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The much-anticipated Fight Pit match between Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa took place on tonight's episode of WWE NXT. The match was initially set to take place at NXT: New Year's Evil , but got nixed after Thatcher was not medically cleared for competition.
Having won the first-ever Fight Pit match against current RAW Superstar Riddle after betraying him, Thatcher looked determined to keep the streak going against the veteran Ciampa. Thatcher's innovative move helped him pick up the win over The Blackheart.
Timothy Thatcher forces Ciampa to tap out on NXT
Towards the end of the match, Thatcher put on a modified Stretch Muffler submission on Tommaso Ciampa's surgically-repaired knee. Unable to withstand the pain, the former NXT Champion had no other option than to tap out.
After the match, both men knelt in the middle of the ring opposite each other and had a stare-down. Whether it was a sign of mutual respect or hatred could not be determined as none of them exchanged any words.
The Fight Pit match began with both Superstars exchanging blows on the top of the steel structure and gradually making their way inside the pit. While the structure resembles a Steel Cage, it is unlike any other match as the Fight Pit is devoid of any ropes, thereby putting a much MMA-esque feel to it.
Having lost to Thatcher before, Ciampa was unwilling to go down without a fight and brought out his sadistic self inside the Fight Pit by inflicting serious forms of punishment on the only man to win the match.
Towards the end, Ciampa looked to put away Thatcher with a submission win after dropping him with the Fairy Tale Ending, but the latter managed to escape.
Ciampa then found himself trapped between two cage walls, and as mentioned above, Thatcher locked in the Stretch Muffler on his knee to pick up a submission victory.
