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WWE NXT Live Results 8.3.19: Velveteen Dream Defends NA Title, More

August 4, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Velveteen Dream EVOLVE Image Credit: WWE

– WWE held an NXT-branded live event in Largo, Florida on Saturday night, headlined by Velveteen Dream defending his North American championship in a triple threat match. The results were, per PWInsider:

Attendance: 325

Overview: This was another night of great matches put on by NXT at the Minnreg Hall in Largo. While the show had lower attendance compared to their last event in Largo, the crowd was hot in two ways. The first being their excitement during the matches and by literally being hot due to the air conditioning not working before the show. They got it working as the show started but it took some time to cool the building down. This did not stop the wrestlers from trying their best nor did it prevent some fans, one in particular from acting stupid.

Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch defeated Jeffrey Parker and Matthew Menard-Lee (Formerly Team 3.0)

The crowd let out a loud pop when Lorcan and Burch’s music hit and a ‘1-2’ chant started that lasted their whole entrance, they were more over here than I expected. Their opponents, Scott Parker and Shane Matthews, whose former tag name was 3.0 came out to small negative reaction. To complete their entrance, Shane Matthews climbed to the second turnbuckle with Scott Parker following him up on the same turnbuckle. They then embraced and kissed, which I guess was supposed to get heat but all it got was awkward silence with many in the crowd not knowing what to do.

This turned into a solid match due to the hard work by Lorcan and Burch, who controlled must of the match. Team 3.0 was able to cheat to gain control over Oney Lorcan for a short time and they worked him over until he hit a hot tag to Danny Burch. Burch cleaned house with vicious European Uppercuts and Snap Headbutts. This set Burch and Lorcan up to hit their aided DDT finisher for the victory.

Bronson Reed defeated Kona Reeves.

Kona Reeves came out to a very loud negative reaction and he played to it perfectly. He really is a good, slimy heel that just needs to continue to improve and he will eventually be moved up. Bronson Reed then came out and while some cheered, a lot of fans did not due to Reed being a heel consistently around the loop. This was an average match with Reeves showing off his tremendous ability to get heat from the crowd and Reed showing how he needs to improve his babyface skills. The finish was a sight to see though with Reed pinning Reeves after hitting a huge flying body splash from the top rope.

Lacey Lane defeated Deonna Purrazzo with Chelsea Green.

This was a very good match with Lane looking like a babyface star and Purrazzo and Green looking like a dynamic heel duo.

Roddy Strong Promo.

Strong came out and challenged the Velveteen Dream to North American Championship match and Dream, like the Wizard of OZ, said some weird Dream-like statement then accepted to set-up the main event.

Marcel Barthel defeated Jeet Rama.

Jeet Rama came out and, as always at any Loop show I have been to, the crowd immediately starts to chant “Jeet”. This crowd not only did some chant but was definitely behind him and hated his opponents, Marcel Barthel with Fabian Aichner.

Things then got very weird, stupid and inappropriate. A fan in the front row decided to stand up and as Aichner walked by him, the fan started to continuously give a Nazi salute. This was not a one-time thing, he gave the salute for a solid minute during Imperium’s entrance. Aichner seemed confused but Bathel’s face was red and I could tell he was rightfully angry. Bathel then snatched the ring announcer’s microphone and, out of character, said, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Ashamed!” The crowd cheered for this but this gentleman was not kicked out at that moment and the match was immediately started.

The match was a good quick technical wrestling match with a lot of judo throws, arm drags and hip tosses which is the center of Jeet’s offense. Barthel worked hard to make Jeet not only look god but legitimate. While Jeet was always able to get the upper hand on Barthel, Aichner would interfere which eventually led Aichner to win the match.

After the next match started, the head security guard removed the fan from building in slick fashion to prevent any incidents from occurring which was very smart with this crowd. Also it seemed that the guy was banned.

Damien Priest defeated Jordan Myles (former Albert Hardie Jr., ACH)

This was a great match with both wrestlers being over with the crowd. The crowd cheered for Myles but popped for Priest who has a cool theme and very cool entrance he seems to have developed. He is becoming very over on the Loop and he has earned it. I can see Vince really liking Priest due to his agility, legit background, attitude and most important, his size. I can say with confidence that he might make it to the main roster before a lot others who might be on top now in NXT. Myles tried to chop Priest down with some awesome strikes which were mainly low kicks, spin sole kicks and roundhouses. While this occasionally stunned Priest, Priest would always come back with a huge counter making this an awesome back and forth match. At one point, Myles hit his Deadlift German Suplex that was a sight to see done to Damien Priest but it was a near fall that popped the crowd. Eventually, Priest hit his chokeslam for the win

Intermission

Kushida defeated Angel Garza.

Angel Garza came out to a mild reaction by the crowd who would be impressed with him by the end of the match. Kushida then came out to a big pop and while this match does not compare to his match against Gulak in St. Petersburg on Thursday, it was still very entertaining with a different dynamic brought in by Garza. Garza was able to stay in the match with his very innovate moves but Kushida worked Garza’s arm throughout the match. This led to a good finish to a good match that had the potential to have been great. Kushida looked on trouble with Garza dominating but Kushida was able to reverse a move by Garza into the Hoverboard Lock for the submission victory. Once both get more acclimated into NXT, I can see them putting on classic Takeover matches down the line.

Nicolas James Ogarelli (former Nic Comorato) Promo and Match.

The former Jim Duggan mixed with Ultimate Warrior “Beast” came out in a nerdy looking jacket and gave a very strange promo stating, “What do I say” “Ummmm” “What do you guys like?” “I like milkshakes!” Unfortunately this last statement led to the crowd chanting “Milkshake” for far too long. Then music that sounded just like the introduction tune to Stranger Things from Netflix hit along with lowered lights that became red. A voice can then be heard saying, “Where am I Nic?” repeatedly until Dexter Loomis (the very creepy former Samuel Shaw), who then attacked Nicolas. Then a match started which Loomis dominated and then won with a hangman’s neckbreaker. While not an amazing match, it was at least different, somewhat interesting, short, and unintentionally funny.

Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir defeated Rhea Rickey and Reina Gonzalez.

Rhea Ripley along with Rhea Gonzalez came out and insulted the women’s divisions on two different continents in her promo. She then said that if any woman in Largo had the guts to face her and Reina, then come out. Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir then came out to a sizable pop. The dynamics of this match was strange because everyone involved is technically a heel and there were no babyfaces because both sides cheated so this had barely any heat until the end. Baszler got a hot tag then viciously cleared the ring and locked in a nasty version of her Kurfida Clutch for the victory.

Main Event: NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream (champ) defeated Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne.

This was another classic main event at Largo, which occurs so often that you come to expect to see them at every event. To avoid that which will be led to pointless cynicism, you just have to remind yourself how lucky you are to see this level of wrestling for only $10 for a seat 10 yards from the ring with each high quality main event feeling special in its own way. This main event had a surprise that created the loudest pop of the night. Strong and Dream came out to the ring to start the match with respectable reactions from the crowd even though Strong was supposed to be the heel, people like him around these parts because he is local. The match was about to start when Pete Dunne’s music hit which was that gigantic pop of the night I mentioned earlier, it was a cool booking move. The match then became a 3-Way battle to be champion of the United States and Canada which and while I know this was practice for Takeover, I have seen other supposed practice matches that were later featured on a Takeover that were better than their PPV counterparts.

This was a match where this could actually happen due to the high speed pace of the match, the quality technical wrestling involved, the insane sports that were implemented with logic effectively and the psychology involved. Each wrestler controlled a portion of this 15 minute match but every time it seemed that we would have a winner, the pin was broken or a near fall would occur. I actually questioned at one point that they could change titles at this house show but alas, this did not happen. After every wrestler hit their finisher with the pins being broken up, the finish of the match came when Strong hit his suplex backbreaker finisher again on Dunne, who then somehow kicked out at 2.8 for a very close near fall. The Dream snuck up on Strong, who then turned around and was put into an inside cradle for the 1-2-3 allowing Dream to retain his title in an epic bout.

article topics :

House Show, NXT, WWE, Jeremy Thomas