NXT Live Event Results From Largo: Damian Priest Battles Shane Thorne

WWE held a live event for their NXT brand in Largo, Florida last night, featuring Damian Priest vs. Shane Thorne in the main event. Here are results, via PWInsider:

NXT Largo – January 18, 2020 – Minregg Hall in Largo, Florida

Attendance: 358 (estimated)

Overview: This was a quality show for the ever-changing third brand of the WWE. The event was held at one of the hallmark stops on the Florida Loop, the Minregg Hall in Largo, Florida. The show was well-attended for the first time in a couple of months and the crowd was lively. While only one match really tore the house down, the card was solid and entertaining with no bad matches.

Opening Bout:

Austin Theory defeated Chase Parker

Theory is a future star and has improved every time I have watched his matches live. I saw him wrestle two years ago at a small hardcore independent show held in a Hooters parking lot sandwiched between a bayou and a marina’s storage yard. He looked like a prodigy then and now, his abilities are even stronger. He has a good hard hitting style that comes off sounding brutal live and is very athletic. Chase Parker was the obvious jobber in this match, while he got some offense in and took control of the match at times, it was only to fuel a comeback for Austin Theory. Theory was using a rolling neckbreaker or running blockbuster for his finisher but tonight used something new to finish off Chase this week. He hit a Fireman’s Carry Cutter (Like EC3’s TKO) for the pin in a solid opener.

Shotzi Blackheart defeated Jessi Kamea

Shotzi Blackheart came out to a huge pop from the crowd which really surprised me because while I have heard the name, I was not that familiar with her. The crowd treated her like a star and she had the charisma to back it up. Her opponent was Jessi Kamea, who I thought was just some new recruit turned generic NXT female heel but to my surprise, Kamea is the old Jessie Elaban. She used to have Bayley gimmick only nerdier, weirder and sexier. Kamea did the usual female heel heat spots on Shotzi but things started to pick up when Shotzi did her first come back. Kamea cut her short only for Shotzi to get fired up again which led to a fast paced exchange. Eventually, Shotzi reversed a move by Kamea to transition putting a Cattle Mutilation submission on Kamea for the win via tap out.

Kona Reeves promo

Kona Reeves came out wearing only his sparkly pink trunks with matching knee pads and cut a pretty good heel promo. He insulted the locker room in the back, the city of Largo, and us stupid fans. He was able to get some good old fashioned heat for this and who would come to the rescue to protect the fine people of Largo’s honor? Big Jordan.

Big Jordan came out to a fairly nice but confused pop which made me think that some did not know who he was so they did not know how to react or were in awe of his size. Those who have seen him before cheered but everyone knew what was about to happen. Kona said he didn’t mean to include Big Jordan with his negative comments about the NXT roster and pleaded with him for peace. Big Jordan, being the swell guy he is, accepted Kona’s apology only for Kona to hit Big Jordan when he had his head turned. This did not phase Big Jordan who then easily picked Kona up and walked around to each side of the ring with Kona in the air to then slam him down with a basic scoop slam. Obviously, Big Jordan still has a lot to learn but when you are 7’3 and 350 pounds, a scoop slam can pop the crowd and it did.

Rinku Singh and Saurav defeated Cal Bloom and Nick Ogarelli

This was your basic evil foreign heels vs. all American boys tag match with the evil heels winning. My Friend and I tried to figure out what exactly the Million Dollar Arm, Rinku Singh and his partner Sauray were going for with their foreign heel gimmick. They both wore Old-School NXT Rusev like brown shorts with beaded necklaces on. Their foreheads had three horizontal lines painted white with a red vertical line going up their foreheads in the middle. If you know what this gimmick represents or if it is just something that is made up, share it with me because I really would love to know. Ogarelli always gets a strange pop from local Loop fans due to his love of milkshakes. In August 2019 at Largo, Ogarelli did an angle he about his love for milkshakes and how he would like to buy everyone a milkshake. Of course, the creepy, notorious milkshake hating Samuel Shaw destroyed him for this. Bloom got a mild pop but the son of Beau Beverly needs a gimmick to take his career to the next level in NXT, just hopefully one not involving a dairy based dessert drink. The match was solid with the foreign heels constantly cheating and insulting stupid Americans until Bloom and Ogarellu would make a comeback. Eventually Singh and Suaray hit an assisted clothesline like double team move for the win.

Bronson Reed defeated Arturo Ruas with Death Valley Driver

Classic average Loop match, which is not an insult, involving two wrestlers that are very different. Reed looks like a bowling ball of a man and wore a singlet with THICC written across his belly that he kept rubbing. Ruas is a legit expert in Jiu-Jitsu, Capoeira, and placed 4th in the Pan American games in Amateur Wrestling for Brazil. Ruas sure looks the part of an unstoppable heel, like a Brazilian Ken Shamrock, but it seems he needs more ring time to get spots down a bit better after watching this match. While there were one or two screw-ups, they did not ruin the match and it was entertaining in the end when Reed won with a Death Valley Driver.

Intermission

Kushida and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Tony Nese and Mike Kanellis

This was by far the best match of the card and a match that truly surprised me. It was like a quality Takeover match with two great near-falls after devastating and innovative tag team maneuvers. Both Kushida and Swerve received loud reactions from the crowd during their entrances and both Nese and Kanellis got a confused reaction during their entrances. The fans were confused that the two were teaming as was I, until I read on PWInsider that the powers that be are trying them out as a tag team. While they do not have a gimmick yet with Nese still counting his abs and Kanellis coming out to his “Greatest Love” theme song, they made a great team in my opinion. On a side note, Kanellis wore black trunks with “The Opportunist” written on their back in red. Nese and Kanellis hit several well-timed double team maneuvers that were unique and seemed to win them the match each time only for Kushida or Swerve to pop their shoulder up at the last second for a loud pop. The local crowd was slowly pulled into this match and by the end, everyone seemed enthralled. While Nese and Kanellis had a great run hitting devastating moves on their opponents, eventually Swerve hit a series of devastating kicks which led to Kushida hitting his tilt-a-whirl Kimura or Hoverboard Lock for the win. The crowd popped, this was a great match and I think this experiment with Nese and Kanellis will be a success.

Mia Yim defeated MJ Jenkins

This was another average Loop match with an inexperienced MJ Jenkins going against a very experienced quality worker in Mia Yim. MJ Jenkins does have a great gimmick with her snobby, arrogant singer with a sassy attitude. She sings her entrance song and has a great voice but then makes her way around the ring giving fans dirty looks and sneers. Mia got a good reaction from the crowd and clearly carried Jenkins through the match that did have a couple of botches that Mia was successfully able to overcome by incorporating them into the match. Yim eventually won after a good comeback with a slingshot tornado flatliner which popped the crowd.

Main Event:

Damian Priest Defeated Shane Thorne

For whatever reason, Shane Thorne has been in the main event of Largo for the past couple shows I have attended. I do not think this is a bad thing because he is a great worker that no one really knows or appreciates. He is just lost without a gimmick or a journey to be pushed which has made him try some different things. He tried a slacker routine that then involved him sitting in a chair bored, he then tried a mean vicious heel gimmick that came out in a leather and fur coat much like Pete Dunne’s Jacket but he tried something else this past Saturday Night. He came out to a confused pop, except for a local group of fans who seem to have adopted him and cheered him wildly, and had a very short haircut with bleach blonde hair. He had a leather with fur trim jacket but it was different than his first one. Priest then came out to a sizable pop especially when he did a similar entrance to the one he usually does on TV. His music played, the lights would go out, then he would appear staring at Thorne then the lights would go out again only for him to be closer to the ring with a spotlight on him and so on. This was an above average match for the loop with Thorne able to get some cheap heat and Priest looked really good with his kicks and high flying maneuvers. They both built towards a strong finish where Priest hit a huge sit-out chokeslam for the win. Good match but it did not top the amazing tag match from the middle of the card.