3 possible replacements for Tommaso Ciampa at NXT Takeover: New York

WARNING: This post contains spoilers from the latest set of NXT tapings.

NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa had been sidelined with an injury for a couple of weeks, but now it turns out that it is something major. He will require to undergo neck surgery and is out for the foreseeable future. This comes at a time when he was flying high as the dominant heel champion on the yellow brand and is a huge blow to his soaring momentum and NXT's main event scene.

After the events that transpired during the latest set of Full Sail University tapings, the scheduled main event of NXT Takeover: New York would have been Ciampa defending the NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano.

Unfortunately, that cannot happen anymore due to Ciampa's neck surgery. So now, Triple H and the rest of the NXT writers will have to come up with a plan for the main event of what could be the biggest Takeover yet.

Johnny Gargano will presumably have some match for the soon-to-be-vacant NXT Championship in the main event of the show, but who does he face? Whatever happens, we should trust the NXT team to come up with the best possible plan.

Here are three possible options to consider that could save Takeover.

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#3 Aleister Black and Ricochet have one last NXT main event

These two are already on the main roster

Admittedly, this option is pretty unlikely, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Aleister Black and Ricochet are currently tag-teaming on NXT and the main roster as well. They are scheduled to face the Revival and Glorious Gable at Fastlane, in a mouth-watering triple threat match for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Beyond that, they have soared through the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Black and Ricochet will face the Forgotten Sons in the final of the tournament.

Despite what the plans were for them, NXT could have them lose the match on TV due to a miscommunication and drift them into a feud of their own, and with Gargano. It must be noted that the main event of the previous tapings was the semi-final of the Dusty Classic where these two defeated DIY.

This could tie into a triple threat scenario before Johnny Wrestling overcomes his previous two Takeover rivals to finally win the NXT Championship. This also gives both Black and Ricochet one final big main event match in NXT before moving to the main roster on a permanent basis.

#2 Multi-man match for the title

NXT might have no option

Aside from the Dusty Classic and the initially brewed rehashing of the Gargano-Ciampa feud, the upper mid-card of NXT has been hotting up. Velveteen Dream is the North American Champion and has had challenges issued from the likes of Adam Cole and Matt Riddle.

This takes up the rest of the yellow brand's top names. So if Black and Ricochet already have their Takeover plans laid out, NXT could possibly drift the North American title storyline over to the main event.

A multi-man match seemed likely to be booked for Takeover: New York, with Dream defending his title against Cole, Riddle, and possibly Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic, who had an incredible brawl on last week's NXT.

But now, NXT could simply shift Dream, Cole, and Riddle to the world title scene and we get a fatal-4-way for the vacant NXT Championship. The match would be excellent and any one of them would be a popular winner. Lee and Dijakovic could have another great fight on the undercard as well. NXT could do a lot worse than simply book four of their top stars in the main event.

#1 New champion, Bay Bay!

Could Adam Cole step in?

If NXT don't wish to book a crowded NXT title match for Takeover, the best option would be to shift Adam Cole. It seems like the Undisputed Era have been lingering around and teasing fans with the idea of all four members each holding a championship.

Whether or not that was in the plans for NXT - it really should now. They lost the incredible heel presence of Tommaso Ciampa and will have to replace it with something as big, if not bigger. Now is the time for Undisputed Era to hold all the gold.

The Panama City Playboy could simply just step up to Johnny Gargano and challenge him for the vacant belt at Takeover, with Roderick Strong taking Cole's place in the expected multi-man melee for the North American Championship.

Add in Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly taking their place in the NXT Tag Team Championship match, and NXT has the opportunity to further the Undisputed Era's dominance. The call-up can wait, but this opportunity cannot. We would even get a possible 5-star match in the process.