NXT Live Event – March 27, 2015: They’re Here (Includes Full Show)
NXT Live Event
Date: March 27, 2015
Location: San Jose University Event Center, San Jose, California
Attendance: 5,100
Ah the WWE Vault. This is basically the prototype for the Wrestlemania Weekend Takeover event. While there were clips shown from the show, this is the first time that the whole thing has been released in full. Sure it was released about eight months ago but after ten years, that’s hardly a stretch. Let’s get to it.
Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze
Breeze grabs a headlock to start and stops to pose on the ropes. The fans declare Breeze gorgeous until he grabs another headlock to limited success. The knockdown lets Itami pose on the ropes as well, followed by a knee to the ribs. A PK drops Breeze again and he misses a splash in the corner. That means some kicks to the ribs for some rather over the top selling, followed by the boot scrape across Breeze’s (gorgeous) face.
It sets Breeze off so much that he hits an enziguri to take over for the first time, meaning it’s time to kick away in the corner. The chinlock goes on with Itami quickly getting up, only to get caught with a dropkick for two. Itami knocks him off the top and hits a good looking clothesline to start the comeback. The fans want a GTS but have to setting for a tornado neck snap across the top rope instead.
Breeze gets in his own neck snap across the top but Itami just blasts him with a discus lariat for two. A crucifix bomb gives Breeze two and the fans approve of the kickout. Itami picks him up for the GTS and the fans go nuts, only to go a bit less nuts when Breeze escapes. Breeze wins an exchange of kicks to the face for two but Itami fights up and strikes away, including the running corner dropkick. The knee pad comes down and it’s the GTS (to a ROAR, as it’s the first time he had used it in NXT) to give Itami the pin at 10:36.
Rating: B. Unfortunately one of the things that has been forgotten about this time in NXT is that Breeze was very good. He found his groove and could have a good match with anyone, which is why he was put in this spot with Itami. We weren’t far into Itami’s NXT run and putting him out there against Breeze made sense. Throw in the GTS and of course this worked very well.
Jason Jordan vs. Bull Dempsey
Jordan wrestles him down to start as we get a LET’S GO JOBBER chant…which could go for either of them actually as neither meant anything at this point. Dempsey takes him down with a headlock but gets powered up into the corner. The fans chant BULL S*** as we certainly have a feisty group this time. Jordan punches him down as you can hear some individual fans talking, which is always a weird thing.
Jordan’s belly to back suplex doesn’t work as Dempsey falls on him for two in quite the crash. Some elbows give Jordan two but Dempsey hammers away and runs him over. The Swan Dive misses so Dempsey runs him over again, setting up the Swan Dive for two (that was a weird sequence). Back up and Jordan sends him into the corner, setting up an exploder suplex for the pin at 6:58.
Rating: C. Not much to see here as Jordan was doing his wrestling stuff like Dempsey was your generic monster. That doesn’t exactly make for a great match and it didn’t help that neither of them meant much of anything. They were smart to keep this short, but they were smarter to put Jordan with Chad Gable to form American Alpha.
Becky Lynch/Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss/Bayley
Geez there’s a lot here. Lynch is relatively new but rocketed into the title picture. Brooke is exactly what she has been forever. Bliss is still the fairy princess, complete with a tutu and the “glitter, glitz, glamour, sparkle” entrance (and is freshly back from a lengthy injury hiatus). Bayley is the hometown girl and crazy over.
Lynch mocks fear over the BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU chants in a funny bit as she and Bayley start things off. Naturally Lynch immediately brings in Brooke for more posing, allowing Bayley to run her over and pose as well. Bliss comes in for something like Poetry In Motion before throwing Brooke into the corner. It’s off to Lynch, who is quickly taken down for the moonsault knees, though she’s fine enough to slam Bliss off the top.
Some running legdrops give Lynch two as the fans request Bayley. Instead they get Brooke coming in with a suplex into a chinlock, followed by a double limb stretch. Lynch comes back in and gets kicked to the floor, where she is smart enough to pull Bayley off the apron to break up the tag. Bliss kicks Brooke away though and the much needed tag brings in Bayley for the running ax handles. Lynch suplexes Bayley for two but she’s right back with a middle rope elbow to the jaw. The Bayley To Belly finishes Lynch at 8:09.
Rating: C+. Sweet goodness this was bizarre to see, as you have the future of the women’s division right in front of you and they’re little more than filler. While NXT was a bit better than the main roster when it came to women’s wrestling (of course), they were still just kind of there in this spot. The Women’s Revolution would be coming in about two and a half months though, and you could see the foundations here.
Kalisto vs. Solomon Crowe
Crowe is better known as Sami Callihan and he was doing a pretty cool hacker gimmick which never went anywhere. Kalisto rolls away from him to start but gets taken down into a headlock. They fight over a test of strength (not something you often see with smaller guys) and Crowe knocks him down.
Back up and Kalisto walks on his hands for a headscissors before grabbing a headlock. A dropkick puts Crowe in the corner but he’s back up with a triangle clothesline, which the fans seem to LOVE. Some rams into the apron have Kalisto in more trouble and it’s a springboard (bottom rope) splash from Crowe back inside.
Kalisto manages a quick hurricanrana for two and he sends Crowe into the middle buckle. A springboard spinning crossbody gives Kalisto two more and the fans sound rather impressed. The hurricanrana driver (always liked that one) gets two more but the Salida del Sol is cut off. Kalisto knocks him back down for a slingshot 450 and a near fall, only to dive into a Brock Lock to give Crowe the win at 7:49.
Rating: B-. I still think Kalisto could have been something. The fans were getting into his stuff and he could do the high flying stuff rather well. There is always a place for a talented guy doing that style and he could have been it. On the other hand you have Crowe, who flamed out hard but there was something interesting to the hacker deal.
Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno
Dang it’s weird to see Corbin with hair. They trade knockdowns to start and we lose audio for some reason. Rhyno knocks him into the corner and tries an early Gore, which is cut off by a kick to the face. The fans tell Corbin that he can’t wrestle (assuming they aren’t talking to the referee) before he starts hammering away with some big right hands in the corner.
A corner clothesline gets two as the fans try to get behind Rhyno. The hard whip sends Rhyno into the corner for two more so Corbin does it again for a rather delayed near fall. Rhyno finally blocks a whip into the corner and they collide for a double down. Back up and Rhyno hits a shoulder in the corner, followed by the spinning belly to belly for two. Corbin’s sitout chokebomb gets the same and the audio goes out again, likely due to not so nice chanting. Rhyno grabs a spinebuster for two but the Gore is countered into the End Of Days for the pin at 7:34.
Rating: C+. Rhyno was a good choice for NXT at this point as he was a veteran presence that the fans would still get behind for a match like this. Corbin was the up and coming star though and would be on the main roster in about a year. Pairing him with Rhyno here made a lot of sense and you could see him getting better, albeit rather slowly, at this point.
Post match Corbin goes after him again and gets dropped with a Gore (more like a weak clothesline to the ribs).
Here is HHH for a chat. He gets to do some pretty cool stuff, but this is bad***. The fans thank him but they’re the ones who deserve the thanks. This is a hot ticket though and a bunch of main roster wrestlers are sitting backstage to watch. Even Vince McMahon is back there! But no one cares about that because you are here to see NXT, and there’s that chant again.
Tag Team Titles: Blake & Murphy vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore vs. Vaudevillains
Blake & Murphy are defending, Carmella is here with Cassady/Amore and this is elimination rules. Enzo and Cass do their usual entrance and of course the fans know every word. Enzo takes Murphy down for a walk on the back into some dancing to start. It’s quickly off to English to work on the arm before Amore gets to come back in for his jabs. Amore slaps English in the chest for a chop and Murphy comes in to get taken down by the arm.
English does some squats on the arm, followed by the exact same thing from Gotch. Cass wants to come in so English slaps him in the chest as well, allowing him to come in and throw Murphy around. The fans are rather behind Cass, including as he elbows Blake in the corner (and yells BANG after each one).
Amore comes in and goes up, only to get crotched on top so Blake can stomp away. Murphy gets to choke in the corner for two as the fans chant one of Amore’s 183 catchphrases. Murphy’s big knee drop gets two and we’re off to the chinlock. Thankfully it doesn’t last long and Amore gets up for the tag to Cass. House is quickly cleaned, including a corner splash and big boot to Murphy.
The East River Crossing pins Gotch at 8:36 and we’re down to two. Blake is back to take over on Amore and Cass so Carmella gets up on the apron for a distraction. That earns her a knock out to the floor though and Cass gets rolled up (seemingly with trunks) to retain the titles at 10:03.
Rating: B-. Enzo and Cass had the fans entirely behind them here and changing the titles wouldn’t have been a crazy idea here. At the same time, Blake & Murphy were getting better as a team at this point and you don’t want to break that up. The Vaudevillains…well someone had to be there so both of the other teams could get a fall each.
Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
Banks is defending. They stare at shout at each other to start until Charlotte cuts off a boot to the ribs. Instead Charlotte sends her into the corner and Banks is ready to leave, only to get jumped from behind. Back in and Banks avoids a charge in the corner but Charlotte rolls her up for a fast two. The Figure Four necklock with the rolling flips have Banks in trouble but she’s able to lay Charlotte over the corner for the hard knees.
The fans declare this wrestling, apparently realizing they aren’t at an Amway presentation. Banks slowly hammers away as the fans switch to a dueling chant. A quick strut takes too long though and Charlotte rolls her up for two. That’s it for the comeback though as Charlotte gets pulled into a crossarm choke. With that broken up, Charlotte fires off the chops but gets pulled down by the hair for two more. Banks is back with her own Figure Four necklock and drives Charlotte face first into the mat over and over.
Charlotte finally powers up into an electric chair and then spins Banks into a powerbomb. Back up and they trade forearms until Banks grabs a neckbreaker to put her down again. A big boot and spear drop Banks for two and they’re both down. The Figure Four is countered into a backslide to give Banks two but Charlotte pulls her into the Figure Four. That’s rolled into the ropes for the break so Charlotte goes up, with Banks knocking her right back down. The Bank Statement goes on and Charlotte finally taps at 13:57.
Rating: B+. Yeah this more than lived up to the hype of the women’s division at this point, as the women involved were beating the heck out of each other until Charlotte couldn’t hang in there anymore. This was miles ahead of anything the main roster women were doing at this point (though Paige and AJ Lee were trying) and the fans were seeing it. The main difference is these people were having a great match and happened to be women. It was a detail rather than a feature and that’s not something we had seen before, which is why it was so revolutionary.
Here is Sami Zayn for a chat. After soaking in some cheers, Zayn says he isn’t medically cleared to wrestle right now but he isn’t letting this go without doing something. There was a dirty word that was used to describe NXT: developmental. Now though, things have changed because of what they’ve been doing. There was a 2/3 falls match with someone named Cesaro and that was part of what made this the place to be.
Zayn knows we’re in the middle of 5,000 of the craziest fans anywhere…and here is NXT Champion Kevin Owens (who took the title from Zayn) to interrupt. Owens mocks the fans for buying what Zayn is saying, but he knows Zayn better than anyone else. He doesn’t think much of Zayn saying that WE did this before mocking Zayn for doing nothing for NXT.
The reality is that NXT blew up when Owens got here and that’s why they’re sold out here tonight. Owens brags about taking the title from Zayn, who shrugs it off. Zayn says he’s been here for two years, and Owens was texting him about coming to WWE. While Zayn was facing Cesaro, Owens was home watching it on his couch. A fight is teased…but Owens just had surgery so we’ll do this later. These two were great together, as always.
Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor
The fans go a bit nuts over Balor’s entrance, which shouldn’t be that big of a surprise as he’s in full on Demon mode. They go technical to start with Neville grabbing a headlock takeover as the fans seem to describe themselves as NOT WORTHY. Balor fights up and hits a dropkick to the floor, only for Neville to come back in with a flying forearm. The big twisting flip dive drops Balor and the fans are split as the two of them get back inside.
A suplex gives Neville two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Neville elbows him in the face, setting up another chinlock. Neville slowly stomps away and cuts off a charging Balor in the corner. A middle rope sunset flip doesn’t work as Balor rolls through for a basement dropkick. Balor hits some running forearms and knocks Neville to the floor, followed by a running clothesline back inside.
A top rope double stomp to the back of Neville’s neck gets two but Neville fights up with a kick to the face. Balor Pele’s him down but charges into a superkick for two. Neville flips out of a suplex and kicks him in the head before going up. The Red Arrow is broken up and Balor hits 1916 for two more. Neville crotches Balor on top for a change, setting up a heck of a top rope superplex. The Red Arrow misses though and Balor’s dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace for the pin at 15:31.
Rating: B. While it didn’t feel as important as a title match would have gone, this was still a good enough match to take the main event spot. They started slowly with the chinlocks but then it turned into two guys beating each other up until Balor got the win. Balor was on the way up the charts while Neville was heading up to the main roster (in three days) so it made sense to have Balor get the nice boost. Good match here, with the fans going nuts over the Demon.
Overall Rating: B. This wasn’t exactly a Takeover as it meant nothing from a storyline perspective, but what mattered here was making NXT feel like it mattered. This was the biggest weekend for WWE and NXT is part of the big menu of featured attractions. It was a sign that NXT was becoming a much bigger deal and they had the talent to make it work. This was a rather good show with the Women’s Title match being worth a look. It’s not exactly the introduction for NXT as it was for the fans already there, but NXT’s days were coming and things were only going to get better.
Results
Hideo Itami b. Tyler Breeze – GTS
Jason Jordan b. Bull Dempsey – Exploder suplex
Bayley/Alexa Bliss b. Becky Lynch/Dana Brooke – Bayley To Belly to Lynch
Solomon Crowe b. Kalisto – Brock Lock
Baron Corbin b. Rhyno – End Of Days
Blake & Murphy b. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore and Vaudevillains – Rollup with trunks to Cass
Sasha Banks b. Charlotte – Bank Statement
Finn Balor b. Adrian Neville – Coup de Grace
Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at: