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After an eight-year hiatus, the Great American Bash is back, albeit as a WWE NXT special. Spread over two nights, the event in question has some of the biggest matches of the year, which are all set to take the fans’ breaths away.
On the first night of the Great American Bash, the NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai defeated WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks with the help of Asuka. Apart from that, Tegan Nox became the No.1 contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. Additionally, Dexter Lumis and Timothy Thatcher displayed impactful performances.
The second night of the Bash is scheduled to air next Wednesday and will feature the colossal "Winner Takes All" match between the NXT North American Champion Keith Lee and NXT Champion Adam Cole.
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Both men will collide in what could turn out to be the biggest match in NXT’s history, to crown a Double Champion of the Black and Gold Brand. While Cole has been the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time and has gone through all the top Superstars of NXT, The Limitless One has the momentum behind him to get to the top.
In this article, we will look at 5 ways in which this huge match between Cole and Lee could come to an end on July 8.
#5 Adam Cole retains the NXT Championship and wins back his NXT North American Title
Adam Cole has unarguably been the face of NXT for well over a year and a half now. With Superstars such as Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano, and Finn Balor on the same brand, it’s impressive that he’s kept a marginal lead over them at all times.
After breaking Balor’s record for being the longest-reigning NXT Champion, it seemed like there was nothing more Cole could do on the brand to show his dominance.
However, we were proven wrong a couple of weeks ago when General Manager William Regal announced that the winner of the match between the NXT Champion and NXT North American Champion would go home with both the titles.
With that in mind, expect WWE to build Cole as an even bigger force in the company and allow him to pick up a huge victory on July 8 to become a Double Champion.
In the said match, we could see Cole deliver a few Last Shots to Lee and pin him clean without the help of his Undisputed Era partners to become the NXT North American Champion as well as remain the NXT Champion.
While a clean victory over Lee may be difficult, Cole is the only man who has convincingly defeated all his challengers till now and we could see him pull off another great victory at NXT Great American Bash.
#4 Tommaso Ciampa returns to WWE NXT and targets Adam Cole
Adam Cole has gone through several Superstars to reach where he is today. His heel work has been on point and helped him become one of the greatest NXT Champions of all time.
With that said, there is one man who still seems to have some unfinished business with Cole and he is Tommaso Ciampa. The Blackheart has been missing from television since losing against Karrion Kross at TakeOver: In Your House.
Even though Ciampa had his shot at the NXT Title against Cole earlier this year, it was Johnny Gargano who cost the former his match and did not let him get Goldie back. Ciampa may be off TV but he has been making his presence felt over social media, which indicates that he could return during the second night of the Great American Bash.
With that in mind, expect Ciampa to return to NXT next week and take out Cole behind the referee's back just to make him lose the NXT Championship to Keith Lee. Not only will this help Lee become a Champ-Champ on NXT but it will also help reignite the rivalry between Ciampa and Cole.
#3 The Undisputed Era helps Adam Cole become a Double Champion on WWE NXT
There has been only one thing more certain than Adam Cole’s incredible performances during his matches on NXT, and that has been the involvement of the Undisputed Era.
Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly have always been around to help out their leader during his matches, and we’ve seen them help him win and retain the NXT North American Championship earlier and the NXT Championship nowadays.
Even during Cole's most recent title defense against The Velveteen Dream, Strong and Fish made an appearance and attacked Dream before Dexter Lumis arrived and kidnapped the duo. However, the damage had been done by then and Cole managed to retain his title once again.
Keeping that in mind, we could watch Strong and Fish arrive once again during the upcoming Winner Takes All match and collectively do enough damage to Keith Lee to allow Cole to hit The Last Shot and become the Double Champion.
Such a finish would help WWE NXT crown Cole as the most successful male Superstar on the Black and Gold Brand while protecting The Limitless One’s image as he still has a long way to go in WWE.
#2 Adam Cole’s time runs out on WWE NXT
While all eyes will be on Adam Cole and Keith Lee during this match, one must not forget the threat of Karrion Kross which is looming over the entire WWE NXT locker room.
Kross arrived in NXT several weeks ago and made a huge statement by taking out the former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa comfortably at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. He followed that up with a big win over the massive Bronson Reed to prove that he is ready for any Superstar, no matter their size.
Moreover, Kross' manager/associate Scarlett presented Adam Cole with an hourglass on NXT a few weeks ago to show that his time as a Champion is limited, and Kross will be looking to take him out and take his place at the top of the mountain.
On the second night of NXT Great American Bash, we could see Cole and Lee perform their hearts out before the lights go out and Kross appears in the ring to take out both men involved in the main event.
This would allow him to immediately get in contention for both the NXT Championship and North American Title.
#1 Keith Lee becomes a Double Champion on WWE NXT
WWE NXT has been basking in Keith Lee’s glory for some time now. The Limitless One started gaining momentum late last year after having an ordinary early run on the Black and Gold Brand.
Lee has managed to get a huge fanbase to support him and he seems ready to conquer all of WWE in the years to come. However, he needs to continue his dominance over WWE NXT for now, and it seems like he’s gotten the perfect opportunity to do just that this coming Wednesday.
On the second night of NXT Great American Bash, we could see Lee outpower and outperform the NXT Champion in every way to prove that he is indeed the top athlete in NXT today.
He could hit Adam Cole with a Big Bang Catastrophe to not only retain his North American Championship but also win his first NXT Championship.
This would free up Cole to switch brands if required while giving Lee the biggest push of his career and setting him up for some big matches in NXT down the road.
