3/4 NXT in Indianapolis, Ind.: Fish apparently injured and helped to back, Gargano vs. Almas sendoff, Aleister vs. Cole shine in stellar match, plus Velveteen, Lars, LaRae, Pat McAfee

NXT LIVE EVENT
MARCH 4, 2018
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
REPORT BY JACK LONDON, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

If you attend a live event, please sent a report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Include photos of the ring, of wrestlers, or the atmosphere in the arena and entrance stage, too.

I paid $27 for a standing room only ticket The seats were all full, but the standing room had plenty of empty space. A video aired of Triple H welcoming us to NXT.

(1) Lars Sullivan beat Chris Dijak. Chris is Donovan’s new first name. Lars is smaller than I thought in person. Lars won with his finisher. Very stiff strong-style match.

A video aired from Undisputed Era cutting a promo about their match tonight and letting everyone know that Indianapolis Colts player Pat McAfee is the special guest. They insulted him in the promo.

(2) Candice LaRae beat Dakota Kai. Both appeared to work as babyfaces. Candice got a nice pop. In a cool spot, they rolled themselves into a ball and got about 20 one-counts from the referee. They both fell down dizzy afterward, as did the referee. Lots of “Women’s Wrestling!” chants. Candice won a good match with her top rope swinging neckbreaker.

(3) Kassius Ohno beat Cesar Benoni via DQ when Cesaro’s manager interfered. Ohno got the biggest pop of the night to this point. They both beat up Ohno until Lars came in and made the save. KO and Lars fist-bumped and then Lars hit the Freak Accident on Ohno, turning on him.

A video aired of The Street Profits and Velveteen Dream arguing to set up a match.

(4) Velveteen Dream beat Angelo Dawkins. Dream came out to a huge pop. He is way over. Lots of “Say his name!” chants. There were some “D-Lo” chants aimed at Dawkins. Dawkins worked as a heel. Lots of mat holds. Too many. Match overstayed its welcome. Dream won with a roll-up.

Pat McAfee was introduced came and cut an Indianapolis-related promo. He said he is the guest ring announcer and then introduced “Adam Cole Bay Bay.”

(5) Aleister Black beat Adam Cole. Both got a huge pop. There was a “This is awesome!” chant and a “Both these guys” chant before even locking up. This was the best workmate match I’ve ever seen in person. Both guys worked hard and earned those “This is awesome” chants. Cole went for a chair and then McAfee took it. When Cole turned around, he was greeted with an amazingly stiff Black Mass for the win.

Intermission

(6) Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) beat Heavy Machinery to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles. They announced that general manager William Regal made it a championship match and the crowd chanted “Why?” There were chants of “Steaks and weights” and “Otis” chants a vocal drunk corner of the room. There was a very nice Bam Bam Bigelow style cartwheel by Otis in a good comedy spot. Fish appeared to suffer a legit injury at ringside. The ref threw up the “X” arm signal to the back. Cole rushed out and caused a distraction. Fish left limping with help.

(7) Shayna Baszler beat Kairi Sane. Very stiff chops from Sane. Baszler has killer body language and plays a great heel opposite Sane in peril.  Baszler won by tapout with her finisher. There was a standing ovation for Kari after a spirited loss.

Lots of “Rusev Day!” chants while they plugged Smackdown coming here in two weeks.

(8) Johnny Gargano beat Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/Zelina Vega). Gargano is fulfilling his NXT contractual obligations. Zelina. Zelina grabbed the mic and said, “This is Johnny’s last match because of Cien.” Johnny snatched the mic attacked him and said, “This is my last night so I’m kicking his ass all over Indianapolis.” They fought into the standing room only crowd. Johnny hit Almas with a trash can and a full box of popcorn, then ate some. Then they fought back to the ring and the bell rang. Awesome back and forth action elicited “Holy shit!” and “This is awesome!” chants. Lots of interference from Zelina so eventually out came Candice. They fought all over the ring all the way to the back. After many false finishes Johnny won with his submission. “Thank you, Johnny” chants followed. Afterwards Jonny gave a speech and shook all the fans’ hands and posted for selfies.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I have been to Raw, Smackdown, and several WWE pay-per-views and this was by far the best wrestling show I have ever been to. Granted, the room was an intimate setting and less glitz and production values, but the moves were more crisp the storylines they developed throughout the night made sense and, on many occasions, it looked more like fighting to win and less planned spots. The slaps, punches, and knees were louder and every move seemed to mean something. Although these weren’t the name-value Randy Ortons and John Cenas, they worked harder and smarter. I’m going to Smackdown Live on Mar. 13 here in Indy and I feel like after seeing this it will be hard to enjoy the main roster BS they expect us to just eat and be quiet.

If you attend a live event, please sent a report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Include photos of the ring, of wrestlers, or the atmosphere in the arena and entrance stage, too.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS REPORT: 3/3 NXT in Royal Oak, Mich.: Gargano & LaRae vs. Almas & Vega, Velveteen vs. Aleister, Kairi vs. Baszler, plus Undisputed Era, Dakota Kai, Lars