The Spoiled Florida Wrestling Fan

Florida has a lot of great attributes. As a person from Iowa, the biggest thing is that it is warm, because, especially this time of the year, living up north is the absolute worst. But as a wrestling fan, the second greatest aspect of living in Florida is that it is the headquarters of WWE's developmental system, which means I get an abundance of great minor league wrestling. Since I have lived my entire life without it, I know how blessed I am. However, some Florida fans are getting a tad entitled with how great things have been.

Now, obviously this is most obvious at the NXT Tapings in Orlando. These people went from not giving a crap about FCW in Tampa, to needing WWE Superstars to attend before they would support NXT, to now feeling as if they are the best fans in wrestling, because they chant through matches. Having NXT putting on ridiculous shows is definitely spoiling them, and it is good that NXT is traveling now, ecause the entire world deserves to see this.

This, of course, irritates the shit out of the Florida wrestling fan, as they feel like they are getting the short stick when really, they are still getting the longest stick; it's just that others now get to pull sticks as well. They have already lost out on the biggest Takeover events, and it's probably just a matter of time before they lose out on all of them and are left with just the tapings. It just makes sense to put it in front of 5000 people instead of 500.

And this transition really hit me last weekend when I went to an NXT house show in Largo at The Minnreg Hall (basically the ECW Arena of Western Florida). Because NXT has expanded to the point where they were not only doing a house show in Florida, but also one up in Pittsburgh, PA. At that show, they had Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Bayley, and most importantly, American Alpha. That left us with Asuka, The Hype Bros, and Bull Dempsey may have been the only non-jobbers on the show. And Bull Dempsey just got fired, so it wasn't a stacked card.

Despite that, it's still a lot of talent. I mean, you're not finding many independent shows with a better roster than the B-show for NXT. Not only did I get to see one of Bull Dempsey's last matches, but I got to see Alexander Wolfe and Angelo Dawkins, and even Blake and Murphy without being distracted by that vixen, Alexa Bliss.

Speaking of Blake and Murphy, them being on the B-Show really gave them a chance to shine, and shine they did. They main evented against the Hype Bros and were CLEARLY having a competition on who could bump more ridiculously throughout the match. It was phenomenal.

So yeah, maybe the card on paper kind of sucked, but I got to see Asuka kick the crap out of a girl, Zack Ryder be a triumphant Broski, wrestlers representing all sorts of foreign countries, and Blake and Murphy steal the show. That's a really great night of wrestling, and even a spoiled wrestling fan should appreciate that.

Date Night at NXT Largo

I've got a good thing going with my wife where I can count going to NXT shows as date nights. She still isn't a big wrestling fan, but her interest is growing. Also, I think she has street cred with the Internet Wrestling Community as she is a bigger fan of NXT than the main roster. We recently moved, and maybe the best thing about the new place is we are eight minutes from the Minnreg Hall which hosts NXT house shows about once a month.

First off, Minnreg Hall is pretty awesome. They have a full blown concession stand with a kitchen to cook you up something fresh. Amazingly, they not only sell beer, but they are whipping up mixed drinks as well. Since I am the oldest 30 year-old around, I was not prepared for drinking, so I got two waters and unlimited popcorn for the hefty price of $3. Yeah, it's cheap as shit. Also, tickets are $10, and it's so small that the furthest back you can be is row 8. It's really fantastic.

As for the actual wrestling show, these were a few of the highlights.

First off, Elias Samson came out and has a gimmick of "arrogant acoustic guitar guy." I'm super into that idea, because anyone who went to college is super familiar with this guy, and he is THE WORST. I think every single person has had their game thwarted by some asshole who just wants to jam out and play girl's favorite songs. Congratulations dude, you know Wonderwall, now get the fuck outta here; I'm trying to get laid. Anyway, Samson used his acoustic guitar to talk shit about Largo, and then call out his opponent. I was convinced that this match was to get Samson over, but unfortunately, that opponent he called out was Uhaa Nation who is stupidly talented and can do things like this:

Since it was the first match of the night, they wrestled a pretty safe match, but the athleticism was easy to see, and even my wife added Uhaa Nation to her list of favorite wrestlers.

In the next match, Cassie and Jessie took on Gionna and Lina. The first three girls seem to be fairly similar to what you would expect Divas to be. Lina, on the other hand, is huge. Like, she is almost as big as her cousin, Dwayne. Yes, I am referring to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Anyway, she just kind of dropped people and was bigger than them, so I didn't see much in the way of wrestling, but I think worst case is that she's a way more legit looking version of Tamina.

Mike Rallis vs. Angelo Dawkins was the most nothing match possible.

Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder took on Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Despite not having great size, I think Gable has the most potential in the group. He has a natural charisma, and even though nobody is really showcasing their skills, Gable was very smooth in the ring, and I will always root for the guys with amateur wrestling backgrounds.

The other thing that stood out to me during this match was some 8-year-old kid chanting chickenhead at someone in this match. I'm not even sure who it was directed at, but he called all of them chickenheads. I doubt the kid knows the most common meaning of that, but I laughed pretty hard that he yelled it.

Bull Dempsey beat Tyler Breeze. I just feel like that should be pointed out, but the most important thing is they are entertaining crowds. They're doing comedy wrestling, which is not an area WWE usually does well in, but they did a good job of balancing comedy with it still making sense as a wrestling match.

Solomon Crowe took on Baron Corbin in a matchup of guys that are spinning their wheels. Crowe has more crowd support, but Corbin definitely has the greater potential of success and has gotten the far bigger push thus far. Overall, the match was fine, but they did not make a believer out of my wife.

Preston Cunningham Jr. The First came out dressed like a rich idiot and said his Dad financed the show. I thought he was a bad guy, but then former NFL safety, Sabby Piscitelli came out, and it turned out that Sabby was the bad guy, because he insulted Largo, and that is the ultimate offense for a wrestler. It was honestly very revealing in how hard it is to portray an unknown character to an audience. It takes a lot of work, and these guys have a long ways to go, but just getting in reps, seeing what works and what doesn't is important in and out of the ring.

Sasha took on Carmella, and it is fairly clear that these two are on different levels right now. Sasha has her wrestling down, as she's just compelling to watch in everything that she does. Carmella is just trying to hang in there. Sasha Banks is amazing, and I would watch her wrestle anybody right now and be fully entertained.

They ended with a Triple Threat Tag match with Blake & Murphy, Enzo and Big Cass, and The Vaudevillains squaring off. It was a good match to end on as it was just a fun match. The bad guys won, but then the good guys hit them with all of their finishers after the match to send the crowd home happy.

Overall, NXT is about the best way to spend $10 for a night of entertainment. The card went about 2.5 hours, and had I gotten there earlier, I could have gotten pictures and autographs from Mojo Rawley, Dana Brooke, and Tyler Breeze. I'm still holding out for personal hero, Norman Smiley, but that'll have to wait for another day.

Oh, and NXT is so awesome that you can use it as a date night and have your significant other entertained even if they couldn't give two shits about pro wrestling. That's quality right there.

Another Date Night Watching WWE NXT

It had been a while since I had treated my wife to a wonderful evening of watching pro wrestling, so it was time for us to go to another NXT house show. Tickets are $10 for general admission, so it is an incredible deal, especially considering that general admission means rows 3-5. Also, even though my wife doesn't really care about professional wrestling, she enjoys watching me, as I do morph into a 12-year-old who has a permanent smile on my face while watching live wrestling. I'm lucky to have found someone who finds it cute and charming instead of sad and pathetic.

Let me just start by saying that I failed yet again to get a picture with Norman Smiley. I truly suck at this, as I saw him out of the corner of my eye as he was walking by and I was giving my ID to get my tickets. I should have just stopped what I was doing to achieve the goal, but I froze, and I never got another chance to express my gratitude to the man who invented the Big Wiggle. I suck, and I must find a way to make this happen.

As for other former superstars there, nobody of note...oh, except Mick Foley was randomly there simply as a spectator. He just sat in the front row by the entrance and watched the whole event. He did nothing during the event and was simply there to watch these guys wrestle.

But let's get to the wrestling with a quick match by match recap.

Anna Brock vs. Bailey
I had never seen Anna Brock before, but she's got some guns on her, and she flexes them a lot. Like that may be the extent of her gimmick, check out my muscular arms. Considering she must be fairly new, it's not too bad of a gimmick, because she does have the arms to pull it off. Bailey was Bailey, who was pretty solid and won the match with a Belly-to-Bailey suplex.

Chad Gable vs. Solomon Crowe
Chad Gable is fairly new, but he has some potential as a legit wrestler who can incorporate that into his pro wrestling. He was fairly entertaining, but the biggest takeaway from this match was that Crowe got rid of his really shitty splash finisher in favor of a submission.

Steve Cutler vs. Baron Corbin
Steve Cutler is a military guy, so you would think he was the good guy, but he came out to metal music, and posed more as a bad guy. He was kind of Lance Storm-esque in persona, but he ain't there with in-ring skills. Baron Corbin took a little offense before powering up and ragdolling Cutler.

Big Cass and Carmella vs. Marcus Louis and Devin Taylor
This was my wife's favorite match, as she was a huge Carmella fan and Devin Taylor lasted one episode on this year's Bachelor. The latter makes sense, but the former really confused me. But my wife is all in on Carmella and also likes Big Cass and Enzo Amore as they have fun sayings and they were 100% over with the crowd. From a personal standpoint, this was the moment where it hit me how gigantic wrestlers are. Marcus Louis is an above average sized wrestler, but he's not considered huge, but he was standing in the corner near where we were sitting, and let me tell you, that dude is huge. He is a massive human being, and sometimes people forget how big wrestlers are, even the guys who aren't considered that big. Unfortunately Taylor and Louis were S-A-W-F-T, SAWFT.

Ty Dillinger vs. Hugo Knox
Ty Dillinger has a new gimmick where he comes out after matches and rates them on a scale of 1-10. He considers himself a perfect 10. Who is Hugo Knox? Hugo Knox is probably my new favorite wrestler. He is a Manchester, England club dancer who has stupid tattoos, polka dot trunks and LOVES to West Coast Dance. Is he good in the ring? No, not really. But the more important question is whether he is totally awesome, and the answer to that one is a definitive yes. Dude danced so hard. He won the match and danced some more. I cannot wait for Hugo Knox to debut on television.

Mike Rallis vs. Bull Dempsey
Who is Mike Rallis? Not sure, honestly. Who is Bull Dempsey? A fat guy with a mean streak. This match happened. It wasn't terrible, but outside of Dempsey hitting his flying headbutt, nothing memorable happened.

Alexa Bliss Vs. Becky Lynch
I remember this being one of my favorite matches of the night. It was a good back and forth match with some of the few rare finishes that I was actually buying. Becky Lynch got the win, because poor Alexa can't get wins on sparkles alone.

CJ Parker vs. Hideo Itami
CJ Parker is who he is. He's fine in the ring; his gimmick is mildly entertaining, and he's basically in the same place he was two years ago. Hideo Itami was a guy who came in with a lot of hype due to being one of the biggest stars in Japan, but he hasn't really been all that impressive so far from what I saw on NXT. That being said, Hideo Itami is AWESOME in person. His style was really cool to see up close, and I finally get why people were so excited about him. Eventually, he is going to start using the GTS, and people are going to freak out. Needless to say, I am fully on board the Hideo Itami bandwagon.

Itami is great, but he's still no Hugo Knox.