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NXT Live Event
Melbourne, Australia
Report by Dot Net reader Nick D
1. Ember Moon beat Billie Kay and Liv Morgan in a Triple Threat. Ember Moon won with her diving stunner on Kay. Billie got a lot of love being the first Aussie in the ring. Morgan showed promise.
2. Andrade “Cien” Almas beat Wesley Blake. Blake started out getting chants of “You are a wanker!” but managed to turn the crowd around and gain some traction, ultimately being defeated by Almas following his running double knees in the corner, and a complicated looking DDT (new finisher?).
3. The Revival beat Tino Sabatelli and Riddick Moss. The Revival were hilarious, the other guys were functional. This was entertaining but ultimately Revival got the win.
4. Oney Lorcan beat Patrick Clark. Both guys looked good but the crowd was restless – rest holds and Clark hitting Lorcan with his headband resulted in sarcastic “EC-DUB” and “This is wrestling!” chants. Clark showed a lot of promise with some crisp suplexes, and generally looking at home in the ring, but his character might need some tweaking to win over the crowd. His “Dave Chappelle as Prince” schtick is pretty over though, provoking a singalong of “Purple Rain” at one point. Lorcan took the win though.
5. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano beat TM61 to retain the NXT Tag Titles. The Aussie guys got A LOT of love, and this match was arguably the highlight of the night, wrestling-wise. They can easily hang with guys like Ciampa and Gargano. #DIY scored the win after a pretty long match, with their dual running kick/knee strikes.
6. Tye Dillinger and Buddy Murphy beat Elias Samson and Bobby Roode. Again, much love for the Aussie guy – being his home town and all. Chants of “AUSSIE TEN” for the team-up. The crowd had basically been chanting TEN all night, throughout all the matches, so it really kicked into overdrive here. Samson got the crowd heated up by playing a song before the match – it’s unclear whether this is genuinely effective heel work or he just sucks as a singer. Dillinger and Murphy scored the win, via Tye’s with his Tye Breaker. One of the best matches of the night. The Glorious entrance had the crowd on their feet. Murphy really held this together being the hardest working man of the match, with suicide dives and general boundless energy. This guy just needs a character and he’s golden.
7. Asuka defeated Peyton Royce to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. Despite being Aussie, Royce copped the standard “Asuka’s gonna kill you!” chants, which even devolved into chants about her home town (Sydney being Melbourne’s traditional rival in a sporting sense). Royce didn’t seem to be able to hang with Asuka, and the crowd disappeared to the bar/bathroom. Asuka won with a random kick combo.
8. Shinsuke Nakamura beat Samoa Joe in a cage match to retain the NXT Championship. The crowd loved Joe, but my god do they worshipped the ground Nakamura walked on! Constant singing of his theme, chanting of his name, all that. This was a slow but well-paced slugfest, with the guys trading stiff knees, forearms, chops. Nakamura managed to suplex Joe a few times to the crowd’s delight, then was able to leave the cage but decided to continue the punishment, slamming the door back shut. Four Kinsasha’s later (1 top rope included!) and it was Nakamura’s win. Possibly Joe’s swan song?
Overall, the Australians got hugs pops, to be expected. Tye and his “Ten” are the most over crowd interaction spot since the YES! movement. Roode, Nakamura, and also The Revival’s themes prompt huge responses and sing alongs. Almas, Lorcan, Clark, and Blake still fail to win over the crowd completely. Everyone hates Samson. It was an excellent show, with some unexpected highlights.
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