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KIMBER LEE & HEIDI LOVELACE DEBUT: 1/14 NXT RESULTS FROM COCOA BEACH, FL

By Andrew Twiss on 2017-01-14 23:51:00

M&G: Tino Sabbatelli, Macey Estrella,  and Jack Gallagher 

- Daria Berenato def. Macey Estrella - A really solid opener. They kept up a good speed and threw some really nice strikes at each other. Plenty of good aggression between the two and was able to keep a hot crowd going.

- Tozawa def. Kona Reeves - The crowd loved Tozawa. Kona played on this with constant taunting of the crowd. Lots of close calls, but Tozawa won a hard fought match with the German suplex.

- Babatunde def. Chris Atkins - Basically an extended squash by Babatunde. That man is huge. He's not particularly fast and seemed a bit awkward at times. Considering this is probably his first or second match, it's understandable. He's a long term project, but could pay off down the line.

- Cedric Alexander is brought out for an interview. He says the split with Alicia Fox allows him to refocus. He says Alicia can slap Noam til the cows come home. He says it's his time to get back to his winning ways and focus on being the next Cruiserweight champion. 

- Tony Nese def. Mustafa Ali - Some real fun Cruiserweight action. When Mustafa hits some of his springboard moves, it's almost breathtaking to watch. Nese looked great too and they kept up a strong pace. The end got a bit weird. Nese hit a jumping palm strike. When he went for the cover, the ref stopped counting at 2, even though it didn't look like Ali kicked out. Eventually, Nese hit a pump handle power slam to win. 

- Jack Gallagher def. Buddy Murphy - Buddy Murphy continues to be so underrated. When Gallagher is twisting him around, Murphy is so good at screaming and making it look like Gallagher is really hurting him. When it comes time for offense, Murphy knows how to make his strikes look significant. Gallagher won, not with the running dropkick (and thankfully didn't use the headbutt), but with a rolling Cross arm breaker.

- Liv Morgan and Aliyah def. Kimberly Frankele  (Kimber Lee) and Dori Prange (Heidi Lovelace) - Aliyah was on fire for this match. It's the most aggressive and consistent I've seen her and there wasn't any of the hesitation that's plagued her. Prange and Frankele looked solid and more than held their own. Prange is especially good at interacting with the crowd..

-Wesley Blake def. Dan Matha - A standard big man/little man match. Blake would try everything to get at Matha, but would constantly be swatted away. Matha was really good as the overpowering big man. When he hits those ropes, and at his size, it's like a truck coming your way. Blake eventually counters a clothesline and uses it to roll a surprised Matha up.

- The Revival def. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford - The Revival are so good. I know that's not news, but they're so effective as a team and doing the little dastardly things to cut off a ring and build to that opponent's hot tag. Let's not sell Dawkins and Ford short. They're really gelling as a tag team. They do a lot of wild taunting and dancing and it's actually fun to watch. Ford is also super athletic and hits some great flips out of reversals. Even Angelo Dawkins looks like a different performer. He seems motivated, energetic, and like he has an new lease on his NXT life. The crowd was split on both teams, but hot throughout the match. The Revival used some confusion to knock Dawkins out of the ring and hit the Shatter Machine on Ford to win. After the match, The Revival came back to do more damage, but got run off by Ford and Dawkins to send the crowd home happy.

Notes:
- An interesting lineup of referees for the night. With 5 different shows being run on the same night, the refs used were:
   - Rod Zapata, a main roster ref who never work the NXT Florida loop
   - Daryl Sharma, a ref signed to NXT a few months ago.
   - I believe the third ref, who worked the Tozawa/Reeves match, was former Cruiserweight Classic competitor Kenneth Johnson 

- Kimber Lee and Heidi Lovelace worked under their birth names Kimberly Frankele and Dori Prange respectively. They have not been given their official WWE names yet.

- This was also Kimberly Frankele's first NXT match since signing with the company.

- NXT returns to Cocoa Beach on February 18. That date was originally scheduled to be in Winter Haven, FL but had to be moved due to building renovations. 

- Preshow Meet and Greet was: Macey Estrella, Tino Sabbatelli, and Jack Gallagher. 

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