NXT live event
Date: Saturday, October 19
Venue: PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia
Submitted by: Ben Lypka
The crowd looked to be about 2,500 or so, not bad at all for a show that had zero matches advertised. It looked to be a bigger crowd than the last time NXT came to the same venue in July 2017.
Match #1: Tyler Breeze and Fandango vs. The Outliers
Breeze and Fandango were over, and for two guys who haven’t been on TV much, the Outliers got good heat. Robert Stone was with them and continually helped them gain an advantage until the ref kicked him out. A trio of superkicks from the Breeze and Fandango followed and they won by pinfall in about eight minutes.
Match #2: Bronson Reed vs. Dominik Dijakovic
Dijakovic came out with a bandage on his cheek, the crowd came down quite a bit for this match, which worked a slower pace but it picked up. Dijakovic won with a choke-slam in about nine minutes.
Match #3: Aliyah and Vanessa Borne vs. Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox
Probably the low point of the night, Kai and Nox were somewhat over but Aliyah and Borne are still pretty green. The crowd never seemed to buy into their offense but Kai and Nox eventually took over and Kai pinned Aaliyah with a GTS.
After this match, they showed a video of Undisputed Era (minus Adam Cole) mocking Vancouver and the weather. This was designed so Kyle O’Reilly (who is a local guy that starred for years in ECCW) would get booed. The strategy didn’t really work.
Match #4: Kassius Ohno vs. Isaiah Scott
Both guys got decent reactions and Ohno attacked him before the bell. Scott took over and had a nice flurry of moves including a 450 splash and a Fosbury flop but then was knocked out with a punch by Ohno in three minutes. The crowd was red hot for Scott’s offense.
Ohno then got on the mic and talked trash. He challenged anyone in the back, and Finn Balor came out to a massive pop.
Match #5: Finn Balor vs. Kassius Ohno
Ohno controlled early but Balor fought back and pinned him with a stomp in three minutes. Balor was super over.
Match #6: Undisputed Era vs. Street Profits
Both teams were incredibly over, and O’Reilly chants rained down to start the match, The Profits, and especially Montez Ford, won over the crowd as the match continued. It was a lot of UE trying to use quick tags and separating Ford from his partner and Ford getting the crowd involved. The finish saw Ford get a hot tag and hit a splash and then a dive to the outside, but he was rolled up by O’Reilly at about the 15-minute mark. Great match, best of the night. The crowd loved both teams.
Match #7: Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest
Dunne was very over with loud “bruiserweight” chants throughout the match. These two told a very good story, with Dunne continually working on Priest’s fingers and Priest using power spots to fight him off. Saw Priest hit a razor’s edge at one point and it was mostly a 50/50 match. Dunne did the breaking finger spot with Priest, but he low blowed Dunne to follow that and then hit his finish at about the 12-minute mark. Very good match
Match #8: Shayna Baszler vs. Candice LeRae
It felt like a lot of people weren’t super aware of LeRae. Baszler has some history performing at local shows here and got a decent reaction. Lerae got the crowd invested and hit a nice swinging neck breaker off the top. The two traded finishes and LeRae escaped Baszler’s finish a few times, once reversing it into a choke of her own. Baszler eventually locked it in at about the 10-minute mark to win.
Match #9: Roderick Strong vs. Matt Riddle
Riddle was very over and seemed to dominate the majority of the match. The match began with a huge Goldberg chant – which was odd. Strong had a brief flurry with a backbreaker and a bunch of strikes. Riddle was using a lot of unique offense like a powerbomb and a top rope Frankensteiner, but eventually, Fish and O’Reilly came out and distracted the ref. They began to beat down Riddle and the Street Profits made the save. The heels took off.
After Riddle and the Street Profits were alone, Riddle got on the mic and said, unlike Goldberg, he can’t win them all. He then brought out all the babyfaces in the locker room, most notably Scott Taylor and Norman Smiley (who entered to Taylor’s Too Cool music) and this appeared to be the Profits’ send-off.
Ford mentioned how Dawkins has been in NXT for seven years and how this will always be home to them. Dawkins seemed to be shedding a few tears. Everyone congratulated the Profits and the crowd went home happy.
A really fun show overall, too bad Cole wasn’t there as he was selling a lot of merch. Also notable that they didn’t bring Chelsea Green, who was also a big local star and would have got a nice pop. Still, the crowd seemed to enjoy the show and there was nothing bad.
Biggest Pops:
1) Balor
2) Undisputed Era
3) Street Profits
Biggest Heat:
1) Ohno
2) Baszler
3) Outliers with Robert Stone