Months of tension and shifting alliances culminated in former NXT Champion Adam Cole facing off against current champion Finn Balor on March 10’s NXT broadcast. Balor’s reign has been marked by adversity and frequent challenges from eager opponents. Cole once held the belt, and seemingly jettisoned his storied Undisputed Era collective to take another shot at glory as a singles competitor. The history of acrimony between Balor and Cole was thick in the air as the match began. The two struggled to get a grasp on each other, and traded frenetic strikes and blows in the match’s opening moments.
Finn Balor Retains
Both attempted to quickly get the better of the other with submission tactics. Balor locked in on Cole first, his grip fast around Cole’s neck. He struggled to secure Cole entirely in submission, but Cole turned it around and got a lock on Balor. He targeted Balor’s face, choosing Balor’s notorious jaw injury from his 2020 title bout against Kyle O’ Reilly as a point of interest. It would not be the first time in the match that Cole chose that tactic. Balor fought out, and lifted Cole, but Cole escaped and the two began another mad scramble to get hold of each other. Balor got hold of Cole, who kicked free. The two circled each other, and Balor went for Cole’s arm.
Cole punched free, and looked for more weak spots on the champion, choosing to target Balor’s hand. Cole punched Balor to the ground, slammed him face first into the post, and ropes, and kicked Balor, once again aiming for his jaw, then unleashing more punches. At this point in the fray, Cole was indisputably dominant. Cole unleashed vicious kicks on a visibly winded Balor, the ref repeatedly gave him opportunities to call the match off, but he continued to withstand the barrage.
Cole rolled Balor through into a shoulders down cover, but Balor rallied and issued a dropkick to Cole. Balor seized the opportunity and locked Cole into a modified sleeper hold, returning to their battle of submission tactics from earlier in the fray. The two battled back to their feet, and Cole went for a clothesline, but Balor struck and knocked him to the mat.
Cole continued to fight hard, and sent Balor over the ropes, kicking him when he attempted to climb back into the ring. Cole once again went on the offensive, throwing Balor into the plexiglass, and then back into the ring, where he shoved him into the post. Balor once again searched for weak spots on Cole, and zeroed in on his left knee. Balor issued a dropkick to Cole’s left knee, worked his knee and issued a double stomp to his abdomen. To his credit, Cole was nowhere near put away, and as Balor went for his knee again Cole hit him with an enzuigiri.
Cole hoisted Balor, but he landed on his feet and hit Cole with a forearm strike to his upper body, slammed Cole to the canvas, and got a cover. Cole kicked out. Balor’s lower back was clearly strained from the prolonged match, and Cole took advantage of the weak moment to pull Balor beneath the ropes, and issue a pub kick from outside the ropes. Cole made for the steel steps, signaling that he would repeat his tactics from his attack on O’Reilly, using them, as announcer Wade Barrett joked, as a “tag team partner” in his brutality. A winded, inert Balor had other ideas, and rallied all his strength into a suplex, sending both him and Cole hitting the ramp hard.
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His second wind continued, and Balor dominated Cole, lifting him, getting a cover, from which Cole kicked out. Unphased, Balor tried another tack, issuing knee strikes to Cole’s back, and locking him into a modified sharp shooter hold. Cole managed to touch the ropes, and once free elbowed Balor to stop his onslaught by creating some distance. Balor issued a kick, and the two traded several blows. Balor attempted his 1916 finisher, but Cole countered, got a cover on Balor, who kicked out. Cole attempted a bridge cover, and once again Balor managed to kick out. Balor survived Cole’s attempt to put him away with a Panama sunrise, and hit a knee strike and a drop kick to the challenger. Cole evaded Balor’s coup de gras, and once again targeted his jaw.
Cole put Balor in submission, brutally squeezing his face and jaw. Balor touched the ropes, and reversed Cole’s hold, putting Cole himself in submission. The two traded grasps of each other, each struggling to put the other in submission. Cole fought free, and kicked Balor. Balor knocked Cole down, and repeatedly punched him. When Cole scrambled back on his feet, Balor clotheslined him. Balor hoisted Cole up, but Cole survived the landing and issued a superkick, and then another kick, yet again to Balor’s jaw. Cole covered, but Balor kicked out, looking visibly stunned with pain. Cole pulled off his Panama sunrise, but Balor survived the collision, kicked out of Cole’s cover, and threw Cole over the ropes.
Cole’s former comrade in arms, whom he betrayed with a vicious attack, Kyle O’ Reilly appeared, like an apparition from Cole’s own guilty conscience. The distraction gave Balor an opening, and he flew up and over the ropes, slamming into Cole. Balor rolled Cole back into the ring, hit him with his finishing 1916 and a stomp for good measure. Finn Balor retained the WWE NXT Championship via pinfall. O’Reilly was not done with Cole, and unleashed a furious attack on his former ally, a team of referees unable to hold him back. As Balor watched O’Reilly and Cole’s battle up the ramp, his next challenger joined him in ring.
“What took you so long?” Finn said coolly, turning to face Karrion Kross.
With Cole put away, the target has not been removed from the Prince’s back, and Kross has stepped up to take his shot.
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