Opening Segment: nXt Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Fatal Four Way Match

Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim vs. Lacey Evans vs. Bianca Belair

Highlights include:
Some early over the top flying from Shirai to take out her Women’s Division counterparts.

From the apron, Evans landed a sweet slingshot elbow drop over the top rope on Yim. She beat up on the alliance of Yim and Shirai pretty well, leading to a 2 count on Shirai.

Evans throws out Belair, and shortly after, Yim, before her and Shirai take up their feud with near pinfalls of their own.
Belair and Evans team up after trash-talking and try to eliminate Shirai. Yim returns to the ring and interferes with their efforts. She takes advantage of some squabbling between those two and delivers a German suplex to Belair.
Shirai returns with a vengeance, dropkicking Evans, but Belair seizes that opportunity to spear Shirai to the mat! Great execution there.

Belair’s first to her feet, but Shirai counters her efforts with a sunset flip, and then a stomp to the mid-section. Jumping dropkick to Belair. 1-2- Evans breaks the count.

Now, it’s Yim and Evans battling as the other two ladies are dispersed from the ring. Evans hits the Women’s Right! 1-2-…WHOA! Shirai barely breaks it in time.

Moonsault from Shirai on Evans. 1-2- Belair starts whipping Shirai with her hair. She goes for the powerbomb. No! She throws Shirai backwards over the top on top of Yim. Belair hits Evans with the KOD and pins her for the win! Belair is elated and still undefeated!

Winner, and new #1 contender: Bianca Belair via pinfall in 12 minutes

2 cool points for Belair. She’s still undefeated in her run and has the right momentum to bring the crowd on her side in a feud against Baszler. This gives Shirai and Yim more time to establish their characters, and, even though Evans is a top lady, she’s moving on to the main roster soon. She’s also a heel, and I would be highly suspect of a heel vs. heel match at Takeover. Typically, nXt does a great job of ensuring a strong face vs. heel matchup for their major events.

“Holding My Breath” by Alien Weaponry is a featured theme song for nXt Takeover: Phoenix.

Second Segment: Jaxson Ryker vs. Mitch Taverna

Ryker enters this match on a mission to cause some pain and prove he and the Forgotten Sons are not to be messed with. Cutler and Blake accompany him and are at ringside for this match.

Slingshot powerbomb on to the top rope and then to the mat for Ryker’s finisher. No offense from Taverna.

Winner: Jaxson Ryker via pinfall in 2 minutes

0 cool points. Similar to Dijakovic’s squash from last week, the second segment is all about featuring a new star to the roster who needs a few wins under his belt to be taken seriously. As we know, it’s going to take an actual feud with roster members to prove that. We’ll see these guys get that chance in the next two months.

Third Segment: Promos from Dream and Ciampa

A promo about Velveteen Dream is shown. It’s a combination of his match highlights and backstage sequences, narrated by Dream, talking about how amazing his 2018 was. It shows tweets from current and past WWE greats, expressing their high regard for him.

Highlights from last week’s steel cage match between Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano were shown, specifically the part where Tommaso Ciampa interfered, helping Gargano to win the match.

Ciampa sets up another selfie promo somewhere in the bowels of Full Sail. He feels like a man sitting in a room, alone, talking to a wall. Last week was his vindication. It was his proof that someone is listening. Johnny Gargano listened and followed his lead, and it led to victory.

Ciampa says Gargano should have an opportunity at the North American title. He pleads with Gargano to remember the days when they’d talk about #DIY taking over nXt. Picture it: Ciampa as nXt Champ, Gargano as NA Champ, two kids taking over the world…

Final Segments: Undisputed Era (c) vs. Heavy Machinery for the nXt Tag Team Championships

Knight and Strong start this one off, although Knight’s pretty much taking on both him and O’Reilly right from the get-go. O’Reilly tries distracting him from the apron. Knight fends them off and tags in Dozovic. He squashes Strong into the turnbuckle and punches O’Reilly, who tries to catch Dozovic off guard. So, we can see the game plan from Undisputed Era is to do as much 2 on 1 as possible, regardless of a fair tag or not.

Bearhugs by Knight and Dozovic on the champs. They slam O’Reilly and Strong into one another and then exexcute double overhead throw suplexes!

O’Reilly baits Knight into a run around the ring, but Knight just knocks Strong down. They get up on the apron. O’Reilly distracts the referee and Strong SLAMS Knight hard on to the ring apron. Could be a turning point.

Knight continues to fight back, but O’Reilly rolls him into the ring. Nasty knee strike. Tag to Strong. They chop and slap Knight in their home corner. Strong tries to hurt Knight’s left ankle and then taunts Dozovic.

Ankle lock attempt by O’Reilly when he’s tagged in. He turns from that and tries for an armbreaker submission. Knight gets the rope break.

Olympic Slam by Strong. 1-2- kickout by Knight. Strong ties up Knight’s legs, applying pressure to the ACL. Knight drags himself and Strong until O’Reilly runs in to drag them back. Referee counts to 4 and tells him to get back to his corner.

Knight breaks free and clotheslines Strong! He tags in the Dozer! Dozovic with clotheslines and corner avalanches on O’Reilly and Strong. Double corner avalanche! Strong’s on the mat and we…are…going…to…see…the CATERPILLAR!
O’Reilly stops him with a big boot. Dozovic tags in Knight as he’s holding O’Reilly.

Hoss Toss by Heavy Machinery on Strong. 1-2- O’Reilly interrupts the count. Suddenly, Knight’s up on the top rope for a moonsault, but O’Reilly rolls away, naturally. Strong tags in. Dozovic tags in.

Strong with kicks to the head on Dozovic. Helluva clothesline in response. 1-2- Strong kicks out, just barely.
Dozovic stares at the turnbuckle and now he seems to be thinking of a top rope manoeuvre. He nails O’Reilly on the apron, but receives a step-up enziguri from Strong. Seated on the top turnbuckle, Dozovic engages with Strong. Strong tries to suplex him Dozovic. O’Reilly gets underneath his partner and powerbombs the lot of them. Only a two count!

O’Reilly rushes across the ring after being tagged in with a big boot on Knight. Dozovic tries fighting back. High knee to the face by Strong. 1-2- NO! Dozovic kicks out. Tag is made again to keep both Undisputed Era members in the ring. High-Low attack from Strong and O’Reilly with a kick to the head and a leg sweep. 1-2-3.

Winners, and still Tag Team Champions: Undisputed Era via pinfall in 12 minutes

2 cool points for both teams. Heavy Machinery actually stayed alive in that match about two falls longer than it appeared they would. They made a few uncharacteristic decisions, trying top rope moves, and that, along with the Undisputed Era’s persistent 2 on 1 strategy (tags optional), is what led to their unsuccessful championship attempt.

Merry Christmas!!
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Catch up on nXt results: nXt Results- December 19, 2018
nXt Results- December 12, 2018

With the new year fast approaching 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.