11/11 NXT in Riverside, Calif.: Aleister & Drew vs. Almas & Velveteen, Royce vs. Moon vs. Kairi vs. Cross, vs. Royce, Cole vs. Strong

(2) Billie Kay defeated Vanessa Bourne via pinfall. I’m not one to say a match is bad, but this match wasn’t great. Lots of mistakes, mostly on Bourne’s end from my vantage point. Wouldn’t solely blame her, though. The two didn’t click at all. Very rough.

Velveteen Dream promo.

(3) Heavy Machinery defeated Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake when Otis pinned both Blake & Cutler. My god is Heavy Machinery also fun. They relied a lot of comedy, but it worked tonight. The fans loved them some Otis. Blake & Cutler played typical heels. They were fine, but nothing noteworthy.

(4) Adam Cole pinned Roderick Strong. A very “WWE LIVE EVENT” type of feel in this one. I was super-excited when Adam Cole came out (a match card wasn’t announced prior this time), but the match was just average based on what we’ve come to expect from these two incredible wrestlers. Battle chants galore though in this one.

– INTERMISSION –

(5) Lars Sullivan pinned Kassius Ohno. LARS. SULLIVAN. Good god. This guy has such a rare feeling to him, and Ohno was amazing putting him over here. Good guy for him to work with. Stiffest match of the night, no question. A very good match. Lars was supposed to work heel, but like Braun Strowman, he has so many big cool power spots for anyone to really boo. Match of the night, until…

(6) Peyton Royce defeated Ember Moon and Kairi Sane and Nikki Cross when Peyton Royce pinned Nikki Cross after Billie Kay ran out to help Peyton Royce. MATCH OF THE NIGHT, hands down. This was the only match that that got a “This is Awesome” chant, and not because of any spots. Nikki Cross was by FAR the most over worker. Like most, this was my first time seeing Kairi live. I feel like the comparison to Asuka is an easy one. However, while her in-ring work is very good, she is nowhere near Asuka’s level of character work in my opinion. She was awesome in this match, and people popped for her teasing the elbow drop (which she eventually hit to break up a pin), but she was easily the least over in this incredible match. These woman went to work tonight. As the match ended, a “Women’s Wrestling” chant began, and it was well deserved. This could have main evented.

(7) Aleister Black & Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/Zelina Vega) & The Velveteen Dream when McIntyre pinned Almas. Solid match, started at about 9:30 p.m. and ended at about 10:00 p.m., but tons of stalling. I want to say the first ten minutes was just tagging in and out. Dream is ALL IN on his character. Love him so much. Black and McIntyre did their spots, as did Almas. Clearly with Takeover in a week, they weren’t going to go all out in this one.

McIntyre thanked the fans to end the night.

Biggest Pops

(1) Adam Cold
(2) Roderick Strong
(3) Street Profits

Most Heat

(1) Velveteen Dream
(2) Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake
(3) Riddick Moss & Tino Sabatelli

FINAL THOUGHTS: All in all, good show. This is the third NXT Show I’ve been to at the venue within the last eight months, but it was easily my least favorite. The show was fine, but nothing spectacular.

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