NXT Live Event
Cardiff, Wales at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Report by Dot Net reader Dan Mallett
It was by far the best wrestling show I’ve been to.
1. Enzo Amore and Big Cass beat Blake and Murphy. A really good opening match that got the crowd into things. BAMF played really good heels and Enzo was a great face in peril. Team SAWFT won with Enzo’s top rope dive.
2. Asuka beat Alexa Bliss. This was a great match that was tarnished a bit by a flat crowd for most of it. Alexa got a surprising amount of offense in, but Asuka ended up winning with the Crossface Chickenwing. It’s been said before, but I still feel the need to say that both ladies look absolutely stunning live.
3. Bull Dempsey beat Tye Dillinger. A great comedy match that was really entertaining, despite going on for a huge amount of time. Bull ended up winning with his top rope senton-like finisher.
4. Nia Jax defeated Carmella. I had low expectations going into this match, and although it was probably the weakest match, it was still very entertaining. Carmella got a decent pop for claiming to be the Princess of Cardiff. Nia won with the leg drop after her spinebuster.
5. Apollo Crews beat Baron Corbin. This was a fantastic match with Corbin looking very impressive. Corbin had a long stretch of offence before Crews came back and ended up winning with an enzuigiri followed by a standing moonsault. Huge ‘U-Haa’ chants throughout the match.
Intermission
6. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson beat Jason Jordan and Chad Gable to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship. My match of the night. Jordan and Gable came out to a huge pop, and there were a lot of Gable and Jordan chants to the tune of 2 Unlimited’s No Limit. Gable was far more over than Jordan, who sadly only got a small pop for taking the straps down. The champs won when Dash (I think) pulled down Gable when he was suplexing Dawson, and then held his legs down for the 3.
7. Bayley beat Emma (w/Dana Brooke) to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. Bayley got another huge pop, she was probably the most over other than Sami Zayn. The match was disappointingly short, but the fans had a great time singing ‘Hey Bayley’ to DJ Otzi’s ‘Hey Baby.’ Dana got ejected for trying to push Bayley off of the turnbuckle, which got her massive heat. Bayley won after kicking out of a rollup and hitting the Bayley-to-Belly.
8. Finn Balor defeated Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn to retain the NXT Championship. Sami got the loudest crowd reaction of the night by a very long way, but Finn and Joe got very positive reactions as well. Joe was on the outside for most of the start of the match, and there was a great spot where Sami wore Finn’s leather jacket and Finn wore Sami’s jacket and flatcap and started skanking. The crowd was massively behind Sami and popped huge when he hit is suicide dive on Joe. There was a great spot where Sami hit Joe with a Helluva Kick, and then hit Finn, but he no-sold it and hit him with a Pele Kick. Finn won after hitting the Coup de Gras on Sami and Joe while Joe had Sami in the Coquina Clutch.
Overall, it was a fantastic show and I can’t recommend it enough. My brother, who has never watched NXT, came with me and enjoyed it massively.
Biggest Pops
1. Sami Zayn
2. Bayley
3. Gable/Jordan
Most Heat
1. Baron Corbin
2. Samoa Joe when he tried to leave
3. Dana Brooke
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