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#1 - The Undisputed Era vs. Oney Lorcan & Dany Burch - NXT Tag Team Championships
Strong & O'Reilly, accompanied by North American Champion Adam Cole, entered first to a huge pop. Lorcan and Burch came out second to a notably smaller reaction, with Undisputed chants ringing around the arena. Strong started things off with Lorcan, toying with him in the early stages, only for an uppercut to give Oney & Danny the advantage.
The match quickly broke down in terms of conventional tag team wrestling, with all four men getting involved simultaneously. Burch attempted to pull O'Reilly off of the turnbuckle, only for Strong to come launching out through the middle two ropes with a dropkick. Cole was directing traffic on the outside throughout most of the match - very nWo-esque, as you can imagine.
The tandem offensive moves between O'Reilly and Strong were extremely smooth and you could feel their ROH connection from a mile away. A vicious headbutt from Burch on O'Reilly turned the tables, and the wait for the hot tag began. Strong and Lorcan both made their way in with Oney getting the upper hand, with a series of vicious uppercuts. TUE both fell to the outside and Lorcan flew over the top rope with a lovely dive before rolling Strong back into the ring and nailing him again, getting a close two count.
Lorcan went between both men in the corners issuing uppercuts, before tagging in Burch. Lorcan got knocked to the outside leaving Burch on his own with O'Reilly, and the two men issued vicious strikes back and forth. Kyle went for the armbar but couldn't get the full extension, but Burch couldn't hold on any longer and the extension was successful - but Burch managed to crawl to the bottom rope to break the hold.
Strong and O'Reilly took turns in knocking Danny down, but he kept getting back up. He dug deep and got the tag to Lorcan, who nailed a double blockbuster onto the floor. Lorcan then hit the Electric Chair-esque uppercut finish from the top rope, but Adam Cole managed to pull O'Reilly's foot underneath the bottom rope to prevent the three count.
Strong saved O'Reilly from the finisher and Kyle got the guillotine on Lorcan, but he was able to reverse it. A strong powerbomb from Lorcan got a two count on Strong, but he turned it into a single leg crab. Burch then got the crossface on O'Reilly and it seemed as if TUE were on the verge of defeat, but O'Reilly managed to kick his way out of the hold.
All four men began trading in the middle of the ring in an Owens/Zayn kind of way. O'Reilly and Strong finally hit the double-team finish off the ropes to secure the three count.
The Undisputed Era defeated Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan to retain NXT Tag Team Championships
#2 - Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream came out first after a sensational video package, and he was wearing a Hulk Hogan-inspired yellow and orange ensemble. He even imitated Hogan's mannerisms in the ring, and he also had Prince Puma tights on in a call-back to Ricochet's days with Lucha Underground. What a guy. Ricochet came out next in his superhero-esque attire, which was equally as awesome.
The two men went through a feeling out process to get things started, with Dream doing several Hogan poses throughout the opening minutes. They attempted to outdo one another, which plays to the narrative that they had leading up to this match. Dream and Ricochet then slapped each other before The One and Only put together a series of impressive acrobatic moves to the delight of the crowd.
Ricochet attempted a springboard but Dream knocked him off, to the point where Ricochet's neck whiplashed off of the rope. Dream yelled 'get up bingo hall' to Ricochet after imitating another one of his moves. He went to bounce off the ropes, but Dream read it like a book and pushed him to the outside. Dream then used the middle rope as a boost and flipped over the top rope onto Ricochet on the outside. Outstanding.
Ricochet turned things around with a suicide dive followed by an inverted flip over the top rope, and then a short-range 619. Ricochet continued to catch Dream off guard, not allowing him to get a single breath. A jumping neckbreaker followed by a standing shooting star got a close two count for the high-flyer.
WOW. Dream hit a rolling death valley bomb off the top rope that resembled an Attitude Adjustment, but he couldn't quite get the three fall. Then, with Ricochet on the top rope, Dream suplexed him from the turnbuckle to the floor and that may well be the spot of the night already. Both men narrowly beat the ten count.
Dream hit another death valley bomb, which got a two count. The crowd were eating everything up from the first minute until the last. Both men began trading blows, as Ricochet attempted to roll through from a Northern Lights suplex but couldn't because of his back pain. Dream reversed another Ricochet flurry into a vicious inverted DDT which gets a two. The crowd were on their feet.
Dream called himself a wrestling god and was talking trash to Ricochet, giving his opponent enough time to recuperate. Ricochet imitated Dream's pose before nailing an elbow from the top rope, but Dream kicked out. Ricochet went back up top to attempt the 630 but Dream rolled further into the middle of the ring. Instead, he went for a shooting star press which Dream reversed by getting his knees up. Unreal.
Dream then went for an elbow all the way from the other side of the ring but missed. Ricochet finally hit the 630 on Dream who was writhing in pain, and he finally secured the win.
Ricochet defeated Velveteen Dream
#3 - Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross - NXT Women's Championship
Nikki Cross came out first with her trademark bizarre entrance, followed by the NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler. The champion seemed a little phased by Cross' persona during the big match entrances. Cross invited Baszler to attack her and laughed hysterically when she took her down. Fun start.
Cross managed to secure a headlock on Baszler, but the champion reversed it - only for Nikki to slam her back into the corner to break the hold. Cross got Shayna trapped in between the ring apron and began attacking her relentlessly. The fans are certainly in favour of Nikki's unorthodox style.
Shayna issued some ground and pound on Nikki, and the crowd seemed to be interested in something happening higher up in the crowd. Shayna hit Nikki with several knee strikes, but Cross kept coming back before grabbing her leg as a route back into the match. Baszler then dropped to her back to try and gain some separation.
Shayna kept going back to the knee strike which some fans seemed to be getting restless with. She got into a headlock position but Cross managed to break the hold yet again. Baszler managed to reverse a roll-through to lock in her submission hold, with Nikki refusing to give in. The fans were chanting for Nikki to come back and break it, and she began smiling. As she smiled, she slowly passed out, giving Shayna the victory.
Shayna Baszler defeated Nikki Cross to retain NXT Women's Championship
Following the match, EC3 was shown in the crowd, but more importantly, Keith Lee made an appearance in the front row which was received very, very well by the crowd. Say hello to NXT's newest signing - and bask in his glory.
#4 - Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan - NXT Championship
Lars Sullivan came out first to a lukewarm reaction from the Chicago crowd, which is fine given that he's the monster heel. The champion Aleister Black was out next, with a delightful reaction from the crowd. Both men received big match introductions from the ring announcer, and just like that, this NXT Championship match was underway.
Sullivan and Black both went for Black Mass and Freak Accident in the early stages, but both failed to execute. Black moved quickly to try and get some momentum with a lovely double knee stomp to take Lars down early on. Black hit him with a monstrous knee but it only got him a two count.
While he may be unorthodox Lars is effective, as he's able to overpower Black at every available opportunity. Aleister's dive was caught by Sullivan, who then planted him face first onto the ring apron. Lars managed to secure a headlock and had it locked in for a long time, and following it, Black seemed like he wasn't even in the match. He was controlling the pace and Black did well to get going.
Sullivan went up to the top rope and Aleister followed him. He booted him down before going for a diving headbutt, but Aleister got his knees up successfully. Black kept attempting to purely knock him down, to the delight of the Chicago crowd. The champion finally hit his moonsault but he only managed to secure a two count. Lars' pace continued to defy gravity and logic with a lovely chop at the feet.
The two men were on the ring apron, only for Sullivan to catch Aleister Black and powerslam him onto the edge of it. Aleister Black finally hit Black Mass but because it wasn't a great delivery, there wasn't much of a response from the crowd. Black hit it a second time and Sullivan still kept coming, but the monster couldn't take another as a hat-trick of finishers got the job done.
Aleister Black defeats Lars Sullivan to retain NXT Championship
#5 - Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Gargano came to the ring first after being told to 'kick his ass' by wife Candice LeRae, quickly followed by Ciampa. Both men wore trousers as opposed to tights for this one, sticking with the street fight theme. Ciampa raced down to the ring and both men attempted to attack one another with crutches, and when they went over the announcer's table, Nigel McGuinness was seemingly crushed beneath the rubble.
They fought into the crowd as Ciampa tried to break a Gargano sign but failed. It was revealed that the sign said 'use this Johnny', as it had a stop sign attached to it. Ciampa was struggling badly and crawled back to the ring, as Gargano threw a trash can into the squared circle alongside a steel chair. Ciampa ducked underneath the trash can's lid and nailed a German suplex.
Ciampa couldn't maintain control as Johnny Wrestling nailed a great suicide dive to his former partner on the outside. Following a short back and forth Ciampa went under the ring and got a steel chair, ramming it into Gargano's gut. He then put Johnny's head in the middle of the chair, ramming him into the steel steps to really maximise the damage to Gargano's neck.
Tommaso struck Gargano with the trash can and continued to smile as he did so, before throwing it straight into Johnny's head. They got back in the ring as Ciampa took off his top and began choking Johnny with it. A slingshot into the bottom turnbuckle from Ciampa also impacted Gargano, as Mr Blackheart himself went under the ring to get handcuffs.
Gargano began fighting back, spearing Tommaso through the ropes to buy himself some time. Johnny took off his leather belt and started whipping Ciampa with it, which really seemed to wake up the crowd who chanted you deserve it to Ciampa. Gargano hit a lovely superkick to a kneeling Ciampa who had the can over his head.
Out of nowhere, however, Ciampa hit the double-knee backbreaker before kneeing the trash can lid into the temple of Gargano - which got him a narrow two-count. ASTONISHING. Ciampa hit Gargano with White Noise onto the steel steps from the ring apron, but again, Johnny Wrestling kicked out.
Ciampa then got some pliers and cut off the first layer of the ring, exposing the harder section of the boards under the ring. He then hit Gargano with another vicious chair shot. Ciampa lifted Gargano up to the top rope, biting him in the face. Tommaso got him ready for White Noise again onto the exposed boards, but Johnny reversed it and managed to avoid disaster.
The two rivals exchanged blows, but Gargano landed a huge superkick before collapsing onto Ciampa - but he kicked out. Gargano tried to dive to Ciampa from the ring, but Tommaso hit him with the trash can lid on the way down. Ciampa missed with the knee to the steel steps and tried to take off his knee brace, but Gargano spotted him.
Johnny focused his attention on the knee and began dismantling Ciampa with a chair, but Tommaso managed to reverse it into the Gargano Escape. Johnny escaped but Ciampa issued repeated blows to the head to maintain momentum. Ciampa nailed Gargano with a crutch to the back of the neck, which gets him a close two count.
Ciampa slowly walked over to Gargano who was crawling away, picking him up and saying 'we were like brothers, you did this to yourself'. Much like last year, Ciampa threw Gargano into the LED screen on the ramp before kneeing him straight in the head. Ciampa took off Gargano's wedding ring and spat on it, but that allowed Johnny to pick him up and nail White Noise through two tables.
Ciampa was loaded onto a stretcher, and Gargano watched over him from the platform above. Johnny looked at where his wedding ring used to be, and in a blaze of anger, he went after Ciampa again as he was being wheeled away. Gargano unstrapped him from the stretcher and locked in the Gargano Escape, with Ciampa tapping out as Gargano attacked two officials who tried to stop him.
Gargano handcuffed Tommaso and hit him with nearly a dozen superkicks before locking in the Gargano Escape again. More officials dragged Gargano away, but when he got back up to the apron, Tommaso caught him and DDT'ed him onto the exposed wood. Gargano was out cold, and Ciampa got the three count.
Tommaso Ciampa defeats Johnny Gargano
The medical staff attended to Gargano as Ciampa waved him off once last time.
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