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NXT Super Tuesday II saw arguably two of the greatest NXT Champions of all-time, Adam Cole and Finn Balor, go up against one another to determine the new NXT Champion. After an amazing back and forth match, it was Balor who managed to defeat Cole after a brilliant 1916 off the top rope.
It was at NXT TakeOver XXX last month where Karrion Kross defeated Keith Lee to become the new NXT Champion but, unfortunately, suffered from a separated shoulder. Therefore, he was forced to relinquish the NXT title and William Regal announced a massive Fatal-4-Way 60-minute Iron Man match between Balor, Cole, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to crown the new champion.
Last week on NXT Super Tuesday, the title match ended in a tie with both Adam Cole and Finn Balor gaining two pinfalls. That led to tonight's one-on-one NXT Championship match. With Balor as the new champion, things are about to get interesting on WWE's black and gold brand.
Let's take a look at five reasons why Balor became the new NXT Champion tonight. Be sure to comment down and let us know your reactions to the same.
#5 Finn Balor's NXT return comes full-circle
After an amazing first run in NXT, Finn Balor joined the WWE main roster in 2016. It was last year when he made his grand return to the black and gold brand of WWE and turned heel, as opposed to his massive babyface character on the main roster.
The return of Finn Balor to NXT got everyone talking but the question still remained - why? Tonight, after winning the NXT Championship, Balor revealed that the reason he came back to NXT was to reclaim his title, which he has now completed, meaning his return has come full circle.
#4 Finn Balor was the more logical pick to become the new NXT Champion
Finn Balor and Adam Cole squared-off tonight for the NXT Championship. In what was an amazing match, there were several close calls where the match could have gone either way. We saw Cole kick-out of the Coup De Grace, while Balor also did the same after being hit with The Last Shot.
Adam Cole lost the NXT Championship a few months ago to Keith Lee at NXT Great American Bash. Before that, he held on to the title for over 400 days, the longest reign in the history of the championship. Putting the title back on him wouldn't have made much sense, as he has now pretty much done it all.
There have been speculations of Cole and The Undisputed Era being called-up to the main roster soon as they have been at the top of the NXT mountain for a long time. Finn Balor, on the other hand, needed the NXT title to solidify his momentum and justify his return to the brand.
#3 Finn Balor has the mainstream appeal to get more eyes on NXT
There's no hiding the fact that NXT is in a constant "rating battle" against All Elite Wrestling's weekly show, AEW Dynamite. While there has been speculation of NXT permanently moving to Tuesday nights, there is no confirmation yet. Tonight's Finn Balor victory could massively help NXT get more eyes on their product.
Balor has been one of the top Superstars for WWE over the years, being the first-ever WWE Universal Champion and a former WWE Intercontinental Champion. He has the kind of mainstream appeal that would help NXT attract more viewers and also appeals to the hardcore NXT fans who used to watch the brand back in 2015 when he was ruling it as the NXT Champion.
All in all, Balor is a huge star and fans want to see him, not to forget the craze there is for his alter ego "The Demon King." While NXT as a brand has been producing amazing shows week after week, having someone like Balor lead the charge at the top could be a huge advantage for them.
#2 Finn Balor as the champion could shake up the NXT main-event scene
Finn Balor's character on NXT is very different from his "always smiling" babyface character on the main roster. He has a new kind of aggression, even referring to himself as "The Prince of NXT." At the same time, Balor is not a heel, as evident by his post-match greetings with Triple H and even his opponent Adam Cole.
With Balor becoming the new NXT champion, the main-event scene of the brand will be very interesting going forward. As mentioned earlier, he has the kind of mainstream attention to get more eyes on the product and help in establishing new big players.
With both the previous NXT Champions Keith Lee and Karrion Kross out of the picture, for now, it will be interesting to see who steps up and challenges Balor.
Superstars like Bronson Reed or Timothy Thatcher could soon enter the title picture and go on to have great feuds with the new NXT Champion. It would be a welcome change to see new faces compete for the big one
#1 It sets up a great return feud for Karrion Kross and Finn Balor
The moment Karrion Kross won the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver XXX, fans started wondering of a potential feud between him and Finn Balor, more specifically, 'The Demon King' Finn Balor. Unfortunately, Kross had to relinquish his title due to his separated shoulder, from which he'll be out of action for the foreseeable future.
But before leaving, Kross made sure to let everyone know that he'll be back to reclaim the NXT Championship. This could make for an amazing return down the line, hopefully close to the WrestleMania season where Karrion Kross would be back to face Balor for the title.
Kross has received a massive push during his very brief stint with NXT so far and it's a clear indication as to how high the management is on him. Balor, on the other side, is one of the biggest Superstars in the history of the brand. A feud between the two has money written all over it and a match between "The Demon King" Finn Balor and Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship would be huge.
