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NXT Live!
9/21/17
Lowell, MA
We're back in the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, the same building Samoa Joe shocked everyone when he beat Finn Balor in their first trip to Massachusetts.
Match One: Street Profits vs. Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
Crowd is hit for Montez, who works most of this match, tagging in Dawkins only for some quick double team work. Moss and Tino finally take control until Dawkins gets the hot tag. Montez finishes it with a frog splash. Good opener. Crowd already hates Sabbatelli, I'd love to see him get some more character development and become truly hateable.
Winners: Street Profits
Match Two: Oney Lorcan vs. Lars Sullivan
Initial strong offense between the two until Lars gets Lorcan to the outside and torpedoes him into the ring post. Sullivan keeps the power pressure on. Oney comes back with strikes and dives but Lara puts him away with a side slam. Thus ends Oney Lorcan's undefeated Massachusetts NXT streak. Crowd gives Lorcan a hero's reception on his way out.
Winner: Lars Sullivan
Match Three: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce vs. Dakota Kai & Liv Morgan
Decent back and forth tag match. I haven't seen Liv Morgan work in a while but she's miles better than last I saw her. The mean girls work Liv over for a good chunk of this match until Kai tags in to clean house. She almost puts Royce away but they catch her with a wheelbarrow running kick for the pin.
Winners: Billie Kay & Peyton Royce
Match Four: Hideo Itami vs Roderick Strong
Good stiff strikes and kicks back and forth here as Hideo demands the respect from Roderick he is unwilling to return in kind. Great ending sequence with Itami trying to go for the GTS multiple times before Strong wipes him out with a Strongbreaker.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Match Five: Undisputed vs. Sanity (6-man tag)
The crowd is VERY hyped for this. They tease an opening fight between the faction leaders before Cole tags out, to the crowd's dismay. Good back and forth between the various faction members until Undisputed isolates Wulf for a while. EY cleans house until Cole crotches him on the top rope. They work over Young until Dain finally tags back in, much to the dismay of Cole. He nearly puts Adam away with a slam/senton/Vaderbomb combo but Undisputed breaks it up. The ref can't get control of the ensuing brawl and throws the match out. They tease a post-match showdown but Undisputed turns tail and exits. Good match. The tag title version of this will be fun at Takeover.
Winners: NO CONTEST
(Intermission)
Match 6: Johnny Gargano vs. Raul Mendoza
This was wonderfully high-energy. Back and forth sequences between the two to start. They trade near submissions. Gargano takes control after his slingshot spear but Mendoza takes it back after a running dropkick with Gargano in the tree of woe. A near fall after a coast-to-coast drop kick. Gargano kicks out and catches Mendoza with a cross face for the win. As a long-form version of their NXT TV match, this was most excellent. Most notably, this match got the crowd REALLY INTO Raul Mendoza, who got a standing ovation from the crowd after Gargano left.
Winner: Johnny Gargano (and all of us, really)
Match Seven: Sonya Daville vs. Kairi Sane
Sonya plays the size and power game against Kairi to start. Sane's speed plays a good foil to this as they trade dismissive head pats. Daville takes control, shedding her MMA gloves and pads to deliver strikes and slams to Sane. Kairi fights back and gets the pin off that absolutely massive elbow drop of hers. This was fun and a good start to Kairi Sane's run in NXT!
Winner: Kairi Sane
Main Event: Andrade Cien Almas vs. Drew McIntyre (for the NXT Championship)
Almas tries to get under the champ's skin early but McIntyre keeps one step ahead. He kicks him through the road during his patented rope posing bit. He kick Almas in the gut mid-leap frog. They fight to the outside where Almas finally takes control. They go back and forth, wearing each other down with as much heavy artillery as they can throw at each other. Drew retains after a headbutt and Claymore kick. This was awesome.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
After the match, Undisputed hits the ring to ambush Drew. They 3-on-1 him. Gargano, Lorcan and Street Profits hit the ring to make the save but they are beaten down too. Sanity runs in and finally the tide turns, everyone hitting their finishers on the dastardly invaders, sending them on the run. The new faces of NXT celebrate in the ring, with some extra love for Oney Lorcan.
This was a fun show! Gargano/Mendoza was easily match of the night but the main event and end-show angle finished the night well. I've posted some pics to Twitter: @juliusblaise. See you next time!
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