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As the saying goes: One man's loss is another man's gain. In the lead-up to tonight's historic NXT TakeOver XXX, reigning NXT Champion Keith Lee had vacated his North American Championship, shortly after beating Adam Cole to win the NXT Championship and becoming a Double Champion in the process.
With the NXT North American Championship being up for grabs, NXT lined-up some of the finest competitors from their already stacked roster across several qualifying matches in order to crown the new champion in a Fatal 5 Way Ladder Match.
As things stood, the competitors in place for tonight's match were Damian Priest, Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Johnny Gargano, and Velveteen Dream, with the final two being in contention of becoming the first-ever two-time NXT North American Champion. However, that wasn't the case to be and by the end of the thrilling match, it was The Archer of Infamy, Damian Priest, who walked out as the newly crowned North American Champion.
The win marked Priest's first-ever title accomplishment in the Black and Gold brand but given how stacked the NXT mid-card currently is, it is safe to say that the road to greatness for the new North American Champion has only begun. With that being said, Damian Priest has a lot of Superstars who could step up to the plate and challenge him for the North American Championship.
In this article, I've listed out 5 potential opponents for Damian Priest after his win at TakeOver XXX. Without any further ado, let's get straight to it.
#5 Cameron Grimes
At TakeOver XXX, Cameron Grimes put on one of the best showings of his entire NXT career so far and the man certainly deserves a pat on the back for coming agonizingly close to winning his first-ever title in NXT, as well.
Not only did Grimes fail to put away Priest when it mattered the most but an outside interference from Johnny Gargano's wife Candice LeRae also prevented the man from winning the North American Championship. Therefore, a singles match between Priest and Grimes could definitely call for a solid first title defense for the newly crowned champion.
#4 Finn Balor
Finn Balor was presented with a lot of opportunities to qualify for tonight's NXT North American Championship Ladder Match but failed to make it to the bout. Instead, Balor was booked for a singles match against another one of NXT's newest sensations in the form of Timothy Thatcher, against whom the former WWE Universal Champion has had quite the number of issues with in the past.
Now speaking of Finn Balor, his return to NXT hasn't exactly turned out the way as he would've hoped for. The former NXT Champion initially underwent a heel turn but is now back being a babyface.
However, he is yet to win a title after making his return. With that being said, this could be the perfect time for Finn Balor to right all the wrongs by stepping up as the first challenger for Damian Priest's North American Championship.
Considering the fact that Finn Balor definitley isn't getting a shot at the NXT Championship anytime soon, challenging for the North American Title at this given moment seems like the viable option for him.
#3 Dexter Lumis
Dexter Lumis was originally scheduled to compete in tonight's NXT North American Championship Ladder Match. However, a few weeks prior to NXT TakeOver XXX, Lumis suffered an injury which eventually forced him to pull out of tonight's match and card entirely.
With that being said, the returning Dexter Lumis would definitely be in contention for a shot at the NXT North American Championship, and he could even be the favorite in a title match against new champion Damian Priest. As things stand though, we still do not know how long Lumis will be out for but upon his return, the WWE Universe definitely shouldn't be surprised if he is given an immediate shot at the North American Championship.
Credit must be given to WWE for doing an incredible job in building Dexter Lumis' character, especially given how special it feels during the empty arena shows. And also given how slow WWE has taken things with Dexter Lumis, starting-off with a shot at the North American Championship (instead of an immediate push for a shot at the NXT Title) seems like a wise move.
#2 Bronson Reed
Bronson Reed was among the five Superstars who competed in tonight's North American Championship Ladder Match. While a lot of people didn't believe in the Aus-zilla, Reed proved all his critics wrong by putting together a splendid performance when it mattered the most.
Having made his televised NXT debut almost a year ago, tonight was pretty much Bronson Reed's first-ever big opportunity to showcase the talent he packed. Having competed against some of NXT's finest throughout the past year, July 2020 somewhat marked a fresh new beginning for Reed, as he defeated former champions Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong to qualify for the 5-Way North American Championship Ladder Match.
Heading into the match, Reed certainly wasn't the favorite to win the belt and it can almost be argued that he was almost the underdog considering the fact that he was stepping into the ring with four other Superstars who are far more athletic than he is.
NXT commentators also pointed out the same in the opening stages of the bout, stating that Reed's weight could be a disadvantage for him in a Ladder Match. But, that wasn't the case to be, as Reed managed to takeout the competition on his own and also pulled off some crazy offense in his favor.
And for a performance of that good measure, Bronson Reed definitely deserves singles match against new champion Damian Priest, whom he also very recently defeated on NXT TV.
This somewhat guarantees Bronson Reed a shot at the Archer of Infamy and his gold.
#1 Tommaso Ciampa
It has been weeks since we last saw Tommaso Ciampa in WWE NXT. As a matter of fact, ever since he was demolished by Karrion Kross, the former NXT Champion has taken some time off from WWE TV.
But if WWE NXT is to make Damian Priest's title reign mean something, a match against someone of Tommaso Ciampa's caliber would definitely do Priest all the good in the world. The feud would also be a massive boost to the North American Title picture, in general.
One would usually consider Tommaso Ciampa a main-event player in NXT, which he absolutely is. However, given that things haven't exactly worked out for him in the recent few months on the Black and Gold brand, the former NXT Champion could reconsider his options upon his return and start from scratch, and that would be by stepping up for the NXT North American Championship.
The Blackheart has been confirmed to return this weel on NXT, and the creative team should consider him as the first challenger for Damian Priest and his title. A match between the pair could easily headline a weekly NXT show and is definitely worthy of a spot on a TakeOver card.
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