NXT Takeover: XXX - 5 reasons why Adam Cole will take on Pat McAfee

Adam Cole reigned as NXT Champion for 403 days until it came to an abrupt end in June at NXT's Great American Bash. Cole lost the Winner Takes All match to Keith Lee and has since looked somewhat lost without the title that he held for well over a year.

Cole made his debut in NXT after Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly arrived and ever since, Undisputed Era has been under his control and has been in his corner throughout his rise to power.

Pat McAfee made it clear that Cole was smart in using Undisputed Era to climb to the top in NXT because he's a smaller wrestler himself and this led to Cole lashing out at the radio host and storming off McAfee's show. Cole later apologized on social media and McAfee then appeared on NXT on Wednesday, where it appeared as though the two men had buried the hatchet. But that wasn't the case.

After McAfee attacked Cole and once again made light of his size, Triple H laid down the challenge for McAfee to return and face Adam Cole at Takeover: XXX in two weeks.

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#5. Pat McAfee, NXT wrestler?

Pat McAfee is an athlete. While he's spent most of his time on WWE's Kickoff shows over the past few years, he could have been included in the in-ring action like Rob Gronkowski was before he returned to the NFL.

McAfee has shown an interest in wrestling and has been training for a while without WWE actually making it clear that he could step into the ring in the future. The former NFL punter knows what it takes to carve out a career in the ring and his match against Adam Cole could just be the beginning.

WWE has a state-of-the-art Performance Center and some of the best trainers in the world. That could help McAfee turn his NXT dream into a reality if he wanted to.

#4. Delaying Adam Cole's main roster call up from NXT?

Adam Cole has been prepared to be called up to WWE's main roster ever since he dropped the NXT Championship to Keith Lee in June. It's likely that his call-up will come after SummerSlam, but since Cole is a hot commodity in NXT, the company needed to keep him busy until there was some creative direction for him on RAW or SmackDown.

Adam Cole would fit in quite well on the main roster but at present, the company has a number of storylines that are on a collision course ahead of SummerSlam. This means that it was probably the best option for WWE to delay Cole's call-up until the night after SummerSlam when feuds will be refreshed and the former NXT Champion could then step into a new rivalry on the main roster.

At present, it is unknown as to whether or not the other three members of Undisputed Era will be joining Cole on the main roster when he finally gets given his hotly anticipated call up.

#3. An interesting way for NXT to split The Undisputed Era

Adam Cole has never been part of NXT without Undisputed Era. While the group was just a trio when Cole first came to the brand and was then able to recruit Roderick Strong, the group has always had his back.

Throughout his feud with Pat McAfee, the former NFL star has made it clear that Cole isn't able to do anything for himself, and that makes him smart because he's too small to be a WWE star.

Much of McAfee's trash talk in recent weeks has been about Cole's size so that he can get into his head and in the end, it could turn the former NXT Champion against his own team. On Wednesday night, Cole's antics at ringside cost Undisputed Era the chance to reclaim their NXT Tag Team Championships and there are still a number of weeks until TakeOver.

Could Cole decide that he has something to prove without Undisputed Era by his side, or will his team decide that they no longer need him before then?

#2. There is no creative direction for Adam Cole on NXT

Sometimes the best-laid plans come from absolutely nothing at all so it's entirely feasible that Adam Cole was supposed to move up to the main roster from NXT more than a month ago but then found that there was no creative direction for him.

This means that NXT has been stuck trying to find a way to fit Cole into the show in recent weeks when there was no original plan for him. This obviously led to Cole going onto McAfee's radio show and causing problems for which he later apologized.

Perhaps none of this was originally supposed to happen but now Cole has managed to find a storyline of his own. Either that, or there was no plan for Cole on NXT so Pat McAfee stepped in with this idea which would then lead to the two having a match at TakeOver.

Pat's first WWE match couldn't have seen him in safer hands and it allows Cole to have another high-profile feud in NXT before he brings down the curtain for good.

#1. Ratings boos for NXT

RAW is pushing for their ratings to improve with the introduction of RAW Underground, and it appears that NXT is looking to boost their ratings by bringing in Pat McAfee and allowing him to wrestle his first match on WWE soil.

It makes sense; WWE goes head to head with AEW every Wednesday night in what has been dubbed the "Wednesday night wars" and at present, the two shows are still very close in the ratings.

NXT moved over to the USA Network in order to take the fight to AEW but Triple H knows that the ratings have to be on the up on a regular basis. Pat McAfee joining the NXT brand could be a way to make that happen. The current storyline is doing wonders for NXT, so it appears that at present the plan is working, but it also has to be consistent.

If Adam Cole is heading to the main roster after SummerSlam what does this mean for The Game's NXT brand? How will the brand be able to maintain ratings without one of its biggest stars? Striking the right balance will be key for NXT, Cole and McAfee.