We are at Full Sail University once again with another episode of NXT TV. After the news that Dominik Dijakovic has just had surgery on his knee, how will this affect the build to NXT: TakeOver XXV? I’m Scott Hammond.

Mia Yim vs Bianca Belair

Both women started with some chain wrestling, and what should have been a good exchange of moves ended up looking very staged. Both women looked like they were thinking about the next move in the chain which really took me out of the match at the very beginning. Yim hit a dropkick early on and followed quickly with strikes and a jumping Pele kick to the head of Belair. Belair recovered enough to push Yim to the corner and hit kicks to the gut, and then cinched in a neck wrench.

This match so far has been really uninteresting. Belair then hit a standing frog splash for a two count, and then picked Yim up and hit a reverse powerbomb into the top turnbuckle. Yim then tried her comeback, which was weirdly full of near fall attempts, and put Belair in a guillotine, which was reversed quickly into a snap suplex. Yim then began her actual comeback (that had no heat at all with the live crowd), hitting clotheslines and then hit Belair with a cannonball. Belair recovered on the ring apron but was quickly caught and put in the Tarantula by Yim until the referee broke it up. Yim then attempted a sunset flip on Belair, who then draped her braided hair over the top rope for leverage and dropped into a pin for the victory.

Winner: Bianca Belair

That didn’t work for me at all. The clash in styles here hurt both performers, and they looked at times like they were thinking through their spots and trying to hit them instead of ebb-and-flowing. The finish was innovative, albeit a bit strange when you consider that there was no build up to it.

Next up was CCTV footage of the War Raiders leaving the gym. As they left, a large black truck pulled up in front of them, and they were attacked from behind by the Forgotten Sons. They were beaten down, and the Sons left in their truck as quickly as they arrived, What a terrible ‘experience’ for the War Raiders.

We were at the Performance Center next, where Shayna Baszler was teaching her Horsewomen how to wrestle. Ah, that is very sweet. Then, running into the shot as if the devil was chasing her was Io Shirai, who took about ten minutes to get to the ring and attacked Baszler. A brawl ensued and trainers and other talents ran in to break it up. A lot of crazy stuff happens at the PC when your filming apparently.

Riddick Moss vs Raul Mendoza

This is the first time I’m seeing Riddick Moss as a reviewer. He looks like a superstar. Mendoza being the small Lucha libre wrestler gave the match a good balance. Mendoza started early with quick lucha moves, hitting an enzuigiri in the corner on Moss followed by a hurricanrana. He went straight into a standing shooting star press for a two count.

Mendoza then attempted another springboard but Moss caught him, and did curls with him, before performing a fallaway slam. Good spot there. Moss then military pressed Mendoza and brought him down into a spinebuster for a two count. Moss then ran at Mendoza who dropkicked him in the knee, which sent him into the middle turnbuckle, and followed up with a step-up enzuigiri. Mendoza retreated to the apron and hit a springboard corkscrew splash on Moss, and surprisingly, got the three count and pinfall victory.

Winner: Raul Mendoza

Well, I didn’t expect that. Moss’ gimmick is very body conscious, with his use throughout this match of what appeared to be a muscle stimulator, but Mendoza winning was a refreshing change of pace.

Matt Riddle vs Adam Cole

No real breaks before we head into the main event. This one is going to get some time. Both men started with MMA/shoot style as is standard with Matt Riddle, which then moved into mat wrestling. Riddle hit a quick senton to Cole’s back, and then picked him up and hit three gut wrench suplexes in a row. Cole tried to recover in the corner and then hit a thrust kick to Riddle’s face. Cole then took to the floor and put Riddle into a triangle lock. He then picked Riddle up and hit a slow turning neckbreaker, and then quickly applied a dragon sleeper.

Riddle ducked a clothesline and hit a release German suplex, and then began hitting forearms into the corner. He followed this up with an exploder suplex followed by another senton splash. He got to his feet quickly and nailed Cole with a penalty kick. Riddle hit another German suplex, this time with a bridge for a two count. Cole recovered quickly and hit a Ushigoroshi out of nowhere. Riddle no sold and went into a ripcord knee strike to the face, and then lifted him into a fireman’s carry, but Cole reversed and hit a backstabber for a two count.

Riddle reversed through and put on an ankle lock, and transitioned into a set of Fisherman’s Busters. Cole countered the last Fisherman’s suplex, hit a superkick in the back of Riddle’s head and hit the Last Shot but only got a two count! Riddle recovered, and then went on an offensive flurry, with a GTS, powerbomb, and followed up with a knee to the face. Cole quickly retreated to the outside, and Roderick Strong came to ringside to check on Cole. Riddle jumped to the ring apron and hit a penalty kick to Strong, and got Cole back into the ring, but was met with a huge superkick. Cole fell into the pin but Riddle reversed into the Bro-Mission and got the tap out victory. The rest of the Undisputed Era came to the ring as Riddle retreated to the outside to celebrate his big win.

Winner: Matt Riddle 

After the match, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly kept Cole and Strong separated as they continued to argue as the show went off the air.

Overall, a poor show truthfully. The main was very good, but Riddle and Cole are two top performers. The women’s match felt very choreographed and Moss vs Mendoza was just okay.

All photos/videos courtesy of WWE.com

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