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Here are full results from NXT Live in Winter Haven, FL on August 4, 2016.
Charly Caruso is the hostess and ring announcer for the evening.
- Rich Swann def. Noah Potjes - Fun opener. Swann has loads of charisma. I didn't quite realize how big Potjes was until he was in the ring with Swann. Decent big man/ms all man match that Swann won with the roundhouse kick.
- Sara Lee def. Liv Morgan - This was a kind if rough match. At times it was ok, and at times Sara was struggling to keep up. It wasn't a huge cluster, but it wasn't all that great either.
- Hugo Knox def. Tino Sabbatelli - This was a decent match with two athletic guys. There seemed to be some struggle with communication as these two weren't always on the same page. It was ok, but probably should have been a bit better.
- King Konstantine def. Alexander Wolfe - This went on too long. Konstantine is a 6'9" giant who is ripped. He's still very raw in the ring. A lot of the match was Wolfe working over Konstantine's arm. It just went on too long and didn't really go anywhere interesting. It was an especially weird choice for the match before intermission. That's usually saved for what should be your second biggest match of the night.
- Aliyah def. Mandy Rose - This was an ok match. Mandy got on the mic and put over being a reality star. She challenged anyone in the back who was Tough Enough. The crowd was hoping for Bayley, but got Aliyah instead. The work was decent at times. A lot of the early stuff was very telegraphed and choreographed that it didn't really get the crowd going. They found a decent pace through the second half of the match, but they did have their awkward moments. Aliyah was using new theme music, although it was much more dark and foreboding and didn't really fit with the character.
- Steve Cutler came out to address the crowd. He didn't care about the draft since it was three weeks ago. He talked about how NXT was about the future, not the past. He didn't like reality stars and others taking things for granted. He said the ring was all about respect. It was an ok promo. It had nice intensity although it ended kind of abruptly. They just played his music after he said a line and he put the mic down and left. He never really got to an end point.
- The Authors of Pain def. Tucker Knight and Niko Bogojevic - Hoss match!!! I hope they reinforced the ring. This match featured 4 guys who all hover around the 300 lb mark. The work was decent. The Authors work well as intimidating, bad ass heels. The in ring work got a little sloppy at times though. They'll need to tighten it up moving forward.
- Hideo Itami def. Wesley Blake - The crowd was into Hideo's entrance. Blake got almost no reaction at first. The match itself was decent. I'm not sure the crowd really bought that Blake had a chance, but the ring work was good. Hideo actually bloodied Blake up after an errant kick caught Blake in the mouth. It was a solid overall match. I'm just not sure this is a main event level match to carry a show.
- Overall, a decent, but not great show. All of the recent call ups have significantly drained NXT of star power and these split shows really don't really leave the local fans with much in terms of known tv stars. It's another Florida show where the merchandise stand features all of the shirts and memorabilia for the stars who WON'T be working the show. It's an issue that needs major focus over the next few months.
Notes:
- Meet and Greet before the show was: Peyton Royce, Shane Thorne, and Mandy Rose.
- No return date was announced.
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