411’s WWE NXT Report 12.5.18

Tonight, Tommaso Ciampa will be live!

Matt Riddle vs. Punishment Martinez

Dueling chants. Please, NXT crowd. Be better. They lock up and Riddle gets free before going into a weird fighting stance. He hops on Martinez’s back with a sleeper. Takes him to the mat with the choke. Martinez rolls out and hits a big forearm. Riddle turns it around and hits a corner forearm. Cyclone kick by Punishment. for two. Spinning back elbow in the corner and a huge clothesline. Riddle lights up his ribs with slaps. Riddle fights off a choke with a throat smack. He catches a clothesline and connects on a roundhouse. MMA elbows and the Bromission to end it, though Martinez fought it off a bit.

Winner: Matt Riddle in 3:08 [NR]

As Riddle reaches the top of the ramp, Kassius Ohno appears. When Riddle turns to him, he lays him out with a spinning forearm.

A Ricochet vignette runs. Following it, we see an interview with him outside earlier today. He says he came to NXT to be more than a highlight reel, he came to win. The title proves that he has done that. Next week, he will defend the North American Title and will talk to William Regal about who his opponent will be.

A Heavy Machinery video package is shown.

It is announced that in three weeks, there will be a Number One Contender’s Fatal Four Way match. Bianca Belair is the only one in so far. We get clips of Bianca’s win over Deonna Purrazzo at a house show to qualify.

The Forgotten Sons w/  Jackson Ryker vs. Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza

Cutler begins against Mendoza. He locks in a headlock for a while. Raul gets free with a chop, ducks Cutler and hits an enziguri. Raul and Humberto work a cool wheel barrow front flip tag move. Humberto also does some flips to avoid Blake when he comes in and then nails a leaping kick. Tag to Mendoza for a tandem rana, but their Poetry in Motion is stopped when Blake slams Raul down. Cutler hits a nice backbreaker but is boring until Humberto comes back with an awesome floating armdrag. He adds a missile dropkick with eight and a back roll into a moonsault. The pin is broken up. Raul takes a big bump outside and Cutler catches a draped Humberto with a modified leaping piledriver. A tandem reverse DDT/diving stomp wraps it up.

Winners: The Forgotten Sons in 4:49 [*3/4 all for Humberto]

The Velveteen Dream is interviewed about his loss to Tommaso Ciampa. It’s quiet, so he snaps his fingers and the ambience comes on, including his theme. Cathy Kelley asks what’s next for him. Dream says people, from the internet to the locker room, are talking about him. People even talked to HHH about him. Dream wins. Dream over. What’s next? Leaving Cathy. And with that, he snaps his fingers and leaves.

Backstage, the Undisputed Era talk about being excited for next week when Bobby Fish faces EC3. He holds the chair he used on EC3 as he warns EC3 about swimming with sharks. Roderick Strong brags about injuring War Raiders. They call “The Mighty” “The Weaky” and when Heavy Machinery’s six month unbeaten streak is mentioned, Bobby says, ” So am I.”

Non-Title Match: Dakota Kai vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler w/ Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir

Lock up. Dakota gets her down and hits a running PK. Shayna rolls outside and Dakota tries a kick off the apron. Shayna catches her foot and drags her into the ring post. Inside, Shayna begins torquing on Dakota’s arm in awful ways. She goes for the stomp from earlier this year but Dakota moves and rolls her up for one. Shayna immediately goes back after the arm and snaps it back like her name was Pentagon. She kicks at Dakota’s leg but Dakota fights back with rapid kicks to the head. She adds the running face wash and the angled running Yakuza Kick. Shayna avoids the next one and hits a running knee. Another knee catches Dakota in the face for two. Dakota rallies again and hits a diving double stomp for two. I miss a bit but Shayna hits a superplex. Dakota with some kicks while holding Shayna’s hand. She stomps on her head but Shayna rolls through her next move and slaps on the Kirifuda Clutch. Dakota has no choice but to tap.

Winner: Shayna Baszler in 6:04 [***]

The Horsewomen jump Kai after the bell. Kai tries her best but the effort is futile. Io Shirai runs out to make the save. Io cartwheels away from everyone and nails a dropkick to send Duke and Shafir packing. Shayna eats an uppercut and Dakota goes for the big running boot, but Shayna is pulled to safety.

A Donovan Dijakovic vignette runs.

Tommaso Ciampa makes his way out to the ring. He cuts a promo bashing the fans for still not accepting him as NXT Champion. He points to individual fans and Mauro Ranallo for not believing in him. He says his reign will go down as the best in history. All his bragging is interrupted by Aleister Black. Aleister says he absolved Johnny Gargano of his sins, which were created by Ciampa. He will now absolve Ciampa because he’s evoking his rematch clause for the NXT Title. And he’s doing it at TakeOver: Phoenix. Here comes Gargano. He tells Black to pump the brakes. While they argue, Ciampa leaves. Gargano says their feud is over when he says its over. Ciampa says he loves when Johnny Wrestling is left behind and Johnny Badass comes out instead. Ciampa knows that Johnny won’t let something go when he’s fixated on it and he’s fixated on Black now. Ciampa feels Aleister and Johnny should have been in the steel cage at War Games. In his opinion, they should finish it in a cage. Johnny wants the match and Black tells him that Johnny Wrestling is dead. He showed him mercy at War Games and will fight him anywhere, even in a parking lot. Johnny tells him that didn’t work out well for him last time. He goes for Black Mass but Johnny dodges and heads up the ramp. Black turns and hits Ciampa, who was on the apron, with Black Mass to end the show.