also competed but was in a ghostly hood, while Noah Kekoa paid homage to The Wild Samoans. Wesley Blake came in dressed as a Florida State Seminoles cheerleader which brought boos from the Gators crowd. The final competitor was a Lego person whose identity became obvious after laying out Blake with a Belly-To-Bayley before tossing him over the top rope to become the winner. Ring announcer Dasha Fuentes comes out and states that as winner of the Rumble, Bayley has won the privilege of being guest general manager for the night. The action was standard battle royal fare, but all the costumes and zaniness made this so much fun. It was also a great way to utilize a lot of underutilized guys from the back.

Next up, Steve Cutler takes on Angelo Dawkins. The match starts with a lot of back and forth grappling and running the ropes until Dawkins takes advantage with a cheap shot. After that Dawkins slows down the pace, grounding Cutler with a front chancery. Eventually, Cutler fires back, gaining momentum culminating with a nice springboard elbow. Dawkins retaliates moments later dropping Cutler onto the ropes and then following with a flapjack for the win. This was a short textbook match, but both men have improved a lot over the last year. After a lot of failed gimmicks, Angelo Dawkins may now be finding traction by pretty much just being Angelo.

An angry Enzo Amore makes his way to the ring to cut a fiery promo against the two men who put his partner on the shelf, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. In the middle of his tirade he is interrupted by Dawson and Wilder, who surround the ring before entering to beat down Amore. The NXT champion Finn Balor runs down to make the save. Acting manager Bayley comes out and sets up our main event of the evening, which will obviously be Finn and Enzo taking on Dawson and Wilder.

Women’s action is next with Marley (formerly Gionna Daddio) taking on Peyton Royce. The match starts very fast paced and back and forth as the two trade armlocks and pin attempts. Peyton takes over after a fierce running knee. She chokes Marley in the corner before grounding her with a chinlock. Marley fights back with some dropkicks and a hip toss, but Peyton comes back with a huge heel kick for a close count by the ref. Moments later Marley uses her speed to her advantage for a last grasp comeback culminating with crossbody off the top rope for the win. This was one of the better matches of the night. The new less bubbly, more dark and sultry heel persona works well for the talented Peyton, while Marley simply gets better every time I see her.

The night continues with six man tag action as Mojo Rawley, Tucker Knight, and Bull Dempsey take on the team of Solomon Crowe, Sawyer Fulton and Marcus Louis. After an initial burst of offense the heel team quickly take over controlling Knight. Mostly strikes and kicks as the three tag frequently punishing Tucker. Sawyer Fulton looked strong with an impressive gutwrench suplex to Knight, who is by no means a small man. Eventually, Knight makes the hot tag to Bull who clears house with a series of strikes until another cheap shot behind the referees back allows the bad guys to regain control. Finally though, Dempsey makes the tag to Mojo who comes in as hyped as ever. He goes for a big splash in the corner, but Louis pulls Crowe out of the way. Crowe pounces and finishes Rawley with a twisting suplex neckbreaker for the victory. Fulton gave a standout performance, while Crowe is still one of the more underrated guys in NXT.

Next, is Baron Corbin taking on Levis Valenzuela. Corbin takes control easily in the early goings of the match. Corbin rolls out of the ring and grabs a mic, telling Levis the costume party was at the beginning of the night and that these people paid what little money they had to see real superstars. The match resumes and Levis comes back with a big arm drag and a monkey flip before clotheslining Corbin back to the outside. An angry Corbin climbs back into the ring but a fired up Valenzuela continues with several dropkicks and a suplex. Corbin halts him by taking out his knee. Corbin controls most of the match from this point on, slowing the pace with a series of strikes and punches. Levis mounts a small comeback but Corbin shits him down with a big swinging side slam and moments later and End Of Days for the pin. Afterwards, Corbin begins to decimate Levis, but Apollo Crews makes the save. This match looked better in execution than it does on paper. I personally love all the people booing the hell out of Corbin, because he seems to feed off of it, and it makes him better. Plus, he has no problem handling the crowd either.

We continue with more women’s action as Nia Jax takes on Billie Kay. Wisely, Billie attempts to stay a step ahead by using her speed to her advantage by dodging Nia, and answering with strikes of her own. Nia misses with a splash in the corner and Billie pounces with a series of kicks, but Nia catches her and drops her with a shoulder breaker. After that she begins to target the arm of Billie for much of the match. Later, Billie mounts a comeback with a series of kicks and a big boot. An angry Nia would fight back and snatch Billie into a Torture Rack for the submission. I enjoyed this match. I could easily see Billie Kay at the top of the division one day.

We continue with Ty Dillinger taking on Tino Sabbatelli. The perfect 10 Ty Dillinger started off strong, outgrappling Tino, taking out his feet and following with a nice springboard splash. The two fight on the outside until Tino sends Dillinger into the pole. Dillinger barely makes the referees 10 count, and Tino tosses hom back to the outside. At this point Sabbatelli takes over, tossing Dillinger to the outside several times over the course of the match, but each time Dillinger would narrowly make the 10 count. Finally, Dillinger mounts a comeback with several chops, a Lou Thez press, and a Russian Leg sweep. He hikes down his kneepad for his knee smash, but Tino rolls out of the ring. He grabs Tino and sends him back to the ring, nails him with a superkick and a knee smash facebreaker for the victory. Dillinger’s stock continues to rise in NXT, yet one of his greatest strengths is being able to make anyone look good. Tino did better than I anticipated, yet he has a long way to go.

Dasha Fuentes invites Asuka to the ring for an interview. The international superstar comes out to probably the biggest pop of the night. She talks about how happy she is to be here in NXT before she is interrupted by Emma. Emma says that Dana could not be here tonight and that it is all Asuka’s fault, and it is unacceptable. Emma demands a moment of silence for Dana, but the crowd instead answers with Asuka chants. After Emma starts to leave but instead attempts to attack. Asuka is ready and counters with a rolling armbar, but Emma escapes and beats a hasty retreat.

It is time for our tag team main event. Enzo starts for his team very aggressively against  Dawson with a series of punches. Inevitably, Amore does what he does best, playing the underdog as Dawson and Wilder decimate him. Dawson and Wilder employ frequent tags while working the leg of Amore. Eventually, Enzo manages to bulldog Dash and make a hot tag. Finn Balor comes in with a series of strikes and chops. He kicks Dawson off the ring apron and follows with a slingblade and hesitation dropkick to Wilder. Balor throws Amore onto Wilder with an assisted splash, but Dawson pulls the ref out of the ring causing a DQ. Dawson and Wilder attempt to leave but are cut off by Bayley and all the still costumed Rumble competitors who back Dawson and Wilder back into the ring for a final Coup De Grace.

I’ve been to too many NXT shows to count, and I don’t think there has ever been a bad one. Yet there are a handful that will always be standouts, this one was one of those shows. “Kevin Owens” alone was worth the price of admission.

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