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The build towards NXT Takeover: Phoenix continued this week on NXT with a number of new faces being utilized as well as old favorites being given the opportunity to headline the show once again. War Games is now firmly in the rearview mirror, but it appears that the show had lasting effects for a number of superstars, which made for an interesting episode of the show once again.
Matt Riddle vs Punishment Martinez
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Punishment Martinez made his TV debut on NXT against former MMA star Matt Riddle. The King of Bros had already made quite the impression with a six-second win over Kassius Ohno, but he knew he was in for a fight against Martinez.
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The two men jockeyed for position in the opening exchanges before Riddle went for a sleeper after a series of missed strikes, but Martinez escaped and landed a fantastic right hand. Riddle laid in a number of kicks to the chest of Punishment but received a Cyclone Kick for his troubles.
Riddle landed a vicious chop to the chest of Martinez, but the receipt was a thunderous clothesline from the bigger man. The former MMA star managed to hit a roundhouse kick before locking in the Bromission but Martinez refused to tap, so Riddle lit up his chest with a number of chops to force him to tap. Riddle remains undefeated in NXT, but Martinez made quite the impression on his first outing in NXT.
As Riddle was about to leave the arena, he was blind sighted by Kassius Ohno from behind as The Knockout Artist looked for some revenge for the humiliation that he suffered at War Games a few weeks ago.
Ricochet was shown backstage where he stated that he wanted to be more than a human highlight reel on NXT, before he revealed that he was issuing an open challenge for his NXT North American Championship next week on NXT.
It was then announced that there would be a women's fatal four-way match in a few weeks time to determine the number one contender for Shayna Baszler's Championship and that Bianca Belair was the first woman to qualify.
Raul Mendoza and Humberto Carrillo vs Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake
Cutler and Mendoza were the men chosen to start off the match and Mendoza used his quickness to take the advantage before tagging in Carrillo and the two stars showed off their innovative offense. Blake has certainly changed since his days alongside Buddy Murphy but he was the victim of a fantastic kick from Carrillo that landed right on the money.
Mendoza lost the advantage to the Forgotten Sons after he was taken down by Wesley Blake and Cutler then returned to the ring to deliver a stunning backbreaker. A belly to back suplex swung the momentum back to the high flyers as Carillo showed off some high flying offense with back elbows and arm drags, before finishing up with a spinning moonsault for a near fall on Wesley Blake.
The Forgotten Sons found their way back on top and then delivered a Scorpion Death Stomp for a much-needed victory that will definitely see both men push forward in the Tag Team Division.
Velveteen Dream was backstage and he stated that the world was talking about Velveteen Dream so even though he lost at War Games, it felt like he won. He was asked by Cathy Kelly about what was next for Velveteen Dream and he responded with "Leaving You."
The Undisputed Era was shown backstage where they ripped apart the NXT Tag Team Division, including Heavy Machinery who laid down a challenge earlier in the show. Bobby Fish built up his upcoming match with EC3 as he and the rest of Undisputed Era continued to insult The Top One Percent.
Dakota Kai vs Shayna Baszler - Non-title match
These two women definitely have no love left between them after a number of altercations earlier in the year, but after coming to Kairi Sane's aid at War Games, Kai was back on Baszler's radar, as she was accompanied to the ring by Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke.
Baszler used her strength to her advantage in the opening exchanges, but Kai used her feet and forced the Women's Champion to retreat, only to be then thrown into the ring post. Baszler threw Kai back into the ring before attempting to deliver another kick to her left arm, which was injured earlier in the year, but Kai fought out.
Baszler continued to target the left arm but the captain of Team Kick delivered an overhead kick before she continued to use her feet to her advantage and hit a stunning kick to the face of the Champion. Baszler landed a few kicks of her own before going for the pin, but Kai refused to stay down and delivered a Coupe De Grace from the top rope for a near fall of her own.
Baszler pushed Kai to the top rope in a wrist lock but was knocked back down with a headbutt but a step up enziguri slowed her down. Kai tried to remain on top with kick after kick but Baszler locked in the Kirafuda Clutch to force Kai to tap out.
After the match, the three women attacked Kai before Io Shirai made the save and cleared house.
Tommaso Ciampa returned to NXT to cut a promo about how the NXT Universe seemingly don't believe in him but despite that, he has still been able to remain the Champion. He talked about how he was 2018 Sports Entertainer of the year before he was interrupted by former Champion Aleister Black.
Black was in no mood for Ciampa, but he talked about the fact that he had already destroyed the Johnny Gargano that he created. Black stated that Ciampa wasn't really a Champion because he was full of sin and then invoked his rematch clause for the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: Phoenix.
Johnny Gargano then made his way to the ring and revealed that his issues with Black are far from over. He said that their issues are over when they say they were over before stating toe-to-toe with Black. Ciampa referred to him as Johnny Badass which started a chant in Full Sail, before the Champion revealed that Gargano was obviously fixated on Black.
Ciampa played cheerleader as he teased that the issues between the two men were far from over and stated that Black and Gargano should have a match inside a steel cage. Both Black and Gargano agreed to fight in a cage before Johnny Wrestling brought up their issues in the parking lot and narrowly avoided Black Mass.
Black was so annoyed that he delivered Black Mass to Ciampa instead before locking eyes with Gargano.
