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Matt Riddle teamed up with Timothy Thatcher on this week's NXT to defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against the Undisputed Era's Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong. Thatcher, is acting as Pete Dunne's temporary replacement.
After a spectacular back-and-forth affair, Thatcher would eventually pick up the win for his team after making Strong tap out to the Fujiwara Armbar. Needless to say, Riddle was pumped after the victory and offered one of the tag titles to his new partner, saying he deserved it. However, Thatcher then politely declined the same, suggesting that it belonged to Pete Dunne. Here's what the debutant had to say:
"I appreciate that very much Mr. Riddle, very much. I know how tough of a fighter you are. We might have shared a ring a couple of times and I'm very grateful to your partner, as goofy as you can be from some time. But, I understand those titles are yours and Pete's. Now he can't be here, so I'll happily team with you and defend those titles as long as Pete's not here. When he gets back, maybe we'll sort some stuff out but until then, you hold on to that title sir."
Pete Dunne unable to compete
The BroserWeights were supposed to defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against the Undisputed Era this week's NXT. A few hours prior to the show, William Regal appeared on WWE's The Bump and announced the fix that Pete Dunne had found himself in. Due to his inability to fly to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, The Bruiserweight needed to decide on a temporary replacement for himself.
In the end, Dunne would appear on the titantron during NXT and announced that the debuting Timothy Thatcher would be Riddle's new partner. The two would then go on to face Fish & Strong in a great match that involved a serious showcase of the technical abilities of all the Superstars involved.
Now, we know that Malcolm Bivens and Indus Sher were also observing the match keenly backstage so Riddle & Thatcher may have to defend the NXT tag titles against Rinku Singh & Saurav Gurjar next.
