10 Things That Happened At NXT Live: Newcastle (Australia)
"Tyler Breeze", "Who Are Ya?" and "Which One's Dawson, Which One's Dash?"
In case you missed it, NXT has just finished its tour of Australia, visiting Japan along the way. Fans of NXT see a lot on social media and from WWE itself about how exciting NXT house shows are, and when this first-ever Australian tour was announced, I can honestly say I screamed a bit. The transition brand for WWE, as it is hardly viewed as just the starting place for brand new talent any more, has been gaining popularity and respect in leaps and bounds in recent years, and particularly when several of their top stars are Australian, there is no better time for the brand to make its Australian debut.
I attended the Newcastle show, one of the smaller arenas, but let’s be honest, small crowds are what NXT is built from. Add in the fact that Newcastle is a wrestling-loving city, with several promotions of their own, this crowd wasn’t letting a thing go unnoticed or unsaid. Having been in attendance at WWE’s Australian tours this year and last, I personally feel like NXT outdid them (because they usually do).
But it came down to one simple reason: NXT made it about the fans. Almost every wrestler made the time to interact with the crowd, faces spending huge amounts of time signing autographs before and after matches, and taking photos, a lot of the wrestlers even had conversations with boisterous sections of the crowd or laughed at their chants, even joining in at times; this made for a greatly personal experience, something the main roster tour lacked in some ways.
Having made these pretty vague claims, let me explain some of the more specific moments that stood out at NXT Live: Newcastle.
10. Australians Are Great Chanters And Love To Sing
I can't speak for all of the shows here in Australia, but this crowd definitely brought the goods when it came to making it an experience for themselves. Not content with letting the wrestlers be the main source of entertainment, there were pockets of the crowd that never seemed to take a break from chanting or yelling to whoever was in the ring.
The crowd did take a while to get in the zone, as ring announcer Andrea D'Marco kicked off the show there were some very mixed reactions to her (I was feeling like they didn't know who she was, honestly) and there were plenty of people still making their way into the arena at the last minute, but as soon as TM61's music hit to begin the action, they were on their feet and chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" at their countrymen.
One of the greatest moments of crowd mentality was the entire arena singing the Australian National Anthem. Because they could. I have never felt so patriotic.