If you get the chance to head along to the NXT shows - grab it. The Melbourne show was very good, with TM61 vs. DIY stealing the show.
Happy to see Brooks get a tryout
I thought DJR might’ve posted his usual snarky repartee about the Melbourne show, but seeing he hasn’t I’ll post my review that went up on a wrestling site a few days ago
Andrea D’Marco gets things off on the wrong foot by welcoming everyone to the show and pronouncing Melbourne incorrectly - to be completely fair she got it right by the end of the night and with 5 Australians in the touring group, someone should’ve given her the head’s up.
Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon
Good pops for Billie & Ember, less of a reaction for Liv. Billie received Bayley’s “Are you Going to be my Girl” chant, which she wasn’t fond of. Finish came with Liv & Ember battling on the top rope, it looked to be heading for a tower of doom corner spot as Billie suplexed Liv, but Ember held onto the ropes and picked off Billie with her finisher. Liv took a bad bump whilst making an outside dive (looked like she partly caught the ropes) and was noticeably slow to make her way backstage.
Blake vs. Andrade Almas
Blake was booed out of the building to start with which as the face wasn’t ideal - probably it being Murphy’s home town and Blake his ex-partner was a factor - have to give props, particularly to Blake, but to Andrade as well, as they both worked really hard to turn the crowd back and had succeeded by the last few minutes of the match. Andrade hits his running double knees followed by the hammerlock DDT for the win.
The Revival vs. Riddick Moss & Tino Sabatelli
Big pop for Revival…“who are you” chants directed at Moss & Sabatelli. Only wrestler mic work of the night comes from Dash & Dawson. Given Moss & Sabatelli have only had 1 match as a team on TV, few in the crowd knew who they were so the Revival received babyface reactions all through the match, despite working the match as heels. They’ve definitely got something to work with in Moss & Sabatelli once they get a bit more seasoning. Solid match with the Revival winning with Shatter Machine.
Patrick Clark vs. Oney Lorcan
One of the two matches where the crowd was a little disrespectful in. Sexual Chocolate and Purple Rain chants for Clark during the match. Unlike Blake, with the crowd solidly behind Clark, Lorcan didn’t really do much to get the crowd back on side. First holy ■■■■ chant of the night goes to Clark, who after getting annoyed at the ref’s count took off his scarf/bandana and began whipping Lorcan with it…which prompted an ECW chant. Where the crowd was disrespectful was sarcastically chanting “fight forever” whilst Lorcan was working another headlock before following it up with “this is awesome” for more Lorcan rest holds. I personally didn’t think the work was that bad, just clearly not what people wanted to see on the night combined with Lorcan and Clark not being terribly exposed on TV. Lorcan wins via submission with an elevated half crab - from a match logic standpoint the finish didn’t make any sense as Clark tapped instantaneously despite Lorcan not working the back or legs all match, but whatever. Give Clark 6 months and I think he’ll really start to shine as he is naturally charismatic in the ring, and he seems very comfortable in this new Prince gimmick.
DIY vs. TM61 for the Tag Titles
Big pops for both teams. All I'll say on this one is cameras were filming all night and whilst I doubt the plan was to show anything other than the cage match, I really hope Trips calls an audible and airs this to the world. Absolutely phenomenal match and match of the night. DIY retain via their finisher.
Crowd loves William Regal’s appearance after intermission and he clearly loves what he is doing behind-the-scenes - only speaks for 2-3 minutes and still manages to showcase his trademark droll sense of humour with 2 one liners. Class act.
Elias Samson & Bobby Roode vs. Murphy & Tye Dillinger
Samson gets booed out of the building and overwhelmingly gets the most heat of anybody on the night…honestly hard to tell whether it is genuine heel heat or the old X-Pac get off my TV heat. Samson attempts to play a song to which Melbourne politely tells him to shut the f up, Samson threatens to deprive people of his song…but decides he likes the sound of his own voice too much to stop. Weirdly Roode’s music interrupts to a babyface pop. Excellent reaction for Tye and a good one for Murphy as well. Tye’s 10 gimmick may end up being the bane of many a wrestler’s existence like Austin’s what chant as it permeated almost every other match during the night. Seeing Murphy is on Tye’s team, the crowd turns the chant into Aussie 10, and the typical Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi, becomes Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Ten, Ten, Ten. Really fun match with all enjoying the crowd reactions - Roode’s facial expression when getting 1 chanted at him was exceptional. Thought they would’ve let Murphy get the pin in his hometown but not to be as Tye pins Samson after a Tye Breaker.
Asuka vs. Peyton Royce for the Women’s Title
Royce was the only Australian to get a negative reaction solely because she was announced from Sydney (fairly storied Sydney-Melbourne rivalry), this was odd frankly as Billie Kay is also from Sydney, maybe most of the crowd couldn’t hear Andrea’s announcement for Billie over her music. The crowd obviously was unaware that Peyton mainly worked for Melbourne City Wrestling prior to getting signed by WWE so this was largely as much a homecoming for her as it was Murphy. Fairly disrespectful crowd elements reared their heads during this match again, attempting to start the Mexican wave and chanting we want tables, I think this was also the match a brief CM Punk chant started up. To be perfectly honest, this was the only match I was disappointed with as it never felt like it got out of first gear, whether it was the crowd, or the wrestlers just not meshing, I dunno, it was just there. I think Peyton clearly needs more work before she is ready for this sort of spot though. Asuka wins via Asuka Lock.
Main Event time, but not before the cage gets a botch-a-mania chant for listing at a 45 degree angle and causing a 10 minute delay, a sarcastic “you still got it” chant for the cage, when it is finally ready to be, well, a cage.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Title
Big pop for Shinsuke, noticeably lesser one for Joe. Good match, albeit with a lengthy feeling out process to start with. Crowd was pretty hot for most of the match and split 60/40 in favour of Shinsuke, so it should have a good atmosphere on TV. Surprised there wasn’t any real hope spots for Joe. Shinsuke teases leaving the cage via the door, but instead slams it shut and delivers a pretty stiff Kinshasa to the back of Joe’s head, a more traditional front-on Kinshasa follows to retain.
