- The seating at the Agora Theater are first come, first serve. We got to the arena around 430 and kind of froze for a while but it was worth it to get front row seats.
- While waiting outside, a bus pulled in and the NXT roster came out. Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Emma all waved at us. It was like a school trip. The teachers/coaches came out first (Sara Amato and Jason Albert), then the rest of the roster and the last people to come out were the cool kids (Finn, Sami, Bayley, etc.)
- Surprisingly, Gargano wasn't on the bus, instead walking in a few minutes later.
The show started with Asuka vs. Emma. I was sporting my Asuka shirt but popped for both women. It was a really good hard hitting match. Asuka won via knockout after a kick to Emma. Emma seemed to get legitimately hurt and her head hit the ropes while she was falling. It was my first time seeing Asuka live and she's pretty fun to watch. Everything she does looks legit and she seemed to fun out there.
Up next, we got the Vaudevillains. Their entrance started in the balcony right above us, which I got some good video of. They were pretty over but it was nothing compared to the reaction for American Alpha. They, especially Gable, were among the four or five most popular people on the card. Really strong tag match here. The Vaudevillains played their roles well, Gable did his thing and Jordan got the hot tag, which he's mastered as of late. American Alpha were in their Steiners like gear. They won with the assisted back suplex.
Another tag team match came next. Nia Jax and Eva Marie teamed up to take on Billie Kay and Mandy of Total Divas fame. This was the only bad match on the show. Billie was the best thing about it, but her and Mandy aren't quite ready to carry the beyond awful Eva Marie. Eva was terrible at everything she did. Literally. Nia was alright. Eva got massive heat including "fire Eva" chants. They won but it was Billie Kay who got chants from the crowd on her way out.
I don't know exactly what happened but the card changed. On the card poster it said Asuka vs. Alexa, Emma and Peyton Royce vs. Billie and Mandy, and Bayley vs. Nia Jax.
Tye Dillinger was out next and got a good pop. Sami Zayn was his opponent and he might have been the most popular person of the night. The last two times NXT visited Ohio, Sami couldn't wrestle due to injury so it was great to see him. Tye had his "10" sign taken away by the referee, so he pulled out a tiny piece of paper with a ten on it instead. Sami rolled him up and quickly won, which Tye protested. He wanted a restart and Sami, and the crowd, made him say please. He got on his knees to ask for it. It got restarted and was fun. Sami of course won.
After intermission, Bayley defended the NXT Women's Title against Alexa Bliss. Bayley's popularity is something to behold. It's amazing to watch everyone, from children to women to grown men lose their minds because they all love one person. She's something special. While my friend didn't get a hug during her entrance this time, he got one on her way out, while we got high fives. This was one of the better matches of the night. Alexa was pretty awful when I first went last year, looking lost in the ring with Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha. Here, she looked like she belonged and the improvement was clear. The champion retained with the Bayley to Belly.
The Tag Team Titles were on the line next. The Revival faced Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Hometown boy Gargano was INSANELY over. Tons of "Johnny Wrestling" chants. This was another fun match. Gargano got the hot tag and did his thing, which the fans ate up. Hell, there was a point where I believed a title change was happening, even though I knew that was a crazy thought. The champions kept the gold after hitting Ciampa with the Shatter Machine. Ciampa was really shaken up after. It took a few minutes to get him up and out of the ring. He was right in front of us and looked way out of it.
The main event was a Fatal Four Way match. Finn Balor defended the NXT Title against Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe and Apollo Crews. Everyone here, except Corbin, was popular. Corbin and Joe were great heels throughout. Corbin even whipped his wet hair into the face of a fan. Everyone got a chance to shine though Crews spent a good chunk of the match hurt on the outside. Finn was right in front of us more than a few times during the match, which was really cool. He retained after Joe locked in the read naked choke on Corbin, Crews moonsaulted onto them and Finn came off the top with the Coup de Grace. Finn pinned Corbin. He shook hands with Crews afterwards. They high fived the fans, including us. Crews was super sweaty. Finn "too sweeted" all of us and I even told him to hug my girlfriend (a huge fan of his), which he did. He and Crews did Finn's signature pose on their way out.
If you would like to see photos and videos, check out my Twitter @the_Kevstaaa and my Instagram which is also @The_Kevstaaa
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