10/7 NXT in Richmond, Va.: Nakamura & Roode vs. Samoa Joe & No Way Jose, Asuka, Aries, Authors of Pain, Elias Samson, Wesley Blake

NXT HOUSE SHOW REPORT
OCTOBER 7, 2016
RICHMOND, VA. AT ALTRIA THEATER
REPORT BY BRANDON PARKER, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT

The show was held at Altria Theater in Richmond, Va. featuring a unique setup with the ring being on a stage. Wrestlers entered from the curtain behind the ring on the stage. Packed house, don’t know the exact number, but if I had to venture a guess there were somewhere around 2,000-2,500 in attendance. Tom Phillips was emcee/ring announcer for the event

(1) Lince Dorado beat Elias Samson. Not a  good match that didn’t go very long. A couple of missed spots didn’t help the match. Lince Dorado won with hurricane rollup.

(2) Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan. Decent match with Royce winning with her finisher. Not a lot else to say about it.

(3) Authors of Pain beat TM61. Same match that we saw on NXT television with the Authors of Pain dominating the majority of the offense with TM61 making a failed comeback. Authors of Pain win with their finisher in a little less than 10 minutes. No Paul Ellering with the Authors of Pain. Crowd really didn’t seem to be into either team.

(4) Cedric Alexander pinned Austin Aries. Good pop for both men, probably a little better pop for Cedric. There was dueling Let’s go Cedric/Austin Aries chants throughout the match. Solid wrestling match, that had fans chanting “This is wrestling”. Aries dominated most of the offense with Cedric Alexander showing off some his cool move set. Alexander wins with a rollup in a little over 10 minutes. Aries grabbed a chair after the match but never used and just fled the ring.

15 minute intermission

(5) Tye Dillinger beat Wesley Blake. Wesley Blake entered in the ring with his new Beautiful gimmick that got a little heat from the crowd. Tye Dillinger was super over with everyone going crazy yelling 10 every chance they got. Decent match, with Dillinger dominating early with Blake then taking over. Dillinger would eventually make his comeback and hit Blake with the Tye Breaker for the win.

(6) Asuka beat Aliyah to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. Aliyah came out to little fan fare. Asuka, however was quite over with the crowd. Asuka dominated most of the match, using the hip attack on several of occasions. Asuka at one point had Aliyah pinned but pulled her up before the ref could get to 3. After that point, Aliyah made a little bit of a comeback with a couple of fans chanting “Let’s go Aliyah”. During the comeback, Aliyah got in a couple of big moves even getting to believable three count. Asuka eventually finishes her with the Asuka lock. I was impressed with Asuka charisma, but I was a little disappointed with her in ring work; it was very sloppy. I expected better out of her.

(7) “Glorious” Bobby Roode & Samoa Joe beat No Way Jose & Shinsuke Nakamura. Roode entered first to a good reaction with him soaking up everyone singing his theme music. Joe then entered next with a decent reaction and no boos. Next was No Way Jose who got a good reaction, hyping the people with his energy. Next was Shinsuke Nakamura, and the roof came off the building. Loudest reaction, I’ve heard at a wrestling show. He’s everything I thought he would be in person. Fans singing along to his music and chanting Nakamura. No Way Jose and Bobby Roode started the match with a fun little dancing spot, that led to a brief dance off between the two. Roode then tagged Joe in who immediately tagged Roode right back into the ring. This is when the match really started, No Way Jose got in a couple of offensive moves, then the heels eventually took over. Joe showed his showcased a lot of his move set. Really seemed, like they tried their best to keep Joe and Nakamura apart, they rarely where in the ring a the same time. Roode & Joe end up winning when, Nakamura was low-blowed by Roode when he was setting up the Kinshasa on Joe. All the time Jose and Joe were the legal men. Joe made Jose tap out to the Coquina Cluth.  After the match, the heels went to double team Jose but the Nakamura made the save and got some moves in on Joe. Nakamura went to hit the Kinshasa on Joe but he moved and hit Roode with it instead. Joe and Roode flee the ring and leave Nakamura and Jose to celebrate. Nakamura and Jose performed the Nakamura rope celebration and then Jose left Nakamura. Nakamura soaked up the additional cheers and that was the end of the show.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve been to main roster house shows, PPVs, Smackdowns, and Raws and this is by far one of the most enjoyable experiences, I’ve had at a wrestling show. Drove up three hours from North Carolina to see this event. My wife, who doesn’t follow the product at all, was impressed with Nakamura and his charisma, even saying that he shouldn’t be down there in NXT for too much longer.

BIGGEST POPS

1. Nakamura (by far)

2. Roode

3. Dillinger

4. Asuka

5. Cedric Alexander and Austin Aries

Not a lot of boos other than Elias Sampson and the Authors of Pain.

If you attend a live event, please send results in the above format to pwtorch@gmail.com including your best estimate of attendance. Thanks!