NXT

Adam Cole beat Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday to retain the NXT Championship in Oregon.

Johnny Gargano has a few questions to answer.

Cole and Ciampa left it all in the ring, with Ciampa even fending off the members of Undisputed Era.

With the referee recovering out of the ring, Gargano arrived to spoil the occasion. He grabbed the NXT title before Ciampa could use it to attack Cole, and he delivered a critical blow to his former tag team partner.

Cole made the pin to keep his championship and allow Undisputed Era to stand tall at the end of the night.

Ciampa was forced to relinquish the NXT championship because of injury in March last year, and he has been singularly focused on regaining the title that has always meant so much to him since he returned to action October 2.

His first big bout after returning was a WarGames match against Undisputed Era, and he later lost to Finn Balor in a Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's match that included Keith Lee, so it took time until Ciampa could position himself for a title match against Cole.

Cole retained over Pete Dunne at Survivor Series in November and against Balor the following month, and it wasn't until recently that a new challenger emerged.

On January 29, Ciampa vowed to get NXT general manager William Regal to sign off on a title match for NXT TakeOver: Portland. He took out Undisputed Era members Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong with a lead pipe and then called Cole out to the ring.

Cole brought a contract drafted by Regal and initially got the upper hand on The Blackheart by hitting him on the head with a microphone, but Ciampa rebounded and put the champion through a table.

Ciampa got cut open during the exchange, which resulted in a remarkable visual of his blood dripping onto the belt he coveted so much. He then signed the contract and wiped his blood across the page as well.

Undisputed Era tried to get revenge on Ciampa the following week by attacking him after a six-man tag team match, but Velveteen Dream made his return after almost four months out because of injury and saved The Blackheart.

Sunday's match was a clash between someone seemingly willing to do anything to hang on to the title he fought so hard to win and someone willing to do whatever it took to get it back.

That gave the match the big-fight feel it deserved, and it stood out on a card that was stacked with great bouts from top to bottom.

By retaining the title, Cole put himself in line to defend at NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay during WrestleMania 36 weekend, but given how important the NXT Championship is to Ciampa, it is hard to envision him straying far from the title scene.

Before he gets another championship shot, Ciampa may have to resolve his unfinished business with Gargano.

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Charlotte Flair had an answer for Rhea Ripley at NXT TakeOver: Portland.

Ripley successfully defended the NXT women's title Sunday night against Bianca Belair. She barely had time to savor the victory before Flair attacked her in the ring, making it clear the two are on a collision course for WrestleMania 36 on April 5.  

Flair won the women's Royal Rumble match in January, which granted her the right to challenge for any championship at WrestleMania. Ripley made it clear she wanted the opportunity to face off with the former NXT star.

The stage is now set for a fun dynamic in April.

Although NXT remains WWE's developmental brand, Finn Balor's return to Full Sail University opened the door for stars to make the move over from Raw and SmackDown.

Having Flair take over the NXT women's division would be a nice change of pace for The Queen, and it would allow her to fully embrace her heel persona. Much like her father, Charlotte is better in the villain role.

For Ripley, beating Flair on the biggest show of the year would be a true star-making moment, if she didn't already have one at Survivor Series.

Rhea Ripley beat Bianca Belair at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday to retain the NXT Women's Championship and set the stage for a match against Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36.

Ripley defeated Belair after hitting the Riptide.

The champion didn't have much time to celebrate her victory before Flair attacked her and accepted Ripley's WrestleMania challenge.

On January 15, Belair won a Battle Royal featuring many of the top women in NXT to earn a shot at the title at the TakeOver event. First, Ripley had to beat longtime rival Toni Storm at Worlds Collide.

The Australian managed to retain, which meant her match with Belair was on, although another wrinkle was added to the situation on the February 3 edition of Raw.

Women's Royal Rumble winner Flair was weighing her options with regard to which title to challenge for at WrestleMania when Ripley interrupted her and suggested she should vie for the NXT Championship on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The Queen didn't give an immediate answer, and she instead decided to respond to Ripley's challenge on an episode of NXT. But it happened to be the same episode in which the titleholder and Belair were scheduled for a face-to-face confrontation.

Belair didn't take kindly to the fact that Flair was intruding on her turf, which led to a tense three-way promo battle. It ended with Ripley and The EST joining forces to take out the interloper, and there was still no answer given by The Queen with regard to whether she would challenge for the NXT title at WrestleMania.

Ripley and Belair are two of the best all-around performers NXT has to offer, and while they have faced each other before, Sunday's match was their biggest stage yet.

The Flair situation created a great deal of uncertainty in terms of who would win since there seemed to be several possibilities on the table, from a singles match between The Queen and either Rhea or Bianca to a Triple Threat involving all three.

All of that aside, Ripley and Belair put on an entertaining, athletically impressive and hard-hitting match that helped put the NXT women's division on an even higher pedestal.

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Finn Balor defeated Johnny Gargano in a heated grudge match at NXT TakeOver: Portland in Oregon on Sunday night.

The physicality on display showed how much Balor and Gargano wanted to best each other.

That running dropkick on the outside was the prelude to the end. Balor delivered the Coup de Grace and then the 1916 for good measure en route to the win.

The bout was a long time coming, as the Irishman turned heel by attacking Gargano on October 23, shortly after his surprise return to NXT. Because Johnny Wrestling was nursing an injury, however, their match didn't happen until Sunday.

It initially looked as though Balor had his sights set on Adam Cole and the NXT Championship, and while he did eventually receive a title match, his first target in NXT was Gargano.

The beatdown Balor handed to Gargano kept the NXT Triple Crown champion out of action for several weeks and allowed The Prince to enter into a quick feud with Matt Riddle, which he won.

The Prince then beat Tommaso Ciampa and Keith Lee in a Triple Threat match to become the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship.

Just when it seemed like the Irishman was on the verge of beating Cole to become a two-time NXT champion, Gargano returned with a vengeance and interfered to prevent his rival from coming out on top.

That further intensified the rivalry between Balor and Gargano, and it led the latter to accept the former's challenge for a match at NXT TakeOver: Portland.

Although it was one of the few bouts on a stacked Portland card without a championship on the line, it can be argued Balor vs. Gargano was the most highly anticipated one because of the storyline that preceded it.

Also, the two men had never faced each other in a singles match before Sunday, and many have considered them a dream matchup for as long as they have both been employed by WWE.

On top of that, the match had potentially huge stakes since Balor and Gargano are never far away from the main-event scene in NXT. That meant many considered their clash to be a de facto No. 1 Contender's match.

While it isn't guaranteed that Balor earned another shot at the NXT title with his win over Gargano, it was a huge momentum builder, and it speaks to how highly brand founder Triple H thinks of the Irishman in terms of his ability to be a top heel in NXT.

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In the continuation of their long-running rivalry, Keith Lee beat Dominik Dijakovic to retain the North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday.

The match lived up to the hype as Lee and Dijakovic unloaded on each other with everything they had.

Lee finally kept down Dijakovic for the three count with the Big Bang Catastrophe.

The two men have faced each other several times on NXT TV in recent months, and they always seem to raise their respective games and put on matches to remember.

Given their history, it was fitting that Dijakovic established himself as the first challenger for Lee's title after Limitless beat Roderick Strong of Undisputed Era to become the new North American champion a few weeks ago.

Both Dijakovic and Damian Priest expressed their desire to challenge Lee, which led to an impromptu No. 1 Contender's match won by Dijakovic. The following week, he beat Killian Dain as well, which further cemented his status as the first in line for a title shot.

Lee and Dijakovic once had a rivalry based on hatred, but that changed leading up to NXT TakeOver: WarGames when they agreed to join forces as part of Team Ciampa to take down Adam Cole and the rest of Undisputed Era.

Team Ciampa was victorious in that match, which brought Lee and Dijakovic closer together and helped them earn mutual respect.

While Dijakovic is a physical marvel who is slowly establishing himself as a top guy in NXT, Lee is seemingly already there. He has been popular since his debut, but it reached another level at Survivor Series in November.

Lee got down to the final two of that match with Roman Reigns and pushed The Big Dog to the limit before falling, and that performance has helped make him arguably the hottest commodity in NXT.

Also, Limitless was part of the men's Royal Rumble match in which he had a memorable confrontation with WWE champion Brock Lesnar, which raised his stock even more.

Taking the North American Championship from Strong was a natural progression for Lee, but Dijakovic stood in his way Sunday with an eye toward halting his momentum and sending him tumbling back down the card.

Lee was up to the challenge, though, and he may be in line for a lengthy, successful title reign after getting past Dijakovic.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).