NXT Jacksonville, FL, live results: Almas vs. No Way Jose

Image and report courtesy of @FLWrestlingFan

Last night’s estimated attendance was 400 people.

– Tian Bing & Jeet Rama defeated Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner by DQ

Bing and Rama won by disqualification when Lars Sullivan hit the ring after a few minutes and gave the Freak Accident to Rama first, then gave one to Bing.

The crowd chanted one more time, so Sullivan then went to the back and brought out Aichner to give him a Freak Accident. Barthel escaped, thus starting a show-long angle where Sullivan hunted Barthel.

– Shayna Baszler defeated Zeda

Baszler squashed Zeda in a few minutes by tapping her out. The crowd loved Baszler and the fans were chanting “Shayna’s gonna kill you” before the match even started.

Following the match, as Baszler was almost at the curtain, she turned around and hit the ring, putting Zeda to sleep. Ember Moon made the save. Moon referenced Baszler’s promo from the night before in Tampa and challenged Baszler to a fight, but Baszler retreated to the back to the crowd’s displeasure.

Moon making the save received a huge pop. She had her arm all taped up and was selling the angle from this past week’s TV episode.

– Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Jason

This went a few minutes before Jason passed out in a torture rack-type maneuver. Aiyegbusi always receives an initial “Ahhhh” when he comes out because of his size and people not seeing him on TV.

Barthel hit the ring running from Sullivan after the match. He escaped Sullivan’s grasp, but it led to Sullivan and Aiyegbusi brawling for a minute or so. Sullivan then delivered the Freak Accident to the crowd’s delight. Sullivan is essentially being booked as the Braun Strowman of Florida.

– Kassius Ohno & Roderick Strong defeated Eh Nois (Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi)

Both faces received good reactions and the Brazilians continue to improve. The heels surprisingly received a lot of boos.

– Aleister Black defeated Raul Mendoza

Black beat him with the Black Mass after Mendoza went for a springboard plancha but was caught with a knee strike. This was the match of the night, with Black receiving a superstar reaction. 

– The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake) defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) and The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)

This was a number one contender’s match to determine who would face Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly for the NXT Tag Team Championship next Friday in St. Augustine. This match received the only “This is awesome” chant of the night.

Towards the end, Barthel came running out of the curtain and slid into the ring. Sullivan followed, and Barthel soon realized he was trapped and couldn’t escape. The crowd chanted “Yes!” and Sullivan delivered the Freak Accident.

Everyone was down except Ford, who stood on the ropes and watched Sullivan carry Barthel to the back. Blake, who had been out of the ring for about five minutes, slid under the ropes and rolled up Ford with a handful of tights. The crowd hated the fact that the Forgotten Sons won.

– Nikki Cross defeated Dakota Kai

Cross pinned Kai with her spinning neckbreaker. This was the best women’s match I’ve seen at the Florida house shows this year. They had great chemistry, and the crowd loved both but Cross was super popular. 

– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated No Way Jose in a non-title match

Almas pinned Jose with the hammerlock DDT. After Jose was introduced, Vega interrupted the ring announcer and introduced Almas herself.

The story of the match was Jose countering Almas every time he tried to do his running knees in the corner. The first time Almas tried it, Jose hit him with an inside-out clothesline. The second time Almas attempted it, Jose moved, knocked Almas to the outside, and hit a plancha before returning him to the ring for a TKO and a near fall.

Almas finally hit it at the end and followed with the DDT to win.