Huge heel turn from former NXT Champion costs Tommaso Ciampa his championship match 

Tommaso Ciampa went up against NXT Champion Adam Cole tonight in a championship match at TakeOver: Portland. In a shocking turn of events, Ciampa's dreams of reclaiming the NXT Championship were crushed when he was betrayed by his best friend Johnny Gargano who came out to attack him which allowed Cole to retain the title.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, @JohnnyGargano?!?!?!?!#NXTTakeOver #NXTChampionship pic.twitter.com/Ss5nOLM9Yy

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) February 17, 2020

How did Johnny Gargano attack Tommaso Ciampa?

In what felt like an eternity, Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa put on the match of a lifetime that left the NXT Universe on the verge of jumping from their seats. Even though the rest of the Undisputed Era came out to help Cole, The Blackheart of NXT managed to kick out during the second count on more than one occasion.

During a point in the match, the referee was inadvertently knocked out by Ciampa which once again allowed Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong to gang up on Ciampa. But, a resolute Ciampa managed to thwart their attacks by taking them out one by one.

During the match, O'Reilly managed to sneak in the NXT Championship inside the ring so that Cole could take advantage of the referee's absence to attack Ciampa with it. However, when Ciampa tried to get his hands on the title to attack Cole, Gargano appeared out of nowhere to grab away the title from Ciampa's hands and then attacked him with it, thereby allowing Cole to pin Ciampa and retain the title.

And then there was 1️⃣. 🏆@AdamColePro is still your #NXTChampion! #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/v2Xj6dATrD

— WWE (@WWE) February 17, 2020

By costing Ciampa the opportunity to reclaim the NXT Championship, it seems likely that the NXT Universe will once again get to witness Gargano and Ciampa locking heads with one another.