Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
I just drove over 1,100 miles from New Jersey to see the NXT show in Tampa. Well, that's sorta true. My wife and I are actually in Orlando for a conference, and I discovered that NXT was running two shows, one in Orlando (which is sold out) and one in Tampa (which wasn't). I decided to hit up the Tampa show tonight since who knows when I will have another opportunity to see NXT live. It was held at the UACDC gymnasium and it was a great show for the most part. A few idiots in the bleachers behind me were entertaining themselves all night with stupid catcalls and chants that only the four of them seemed to enjoy, but the rest of the crowd was completely into everything and it was a great night.
Before the show, Carmella, Sara Lee and Colin Cassidy (with crutches) did a meet-and-greet.
I believe Dasha was the ring announcer.
Match #1--Hugo Knox pinned Riddick Moss. Knox coming out as an overzealous club dancer seemed to have half the crowd wondering what they were seeing, but he got over with it as the match progressed and looked pretty good in the ring. Moss screamed "I'm the man!" a few times but looked OK too. Decent opener.
Match #2--Bull Dempsey pinned Marcus Louis. Louis is now buddies with Sylvester LeFort and they have an evil French tag team gimmick. Louis also now has hair and apparently lost his psycho persona. The French duo threw out a lot of "comme si, comme sa" insults to Bull and the crowd, so I guess that's their catchphrase too. Bull was over with his new music and the Bull-Fit stuff. Bull won with the top rope bombs away.
Before the next match, someone came out and wanted to have a fiesta. He was hard to understand at times but I think it was Levis Valenzuela, calling himself El Jefe. He warned that no one better interrupt his fiesta, so of course some music started up and out walked...erm...well, a VERY muscled up person that immediately got "H-G-H" chants. Ouch. He got in the ring and said his name was Tom something-or-other (I believe it's Thomas Kingdon, a former bodybuilder). He said he hates people that don't like to party and called out some dancers, and everyone danced around the ring and to the back. Crowd scratched their heads a bit at this, but OK, it introduced some new characters. Doing so would work better with a better sound system, perhaps.
Match #3--Carmella, Adrienne and Asuka defeated Emma, Peyton Royce and Cameron. Adrienne is Athena, but she was called Adrienne (her real first name) all night by the ring announcer, so I guess that's going to be her NXT persona. Asuka got a monster pop, and I think I was the first person in the audience to hear her music and realize it was her because I didn't see anyone else stand up until she came out. What an awesome treat to see her live. Everyone looked good, even the "Melina vs. Alicia Fox" girl seemed OK. The babyface trio mocked the heels huddling up at the start of the match, and when Asuka and Emma started off, Emma's partners on multiple occasions would jump off the ring apron when Emma wanted to tag out. Adrienne/Athena looked fantastic, winning over the crowd, many of whom had no idea who she was at first. Asuka made Peyton tap to the Asuka lock.
Match #4--Baron Corbin pinned Angelo Dawkins. Dawkins and his headband routine is pretty funny, and he looked good in there with Corbin, but the Lone Wolf won with his End of Days finisher. Good match.
Match #5--The Vaudevillains defeated Blake/Murphy (with Alexa), The Hype Bros and Jordan/Gable in a four-corners match to retain the tag belts. Oddly, this was mostly played as a comedy match, but it was still entertaining. Jordan and Gable are O-V-E-R big time, the most of any of these four teams. Beyond that, they're just awesome workers. There's $$$$ there. Simon Gotch also deserves a notation, he gets better every match. He and Aiden are very fluid together at this point. Blake and Murphy were bump machines, and I think the Ryder/Rawley combination has made both of them much better individually. Champs retained with the Whirling Dervish.
After intermission, Match #6--Apollo Crews pinned Tino Sabbatelli. No one knew Tino at all, and it seemed odd having him get so much offense on Apollo. With that said, he looked fine, but Crews should have mopped up the mat with him being that he's so unknown to the audience at this point. Crews won with his new finisher.
Match #7--Bayley pinned Eva Marie. Don't panic, the match was not bad at all. First off, Bayley can work with anyone and make it look good. Secondly, Eva Marie really is getting better day by day. It's still a work in progress, but she isn't lost in the ring anymore by any stretch of the imagination. Her repertoire continues to expand, she interacts well with the audience and she's getting her timing down well. Bayley won with a Bayley-to-belly suplex.
Match #8--Main event, and I must admit I had to leave halfway through since I had a 70-mile drive back to Orlando and a very early wake-up call tomorrow. Main was Samoa Joe versus Tye Dillinger. I probably can safely assume Joe won here, but I think it's worth noting that Tye Dillinger, despite coming up on the losing end of just about every match lately, is continually being put into high-profile matches and house-show main events against the likes of Joe, Crews, Finn Balor, etc. This tells me that NXT knows they have a top-flight talent here and in time, they're going to elevate him. The matches he's losing aren't hurting his stature with the fans, as the Perfect 10 gimmick is way over, plus he's excellent in the ring with every single person he's in there with. Joe and Tye had some comedy exchanges over Tye's "10" sign, with the best one being Joe threatening to stomp it and Tye begging him not to. Joe let up and Tye tried to sneak in a kick, but Joe caught his leg and wound up throwing it down so Tye stomped his own sign. Funny.
All in all, great show, great crowd (minus the few bleacher idiots) and well worth the time and money spent. NXT is so, so far ahead of WWE right now with the quality of its product that it's almost criminal.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
