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Matt Riddle Beats Roderick Strong at NXT TakeOver: XXV
June 1, 2019
Matt Riddle continued his recent success against Undisputed Era with a win over Roderick Strong at NXT TakeOver: XXV on Saturday night in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Riddle finished off Strong with the Bro Derek to earn the pin.
Riddle and Strong put on a great match to start the night, with both men showcasing their athleticism:
Like Johnny Gargano, Riddle has been at odds with Undisputed Era for the past several weeks, and it led to a singles match against Strong since Riddle injured his ribs when getting jumped by Strong a few weeks ago.
When Riddle faced Adam Cole in a singles match, Strong attempted to get involved and help his Undisputed Era stablemate, but his interference went awry, and The Original Bro picked up a huge victory.
On last week's episode of NXT TV, Riddle saved Gargano from a four-on-one attack at the hands of Undisputed Era, which led Riddle and Johnny Wrestling to face Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish in the main event.
Both Cole and Strong interjected themselves into the match, and it allowed O'Reilly and Fish to prevail. Undisputed Era then took out both Riddle and Gargano in a show of strength and unity to close the show.
Strong entered TakeOver with some momentum on his side since Undisputed Era got the better of Riddle and Gargano, and the unit appeared to be back on the same page after some disagreements in prior weeks, stemming from Cole's loss to Johnny Wrestling at NXT TakeOver: New York.
Also, with Riddle nursing injured ribs, Strong could target a specific area and break out his vast repertoire of backbreakers, which seemingly gave him a distinct advantage.
Although Strong has worked as part of a group for much of the past year, he is still among the best individual in-ring workers in the world, and with Riddle establishing himself as one of the fastest rising stars in the business, there was no shortage of excitement surrounding their match.
The bout between Riddle and Strong was the only one on Saturday's card without a title on the line, but they made it feel important anyway and turned in a quality performance as part of a stacked show.
On the heels of Riddle securing another big win, he has to be considered the leading candidate to be next in line for an NXT Championship opportunity.
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