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In light of the injury suffered by Tommaso Ciampa, Triple H also made an appearance at NXT to break the news about the future of the NXT title. Triple H opened the episode coming to the ring with the title and a microphone in hand.
He announced that Johnny Gargano would retain his place in the main event of Takeover for the title, but also that a fatal five-way fight would take place to crown Gargano's opponent for the vacant title.
Triple H listed the participants as Ricochet, Aleister Black, Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream, and Matt Riddle. After announcing the participants of the number one contented, he also added that the match at Takeover: New York would be a two out of three falls match.
The fatal five-way started with several unique, but logical combinations with Matt Riddle going after the Velveteen Dream, building on their face off a few weeks ago. Adam Cole would face off against Ricochet, renewing their feud over the North American title, with Ricochet teaming up with Aleister Black. There was also an early moment between Ricochet and Velveteen Dream and a short respectful exchange between Ricochet and Aleister Black as well as Velveteen Dream facing off against Aleister Black.
Matt Riddle locked Aleister Black in the Bro-mission, with Riddle looking like he was about to get Black to tap. However, the submission was broken up by the Velveteen Dream. Matt Riddle would also catch Adam Cole in the Bro-mission lock, but Velveteen Dream would again make the save. There were several moments in the match, with every participant involved in a Superplex off the turnbuckle. Adam Cole and Ricochet would also have a significant segment, with the two trading significant blows. Matt Riddle would lock the Velveteen Dream in Bro-Mission, but Adam Cole would drag the official out of the ring so the Original Bro was denied of the submission victory.
After Ricochet landed Shooting Star Press off the turnbuckle onto Matt Riddle, Adam Cole re-entered the fray nailing Ricochet from behind with a knee strike. Adam Cole would then pin Ricochet for the victory and progress to meet Johnny Gargano for the NXT Title at Takeover: New York.
# 3 Ricochet
Ricochet has had a hell of a start to his WWE career, as such that it was telling that the high flyer has had great programs with at least half the other names that were in the mix last night. From his battles with Velveteen Dream to his feud with Adam Cole over the NXT North American title, to his tag team success alongside former NXT champion Aleister Black. Since making his debut for NXT over a year ago, Ricochet has had great success with the Black and Gold brand.
Ricochet was incredible in the match again and came up just short after hitting a shooting star press at the end of the match only to be caught from behind by Adam Cole with a knee strike. Ricochet provided many of the fight's highlights, hitting a Moonsault onto Adam Cole on the outside seemingly mere moments before he landed the Shooting Star Press on Matt Riddle.
Ricochet has continued his 2019 in the same rich vein of form that he ended 2018, with the exception of losing his NXT North American title to Johnny Gargano. Having picked up singles victories over Adam Cole, Eric Young, and Jinder Mahal, while also successfully teaming up to make it to the final of the Dusty Rhodes Classic with Aleister Black.
# 2 Matt Riddle
If there was a second runner up in the number one contender's bout last night, it surely has to be Matt Riddle. The "Original Bro" has made an impact since signing for NXT late last year, coming in and was undefeated in NXT before the fatal five-way. Against a decorated field, Riddle was certainly one of the standouts despite not being the only one to have not worn NXT gold at some point in time.
During the fight, Riddle locked in his patented "Bro-Mission" submission machine on Aleister Black, Adam Cole, and the Velveteen Dream throughout the match, only for the submission to be broken by one of the other competitors right before it looked like his victim was set to tap out. This seemed to especially be the case when he locked Velveteen Dream in the lock, as Adam Cole dragged the referee out of the ring before he could call the match off as Velveteen Dream looked to tap out.
Going forward, it looks like Matt Riddle is next in line for the Velveteen Dream's North American title, with the two of them facing off at various points throughout the match, especially at the start as Riddle chased Velveteen Dream around the outside of the ring.
# 1 Adam Cole
After a poor start to the year, both for Cole and for the Undisputed Era, Adam Cole may have gotten the year back on track. After beating EC3 at the start of the year, Cole would lose a number one contenders match against Ricochet for the North American title, he would lose to Tyler Bate in the World's Collide Semi-Final, and would be on the losing team for Halftime heat with Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano.
However, Cole had arguably the best performance of the night, not only because he won the fight, but also his general performance throughout the fight. Cole was involved in several spots with former rival, Ricochet, and Ricochet's current tag team partner, Aleister Black. Adam Cole would also pull out the referee while Matt Riddle had the Velveteen Dream locked in the Bro-Mission.
Cole would win the match in the end after catching Ricochet from behind with a running knee strike for the win. Cole was the most logical winner, with Velveteen Dream already in a pre-planned feud with Matt Riddle and the new tag team of Aleister Black and Ricochet involved in the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
