12/3 NXT in Osaka: Live in-person notes on reception for Nakamura vs. Joe, Dillinger, Roode, Regal, more

NXT LIVE EVENT NOTES
DECEMBER 3, 2016
OSAKA, JAPAN
REPORT BY CHRIS FROM JAPAN

(1) Oney Lorcan defeated Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas

(2) The Revival defeated Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss

(3) Billie Kay and Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan and Aliyah

(4) Tye Dillinger defeated Elias Sampson and Bobby Roode

(5) Asuka successfully defeated Nia Jax to retain the NXT Women’s Title.

(6) #DIY successfully defeated Tajiri & Akira Tozawa to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles.

(7) Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Samoa Joe to capture the NXT Championship.

Overall the show was good, but with a lot more comedy spots than you would usually see at WWE. Some of the matches had a Dragon Gate vibe to them at times, especially the Revival match.

In terms of the atmosphere, my last show was a Rev Pro show in London, and it was completely different than that. The first half of the show was relatively quiet, but the crowd really woke up after the interval.

Outside of the Japanese stars, all of whom were over whether they are usually booked as faces or not, Tye Dillinger got the best reaction of the night. This continued after his match with at least half the crowd counting pinfalls with “10s” and almost everyone counting punches and countouts with “10s.” He got a great reaction and it must be hard for WWE to ignore him going forward.

Bobby Roode also got a good reaction, but Elias Sampson didn’t garner much support and felt like a bit of an interruption during the triple threat.

The crowd was great during Samoa Joe vs. Nakamura, which was a long match, although it felt like it flew by.

Other great moments included Andrade Cien Almas coming out in his La Sombra mask and William Regal getting a big reception when he came out to thank the fans, as well as Hideo Itami coming out to apologize for once again not competing at the event.

The event was great, and all the Japanese fans seemed very knowledgeable of all the NXT competitors, not just the Japanese wrestlers; indeed the fans sitting next to me had brought their own 10 signs with them.

Anyway, thanks for the great content and I look forward to the next show!

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