NXT House Show Report - St. Paul, MN, September 18
Sept 19, 2016 3:22:52 GMT -5
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Post by Brainbustaaah! on Sept 19, 2016 3:22:52 GMT -5
Went to my first live wrestling event yesterday, and it was one hell of an experience. The venue was the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, which gave it a smaller feel. I think it helped the show, because you could hear the wrestlers as they interacted with each other and that gave us some good comedy moments. No pictures, unfortunately. I was a little late, and so I missed the first match...
1) Rich Swann pinned Tino Sabbatelli. Again, missed most of this, so all I can note is that Swann seemed to be having a good time and people were taking to him. I really wish I'd been able to get there in time to see Swann in action.
2) Peyton Royce pinned Daria with a Perfect-Plex. Daria worked face during the match, using a lot of MMA-inspired takedowns and striking. Lots of stalling from Peyton to start, which earned a mild "Boring" chant from some of the more vocal jerks in the crowd. They teased a submission for Daria off of a standing heel hold, but Peyton rolled through and snagged the win. Decent match, but Daria needs to tighten her strikes up. Her ground and pound looked pretty sloppy at times. Still, solid effort and you can tell she's improving.
3) Hideo Itami pinned Austin Aries after the GTS. Aries came out with a Packers headband and Packer-colored Zubaz on, and was announced as being from "The Great State of Wisconsin". Ludicrous amounts of heat for that. Itami posed with a guy in a Vikings jersey before the match, which was slickly played. Lots of stiff striking from Itami during this one, and lots of Aries generally being a cowardly jerk. Aries almost had the match won off of the rolling elbow and the corner dropkick, but Itami kicked out of both. Aries teased the GTS, but Itami slipped free and pantsed Aries (revealing his trunks), setting him up to take the GTS for the pin. Aries sold being out of it after the match. Really well-done, Itami is an unsung great at getting the crowd behind him.
A video aired of Riddick Moss getting off the tour bus and talking about how good it was to be home in Minnesota. He said he'd see the crowd in the main event.
4) Bobby Roode pinned Tye Dillinger after a low blow and the Glorious Drop (apparently, that's what his implant DDT is called). Big reaction for Tye, with the crowd completely behind him. They still sang Roode's theme, though, because...well, GLORIOUS. There was a fun "GLORIOUS!" versus "TEN!" face-off to start, with the crowd throwing behind Tye. Both men got some good spots, including Roode breaking out a figure-four and Dillinger breaking out the Sharpshooter. Dillinger teased the Tye-Breaker a few times during the match, and the finish came when Roode grabbed the top turnbuckle and pulled off the pad in an attempt to block. While the ref was distracted trying to reattach the pad, Roode hit the low blow and DDT combo mentioned for the win. He went to leave, but came back into the ring and attacked Dillinger. Tye fought back and managed to hit the Tye-Breaker to pop the crowd. Roode sold it like death, being laid out cold for a full forty-five seconds and barely being able to walk after taking it. This led to intermission.
INTERMISSION: ...it was intermission. Nothing big happened. They showed Tweets on the Tron and I found out where I could pay five bucks for a bottle of Coke. We came back from intermission to...
5) TM-61 versus The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship never happened. Dash and Dawson came out, with Dawson "hobbling" on a crutch, and explained that Dawson hadn't been cleared to compete by the trainers. TM-61 goaded Dash into a singles match instead, with Dawson taking up the cornerman role. That gave us...
5) Shane Thorne pinned Dash Wilder with a snap hurricanrana pin. Decent match between the two, with Miller serving as face counter to Dawson's tricksy heel shenanigans. It was clear very early that Dawson didn't need the crutch, and it got used in a few shenanigans-y spots during the match. Thorne hit a slingshot plancha onto the Revival, which was the biggest high spot of the night to that point. There was a fun spot where Dawson threw one of the tag belts into the ring, and as the ref was handling it, Thorne small packaged Wilder, only for Dawson to turn them over with his crutch. Not to be outdone, Miller slid into the ring, pushed them back over again, and got out before the ref turned to count the pin. Finish was a little abrupt, but par for the course. Dawson got punched off the apron at one point, so no worries of it actually being an ankle thing.
6) Asuka submitted Ember Moon with the Asuka Lock to retain the NXT Women's Championship. When I heard Ember's music hit as the challenger, I knew we were in for something special. Big reaction for both women, with a lot of positive chants throughout. The match was very nicely paced, with Ember showing that she could hang with Asuka. Great chain wrestling sequence to start, ended with a double dropkick and pose-off. Ember drew a "THIS IS AWESOME!" chant off of a crossbody to the outside from the second turnbuckle. Asuka caught Ember coming off the top with a jumping kneelift and sent her into the ropes before connecting with a flying Asuka Lock(!) for the win. Ember and Asuka embraced after the match, much to the crowd's delight. There was a five-year-old girl the next section over, and she was probably the biggest Asuka fan in the building. Hearing a small child chant "Asuka's gonna kill you" is one of the most delightfully surreal moments of my entire life. Match of the night in my book.
7) NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and No Way Jose defeated Samoa Joe and Riddick Moss by pinfall (Nakamura pinned Moss after the Kinshasa). Moss came out first, to a big reaction (he used to be a Golden Gophers football player). He then proceeded to turn the crowd against him with a stereotypical "glad I left this dump!" promo. The best part was him saying that he never wanted another one of his mom's home-cooked meals again. If there's one surefire way to get a Minnesota crowd turned against you, that's it. Nakamura is over big time, like...holy hell, guys. There's no two ways to say that. He was wearing a soft neck brace to sell the beatdown from Joe, and throughout the entire match really came across like he wanted to make Joe pay for assaulting him. Nice spot where Nakamura did the vibration boot on Moss, and then tagged Jose in for a double vibration boot. Finish came when Jose took out Samoa Joe with a big wind-up punch and a diving clothesline from the apron, and Nakamura dropped Moss with the Kinshasa (the entire arena did their best Corey Graves when he hit it) for the pin, with Joe being half a second too late to break it up. Great stuff, Nakamura is an absolute rockstar and the crowd loved everything he did.
After the match, Nakamura cut a brief promo thanking the crowd for being great and inviting us to partake in a celebratory "YeaOh!" Nobody turned him down.
For my first live wrestling experience ever, I could have received so, so much worse. This was a stellar show, top to bottom, and I loved every second of it. Biggest reactions of the night were definitely Nakamura and Asuka, with Dillinger coming in as a strong third. Fantastically done by the NXT crew, and I can't wait for my next chance to attend a show.
1) Rich Swann pinned Tino Sabbatelli. Again, missed most of this, so all I can note is that Swann seemed to be having a good time and people were taking to him. I really wish I'd been able to get there in time to see Swann in action.
2) Peyton Royce pinned Daria with a Perfect-Plex. Daria worked face during the match, using a lot of MMA-inspired takedowns and striking. Lots of stalling from Peyton to start, which earned a mild "Boring" chant from some of the more vocal jerks in the crowd. They teased a submission for Daria off of a standing heel hold, but Peyton rolled through and snagged the win. Decent match, but Daria needs to tighten her strikes up. Her ground and pound looked pretty sloppy at times. Still, solid effort and you can tell she's improving.
3) Hideo Itami pinned Austin Aries after the GTS. Aries came out with a Packers headband and Packer-colored Zubaz on, and was announced as being from "The Great State of Wisconsin". Ludicrous amounts of heat for that. Itami posed with a guy in a Vikings jersey before the match, which was slickly played. Lots of stiff striking from Itami during this one, and lots of Aries generally being a cowardly jerk. Aries almost had the match won off of the rolling elbow and the corner dropkick, but Itami kicked out of both. Aries teased the GTS, but Itami slipped free and pantsed Aries (revealing his trunks), setting him up to take the GTS for the pin. Aries sold being out of it after the match. Really well-done, Itami is an unsung great at getting the crowd behind him.
A video aired of Riddick Moss getting off the tour bus and talking about how good it was to be home in Minnesota. He said he'd see the crowd in the main event.
4) Bobby Roode pinned Tye Dillinger after a low blow and the Glorious Drop (apparently, that's what his implant DDT is called). Big reaction for Tye, with the crowd completely behind him. They still sang Roode's theme, though, because...well, GLORIOUS. There was a fun "GLORIOUS!" versus "TEN!" face-off to start, with the crowd throwing behind Tye. Both men got some good spots, including Roode breaking out a figure-four and Dillinger breaking out the Sharpshooter. Dillinger teased the Tye-Breaker a few times during the match, and the finish came when Roode grabbed the top turnbuckle and pulled off the pad in an attempt to block. While the ref was distracted trying to reattach the pad, Roode hit the low blow and DDT combo mentioned for the win. He went to leave, but came back into the ring and attacked Dillinger. Tye fought back and managed to hit the Tye-Breaker to pop the crowd. Roode sold it like death, being laid out cold for a full forty-five seconds and barely being able to walk after taking it. This led to intermission.
INTERMISSION: ...it was intermission. Nothing big happened. They showed Tweets on the Tron and I found out where I could pay five bucks for a bottle of Coke. We came back from intermission to...
5) TM-61 versus The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship never happened. Dash and Dawson came out, with Dawson "hobbling" on a crutch, and explained that Dawson hadn't been cleared to compete by the trainers. TM-61 goaded Dash into a singles match instead, with Dawson taking up the cornerman role. That gave us...
5) Shane Thorne pinned Dash Wilder with a snap hurricanrana pin. Decent match between the two, with Miller serving as face counter to Dawson's tricksy heel shenanigans. It was clear very early that Dawson didn't need the crutch, and it got used in a few shenanigans-y spots during the match. Thorne hit a slingshot plancha onto the Revival, which was the biggest high spot of the night to that point. There was a fun spot where Dawson threw one of the tag belts into the ring, and as the ref was handling it, Thorne small packaged Wilder, only for Dawson to turn them over with his crutch. Not to be outdone, Miller slid into the ring, pushed them back over again, and got out before the ref turned to count the pin. Finish was a little abrupt, but par for the course. Dawson got punched off the apron at one point, so no worries of it actually being an ankle thing.
6) Asuka submitted Ember Moon with the Asuka Lock to retain the NXT Women's Championship. When I heard Ember's music hit as the challenger, I knew we were in for something special. Big reaction for both women, with a lot of positive chants throughout. The match was very nicely paced, with Ember showing that she could hang with Asuka. Great chain wrestling sequence to start, ended with a double dropkick and pose-off. Ember drew a "THIS IS AWESOME!" chant off of a crossbody to the outside from the second turnbuckle. Asuka caught Ember coming off the top with a jumping kneelift and sent her into the ropes before connecting with a flying Asuka Lock(!) for the win. Ember and Asuka embraced after the match, much to the crowd's delight. There was a five-year-old girl the next section over, and she was probably the biggest Asuka fan in the building. Hearing a small child chant "Asuka's gonna kill you" is one of the most delightfully surreal moments of my entire life. Match of the night in my book.
7) NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and No Way Jose defeated Samoa Joe and Riddick Moss by pinfall (Nakamura pinned Moss after the Kinshasa). Moss came out first, to a big reaction (he used to be a Golden Gophers football player). He then proceeded to turn the crowd against him with a stereotypical "glad I left this dump!" promo. The best part was him saying that he never wanted another one of his mom's home-cooked meals again. If there's one surefire way to get a Minnesota crowd turned against you, that's it. Nakamura is over big time, like...holy hell, guys. There's no two ways to say that. He was wearing a soft neck brace to sell the beatdown from Joe, and throughout the entire match really came across like he wanted to make Joe pay for assaulting him. Nice spot where Nakamura did the vibration boot on Moss, and then tagged Jose in for a double vibration boot. Finish came when Jose took out Samoa Joe with a big wind-up punch and a diving clothesline from the apron, and Nakamura dropped Moss with the Kinshasa (the entire arena did their best Corey Graves when he hit it) for the pin, with Joe being half a second too late to break it up. Great stuff, Nakamura is an absolute rockstar and the crowd loved everything he did.
After the match, Nakamura cut a brief promo thanking the crowd for being great and inviting us to partake in a celebratory "YeaOh!" Nobody turned him down.
For my first live wrestling experience ever, I could have received so, so much worse. This was a stellar show, top to bottom, and I loved every second of it. Biggest reactions of the night were definitely Nakamura and Asuka, with Dillinger coming in as a strong third. Fantastically done by the NXT crew, and I can't wait for my next chance to attend a show.
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