1/6 NXT in Charlotte, N.C.: Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream headlines, plus Lars Sullivan, Ember Moon, No Way Jose, Nikki Cross, Undisputed Era, Baszler

NXT LIVE EVENT REPORT
JANUARY 6, 2018
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
REPORT BY JUSTIN JAMES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

We keep making jokes about the Street Profits cups. I made sure to note tonight that Street Profits cups are $5. That’s an amazing profit margin.

(1) No Way Jose beat Fabian Aichner. I am sure I have seen this match at a previous house show. Jose is so over with the crowd. He had the entire house dancing and singing and clapping. Good match. I think Aichner has tons of upside in the ring, they just need to find a spot for him.

(2) Nikki Cross beat Lacey Evans. Evans worked heel, mocking Cross, doing push-ups on her during covers, etc. Evans’s look is more military this time around. Fine match, with Evans showing an array of powerful moves.

-Vignette with Street Profits and Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli. Apparently the Profits won the shared Maserati so Moss & Sabbatelli want the keys back.

(3) Lars Sullivan beat Roderick Strong. Strong got a really nice reaction on his entrance. Very physical match, with the story of the match being Strong having the power to deliver a backbreaker to Sullivan, but Sullivan blocking it repeatedly. Sullivan is just as massive in person as he is on TV, and came off as a true monster heel. Good work all around.

(4) Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) defeated Kassius Ohno & Aleister Black to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships. Very stiff match, as you would expect. Black spent most of the match isolated. Huge reaction for Black, one of the top three pops. O’Reilly and Fish did quality heel work and got the boos. I’ve come to the conclusion that the association with Adam Cole is keeping them from getting the heel heat they have been working hard to get. Ohno took the loss in a roll up by O’Reilly who blind tagged in. My kids legitimately thought that Black and Ohno would win because in their minds, Black is unstoppable, a real testament to how strongly Black has been booked. Post-match, Ohno asked the crowd if we wanted to see them team up again and there was a huge “Yes” from the crowd. I like the in-ring talent of that team but it defines Black down quite a bit.

Pre-match mic work from the Street Profits and Moss & Sabbatelli. Sabbatelli proposes “double or nothing.” Moss asks if he has a second Maserati; Sabbatelli says no, but he offers Moss’s minivan… with spinners. The spinners seal the deal and Ford accepts.

(5) The Street Profits beat Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli. Moss and Sabbatelli both tapped out at the same time at the end of the match. Very fun match. Moss in particular is a good house show heel with the way he interacts with the crowd and the opponents. I guess Moss and Sabbatelli have to walk home, now that both of their cars are owned by the Street Profits, or they better hope there is a show Sunday night where they can win them back. Post-match, the tron showed a pictured of a tricked out minivan, to big laughs.

(6) Bianca Belair & Shayna Baszler defeated Aliyah & Ember Moon. Big, big pop for Ember Moon. Baszler submitted Aliyah and refused to release the hold after the bell. Good showing for Baszler who looked strong and put in good work. The crowd got a little restless during some of the more technical sequences but I liked them a lot. My daughter, who is a good bellweather of who the true killer heels are (she sold her Bayley stock the moment she laid eyes on Asuka), immediately picked Baszler on the entrance as someone she liked (she missed Baszler’s debut on NXT). Belair was very impressive as well, including a delayed vertical suplex complete with mid-ring squats. Moon’s work looked fantastic too, though the imagery of Moon begging Aliyah to get a hot tag was almost comical in the context of the pecking order.

(7) Johnny Gargano beat Velveteen Dream. Dream got a face reaction on his entrance, and very few boos throughout the match. There were quite a number of 50/50 dueling chants for Gargano and Dream. The Takeover match has simply sold the audience on Dream. Before the bell, there was a bit of an argument over Dream’s shirt, a bit of a role reversal for Gargano and his shirt-related escapades a few months ago. Gargano ended up elbow dropping the shirt (remember, we’re in Flair country). The match somehow got started but no one rang the bell, and after a few minutes of the audience being loud about it, Gargano got out of the ring, grabbed the bell, and rang it. Dream did a ton of taunting throughout the match, using the Flair “Woo,” his hip shimmy, and more. Really good match here. Dream tapped to the Gargano Escape. Gargano was super over with the crowd; it is just unfortunate to that he was put against Dream, who made himself a fan-favorite at Takeover. I can’t remember the last time a strong heel like Dream became a face by *losing* a big match, but there you go.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I can’t speak much to the crowd personality, other than seeing a ton of Bullet Club shirts. The place wasn’t big, but it was full. The person behind me was really upset at not seeing Adam Cole or Kairi Sane, and spent the entire night comparing it to ROH. While I understood his frustrations (especially with no Cole, if that’s who he really wanted to see), but I think it’s unrealistic. For one thing, there were a ton of kids there, so stuff like the ads on the tron and audience participation stuff works for that audience. Secondly, if you packed a two to three hour live event with all of those upper-card folks, there’s no room for the lower card (or you need to cut the match times and quality), the upper card never gets any time off, and it’s even harder for them to do much with the secondary touring they do locally in Florida. I am perfectly happy to not see Cole, Almas, Sane, etc. if it means that they get a chance to rest up, stay in Florida, and put on great TV… Overall, the in-ring action was good. I feel like NXT has a great crop of in-ring workers right now and the challenge is more in building compelling stories and characters rather than improving the match quality.

If you attend a live event, please send results to pwtorch@pwtorch.com

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