Adam Cole

Keith Lee beat Adam Cole in a winner-take-all match on Wednesday night's episode of NXT to retain the North American Championship and win the NXT Championship for the first time in his career.

Wednesday's bout was determined two weeks ago when Lee defended the North American Championship in a Triple Threat match against Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano. NXT general manager William Regal announced that the winner of that match would go on to face Cole.

Lee prevailed despite being pushed to the limit by two of the best Superstars in NXT history, and that set the stage for The Limitless One's first-ever NXT Championship match against Cole.

While Lee was in search of his first NXT title reign, Cole entered Wednesday's Great American Bash edition of NXT with an eye toward regaining a title that he helped put on the map over two years ago.

Cole was the inaugural NXT North American champion, winning a six-man ladder match at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans the same weekend as WrestleMania 34 in the Big Easy. Since then, many NXT performers have been launched to superstardom by winning that title.

Lee is among them as he went from a solid mid-card performer on the black-and-yellow brand to one of its most popular figures. Lee received so much fanfare that WWE made him one of the two remaining Superstars at Survivor Series in November and had him push Roman Reigns to the limit.

Considering everything he has accomplished in NXT and on the main roster, the most logical next step was vying for the NXT Championship against a Superstar in Cole who entered Wednesday's show with a 400-plus-day title reign intact.

Cole's resume as NXT champion was something to behold ahead of his match against Lee. While he undoubtedly had help from his Undisputed Era stablemates at times, he successfully defended his title against the likes of Gargano, Balor, Tommaso Ciampa and Velveteen Dream, among others.

Meanwhile, Lee beat the likes of Gargano, Damian Priest, Dominik Dijakovic, Roderick Strong and Cameron Grimes during his five-plus months as North American champion.

Both Cole and Lee had all the momentum in the world on their side ahead of their title clash, making their match one of the most highly anticipated ones in NXT TV history.

Lee is now a double champion, but with Superstars like Cole, Gargano, Balor, Karrion Kross and others champing at the bit to regain or seize championship gold, the target on Lee's back is now bigger than ever.

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Despite losing to Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Velveteen Dream will continue to compete under the NXT banner, according to Wrestling Observer Radio's Dave Meltzer (h/t Ian Carey of SEScoops).

By falling short on Sunday, Dream can't wrestle for the NXT Championship again as long as Cole is holding the title belt. That left some fans to wonder whether the result presaged Velveteen Dream's move to Raw or SmackDown.

With NXT's move to USA Network, wrestlers aren't leaving Full Sail University with the same frequency they did in years prior, yet shifting to Raw or SmackDown is still effectively a step upward. Matt Riddle is the most recent NXT star to change brands.

Even though he'll be excluded from the NXT Championship future for the time being, plenty of fans will argue Velveteen Dream is better off right where he is.

No voice is ultimately louder than that of Vince McMahon, and it's anybody's guess as to how the WWE chairman would handle a character as different as Velveteen Dream.

WWE's Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said in August 2016 that "when it makes sense … absolutely we will integrate LGBT storylines into our programming."

The promotion has little to show in that regard since then.

During Lana and Bobby Lashley's wedding ceremony, Liv Morgan spoiled the occasion by referencing her feelings toward Lana. Rather than using that as the springboard to a compelling same-sex dynamic on Raw, WWE treated the revelation as a sideshow, with Morgan and Lana immediately fighting in the ring.

Vice's Rob Rousseau raised the question in November 2017 about whether Velveteen Dream would be able to maintain the kind of nuance he has displayed while in NXT.

Perhaps his arrival on Raw or SmackDown would herald the start of a new era for WWE, but the company doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt based on its history.

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Orton and Ciampa Trade Barbs on Twitter

Raw Superstar Randy Orton and NXT Superstar Tommaso Ciampa got heated Monday on Twitter following Sunday's NXT TakeOver: In Your House pay-per-view.

While TakeOver was widely praised by fans, Orton apparently isn't a fan of the brand and its style, as he took a shot with the following tweet:

Ciampa didn't take kindly to Orton's take and offered a critical stance on The Viper's in-ring performances by suggesting that he's boring:

Orton followed up by belittling NXT again by referring to it as a "wrestling school."

While one aspect of NXT is the WWE Performance Center, which helps train and cultivate inexperienced talent, there is no shortage of veterans in NXT who have been part of the wrestling business for many years.

That was on full display at TakeOver: In Your House, as all six matches delivered, which made for what was arguably one of the best shows in all of professional wrestling this year.

Ciampa put over Killer Kross by allowing him to win in fairly dominant fashion, plus Io Shirai won the NXT Women's Championship in a Triple Threat against Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. Adam Cole retained the NXT Championship against Velveteen Dream in a Backlot Brawl, and Keith Lee retained the North American Championship against Johnny Gargano.

There is no doubt Orton has been doing some of the best work of his career on the mic recently, but he and Edge will have a lot to live up to Sunday at Backlash in terms of truly putting on the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" and giving NXT a run for its money.

Edge Discusses Greatest Wrestling Match Ever

Edge and Randy Orton will be tasked with living up to the highest of expectations Sunday at Backlash, as their bout is being billed as the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever."

In an interview with ESPN's Arda Ocal, Edge admitted that he initially thought it was a joke when WWE started using that tagline:

"I just laughed because I didn't think it was serious. Then I realized fairly quickly it was. Then my reaction was, is this wise, because anytime you say something the greatest ever beforehand, you're setting yourself up for failure. And I don't ever want to think that way. I need to think the opposite of that. I can't control the court of public opinion. I need to do and be proud of the work that I put in. All I can do is take it as if this is all just a bonus and in a weird way, a compliment. Or it's a giant rib. I don't know."

If 100 wrestling fans are asked to name the greatest match of all time, it is entirely possible that 100 different answers could be given.

Edge acknowledged that fact and noted that it is essentially impossible to go out and put on the greatest match ever because of it:

"I'll preface all of this with saying there's no such thing as the greatest match ever. You're not going to be able to say definitively, what is the greatest song of all time? What is the greatest painting of all time? What is the greatest movie of all time? What is the greatest band of all time? It's impossible, because there's no general consensus—you can have great matches, but what is the greatest is going to be different to almost everybody."

The Rated-R Superstar added the impossibility of the task has actually helped him in terms of taking some of the pressure away.

It is difficult to envision Edge and Orton putting themselves in the conversation for greatest match ever since Edge is more than nine years removed from his last basic singles match and Orton has never been known for putting on five-star classics.

They are both smart, capable veterans, however, and they have the chemistry necessary to produce something fans will enjoy.

Road Dogg Heaps Heavy Praise on Cole

WWE Hall of Famer The Road Dogg plays a key role in the backstage workings of NXT and has greater insight about what the NXT Superstars bring to the table than perhaps anyone other than Triple H, its founder.

During an appearance on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Jason Ounpraseuth), Road Dogg was especially complimentary of NXT champion Adam Cole:

"Adam Cole is the most professional, most talented. He just gets it. He gets every aspect of it. He could cut a promo. He's the one of the guys where you go, 'I need you to do a minute,' and that's all you say to him. And he gives you a minute of hiccup-less verbiage that just makes you go, 'OK, that was perfect. Thank you,' every single time. That's Adam Cole in a nutshell."

Road Dogg expanded on that and noted that Cole would already be a huge star on the main roster if he was bigger physically:

"Man, If he was Karrion Kross' size, he would be the Universal Champion right now. If he wasn't, I'd be wondering why. That's the kind of guy he is. That's the kind of human he is. That's the kind of talent is. Incredible, and so he's probably my favorite guy, but from a guy who's now on this side of the fence having to work with that guy, he gives you everything you could ask for and more. You don't even really have to ask for it. It's just it's just like a dream. He's a dream dream superstar."

The fact that Cole is on the smaller side means he has to work that much harder than those who were blessed with prototypical size for a wrestler. Even so, he has held the NXT Championship for more than a year, marking the longest reign in the history of the title.

Cole put on a highly entertaining Backlot Brawl with Velveteen Dream at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, and now that Dream can't challenge him for as long as he holds the title, it is time for him to move on to someone else.

Everything Cole does feels like a big deal, and he will be a top star for as long as he is in NXT. With that said, he also has a bright future on the main roster.

Cole is reminiscent of Shawn Michaels in many ways, and if he has a career that even comes close to HBK, he will go down as one of the all-time greats.

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It does not appear as if Adam Cole will be leaving NXT any time soon.

Despite rumors of his contract expiring soon, Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported the leader of the Undisputed Era is under contract for "well over" the next 18 months.

There had been rumors that Cole's contract expires in two months, leading to natural speculation he would join All Elite Wrestling.

Cole's girlfriend, Britt Baker, is under contract with AEW. 

Cole defended the NXT Championship Sunday against Velveteen Dream at NXT: In Your House. He has held the yellow brand's top championship for 373 days, by far the longest reign in NXT history. 

There has been constant speculation about when Cole and the Undisputed Era would move up to Raw or SmackDown, but they've instead become NXT mainstays with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Cole told Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports that he remains focused on the NXT brand:

"Right now, and I mean this because a lot of people say, 'Oh, what's next? What are you going to do next? You're NXT champion, what's your next goal?' My goal is to keep the NXT championship. At the end of the day, right now I just broke a full year as NXT champion, I love NXT, I'm proud of what this brand represents and I'm proud of what I've done and the Undisputed Era has done. I see no reason why we have to skip over to the next goal or next thing. I think holding onto the NXT championship for as long as possible and making sure this record can and will never be broken is my end-game goal.

"One of the coolest parts about being in NXT through this transition period is seeing the brand grow and how far it has come even from when I joined in 2017. The brand has grown tremendously. I think, oftentimes, about what NXT is going to be like six months from now or a year from now or two years from now. It's going to keep growing and growing and getting bigger and bigger. I'm very proud to be a part of that. I just want to continue trying to solidify myself as being the greatest NXT champion of all-time."

Cole has spent his entire WWE career in the best creative atmosphere the company provides, so it's easy to see why he would be satisfied with his current lot in life. However, 18 months can make a ton of difference on someone's outlook with their job.