Ol’ Blue Pants – The El Generico of NXT

Every now and then I’ll see posts on wrestling message boards asking for help to get back into WWE. Sometimes the questions are about current wrestlers or if past ones are still in the ring. Some ask about current storylines and often about how to get into NXT. But I’ve also seen the same specific question – who is Blue Pants and why does she seem to be so popular?

It’s not an easy question to answer. Blue Pants (independent wrestler Leva Bates) hasn’t wrestled very often in NXT, only won once, has very plain attire and has never cut a promo. Yet despite all that, has become a favorite among NXT fans, getting huge reactions at the NXT Arena in Full Sail University and even been interviewed by WWE.com.

Blue Pants – aka Leva Bates – has been wrestling since 2006 but only made her NXT debut in Sept. 2014, taking on Carmella in a losing effort. Since then, she’s wrestled five more times for NXT and actually won a match against Carmella in Dec. 2014. But in that first appearance, a star was born. Even though she’s just an enhancement talent (a nice way of saying she’s a jobber), fans quickly latched onto Blue Pants because of her upbeat attitude and enthusiasm, despite seemingly having no character beyond being happy to be there and being named after the color of her pants.

And as I thought about what made fans so enamored with Blue Pants, it made me recall another ultra-popular wrestler with an equally simplistic character – El Generico.

El Generico got his start in Quebec, Montreal, Canada for International Wrestling Syndicate in 2002. ProFightDB.com lists his first match as a four-way at CZW’s High Stakes 2 in 2004 (with Kevin Steen, Excess 69 and won by Sexxxy Eddy) though CageMatch.net has his first match listed as 2002 with IWS against TNT, a match which he won by count out.

The story I’ve always heard about El Generico’s origin is this – the Generico gimmick wasn’t meant to be permanent, rather he was just supposed to be another jobber. He had generic tights, a generic luchadore mask and even had the word “generic” right in his name. Nothing was supposed to stand out about El Generico – except, somehow, the fans absolutely loved him. They loved him so much he won his first 8 matches in IWS and his first loss was in an IWS Heavyweight Title match against Dru Onyx.

Blue Pants was even inducted into the bWo!

 

It’s hard to say why the fans took to Generico so much initially. But as time went on, he developed into a beloved, ultra-babyface character that just wanted to wrestle and put on great matches, which the fans really connected with. And the same could be said of Blue Pants.

Like Generico, she isn’t flashy and her name is based on the attire that she just happened to be wearing for her debut. She’s just happy to be able to work for NXT and I think it’s her earnest enthusiasm which the fans picked up on and took to right away. Just look at the June 10 edition of NXT TV in her match against (Evil) Emma – Blue Pants got arguably the biggest pop of the night. It’s hard to say if Ol’ Blue Pants will have as lengthy a career as El Generico or if she’ll ever be brought in full time by WWE, but one thing is for sure, just like El Generico, Blue Pants has definitely won the heart of the crowd.

(I actually wrote this several months ago and never posted it for some reason. I don’t think it will feel too dated and with Blue Pants showing up at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, it feels like as good a time as any. I actually saw Leva wrestle in some tiny town in middle to northern New Jersey against Veda Scott in…I wanna say late 2013. It was for a Wrestling Is show and there were maybe 50-80 people there, it’s very cool to see someone who works incredibly hard at both costumes and cosplay as well as wrestling, like Leva does, get such a big reaction at a huge event like Takeover: Brooklyn.)

NXT, Lucha Underground, and Indy Wrestling Minute - Your Weekly Source for Independent News

NXT, 5/27

A recap of NXT Takeover: Unstoppable opens NXT tonight.

After that, Sami Zayn’s music hits but Zayn is nowhere to be seen – it’s Kevin Owens with a Cena “US Champ is here” shirt and the NXT Title belt.

Announcers say Zayn underwent surgery.

Owens says he was gonna issue an NXT Title open challenge but the fact is he isn’t an insecure person and doesn’t feel he needs to defend his title against anybody just to prove themselves. He wants people to earn their matches against him. People clap for him and start “John Cena sucks” chant to tune of Cena’s music and Owens masterfully screws with them, saying it’s funny but he’s never heard them say Sami Zayn sucks and he does too and everyone instantly boos him.

Says he’s heard people say he’s a bad person and say that’s just not true. Fact is, he’s a good man. For example, this was the last time we’ll ever have to hear Zayn’s music because of what he did at Takeover. And because he did exactly what he said he’d do to Zayn. Zayn asked for the match, Owens said if he showed up, he’d take him out, which is what he did. And finally because he is still the NXT Champion so he can keep providing for his family, which is what the essence of a good man is.

Says that he is a good man because he let people have their moment when Samoa Joe showed up at Takeover. People say that Owens is scared of Joe which is as a ridiculous statement as the colors of John Cena’s merchandise. Says he could drop Samoa Joe like that (and snaps his fingers) and if he ever steps foot in the same ring as Owens again, he will drop him like that.

William Regal comes out, looking pretty annoyed with Owens. Says Owens is walking a thin line. Regal says since Owens has been here, Superstars have been getting stretchered out and names Alex Riley, Adrian Neville, Hideo Itami and Owens denies having anything to do with Itami. Then mentions Zayn and Owens says Regal made the match, Zayn wanted it and Owens simply did what he had to do so don’t put that on him.

Suddenly, Solomon Crowe’s music hits. Crowe hits the ring and says he couldn’t stay in the back and listen to this any longer. Says Owens won’t fight anyone unless they earn it because deep down, he’s scared. Because at any moment anyone could beat him for the title and says he’s a piece of crap.

Owens says Crowe earned himself an opportunity and asks Regal to make the match, who does. Goes over the list of people he’s injured and says now you can add Crowe to that list too.

Hideo Itami video after his surgery. Talking about how he was attacked in the parking lot but doesn’t know who did it and took his opportunity at a title shot. But when he comes back, there will be no stopping him.

Segment with Renee Young talking to Zack Ryder. Apparently it was from Takeover but I don’t remember it. Possibly foreshadowing Ryder going to NXT? Says he was sitting next to Mojo Rawley and then Mojo shows up, being all hype.

Bayley takes on Emma in sort of a rematch from Takeover. Emma has new theme music and it sounds like Joe Satriani from the 90s made it, which isn’t a bad thing, just unexpected.

They start pushing and shoving early with Emma being the aggressor. Emma is clearly embracing a more evil side, not doing any of the things that fans used to like about her.

In a twist, Emma makes Bayley tap to the Emma Lock.

Afterward, Emma calls Dana Brooke into the ring and Brooke holds back Bayley as Emma slaps her. It isn’t long before Charlotte comes out to even the odds, taking down both Emma and Brooke. But Bayley is still down and Brooke attacks Charlotte while she’s on Emma and then Emma slaps Charlotte and Brooke puts her down with a Samoan Driver.

Renee is talking to Baron Corbin after his match with Rhyno, saying he proved that he’s the only unstoppable force in NXT. Rhyno interrupts them and says he wants another match with Corbin, the sooner the better.

Showed that Becky Lynch video package from the past few weeks.

Team of Elias Sampson and Mike Rallis already in the ring. They take on Blake and The Murph with Alexa Bliss.

The champs take control of Rallis early, tagging in and out to keep him on the mat. Sampson tags in and hits a few moves but gets taken out by the running suplex/frog splash combo. Murphy kicks Rallis in the face as he checks on Sampson and they pull Sampson to the corner so Bliss can hit the Sparkle Splash on him.

It’s kinda weird that WWE is allowing female competitors to interact physically with male competitors but the opposite would flat out not be allowed to happen. If you’re going to go that PG with the product, maybe set a better example by establishing that men and women shouldn’t be violent toward the opposite gender. But that’s just my two cents.

Devin talks to the champs and Alexa backstage and asks her how their whole relationship came about. After putting Devin down (why is everyone always so mean to Devin?) she says because they are winners and because she is a winner and winners always seem to gravitate to each other. And it’s no surprise that Carmella got together with Enzo and Big Cass. Something about Staten Island is famous for a garbage dump and next week, she’s going to send Carmella back to that dump.

Tye Dillinger already in the ring. He takes on Finn Balor, who now has a bandana type face mask which is probably already available on WWE Shop.

Balor wins with a Coup de Grace after a decent match.

Greg Hamilton asks Jason Jordan during his work out what his plan is now that he and Dillinger are split. Jordan says he’s gonna be just fine, in fact he’s been searching for a new partner. Then Chad Gable comes up and his cauliflower ears are burning because he must be talking about him. Jordan doesn’t seem impressed, despite Gable listing his amateur wrestling accomplishments – state champ, national champ, world medals, even being on the Olympic team. Jordan says he already has a partner and he’ll call him if he needs him and calls him Cable. Gable corrects him and gives him a towel with his name on it.

Main event time – Kevin Owens vs Solomon Crowe.

As Owens is wont to do, he jumps out of the ring at the bell and attacks Crowe as he jumps out of the ring after him. Back in the ring, Crowe takes it to Owens and goes up top but Owens shoves him hard to the floor.

Owens trash talks Crowe the whole match, just beating him down in the ring and laying in heavy chin locks. Owens throws Crowe around and out of the ring several times.

But Crowe fighting back into it and hits a big running knee to the corner which seems to stagger Owens but moments later, Owens hits the pop up powerbomb for the win.

After the bell, Owens throws Crowe out of the ring and sets up for an apron bomb but Samoa Joe hit the stage, ready to fight. Owens gets back in the ring and lays down the title and waits for Joe to get into the ring. When he does, Owens jumps out and heads up the ramp, pointing to Crowe saying that’s a warning to Joe and next time, that’s going to be him.

Lucha Underground, 5/27

Episode opens with Black Lotus walking into the Temple. Chavo meets her outside and tells her that El Dragon Azteca wants her protected, but she says she doesn’t need protection. He tells her if she really wants revenge, she needs to go about it the right way – in the ring with the whole world watching.

Chavo tells her they are alike. His grandfather was there when her parents were killed and that his family, The Guerreros, hate the Cuetos as much as she does.

In the first match, Aerostar takes on Johnny Mundo. People do not seem as happy to see Mundo as usual after what he did to Alberto El Patron.

Big Aerostar chant as the match starts. Mundo takes the advantage early, being more aggressive and violent than usual. But Aerostar uses his high flying to turn the tables for a moment but it isn’t for long as Mundo stays in control.

Mundo is just doing a ground and pound on Aerostar, keeping him on the mat and stomping on him and pounding on his face with punches and forearms.

Aerostar staying in the match, kicking out of covers and avoids the End of the World but Mundo eventually hits his finisher and wins as the crowd boos.

Vampiro sits down with Sexy Star. Vamp asks her about what’s going on with Pentagon Jr and she says he’s nothing but a bully and that she isn’t afraid of him. Vamp asks isn’t she worried what he could do to her but she responds by asking if he would be asking the same question if she were a man. Vamp asks about Super Fly but she says she hasn’t heard from him since the mask vs mask match but she knows he’s recovering and in rehab for what Pentagon did to him.

She can’t stop thinking about how she was able to defeat Pentagon Jr in a singles match and that it could help a girl or woman be more confident and strong that she was able to stand up to him and say “I’m not afraid!”

Vamp says Cueto has made a rematch between Pentagon and Sexy Star in a “submission style match” next week. She says Pentagon has never seen the submission holds that she knows and whatever happens, their feud will be over.

Lucha Underground Championship match between Hernandez and Prince Puma.

Back and forth at the start, neither really has an advantage since Hernandez is way stronger but Puma is much more agile.

Hernandez seems to be in the lead as the match goes on, with his power moves wearing down Puma. Puma kicks out of a sit out powerbomb and Hernandez can’t believe it. He hits a pounce shoulder tackle which sends Puma flying out of the ring. Konnan gets on the apron to distract Hernandez while Puma gets a chair from under the ring. Hernandez dives over the ropes onto Puma but eats a chair shot. The ref begins the count but Hernandez is up around 7 and Puma hits a hand spring corkscrew moonsault over the ropes which takes him down to the floor.

Hernandez powerbomb Puma into the apron. Sets up for power bomb on the railing but Puma wiggles out. Runs at Hernandez who bumps him up and Puma leaps onto the railing and then corkscrew moonsault onto Hernandez.

Puma hits a springboard 450 but only a 2. Puma goes for the 630 but Hernandez moves and Puma lands hard. Hernandez hits some big move in the middle of the ring and only gets 2. Hernandez goes up top and Puma gets the knees up during the splash. Puma hits a series of head kicks but only gets a 2.

Puma goes up for a 630 but Hernandez hits the ropes and trips him up. Hernandez goes up and Puma fights him off. Hernandez rushes in twice and gets kicked in the head. Second time he crumbles and Puma lands a 630 for the win.

Fenix vs Mil Muertes. Melissa Santos says this is a deathmatch so we’ll see just how extreme this gets.

Fenix out first then Mil Muertes, who has Catrina AND the Actual Spooky Skeleton trios team with him. Looks like they were actually luchadores and not just a figment of Fenix’s imagination.

The Skeletons take Mil’s shoulder garb off and Fenix dives through the ropes at him but Mil just shrugs it off. He tries to again Mil hits him with a forearm. Mil just throwing Fenix around and hammering him with stomps and forearms.

Mil is just dominating Fenix and throwing him around like he’s nothing. Striker calls the skeletons “The Faces of Death” at one point and I feel like that could end up being their name.

Fenix runs on the ropes and lands a side kick which stuns Mil then a crazy springboard moonsault onto Mil on the floor and takes out a cameraman behind them. But Mil is up quickly and pulls Fenix in close for a big lariat.

Mil pulls out a chair and levels Fenix in his face. Hammers Fenix with the end of the chair then throws him face first into the railing. Fenix reverses him then leaps from the railing into a double stomp onto Mil’s face. Fenix rolls him back in but only gets a 2 count on Mil.

Mil squashes Fenix on the outside, leaps from the top in a cross body on Fenix on the floor. He slams Fenix face on the announce table then hammers his head with another chair shot. Mil picks up Fenix on his shoulders and runs all the way up those stairs to the ledge above the announce table AND POWERBOMBS HIM THROUGH THE FLOOR. The ref is losing his mind trying to get the door open to the room where Fenix went through.

Catrina directs the skeletons to break through the door and they pick up Fenix and take him to the ring. Mil grips him up and Flatliner for the win. Catrina and the skeletons get in the ring and she gives Fenix the lick of death.

As the episode ends, Dario Cueto is with The Crew in the basement with his brother. Asks them if they have anything to say, any excuses. He says El Jefe will not be embarrassed and the three of them are an embarrassment. He tells them to choose and Cisco and Cortez grab Bael and push him up to the cage. It’s hard to say exactly what happens but Cisco and Cortez are covered in blood and Bael has gotta be dead after that. His head bashed in or taken off by Cueto’s brother or something?  

Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor is moving to Destination America on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. starting June 3, which is this Wednesday. There’s been a lot of speculation about whether TNA will continue on Destination America but it seems that, for the time being at least, ROH will run for an hour at 8 p.m. followed by TNA from 9-11 p.m.

Also, these episodes go online at ROH’s website on Saturday, even earlier for Ringside members. (Though I could be wrong and that’s the Ringside release date. I’m not positive)

The lineup for Wednesday, June 3 is:

The Briscoe Brothers vs House of Truth members J. Diesel and Donovan Dijack

KUSHIDA vs Will Ferrara

Silas Young vs Watanabe

Moose vs Colby Corino

Scheduled to appear – The Addiction, Mandy Leone, Veda Scott, BJ Whitmer and more

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best of Super Juniors results

Night 1

Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Yohei Komatsu

Block B: Tiger Mask IV defeated Nick Jackson

Block B: Alex Shelley defeated David Finlay

(Alex Shelley was injured in his match with David Finlay and will miss the rest of the tournament.)

Block A: Barbaro Cavernario defeated Chase Owens

Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata and Tomoaki Honma defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba and YOSHI-HASHI

Block B: Bobby Fish defeated Rocky Romero

Block A: Kyle O'Reilly defeated Beretta

Block B: KUSHIDA defeated Mascara Dorada

Block A: Gedo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi

Night 2

Block A: Gedo defeated Yohei Komatsu

Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Cavernario Barbaro

Block B: Nick Jackson defeated KUSHIDA

Night 3

Block A: Baretta defeated Chase Owens

Block B: Mascara Dorada defeated David Finlay

Block B: Tiger Mask IV defeated Bobby Fish

Block A: Kyle O'Reilly defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

Night 4

Block A: Barbaro Carvernario defeated GEDO

Block B: KUSHIDA defeated David Finlay

Block B: Rocky Romero defeated Nick Jackson

Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Baretta

Night 5

Block A: Kyle O'Reilly defeated Yohei Komatsu

Block B: Mascara Dorada defeated Tiger Mask IV

Block A: Chase Owens defeated Jushin Thunder Liger

Night 6

Block A: Chase Owens defeated Yohei Komatus

Block B: Nick Jackson defeated David Finlay

Block A: Beretta defeated Barbaro Cavernario

Block B: Rocky Romero defeated Tiger Mask IV

Night 7

Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Gedo

Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kyle O'Reilly

Block B: KUSHIDA defeated Bobby Fish

Non-tournament matches

-Tomoaki Honma and David Finlay defeated Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu

- Chase Owens and Barbaro Cavernario defeated Tiger Mask IV and Chase Owens

- Kazuchika Okada and Roppongi Vice defeated Bullet Club (Cody Hall, Takahashi, Nick Jackson)

- Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Captain New Japan and Katsuyori Shibata

Night 8

Block A: Chase Owens defeated Gedo with a Package Piledriver

Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Beretta

Block B: KUSHIDA defeated Tiger Mask IV

Non-tournament matches

- Ryusuke Taguchi, Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka defeated Mascara Dorada, David Finlay and Jay White

- Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish defeated Rocky Romero and Barbaro Cavernario

- Kazuchika Okada and Jado defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall

- Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Captain New Japan

Night 9

Block B: Rocky Romero defeated David Finlay
Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yohei Komatsu
Block A: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Barbaro Cavernario
Block B: Bobby Fish defeated Mascara Dorada

Non-tournament matches

-Chase Owens defeated Sho Tanaka

-Tiger Mask IV and Jushin “Thunder” Liger defeated KUSHIDA and Jay White

-Kazuchika Okada, Baretta and Gedo defeated Bullet Club (Yurjiro Takahashi, Nick Jackson, and Cody Hall)

-Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI

Night 10

Block A: Beretta defeated Gedo
Block A: Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Block B: KUSHIDA defeated Rocky Romero

Non-tournament matches

-Tomoaki Honma, Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka defeated Mascara Dorada, David Finlay and Jay White
-Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish defeated Barbaro Cavernario and Chase Owens
-Kazuchika Okada and Jado defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Nick Jackson
-Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Captain New Japan

Current standings (after Night 10):

BLOCK A
Ryusuke Taguchi (5-1) – 10 points
Kyle O’Reilly (4-1) – 8 points
Baretta (3-3) – 6 points
Jushin Thunder Liger (3-3) – 6 points
Chase Owens (3-2) – 6 points
Bárbaro Cavernario (2-3) – 4 points
Gedo (2-4) – 4 points
Yohei Komatsu (0-5) – 0 points

BLOCK B
KUSHIDA (6-1) – 12 points
Máscara Dorada (4-1) – 8 points
Nick Jackson (3-2) – 6 points
Rocky Romero (3-3) – 6 points
Bobby Fish (3-2) – 6 points
Tiger Mask IV (3-3) – 6 points
David Finlay (0-5) 0 points
Alex Shelley (1-6) – Now Out Of Tournament

(I wrote this after Night 9, but my thoughts haven’t changed much)

With 9 days of BOSJ shows in the books, we’re starting to get a pretty good picture of who could be walking away the victor with a shot at Kenny Omega’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship.

Early on in the tournament, Kyle O’Reilly was tearing up Block A and was the clear front-runner but since then Ryusuke Taguchi caught up to him and Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Chase Owens have been making a push for the top.

Meanwhile, KUSHIDA looks to be on course win Block B but Mascara Dorada, Nick Jackson, Rocky Romero, Bobby Fish and Tiger Mask are all within a win or two of claiming the top spot in the block.

My prediction is that KUSHIDA  will come out the ultimate winner of this BOSJ tournament and go on to face Kenny Omega. Considering the state of the Time Splitters (which I’ll get to in a minute), I wouldn’t be surprised at all if KUSHIDA gets a big push coming out of this tournament on his way to becoming another top name in NJPW.

It’s really unfortunate that Alex Shelley had to pull out of this BOSJ due to injury, for a few reasons. Number one – he was easily a favorite to win it. He has had issues with Omega in recent months and putting Shelley over in BOSJ would give him a lot of credibility as a IWGP Junior Heavyweight challenger. Number two – this is the second year in a row he’s had to pull out of BOSJ because of injury and both years he was one of the favorites to win going into the tournament. Number three – both Shelley and KUSHIDA were in Block B meaning we would’ve gotten to see the Time Splitters go at it but now that won’t happen.  

Plus, Shelley sent out this cryptic tweet which sort of, maybe indicates that he might be retiring or at least leaving NJPW

Combat Zone Wrestling

Apparently plans are in the works for CZW to host a live Pay-Per-View on traditional PPV providers like InDemand, starting this December for the annual Cage of Death event. Rumors are they could do a test run event on PPV before COD but details are unknown at the time.

Tournament of Death 13 is coming up on 6/23 from Markland Acre Farms in Townsend, DE

The card so far is:

Round One

DJ Hyde vs “Wrench” Conor Claxton

Matt Tremont vs Josh Crane

Ron Mathis vs Jake Crist

Ricky Shane Page vs. Danny Havoc

 Non-tournament

Scaffold match – Devon Moore vs Dave Crist

LOL match (Ladders, Orange Sacks, and Legos) – Lucky 13 vs Eric Ryan

 

Global Force Wrestling

The first GFW live event is coming up soon, taking place on June 12 at 7:30 at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee.

-Tate Twins (Brent and Brandon) v Best Friends (Chuck Taylor/Trent Baretta)

-Lei’D Tapa v Thea Trinidad

-Sonjay Dutt v Jamin Olivencia

-George T. Murdoch (Brodus Clay) v Moose

-Chris Masters v Dustin Star

-Bullet Club v New Heavenly Bodies
REFEREES: Chris Sharpe (aka Brie Bella guy) and Will Gibson
***Special Guest: Jim Cornette***

I’ve also read that since these cards were announced, TNA pulled Tyrus (aka George T. Murdoch, his real name) since GFW is holding TV tapings. The situation is similar for Moose, being under ROH contract, though he is still allowed to participate in GFW live shows but isn’t appearing on tapings.

Evolve

Evolve 43

-Rey Horus def. Anthony Nese

-Davey Richards def. Caleb Konley

-T.J. Perkins def. Mike Bailey

-Chris Hero defeated Trevor Lee

-Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann defeated Drew Gulak and Tracey Williams to retain the Open the United Gate Tag Titles

-Drew Galloway defeated Biff Busick to retain the DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Championship

Evolve 44

-Ethan Page def. Johnny Gargano

-Trevor Lee def. Rich Swann

-Rey Horus def. Tracey Williams

-The Premier Athlete Brand (Tony Nese and Caleb Konley) def. TJP and Rey Horus

-Biff Busick def. Speedball Mike Bailey

-Davey Richards def. Drew Gulak

-EVOLVE Championship: Drew Galloway def. Roderick Strong to retain

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

I just realized that PWG’s June 26 event “Rock and Shock the Nation” is now a Mystery Vortex event (the full title is Mystery Vortex III: Rock and Shock the Nation).

Mystery Vortex events are unique PWG shows where wrestlers may be announced ahead of time but the matches are a mystery (get it?) until you actually watch the show.

Considering Roderick Strong’s title reign so far and the events of DDT4, I’ll be very interested to see who challenges for the PWG title at Mystery Vortex III.

NXT Philly at The Tower Theater results

NXT Philly: Night 1

The first stops on the first NXT Tour were in Upper Darby last Thursday and Friday at The Tower Theater. I saw a wrestling show there before (TNA) and they put the ring on the stage which wasn’t great for the people sitting close to the stage (aka where I was sitting). But NXT’s set up was great – they had some bleachers set up on the stage next to an entrance way with the ring set up on a platform extended out from the stage. People in the balcony had a good view of the action and seats from the floor were even better (I had balcony seats on Thursday and floor seats maybe 10 rows back from the stage on Friday).

The show opened with Enzo and Cass with Carmella taking on Blake and Murphy for the tag team titles. Enzo and Cass got a huge pop from the crowd, one of the biggest of the night. They did their usual “Certified G/Bonafide stud” routine and the whole place chanted along with them.

Blake and Murphy retained with their running suplex/frog splash combo. Afterward, the champs attacked Enzo and took the turnbuckle off a corner but before they can use it, Cass and Carmella stop them and all three take turns forearming Blake (or Murphy, I don’t remember) in the face. Blake and Murphy were really hated, especially because Blake came out with his hair in pigtails.

My view from the balcony wasn't too bad on night one of NXT Philly

Next match was Jason Jordan vs Bull Dempsey. Jordan had new music but the same singlet as always. Bull won the match but I don’t remember how, it was pretty lackluster and the crowd was hating on Bull the entire time. Plus, the biggest reaction Jordan got was taking his straps down like Kurt Angle, which tells you how into this match the crowd was.

Dana Brooke came out next to huge boos. She tagged with Becky Lynch against Bayley and Alexa Bliss. Becky and Bliss got good pops from the crowd but nothing like Bayley – people absolutely loved her. There was a big “We Want Blue Pants” chant during this match and also, I’m pretty sure I saw Danny Doring (ECW original who tagged with Roadkill) in the crowd.

Bayley got the win with a Belly to Bayley. Solid match, nothing too flashy though.

The final match before intermission was a triple threat NXT Championship match between Tyler Breeze, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens. The crowd went nuts hearing we were gonna see a title match, as well as three of the most popular guys in NXT. (It’s too bad Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami are hurt because they were the only ones who could’ve maybe gotten a bigger response than these three guys)

Crowd starts a huge “Ole” chant soon as the match starts and Owens immediately heads outside and sits down next to Jojo and Greg Hamilton as Breeze and Balor fight in the ring. Owens retains after Balor hits the Coup de Grace on Breeze and Owens throws Balor out and collects the win.

Afterward, William Regal announces that Balor gets a title match and Balor says he’s bringing the demon!

After intermission, Mick Foley comes to the ring and gets a few cheap pops and he and Joey Styles sit at ringside. The next match is Solomon Crowe taking on Tye Dillinger. Dillinger has a new gimmick where he refers to himself as “The Perfect 10” and carries a sign with him that has a giant 10 on it. Crowe gets the win with a stretch muffler.

Dillinger’s new gimmick got over surprisingly well, even though he was the heel in the match. Crowe got a huge reaction the crowd, getting “Sami” and “CZW” chants for all his time as Sami Callihan in Combat Zone Wrestling.

Baron Corbin came out next to a mixed reaction, which only got way worse as the match went on. He took on ECW vet Rhyno who got a big reaction and lots of “ECW,” “Gore,” and “Rhyno’s gonna kill you” chants.

Corbin was working heel in this match and was really working well as the bad guy, riling up and antagonizing the crowd. Lots of “Corbin sucks” chants to the tune of the “New Day sucks” chants. There were also “Corbin’s gonna bore you” like the “Rhyno’s gonna gore you” chants, but I can’t remember if this was Thursday or Friday.

Their match actually wasn’t too bad and Corbin gets the win with the End of Days. Afterward, he trash talks ECW guys and the crowd was chanting “Shut the f*ck up” at him so loud it was drowning out his promo over the PA system. He talks down to Joey Styles and tells him to bring another ECW original Friday for him to beat.

Before the main even, Triple H came out which was a huge surprise to everyone. He puts over NXT, specifically the women’s division and acknowledges the crowd chanting “Better than Divas” by saying he doesn’t care what you call them because they kick ass.

The main event is Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the Women’s title, which was just an awesome match, one of the best they’ve ever put on. It was also really cool that the women got to main event the first show.

Sasha gets the win with the Banks Statement, nearly wrenching Charlotte in half, pulling her over a few times to get her away from the ropes.

Overall, the first night of NXT Philly was just a great show from top to bottom. The crowd was into everything and chanting almost the whole time. Plus, The Tower is a pretty good venue for wrestling when it’s set up right and draws a hot crowd.

My only complaints were that the music was really loud and sometimes it kill the crowd’s enthusiasm during some entrances. Also, there were lots of kids and families in attendance and the smarks were sometimes chanting some really vulgar stuff which made participating in some of those chants really awkward. Plus, this felt like just a warm up show for Takeover since so many of those matches are also happening on Wednesday. But still, the matches they put on were really good and they got a lot more time than they usually do on WWE programming.

NXT Philly: Night 2

Greg Hamilton opened Night 2 with a recap of Night 1 and Jojo did a great performance of the national anthem.

The first match saw Enzo and Cass take on Tyler Breeze and a mystery partner, which turned out to be Bull Dempsey. Breeze said he was going to be a champion for them because the Eagles aren’t winning any championships any time soon. He also talks down on cheesesteaks which really got the crowd going. Enzo and Cass came out with cheesesteaks and interrupt Breeze, saying they like their rolls toasted so they hard and aren’t…well, you know.

Lots of comedy spots in this match with Enzo and Cass tempting Bull with a cheesesteak and Breeze stopping him from eating it. Also, Enzo chased Breeze around outside the ring until Bull started chasing Enzo with Breeze, but got winded quickly and Breeze and Enzo lapped him around the ring.

Enzo and Cass got the win with the assisted splash and Bull turns on Breeze and eats one of the cheesesteaks. Also, Tye Dillinger came out after the match and gave it a 3 and points to Bull.

View from my seats night two were even better but unfortunately, most of my pics came out terrible

Next, Alexa Bliss takes on Dana Brooke. Alexa is really over and the crowd still really hates Brooke, giving her “You can’t wrestle” chants, even though she was doing pretty well in the ring. Brooke gets the win with the Samoan Driver. Afterward, Dillinger came out and gave the match a 9, but then turned it over into a 6 after getting booed.

Baron Corbin came out next to huge boos and called out Joey Styles. Lots of loud ECW chants as Styles announces Corbin’s opponent – The Innovator of Violence, Tommy Dreamer!

Fun match with Dreamer taking Corbin around outside the ring, hitting him with a can of soda and a cup of beer. Takes him in the ring and gets a 2 off a DDT but then Corbin takes control and wins with a End of Days. Tye Dillinger comes out and gives Dreamer a 0 and Styles gets in his face. Dillinger grips him up but Styles pushes him into Dreamer and Dreamer DDT him.

Next match is a fatal fourway for the NXT Women’s title between Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Sasha and Charlotte took bumps outside the ring which I thought was nuts because it didn’t sound like there was much padding down. Sasha and Bayley fought off the stage and into the crowd a little too.

There were lots of other cool moments like a big superplex/powerbomb tower of doom spot with all four women and Becky got a “Suplex City” chant after tossing people with a few t-bone suplexes. Bayley hits a Belly to Bayley on Becky but Sasha throws Bayley out to pin Becky. Huge pops for each girl after the match and before they leave, Charlotte, Becky and Bayley raise each other’s hands. Just an awesome, crazy match.

First match after intermission was Jason Jordan and Solomon Crowe taking on Blake and Murphy for the tag team titles. Crowe gets beat down for a while and Jordan gets the hot tag and goes nuts with suplexes and shoulder blocks into the corner on Blake and Murphy. There was also a cool spot where Crowe and Jordan had the stretch muffler and ankle lock applied at the same time but the champs didn’t tap. Jordan and Crowe worked pretty well together despite seeming like an odd pairing.

Main event time – Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor for the NXT Title. Balor enters through the crowd with the demon paint (though it’s the usual paint and not new paint as was reported by the dirtsheets).

Owens runs out of the ring a few times before locking up with Balor and plays the heel really well, despite the crowd wanting to love both guys. There were loud “Cena sucks” chants all night and Owens busted out a You Can’t See Me followed by a 5 Knuckle Shuffle, but Balor dodged it.

Owens picked up the win after a great match by hitting Balor with a chair on the outside. He then tried to powerbomb Balor on the edge of the stage but faces came out to stop him, followed by the heels to start a big brawl to end the show. Great match overall though, honestly, I think the women’s fourway might’ve been better.

Finn Balor's demon makes an appearance at The Tower. (Not my picture)

Both shows were awesome and the turnout for both shows was really good so hopefully WWE and NXT come back to Delco soon.