Matt Riddle’s 2019 started with a bang in more ways than one. Although he notched a submission victory against Kassius Ohno to go 2-0 against NXT’s Knockout Artist, The King of Bros was also left seeing stars after a brutal post-match beatdown by Ohno.

Unlike their first match at TakeOver: WarGames II, where Riddle’s flying knee dispatched Ohno in record time, Ohno controlled the action of the return bout. He did so with an equal measure of anger and arrogance, hammering Riddle with strikes, while serving up plenty of trash-talk. Riddle mounted offensive bursts, but Ohno snuffed them out in short order.

Ohno appeared to have matters firmly in control when he smothered Riddle with two consecutive senton splashes, but Riddle countered a third senton by driving his knees into Ohno’s back. The former UFC fighter then quickly snaked into position for the Bromission and forced Ohno to tap out.

Having suffered a second defeat to the man he derisively calls William Regal’s “shiny new toy,” Ohno looked to be in absolute despair. Riddle offered a reconciliatory fist bump, but all he got in return was a vicious attack, as Ohno maniacally ran him into the steel ring post and the steel ring steps before finishing the job with a Rolling Elbow. Afterward, Ohno mockingly fist-bumped the down-and-out Riddle in a final act of disrespect.

WWE NXT photos for Jan. 2, 2019, featuring Matt Riddle duking it out with Kassius Ohno in an all-out brawl to open the new year.