We are looking for correspondents for all WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, and Evolve live events. If you attend a show, you are encouraged to send a report to dotnetjason@gmail.com
NXT Live Event
Los Angeles, California at the Hollywood Palladium
Report by Dot Net Member Don Kim
The show has been sold out for months, so it was a packed house with a very energetic crowd. I’m not sure about the exact number, but I would estimate between 3,500 and 4,000 strong were in the house. They had a hard cam set up and cameras on the floor filming the entire show just like San Jose show, and also they taped two Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Matches. So, if you want to avoid spoilers, STOP READING NOW!
Mike Rome was the host for the event. I like him. He has a great voice and the crowd responded to him really well, and I thought he did great during CWC. They did a trivia with a kid dressed up as Shinsuke Nakamura and gave away some merch to the Kid of Strong Style.
1. Roderick Strong beat No Way Jose. Jose is tailor made for an opening match and he got the crowd going. Strong got a huge reaction with very loud ‘Roddy’ and ‘P-dub-G’ chants. Yes, we’re in Los Angeles. This was a very good match with lots of back and forth action, with very crisp work from both men. I was actually impressed by Jose. One big spot was when Roddy back dropped Jose at the apron, the so-called hardest part of the ring. They traded some stiff punches, but Roddy picked up the win with a running knee.
2. TM61 defeated Sanity’s Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe (w/ Eric Young, Nikki Cross) in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semifinal match. Sanity got a good reaction. It was awesome to see EY in person for the first time. Nikki Cross is really tiny. Sanity jumped TM right off the bat to get heat. The match wasn’t really much. Shane Thorne sold most of the match with lots of rest holds. Eventually, Nick Miller got the hot tag and did come back spots. There was one scary spot where Miller dropped Fulton on his head while holding him up high in suplex position but he seemed fine.
I don’t remember if it was Shane or Nick, but one of them got the pinfall with a cradle. The Sanity members slapped each other after the match and were very upset. TM 61 is in the finals of Dusty classic.. Um.. Ok..
3. Daria beat Mandy Rose. We get into the development portion of NXT, but the crowd was very generous and reacted strongly for these two ladies also. There were mild ‘Daria’s gonna kill you’ chants. Daria did a cool spot when she took off her MMA gloves off and punched poor Mandy unmercifully. I have to say, Mandy is really hot in person.
4. Tye Dillinger beat Buddy Murphy. When Murphy came out, I thought it would be Murphy vs. Blake and thought about going to bathroom, but Tye Dillinger’s music hit, and the crowd went berserk. ‘TEN! TEN! TEN! TEN! TEN!’ This crowd was very happy. Speaking of Blake, he was watching the match behind the curtain, and I could see him from where I was sitting. The crowd chanted ‘TEN!’ for every count referee called. ‘ZERO’ chants for Murphy to the tune of Goldberg chant. It was hilarious. Murphy hit an impressive move on Tye, and the crowd became generous and gave him a ‘One’ chant. Tye won with his version of Ushigoroshi.
5. Ember Moon and Asuka beat Peyton Royce & Billie Kay. Each women got their own entrance. Good reactions for Peyton and Billie, a nice pop for Ember, and then a huge pop for Asuka. Peyton and Billie insisted to Mike Rome to be recognized as ‘The most iconic duo in NXT’ and when Mike Rome said that, Peyton and Billie seemed very happy. They were met with ‘Asuka’s gonna kill you’ chants. There were lots of Ryusuke Taguchi-like ass attacks from Asuka and eventually a stink face to Billie. Ember was impressive with her move-set. When she went up for the flying stunner, the crowd knew what was coming and popped big when she hit it on Peyton. It looked very impressive in person. Asuka put Billie in Asuka Lock. Game Over.
Intermission
During the intermission, the screen showed Top 10 Steel Cage dives. Unbroken Matt Hardy diving off a steel cage like a mere mortal spot monkey was shown. The crowd chanted ‘DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!’ in unison. A kid next to me asked, ‘Why are you chanting delete?’ This kid seriously needs some GREEN BEANS!
William Regal came out to a very strong reaction. He gently dismissed his name being chanted and said this is not about him. It’s about every superstars in the back and the fans and thanked the audience.
6. The Authors of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) defeated Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semifinals. Strong reaction and P-dub-G chants for DIY. Boos for AOP. There were also D-Lo Brown chants for Author 1 with tattoos. The match was what it was. Eventually, DIY hit their double team kick and knee combo on Author 2, but Paul Ellering distracted the ref. This led to The Revival jumping DIY (Gargano and Ciampa). The Authors hit their finish on Ciampa and got the pinfall. It’s TM 61 vs AOP for the finals.
7. Bobby Roode defeated Kota Ibushi. The advertised main event on the program was a Triple Threat match between Nakamura, Joe and Bobby. So when Roode came out for a singles match, I wondered whom his opponent would be. And the screen read ‘KOTA IBUSHI’. The crowd lost their minds. Well, to be honest, I lost my mind and felt like the rest of the crowd did also. Mike Rome said there would be surprises in store for us tonight, and he didn’t lie. The Dodgers didn’t make the World Series, but who cares, we got Ibushi. Loud Ibushi chants and ‘this is awesome’ chants before the match even begins. This was a very very good match, perhaps the match of the night. Bobby controlled most of the offense, but Ibushi’s comeback was vicious and man, those kicks!! Eventually, Ibushi hit his Last Ride sit-down powerbomb, but Roode kicked out. Ibushi kicked him again, and went to the top rope, and gave a smile to the crowd. Pheonix Splash! But nobody was home as Roode moved away. Bobby grabbed Ibushi and spiked him with the Impaler DDT for the win.
This is just awesome. A surprise at a live event? Ibushi wasn’t on any of the other California shows. Ibushi’s selling is just incredible and made Bobby’s offense look more vicious and effective. This was by far Bobby’s best match in NXT. Not sure if this will air on TV or not, I hope it does so others can see it too. This is why people love NXT. They do things differently and know how to entertain their audience.
8. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Samoa Joe and Eric Young in a Triple Threat to retain the NXT Championship. EY came out first. Hometown boy Joe came out to a huge pop. And then the champ came out to a bigger pop with the sing-along to his tunes. My seat was right in front of the stage, so watching Shinsuke’s entrance that close was just.. man.. I almost cried. There was a big stare down between Joe and Nakamura at the start. Great match. EY sold outside the ring for the majority of the match and we got a good chunk of the match between Joe and Shinsuke. Joe eventually went for Muscle Buster, Shinsuke reversed. Shinsuke went crazy and kneed EY and Joe’s heads off back and forth. Joe was tossed out of the ring. Shinsuke hit Kinshasa on EY for the pinfall. Post-match, Joe and Shinsuke had another stare down face-to-face. Joe walked away.
Mike Rome came back to the ring and congratulated Shinsuke. Shinsuke grabbed the mic and said ‘Thank you LA. You’re a great audience. Yea? Yea? YEAOH!!!!!!’ The crowd sang Shinsuke’s theme,
and everyone went home happy.
This was a great show. I didn’t really know how the show was going to be. After reading the results of this week’s California tours, I was only expecting a similar card, but we got a triple threat for NXT Title with EY involved, an awesome match between Roode and Ibushi, and two TV matches for the Dusty Classic. Sanity losing clean already was a surprise, and TM 61 vs. AOP finals does not excite me that much, but overall it was a great night of wrestling with several good matches. Both thumbs up!
Be the first to comment