Submitted by Jason Lithgo from Newcastle, England
Enzo and Big Cass vs. Blake and Murphy
Nice opening match to kick the night off, not too long. Enzo and Big Cass are really over and the crowd were into it from the start. Enzo and Big Cass got the win with he big splash from the top rope by Enzo.
Bull Dempsey vs. Tye Dillinger
Tye Dillinger’s ‘perfect 10’ gimmick is more over than I would have imagined, but that might be the graces of a crowd who are just happy to be here. Nothing much to see here. Bull Dempsey won with a sit down splash form the middle rope.
Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss
This was a Asuka showcase match and she was very popular with the crowd. Alexa looked pretty good as well and definitely worked well with Asuka. Asuka won with the Asuka lock.
Samoa Joe vs. Apollo Crews
Pretty standard match. Joe seemed to be the favourite here. Both got their signature moves in and then Joe won with the Muscle Buster into the Coquina clutch.
– After the intermission, they introduced William Regal to a huge pop and he thanked everyone for coming and that without the fans they wouldn’t be able to do this tour.
NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson v Chad Gable and Jason Jordan
This was a really good match (Jordan and Gable seem to be incapable of having a bad match recently), Gable isolated for the most part with Jordan getting the hot tag. Both Gable and Jordan looked really impressive and the crowd loved them. Dash and Dawson won after a distraction and roll up on Gable.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Emma
Another standard match as far as in ring work goes. Dana Brooke came to the ring with Emma and was ejected around halfway through for interfering. Bayley won with the Bayley to Bayley. After the match Nia Jax came to the ring and looked as if she was going to get in before smiling at Bayley and leaving.
Neville vs. Baron Corbin
This was Neville’s hometown show so he got the pop of the night. Baron Corbin impressed here, against someone of Neville’s size, he certainly has a presence. Neville hit an Asai moonsault after Corbin ran to the outside. Corbin hit a huge spinning side slam but Neville managed to keep him down long enough to beat him with the Red Arrow, which probably got the second biggest pop of the night.
WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn
Balor came out first which meant that a retuning Zayn got the biggest reaction of the night for someone not called Neville. We were told this was the first time ever that Balor and Zayn were facing off. They shook hands after the bell rung. Pretty good match with some mat wrestling to start followed by some running chops to the corner by Balor. There a was a pretty good spot in which Balor was trying to keep Zayn down to hit the coup de grace but Zayn would make it to his feet before Balor could reach the top rope, getting up a little bit quicker after each blow. Zayn hit a huge tope con hilo to the outside on Balor. Balor won with the coup de grace, he lifted Zayn’s hand after the match and made a quick exit to give Sami the ring. This was a good taste of what a feud between them could bring.
The crowd were hot for most of the show and it was a better show all round than the WWE show they ran here in November.