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NXT Live: Largo
Minnreg Hall
Largo, Florida
Attendance- 325
Nick Comoroto (The Beast) defeated Samuel Shaw (From Parts Unknown!) This was a fairly good but different type of opening match for a Florida Loop show at Largo. Nick Comoroto is a wrestler from Australia who also goes by the moniker “The Beast” and while he might be going for the look of the Ultimate Warrior, he more resembles the Renegade from WCW without the ridiculous face R face paint. His theme song resembles Ryback’s old theme, with “Release the Beast” replacing “Feed Me More”. I am not trying to disparage this wrestler because he seems to have more working talent than the Warrior, Ryback and especially the sadly passed Renegade but he can easily be confined by this gimmick. After he came out, dark music hit and the announcer said, “From parts unknown, Samuel Shaw!” Shaw then came out to a mild reaction due to the majority of my fellow locals not knowing who he was but the few of us that knew him from Impact or other promotions cheered to see him. This was an interesting match because while the majority of the crowd did not know who they were, they got into the match because it was good. The Beast was able to hit some impressive Warrior like clotheslines and Ryback like power moves that Shaw sold perfectly. Shaw utilized underhanded tactics perfectly to draw what heat he could and showed his talent by hitting great dropkicks and reversals. The Beast won when he hit a power slam type maneuver. Not a bad opening match.
Aliyah and Vanessa Borne defeated. Lacey Lane and Kacy Catanzaro. This was a good match with a clear distinction between the babyfaces and the heels which you could tell from the entrances. Lacey Lane came out first to a mild reaction from the crowd but then her partner, Kacy Catanzaro came out to a sizable pop from the crowd showing that she is getting very over here with the local fans. The Borne and Aaliyah came out to loud booing and hissing from the crowd who seemed to really dislike this narcissistic duo who would stop to stare at themselves with their mirrors. This was a good match with Lane and Catanzaro doing some outstanding maneuvers, both of them are extremely talented and very entertaining which makes me hope that the company doesn’t screw up their vast potential. This match went back and forth until Borne and Aaliyah were able to isolate Catanzaro to hit a Double Team Shouten for the victory.
Danny Burch defeated Brendan Vink. Brendan Vink, the Australian wrestler formerly known as Elliot Sexton came out to no reaction due to no one knowing who he was. It felt like he was one of those jobbers from the early 1990’s WWF Superstars and the match was very similar to a match you would see on that show. Burch then came out to a fairly good reaction from the crowd who has seen him wrestle on a good amount of NXT cards held at Largo. Danny Burch controlled most of this match and when Vink cheated to try to get the upper hand, Burch quickly made his comeback. Burch slapped on the Crossface to Vink to make him tap out.
Count Moore (Stokely Hathaway) promo. Count Moore came out and is amazing at getting heat due to the way he interacts with the crowd. Not to promote myself but when he came out, not many people reacted so I decided to stand up and boo him vigorously which led him to head my way before entering the ring. He told me I was scared of his monsters, I responded by saying he had a cheap suit which led him to state that I was a walking advertisement for the clearance section of Walmart. I then sat down. After several of these interactions, he was able to get the crowd into the frenzy. I will now forever be a fan of his, will boo him with intensity and hope the WWE utilizes his remarkable talent correctly into the future. He then cut a promo in the ring introducing a new monster into his stable and very rotund man in a jacket with shark fins and shark mouths for sleeves came out. I first thought, is this the second coming of the infamous John Tenta Shark gimmick?!?!? Then I realized it was just his jacket and not his gimmick. Moore announced him as Jermaine Haley, the former Jonah Rock.
Jermaine Haley w/ Court Moore defeated Eric Bugenhagen. After Haley came out, Bugenhagen came out to a sizable pop from the crowd which was really into his entrance. He was very over in Largo and I have no idea how well this gimmick will do in the future; the truth is evident that Bugenhagen has charisma. Bugenhagen’s entrance may have been longer than the match. While it went quick, it was well wrestled and Haley won with an impressive top rope splash.
Babatunde & 3.0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) defeated Mansoor Al-Shehail, Saurav Gurjar & Rinku Singh Rajput. Mansoor, Gurjar and Rinku came out first with Gurjar and Rinku carrying Mansoor to the ring on their shoulders. Rinku and Gurjar were playing classic almost stereotypic foreign heels with their look but Mansoor was wearing his normal Arab Aesthetic tights with the Saudi Arabian emblem on them. Mansoor is a heat seeking missile and was easily able to get heat from the crowd. At one point, Rinku walked past my sit going around the ring while they all were garnering heat from the audience and I told Rinku to “Go home……...to Orlando”. I thought it was hilarious but my buddy told me that it wasn’t but his taste is questionable. I guess Rinku did not or wanted some heat so he got right in my face and started screaming you go home at me. With his improved skills in the ring, Rinku has a shot if he can get the heat and I am now a fan of his so I booed him heavily out of respect. Wrestling can be weird in this way as most of us know. Then to take on these foreign invaders out came the 1996 Hardy Boys in orange and black with head bands and all. I later found out that they were the Canadian tag team duo 3.0. The odds definitely were not in their favor due to their size which made Mansoor laugh hysterically at them until Babatunde’s music hit. Babatunde’s music has a similar menacing, heavy bass tone that Samoa Joe’s theme has. The crowd popped huge when his music hit because Babatunde is over in Largo because he is also on the show’s card while improving into a believable monster over the past year and a half in front of this crowd’s eyes. While 3.0 played the babyfaces in distress and their opponents got some much-needed ring time, once Babatunde entered the picture, it was over. He did some huge power moves Gurjar and Rinku then hit his finisher, a huge swinging side slam to the delight of the crowd. Good match considering what it was.
Albert Hardie Jr. (former ACH) defeated Kona Reeves. This match did not live up to my expectations and in my opinion, which is just another fan’s opinion, this was one of the rare bad matches seen on the loop. Something didn’t click because both of these wrestlers have talent but there were several botches including a sloppy finish. At one point, Hardie scoop-slammed Kona into the ropes but his throw was short causing Hardie to land on his neck while awkwardly hitting the ropes hard. This elicited groans from the audience but Reeves shook it off and seemed fine after. Reeves then dominated the rest of the match until he went for his finisher, the Samoan Drop, when Hardie reversed it into a crucifix pin. While it eventually worked, Albert slipped causing Kona to magically go down into the crucifix pin. Both wrestlers put in a good faith effort but it just was not there night.
Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel defeated Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo. This was a great match with Raul and Humberto being the faces while Aichner and Barthel played the heels in fantastic fashion. There were great maneuvers by both from springboard kicks, and Hurancanrana from Mendoza and Humberto and suplexes, slams and great technical wrestling from Aichner and Barthel. After a frenzy of moves and underhanded tactics by the heels, Aichner was able to lift one of his opponents into an electric chair position so that Barthel could hit a diving European Uppercut from the top rope which led to their victory. Great match.
Reina Gonzalez def. Rachael Evers (Rachel Ellering). This was a fairly good match between the female Stan Hanson-like heel Reina Gonzalez took on Rachel Evers, who is Rachel Ellering. She was dressed up in shiny rainbow tights and needs a gimmick to stand out in my opinion. Maybe some ray-bans and football pads with spikes but regardless she has talent. She was able to make herself look good while make Reina seem like a monster heel. Reina eventually got the win after she hit a powerful lariat that cut-off a comeback from Evers. On a side note, Reina did bring the cowbell and rope to the ring with her tonight.
Triple Threat NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream (c) def. Adam Cole and Matt Riddle. This was an amazing match with moves and wrestling psychology so impressively implemented that I would not give it justice with a description. All three were very over with the crowd with Riddle being the most over by far. All three hit their signature moves which led to some incredible near-falls to the point that most of us believed that we could have a title change at Largo. While that was foolish to believe, this match was good enough to suspend our disbelief to that level. Riddle hit a move I have never seen before that was incredibly awesome, a Gotch Tombstone Piledriver. While this got a near fall, it was awesome to see live and I hope he makes it part of his already loaded repertoire. After a series a large moves, Riddle seemed to have the pin on Cole but Dream was able to throw him from the ring to steal the victory. This got a good reaction from the crowd even though Riddle got screwed. This was probably due to how good this fast-paced match was and this match was one of the few times I have heard a Largo show chant “This is awesome!” That meant this match was incredibly good in my opinion.
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