7/29 NXT in Phoenix, Ariz.: Cole vs.Breeze for NXT North American Title, Ciampa defends against Velveteen Dream, Gargano vs. Lars, EC3 vs. Ohno

Velveteen Dream arrested again
Velveteen Dream (art credit Joel Tesch © PWTorch)

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

NXT LIVE EVENT RESULTS
JULY 29, 2018
PHOENIX, ARIZ.
REPORT BY BRIAN ALSTON, 27 YEAR PWTORCH SENIOR VIP SUBSCRIBER


If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!


(1) EC3 pinned Kassius Ohno. Nice hard-hitting match. Crowd was 50/50. Ohno raised EC3’s arm. Good way to start the evening.

(2) Jessie beat Vanessa Borne. Borne, announced from nearby Scottsdale, said she now wants to be billed from Los Angeles. Got some heat. Jessie’s from Phoenix. Some basic moves, ladies practicing their craft. This is what NXT house shows should be used for.

(3) Kona Reeves rolled up Brennan Williams with a yank of the jeans. Williams is also known as Marcellus Black. Several around me wondered who Williams is. Brennan sat several times in the corner, which got several “sit!” and “holy sit!” chants. Reeves worked the crowd well. Kona is billed at 6-4 but doesn’t look that tall. I think he’ll be a very good main roster heel.

(4) Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) defeated Heavy Machinery to retain the retained the NXT Tag Team Championships. Standard tag match. Crowd was 51 percent behind Era. However, there were energetic chants for “Steaks & Weights.” Very good work.

Velveteen Dream came on the Tiny Tron and announced he’s taking on Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Title. Total face promo. Got a nice pop.

(5) Johnny Gargano deefated Lars Sullivan via DQ. Lars was DQ’d after he threw the referee out of the ring. Johnny was super over. Lars did all of his big man moves. After the match, Sullivan introduced a chair. Gargano got it and hit him twice.

(6) Candice LaRae & Kairi Sane beat Shayna Baszler & Taynara Conti. Sane sold for much of the match. Shayna continues to look evil. Sane gave Conti the giant elbow.

(7) Adam Cole beat Tyler Breeze to retain the NXT North American Title. Breeze got a nice “Welcome back!” chant. Of course Cole got his standard cheers from the fans. Lots of vocal crowd interaction including voting which one was prettier. When the crowd begged Adam not to punch Tyler, Cole said “No!” and peppered Breeze’s face. At the end, O’Reilly distracted the ref, allow Strong to knee Breeze and Cole hit his finisher for the pin.

Heavy Machinery met Undisputed Era on the ramp and pounded them. They trapped Cole and attacked him in the ring. Breeze got a Beauty Shot. Machinery and Breeze posed in the ring and did each other’s moves.

(8) Tommaso Ciampa pinned Velveteen Dream to retain the NXT Title. Ciampa, by far, got the most heat of the night. When Tommaso got the upper hand, he mocked Dream with his mannerisms. Ciampa removed a turnbuckle and Dream eventually ran face first into the exposed steel. Ciampa hit his driver for the win. Before Dream left the ring, he was serenaded with “future champ.” He seemed to appreciated it.

OTHER NOTES…

-Almost the entire lower section was full. There’s a second level but there were only a few seats available. I’ll guestimate 5,500 attended.

-My tickets had a face value of $40, I paid $57.50.

-Biggest babyface pops: Gargano, Dream. Heels: Ciampa by a wide margin. Baszler & Borne.

-What People Wore. Lots of Bullet Club merch. Two guys, with belts, were walking together holding hands &  wearing Golden Lovers shirts. When I said cool shirts one of them said “finally someone noticed!” A ton of guys carrying belts on their shoulders. I complemented Randy Savage and a classic Eddie Guerrero Scarface shirts. There was a “Rusev Day” when a guy walked down the concourse with a Happy Rusev Day shirt. I wore the Legend Bruno Sammartino shirt.

-The only main roster merchandise I saw at the table was Bobby Roode and Fashion Police. I believe the only woman was Baszler.

-Speaking of Fashion Police, Breeze threw a shirt into the crowd. Of course I caught it! Woman standing next to me also had her hands on it. So I… gave it to her for her 8 year old son. She was extremely happy. Hugged me several times. Husband shook my hand and son gave me a high five. Before this happened, I talked with the family. The boy, Hal, had a Johnny Gargano, and Undisputed Era signs. Said he liked both but Johnny was his favorite. I showed him a picture of me wearing an Undisputed shirt during NXT Phoenix show in November 2017. Hal was very excited about it. When I showed him my Bruno shirt, he asked did he still wrestle. I said he’s retired.


If you attend a live event, please send results in the format of the following report to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!


NOW CHECK OUT THIS RECENT REPORT: 7/27 NXT in Riverside, Calif.: Cole vs. Tyler Breeze for N. Amer. Title, Velveteen Dream & Tomasso Ciampa beat Aleister Black & EC3, Undisputed Era vs. Heavy Machinery

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