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Former WWE NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa had arguably the match of the night at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night One. The Blackheart of NXT squared off against WALTER for the WWE NXT United Kingdom Championship.
In what was an incredible, hard-hitting and physical match, WALTER eventually defeated Tommaso Ciampa utilizing his trademark vicious chops to secure the victory and retain the NXT UK Championship.
Heading into the match, the storyline centered around Tommaso Ciampa finding the "old version" of himself. WALTER challenged Ciampa to discover the version of himself that ruled NXT in 2018 as the NXT Champion.
While Tommaso Ciampa was unsuccessful in capturing the NXT UK Championship, it goes without saying that the "old version" of Tommaso Ciampa is well and truly back.
Now that Tommaso Ciampa's feud with WALTER has finished, the question becomes who will Ciampa feud with next on WWE NXT television. Let's take a closer look at five possible feuds for Tommaso Ciampa after NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
#5 Current WWE NXT star KUSHIDA
KUSHIDA is one of the best in-ring performers currently on the WWE roster.
In recent weeks the Japanese superstar has been engaged in a feud with former NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne on NXT television. KUSHIDA's feud with Pete Dunne culminated at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 1.
Unfortunately for KUSHIDA, he was unsuccessful against Pete Dunne, who defeated KUSHIDA after hitting his opponent with The Bitter End finishing maneuver.
This leaves KUSHIDA in a position where his next feud on television is vital to re-establishing himself and building momentum once again in NXT.
After Tommaso Ciampa's loss to WALTER at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night One, Ciampa finds himself in a similar position to KUSHIDA. Therefore, a feud between the two NXT Superstars could without a doubt prove to be mutually beneficial to both stars.
As two of the best performers on the WWE NXT roster, a feud between Tommaso Ciampa and KUSHDIA would also lead to some incredible matches, worthy of a future NXT TakeOver event.
#4 Former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly
WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two saw Kyle O'Reilly compete in the main event.
The former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion faced off against his former Undisputed Era teammate Adam Cole in a 40-minute Unsanctioned Match classic. O'Reilly and Cole utilized weapons such as steel chains, steel chairs and steel ringsteps at ringside in some incredible spots and high-risk moves.
Some have speculated that Kyle O'Reilly's victory over Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver could be Adam Cole's final match on the black and gold brand before he moves to Monday Night RAW or Friday Night SmackDown.
If accurate, this would mean that Kyle O'Reilly needs a new opponent to feud with on NXT television. Given the high profile nature of his victory at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Kyle O'Reilly needs a high profile opponent to face off with to continue his momentum as a main event singles wrestler.
Perhaps Tommaso Ciampa could be the perfect opponent for Kyle O'Reilly going forward. Now that Ciampa has found the "old" version of himself, he could theoretically embrace the sinister, heel character that he portrayed to perfection in 2018.
The heel version of Tommaso Ciampa would line up perfectly against the underdog, sympathetic babyface character that Kyle O'Reilly has recently tapped into on WWE NXT television.
#3 Current WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar
WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two saw Santos Escobar put any questions about whether he was the greatest cruiserweight on the NXT roster to bed.
After being the interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion for close to one year, Santos Escobar finally became the undisputed WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
Escobar defeated Jordan Devlin in an incredible ladder match to officially become the WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion in the opening match of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two.
However, given that Santos Escobar has been the Cruiserweight Champion for close to a year, he is beginning to run out of opponents that he hasn't squared off against previously on the WWE NXT roster.
Step in Tommaso Ciampa. The Blackheart has just unsuccessfully challenged for the NXT United Kingdom Championship, but this doesn't mean his championship pursuits have to come to an end.
Tommaso Ciampa would easily be able to get himself into the required 205lbs weight limit for the Cruiserweight division in WWE. While Tommaso Ciampa doesn't work the "traditional" cruiserweight style, he would certainly add some much-needed star quality and name recognition that the division desperately needs.
Perhaps Tommaso Ciampa is the perfect person to end the lengthy WWE NXT Cruiserweight Championship reign of Santos Escobar.
#2 Former WWE NXT United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne
WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two saw Pete Dunne deliver an incredibly impressive performance as he defeated KUSHIDA.
Dunne squared off against KUSHIDA in the opening match of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night One, defeating his opponent after utilizing his The Bitter End finishing maneuver.
In recent months, Pete Dunne has been increasingly impressive on WWE NXT television. This includes getting into the best physical shape of his life and also challenging Finn Balor for the NXT Championship unsuccessfully in a main event classic at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day in February.
However, after his victory against KUSHIDA at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night One, Pete Dunne needs to find the correct opponent to continue his impressive momentum on WWE NXT television.
Tommaso Ciampa and Pete Dunne have something in common. Both men were defeated by current NXT UK Champion WALTER in WWE NXT United Kingdom Championship matches. WALTER defeated Pete Dunne to become the NXT UK Champion in 2019 and also defeated Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
Perhaps both NXT Superstars could be tied together in their respective defeats to WALTER, leading to a storyline of sorts on NXT television going forward.
#1 Former WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor
WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night Two saw Finn Balor's impressive NXT Championship feud come to a spectacular end. The Prince was defeated by Karrion Kross in the co-main event of Night Two to lose the NXT Championship.
While Finn Balor could theoretically continue his feud with Karrion Kross over the NXT Championship, it is more likely that he will begin a new feud with a superstar on the WWE NXT roster.
Finn Balor and Tommaso Ciampa briefly feuded on NXT television in 2019 when the former WWE Universal Champion returned to the black and gold brand. However, a real, gritty story between the two was never truly told for a prolonged period of time.
Both NXT Superstars are coming out of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver with significant losses in major championship matches. Because of this, both Finn Balor and Tommaso Ciampa will quickly be looking to make amends by defeating another high profile superstar on the NXT roster.
Perhaps the agony of defeat at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver is exactly what both men need to begin this feud against one another.
