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NXT Live Event
Nashville, Tennessee
Report by Dot Net reader Derik Zoo
Great night in Nashville, with the exception of there seemed to be no AC going in War Memorial. With a humid day and a sold out (or close to it) crowd, it got hot quick. Late in the show there was a “Heyyyyy we want some AC” chant. Funny.
My night started off pretty cool because I got to meet Norman Smiley. Super cool guy and seemed very appreciative that we stopped and asked for a picture. I also saw El Generico passing out flyers. I wasn’t able to get my picture made with him, probably due to the language barrier.
As always, a really fun NXT crowd. Several chants got going before the show began. “New Day Rocks” “Ole Ole Ole Ole” “Nakamura” “We want Sandow” “Cody Rhodes” were among some of my favorites. Any time through the night that Roman Reigns was shown, he was booed unmercifully, same with Cena (no big shock there, right?)
The beautiful Andrea D’Marco was our host throughout the evening.
This is the third time NXT has been to Nashville in a year. This time, we got some upgrades, including the Tron. My only big complaint from the night is how they’ve stopped showing matches on the Tron. It doesn’t make sense to me why they do that.
1. No Way Jose defeated Angelo Dawkins. NWJ came out first for the big babyface reaction to start the show. Crowd was into Jose big time. Decent match.
2. Andrade Almas defeated Elias Samson via referee stoppage due to injury. Samson came out to HUGE heat. I’m not sure if it was go away heat or not. He teased playing a song, and the crowd actually got a “Freebird” chant going. He sang a few lines from “Freebird” and then changed it into how much he hates the town. Funny. Almas came out looking like the love child of the American Males. Not long into the match, Samson hit Almas with the Stun Gun and stayed down, holding his left leg. The ref threw up the “X” and awarded the match to Almas. In a classy move, Almas would not let the ref raise his arm in respect to how it all went down. Elias was obviously upset and in pain. He left to a standing O and a “Drifter” chant. I’m not sure if it was his knee or ankle that gave out but scary nonetheless. The Nashville injury curse continues (Carmella was hurt in October, Balor hurt his ankle in February, and now Elias).
3. Tye Dillinger defeated Tino Sabatelli. The Perfect 10 got everyone going again with some great Nashville references, ending it with he’s the only Ten I See (get it? We’re in Tennessee and…you get it). Not many people knew who Tino was. Good back and forth match with Dillinger getting the W. And then, the night got really good…
4. American Alpha defeated The Revival to retain the NXT Tag Titles. These two teams have exceptional chemistry and may have put on the match of the night. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are over big time. I wish I could give you guys a play by play, but it was just a superb match. Without question, the best tag team match I’ve ever seen live. Great psychology, great false finishes, and no one takes a hot tag like Jason Jordan. Alpha won with their finisher.
Intermission was next. I spotted Jeremy Borash in the third row.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Buddy Murphy. Murphy entered first and took his sweet time, while the entire crowd stood on its feet in anticipation. Without a doubt, Nakamura was the guy the majority of the crowd came to see. When he walked out onto the stage, the building erupted with what was by far the biggest pop of the night. That dude just oozes charisma. I’ve seen Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels all live and I would put Nakamura on their level charisma wise. Unreal. A pretty even match, which surprised me. Murphy got a lot more offense than expected. At the end of the day, Nakamura wins the KINSHASA.
6. Bayley and Carmella defeated Peyton Royce and Daria Berenetto. We got the inflatable men! That was another upgrade from the last time I came. Carmella got a great reaction from the Nashville crowd, and Bayley as always is Nashville’s darling. Fun match with all the Bayley song chants you can think of. Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly for the win. Afterwards, Baymella hugged and posed for pictures with a couple adorable little girls all decked out in Bayley attire. Please don’t screw Bayley up, Vince. She’s amazing.
7. Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor to retain the NXT Championship. Finn, ever the troll, pointed to each letter in “CLUB” on his “Balor Club” Tron video. Take from that what you will. Fantastic match. The crowd was probably 50/50 or close to it for both guys and they delivered big time. Joe won with a roll-up and his feet on the ropes. Balor tried to explain to the ref what happened, and Joe came back in and attacked him. He set Finn up for a Muscle Buster, but Finn countered, hit the Coup De Grace, and sent the crowd home happy. Finn too sweeted the fans at ringside and then took one last bow from the stage. It almost looked like he knew this was it and was trying to soak up as much as he could.
Overall, a very fun night. NXT shows are always a lot of fun. I finally got to see Nakamura live, and I met Norman freakin Smiley! What else do you need?
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