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The Wednesday night war between NXT and AEW officially begins this week and Triple H and co have wasted no time in putting together a Takeover quality show to take on their new rivals.
Three of NXT's four titles will be defended on the show. Candice LeRae will challenge Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship while the Street Profits will attempt to win back their NXT Tag-Team Championships from The Undisputed Era.
The biggest match on the card though is the blockbuster main-event match between Adam Cole and Matt Riddle for the NXT Championship. Matt Riddle earned his right to have a shot at the belt when he defeated Killian Dain in an excellent encounter on last week's edition of the show.
The two men are two of the biggest stars on the brand and this first-time encounter has the potential to be a match of the year candidate if given enough time. It is also one of the week's most unpredictable matches and there are a number of ways that things could go down.
With that in mind, let's take a look at four possible ways the match between Adam Cole and Matt Riddle could end.
4: The Undisputed Era cause a DQ Finish
This would, by a long way, be the worst way for this match to end. With the show going head to head with the first-ever episode of AEW Dynamite, the WWE would be wise not to use such a cheap finish for the match.
The most obvious reason for them doing so, however, would be to extend the feud between the two men until the next Takeover event. Matt Riddle is going to be a huge star for the company on the USA Network and he will inevitably win the NXT title at some point, so maybe they will decide not to rush it here and extend the storyline instead.
3: Adam Cole retains
Roderick Strong's recent North American Championship victory means that the Undisputed Era now hold all of the gold on the brand.
This tried and tested trope is always a winner and the WWE will want to position these guys as the face of their brand over the coming months.
As such, taking the belt away from their leader so soon after they have finally captured all of the gold is likely to be a very poor decision from a booking perspective. Cole holding the gold is paramount to the group getting over as the brand's top dogs.
There are many ways Cole could pick up the victory on Wednesday but the WWE need to make sure that they protect Matt Riddle in defeat. Having the Undisputed Era and a series of shenanigans be the thing that costs Riddle the title means that he will be protected and it also leaves things open to the possibility of a rematch.
The NXT Championship has also changed hands a few times already this year and it would probably benefit the company much more to have the belt around the same person's waist for some time as they aim to make a name for themselves.
2: And new NXT Champion... Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is destined for greatness in the WWE. The former Progress star is one of the most over performers in the company right now and his meteoric rise in the wrestling industry is an excellent narrative in and of itself.
The brand has performed excellently on the USA Network so far and both shows have heavily featured the king of the Bros. The company could see him as the guy to take the brand forward in their new home and give him the victory against Cole.
Of course, there is also AEW Dynamite in the background as well. WWE may want to get one over on their Wednesday night rivals by booking a massive title switch in their first-ever night against one another. That being said, Candice LeRae defeating Shayna Baszler could supply that moment earlier in the night.
Matt Riddle has been one of NXT's most consistent performers over the last 12 months and winning the title would be just rewards for his excellent performances both inside and outside of the ring. If he was to pick up the victory, then it would have to be a clean one, with the crowd popping like crazy as he forces Cole to tap out.
1: Tommaso Ciampa returns
This week's upcoming episode of NXT looks set to be one of their biggest shows of the year. The blockbuster title clashes are all sure to be absolute belters but what if the WWE has one last surprise up their sleeve for the night?
Tommaso Ciampa has been on the sidelines since picking up a neck injury in March. The injury forced him to vacate the NXT Championship and leave his planned match with long-time rival Johnny Gargano at NXT Takeover: New York on WrestleMania weekend.
Ciampa has been incredibly active on Twitter recently and there has been speculation that he is due to return very soon. He has made it very clear that he has his beloved 'gold
Having him come out to either end the match on Wednesday, or to lay out the winner after the match would create exactly the kind of buzz the WWE is hoping to generate with NXT this week and it would also set up a mouth-watering feud going forward.
Of course, Ciampa could just lay out the winner and then not wrestle until the next Takeover, which would provide him with a little bit more time to recover and prepare himself for a big match.
