Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
NXT Largo
July 12, 2019
Minnreg Hall
Attendance- 450
*Full house, standing room only*
Introduction: Despite having parts of a Tropical Depression dump water on Largo continuously all day, a large amount of people came to this event. The past several events had average to below average attendance but tonight was a standing room only crowd. Why? The weather could have helped since people would want to do something inside, people could be excited for the upcoming wrestling weekend and this would be the perfect way to start it or maybe they promoted the show better. Regardless, this big crowd was hot all night making a good show, great.
Rik Bugez defeated Angel Garza
Rik Bugez won! Any fan who has followed the loop has seen Bugez work crowds into frenzies with his air guiter rock-out entrance and exit, he would usually lose because I believe the agents think the crowd would like him regardless. Maybe they never thought about what would happen when he finally one because what happened was a gigantic pop and celebration. This was a really good match with Garza bringing Bugez’s game up a notch. They went back and forth with Garza hitting several impressive strikes and aerial kicks. Bugez then made a massive comeback, powered by the cheers of the crowd, to hit several hard strikes on Garza and then attain the victory by hitting Garza with a standing switch powerslam. This was a fun match especially the celebration with (which is key) Bugez at the end.
Babatunde defeated Mohamed Fahim (announced as Mo Pharaoh but that will change by next week)
This could possibly have been Fahim’s first NXT match although I am only sure that it is his first match at Largo or Tampa. Fahim is a 28-year-old boxing champion from Cairo, Egypt, who is basing his gimmick off of that fact. He wrestled like a boxer and wore gold and black Boxing shorts instead of tights. Babatunde came out to a nice reaction from the crowd as always because they expect him to squash his opponent. He has really become a believable monster on the Loop but Fahim was not going to let Babatunde just destroy him. He would circle Babatunde like a boxer as well as dodge and weave around any attempted move. This made it look like he actually had a chance when he would dodge a grapple, hit a couple of hard punches then escape to the outside. Eventually, Babatunde caught on to this tactic and was able to get ahold of Fahim and hit a huge Waist Lifted Side Slam for the victory. Solid match for what it was.
Weird side note: Fahim has been the security guard patting fans down coming into the events for the last couple of months so it is great to see him make it into the ring. He was always very nice and courteous to fans and would make jokes while checking for foreign objects which he was always thorough at.
Brandon Vink defeated Mansoor
This was an unexpected fantastic match with great heat, spots, pacing, and wrestling. This match is the reason why I think Mansoor is such a talented wrestler with loads of potential. I just hope being from Saudi Arabia does not hurt him in any way with his progression, like him being type-casted as the Saudi Arabian underdog just for Saudi shows. Mansoor can do so much more than than that and Vink also showed his talent in this match after being in tag matches constantly on the loop. Vink did came out to a surprising amount of heat from the hot crowd at the Minnreg Hall while Mansoor got a surprisingly good reaction from the crowd, the fine people of Largo generally seemed to like Mansoor as the babyface underdog. This match went back and forth with Vink controlling most of it only for Mansoor to cut him off with impressive reversalss that he would follow with a series of strong strikes like superkicks as well as a variety of springboard maneuvers and slams. At one point to cut off a comeback by Mansoor, Vink gave him a frying pan chop that sounded like it came from the Big Show who just found someone keyed his car. Mansoor then countered with immediately with a Knife Edged Chop that would make Ric Flair proud. They traded chops until Vink got the upper hand. Eventually, Vink got the win after Mansoor was distracted allowing Vink to pin Mansoor. The crowd heavily booed this finish although I thought this was a great match that surpassed my expectations.
Bronson Reed defeated Shane Thorne
This was a solid match with a surprising finish. Neither wrestler came out to a great reaction which shows that Robert Strauss, a nefarious NXT manager, is needed for Reed to garner heat for him before the matches because that worked well at other Loop shows. Shane Thorne is still doing his sitting in a chair in the center of the ring while looking disinterested gimmick while wearing a Pete Dunne like fur entrance jacket. Thorne actually made the security guy get out of his ringside chair so he could use it in the ring to do this and while I thought this was just a gimmick, by the end of the match I questioned if it is not both. Reed would then attack Thorne in the the chair which Thorne was able to counter with strikes of his own. He hit Reed with hard kicks and knees throughout the match which really made me think that he should be in NJPW with his old tag partner, Nick Miller since his style seems to fit that organization perfectly. Reed would make comebacks by using his weight against Thorne, at one point literally just sitting on Thorne, and was eventually able to gain the victory after a huge top rope splash that was really impressive. I was really surprised that Thorne lost to Reed since Thorne has been used in main events on the Loop and has generally been very good in the ring. This really made me think that he is waiting for his contract to run out and until then, he will be losing newbies if he let that be known. This is not inside information, just my guess that could be completely false and I could have been fooled by some very deep kayfabe. Regardless, this was a solid and entertaining match despite there being a major problem with the match since it had no clear baby face or heel which prevented the hot crowd from really getting behind the match.
NXT Tag Team Championship
Street Profits defeated the Forgotten Sons with Jaxson Ryker to retain the Championships
This was a fantastic match that was at a Main Event level with both teams flying around the ring hitting impactful moves and hard strikes. It was similar in structure to other matches they had with Ryder interfering putting the Profits in danger only for them to make an awesome comeback. While the structure was similar they did some cool new spots and this is probably a warm-up for a future match on TV or PPV. The finish was new and something they have not done before with Ford winning with a surprise roll-up after several hard hitting spots from both teams. This produced the loudest pop of the night and the Profits celebrated with the crowd after.
Weird Side Note: Montez Ford is still wearing his crown but now has red bedazzles on his red solo cup which fits his gimmick perfectly.
Aaliyah and Vanessa Borne defeated Lacey Lane and Karen Q
This was a solid match but with the hot Largo crowd the heels, Borne and Aaliyah, were heavily booed while the faces, Lane and Q were heavily cheered. This was a typical tag match with the heels cheating to cut-off the Lane and Q while also working to keep them in their corner to pummel them to a victory. While Lane and Q would make several comeback attempts, Borne and Aaliyah were able to get the victory through cheap tactics which led to a large negative reaction from the crowd. Borne and Aaliyah have really become a strong tag team that work great together as a unit. With the main roster female tag division in a strange state, I could definitely see this team doing well in the division if the WWE decided to take it seriously.
Matt Riddle defeated Ridge Holland (former Luke Menzies)
Holland came out to a louder negative reaction than normal, which is usually no reaction, and he still comes to the ring with a Billy Club acting like an old timey tough from a pool hall in Parts Unknown. While he does not have much of gimmick or loads of charisma, he has improved himself tremendously in the ring and has true potential to become a great worker. Matt Riddle came out to probably the second biggest reaction of the night followed by a loud “Bro” chant. This match immediately started with Holland charging Riddle shortly after he kicked off his sandals. This was a good match that was hard hitting with both wrestlers being snug with one another. While Holland would cheat to cut-off the offensive onslaught of Riddle, Holland would then hit some impressive maneuvers of his own. Eventually Riddle got the upper hand by hitting a hard knee to Holland’s face and Riddle ended the match with his Gotch style cradle Tombstone front slam for the pin and the win.
Weird Side Note: When Riddle kicked his sandals off, one went into the crowd and was caught by a fan in the third row. I do not know what happened to this sandal and it seemed like Riddle did not care what happened to it either. I did not see the fan throw it back into the ring area or hand it off to security making me believe this fan got to bring him a unique souvenir from this event. This brought up a load of questions about liability and sandal costs in my mind but regardless, I would probably have kept the sandal as well.
Main Event
NXT North American Championship
Velveteen Dream defeated Roddy Strong
This was a main event that was a perfect ending to another epic night for NXT in Largo. The crowd was hot during this whole match which the wrestlers seemed to feed off of. Roderick Strong came out to a mixed reaction which is interesting because he is a local Tampa boy raised in tough circumstances that has made it but on the other hand, he is part of those cheating scoundrels, the Undisputed Era. Velveteen Dream then came out to his normal loud positive reaction from the crowd because he is over as one could be on this part of the Florida Loop. This match was great and full of innovative counters and wrestling moves set-up in a smart progressive fashion by both wrestlers. Strong was able to counter many different moves by Dream into one of his backbreakers and Dream was able to reverse some of Strong’s backbreakers with superkicks or DDT’s. The match had a great false finish when Dream went for the Purple Rainmaker for the sure victory only for Strong to get his boot up which hit Dream right in the face. Strong then went for his signature backbreaker only for Dream to counter it to a Death Valley Bomb for the victory. Great ending to a great show at the Minnreg Hall in Largo, Florida.
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
