Tonight’s show is the annual recap, with match excerpts and nXt award nominees being listed.
The main event match will be reviewed, and it will feature Kassius Ohno vs. Matt Riddle.

As a segue to the first round of award nominees, a significant portion of the North American Championship Ladder Match, from Takeover: NOLA, is shown.

#1- nXt Breakout Star of 2018

Ricochet, Dakota Kai, Lars Sullivan, Rhea Ripley, Lacey Evans, EC3, Bianca Belair and War Raiders are the nXt award nominees.

#2- Takeover: NOLA Recap

A recap of the history of #DIY and its breakdown, along with the unsanctioned match between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, from Takeover: NOLA, are shown.

Following this, a highlight package of Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black for the nXt Championship, at Takeover: NOLA is shown.

#3- Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black & The Whodunit

A highlight package of the July 2018 nXt TV match between Ciampa and Black, for the nXt Championship is shown.

Cathy Kelley directs the show to a recap of the now infamous Whodunit angle, following the attack on Aleister Black in the Full Sail parking lot, prior to Takeover: Brooklyn IV. It quickly flashes forward to Nikki Cross and her role in the drama, introducing Aleister Black’s return to nXt, 3 months later.

A recap of the Ohno/Riddle feud is shown to hype up tonight’s main event.

#4- nXt Tag Team of the Year

Lorcan & Burch, Street Profits, Heavy Machinery, Moustache Mountain, War Raiders and Undisputed Era are the nXt award nominees.

Most of the Takeover: Chicago II nXt Tag Team Championship match between Lorcan & Burch and the Undisputed Era (Strong & O’Reilly) is shown.

#5- nXt Rivalry of the Year

Almas vs. Gargano, Baszler vs. Moon, Gargano vs. Ciampa, Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain, Velveteen Dream vs. Ricochet, Black, Cross vs. Gargano & Ciampa, Baszler vs. Sane are the nominees

#6- nXt Future Star of the Year

Matt Riddle, Mia Yim, Keith Lee, Forgotten Sons, Candice LeRae, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke, Kona Reeves, Dominik Dikjakovic, and Io Shirai are the nominees

#7- nXt Match of the Year

Cathy Kelley tells viewers to check out wwe.com for the full list. You can find it here. In fact, you can find all the award nominees here.

nXt 2018 Year End Award Nominees

Next up was the nXt TV match between Bianca Belair and Deonna Purrazzo, from the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, NY.

A recap of the Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano feud and match from Takeover: WarGames II is shown. This continues to a review of the match highlights from the cage match of two weeks ago.

#8- nXt Male Competitor of the Year

Adam Cole, Pete Dunne, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Ricochet, Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream are the nominees.

#9- nXt Female Competitor of the Year

Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane and Bianca Belair are the nominees.

#10- Main Event: Kassius Ohno vs. Matt Riddle

Ohno and Riddle start the match going for a quick strike to end it, and each misses. Riddle switches to running clotheslines and forearms, hurting Ohno in the corner. Exploder suplex! Riddle shows off his strength there, and follows it up with a running senton.

Crowd is firmly behind Riddle, shouting “Bro” chants. Chops to the chest and Ohno chops back. Release suplex, and Ohno is slow to follow up, seething with anger. He stomps on Riddle in the bottom-left corner. High boot to the head drops Riddle to the mat.
Rolling senton! Ohno lands with almost all of his weight on Riddle. 1-2- kickout.

Big boot from Ohno and McGuinness says Riddle’s in a world of hurt. Manhattan drop. Ohno dictates the pace of the match, slowing it to a walking pace. But Riddle responds, digging down deep for a German Suplex with a bridging pin. 1-2- no! Ohno kicks out.

Now, strong kicks from Riddle to Ohno’s chest. Ohno grabs Riddle by the toes and he lets loose with a jumping knee and a nasty jumping right foot to Riddle’s skull. Still no victory though.

A flurry of palm strikes by Riddle on Ohno’s chest. He goes to bounce off the ropes and gets flattened by another kick to the head from Ohno. TWO rolling sentons and Ohno goes for a 3rd, but Riddle catches him in a body scissors!

Riddle locks in the Bro-Mission and slaps Ohno’s chest. There’s nowhere to go for Ohno, and he taps out within seconds. Riddle is 2-0 against Ohno.

Winner: Matt Riddle via pinfall in 9 minutes

Ohno sits in the corner, stunned, before rolling out to ringside. He struggles to stay on his feet. Riddle’s music stops and he stops celebrating, inviting Ohno to knock fists with him. Ohno turns away, but then he returns to the ring, as he watches Riddle continue to celebrate.

Crowd starts chanting, “Bro-No”. Ohno gets down on a knee and puts out his fist. Riddle brings his fist to Ohno’s. Ohno catches it and pulls Riddle, shoulder-first, into the turnbuckle. He rolls Riddle out and runs him into the ring barricade, and then, twice, into the steel ring steps.

Ohno lifts Riddle’s own fist and he mockingly brings his fist to it, leaving Riddle lying in pain by the ring steps. Fans boo and chant “You Tapped Out” to Ohno as he walks up the ramp.

1 cool point for Ohno, mostly because he’s not letting this Riddle phenomenon walk all over him. This stubbornness he’s showing is a natural outcome of his competitive nature and I expect it will get more and more difficult for Riddle to beat Ohno.

Who are your nXt award nominees? Please share them, along with your own cool points for tonight’s match, below, in the comments section.
Happy New Year!!
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Catch up on nXt results:
nXt Results- December 26, 2018
nXt Results- December 19, 2018

With the new year here and resolutions being made, take on a new project for 2019. Join the . There, you have plenty of opportunities to write your own columns, join in the discussions and meet a lot of great wrestling fans. Do it.