9/21 NXT in Lowell, Mass.: Lots of no-shows compared to advertising hampers otherwise strong effort including Drew vs. Almas main event

NXT LIVE EVENT REPORT
SEPTEMBER 21, 2017
LOWELL, MASS.
REPORT BY BRANDON LECLAIR, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

NXT returned to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium for the first time since last April, when Samoa Joe captured the NXT Title from Finn Balor. The Auditorium was about 70 percent full – with smatterings of empty seats on the floor and terrace, and the corners of the balcony mostly empty. This was my first NXT house show, having only previously been to this year’s Takeover in Orlando during WrestleMania weekend.

The crowd was engaged and rowdy from the start, with plenty of “NXT” chants to go around.

The show opened with a video package celebrating Bobby Heenan, followed by a classy ten bell salute. The crowd responded with a strong “Bobby Heenan” chant.

(1) The Street Profits defeated Tito Sabetelli & Riddick Moss in 8:00. Street Profits entered first to a strong ovation from the crowd. Tito and Riddick got a fair amount of boos as they jawed with the audience. Solid opener, with the crowd jawing at Sabetelli with a “Sabesucky” chant. Dawkins and Ford got a kick out of that. Sabetelli and Moss isolated Montez Ford for the majority of the match, before Angelo got the hot tag and cleaned house. Dawkins got the pin shortly after while Moss stood guard. Post match, Dawkins and Ford hopped the barrier and ran around the entire perimeter of the floor, slapping hands and dancing with fans.

(2) Lars Sullivan defeated Oney Lorcan in 5:00. Oney Lorcan entered first to a huge “hometown” reception from the crowd. He appeared to have some friends and family scattered about. Sullivan entered the ring quickly and plowed through Lorcan. This match was incredibly stiff, with more than one “holy shit” chant from the crowd. At one point, the action spilled outside.  Sullivan lifted Lorcan for a power slam and threw him hard into the ringpost. Lorcan recovered, but with a nasty red mark along his upper back. Shortly after, Sullivan hit him with his big side slam finisher for the win.

(3) Peyton Royce & Billie Kay defeated Liv Morgan & Dakota Kai in 10:00. Royce and Kay entered first, dressing the ref in their “iconic” t-shirts and mockingly fawning over him. Peyton and Billie worked Liv over for most of the match, with Dakota getting in the ring occasionally, mostly to take a beating. Not much to this one, but Billie and Peyton do a nice job antagonizing the crowd. Royce and Kay hit their double team running knee strike (with their opponent in the wheelborrow position) for the win at the 10 minute mark.

(4) Roderick Strong defeated Hideo Itami in 8:00. Itami came to the ring first to a strong ovation. Similar reaction for Strong. Entertaining series of chain wrestling to start the match before the two exchanged a number of hard hitting chops and kicks. The crowd stayed engaged throughout, with dueling “Lets go Roddy”, “Hideo” chants. Late in the match, Hideo hit a nice looking headkick and hoisted Strong up for the GTS. Strong slid down his back, responded with a kick of his own, and followed it up with End Of Heartache for the victory. Itami, despite playing the heel, nodded in respect as the crowd chanted for him as he left.

(5) Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly &  Bobby Fish fought Sanity to a no contest in 15:00. The screen announced Cole, O’Reilly, and Fish as “The Undisputed Era”, officially. The crowd didn’t recognize the music, but erupted as soon as the words hit the screen. Cole stood center, flanked by O’Reilly and Fish, and yelled his signature “ADAM COLE BAYBAY!” The crowd responded in kind. Sanity entered to a positive reaction. The six men stood toe to toe in the ring and received a “this is awesome” chant. Relatively standard six person tag match. Kyle and Bobby worked extensively with Eric Young, with Cole occasionally getting a quick tag to throw a couple of shots. Killian Dain was particularly impressive, firing up Big when he got the hot tag and receiving a good reaction from the crowd. The action broke down when Cole, O’Reilly, and Fish launched a triple team attack on Dain and refused to break it up at the referee’s count. The rest of Sanity returned to the ring to make the save, but Cole and company retreated.

We headed to a 15 minute intermission.

(6) Johnny Gargano defeated Raul Mendoza in 11:00. Great reaction for Johnny Gargano, who made his rounds with the fans at ringside. No initial reaction for Mendoza, but he won the crowd over quickly. This wound up being the match of the night by a considerable margin, with a number of innovative counters and near falls. A second “this is awesome” chant broke out about mid-way through. Mendoza hit a nice looking reverse hurricanrana for a near fall. After a brief exchange on the mat, Gargano locked in his Gargano Escape submission for the tap out win. Post match, Johnny helped Mendoza to his feet and the two shook hands, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. Gargano left Mendoza in the ring to soak it in.

(7) Kairi Sane defeated Sonya Deville in 10:00. Deville entered first to a muted reaction. She has an intimidating presence in person, undoubtedly. Sane received a very warm reception and was announced as the winner of the Mae Young Classic. She wore an American Flag decorated mask and carried a small telescope with her. Deville powered through Sane in the opening minutes, using a variety of MMA style holds and takedowns. Sane hit a number of meager looking kicks in the corner, but riled up the crowd with her eccentricity (taking big, laborious steps from corner to corner before hitting a running body strike, for example.) Sane eventually got the better of Deville and got her in position for her finisher, which the crowd rose to their feet for. Kairi hit her excellent looking top rope elbow drop for the win. Man, she gets some air.

At this point, the next match was announced as the main event. Immediately, I heard people asking where Aleister Black and Ember Moon were. A pair of kids directly behind me asked if they were going to see Authors of Pain as well.

(8) Drew McIntyre defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas in 15:00 to retain the NXT Championship. Silence for Almas. I’m not sure if this was necessarily an indictment of him, or a stunned realization that a decent number of originally advertised talent were, in fact, no-shows. Good reaction for McIntyre, who looked and acted the part of a top level guy. Drew stared long and hard at the NXT Title before handing it off to the referee, which was a nice touch. Very good, professional match that could have fit in nicely on any main roster show. Almas was able to draw heat as the match wore on, and Drew was firey in his comebacks. Almas briefly gained control after throwing Drew into the ring steps late match, but McIntyre recovered once back in the ring and connected with a brutal looking Claymore that flipped Almas inside out. He hooked the leg for the three count.

After the match, Cole, O’Reilly and Fish rushed the ring and beat down McIntyre. The crowd cheered their return. Johnny Gargano’s music hit, and he rushed the ring to help Drew, but was also immediately taken out. The Street Profits rushed the ring next, suffering the same fate. Oney Lorcan then returned, firing away at the heels, but was overcome. The Undisputed Era left a mess of bodies in the ring, but were interrupted on their way up the entrance way by Sanity. Sanity chased them back in the ring, where they received a beat down from the babyfaces. Cole was left alone in the ring, and ate a stiff kick from Gargano and Lorcan, followed by a Claymore from McIntyre. The babyfaces celebrated at ringside for several minutes, slapping hands and taking pictures before sending us home.

Adam Cole definitely managed to generate both the most positive and negative reactions of the entire night. The crowd came unglued for his first appearance and subsequent return, but gave he, Bobby, and Kyle and ton of heat after the big babyface beat down at the end of the show.

Overall, a solid show, but not without its disappointments. I understand – and generally sympathize with – the “card subject to change” disclosure, but I can’t help but feel WWE took some liberties with that tonight. The show was put on sale in mid-August advertising Drew McIntyre, Bobby Roode, Asuka, Ember Moon, Aleister Black, Authors of Pain, and Kassious Ohno. Post-Summserslam, Roode and Asuka were removed for obvious reasons. Earlier this week, AOP and Ohno disappeared from the list. Black and Moon, however, were two of three stars featured on the event’s advertisements all the way up through the event date. There was undoubtedly a palpable sense of disappointment in the crowd when the main event was announced, and I can’t help but to have felt it too. My friends and I made a three hour drive, and while we all very much enjoyed ourselves, a quick polling in the car revealed that had we been aware of the actual line up when tickets went on sale, it’s unlikely we would have opted to make the trip.

I don’t intend to sound overly critical or negative, because the talent that was there worked hard and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. With that being said, I’ve seen WWE offer refunds up front at their own house shows for talent changes relatively minute in comparison. It’s also worth noting, ringside prices for this show came in at just shy of $100 after box office service fees – nearly identical to the main roster.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS REPORT: 9/14 NXT TV TAPING RESULTS (Spoilers): Results of the next four episodes including Adam Cole’s integration, McIntyre’s title run, more in-person notes