Matt Riddle Beats Kassius Ohno at WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

The hot start to Matt Riddle's WWE career continued Saturday, as he defeated Kassius Ohno at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.

Ohno pushed Riddle to the limit by pulling out all the stops, including stomping on Riddle's foot and biting his toes.

Despite that, Riddle fought back and showed off his pure power against the bigger Ohno:

In the end, Ohno tapped out in the midst of Riddle mounting him and raining punches down on the back of his head.

Riddle made his NXT debut in October to tons of fanfare, which didn't sit well with Ohno, who felt as though he had been overlooked.

Ohno constantly pestered NXT general manager William Regal and made it clear that he wanted to be the gatekeeper new signees had to go through.

After getting interrupted by Ohno during the pre-show prior to NXT TakeOver: WarGames II in November, Riddle challenged Ohno to a match to open the event.

Ohno accepted, but Riddle dropped and defeated him in mere seconds, which only served to further their rivalry.

Riddle beat Ohno in a rematch as well, and that set the stage for Ohno to snap.

After Riddle beat Punishment Martinez on NXT programming, Ohno appeared and brutally attacked The King of Bros, which set the stage for a rematch at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.

Ohno continued to show off his ruthless side in a match against Keith Lee that saw him pick up the win after hitting Lee with a low blow.

Riddle ran down and attempted to take out Ohno after the match despite not being medically cleared from the beatdown he suffered previously, but Ohno escaped, which left the fans wanting more ahead of their clash in Phoenix.

It can be argued that Riddle and Ohno were in a tough spot given how stacked the TakeOver card was on paper, but their story was as good as almost any other leading up to the event, and that created plenty of intrigue despite the lack of a title on the line.

Riddle has been brought along slowly and smartly since debuting, and Saturday's match was by far the biggest showcase of his abilities.

He may still need some time before becoming a main event player on the stacked NXT roster, but after beating Ohno in impressive fashion, he is well on his way to moving up the card.

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