WWE NXT Live In Liverpool June 2016

Image Source: Mark Armstrong

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE/NXT
Format: House Show
Date: June 15 2016
Location: Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Attendance: 5,000

As part of the latest NXT tour of the United Kingdom, I went along to the show in my hometown of Liverpool to see this brand, which began as strictly developmental and has since taken on a life of its own, to the point that it is now the go-to wrestling product for many hardcore fans. As it turned out, the show was more WWE than NXT: Takeover, to use a recent example, but it was still an enjoyable experience.

The first bout pitted Hugo Knox against Wesley Blake. Knox is a former goalkeeper for Burton Albion, believe it or not, while Blake is now solo after his tag team run with Murphy. This was a match where the "developmental" tag still applied for NXT, since it was clear that this match acted as part of Knox's own personal development as he looks to build up the skills and know-how in his early days in the wrestling business. It was a solid and basic opener, which Knox won after a split-legged moonsault (which he bungled on the first attempt, but the fans let him off with it which was nice to see/hear). Speaking of the Liverpool fans, they were on form all night and they set the tone in this match, with chants like "Burton Albion!", "Hugo Knoxy baby!" and, most humorously, "You're just a s--t Robbie Savage!" (aimed at Blake) Hilarious.

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WWE Payback 2016

Image Source: Strictly Sports

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 1 2016
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 13,250

The first PPV event after WrestleMania 32 was eagerly anticipated, largely due to the wealth of fresh talent and matches that the show would provide, especially in contrast to the usual formula of the post-WM event hosting Mania rematches. In addition, the event would apparently confirm who would be in charge of Raw after confusion concerning this situation.

Before the event began, the Kick-off Show hosted two matches, the first being Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin. Corbin debuted officially by winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WM 32 and has steamrolled through talent ever since, having targeted Ziggler in particular over the preceding four weeks. The logical assumption was that this match would give Ziggler a chance to display his array of skills but would ultimately succumb to the domination of the newcomer.

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WWE Survivor Series 2015

Image Source: Ticketmaster

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: November 22 2015
Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Attendance: 14,481

The 29th annual edition of the Survivor Series had two main talking points heading into the show: the tournament for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (which in itself brought about other potential discussion topics, as I will explain), and the show marking the 25th anniversary of The Undertaker's debut. In the end, neither scenario brought about a big surprise, although a show-closing swerve did provide Survivor Series with a memorable if slightly familiar ending.

That being said, beforehand, there was genuine concern about a potential attack on the show by extremists, in light of recent world events. Whether it be due to tightened security or such chatter being hearsay, the event fortunately did not suffer from such problems; as it often has, WWE stood tall and went on with the show despite the fear that the rumours had caused. A perfect example of this was Lilian Garcia opening Survivor Series with a powerful rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

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WWE Live In Liverpool November 2015

Image Source: Mark Armstrong

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: House Show
Date: November 8 2015
Location: Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Attendance: 8,000

This bonus WWE show review looks at a house show I attended on the latest WWE UK tour, in my hometown of Liverpool, England. Due to a lack of a suitable venue, WWE only made its Liverpool bow in April 2008, and from April 2009 onwards, WWE would always make an appearance in Liverpool during a large-scale tour. This led to Raw and SmackDown being recorded at the Echo Arena for the first time in November 2011. Strangely, it would then be three years before WWE returned to the city, doing so with further TV tapings one year ago, which was followed by this latest presentation. Okay, that's the history lesson over now.

Going into the show, expectations weren't sky-high, and not just because this was a house show in the post-Draft era where we still only see half of the roster at non-televised UK events. Right now, WWE has fewer genuine headline stars to mix and match with since, well, ever: John Cena is on a well-deserved break; Randy Orton recently got hurt; Brock Lesnar is, of course, a part-timer; The Undertaker was only scheduled to appear at the SmackDown TV taping (which was a surprise in itself); Chris Jericho's house show run has ended for now; and, biggest of all, Seth Rollins, who had reigned as WWE World Heavyweight Champion since WrestleMania 31, was injured on the first night of the tour in Dublin, Ireland, meaning that the title is now vacant.

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