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NXT was poised to deliver one of its biggest and most impactful episodes on television this week after a successful TakeOver: WarGames and Survivor Series event.
With the threat of any invasion now eliminated, Creative was back to focusing purely on the Superstars that built up the most supreme roster in WWE.
To make sure that the episode packs a punch, Creative booked their top three available male Superstars perfectly this week to deliver two great segments. The night started with a battle of words between Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Finn Balor, and ended with only Finn Balor standing tall with Ciampa and Cole laid out around him.
In this article, we will look at the 5 reasons why Finn Balor defeated Tommaso Ciampa with the help of Adam Cole, and then attacked the NXT Champion to close out the show.
#5 To cover up his absence from Survivor Series
At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Finn Balor, Adam Cole, and Tommaso Ciampa were all involved in top matches that were under the spotlight of the NXT Universe.
Finn Balor squared off against Matt Riddle at the event, and after a hard-fought match, ended the Superstar with a 1916 DDT to pick up a huge return win on the brand and send a message to the entire locker room.
Ciampa and Cole were on opposite teams during the main event of WarGames where Team Ciampa managed to come out as the victors after Ciampa dropped Cole from the top of the cage to win the match for his team.
The two men then went into Survivor Series where Cole successfully defended his NXT Championship, while Ciampa’s Team NXT came close to winning the men’s elimination tag team match.
However, Balor was missing from Survivor Series, and the brand would have been looking to bring the spotlight back on the former NXT Champion this week.
Therefore, they brought him out early in the night to make his presence felt and then had him compete against Ciampa later in the night to pick up a victory.
#4 To stay in the mix
NXT has built quite a remarkable number of top stars over the past year, and it seems like the brands’ upper card is much stronger and better loaded than the mid-card. We can say with certainty that the two men holding the NXT Championship and the North American Championship are at par and have taken both titles to the top of the card.
Keeping that in mind, we’ve seen Superstars such as Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, Pete Dunne, and many others stay in contention for the top titles over the past few months, and therefore Balor’s return has made it a bit more difficult for him to find a spot to fit in.
There is no doubt that the former NXT Champion is one of the top stars in the company, but at the moment he has entered a card so loaded with top talent that he won’t be seen as a major threat unless he makes himself a threat at all times.
This would have prompted him to get in the tussle between Ciampa and Cole, and also battle Ciampa later in the night. After his match, he attacked Cole to confirm that he’s also looking to make his mark in the upper card after he took out regular mid-carders in Matt Riddle and Johnny Gargano.
#3 To give Tommaso Ciampa a hurdle
Tommaso Ciampa’s return after a severe neck injury saw him return the same day Finn Balor returned to NXT and stare down Adam Cole and the NXT Championship.
Ciampa made his intentions clear from day one of his return that he had nothing more on his mind than reclaiming Goldie and ensure that it stays with him forever.
With Johnny Gargano out with an injury now, it would have been only Ciampa looking to score the top prize with no one else currently in the mix to threaten Ciampa’s #1 contendership.
This would have made things a bit complicated for NXT as they’d have had to book a match between Cole and Ciampa for the title soon and possibly hand Ciampa the title quickly without the need to battle for it much.
Adding Finn Balor to the mix allows them a chance to have Ciampa and Balor go at each other for a while to earn the spot to challenge for the NXT Championship, and then having one of the two men go up against Adam Cole.
By attacking Cole, Balor made it crystal clear that not only is he after the babyfaces of the brand, but after anyone and everyone. Ciampa will now have to prove himself once again before he can challenge for the NXT Championship.
#2 To confirm that he won’t be joining/making any faction
One of the biggest rumors that have been going around since Balor’s return to NXT has been that he will be forming a team or a faction with some other Superstar(s).
When Balor took out Johnny Gargano, he was in a stand-off against The Undisputed Era along with Ciampa and Gargano. This prompted many to believe that Balor would pledge allegiance to The Undisputed Era and go against babyfaces of the brand.
Later on, Balor helped The O.C. of RAW, led by AJ Styles, in a match against Ciampa, Matt Riddle, and Keith Lee. This fueled the speculation even further.
As days went by, Balor seemed to be working alone and although fans speculated that he might join Team NXT for Survivor Series, he did not show up at the event.
This week, as he battled Tommaso Ciampa, he was helped by The Undisputed Era’s leader Adam Cole during the clash which proved vital in his victory.
After the match, as Cole patted Balor’s back, Balor attacked Cole in order to kill all rumors and speculations that he will be joining the members of Undisputed Era.
This was necessary at a time when fans kept believing that he would be drawn towards the successful villainous faction, and now that he has attacked Cole, it seems like The Prince of NXT will be working alone going forward.
#1 To become a challenger to the NXT Championship
Let’s not forget that there are only a handful of men whose return to NXT would have drawn as much fanfare as Finn Balor’s has over the past month or so. Tyler Breeze, Fandango, and Killian Dain also returned to the Black & Gold brand this year but their returns were not seen as such a big deal.
As the longest-reigning NXT Champion of all time, there is no doubt in our mind that Finn Balor will have his eyes on the NXT Championship once he’s done rebuilding his new character on the brand.
With that in mind, this segment was the perfect way to send a message to the entire locker room that Balor means business in NXT. After defeating the man who is seen as the biggest threat to the NXT Champion, he took out the NXT Champion himself to remain the only man standing in the ring.
This was the perfect way for the creatives to confirm to the NXT Universe that Balor will also be coming after the NXT Championship, and we could even see Ciampa win it from Cole soon only to get into a feud for it with Finn Balor.
That would make an A-grade storyline, as NXT is already delivering the best top Championship storylines in the company to the fans for several months now.
